《Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online》


 vol. 1: Prologue 1

    ¡°Today is finally the day!¡± With far more energy than I would normally display in the morning, I practically bounded out of bed and surveyed the empty space against the wall opposite of me. Pointing at it, I declared ¡°Today, this bare spot is going to be filled again.¡±


    Up until recently¡ªlast weekend, to be precise¡ªthat section of my bedroom had played host to the old family sofa. Well, it hadn¡¯t functioned as a human-resting-place in ages as it had been piled high with stuffed animals and decorative pillows pretty much from day one after we moved back here. Those same animals were now perched atop bookshelves, display cases, the computer desk, and anywhere else there was room for a plush white fox, black cat, grey mouse, red rabbit, or so on. My collection was a veritable Noah¡¯s Ark (and then some, since he forgot the unicorns and dragons) that spanned the spectrum.


    They were even piled on the computer chair¡ªwell, atop pillows on the computer chair, since I was more in the habit of reclining in bed with my laptop or tablet than sitting in front of the dual-screened, high-powered, water-cooled monstrosity of a gaming rig I had bought on a whim a bit back. Nowadays, I mostly just used it as a high-end stereo substitute, playing music from my extensive and eclectic collection of Asian pop, classic rock, bluegrass, jazz, old-school country and western, and anything else that had once caught my interest.


    I¡¯ll admit it: I¡¯m a bit lazy. But also, once info started leaking out about Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online, my interest in all other games sort of faded. After all, even sight-and-sound virtual reality through a headset (still uncommon, by the way) is a little lacking compared to the promises of FIVR¡ªFull Immersion Virtual Reality. Because, honestly, who wouldn¡¯t want to actually be in a different world and experience casting spells, swinging swords, riding unicorns, dancing with faeries, or sparring with orcs instead of merely seeing it on a screen?


    I had read up on pretty much everything known about the game, which wasn¡¯t all that much. The company¡ªHeraldic Echo¡ªhad been pretty tight-lipped, releasing only trickles and dribbles here and there for the past couple years, but last month the official release date and trailer had been announced and taken the internet world by storm.


    For many, perhaps even for most, playing would be prohibitively expensive. The FIVR ¡°pods¡± were, after all, a new technology and one that hadn¡¯t yet achieved economies of scale. The price for a pod was comparable to a small car, putting home installation outside the reach of all but the wealthy and the extremely dedicated. Most would have to play via rented time in one of the hundreds of ¡°game centers¡± that Heraldic Echo was setting up in major cities across the globe (initially, with most being in the US), but even then, it wouldn¡¯t be cheap.


    There would still be an interface for helmet-style sight-and-sound VR at first, but the company was aggressively marketing their pods and game centers. Unfortunately for me, my sister and I lived in a small, rural community on the coast. The nearest game centers would be opening in Seattle and Portland, both several hours¡¯ drive away. Way too far for any sort of regular play.


    Fortunately, however, we were independently wealthy. Well, in a manner of speaking. Last year, a lucky lottery win netted us some several million dollars (after taxes). Enough to live comfortably, even lazily, on with many small luxuries, but not enough for any of the big luxuries¡ªnot for long, anyway.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    We had been tempted by luxury apartments or condos in one of the big cities, but in the end, my sister and I decided to move back home. We had bought our old childhood home on the coast for about three times as much as it had been worth; the current owners hadn¡¯t wanted to move, but greed had got the better of them. It¡¯s not like they ended up moving very far, either¡ªjust about three blocks¡ªand while we could¡¯ve bought any number of houses in the community, this one had sentimental value. My great-grandfather had built it in his youth and it had remained in the family until ten years back when my mother was forced to sell during a period of hardship. She¡¯s gone now; she lost her fight with cancer five years ago, but she would have wanted us to have moved back here, I think.


    Regardless, here we were, living out in the boondocks at the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail in a small, dying, rural town that only survived by tourism, fishing, and government hand-outs. The nearest city, across the river, had a population of less than ten thousand (more than ten times my town¡¯s population), but was far too small for a FIVR game center to be built.


    So, using a big chunk of my discretionary spending for the year, I bought two pods, and they¡¯d be delivered today, in time for the official launch of ECHO at midnight (Eastern), or nine in the evening, local time. My sister didn¡¯t yet know, but she was the outdoorsy type to my homebody, so her room was far less cluttered and would easily have room for a sofa-sized, mechanical FIVR pod.


    In fact, she was out and about right now, on a bike ride up the peninsula with some friends. She¡¯d be back in time for dinner and the surprise reveal. Alexandra hadn¡¯t been avidly following the game like I had been, but she was still fairly interested. After all, it would be a whole new world to explore! A sword-and-sorcery FIVR game would have plenty to offer her.


    When the doorbell finally rang as I was eating breakfast, it was almost anticlimactic. Four big, burly technicians swarmed out of a delivery truck bearing the Heraldic Echo company logo¡ªthree golden arcs like a wireless signal indicator emblazoned on a blue shield above a crossed sword and a stylized faerie wand tipped with a star¡ªand carried in a massive wooden crate containing the FIVR pod and its protective packaging. They had a little difficulty manhandling it up the stairs, which became no easier for the second crate, and actually had to uncrate the pods on the landing since the old-time bedroom doorways weren¡¯t wide enough.


    ¡°Sorry for the clutter,¡± I apologized as they navigated the pod through the narrow doorway into my room.. ¡°I made some space against the wall, but these old houses really weren¡¯t designed with modern conveniences and furnishings in mind.¡± In truth, it probably would have made more sense to have had the pods installed in the side room downstairs since we weren¡¯t really using that for much yet. It had been a ladies¡¯ solar generations ago, a playroom when we were growing up, and we had entertained ideas of making it a game room now that we were living here again, but neither billiards nor darts were quite our thing. For now, the room was empty except for a good dozen plants along the windows, an old treadmill, and ¡­ the sofa that had been in my room. It may have made more sense, and if I had been living on my own, it¡¯s probably where the pod would have gone. But for two people, it seemed more appropriate to have them in the privacy of our own rooms.


    Eyebrows were raised when the workers saw my room, apparently much more feminine than my sister¡¯s since I, and not her, was the one with all the stuffed animals ¡­ or perhaps there were unspoken questions about the childlike decor in an adult¡¯s room. But there were no snide comments, or in fact comments of any sort unrelated to the work. Whatever else they may have been, they were professional.


    Then they were gone, and the waiting began.

 vol. 1: Prologue 2

    Contrary to what one might think, the waiting wasn¡¯t tedious. Overnight, the company¡¯s website had updated with a host of new information in preparation for the game¡¯s official launch. Tablet in hand, I curled up in bed with my favorite plush cat on the pillow by my head. The well-worn and slightly rotund black cat had been a gift from my twin sister for our tenth birthday, oh so many years ago. The stuffed animal had a little white strike on her forehead, and I had named her Luna after a much more famous black cat.


    Since then, Luna had gone just about everywhere with me: family trips in the car, camping, church (when we were young enough to still be required to go), and even off to college. She¡¯d been restuffed twice, and I had even learned the basics of sewing so I could make minor repairs. As a child and young adult, I probably took better care of that cat than most people take care of their living pets.


    I even read to her. It started out innocently enough, as a young child reading ¡®bedtime stories¡¯ to a stuffed animal, but it grew from there. Luna sat patiently through stories of the Three Investigators, of Nancy Drew, and of the Hardy Boys. She graduated, with me, to stories of Narnia, Middle-Earth, Pern, and Valdemar. She even suffered along with me through assorted works of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Whitman, and others which I had only read for homework assignments.


    So, it was only natural that as she ¡°watched¡± over my shoulder, I read from the website to her. ¡°Well, Luna, here it says that players in ECHO ¡®...will be defined more by their skills and their attributes than by their classes. Primary skills are those that the character is known for, the skills that level faster and have an effect on the character¡¯s nine attributes. Secondary skills level slower and don¡¯t affect the attributes. It¡¯s the difference between a bow-wielding alchemist or a bow specialist who also makes potions.¡¯ Hmm,¡± I paused and glanced at Luna. ¡°But what about someone who took both as primary skills? That has to be a bit of a difficult way to play: both arrows and potions are usually consumables, so they¡¯d have to be careful not to run out, and that means making them or buying them.


    ¡°Anyway, ¡®Players may freely choose from over five hundred different skills to make their play experience unique. Players will start with the ability to set four primary skills and four secondary skills, but the amount will increase as the character rises in level or meets other requirements.¡¯¡± I looked at Luna and nodded, ¡°Yeah, I agree. Sounds great in theory, but I bet that in a month or so, most of the new players are going to be going online to fansites and forums telling them which build to make and which build to avoid. Probably that bow-wielding alchemist is going to be recommended against. It almost makes me want to prove them wrong. Archery is always fun in games, but if we base it on real life, I¡¯m more of a cook than a chemist. But let¡¯s see what it says about classes, shall we?


    ¡°Here we go, ¡®All players will start as the default Traveller class which provides the initial class abilities of Increased Movement Speed and Increased Regeneration Rate, but players will be able to undergo quests to learn classes like Knight, Paladin, Troubadour, Merchant, Archer, Elementalist, Weaponsmith, or Shaman. Classes let players further differentiate their playstyle with class abilities such as a Knight¡¯s proficiency in mounted combat, a Paladin¡¯s ability to heal and inspire allies, or a Shaman¡¯s specialization in debilitating foes. Players will be able to choose from hundreds of unique classes, including many hidden classes, and be able to freely switch active classes when not in instanced content, using a class¡¯s skill, or otherwise prevented from making modifications.¡¯¡±


    I paused in reading and mused a little. It would be hard to choose which class to build for without knowing all the classes and how to get them, but it also seemed that a player wouldn¡¯t be bound to only one class. Other than maybe the tradeskills, like the aforementioned Weaponsmithing, classes seemed like they would give extra abilities or boosts to skills rather than skills themselves. But those differences should be enough that a Knight and a Paladin, both typically heavily armed and armored units, should play fairly differently...even if their primary and secondary skills were the same. And with different skillsets, even two Knights should play very differently. After all, heavy cavalry and skirmishers are both mounted combat units, but they play vastly different roles on the field of combat. Not to mention the possibility of flying mounts. While I am not likely to become a Pegasus Knight, charging out of the sky with lance or bow¡ªor any other type of Knight for that matter¡ªthere¡¯s a certain ¡®romance,¡¯ or maybe ¡®mystique¡¯ would be better, to flying in a fantasy world. Sure, helicopters and hang gliders and commercial air travel allow flight in the real world, but it¡¯s just not quite the same.


    But there was still more information to read. Besides skills and classes, attributes seemed rather important, and were in fact the next things covered on the page I was on. Learning a bit of it now, in an info-dump at the start, seemed preferable to getting bits here and there in tutorials and help menus. Besides, even though I would have some chores that would need to get done later, I didn¡¯t have much else to do right this minute, so I continued reading to Luna.


    ¡°¡®Players have nine primary attributes, divided into three groups of three: the physical attributes, Strength, Endurance, and Agility; the mental attributes, Brilliance, Willpower, and Reflexes; and the utility attributes, Defense, Luck, and Charisma.¡¯ Wait, Defense is a base stat? How does that work¡­? Shouldn¡¯t it be determined based on armor? Or be calculated based on Endurance?¡± Luna, of course, didn¡¯t answer, so I scrolled down the page to read up on Defense first.


    ¡°¡®Defense: reduces incoming damage from most sources and influences armor effectiveness.¡¯¡± Here, I had to pause to think. Luna, being ever-patient, waited while my thoughts percolated. ¡°I guess ¡­ if a player with a low Defense attribute tries to wear heavy armor, they won¡¯t get as much of a benefit from it as a player with high natural Defense. Still, doesn¡¯t that sound like it would make more sense as a skill?¡± Taking Luna¡¯s silence for assent, I continued. ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll just have to see how it works in practice, then. Let¡¯s see what it says about the rest of the stats¡ªI mean...attributes.¡±


    Habits die hard, and I bet I¡¯ll continue making that mistake in terminology.


    Navigating back up to the top of the list, I started reading about the physical attributes. ¡°¡®Strength: contributes to most physical damage and affects carrying, lifting, and hauling capacity.¡¯ Huh, yeah, I agree. I hope that ¡®carrying capacity¡¯ doesn¡¯t mean we need to run around with a dozen backpacks and bags hanging off of us, but I guess it may make a good way to naturally limit the inventory system.


    ¡°Ah, next is ¡®Endurance: determines stamina; provides a limiting factor on physical actions like running, climbing, and swimming; contributes to a player¡¯s health pool; and influences resistance to poison, disease, and environmental conditions.¡¯ That sounds like a very vital sta¡ª attribute ¡­ stattribute ¡­ for anyone exploring a new game world, doesn¡¯t it?


    ¡°And ¡®Agility: governs physical speed, dodge chance, and critical damage. This attribute also affects activation speed for many skills.¡¯ So why not just call it Speed, then? Oh, ¡®critical damage¡¯; I guess being fast isn¡¯t always a guarantee for hitting hard.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I rolled over on my belly and tucked Luna under one arm as I moved on to the next set of attributes, the mental attributes. I was interested in these because a lot of games use intelligence and wisdom, but in a virtual world, the common definitions of those words would make them seem part of the player and not the character. Besides, unlike the virtual body being able to be stronger or weaker than the physical body in real life, it would seem difficult to make someone smarter or dumber. And that¡¯s not to mention all the folk that seem to be perpetually lacking in common sense. I would think that knowledge and strategy and tactics and planning would seem to be something that the player, rather than the game, brings to the character. However, there had to be something in the game that provided knowledge, since not too many people have any real life experience with archery, swordfighting, or throwing fireballs around.


    ¡°So...let¡¯s see. ¡®Brilliance: contributes to most magical damage, mildly increases experience gain, and provides bonus secondary skill slots at certain thresholds.¡¯ Well, Luna, that¡¯s one way to do it. Instead of being smarter per se, a brilliant person learns more and can do more things. That almost sounds more important than Endurance, doesn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Then there¡¯s ¡®Willpower: increases the mana pool, affects pain tolerance, and influences resistance to mental attacks like charm, fear, confusion, and others.¡¯ Pain tolerance ¡­ charm ¡­ fear¡­. Suddenly, ECHO is starting to sound a bit scary, Luna.¡±


    I contemplated that for a long moment. Unlike any other game I¡¯ve played, a virtual reality means that I would be experiencing the monster attacks¡ªclaws, bites, stabs, strikes, fiery dragon breath¡ªthat the game character normally suffers silently through. That¡¯s going to drastically change the way people play, even if pain is turned way down. Well, maybe not all people ¡­ but I think I would have to start doing more than relying on armor or healing potions. I mean, well, damage is damage, but pain is pain.


    ¡°Sounds like I might need to be sure to put points into Willpower, no matter what. But let¡¯s see what else there is, shall we?


    ¡°¡®Reflexes: governs mental speed, such as activation and casting time. Minorly influences critical hit chance, dodge rate, and critical hit mitigation.¡¯¡± Calling it ¡°mental speed¡± sounded strange, but it looked like the developers had an idea that physical and mental attributes should be parallel with one to govern damage, one to govern defense, and one to govern speed. And if a spellcaster has to make complicated gestures as part of casting a spell, maybe reflexes makes sense. But unless the spell chants are tongue twisters, how does ¡°reflexes¡± assist there¡­?


    The final three attributes didn¡¯t have the same overarching unity between them the way the physical ones did or the mental ones tried to. I had already read about defense, but ahead of it was ¡°¡®Luck: contributes to critical successes (such as a Weaponsmith forging a higher-quality sword) and provides minor other benefits.¡¯ You¡¯d think they could explain a little what those ¡®other benefits are, right?¡±


    And at the very bottom of the list was ¡°¡®Charisma: helps determine initial reaction from encounters and affects reputation loss and gain.¡¯¡± I rolled over to my side and stretched out to think about it. Charisma can¡¯t exactly be physical attractiveness like many games have it, since our avatars in the virtual reality world will be customized by us, and who is going to create an ugly person to play as? Likewise, it couldn¡¯t really be charm and mannerisms, since like intelligence, that¡¯s a feature of the player and not the character.


    ¡°Welll, maybe¡­¡± I looked to Luna and nodded. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something like machine translation? I mean, we¡¯re going to have people from all over the world play, but I don¡¯t understand more than a couple words of Japanese or German or Italian, and I haven¡¯t used any of the Spanish I studied in high school in a while. And I¡¯m sure not all of the Japanese and Germans and Italians speak and understand English, either. If we¡¯re going to play together, then maybe there¡¯s a function in the game that translates, so the speaker can speak in their language and the listener can hear in their language. If it can do that, then maybe Charisma affects how the translation sounds¡±


    Shrugging, I continued, ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll find out later when we¡¯re in the game. There might be something on the site, though, if I dig enough. But let¡¯s just keep reading about the attributes and character creation, okay?¡±


    I continued reading and learned that skills gained experience as they were used and that character level went up as a function of skill level. Character level contributed to health and mana pools as well as to resistances, it provided a cap to class level, and it was used to affect calculations when skills were used in conflict¡ªa level 5 player trying to intimidate a level 20 monster would be far less likely than the reverse¡ªbut mostly character level was used to gain Ability Points (shortened as AP). AP were used to further customize a player¡¯s attributes, but with only five AP per level and nine attributes, players would have to specialize.


    Even there, though, character level was relatively minor. The main way of raising attributes was not through leveling the character but rather from leveling skills, which also leveled the character, so¡­.


    Each primary skill was based on¡ªand affected¡ªone or two of the attributes. As the ¡°Dodge¡± skill levels up, for instance, it would also raise Agility and Reflexes, but only if it was set as a primary skill. Secondary to that would be equipment: the armor or clothes a player wears and the weapons and accessories equipped can also have attribute modifiers. Defense seems the obvious one, provided on all armor, but enchanted rings to boost Luck or a magic gown to boost Charisma seemed equally likely. Finally, there were various traits, feats, and perks to unlock in the game, either via quest rewards, various achievements, or even leveling a class. Some of those could also raise attributes rather than providing other effects.


    The net result was that the AP gained from leveling the character could either be used to further strengthen the attributes that the skills depended on or they could be used to shore up one or more of a player¡¯s weaknesses.


    Still, a specialist would be better than a comparably leveled generalist. He or she would be stronger, faster, sturdier, luckier, or so on. Not invulnerable, sure, but unless the generalist was able to take advantage of the specialist¡¯s weak areas (such as using mind-affecting attacks such as fear or confusion against a low-willpower player), the specialist was bound to come out on top. It did also seem to promote group play, where a player could cover another¡¯s weaknesses and in turn have her or her own weaknesses offset by another. Someone specializing in dealing damage might not be able to withstand a concentrated assault, but if the player was travelling with someone specialized in defense, often called a ¡°tank¡± in these sort of games, then the tank could keep the enemy¡¯s focus and allow the damage dealer to survive. Meanwhile, a defense-oriented character might be able to withstand a monster¡¯s attacks, but not be able to do enough damage in return, leading to a stand-off or a war of attrition. Either way, it would likely lead to terribly slow progress. That tank player would need to travel with someone specialized in damage in order to do anything at a reasonable pace.


    ¡°So, what do you think, Luna?¡± I asked the cat. ¡°Should I specialize in defense, damage, or healing, this time?¡± Healing was the third main path for a player, and part of the ¡°holy trinity¡± of multiplayer games like this: damage-dealers, damage-sponges, and damage-removers. Groups could make do without a healer, but they¡¯d be limited in the content they could challenge. First-aid kits, potions, or other consumables generally aren¡¯t all the cheap and are better for emergencies than casual use. I like healers, and I had often played them in other online games, but maybe it was time to give something else a try.


    Of course Luna didn¡¯t answer, but it gave me something to think about, what attributes to specialize in and what attributes to neglect.


    Meanwhile, I rolled out of bed and set the tablet down on the pillow next to her. With a lingering glance at the FIVR pod, I left the room and headed downstairs. Life still goes on, after all, and chores did need to get done before Alexandra made it back home from her early-morning-and-all-day bicycle expedition.

 vol. 1: Prologue 3

    ¡°Alexis, I¡¯m home!¡± Helmet in hand, my sister burst through the front door after chaining up her bike on the porch.


    ¡°Welcome back, Sis.¡± From the kitchen, I glanced at her as I was adding the veggies to the stew pot. Biking gloves, kneepads, and other protective gear were left out on the porch with the bike, but as she was crossing the living room, she was already shucking off a sweat-soaked tee shirt. ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa! Leave the stripping and changing for the bathroom, please! I don¡¯t need to see that!¡±


    ¡°¡®That¡¯ is just my sports bra,¡± she demurred, as I pushed her toward the bathroom, nestled as it was between the dining room and laundry room. ¡°You do laundry, so you¡¯ve seen plenty of them, and more besides. Besides,¡± she smirked over her shoulder at me and made as if to pull herself free from the bra as well, ¡°we used to bathe together, so you¡¯ve seen me in less than this¡­¡±


    ¡°We were FIVE! That was twenty years ago! Things are different now!¡± I pushed her into the bathroom, and pulled the door closed, leaning back against the old chest of drawers that held towels, washcloths, bath mats, and spare rolls of toilet paper. However, she opened the door a crack and tossed out her sweaty clothes¡ªfrom tee shirt right down to the socks, with everything in between¡ªat me, which I caught by reflex. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll go get you something to wear from your room.¡±


    On my way to her room, I tossed them in the laundry basket which was, out of habit, in its old location in the kitchen-side doorway to what had been my mother¡¯s bedroom when we last lived here. That room was a bit of an odd design, with two doorways basically side-by-side. One opened into the living room, next to its doorway into the kitchen. The other opened into the kitchen. I suppose it was for extra-lazy convenience by those generations back who built the house¡ªonly going through one doorway (instead of two) into the kitchen for a late-night snack¡ªbut who knows, maybe it wasn¡¯t originally a bedroom but another room for entertaining guest? Now, however, the room was the library. My sister¡¯s contributions were generally college textbooks and coffee table books, mostly of lighthouses and beaches, but she also had a fairly impressive collection of comic books, graphic novels, and manga. The rest, with more paperbacks than the local library, were mine. That sounds quite impressive until you realize that the local library is a tiny little thing that serves several small towns of around a thousand people each; instead, it¡¯s just mildly impressive. Well, in addition to the textbooks, coffee table books, and paperbacks, there were also three shelves of Little Golden Books and other things we had shared as very little kids. With neither of us having plans for kids, there was no real need to keep the children¡¯s books other than nostalgia, but that¡¯s the same reason we moved back to this old house in the first place, so ¡­ we kept them.


    A quick detour to the kitchen sink to wash my hands followed. Sweaty clothing isn¡¯t fun to carry around, even (or especially) if it is your twin sister¡¯s sweat. And then, back upstairs to her room. Like me, she had moved back into her childhood room. Fortunately, the upstairs rooms had had some significant work done by the previous owners. After all, growing up, my room was the only upstairs room with an electrical outlet. She had had to make do with an adapter screwed into the light socket back then, but thanks to the intermediate owners, the whole building had been rewired. The gleaming FIVR pod just inside and to the left of the doorway would never have worked, otherwise. Neither would the massive aquarium nor the illuminated display cases showing off her various sporting and other trophies and certificates.


    My twin wasn¡¯t one for skirts and dresses, so it was her wardrobe I raided rather than her closet. She did have a couple for occasions that warranted them, but a prom dress, a bridesmaids gown, and a ¡°little black dress¡± for formal dinners were certainly not needed for a dinner of stew at home nor for hopping into a virtual reality game afterward. Feeling faintly malicious in reaction to her teasing and having to handle her sweaty clothing however, I did grab the girliest other attire my tomboy sister had: pale pink plaid pajama pants and a slightly ruched tee-shirt with a heart-shaped patch of the same plaid. They weren¡¯t something she would have bought for herself, but until recently we were too poor to discard gifts, and this had been a gift from a great-uncle on our father¡¯s side, the one relative on that side who had still kept in touch for the holidays despite the rest of the family cutting us off after the divorce. In theory, I had a matching set, in blue of course, with a star instead of a heart (and no ruching). In practice, it was what Alexandra normally wore to bed, consigning the pink to the bottom drawer of the dresser. For undies, though, I just grabbed whatever was at the top and front of their respective drawers. For all that I did the laundry, I wasn¡¯t comfortable with rummaging through my sister¡¯s bras and panties just to find something to tweak her with.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    A bit later, she was sitting at the kitchen table, dressed in pink, and mock-glaring at me in between each mouthful of stew. Her short hair spiky from the shower, she proclaimed, ¡°I¡¯m going to have to get you back for this, you know, Alexis. These are going to find their way into your closet, and perhaps I¡¯ll hide all your briefs and replace them with something lacy or pink. Or both!¡±


    I stood my ground. Metaphorically. After all, I was sitting at the table, too. With a raised eyebrow, I inquired, ¡°Do you even have anything lacy or pink, Sis? That doesn¡¯t seem your style.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll buy some, then. We¡¯ve got the money for it, now!¡±


    ¡°Sounds like I know what to get you for Christmas, then,¡± I shrugged, winked, and then continued, ¡°Speaking of gifts, there¡¯s a surprise in your room.¡±


    ¡°It better not be anything else pink!¡± She was doing a good job at pretending to pout.


    ¡°No. Metallic, for for the most part. The FIVR pods cost enough that I didn¡¯t feel the need to spend an extra fortune on customizing them.¡±


    All pretense at a pout was gone as my twin¡¯s eyes got wide. Spoon half raised to her mouth, but forgotten in the moment, she just stared at me, ¡°We¡¯re going to play ECHO? I thought you said we couldn¡¯t afford it?¡±


    I shrugged again, ¡°I lied. Well, stretched the truth. We are millionaires, after all. Just... don¡¯t plan on buying a fancy new car for the next couple years, not unless you want to get a real job instead of just volunteering and lazing about like me.¡± She was a volunteer lifeguard and instructor at the peninsula¡¯s swimming pool, a few little towns north, and I spent a few hours a week at the local library, reading to kids and assisting with the library¡¯s literacy program. ¡°If we buy too many things, we won¡¯t have enough in interest payments to live on and we¡¯ll end up tapping into what¡¯s supposed to be creating that interest. And then, in short order, we¡¯ll be thousandaires instead.¡±


    She nodded and was silent for a few more long moments while I finished eating and rose to serve dessert. It was nothing fancy, just pineapple chunks in orange jello, her favorite. You might be able to take the twins out of the poor, but you can¡¯t take the poor out of the twins. We ate just as plainly as we did growing up. Besides, plain fare was simple to make and I was a bit lazy. Finally, she remembered her spoon and took another mouthful of stew, and started speaking before finishing chewing. ¡°I forgive you, this time, little brother. But you¡¯re still getting these pink pajamas, Alexis, since I¡¯ve stolen your blue ones. But you don¡¯t have to wear them any more than I have.¡±


    Little brother. All of fifteen minutes separated us though we technically had different birthdays. She was born at 11:48 at night, and I followed just after midnight¡ªlazy and a night person from day one. And, yes, brother. At birth, we were named Alexandra Lynn and Alexander Lynn, which caused no end of confusion, especially since ¡°Alex¡± is the standard short form for both. As we grew up and it became apparent that my sister was the extroverted, physically-oriented of the two whereas I was the more shy and stay-inside type, we developed crossgender nicknames for each other. In private, I was ¡°Alexis,¡± sometimes ¡°Lexy,¡± and she was ¡°Lex,¡± sometimes ¡°Luther,¡± despite not being the least bit villainous. To everyone else¡ªteachers, parents, and especially peers¡ªwe were always Alexander and Alexandra, and never any short form.


    For a brother-and-sister pair of twins, we were near on to identical as possible. Same middling height, same androgynous facial features, same pale blue eyes, and even (for most of our years) same shortish dishwater blond/e hair. Her hair was even shorter now whereas I¡¯ve let mine grow out into a ponytail.


    Things had been relatively easy for others when we were very little, since my mother had been a bit old-fashioned and kept my sister in dresses and long hair up to about kindergarten. After that, she hadn¡¯t much of a choice in the matter. My sister would go to school in her dress, but in her backpack was a pair of my pants and one of my shirts. And a moment¡¯s inattention by the teacher had allowed my twin to use the craft scissors to haphazardly cut her own hair short. Then, for the next seven or eight years, we were nigh on impossible to tell apart: white sneakers, blue jeans, and matching tee shirts except on Sundays. Then it was black dress shoes, dark blue slacks, and white dress shirts¡ªties, for some reason, not required.


    Then high school and puberty made things much easier for others. To Alexandra¡¯s great chagrin, she had inherited the genes for my mother¡¯s prominent bustline (and to my great relief, I, of course, didn¡¯t. My manly pride was spared!). Even though the rest of her figure was almost nearly as boyishly androgynous as mine¡ªno concave waist, no wide hips, no full rear¡ªthe very real need for a bra separated our appearances.


    Anyway, enough about my sister¡¯s boobs; we have a game to get to!

 vol. 1: Character Creation 1

    Dinner, dessert, and doing the dishes were all done by a bit before eight. Even though the indoor chores were mine, my twin assisted by drying and putting away the dishes. I suppose that meant I¡¯ll need to help her rake or bag leaves when autumn rolls around. There wasn¡¯t much to do, but our chatting actually made it take longer than normal, mostly because of the gesturing that accompanied the chatting. She was perhaps even more excited for the game than I, but then again, it¡¯ll be a whole new world for her to explore. Lots of new outdoors¡ªeven if there probably wouldn¡¯t be any bicycles. Still, she enjoyed hiking, too.


    As the last of the silverware was being put away and the sinks were set to drain, I was actually able to answer one of her questions with hard fact instead of just speculation, ¡°Actually, Lex, it¡¯s not going to be just the rich or the savers who¡¯ll be playing regularly. Sure, some of the people near game centers might be able to spend some hours each night or on the weekend, but there are fifty thousand free pods that were shipped out to winners around the globe, about twenty thousand here in the US and the rest wherever. We didn¡¯t win, no. But there will be more people playing than just the idle rich like we are now. I don¡¯t think their pods get delivered until tomorrow, though.¡±


    With that, we walked upstairs¡ªside by side, so neither of us had to look at the other¡¯s butt¡ªand I showed her to the pod in her room. While she was oohing and aahing over it, I fed the fish and continued with another explanation from information I had learned from browsing the company¡¯s website earlier. ¡°For the first use, it¡¯ll take about an hour for the FIVR pod to synchronize, so since there¡¯s a bit more than an hour until launch, we probably should get to it. And no, you don¡¯t have to get undressed to use it. I don¡¯t know how it works, but it doesn¡¯t work by that sort of touchy-feely feedback.¡±


    As she laid herself down in the pod, I gave her a brotherly kiss on the forehead, ¡°You had a long day, so don¡¯t stay up all night playing, but have fun!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t and I will, now you do the same, Lexy.¡± She smiled at me as the top of the pod swung closed on its hinges, and I headed off to my room and my own pod.


    I changed first, to my own usual sleepwear: a loose pair of seafoam green, soft cotton pajamas with coral-colored piping, drawstring, and buttons. Since the pants lacked a fly and the top lacked a pocket, I guess they may have come from the girls¡¯ side of the store, but they were roomy, comfortable, and a gift from my sister, so I didn¡¯t mind. And I had five pairs exactly the same; I was easy to shop for.


    ¡°Properly¡± dressed, I laid myself in the pod, sinking a little into the strange, squishy grey material it was coated in. It was a bit like, but mostly unlike, a memory foam mattress: a little cool to the touch, but rapidly warming to body temperature. I tucked Luna under my arm. Then, I reached up and pulled the pod closed, and a blackness more profound than just the absence of light surrounded me.


    What followed next was about five minutes of total sensory deprivation which seems long, but I spent it contemplating the choices ahead of me. Despite the lack of initial classes¡ªand indeed, a lack of information about most of the ones named¡ªI was leaning toward an Agility- or Reflexes-based build. I haven¡¯t played an archer-type in any game lately, and the mobility and reflexes should carry over to a fallback dagger if I ended up forced into melee range. Moreover, it seemed like it may be useful for a lot of crafting-type skills, should I want to give any a try. I may be a bit lazy in the real world here, but in games, crafting high-end armor and trinkets has always had a strong appeal. I wonder which impulse will win out¡­?


    Then, a series of faint chimes like a hearing test began to surround me. Concurrent with the sounds, white text flickered in and out of my vision, too quickly for me to read. Then ¡°C a l i b r a t i n g . . .¡± appeared, pulsing between white and a pale seafoam green that matched my pajamas. A few seconds later, a progress bar appeared below the text, showing exactly ¡°2.7182818...%span>¡± before flickering to 3% and slowly, oh so slowly, ticking up by increments of a tenth of a percent.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    At around ten percent, a reverb effect was added to the faint chimes of sound, and I felt a crawling sensation across my skin, as if millions of butterflies were dancing on my body. Five percent further into the calibration and the crawling was replaced with other sensations: waves of hot and cold, tickling, pin pricks, and so on. This continued to around twenty-five percent, when scents were added to the mix.


    Unlike the sensations, many of the scents were pleasant: flowers of all sorts, evergreen needles, citrus fruits, or the crisp salt air of an ocean breeze. Others, however, were much less pleasant: wet dog, composting leaves, skunk, burnt popcorn, or rotten eggs. Suddenly, I was very much not looking forward to when calibration got to the sense of taste.


    This continued full on through fifty percent before various wire-frame shapes began to flicker around me. That¡¯s when I noticed something rather odd. I hadn¡¯t thought about it for the sounds or scents (or really even for the tactile feelings), but the sources were from all around: left and right, up and down, front and back. This became much more noticeable when the shapes for the visual calibration began to flicker around, and I wasn¡¯t limited to just the normal cone of vision. It was very disconcerting to see something that was directly behind ¡°me.¡±


    This, though, wasn¡¯t as bad as it could have been. All of this, even the various feelings of the tactile calibration, was still taking place in the formless blackness where my consciousness floated without an actual body. I could feel some things, but I couldn¡¯t move, nor could I see myself. I guess, without a body to be in the way, there was no reason to not be able to see in all directions.


    At eighty-five percent, the surroundings changed. The background noises, scents, sights, and feelings faded, but I suddenly became aware of sensations I had been missing: weight and gravity and the location and positioning of my limbs and body. I had a body again, and it was my own and wearing the same pajamas I crawled into the pod with. I was lying on a cot in a rather unfinished room; Luna, however, was absent. The room was roughly ten feet by ten feet with a floor of packed dirt and with three of the four walls rough-hewn wood. The ceiling was shrouded in darkness, but the fourth wall (what of it that could be seen) was smooth, black, and faintly glowing, like a gigantic computer monitor. The progress bar filled the screen from left to right, but as I swung my body off the cot and stood up, the progress bar shrunk and moved diagonally up toward the upper left corner of the ¡°screen.¡±


    Then, lines of text filled the screen, stretching nearly wall to wall and shadowy ceiling to dirt floor. It was a bunch of legalese, followed by a brief summary:


    <ul>


    <li>This is not the real world. This is better.</li>


    <li>This is a multiplayer game. You may meet people you don¡¯t like or who don¡¯t like you.</li>


    <li>The majority of the world is for adults only. Players who are minors are restricted to certain protected areas of the world and contact with non-minors is strictly regulated.</li>


    <li>While players must be adults, characters are not required to be so.</li>


    <li>One account per calibrated player. One character per account.</li>


    <li>Questlines to change a character¡¯s race will be added if new playable races are added in future updates.</li>


    <li>RMT through official channels has some protections. RMT outside those channels has no protection.</li>


    <li>Offensive names will be changed. Offensive, harassing behavior may result in punitive measures up to and including termination of the account.</li>


    <li>Respect others; respect yourself; respect the world; have fun.</li>


    </ul>


    And a few other things along those lines. The legalese went into a lot more detail, of course, but I didn¡¯t have the time or inclination to peruse through it. Whoever reads the full EULA, anyways?


    When the progress bar hit ninety percent, I was assaulted by a virtual legion of different tastes, all classifying as various degrees of the five main tastes: sweet, salty, savory, bitter, and sour. They ranged from mildly so to excessively so, and the ¡°too sweet¡± was just as horrid as the ¡°too bitter¡± and ¡°too sour.¡± Many of the assorted spicies weren¡¯t too fun, either.


    Finally, the sensory calibration completed and both the progress bar and the legalese disappeared from the screen. Instead, it was replaced by the silhouette of a small, winged humanoid and the text ¡°Generating A.I. Assistant. Standby for Character Creation.¡±

 vol. 1: Character Creation 2

    As I stood there, puckering up my mouth from a lingering burst of sour from the calibration and wondering just what was coming next, a new sound entered the room. From behind me, a soft feminine voice boldly inquired, ¡°Well, what have we here? Another wannabe adventurer?¡±


    I turned, saw her, and opened my eyes widely in surprise. Hovering at about eye level was a small girl, maybe about six inches tall, with a inquisitive-but-friendly expression on her face. Though her words could have been snide or snarky, they weren¡¯t said in such a manner, and the spark in her tilted eyes and the smile on her coral-coloured lips showed her friendly intentions.


    I couldn¡¯t help staring, though. For while she was a faerie of sorts, she was quite a bit different from the butterfly-winged girls of fantasy art or the winged specks of light from a certain video game franchise. To begin with, she was more mermaid than faerie!


    From a bit below her bellybutton upward, she appeared (mostly) as a normal girl, albeit one quite a bit shorter than average: fair skin, two arms ending in hands, proportionately large breasts (though not overly so), a cute face, and blonde hair almost the shade of mine. Downward, though, where there would be hips and legs and feet, she had the tail of a fish¡ªproportionately wider where a girl would have hips and tapering downward before flaring out in a wide tail fin. Her scales were tiny and delicate, a pale seafoam green that was faintly iridescent and shimmered as if still wet. Her tail fin, the two fins along her sides, and the large wing-like fins on her back were just a shade darker than her scales, and the spines giving them form were coral-colored, like the halter-top bikini top she wore and matching to the coral accents on my pajamas. All in all, her appearance seemed calibrated to be complementary to mine. If my twin¡¯s assist thus appeared in pink and plaid, she may end up having words with me...


    Slack-jawed, I gawked for a long moment before gathering my wits. ¡°Ah, well, I guess you could say that,¡± I responded. ¡°The message said to wait for character creation; are you here to help with that?¡±


    The faerie-slash-mermaid fluttered her not-quite-wings and floated closer until she was a bare two handwidths from my face, and with that the irreverent half-formed query of my sister¡¯s faerie¡¯s appearance fluttered away. Or, rather, half-formed thoughts were superceded by the fully formed faerie in front of me. ¡°That, and more.¡± She then peered into my eyes. ¡°Possibly much more.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ what¡­?¡± I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not at my brightest when distracted by a pair of well-proportioned faerie breasts right in front of my face. Well, a little lower than eye-level, since since she was looking me eye-to-eye, but still¡­.


    With a giggle and a hint of a wink, she fluttered backward to a more reasonable conversational distance. ¡°Besides character creation,¡± she explained, ¡°we AI assistants help you adventurers with all sorts of behind-the-scenes stuff: inventory management, quest log updates, experience tracking, bug reports, the menus.... You know, all the meta stuff that makes Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online a game rather than just a digital playground. We help manage your home instance, and if the adventurer gets a certain feat, we can even join him or her in the world as a companion.¡± Forestalling that description from giving my distracted mind the wrong impression, she clarified, ¡°Think ¡®witch¡¯s familiar,¡¯ but without the whole ¡®deal with the devil¡¯ contract part.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± I nodded. ¡°Well, then, how should I cal¡ª ah, address you? ¡®Miss Assistant¡¯ or ¡®Madame Mermaid¡¯ don¡¯t seem especially polite. Speaking of which, do the other assistants look like you? My sister is playing, but she¡¯s not really big into mermaids.¡±


    She smiled, but a little wryly. ¡°To answer your second question first, no. Each AI assistant is generated by a complex algorithm that takes into account user appearance and preferences as determined during the synchronization process. With no small amount of randomness for good measure. As for my name,¡± she continued, ¡°my system designation would be mostly meaningless to you, and human speech and auditory systems are not really configured to process the language of my people. I will take a name to complement yours when your character is created.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll accept that your system identification is probably a long sequence of letters and numbers¡­¡±


    ¡°Four hundred and eighty-four hex-encoded alphanumeric,¡± she inserted.


    ¡°...but I¡¯d still like to hear your proper name before you go renaming yourself for my benefit. If that¡¯s okay?¡±


    She giggled again, sounding a fair bit younger than her figure suggested, but if she was only created moments ago when I started logging in, I guess she would be relatively young. ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡± What followed was a stream of chirps, trills, and clicks that hovered just at and maybe above the upper limit of frequencies I could hear. It was almost more felt or sensed than strictly heard. It was probably meaningful and poetic to a dolphin, whale, bat, ¡­ or another mermaid-faerie hybrid. However, to me it was just as meaningless as if she had recited her system identification. Prettier, I¡¯m sure, the way birdsong is, but unintelligible.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡ªWell, I¡¯m sorry. You were right. I didn¡¯t understand anything, and probably didn¡¯t even hear all of it, but it sounded pretty.¡± I pouted slightly, ¡°I wish I could have understood it, though.¡±


    She smiled at the implied compliment but then her expression took a serious turn. ¡°That could be possible,¡± she nodded slowly, ¡°but it would require you to give me permission to modify your hivatar, and there are costs associated.¡±


    ¡°Hivatar?¡± I hadn¡¯t heard the word before, nor had it been in the information I had browsed today.


    ¡°The word ¡®hivatar¡¯ is short for ¡®home instance avatar.¡¯¡± I don¡¯t know how she did it, but a chalkboard replaced the shiny monitor wall and she used two colors of chalk, pink and white, to write things out and draw diagrams, as if she were a school teacher. She even was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses and had her hair up in a severe bun. The bikini top spoiled the schoolmarm presentation, however.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°The home instance is a place between the non-virtual world and the game world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online. It is not the game world but it is still virtual reality. The home instance serves as a buffer and allows players to take care of game-related tasks such as creating game avatars, checking contact list and messaging, reading patch notes, and the like.¡± She went on for a bit longer, explaining that banned or financially-suspended players could still access the home instance but not the game and that the the home instance was private to each player and his or her AI assistant.


    ¡°If I understand you correctly, I naturally log in looking like I do when I climb into the FIVR pod, but that can be changed for a cost, the game¡¯s version of non-pay-to-win, cosmetic microtransactions, and the home instance can be changed the same way plus through various rewards earned in-game?¡±


    ¡°Very good, B-plus answer.¡± She drew a smiley-face, a star, and a B+ on the chalkboard.


    ¡°Not an ¡®A¡¯?¡± I inquired.


    ¡°Say instead ¡®macrotransactions,¡¯ and your answer would have been better. Also remember that hivatar customization can only be done once every one-hundred and eighty-two point five non-virtual calendar days, with a cost dependent on the scale of customization. Purchases for the home instance are likewise limited, but to a currency amount rather than just once.¡±


    ¡°To prevent people from spending too much too quickly?¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Studies have shown that a sizable number of players in other games grow disillusioned and quit when there is not a limit on purchases using non-virtual currency. Therefore, the limits.¡± She fluttered her wings and drifted over from the chalkboard to me. As she did so, both the wall and her appearance returned to normal. Well, if a diminutive winged mermaid could ever be considered ¡®normal.¡¯


    ¡°What is the limit, then? And, wait, that chalkboard didn¡¯t cost me, did it?¡±


    She giggled again and shook her head. Honestly, some others might find a giggle rather than a regular laugh to quickly get annoying, but I found it cute and endearing. ¡°It was a transient manifestation to illustrate a point. It has no more a cost than the interfaces you will use to create a character. And the limit currently is,¡± a slight almost unnoticeable pause followed; perhaps she was doing a behind-the-scenes query or calculation. ¡°Two thousand, forty-eight dollars; that is a maximum cost of one thousand, twenty-four dollars for hivatar customization and the current maximum cap of one thousand, twenty-four dollars for home instance purchases. Knowing this, do you still wish to allow me permission to modify your hivatar? The payment will be deducted from your financial institution of record.¡±


    I blinked, a bit taken back. True, for a millionaire, a mere thousand dollars shouldn¡¯t seem like too much, but I had grown up poor, and instincts are still instincts. Furthermore, even thousands add up quickly if spent frivolously. It only takes a thousand of them to make a million, after all.


    She fluttered around as I hesitated, ¡°You don¡¯t need to make an immediate decision. Besides, you really should begin to create your character for the game world. Remember, the company¡¯s product and what they want you to spend your time in is the world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online and not the home instance buffer between the non-virtual and the game worlds.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s okay. I was just considering things. I don¡¯t have to spend to customize the instance yet, and that will be unlocked via gameplay anyway. I can afford a thousand or so to be able to understand your language and speak your name properly while I¡¯m in between worlds. It¡¯s only polite.¡±


    As I said that, a holographic screen appeared in front of me. It was pale seafoam green bordered with pink, which the game apparently decided were my colors, and the text was predominately white outlined in a much darker seafoam green to provide contrast:


    Please confirm the following transaction:


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Authorization for hivatar modification (quantity 1/1) -- cost $1024</li>


    </ul>


    WARNING: This purchase is time-limited. A countdown of 4,380 hours will begin after payment, and subsequent purchases of this customization option will not be allowed until the countdown expires.


    Both the word ¡®warning¡¯ in its all-caps and the number of hours were in red. Below the text were two buttons, one for ¡®authorize payment and permission¡¯; the other for ¡®cancel transaction.¡¯


    Decisively, despite my earlier hesitation, I tapped on the button to authorize. There was a brief animation of an hourglass spinning while the company¡¯s servers contacted my bank to process the payment; then, the window updated to show the payment was accepted and the countdown had started. Simultaneously, the AI assistant spoke.


    ¡°To confirm, you wish to authorize me to modify your hivatar so that you are able to speak, hear, and comprehend the language of my people?¡± She smiled, but there was a hint of mischief sparkling in her eyes, as if she knew something I didn¡¯t. Well, beyond all the obvious stuff, anyway.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded, and in an instant, things were vastly different. There were no sparkles of pink and seafoam, no spotlight beams of light, no sudden upsurge of theme music, or anything else to signify a change. But she was now a little bigger than I ¡­ or, rather, I was a little smaller than her. Startled, I looked down at myself, and saw ¡­ a girl who could have been the AI assistant¡¯s little sister or younger cousin. Where the AI had scales and fins of pale seafoam green, mine were closer to pink than coral. Where she had coral accents, mine were a slightly darker seafoam. Where she wore a halter-top bikini, I wore a pink bandeau that sparkled like silk woven with starlight. We both were blonde, and while hers was loose and free, mine was in a high ponytail and tied off with an overlarge pink ribbon.


    While the bandeau was probably clue enough, the smallish curves it concealed made things indisputable. While I was closer to flat than to the AI assistant¡¯s curves, I was definitely a mermaid rather than a merman! Argh, my manly pride!


    I looked toward her, a glance that was probably more than half pout, and she responded to my implied question. It took a moment for my mind to catch on, but she wasn¡¯t speaking in English and I was understanding it, despite the trills, clicks, chirps, and other sounds of her decidedly non-human language.


    <You wished to speak, hear, and comprehend the language of my kin,> The name she gave for her race translated as ¡°The people of sea and sky,¡± <and the most efficient and effective way to do so was to modify your hivatar to be one of The People.> With a giggle, she continued, <We are an almost entirely female race, so of course your modified hivatar is as well. Anyway, now we can be properly introduced.>


    She flew close and, hovering, flared wings and fins, introducing herself in her language. It would translate to English roughly as <Light of the Three Moons on the Beach of the Silver Lagoon; Jasmine and Lily Fragrances on the Evening Breeze,> but I understood it without needing to mentally translate. And, I was right; the name was both poetic and meaningful.


    Then she named me. <Now, in this home instance, you are not your yet-unmade character nor are you Alexander Lynn Taylor of the non-virtual world. Cousin, I name you ¡°Starlight and Moonlight Playing on the White Sands at the Horizon of Sea and Sky.¡± Shall we create your character now?>

 vol. 1: Character Creation 3

    I started to answer, but then a realization struck me. I was flying. With a near giggle of my own, I did an aerial backflip followed by something akin to a pirouette. Then, I grabbed Jasmine (as I mentally referred to her¡ªher full name being too long to use except when speaking to her) by her hands and twirled her about, though without the ground to interfere, it was more like we both twirled around a mutual axis.


    <I¡¯m flying! I can fly!> This time, the laugh wasn¡¯t just a near giggle; it was a full-fledged, honest-to-goodness, girlish giggle. In mild embarrassment, my cheeks colored a bit pink to match my scales and bandeau, but I shook my head, released her hands, and flew another loop around her. <This is soooo weird, and yet ¡­ and yet it¡¯s not weird at all. Flying, this body, it all seems perfectly natural even if everything is so very drastically different. And, I think it¡¯s a bit weird that it¡¯s not weird, if that makes sense.>


    <Of course it seems natural,> Jasmine replied, taking on the intonation she used when explaining earlier, though she forewent the chalkboard and other schoolmarmish accouterments. <The home instance is virtual reality just like the game world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online is. Out in the non-virtual world, how many people have swung a sword, picked a lock, cast a spell, crafted armor, or been elves, beastkin, or undead? In the virtual world, your character¡¯s skills or class or so on may allow you to do things you couldn¡¯t in the non-virtual world, otherwise it would very quickly not be fun. Anyone without a [Long Blades] skill, for instance would have difficulties using a sword in combat¡ªunless he or she had prior training, but one of the bonuses of having an equipped skill is the ability to use that skill. It progresses as the skill levels up, conveying not just game bonuses but increased competence with the weapon.


    <Bodies are a little different but a little the same, too. Presumably, every player is a human in the non-virtual world, but they will be able to be different races after they create their characters and enter into the game¡¯s world. And, in some cases,> she winked at me, <even before they do so. It ¡°seems perfectly natural¡± for you to be one of The People because it is ¡°perfectly natural.¡± Likewise, all the new elves, dwarves, draconic, undead, and other races will not feel out of place in their new bodies. All the underlying mechanics for things like body locomotion, spatial awareness, and proprioception are handled by the game systems. It would not be good for the game if a large percentage of the players was constantly suffering from body dysphoria.>


    She had a point. And yet ¡­ if it felt natural to be a five-and-a-half-inch-tall flying mermaid because it was natural, what did that say about when I returned to reality? Honestly, it didn¡¯t even really bother me to be a girl, though perhaps with all the other things that this hivatar entailed, femininity was the least significant change upon my body. The ¡°mer-¡± was really more prominent than the ¡°-maid,¡± so to speak. But since this now felt natural, would being myself when I logged out feel unnatural?


    Even with those thoughts shadowing my mind, however, I wouldn¡¯t¡ªcouldn¡¯t¡ªlog out before even logging in all the way. It just wouldn¡¯t be right. Besides ¡­, I glanced down at myself ¡­ the damage was already done, if damage it really was.


    Still speaking in the trills, clicks, and song-like sounds of her musical language (which was now mine, too), I shrugged, <I guess that makes sense. Anyway, Cousin, let¡¯s see about creating my character!>


    She flew with me toward the anachronistic glass wall of the dirt-floored hut. She gestured, and sparkles like pixie dust flew from her fingers to the screen. <Show-off,> I murmured, but she just giggled softly.


    ¡°G E N E R A T I N G D E F A U L T  C H A R A C T E R F O R M . . .¡± filled the screen, and motes of light not too dissimilar from Jasmine¡¯s pixie dust started swirling in a pillar, evincing a certain classic sci-fi transporter beam. But they never resolved into a figure, and the screen text switched to blinking ¡°E R R O R !¡± in a bright red and overly large font. For a long moment, the text looked a little off, and I was having difficulty distinguishing where one letter ended and another began, despite the monospace font and wide kerning; then I realized something: the text was in English, which was not the language I was currently speaking nor, apparently, thinking in.


    Both Jasmine and I frowned, but before either of us could say anything, the message expanded into something a little more clarifying and a lot better formatted, but still just as difficult for me to make out:


    Unhandled exception at line 2,005 in vr.heraldic_echo.new_player_experience


    Exception originated in Routine()._Generate_Default_From_Appearance()If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Non-playable races (_raceID #5F9EA0) cannot be selected.


    AI.Mediator(¡°Aurora¡±) recommends continuing with _raceID #F1A1E4.


    Error logged. Escalated to GM Nazhai. Estimated wait time: 72 seconds. Please stand by. We apologize for the inconvenience.


    <Well¡­?> I looked at my own AI assistant who should, in theory, be able to interpret a bit more than I. At the very least, the names and ID numbers should mean something to her.


    <Well, this is unexpected,> she began. <Our race¡ªmine and the race of your new hivatar¡ªis not available for adventurers in Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online. Essentially female-only, males are less than one in ten-thousand, it cannot be opened up for adventurers in the game. Either it¡¯d have to be unfair with being gender-locked to only female avatars or there¡¯d be way too many males swimming around. But I think it¡¯s simpler than that. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different races. A very good many of them are faerie which is where we assistants come from, but plenty others would confer significant balance problems. Giants, for instance, or actual dragons could cause problems. On the other side, minor monster races like Ratkin or Goblins really would put new adventurers at a significant disadvantage. Even beyond that, there¡¯s already dozens of different races and subraces for adventurers, and balancing those took a lot of time. Hundreds more would probably be ¡­ difficult.>


    <So¡­? What¡¯s the hold-up? Shouldn¡¯t it just default everyone to human to begin with? It¡¯s not like elves or orcs will be coming in from the real world.> I kept one eye on the screen as we were talking, and while the time had been ticking down, it had paused when it had hit fourteen seconds remaining, but a new line of text noted that the GM was reviewing the incident.


    <I believe that¡¯s the intent, Cousin. Here,> she tapped the word ¡°appearance¡± on the screen, <it seems that the system creates the default character model based on your non-virtual-world appearance, like how you appeared in the home instance initially. This would let new adventurers get right to the game if they didn¡¯t want to spend any time customizing their appearance or changing their race. But they must not have considered that someone might modify his or her hivatar before creating a game avatar.>


    She was about to say more, but at that moment, a new voice intruded into the conversation. It was soft and high-pitched yet nevertheless carried a tone of authority, ¡°That¡¯s not quite correct. It was anticipated that such hivatar modifications would be fairly minor and not an impediment to character creation: younger, fitter, more attractive, or even crossgendered hivatars were the assumption.¡±


    I was initially a bit surprised at the voice intruding since Jasmine¡¯s earlier explanation had mentioned that a home instance was private to the player and AI assistant, but perhaps the rules didn¡¯t apply to the game¡¯s support staff. Besides situations like this, there might be other reasons a GM might need to visit a home instance. Despite the surprise, we both turned around as she was speaking. And the speaker was HUGE. Well, at least she seemed so from my point of view and perspective. How quickly I had forgotten that I was now just under six inches tall... The presumed GM only seemed huge. In actuality, she was probably average sized, maybe a little shorter. Pretty, in that girl-next-door manner, and dressed as a maid (for whatever reason) in a long black dress and apron¡ªshe nevertheless was a bit intimidating, perhaps because of the vast difference in sizes. Or perhaps it was because she was obviously of partial feline stock, with a swishing tail and flicking ears as black as her shoulder-length hair. After all, I was close enough to part fish at the moment, so perhaps she was intimidating in the way that prey considers predators to be.


    She kept on speaking, apparently oblivious to my apprehension. ¡°None of that should pose a problem for the routine. However, Mediator Aurora was quite put out that no one had considered what to do for a fringe case like yours. We are implementing her suggestion; it¡¯s a relatively easy fix, and there¡¯s not likely to be any issue with complaints from those who want to just hop into the game without any adjustments. After all,¡± she leaned forward and winked, ¡°anyone who¡¯s likely to modify their hivatar this extensively before logging in is also likely to spend at least some time tweaking a character before hopping right into the action, right?¡±


    Even though she wasn¡¯t speaking the same language as I was now and even though her accent was a little odd, I somehow had no problems understanding her. Regardless, I had to concentrate in order to answer her in English. ¡°I ¡­ I suppose so. You must be a GM. Nazhai, was it? What do I do now?¡±


    She actually curtsied. ¡°That¡¯s me, GM Nazhai, at your service...in a manner of speaking of course.¡± That was said with a wink as she rose from the curtsey. Then, she continued, ¡°What you do now is wait five, maybe ten minutes. The fix is easy, trivial even, but it still has to run through QA, and that takes a little bit of time, even with all hands on deck for the launch. In compensation for your lost time, you¡¯ll find a little something extra in your character¡¯s inventory when you do make it in to ECHO. I believe you¡¯ll also be entitled to a bug-finder¡¯s bounty, too, but that comes from a different department.¡±


    She walked over to the screen and swiped the error message away. Or, rather, wiped the error message away with a polishing rag. It was a bit incongruous to see a maid attempting to clean something when the floor was packed dirt. It actually made me feel a little ashamed about the appearance of the home instance¡ªlike having company over and serving dinner on paper plates while the dirty dishes are piled in the sink. ¡°It¡¯s pretty rare for something to dump out an error message like that, too. That might count as a second bug; I¡¯ll pass it on. Anyway, take care, Miss. When the avatar appears,¡± she pointed to a timer on the screen giving an ETA of 342 seconds, ¡°feel free to customize it as much as you like.¡±


    Then she curtsied once again, turned, and disappeared.

 vol. 1: Character Creation 4

    With nothing else to do but wait for a few minutes, I did what just about anyone else in my situation would do. I practiced flying.


    Well, perhaps practice isn¡¯t quite the right word. Since the form and thus flying felt natural, I just flew, engaging in aerobatic nonsense while Jasmine indulgently watched. Flight was, well, magical.


    Not just figuratively, but also literally. My wings flapped, but they weren¡¯t exactly lifting or propelling me. It was almost like a directed hover. I could even fly backwards, albeit at a significantly reduced speed.


    The hut of the home instance just wasn¡¯t large enough to build up any real speed. Inertia still was a thing and, despite the flight feeling more like hovering, turning wasn¡¯t instantaneous¡ªas I discovered by nearly crashing into my AI assistant. Only her own reflexes saved us from a compromising tangle.


    While I couldn¡¯t build up much speed, I was able to match about what I thought would have been a fast walking speed for my regular self, and felt like I could go faster. Maybe if I had room to build up, I could have matched a running speed. However, I doubt I would have matched my more athletic sister.


    Not that there was any chance of a race, like this.


    Before too long, the monitor wall emitted a ¡°ping¡± sound, flickered, and returned to its earlier message about generating a default characterform. A low hum filled the hut, reverberating off the walls, and the pillar of light once again formed front and center. This time, however, it resolved into a figure.


    And what a figure it was.


    She was short (well, from my perspective, tall), barely over five feet in height, but she was all voluptuous curve like a plump hourglass. Deeply tanned, but beneath long-lashed emerald-green eyes, she had a dusting of freckles that hinted at a fairer-skinned nature. Triangular ears that seemed more demonic than elfin poked out from the sides of her head, almost completely obscured by rich brown waves of hair that reached nearly to the floor and would be entirely impractical for any sort of wandering around a virtual world.


    She was dressed somewhat plainly, in a basic short-sleeve and calf-length dress that nevertheless was rendered borderline provocative by the figure it concealed. For all that the cut and fabric was plain¡ªperhaps all newly created female characters wore a dress of a similar nature (which suggested yet more sisterly future complaints)¡ªthe color was a match to the pink of the bandeau I wore now, though without the silvery glittery strands woven in. Her footwear was even more impractical: a style of sandals that left her feet mostly bare, with the sole of the shoes held on by two x-shaped crisscrossing sets of straps across the foot and about half a dozen crisscrossing up the calf.


    <Um¡­> I was nearly speechless. <That is what was determined closest to my new hivatar?>


    <Well¡­> The assistant sounded slightly hesitant. <She is of the Faetouched Archetype, which is logical, but I think an Undine would have made more sense than a Tallemaja. This,> she gestured at the image of the proposed character, <is more a creature of field and forest whereas Undine are aquatic. But maybe¡­?> She paused and looked at me.


    <¡¯Maybe¡¯ what?>


    <I think I see the logic. Talemaja are generally non-combatants and are usually highly social individuals due to their enhanced Charisma. My guess is that Mediator Aurora extrapolated a more social playstyle for you due to your apparent request to change your hivatar in order to enhance your communication abilities. Here, take a look at the racial traits.>


    With a gesture and more sparkling motes of light, she called forth an array of status screens around the proposed game character. Most of them had sliders and customization options, but the largest one on the left came forward a little and displayed text. Again, it was in English, and again I had to focus on reading it.


    Mystic Aura (Tallemaja): Vulnerability: Iron. Expertise: Charisma. Aura: Woodland Allure.


    The screen, like the one I had used to confirm my hivatar customization purchase, was a touchscreen in pink-bordered pale seafoam. Via touch commands, I was able to expand information about the racial trait.


    Vulnerability: Each Faetouched Archetype has an innate weakness to a certain metal. They are unable to wear, carry, or touch items crafted from the metal they are vulnerable to. This extends to ore and ingots. Additionally, any damage dealt to the Faetouched Archetype by such metal is automatically critical. Tallemaja are vulnerable to iron.


    Expertise: Each Faetouched Archetype has an innate affinity to one attribute. All checks made against this attribute have reduced difficulty and all gains (permanent or temporary) to this attribute are increased by 10%. Tallemaja have expertise in Charisma.


    Aura: Each Faetouched Archetype has a toggle aura perk. When the aura is toggled on, the Faetouched Archetype gains a 50% bonus to magical resistance, a 50% penalty to physical resistance and a subrace specialty. Tallemaja have Woodland Allure which causes non-sapient creatures native to forest, field, swamp, and stream to not view the Tallemaja as hostile without cause. Sapient creatures from such environments are more likely to view the Talemaja as friendly.


    My eyes got wider and wider as I read more and more about the character¡¯s traits. <No way! Some of that is way too powerful, even if it is ¡°balanced¡± by such a critical weakness.>


    A bonus to attribute gain is effectively a bonus to experience and character level, provided the primary skills boosted that attribute, and a ten percent boost was quite a bit more than the Adaptability trait for the Human Archetypes that I had been considering. Granted, Adaptability was an across-the-board five percent boost in experience gain, so that would affect leveling all skills whereas Expertise only affected one attribute and the boost occurred after leveling up¡­.


    Then there was that aura. Probably not so good in combat because of the reduced physical resistances, but a very big boost to magical resistance could be situationally very useful. And that was the minor portion of the aura. With the aura on, a Tallemaja could go just about everywhere without worrying about being attacked since the monsters wouldn¡¯t view her as a threat.


    As if she were reading my thoughts¡ªwhich perhaps she was capable of given the role of an AI assistant in a virtual reality¡ªJasmine spoke up. <Actually, if you look, there are still pretty big limitations on the aura. The other Archetypes cover other environments, so a Tallemaja isn¡¯t immune to threats from underground, aquatic, or certain magical creatures. Additionally, it doesn¡¯t guarantee an effect on those that can think for themselves. Banditry can be a big problem for those that choose to dwell alone in the woods, so don¡¯t think of it as a form of invulnerability.>


    <Yeah, and most dungeons in games tend to be underground, so it wouldn¡¯t help there. But it still looks like it would be very good for someone who just wants to explore, like my twin, maybe. But ¡­ even though everything else is really powerful, that vulnerability is devastating. No iron means no steel, too, and together that rules out an awful lot of weapons and armor.>


    She nodded, <Again, most Tallemaja are non-combatants, so the lack of such does not affect them as much. But I would not expect you would find many working as blacksmiths.>


    <Or merchants,> I added. <Even though extra Charisma and the ability to travel relatively safely would be helpful for that role. Not being able to buy or sell weapons and armor puts a major damper on their economic potential.>


    While we were talking, I was playing around with the other screens, examining the customization options available, and they were myriad. I toyed with hair color and length, making it a more manageable length, just light blonde locks barely brushing her shoulders, adjusted the angle of her eyes and length of her lashes, and tweaked her physique.


    Well, if tweaking can be defined as moving the sliders to either extreme, restoring to the initial settings, and adjusting from there. The game allowed a figure that ranged from a girlish waif to a full-figured matron whose curves were probably just on the other side of the line separating realistic from unrealistic¡ªfor fantasy art standards. In the end, she was a little taller than before with a bit less hip and a bit more bust. Then I toggled the character across to male. Even if my hivatar is a girl now, that doesn¡¯t mean I want to spend the whole game as one. I do still have my manly pride!


    But one glance at the boy-band pop-star physique of the male Tallemaja, and I quickly toggled him back to the female form I had been tweaking.


    Objectively, I knew men could be attractive¡ªI wasn¡¯t bad-looking, myself¡ªand I was (I thought) secure enough in my own sexuality to even be able to admit that some men were attractive. But what I wasn¡¯t prepared for was to actually and not just in theory be attracted. Cheeks flushed and fanning myself, I looked again at the disparate customization screens I had been working with, <Okay, maybe a different Archetype first, one not specialized in Charisma!>


    Behind me, Jasmine giggled, <The Undine have Agility as their Expertise, if that helps. Remember, after you are done customizing your game world avatar, tap her...or him...to launch the tutorial and enter the world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online.>


    For me, that settled it. She could read my thoughts. Throughout the day, I had been mulling the options I would have for a character and playstyle, and had tentatively decided on an Agility-focused character, a damage-dealer with a bow and back-up set of blades. Granted, archery did have its drawbacks, but being able to hit from a distance was a significant benefit in a game where pain tolerance was part of the effect of a sta- ah, attribute. Willpower would definitely get many of the AP as I leveled.


    <It does help. Thank you. So what do you do while I¡¯m playing? Just watch and manage the behind-the-scenes stuff?> After she nodded, I continued. <And when I¡¯m logged out and in the real world?>


    Meanwhile, I found the racial archetype and subrace portion of the interface and switched from ¡°Faetouched: Tallemaja¡± to ¡°Faetouched: Undine.¡± The character model morphed in front of me, becoming thinner, taller, and vaguely serpentine. Her curves were much less pronounced, but still enough to not be androgynous. Her coloration changed, too: tanned skin to pale, and short blonde hair to a longer, flowing black that billowed out behind her like a hooded serpent. She was still pretty, but was no longer the eye-catching, jaw-dropping, voluptuous beauty that the Tallemaja had been. Instead, the Undine was slender, sinuous, and subtly sinister. The displayed character had gone from the Cheerleader Archetype to the Goth Archetype, and I tweaked her starter dress to black to reflect that. Pink just did not work for her. Following that, I toggled her back to male and was decidedly relieved that I didn¡¯t encounter the same near-swoon I had with the male Tallemaja. So it wasn¡¯t that my mind was changed so that things other than flying and being in the body were ¡°natural.¡± It was just that Tallemaja¡¯s Charisma had that effect...even when it wasn¡¯t an actual character yet.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    <Oh, you know, stuff.> She was surprisingly noncommittal.


    <In other words, you stay here and are a bit bored?>


    <I would not put it quite that way.>


    I cut her off, addressing her with her full name and continued, <This home instance is really more your home than it is mine. I just visit it, right, on my way to and from the real world and the game world. What I mean to say is, as I unlock customization options via gameplay, go ahead and decorate as you want. You don¡¯t need to get my permission.>


    A confirmation window interspersed itself between me and the customization screens, and I tapped accept and brushed it away after a brief skim through, confirming that I wanted to allow the AI assistant access to customize the home instance on her own, with a budget cap set at 0% of real money transactions and 100% of game-generated rewards.


    She gasped and was uncharacteristically speechless, finally stammering a <Th-thank you!> as I continued playing with the customization options.


    What followed next was a fair bit of chatter and a whole assortment of characters, starting with buxom or buff elf archetypes (besides staying human for Adaptability, being an elf for early access to a spell was probably very powerful, especially for people who haven¡¯t yet specialized into a casting class). The Tale¡¯a¡¯Dine, or Dark Elves, were probably my favorite from the bunch. Their subrace trait gave them access to a once daily area of effect pacify, basically rendering everyone or everything nearby as non-hostile as well as wiping their threat lists. I played with making the guy look a barroom bouncer and the gal like a tavern wench, at least so much as the very limited initial clothing customization allowed, imagining that their racial ability would be very beneficial for those lines of work. Well, not that I planned on either for myself, but an AoE pacify would be almost as useful out in the wild and unsettled lands as the Faetouched Archetypes¡¯ ability to be viewed as non-hostile.


    The Ria¡¯Dine, or Wood Elves, and their once daily racial stealth were also appealing, turning my agility-based archer proto-concept into more of a hunter. I suppose that would also be possible for a Tallemaja, but wouldn¡¯t it just be, well, wrong to hunt down animals who were magically affected to not view the hunter as a threat?


    The other elves¡ªHigh, Sea, and Arctic¡ªhad their own subtle differences in appearance and less subtle differences in traits, but honestly¡­.if you see one elf (or a dozen elves!), you¡¯ve seen them all. A top-heavy Na¡¯Dine isn¡¯t that much different from a top-heavy Ria¡¯Dine or a waify Qo¡¯Dine from a waify Tale¡¯a¡¯Dine. Hair styles, physiques, coloration, etc¡ªand I played around with a lot of options¡ªbut an elf is still an elf. There were other racial archetypes to experiment with.


    The various Dwarf Archetype clans were probably not much suited for agility, but their customization options allowed for the short, stocky, and burly options common in games and stories to short, thin, and cutesy¡ªmore of what I would consider halflings or gnomes from other game and story settings. Female Dwarfs, unlike most of the other races, were even allowed facial hair settings. I spent a long while customizing one of the Rockhammer Clan subrace: her long, voluminous red beard, forked and braided, reached her knees and did a more than adequate job of concealing her well-proportioned figure. She even sported a magnificent handlebar mustache.


    I avoided the Undead Archetypes other than making a quick ghost and confirming there were no vampires as a subrace. I doubted that a Zombie or Mummy subrace could be made appealing even with all the customization options available, but the ghost was a slightly translucent, tow-headed young boy I immediately named Caspar (and just as immediately erased the name).


    I was able to craft a human that looked just like I normally do, then one that looked like this flying mermaid form had become a human. I even managed to make one look much like my sister, mostly by toggling the one resembling me to female and increasing the bust. However, I moved on to other characters fairly quickly: it was a bit unnatural and more than a little creepy to consider playing a character based on my twin¡¯s appearance. I did, however, get to see what I would look like with more Asian features or with darker skin as if from an African heritage than my own northern European ancestry.


    Neither the Golem Archetypes nor Draconic Archetypes interested me much despite their bonuses. In addition to being elementally aligned, the six Draconic subraces each received a bonus to a certain profession, such as blacksmithing or weaving. It struck me as a little limiting to have such a bonus hard-coded to a subrace. How many Stoneshapers, who receive a bonus to artificing, would go on to become blacksmiths or gardeners? In contrast, the Golem Archetypes were also profession focused, able to start with a production tradeskill that didn¡¯t take a primary or secondary skill slot, but they received little other from their traits besides a boost to their subrace¡¯s preferred attribute.


    More importantly, I couldn¡¯t craft an appearance that interested me. Neither the scaled hides and nonfunctional leathery wings of the Draconics nor the stone or metal bodies of the Golems were something that I was interested in.


    Jasmine suggested that I look at the Harpy Archetypes because their trait was Winged Flight, but they gave up a lot for that bonus. The vulnerability that the Tallemaja had to iron seemed trivial compared to the Harpies¡¯ penalties. They had wings, true, but they had wings instead of arms. The lack of arms and hands would significantly limit their equipment options. No weapons, shields, rings, bracelets, gauntlets, enchanted gloves, or so on. It reinforced Jasmine¡¯s earlier point on why this hivatar of mine wasn¡¯t a playable race. What disadvantages, other than no legs and a diminutive size, would balance out our manner of flight?


    Still, I played around with the Harpy customization options for a bit longer, just to see what the game allowed. And, in a way, they had much, much more variety than most of the other archetypes for one simple reason. Plumage. For someone willing to spend a lot of time at it, each individual feather could be separately colored. I didn¡¯t go to quite that extent, but I did have three Harpies that I was rather proud of. The first was a young female with white-speckled brown plumage and fuschia hair in a short reverse bob. The second was an older, more distinguished male with flowing grey hair and robin-like coloration. And third was a corvid, black feathers shading to indigo at the tips and a set of curves to nearly rival the Tallemaja. I guess in a fantasy world, magic trumps physics for aerodynamics.


    That left the Beastkin Archetypes to experiment with while I tried to decide between Elf and Human Archetypes for my actual character. The Yonaxi were bear-like, with rounded ears and short stubby tails, both easily concealed depending on attire and hairstyles. Even though they tended to buffer or more bulky builds, with traits that enhanced their lifting and carrying capacity, the customization options still allowed them to be slender. I giggled as I customized a diminutive girl with Asian features and named her Pandachan. But with a moment¡¯s reflection, I decided that was probably racist¡ªreal world racist¡ªand swiped the name away and the subrace to Lapis.


    Still a bit self-conscious about my earlier misstep, I didn¡¯t take the time to customize the rabbit-based subrace quite the way I otherwise would have, though I bet there will probably be quite a few ¡°not naughty, just customized that way¡± red-headed rabbit girls in the game¡¯s future.


    Still dwelling on whether I had been wrong or not, I had difficulty focusing on the customization, and even toggling the Lapis to male didn¡¯t help, so I resolved to wrap up my experimentation with one more character before starting to work in earnest in how I wanted to appear in the game¡¯s world.


    I had played around with all the archetypes¡ªsome more extensively than others¡ªeven if I didn¡¯t delve into all the subraces. In most cases, they weren¡¯t that different in appearance from their Archetypal cousins: dwarves and elves and humans are dwarves and elves and humans no matter what. But the Beastkin were like the Faetouched and Undead in that each subrace had a very distinctive appearance.


    From Lapis, I went to Tauros, and was greeted with a massive, burly, dark-skinned, tall, tall, so very tall man who would have given the famed Minotaur of myth an insecurity complex. His bovine appearance was limited to a black-tufted tail, black bovine ears, and a truly impressive set of horns. Well, and his size and musculature.


    I tweaked him down and down to a slender and short youth, then toggled him across to a girl. Since this was to be the penultimate character, the last before I created myself as a human or elf, I took my time with her and got involved enough with the customization that my earlier unsettled thoughts faded to the background.


    I made her short. Well, she was still many times taller than my hivatar was, but if she stood on tiptoes, she might reach four-eight. With her short stature, I made her a bit childlike in appearance, too. Her berry brown face was a bit rounded, with hints of so-called baby fat, and her figure was pretty much flat, nearly the diametric opposite of the Tallemaja the game had initially generated for me.


    Her large, wide eyes were golden brown, flecked with hints of silver, and I dithered a little on her hair color, trying several shades, hues, and even styles out. Eventually, really dark red¡ªalmost black¡ªhair in short puffy twin ponytails brushed her shoulders. I couldn¡¯t decide between black and carnelian, and thus the deep garnet shade. The tuft of her tail matched, but her bovine ears and the length of her tail were a furred brown, darker than her skin color.


    Then, I went through and played around with the various clothing options, not that there were all that many. The young Tauros went through several assorted dresses of similar styles, a tunic and pants similar to the default outfit that male characters start with, and a variation of the tunic with really short shorts (which, to my eyes, were more like swimwear). Finally, growing aware that I had spent a tremendous amount of time in the character generation process and hadn¡¯t yet even played the game, I settled on customizing the outfit she was currently displaying: a short robe, or maybe a wrap, in an off-white shade, perhaps eggshell or cream. It would have been a sleeveless dress but for the fact that it was open from her neck to the just-below-the-knee hem. So, underneath the robe she got a black band of fabric across her chest, a bandeau in a style like I was currently wearing, and a matching pair of bikini bottoms, low-rise to accommodate her tail.


    At the very top, the dress-slash-robe-slash-whatever was fastened with a small clasp. And lower, it was gathered together and held closed with a dark yellow, goldenrod maybe, sash that was tucked into itself and folded over with the loose ends hanging nearly to her knees and thus concealing most of the gap in fabric below her waist. Finally, a broad headband of the same material as the sash was added, contrasting nicely with her hair and almost matching her eyes. Pinned to the headband was as artificial yellow flower fashioned from a ribbon.


    The last step was to give her a name. I hadn¡¯t named too many of the characters I had created while experimenting, and most of them were names I had immediately regretted and deleted away. I didn¡¯t want a punning name for her; I wanted something that looked and sounded like a real name, something someone would actually name their daughter. Nevertheless, because she was a cow, my mind drifted to names with a ¡°moo¡± sound, like Mulan or Muna, or to things like changing Mary to Moory.


    After discarding a host of such names including Moogaret and Moodelyn, something about the last one caught my attention, and I mentally reverted it back to its proper form: Madelyn.


    Madelyn. That would work for her, but it sounded like an old-fashioned name, something that almost requires a second name to go along with it. Now tired of thinking of names¡ªsomething I have never been that good at¡ªI tacked on a girls¡¯ name that I was intimately familiar with.


    Madelyn Alexis.


    Satisfied, I flew back and did a lazy circle around her, looking the character up and down. <She¡¯s so adorable that I almost hate having to swipe her away to make my own character.> I flew closer. <I hope someone makes a character like you; you¡¯re so cute, you could be everyone¡¯s little sister!> I patted her on the top of her head, not like a pet (despite her animal ears and tail), but like greeting a favorite little niece or like I imagined teasing a little sister. Granted, I had to fly up to reach her head and my hivatar¡¯s hand was much smaller, so it was more like a doll patting her.


    Madelyn Alexis¡¯s character image wavered. The various customization screens popped out of existence. The monitor that comprised the fourth wall of the hut emitted a deeply resonant chime. And I heard Jasmine¡¯s voice behind me. <Character generated. Instancing tutorial and transitioning to game world.>


    The world exploded into silver, pale seafoam, and coral motes of light before I was able to protest.

 vol. 1: Tutorial 1

    After a few seconds of darkness and a sensation of moving, much like sleeping during a car ride, I could see again. And what I saw was flowers ¡­ flowers everywhere. Well, almost everywhere¡ªI was apparently standing on a wooden platform elevated slightly above a meadow full of wildflowers. Roughly the size of the hut my home instance was, the platform bore host to a stereotypical wooden sign, an even more stereotypical wooden treasure chest, and me.


    That treasure chest looked pretty tempting for all that it was a wooden box with leather hinges. If I were to hazard a guess, it likely contained assorted starting equipment: weapons, armor, potions, and maybe a few coins. But first things first, flickering at the lower left of my vision were several pale seafoam green boxes, probably system messages¡­


    No. That¡¯s a second or third thing. First things first. I was standing, not flying, so that meant this was the game and not the home instance. Looking down, I saw a flat chest, white dress, yellow sash, dark legs, and simple white shoes. A fringe of dark red hair floated in front of my eyes when I tilted my head downard. Then, my hands flew to my ears and in passing I saw how small and dainty my hands were, with delicate fingers ending in coral-painted nails. Touch confirmed that my ears were indeed drastically different in shape. And other new sensations made themselves known, not the least was the swishing of my tufted tail, quite a bit different from the tail my mermaid-faerie hybrid of a hivatar had.


    Argh! My manly pride...I¡¯ve loaded into the ECHO as a young Beastkin girl instead of the elf or human guy I was probably going to be. But ¡­ no need to panic; it could be fixed. All I would have to do is log out, delete the character, and start over¡ªthis time only making the character whose body I intended to inhabit instead of playing around with all the character customization options available. While the game is limited to one character per account and one account per person, it had allowed for deleting and restarting. I remembered skimming over that in the slew of legalese while calibration was finishing.


    All I had to do was figure out how to log out, but maybe one of those possible system messages would provide that information. Focusing on the slightly distracting flickering in the the corner of my vision, I tried to look more closely at them, and ¡­ they expanded!


    Now, instead of a bunch of little flickering and bouncing boxes in the corner, I now had a host of status boxes surrounding me. Idly, I wondered how it would appear to others, but I cannot imagine seeing the status boxes of other players; wouldn¡¯t that totally break the immersive experience of the game?


    System Message: Welcome to the world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online, Madelyn Alexis. To begin your journey¡ª


    Okay, that one could wait. My eyes flicked to the next one:


    [System Broadcast] Madelyn Alexis has earned the unique Achievement ¡°Image is Everything¡± for being the first character to spend over six hours in character creation!


    Wait, what?! They certainly didn¡¯t need to tell everyone that! And was it really that long? I know I had spent a while, but it certainly didn¡¯t feel like most of the night. But even more disconcerting, maybe, was the next message:


    System Message: You have gained the unique Perk ¡°Destiny¡¯s Designer¡± for completing the unique Achievement ¡°Image is Everything.¡± Reputation gain is increased by ten percent. Reputation loss is decreased by ten percent.


    I hadn¡¯t even started playing the game yet, and little Madelyn Alexis had already earned something no other character could gain, at least if that¡¯s what the ¡°unique¡± meant. If I deleted her, then would the achievement and perk lost to the ether forever?


    The next two messages, though¡­.


    System Message: You have earned the rare Achievement ¡°Fairy¡¯s Favor.¡± You have gained 2000 Home Instance Customization Points (1000 base, doubled for being the first to earn the Achievement). Cousin, I almost took this away for making me wait so long while you were apparently trying to see every possible character customization option. I was so very bored!


    [System Broadcast] Madelyn Alexis is the first player to earn the rare Achievement ¡°Fairy¡¯s Favor¡± for completing [hidden requirements]! Rewards for the achievement are doubled!


    ¡°¡­¡± I, quite literally, was speechless. This character which I was accidentally logged in as was getting all sorts of unique rewards without even playing yet. What was going on!


    System Message: A ¡°Ring of Limited Wishes (charges: 3)¡± has been added to your inventory by GM Nazhai.


    I still didn¡¯t know how to access the inventory yet, so I glanced down again at my fingers. I wasn¡¯t wearing any jewelry, so I¡¯d have to figure that out later. Maybe. But there were still messages to go through.


    System Message: CONGRATULATIONS! As the 50,000th created character, your character account has been upgraded to the Hero edition. You have been awarded the following:


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>500 Home Instance Customization Points</li>


    <li>Rare Title ¡°Hero¡±</li>


    <li>Limited Perk ¡°Chrysanthemum Hero¡±</li>


    <li>1 random starter accessory</li>


    <li>100 silver coins</li>


    <li>1 unique Perk or Trait. Please [select] from the Hero Edition limited list.</li>


    </ul>


    I¡¯ve never been one to use the ¡°orz¡± emoticon in text or messages, but there was nothing that captured my conflicting emotions better. I sunk to my knees on the platform, the feeling of the dress strange but yet familiar against my legs, and stared at the seafoam green message box. It and the others sank with me, staying at eye level, and as I stared at it, all four instances of the word ¡°Hero¡± shimmered and stretched out, becoming the word ¡°Heroine.¡± Rubbing salt into the wound¡­.


    Argh! My manly pride ¡­ with all these unique rewards, could I really justify deleting Madelyn Alexis and making a new character? I was going to have to spend my time in the game as a little girl, wasn¡¯t I? Sure, I had played girls in games before¡ªwho hasn¡¯t?¡ªbut being in VR is quite a bit different than seeing a character on a screen.


    Hesitantly and a bit uncertain as to how to do so, I tried to select the message as instructed. Directing my focus to the word in brackets, I was able to expand it into a new message box which displayed a list that continued to leave me speechless. Yes, starting like this was something that I wouldn¡¯t be able to throw away.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    <strong style="text-decoration: line-through">Hero / Heroine Edition Limited Traits and Perks (select one)


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Ownership of a home in your starting settlement. (Homes can be purchased or earned through gameplay, but you start with one.) [Unavailable: claimed by Tatebayashi Yumeko]</li>


    <li>Rare Perk ¡°Familiar Companion¡± (Rare Perks and Traits are not unique, but difficult to obtain. However, you start with this.) [Unavailable: claimed by Melody]</li>


    <li>Unique Trait ¡°Agile Hero¡± [Unavailable: claimed by Lynica]</li>


    <li>Unique Trait ¡°Brilliant Heroine¡± [Unavailable: claimed by Jacqueline Spellsworn]</li>


    <li>Customizable Unique Accessory [Unavailable: claimed by Lukas]</li>


    <li>Unique Perk ¡°Skillful¡± [Unavailable: claimed by Leanna Sidhe]</li>


    <li>Customizable Unique Weapon [Unavailable: claimed by Jaymee]</li>


    <li>Customizable Unique Armor Piece [Unavailable: claimed by <a deleted character>]</li>


    <li>Unique Trait ¡°Hero¡¯s Resolve¡± [Unavailable: claimed by Mystarian]</li>


    </ul>


    The list continued for a while past those, and even had pagination markers, but apparently the ones already claimed bubbled up to the top of the list. Nine were already claimed, and I would be the tenth at character number 50,000, so it looked to be that every five thousandth created character was upgraded to hero (or heroine¡­) status. I had no idea how many characters would be thus upgraded, but the chances of me getting so upgraded a second time were very small. Additionally, the ¡°a deleted character¡± who had claimed one of the rewards suggested that deleting Madelyn Alexis and recreating myself as a male human or elf would mean that I wouldn¡¯t have access to what she had earned for me by serendipity. At least, for reasons already explained to me, it didn¡¯t feel unnatural to be a young Beastkin girl. And ¡­ I looked down at myself as an extra reminder ¡­ at least if I¡¯m going to play a female character, it isn¡¯t one with a figure like the Tallemaja had¡ªor, indeed, like many of the other female characters I had looked at the customization options for. My manly pride might not have been able to handle having breasts larger than my twin¡¯s are!


    Still ¡­ it presented a challenge. She and I hadn¡¯t exactly planned on playing together, but we also hadn¡¯t exactly planned on playing separately, either. I didn¡¯t think I would want her to see me like this¡­. I mean, it wouldn¡¯t be anything more than a teasing comment or two, nothing mean-spirited, but ¡­ argh! My manly pride!


    Anyway, enough introspection! Back to the list of possible rewards. Now that I¡¯ve decided to stay with Madelyn Alexis (albeit with reservations), I needed to find something in the list of Heroine Edition Limited Traits and Perks that would suit both her and me. If there was Agile Hero and Brilliant Heroine, then the other st- ah, attributes, should likewise be represented. And there they were: Strong Heroine, Enduring Heroine, Willful Heroine, Charismatic Heroine, and so on.


    After looking at what they granted, I was a bit upset that the Agility one had already been claimed. Lynica, my nemesis, I will remember your name! Each of them raised the associated primary attribute by 10%, and since I had decided on Agility as my main focus, it would have been perfect. While going from 10 Agility to 11 Agility at the start might not be much initially, going from 100 Agility to 110 Agility later on was the equivalent of two whole character levels.


    Then again, plans do change, and the body I was inhabiting was a very real reminder of that. I was going into this thinking that I intended to play an agile archer-type, but it may turn out that I don¡¯t find archery fun when I¡¯m the one actually doing it rather than just pressing buttons on a screen. Who knows, I could end up tanking despite my concerns about pain, being a spellcaster, or even just settling down in a town as a shopkeeper¡¯s assistant. Of those, the spellcaster was far more likely, but the point was that a bonus like this should be chosen for utility rather than min-maxing on a gameplay style I wasn¡¯t even yet sure suited me.


    So stats were out. Attributes. Whatever. Likewise, the assorted ¡°gain five levels in a specific skill¡± were out. Sure, an additional five levels in Archery right at the start could make things a little easier, but if I were to switch away from a bow later on, that bonus would be completely wasted. Besides, I hadn¡¯t even chosen any skills yet, so choosing a boost to a skill that I might not even take... Well, I might not be the greatest at planning ahead, but even I could see that far!


    Maybe that¡¯s why the home and the companion were chosen right away, even if they weren¡¯t unique. They¡¯d always be useful and weren¡¯t specific to a certain playstyle. Well, granted, a home in a starting settlement might not be convenient if it was too far from what developed into the central hubs of the game world, but it was still owning a home. In games before, those were generally prohibitively expensive, and gaining one was a mid-to-late-game goal.


    While choosing a starting boost to a skill was out, the list of skills that could be boosted was giving me some ideas about a build. Coupled with my earlier ruminations, both Archery and Daggers skills would probably be secondary skills and the primary skill slots would be dedicated to things with more utility such as Evasion or Farsight.


    Still, none of this was getting me any closer to choosing a reward and I had already spent way too much time not playing the game. Nevertheless, it did take several more minutes to parse through the pages and narrow my options down to a handful or so.


    Elemental Heritage (Unique Trait): When this Trait is chosen, select an element. All non-elemental physical or magical attacks have a 25% chance (+1% per 5 Trait levels) of being that element. Gain a toggleable cosmetic Aura of that element.


    Unique Spell (Unique Perk): When this perk is chosen, select an element. Gain a random, unique, evolvable spell of that element. Spell evolutions can be chosen at spell levels 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100.


    Forgetfulness (Unique Perk): At the cost of one charge, you may forget a learned primary or secondary skill and replace it with a new skill. (Skill experience is permanently lost which may affect derived attributes.) 5 charges. Restore 1 charge per 90 days. (Skills otherwise may be forgotten at any time in the tutorial instance for no cost, once per year for no cost, or by visiting specialized skill trainers and paying a high fee.)


    Race Relations (Unique Perk): When this perk is chosen, select a racial archetype¡¯s subrace. You are additionally considered to be of that subrace and gain access to its racial and subracial trait at a reduced effectiveness. Your appearance does not change, but characters that learn of your dual-race nature may treat you differently.


    Imperial Lineage (Unique Perk): The great Zulathan Empire collapsed many centuries ago, but you bear the blood of emperors and empresses in your veins through an unbroken matrilineal line originating in a collateral branch of the family. What benefit could this have?


    Stunning Linguist (Unique Trait): You are able to speak, read, and write two additional languages besides Common without needing to take the relevant Skills. Gain an additional language every fifteen Trait levels. (Languages may include ¡°dead¡± languages such as Old High Zulathan or specialized languages such as Gutterspark or Imbued Runic.) Note, you will not be able to read or write languages without a written form (such as Liturgical Tauron) nor speak a language without a spoken form (such as Imbued Runic).


    Faux Finery (Unique Perk): Your worn or wielded equipment (clothing, weapons, accessories, and armor) always appear to be of the highest quality and with rare or epic special effects (such as a singing sword, a cloak of ice crystals, or a flaming tiara). This is cosmetic only (the appearance of a flaming sword does not do additional fire damage, for instance) and the equipment¡¯s status screens will not be concealed.


    Decisions, decisions¡­.

 vol. 1: Tutorial 2

    Decision made, it was time to start learning how to do things in the world. I mean, running, skipping, jumping, climbing, and any other basic movement should be just the same as I¡¯m used to¡ªor, at least, close enough that the differences didn¡¯t matter. But using the game inventory, equipping and unequipping items, learning skills and using abilities, and viewing the status screen¡ªall of that pretty much has no real-world equivalent. At least, the game mechanics of it all, anyway.


    So, it was back to the first message after all, the one that I had brushed aside to look at the rest of the messages that had popped up.


    System Message: Welcome to the world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Heroine Online, Madelyn Alexis. To begin your journey, open the wooden treasure chest. Inside, you will find a selection of equipment and a scroll. Read the scroll to learn how to access your inventory, status, and other UI interfaces.


    Speaking of typical game interface mechanics, I didn¡¯t see anything flickering in my vision to display health bars, a minimap, a quest tracker, or anything else. Now that the little boxes had been expanded and read, there was nothing I could see that made anything look remotely like a game. Well, other than the semi-fantastical locale and my greatly different body, of course.


    Even if I didn¡¯t consciously notice the difference in walking (both from a lower perspective and from different anatomy) since the game systems made being Madelyn Alexis as ¡°normal¡± and ¡°natural¡± as being a flying mermaid/faerie, there was something distinctly and noticeably different about the whole experience.


    Not even proprioception, kinematics, or whatever other fancy term to cover the translation between a real world body and a virtual avatar could disguise the very different sensation of walking in a dress compared to walking in pants or shorts. Especially a dress that amounted to a barely closed robe, with the sash and clasp being all that prevented it from being a long vest. It brought back memories of that one time when ¡­ well, never mind. Or that time when ¡­ well, also never mind. Some memories are best left buried.


    ¡°Note to self: early goal¡ªget non-newbie clothes, preferably pants and not a dress.¡±


    If I had spoken before now after appearing in the tutorial, I hadn¡¯t really noticed it, but my voice ¡­ was different. Of course I should have realized it would be; having my normal voice coming from this character¡¯s body would have been jarring for all and potentially embarrassing besides, but I wasn¡¯t used to hearing myself sound cute. My new voice was soft and high-pitched (of course) and suggested a musicality that I certainly didn¡¯t have in the real world. It was a bit disconcerting and, more than anything else, really brought home that my game character, my virtual body for the foreseeable future, was a girl. If my manly pride had a hit point bar, it would have been showing suffering a significant strike.


    Perhaps it was because I was again speaking English, or at least what sounded like English to me, that the game avatar¡¯s voice struck me this way when the hivatar¡¯s hadn¡¯t. Or maybe I had been then too caught up flying and all the other drastic changes to have paid much heed to the tone and timbre of my voice.


    With a deep breath to steady my nerves, I approached the sign and the treasure box. From where I had arrived, the back of the sign had been toward me, but now I could read it. The letter forms weren¡¯t precisely English, some had marks over them like many foreign languages do, and some shapes were unfamiliar, as if letters had been added to the alphabet, but the message was clear enough: ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to go alone. Open the chest and take these.¡±


    Face, meet palm. Of course I got the reference.


    Muttering something unflattering about the developers, I opened the chest and got my first real taste of how game mechanics differed from real-world mechanics. Other than the message boxes, of course. The chest was a little over knee-high to my short body, and half again as wide, yet contained a host of items that it couldn¡¯t logically hold.


    There were three bows, a long bow taller than I, a short bow about the length of my arm, and a crossbow with a span about the same. With them were two quivers of arrows and a bandolier of crossbow bolts (which seemed more than slightly impractical). There was also a tall, gnarled wooden staff half again as tall as I was, a couple rusty swords of various lengths, two small shields (one rounded and one diamond-shaped), a pair of rusty daggers, a wooden club like a primitive baseball bat, and a couple other assorted things I couldn¡¯t name but assumed were weapons of some fashion.


    Additionally, the chest contained a small leather bag, a half dozen small bottles that were probably potions, and a largish primitive scroll tied with an extremely ornate, and thoroughly out-of-place, ribbon of pale seafoam green stitched with coral. Assuming that it was the scroll indicated by the system message, I took it first. It took a minute or two to undo the ribbon since I didn¡¯t want to just rip it off, and when I unrolled the scroll, the ribbon remained but the scroll disintegrated into motes of light that danced and wavered in my vision.


    Then, the motes began to coalesce into new shapes and momentarily blurred. One after another, new half-seen images floated in my vision the way the minimized message boxes had.


    First, to the upper left, a small circular portrait of my current face appeared. As with everything else, the background was pale seafoam green and the slightly ornate border was pink. There were several small, recessed, silvery, star-shaped pips spread along the upper left arc of the border¡ªperhaps places to display future buffs or status effects. To the right of the portrait, three bars expanded rightward. The top was red, the middle was blue, and the bottom a too-vivid yellow. Health, mana, and stamina, I assumed. Together, they only consumed about two-thirds of the vertical height of the portrait.


    Next, in the upper-right corner of my vision, another ornately bordered circle appeared. This, though, was mostly filled with black but for a small green dot next to what appeared to be a golden exclamation point. In a little ribbon-like accent at the bottom of the circle¡¯s ornamentation was the text ¡°Tutorial Instance.¡± Thus, likely a mini-map and the black representing unexplored territory. After all, I hadn¡¯t yet gone anywhere in the tutorial beyond a few steps on the platform I had appeared upon.


    After that, several small icons appeared and floated down to the lower right of my vision. They arranged themselves in a horizontal line that covered a hand¡¯s width of view, but quickly pulled themselves even further to the right, resolving into a small leftward-facing seafoam green triangle. Before they did, though, I was able to make a guess as to what some of the icons represented. A stylized stick figure like on bathroom doors probably represented the character screen interface, though sadly that stylization was obviously representative of a female given its hourglass shape. A question mark probably represented a help menu, an open door the ability to log out, a bag the inventory, and a stylized scroll the quest log. I didn¡¯t have a good guess on several other icons, but there was probably one for settings in the mix.


    Finally, in the bottom left of my vision, the motes of light turned into a very pale and mostly translucent seafoam green box, again with an ornate pink border. This time, part of the border seemed to suggest tabs, so it was likely part of the messaging system. The box, like the icons, collapsed down into a sidewise-pointing triangle, this one to the right.


    What didn¡¯t appear were hotbars for skills, spells, or macros. Doing things rather than clicking things was, after all, a bit part of the allure of a virtual world. The few bits of user interface that did appear were necessary for the game elements, but if the characters didn¡¯t have an inventory system and didn¡¯t have game mechanics behind them like hit points and skill systems, then even those few elements probably wouldn¡¯t have been needed. But carting around everything in bags or on pack animals and only being able to do in the game what we could do in real life would have been ¡­ boring.


    I focused my attention on the little green triangle in the lower right, and let it expand back up until I found the status icon. I mentally selected it, and the icon expanded into a large rectangle, still pale seafoam green bordered with pink, until it covered about half my field of view. It was semi-translucent, so I could still see through it, and I discovered that if I shifted my attention to something in my surroundings, such as that irreverent sign, the status window faded to barely a shadow of itself, doing not much more than tinting part of my vision with a hint of green.


    Anyway, I looked back at the window and was surprised by some of its contents.


    [Player Data]


    Name: Madelyn Alexis


    Race: Beastkin (Tauros)


    Level: 1


    Class: Traveller [Lv 1]


    Sub-class: n/a


    Active Title: Heroine (+1 to all base attributes)


    Hidden Title: n/a


    Profession: n/a


    Renown: 0


    Health: 55


    Mana: 22


    Stamina: 22


    STR: 10 (+1)


    END: 10 (+1)


    AGI: 10 (+1)


    BRL: 10 (+1)


    WIL: 10 (+1)


    RFX: 10 (+1)


    DEF: 10 (+4)


    LCK: 10 (+1)


    CHR: 10 (+2)


    Unassigned AP: 5


    [Equipment]


    Head: Traveller¡¯s Basic Headband (Ornamented) [DUR: ¡Þ] [CHR: +1]


    Torso: Traveller¡¯s Basic Robe [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +3]


    Arms: <nothing>


    Waist: Traveller¡¯s Basic Sash [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +0]


    Legs: Traveller¡¯s Basic Cloth Slippers [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +0]


    Main Hand: <nothing>


    Off-Hand: <nothing>


    Left Ring: <nothing>


    Right Ring: <nothing>


    Bracelet: <nothing>


    Necklace: <nothing>


    Other 1: <nothing>


    Other 2: <nothing>


    [Skills - Primary]


    <ol>


    <li><unselected></li>


    <li><unselected></li>


    <li><unselected></li>


    <li><unselected></li>


    </ol>


    [Skills - Secondary]


    <ol>


    <li><unselected></li>


    <li><unselected></li>


    <li><unselected></li>


    <li><unselected></li>


    </ol>


    [Spells / Abilities / Traits]


    <ul>


    <li>Hidden Nature [Racial Trait] [Lv 0] Channel the power of your spirit animal. Transform to a more primal form with a boost to your subrace¡¯s and class¡¯s preferred attributes. Drains all mana after expiration. Duration: 5 minutes.</li>


    <li>Tauros Toughness [Subracial Trait] Incoming damage reduced by 5%.</li>


    <li>Mistshard [Spell, Unique, Evolvable] [Lv 0] Launch a slow, tracking shard of frozen mist at a target. Upon impact, it explodes dealing minor water damage to a foe or healing minor damage on an ally.</li>


    <li>Increased Movement Speed [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Movement speed is increased by 5%.</li>


    <li>Increased Regeneration Rate [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Health regeneration is increased by 1 per 5 minutes. Mana regeneration is increased by 1 per minute.</li>


    </ul>


    [Perks]


    <ul>


    <li>Destiny¡¯s Designer (Unique): Reputation gain is increased by 10%. Reputation loss is decreased by 10%.</li>


    <li>Chrysanthemum Heroine (Limited): A locus of fate around which stories and events swirl.</li>


    <li>Unique Spell (Unique): Grants a random, unique, evolvable spell from Element Water. Spell evolutions can be chosen at spell levels 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100.</li>


    </ul>


    The first surprising thing was the active title. Granted, I knew I had earned one, but I hadn¡¯t expected it to be automatically equipped. Nor had I expected titles to have effects attached to them. It made me think back to earning the ¡°who Almost Slew a Bear at 10¡± title in another game. Like that, this was a title that I hadn¡¯t set out to get but had just stumbled into. Regardless, I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d want anyone and everyone to identify me as a ¡°Heroine,¡± especially since I was more than a little uncomfortable about the title myself, and the presence of a ¡°Hidden Title¡± spot on the screen implied I could still get the effects of the title without showing it off to anyone who cared to look. Granted, I still didn¡¯t know how to examine another player, but that strongly suggested the capability existed.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    So, ¡°Heroine¡± became a hidden title, and I confirmed that the +1s it gave were still applied. A nice little starting boost, but of all the things granted by the quirk of fate that had me be the 50,000th created character, one that possibly became trivial rather quickly.


    The other big surprise was the stats on the equipment. I¡¯m not sure if I had expected starting equipment to have much of a bonus at all, besides modesty and ornamentation, but the dress somehow provided 3 Defense. Without something to compare it to, I couldn¡¯t say if that was big or not, but since I could¡ªif I wanted¡ªadd five points to my Defense attribute from the unassigned points, it seemed possibly rather small. Then again, just how much defense is a dress really worth? It certainly wouldn¡¯t stop arrows, swords, fireballs, animal bites or even a determined insect. More surprising though was not that the other equipment offered no defense but that the headband with its little yellow flower provided a minor boost to Charisma. I knew that the outfit had a certain charm when I was selecting the pieces back in character creation, but I never would have expected that to have been taken literally.


    Skills, of course, were unselected, and that¡¯s something I¡¯d have to see about changing shortly, but I wanted to look at one other thing first. In the list under ¡°Spells / Abilities / Traits,¡± I finally found it: Mistshard¡ªthe name of the spell I had gained from choosing a unique spell as my Heroine bonus.


    While a bit more than a handful of options had caught my eye out of the list of pages of choices, thinking about each of them let me narrow it down even further. To begin with, the perk that would have turned all my equipment fancy had definitely sounded neat, but there didn¡¯t seem to be a guarantee that it would remain consistent. I¡¯ve seen too many characters in other games with horrendously clashing gearsets chosen for their bonus that they offer with no regard to the equipments¡¯ appearances that I didn¡¯t want to be permanently stuck like that. Further, fancy gear always attracts attention and often jealousy. And no matter what a little green muppet says, it isn¡¯t fear that¡¯s the path to the dark side¡ªit¡¯s jealousy. ECHO doesn¡¯t have open-world player versus player capability, but there are plenty of other ways that people can negatively affect another¡¯s game experience without PK-ing them.


    If I had known what languages would be useful to know, then choosing the bonus that granted free language knowledge would have probably been the best, but without prior knowledge of the game world, it all too easily could have become a wasted opportunity. If I remember correctly, there¡¯s around seven thousand languages still spoken in the real world and several important languages that have faded away, like Latin, any of the other Biblical languages, or whatever version of English that Beowulf had been written in (Poor Luna had suffered through me struggling through that, too.). If ECHO¡¯s world is anything like the real world (and ¡°Old High Zulathan¡± suggested it was), then what are the chances I¡¯d choose something that I¡¯d end up needing?


    From a different tack, both the Imperial Lineage and the Race Relations perks had sounded good at first, but after a few moments¡¯ thought revealed themselves to be rife with the potential for trouble. I mean, ¡°unbroken matrilineal line¡± implied considerations and possible obligations I¡¯d rather not consider, and being biracial in a fantasy world could have a lot more implications where the races are actually different, often vastly so. I had had a friend in college who was subject to prejudice for being dark-skinned (as, unfortunately, is still the case for millions of people), but had also faced being considered ¡°not black enough¡± because his father was white. If all that is for being multi-ethnic within a single race, I imagine that being literally multi-racial might offer more problems.


    The ability to forget a skill to undo mistakes had seemed, at first glance, something very powerful. Especially when it¡¯s not just mistakes that can be fixed but swapping skills to something more appropriate for the current situation. But ¡­ it had sounded like the new skill would start at the lowest skill level, so it wouldn¡¯t be something useful for swapping on the fly, and genuine mistakes could be fixed through systems in place already in the game.


    It had thus came down to a coin flip, so to speak. I had closed my eyes, spun in a circle, and counted to fifty. When I had opened my eyes, I was facing somewhat toward the treasure chest and sign, so I had chosen the spell. If I had been facing away from them, so they weren¡¯t in my field of view, I would have chosen the ability that granted a chance of making damage be considered elemental. Sure, a reasoned debate and an in-depth analysis might have led me to have chosen one over the other, but I was starting to get tired and hadn¡¯t even killed my first monster yet!


    Anyway, the spell looked potentially very good: damage or healing as well as tracking, so aim wouldn¡¯t be as critical as with the bow and arrows I was likely to select from the starting gear. Focusing on the spell description in the list brought up a more detailed view of it.


    Mistshard: [Unique / Evolvable] [Lv 0: 0/50] [Cost: 5 mana] [Cast Time: 0 seconds] [Cooldown: 10 seconds] [Range: 30 meters] [Max Travel Distance: 50 meters] [Target: 1 enemy or ally other than self] [Projectile Speed: 2 meters / second] Deals 5-7 damage as water elemental magic damage OR heals 6-8 health as water elemental magic restoration. Evolution available at spell level 10.


    Quick mental math determined that I could cast the spell four times with my current mana bar for a total of 20 to 28 damage. Since I had 55 health, that wasn¡¯t a whole lot if enemies had comparable amounts. I didn¡¯t bother to do the simple math to figure out the healing with my current mana bar since I couldn¡¯t use it to heal myself. Maybe an evolution path would give it that ability, later.


    The big drawback, besides not being able to target myself, was the projectile speed. If I cast it at someone at the maximum range, they could potentially avoid it. On the other hand, that¡¯s the only way it would miss.


    Then it was time to assign my unspent AP points. I knew I wanted to go with archery, at least for now, so I put two points into Agility. Mindful of the ¡°pain tolerance¡± aspect of Willpower and also of the mana I had to cast my unique spell, I put a point into that attribute. The max mana pool was increased by two, to a total of twenty-four, one less than casting the spell five times, but natural regeneration (boosted by the abilities from the default Traveller class) should let me squeak in that one extra cast without spending an AP on it just yet. The last two points went one to Endurance, giving me an additional five health and two stamina, and one to Brilliance. Sadly, the point in Brilliance didn¡¯t seem to be enough to boost the damage or healing of Mistshard, so maybe it scaled slower than the health, mana, and stamina pools.


    Skills were harder, but since I could reset them in the tutorial for no cost, I didn¡¯t spend a whole lot of time on them¡ªotherwise, at this rate, I¡¯d still be in the tutorial instance a week from now! I took two primary skills and two secondary skills, leaving the rest ¡°unselected¡± for the moment until I got a bit more of a feel for the game. I had ideas, but I wanted to wait to see how things panned out. After all, as I can very easily attest to, ideas don¡¯t often come to fruition. Almost reflexively, I glanced down again at my body.


    So now my skills were Archery (A/R) and Stealth (A/W) for my primary skills and Dagger (A/R) and Dodge (A/R) for my secondary skills. It was a very combat-focused build, but other than getting the hang of the interface elements, combat would probably be the focus of the tutorial instance, right? I mean, it appears to be a mountain meadow of wildflowers, not the city square. Monsters are more likely to appear than shopkeepers, and crafting stations generally aren¡¯t where there aren¡¯t people to use them.


    Of course, since the skills were still level 0, they didn¡¯t affect my attributes yet. But it was time to change that. Well, it was time to get the equipment I would use and then start leveling up my skills.


    After a bit of experimentation, I figured out the trick to accessing the inventory interface, or rather the trick to putting things into the inventory. It wasn¡¯t that hard to view the inventory¡ªjust a matter of focusing to expand the icon bar on the bottom right of my vision and then expanding the icon that looked like a bag.


    Sadly, it appeared that the starting inventory was rather small. There were four rows of five boxes, one of them occupied, with some numbers along the bottom border of the window, designating maximum carrying capacity as twenty-two kilograms and displaying currency with a grand total of zero bits of copper.


    Unfortunately, kilograms made no sense to me. Being raised with pounds and other American units of measurement, I didn¡¯t have an intuitive understanding of how heavy a kilogram was or pretty much any other aspect of the metric system. Tell me twenty-something degrees, and that¡¯s below freezing, not room temperature. Meters weren¡¯t too much of a problem for distance, since a meterstick and a yardstick are about the same size, so the spell¡¯s range shown earlier wasn¡¯t incomprehensible. However, as I was thinking that, the display updated and showed the weight capacity in pounds. At 24.25 pounds unencumbered carrying capacity (half maximum), I wasn¡¯t going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting, not without putting points into strength or taking a relevant skill. That meant being selective on loot. It also meant being selective with starting equipment. As much as I might want to take everything offered, it would just slow me down too much¡ªeven inside the inventory interface.


    But that¡¯s putting the cart before the horse. First things first, and that was investigating what was already in my inventory.


    Ring of Limited Wishes (charges: 3) [Unique] [Soulbound] Wear the ring and activate with a [chant¡­] to gain the benefit of a limited wish. Limited wishes can grant from the following list: instantly raise the level of a known skill by 5; instantly raise the level of an obtained class by 1; instantly defeat one non-boss opponent (PvP excluded); instantly gain one level-appropriate common item of your choice; [more¡­] In recompense for time lost due to unforeseen errors, use the charges of this ring to gain what could have been earned while waiting.


    The list of ¡°more¡­¡± expanded to pages of possible wishes, such as for five tier one ingots or fifteen tier one flowers. There was almost nothing truly powerful or unique; it was indeed almost what it said it was, something to make up for lost time by granting three minor little boosts that shouldn¡¯t, in theory, take all that long to earn normally.


    There were, however, three exceptions that I noticed. The first two were listed in the basic description: raising a skill level or raising a class level might be easy enough to do right now, but if I saved the ring¡¯s charges until much later, a boost from, say, skill level 50 to skill level 55 could potentially save a lot of time. The other exception was quite a bit further down the expanded list. Consuming a charge of the ring could instantly refill lost health, mana, and stamina¡ªpotentially life-saving when used at the right time, and thus potentially very powerful.


    It was likely to turn into my Megalixer¡ªToo Awesome To Use. And yet another thing tying me to this character, for I certainly wasn¡¯t likely to get an item bound to this character transferred to another if I were to delete her and start over.


    Then I read the chant needed to activate it. Face, meet palm again. This time not because of a reference to a popular game franchise, but because whoever wrote the chant made it a four-line stanza of amateur poetry. And he¡ªor she, since it very well could have been that maid GM¡ªshouldn¡¯t try to write poetry, it seemed. In fact, I had my suspicion that it was her. After all, the earlier message had said that the ring was added to my inventory by her.


    Before I got too far ahead of myself, though, there was something else I was really honor-bound to do. I left the ring in my inventory, added the ribbon that I was still holding from when the scroll turned into the user interface elements, and opened up the icon marked with a question mark. It was, indeed, a help menu and did, indeed, have a bug report and feedback function.


    I fired off a quick report noting the three exceptions that I had noticed and querying if they were intended. It wasn¡¯t quite like typing or writing; it wasn¡¯t quite like speaking; it wasn¡¯t quite like the message was generated by the function reading my thoughts. But it wasn¡¯t quite unlike any of the three, either. I don¡¯t know how better to explain it. What I did know, though, is that if they could figure a way to turn that messaging system into an app and market it on cell phones, they¡¯d make a bundle. Well, beyond the bundle they¡¯re already going to be making from the game and the FIVR pods. But then again, maybe it was only able to work due to being inside a virtual reality.


    Anyway, from the treasure chest with starting equipment, I took the long bow that was taller than I was, the quiver of its arrows, a single dagger, and ¡­ for good measure, the staff. I did, after all, have a spell I could cast. The small bag turned out to contain 5 silver coins that took no inventory spot but incremented the currency display at the bottom of the inventory. And when the bag was put into my inventory, it gave me four additional spots to store things¡ªwhich was good, because the potions took four spots all by themselves. Two potions, colored red, were labeled as ¡°Basic Healing Potion (Tutorial).¡± The two blue ones were labeled as ¡°Basic Mana Draught (Tutorial).¡± One was yellow and was a ¡°Basic Energy Drink (Tutorial)¡± for recovering Stamina. And the final potion was ¡°Weak Antivenom,¡± which unsettled my nerves a little bit. Status effects in the tutorial?


    Inventory situated, I equipped the bow and quiver. Finally, I took a step off the platform and into the field of flowers, only to be halted by a small, piping voice behind me, ¡°Hey, over here! Don¡¯t forget these!¡±

 vol. 1: Tutorial 3

    I stopped and turned slowly. Hovering above and a bit to the side of the wooden treasure chest was a faerie. She had pale blue skin and a wild mane of blonde ringlets streaked with reds and oranges. Her outfit wasn¡¯t much, though; she wore a skin-tight leotard of some clingy, misty silver fabric that covered modest curves but did next to nothing to conceal. I was forcibly reminded that ECHO wasn¡¯t a game intended for children or even young teens.


    Keeping my eyes slightly averted from her inadequately-clothed form, I glanced down at the treasure chest I had ransacked when selecting my starting equipment. ¡°Um, sorry, but I already looked through that and took the weapons I felt I needed and could carry. Also, who are you?¡±


    She pouted when I didn¡¯t return to the platform. ¡°No, not those, these!¡± She pointed and did an aerial dive. Following the path of her flight, I saw a small silvery chest tucked behind the larger wooden one. ¡°Hey, over here! Don¡¯t forget these!¡±


    Sighing, I climbed the few steps back up to the platform and approached, ¡°Alright, alright. Thank you. I didn¡¯t see it before. Also, you didn¡¯t answer my question: who are you?¡±


    She pirouetted and followed that with some mid-air maneuvers that looked like a cross between a figure skating performance and a rhythmic gymnastics routine, mixing dance and flight in a way impressive enough that I forgot that I was trying to avoid looking at her too closely. ¡°Sunrise Sparkle,¡± she proclaimed, as if a name, ¡°and I¡¯m the Tutorial Experience And Starting Expert assigned to you. Sorry for the delay, but the last guy just couldn¡¯t make a decision on which area to transition to after completing the tutorial.¡±


    While she was speaking, I knelt and opened the little silver chest. Really, if they had wanted it to be noticed, it should have been put somewhere other than immediately behind the bigger wooden chest. Off to the side somewhere, a pace or two away, perhaps. But it contained a small leather bag and shiny bit of brass shaped like a stylized fist. ¡°An AI assistant? But I have one¡­.¡±


    She shook her head as I stood up with the extra loot. ¡°No, no,¡± she said dismissively. ¡°Your assistant in the home instance is a generalist. I, however, am a specialist. Your assistant in the home instance will be with you for your entire journey throughout the world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online, but I¡¯m only here to shepherd you through the tutorial. Then I¡¯ll go help some other new Traveller.¡±


    The little bag was heavier than it looked, for it contained a large number of silver coins. When added to my inventory, the currency counter jumped from 5 to 105, and the bag gave me another four inventory spots. This time, I noticed something I hadn¡¯t with the last bag. A little pink pip lit up at the top of the inventory border¡ªfor a total of two lit and three unlit. Apparently, there was a limit to how many bags could expand the inventory storage, so I might have to look for larger bags before too long. The bit of brass turned out to be an accessory, so it and the coins were probably the remainder of what I had been awarded for being character number fifty thousand.


    Heroine¡¯s Basic Brass Brooch of Defense: [Accessory/Other] +3 Defense


    I added it to my ensemble, using it to help reinforce the little clasp holding the top of my dress closed, and the accessory showed in my status page as equipped in the ¡°Other 1¡± location.


    ¡°Thank you, Specialist Sparkle. I would have missed these. And while three defense doesn¡¯t seem like a lot, a whole hundred silver coins sure does. I think I have everything I need from here, now? What should I do next?¡±


    What I thought that I should do next was find a monster to kill, preferably something easy so I could learn how weapons work in the game, but the faerie suggested something better.


    ¡°Yep! You can leave the platform now and go northwest a hundred paces or so. Well, you¡¯re short. A hundred and fifty paces or so. You¡¯ll find a practice range and training ground. You should familiarize yourself with how your weapons work before you start doing anything serious!¡±


    The little blue faerie was smaller than even my hivatar, so how does she get away with calling me short? But I didn¡¯t let her know my exasperation. After all, it wasn¡¯t her fault that I was a short little Beastkin girl. I nodded my thanks and stepped back off the platform, and then realized a minor difficulty. I didn¡¯t know which was northwest was. The sun was in the sky, but was it morning or afternoon in the game? And the UI wasn¡¯t much of a help, either, since there was no little compass rose pointing north nor quest tracker arrows pointing me in the direction I needed to go. ¡°Ummm, which way is northwest from here?¡±


    Sunrise Sparkle laughed, pointed, and flitted off on angle to the right. I followed, and as I did so, I noticed the minimap in the corner of my vision start updating, with the field of black starting to dissipate in one direction. If north is up on the map, then the direction I¡¯m headed is northwest. With the sun behind me, either it was morning in the instance or the way the world was set up was much different than the real world. Either was possible, but I chose¡ªfor now¡ªto believe the first.


    The ground was a gently rising slope and the wind across the meadow was likewise gentle, not pulling my hair in all directions, but strong enough to sway the grasses and flowers, and to even occasionally flutter a few petals past me.


    I stopped to pick a particularly pretty pink flower, with a dozen or so vaguely heart-shaped petals shading to white in the center. And with that I noticed something that had been hovering at the edges of my awareness since I first loaded into the tutorial. The flower had thickness¡ªnot just its petals, but also its stem and leaves¡ªand indeed, so did the grass around it. They weren¡¯t just textures loaded in and cycling. As I looked around, I couldn¡¯t determine a repeating pattern, either. This wasn¡¯t like a rendered game environment with texture maps and clipping problems, but rather it was as real, if not more so, than any mountain meadow of flowers I¡¯ve seen in the past.


    And the whole game world was supposed to be like this. Not flowers, obviously, but realistic to a degree that close examination couldn¡¯t reveal the building blocks. It was far beyond the capabilities of any game I had ever seen or heard of, and the processing power necessary to create and animate just my character, with realistic cloth and hair movement, much less the power necessary to render this environment was mind-boggling. It would be very easy to forget that this was just a game, just virtual reality and not actual reality itself.


    Then a brief gust of wind caused the hem of my dress to twist and writhe and caused my two little poofy ponytails to bounce and sway, and I was reminded just how different this virtual reality was from actual reality. The flower I had picked was pulled from my hand and carried off on the breeze, twirling and spinning in an aerobatic dance much like the little blue faerie¡¯s moves.


    Another minute or so of walking up the gentle slope, and my attention was directed back to the user interface and away from the flowers and the hint of trees in the distance. There was another little bouncing box in the bottom left, symbolizing an unviewed system message. Focusing on it, it expanded:


    Do you wish to learn the skill Gathering (B/L)? [Learn as Primary. (2 open slots)] [Learn as Secondary. (2 open slots)] [Do not learn.]


    Why was the system asking me that? Oh, picking the flower earlier, maybe? I guess I had been spending too much of my mental power on marvelling at the terrain that I hadn¡¯t noticed it when the box popped up. Curious as to what the skill offered¡ªI mean, I was able to pick the flower without the skill¡ªI focused on the skill name, and up popped another pale seafoam box.


    Gathering: Based on and raises Brilliance and Luck, the Gathering skill allows you to recognize certain gathering locations (plants, fungi, etc.) in the wild and aids in successfully collecting the resources in said locations. Gain access to an additional tier of resources every 10 skill levels. Some resources may require specialized tools. Resources collected via Gathering may be useful for other trade skills such as Weaving, Cooking, or Alchemy. Contrast with the Farming skill which allows growing and harvesting in domesticated locations such as fields and orchards.


    Well, that sounded interesting, especially as it related to cooking, which was potentially a trade skill I might be interested in taking sometime down the road. Probably not as a primary skill, but as secondary skill slots opened up, that might be something fun to play around with. As such, I dismissed the explanatory window and confirmed learning Gathering as a secondary skill. I looked around, but nothing caught my eye as a potential gathering spot, and besides ¡­ I was supposed to be headed to a practice range to work on my weapon skills. After all, I¡¯d need them to protect myself if I was attacked while hunting for stuff to gather.


    Finally, a half-minute or so further northwest, the slope of the ground stopped rising. Indeed, it turned into an almost precipitous drop of close to twelve feet, and at the bottom of the slope was the practice grounds.


    From my vantage point, admittedly not all that high, I could see a heptagonal clearing. A basic arena, perhaps, with the plants cleared back and the ground covered with gravel. At each of the seven corners was a rough, humanoid figure mounted on a pole. A closer examination showed the figures to made of cloth stuffed with straw¡ªpractice dummies. To the right of the arena was a target range with several red-and-white bullseye targets lined up about a hundred, a hundred fifty yards downrange, away from the arena. To the left of the arena was a rough fountain that bubbled up into a wooden basin and overflowed into a rivulet running to the stream just beyond.


    Sadly, there was no path down the slope, not even a ladder or rough staircase, so I had to turn and carefully make my way down. Fortunately, there were handholds and footholds, and I made it down without incident. Granted, in most games, that would be a height that players could easily jump down without significant injury, maybe not even a hit to their health bar, but since this game was a virtual world, I was rather less inclined to put it to the test. Especially with ¡°pain tolerance¡± being a thing.


    At the very least, a fall would have been embarrassing, even if no one was around to see it besides the tutorial faerie. And speaking of embarrassing, I was going to have to get a different outfit. Such clambering around in a group would definitely be a problem for someone wearing a dress. Even if I considered the black bandeau and bikini bottom a swimsuit rather than underwear, it was still embarrassing. Shorts, at least, were called for.


    The trials I had to face because I accidentally logged in with a female avatar instead of a male one. No guy would have to worry about upskirts while adventuring in the wilds.


    Well ¡­ maybe that¡¯s not entirely true. In fantasy worlds like this, mages and other spell-casters tended to wear robes, so shorts would probably still be useful for them, too.


    ANYWAY, enough dwelling on things I cannot realistically change. I¡¯ll just have to cope. And update my wardrobe. If I had known I was going to be playing as Madelyn Alexis, I could have given her a more practical and less ¡°cute¡± outfit, but I could shop for one, maybe find one as loot, or possibly craft or have crafted one later. Of course, ¡°practical¡± doesn¡¯t mean it can¡¯t also be cute. For now, though, it¡¯s time to practice with my selected weapons so that I can eventually hunt monsters, learn what¡¯s needed in the tutorial, make it to the full game world, and ¡­ go to bed.


    Because like it or not, I was starting to get a bit tired. If that achievement message was accurate, I had spent over six hours in character creation (whether that counted the time before I could create a character, I don¡¯t know), and I¡¯d since spent a bit more time in the tutorial, looking through all the options that the luck of the draw had given me. It has probably been seven hours or so since I had first climbed into the FIVR pod in my room, making it around four in the morning¡ªafter what had already been a bit of a long day. By the time I finished everything in the tutorial, however long that would end up taking, I wouldn¡¯t have the energy to keep going and start questing, socializing, crafting, or exploring in my starting settlement.


    It was a little disappointing, but there was nothing I could do about it. Even rushing through the tutorial at this point wouldn¡¯t get me to bed until long past the time I should have already been asleep. And it wasn¡¯t like I was in a race with anyone to level up or find rare achievements. Besides, with a wry smile I had to admit that I had already earned some things that no one else could get.


    When I reach the bottom of the little cliff, the tutorial faerie flew over to me again. ¡°Took you long enough, slowpoke!¡± While it could have been rude, her tone was definitely teasing.


    ¡°Sorry, but you had an advantage by flying and knowing exactly where to go. But now that I¡¯m here, I guess I start with the archery range?¡± I inclined my head to the right, one non-human ear twitching as I did so.


    ¡°Sure. Practice your shooty-shooty and your stabby-stabby. Hey, don¡¯t forget to equip your weapon first, though! You can¡¯t use it from your inventory!¡±


    With a slight sigh, I pulled the bow from my inventory and wielded it, holding it in my right hand, a little below the middle. It was then shown on my status screen as my off-hand equipment. Equipping the arrows was a bit different. The quiver rested on my back, with a strap over my left shoulder and down to my right hip, but showed in the status screen as my main-hand equipment. I guess I would be holding the arrows with my main hand while pulling back and shooting. Wait a minute, I¡¯m left-handed? I didn¡¯t remember that being an option during character creation, but maybe I was paying too much attention to appearance to notice an option for that. And there was already enough odd about my body¡ªeven if it felt perfectly normal¡ªthat I hadn¡¯t noticed when sending the message about the ring or with putting things into or out of inventory. But if I had missed that in the character creation, was there something else that I had overlooked as well?


    As an experiment, I tried holding the bow with my left hand and miming drawing an arrow back with my right. It felt weird and uncomfortable. I switched back to a right-handed bow and left-handed arrow, and the draw felt much more natural. Well, what¡¯s a minor difference like handedness when the body and outfit is so completely different?


    Standing at the end of the practice range facing the targets, I knew there was no way I could hit them, not even if my Archery skill was much higher. The targets appeared terribly small at that range; moreover, the bow listed two distances: a maximum range of 40 meters and an effective range of 25 meters. Both of those were well beyond the half-way mark, so bow in hand, I started down the range toward the targets. Every thirty feet or so, the packed dirt of the ground was marked with a line of white stones.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I stopped when I was at the fourth line back from the targets, which still seemed a goodly distance away. Dubious, I nocked an arrow, raised the bow, drew back, took a deep breath and halfway exhaled, aimed the arrow¡¯s point dead on the center of the target, and released the string, letting the arrow fly. The arrow hit the ground maybe halfway to the target¡ªnot an auspicious beginning. I tried again, aiming higher, and got a little bit closer. But I still hit the ground somewhere between the first and second line from the target.


    Apparently, I wasn¡¯t yet good enough to hit anything at maximum range, or to even get the arrow to fly the full maximum distance. So ¡­ I walked further downrange, picking up my two errant arrows, and stopping where the second had landed. From time to time when I was at college, I had played darts, mostly at the urging of friends who wanted someone to win against¡ªeven when I was sober and they were not. With darts, I was never really more than about eight to ten feet back from the target. While this archery target was larger than a dart board, I was still more than four times further back than I would have been for a dart board.


    It still seemed a goodly distance away, but too much closer and I¡¯d have to start wondering about the usefulness of a ranged weapon that I couldn¡¯t use at any real range. I nocked another arrow and started to draw back, focusing on the target and aiming the arrow¡¯s point straight at the middle. Another deep breath, another half-exhalation, another rechecking the aim, and ¡­ another miss.


    This time I hit the target, sorta. The red-and-white bullseye targets were mounted on wooden tripods like an easel, and I had hit¡ªnicked, really¡ªthe front left leg just a little bit above the ground. In other words, several feet low and a foot or so to the left of where I had been aiming. If I had been shooting at a bandit, he might have lost the end of a shoelace.


    ¡°Hey!¡± The tiny faerie¡¯s voice sounded loudly in my ear as she landed gracefully on my right shoulder. ¡°You need to aim higher and consider the wind. Why don¡¯t you try using the skill guides to help you? Here, let me turn them on for you!¡±


    I jumped slightly at her unexpected arrival, and then hid my annoyance when she gestured and the icon bar of my user interface expanded. The settings menu opened and automatically switched to a new tab where an option suddenly toggled on.


    ? Skill Guides: Enable faint overlays to assist in use of skills [exclusions¡­]. Skill experience gain is slightly reduced for skills that are guided.


    ¡°You know, you could have told me about that before,¡± I admonished.


    But she shook her head, ¡°Nope! It¡¯s policy: ¡®Let Travellers try three times before interfering.¡¯¡± She gestured, and the UI elements collapsed back down to the little triangle in the corner of my vision. ¡°Hey! Now, look at your bow. You see? You¡¯re holding it wrong. Grab it where the little glowy-glowy is, and give it another try. The skill guides should help you!¡±


    I glanced at the bow in my right hand, and there was a faint, blue glow like the ghostly outline of a hand a little less than a full hand¡¯s width lower than the positioning of my own hand. I adjusted my grip and drew another arrow, ¡°Why is it policy to wait three times before helping?¡±


    Still lightly standing on my right shoulder, even as I nocked and sighted an arrow, she gestured expansively and answered. ¡°Because it is possible, if maybe unlikely, for new Travellers to already know how to use their skills.¡± Sensing my doubt, she continued, ¡°Hey! Some people do hunt with bows instead of guns or participate in fencing or kendo competitions! So they might have a good idea how to use their skills here, right?¡±


    ¡°If they already have the ability, why take the skill?¡± I pulled back the arrow and aimed. This time, rather than aiming the point of the arrow at the target or aiming high on a guess, I looked for a ghostly outline. There wasn¡¯t an aimpoint on the target, but rather there was a glow between the top two fingers on my right hand. I lined up that glow with the center of the target, and then remembering how the last arrow went left of where I had aimed, I scooched my aim just a bit rightward.


    SWOOSH¡ªthe arrow leapt from the bow and slammed into the target. It was a little left and a little under the center mark, but it did hit basically where I was aiming. More importantly, it hit the target itself and didn¡¯t fall short or fly by either side.


    Sunrise Sparkle applauded, ¡°Hey! You hit the target! Good job! And Travellers who already know how to use a weapon might still take the skill because the skill gives things as it levels up; it doesn¡¯t just affect your attributes. For instance, there¡¯s a slight damage correction based on the skill¡¯s level, so arrows shot by someone with the Archery skill will tend to hurt more than those by someone without. The skill often also grants abilities as it levels up. When your Archery skill reaches level 5, you can choose between the Long Shot active ability or the Arrow Regeneration passive ability. Someone who doesn¡¯t take the skill but just uses a bow based off earlier knowledge won¡¯t get those.¡±


    ¡°Huh, I see. So that is for everything, not just weapons? If I wanted to cook, I¡¯d need to take the Cooking skill?¡± While we were talking, I shot two more arrows to make sure I had the system down and to make sure that the first that hit wasn¡¯t a fluke. The other two arrows hit the target near the first¡ªa cluster, if not a tight cluster¡ªso I was starting to feel a little more confident about the bow. Nevertheless, this was still well within the effective range, so next would be to try from further away now that I knew what I was supposed to do.


    ¡°Hey! Good job! And Cooking doesn¡¯t grant extra damage, of course, but someone with the Cooking skill will be able to add extra effects, such as increased health regeneration, as their skill level increases.¡±


    I backed up to the line behind me, putting me at about twenty yards distant from the target I had been shooting at, still within the effective range of the weapon but closer to the upper end of the range. This time, when I drew the arrow back and started to aim, the sighting glow was a little further down my right hand, about even with the middle of the middle finger. I took a deep breath, half-exhaled, checked my aim, and let loose my seventh arrow. It, too, hit the target¡ªbut only just barely. It was on the outermost ring, a fair bit to the left, and just a little bit low.


    I put the bow back in my inventory and went to gather my arrows, rolling my shoulders and stretching my arms as I walked toward the target. Shooting was hard work! My arm was a bit sore from holding the bow out, and the muscles felt like they would start really complaining after another arrow or two. The skill may be based off Agility and Reflexes, but I could see that Endurance and Strength were probably also highly favored attributes for a dedicated archer. Letting my eyes focus on the flickering bars next to the character portrait in the upper left of my vision, I saw that my Stamina bar was about a third depleted, but rising now that I had stopped shooting.


    Honestly, the bow was probably too large for me with the height I had now. The bow wasn¡¯t that much taller than I, but I felt that I wasn¡¯t quite able to draw it back as far as I should due to my size. And even the draw I did have on it was difficult; my Strength just wasn¡¯t adequate, yet. I felt that I might need to go back and swap the longbow for the shortbow, but I wasn¡¯t ready to make that decision yet. Perhaps as my Archery skill increased, my ability to use the longbow would advance as well.


    As I was walking back from retrieving my arrows from the target, still slightly marveling that with the aid the skill guide I had indeed been able to hit the target despite my difficulties, I ¡°heard¡± a soft ping out of the corner of my eye¡ªa most unusual experience¡ªand in that same corner of my sight, a small envelope-shaped icon was bouncing, not enough to be distracting in a moment of focus, but enough to get my attention now. It expanded, and proved to be a response about my bug report slash feedback.


    [Message from GM Nazahai]


    Hello, Madelyn Alexis!


    Thank you for your feedback regarding the Ring of Limited Wishes item received as compensation for the delay you encountered in character creation. The ring is indeed a standard item approved to be given out in such and similar situations, though I did customize its appearance and activation for your benefit.


    Regarding your queries, the potential for the ring¡¯s charges being saved to be used at a later date were considered. The eventual consensus was to treat it as an investment by the player, forgoing immediate gratification for long-term reward. However, I forwarded your concerns to my colleagues for another review on the item. In the interim, your ring and any others that may be given out have been slightly tweaked pending such a review. The ring can, for now, only raise a class level or skill level to twenty, a milestone that is likely weeks in the future for anyone.


    As for your third concern, the combat potential of the ring is also known and has been discussed. The consensus was that usefulness of the full heal and restoration as a downtime eliminator (and thus a time-saver that directly addresses the issue of lost time) outweighed the potential for the ring to negatively influence combat mechanics. And, in the long run, a player beating from one to three encounters too tough to solo at their current development is not significant. However, as a compromise, the activation for the ring was made comparable in time to keystone spells and abilities, so that its in-combat potential is somewhat mitigated. Finally, thank you for your suggestion about limiting the full heal and restoration to out-of-combat use only. At this time, however, we do not have any plans to significantly limit player actions based on combat status due to the inherent subjectivity on what exactly counts as combat, when exactly combat starts, and when exactly combat ends.


    Thank you again for raising your concerns, but rest assured that you may use or save the charges of the Ring of Limited Wishes at your discretion. Welcome again to the world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online, and may your time here be enjoyable and fulfilling.


    GM Nazhai


    (P.S. If you¡¯re ever in the town of Kystari in Ma¡¯akala Valley, look up the Three Kittens Inn. It¡¯s got the best food around! The NPC that owns it recently retired from royal service and is one of the most skilled chefs I have ever seen.)


    Well. Well, that was helpful to know. I suppose I should have guessed that the developers would have already considered the possible fringe cases where the ring would go from a minor time-saver to something more significant. But, it¡¯s always better to be safe than sorry, and I certainly didn¡¯t want to get in trouble right from the start by potentially being seen as exploiting¡ªwell, not a bug ¡­ say possibly faulty design.


    With that cleared up, I took the ring from my inventory and examined it. The GM had said she had customized its appearance, but its icon in the inventory didn¡¯t look like anything other than a plain silver band. Outside the inventory, however, it was very apparent just what she had meant. The ring was fashioned like a little silver mermaid, with arched back and curved tail. Or, more precisely, it was fashioned like my hivatar with her fin-like wings flared out to either side of the ring. The detailing on the scales, bandeau, and face was exquisite.The band itself wasn¡¯t complete, tail tip didn¡¯t meet flowing ponytail, but it would encircle enough of a finger to not fall off.


    I slipped it on a finger on my left hand. Not the ring finger; I may not know much about ring symbolism, but even I knew that that finger was reserved for far more significant things: promise rings, engagement rings, wedding rings. Instead, the ring adorned my left little finger. A little flashy, but I was pleased with its design. Enough so that I could mostly overlook the reminder that I was now a girl in not just one, but two, of three worlds (the game world, the home instance, and the real world).


    Fortunately, I had something else to distract me because by the time I had read the message and equipped the ring, I had finished my trek to the seven-sided, rough arena with its practice dummies ready and waiting for me to stab and slash them with the dagger I had selected. Here, I felt more confident. After all, instead of the target being forty or more feet away, I would be right beside it. Close enough to touch. Which was, of course, the point. Even the dummies on the other side of the arena weren¡¯t more than twelve or fifteen feet away.


    The rusty dagger felt unnatural in my right hand, so I shifted it to my left hand and again confirmed that I was apparently left-handed in ECHO. I made a mental note to ask Jasmine about it later and then focused on how I was holding the dagger. Unlike the longbow, where I was apparently holding it at the wrong location, it wasn¡¯t that hard to hold the dagger correctly. The handle¡ªhilt, I suppose¡ªfit my little hand perfectly, with the bottom of the leather-wrapped hilt being just below the bottom of my hand and the blade extending a little more than six inches from the crossguard. The biggest difficulty would be keeping my thumb wrapped around the hilt and not extended and resting along the flat of the blade.


    There was only one other way I knew to hold a dagger, unless considering throwing it, and that was reversed, with the bottom of the hilt by the thumb and the blade extending downward. In movies, this was how the blade was held by assassins and thieves, stabbing downward into people¡¯s backs or into unaware sleepers.


    Reversing the dagger by no move fancier than taking it with my other hand, turning it about, and returning it to my left hand, I tried holding the dagger in such a nefarious fashion. I couldn¡¯t imagine it being useful for any manner of slashing, but if I was fighting something shorter than I was now, like the ubiquitous rats in just about every newbie quest, it might be useful for downward stabs.


    Returning the blade to a less sinister orientation, I took a stab (literally!) at hitting the nearest dummy with it. Unsurprisingly, I hit the dummy. Then I took a few experimental slashes: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, just to get the feel for the weight and momentum of the weapon.


    Throughout it all, the faerie was uncharacteristically quiet even as she remained perched on my right shoulder like a little angelic or demonic inner voice. However, as I finished up a set of three slashes like a backward Z, she spoke up. ¡°Hey! When you¡¯re fighting, you won¡¯t just be standing still going poke-poke or slash-slash. Even with your bow, you¡¯ll be moving to get a better position or to avoid someone or something trying to hit back. So you should try moving while you¡¯re attacking. Left or right, pretend dodging, hitting a different target. There¡¯s six whole other ones, you know!¡±


    She was both correct and incorrect. Incorrect in that some players would probably need to stand in one place for a good part of the combat¡ªspellcasters, in games, generally are unable to cast on the move, at least their bigger, flashier, more destructive spells that tend to be needed in combat. That¡¯s why they needed screening players, a frontline to keep the monsters from hitting them. Otherwise, if the spellcasters were forced to constantly move to avoid attacks and defend themselves, their offensive strength would be greatly diminished. But she was correct that for how I was planning on playing, movement would be necessary and, in fact, a significant part of the flow. Agility, after all, isn¡¯t needed for just standing in one place.


    So, I tried it. Just basic moves, I wasn¡¯t going to be dashing around the arena stabbing and slicing at every dummy I passed, but a little footwork could combine a slash with a sidestep or a stabbing thrust into a lunge. The nearest two dummies to the one I was fighting were about five feet away, slightly closer since I was on the inside of the arena from the one I was fighting and the heptagonal fighting ground meant that they were angled as if to surround me. Thus I added another move to my repertoire: a sidestep into a pivot and lunge, attempting to stab at the straw-filled cloth as if to discourage it from flanking me.


    Even though the moves were basic, I wasn¡¯t having any great success. I did hit the dummies, most of the time, but the strikes felt like they were lacking force, and many of the slashes only partially struck the target, spending half their time in the air to the side I was sidestepping. Obviously, knife-fighting was harder than it looked, too.


    After a few more minutes of practice fighting, I had to take a break. All the stepping and twisting and lunging was wearing me out. I was exhausted and sweaty, and in the corner of my vision, my stamina bar was flickering, showing itself to be almost completely depleted.


    Leaning forward with my hands on my knees¡ªafter I had put the dagger back in my inventory¡ªand not-quite-gasping for breath, I pulled up my status screen and looked at my skills. None of the five had advanced significantly. In fact, two of them hadn¡¯t advanced at all, but I hadn¡¯t been attempting to sneak or picking any flowers besides the first, so it was natural that both Stealth and Gathering had no progress. Dodge barely had a smidgen of movement, perhaps the sidesteps and lunges counted slightly toward it, and Dagger was a little higher than Archery, but neither was above twenty percent toward level one.


    ¡°Hey! Your skills aren¡¯t going to go up very quickly if you¡¯re fighting just dummies and shooting just targets. You need to fight against things that can fight back, you know!¡±


    I supposed I would have got more skill experience if I had been practicing without the guides, but I needed them for Archery and found them helpful for the dagger, showing me the path my slashes and stabs should take (though I couldn¡¯t always match them). I supposed I could also gain more experience, even against dummies and stationary targets, by working with a trainer, but of course there wasn¡¯t one in the tutorial. Sunrise Sparkle probably didn¡¯t count¡­.


    And I could get more experience by spending a lot more time, practicing, but Sunrise Sparkle was almost certainly correct in that I¡¯d improve much faster against monsters. Besides, I didn¡¯t spend oodles of money to play a VR just to stay on a practice range with no one else around.


    I nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right, so which way should I go to find monsters?¡±


    She laughed, ¡°No ways right now and all ways in a moment.¡± She swung her arm around in an expansive and elaborate gesture and the whole world shimmered like seeing through the veil of a heat illusion. ¡°There! Now you can find them and they can find you! We were out of phase with the rest of the instance, to keep you safe until you learned the basics of your skills, but now you can go and fight and see if what you learned is what you want to use.¡±

 vol. 1: Tutorial 4

    Taking a deep breath and standing up straight, I re-equipped my bow and quiver and looked around. The cliff wasn¡¯t all that daunting, only twelve feet or so, but I was disinclined to deal with it again so soon. Crossing the stream was the other option. While there was no apparent bridge, the water flowed slowly. Getting closer showed it to be shallow and not all that wide. It was further than I could jump, but wading across wouldn¡¯t be a problem even if I couldn¡¯t find stepping stones.


    ¡°Hey! Before you go hunting monsters, there¡¯s something else you should know how to do.¡±


    It¡¯s always hard to raise an eyebrow at someone standing on one¡¯s shoulder (not that I ever had the opportunity before, but then ¡­ who has?), but I did my best. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Hey! You should learn how to use Inspect. Whether it is monsters, other Travellers, or residents of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online, Inspect can give you basic information that might be helpful. Hey! Go ahead and try and Inspect me; you¡¯ll see what it looks like when you use the ability on residents.¡±


    A little uncertain on how to do so as Sunrise Sparkle hadn¡¯t mentioned how to use the ability, I focused my attention on her and thought ¡°Inspect¡± to myself. It took a couple tries, and a certain mental intonation, but it worked:


    Sunrise Sparkle


    Level 5 Elionne (Elemental Fae Archetype)


    Class: None / Profession: Tutorial Experience And Starting Expert


    Friendly


    There was yet again another flickering notification box in the corner of my vision, but I didn¡¯t get a chance to examine it because the faerie was again speaking.


    ¡°Hey! You can see that you can learn names, levels, races, classes, professions, and reputation with Inspect. That can be useful, but try it again and you¡¯ll see what you can see if I was a monster.¡±


    Elionne (Lv 5)


    Health: 100%


    Mana: 100%


    Neutral


    ¡°Hey! Most monsters aren¡¯t named, so you¡¯ll just get information about the type of monster they are such as ¡®Large Rat,¡¯ ¡®Skeleton Guard,¡¯ or ¡®Slime Queen.¡¯ You can see the percentage of health and mana they have, which is useful in a fight, and even see whether the monster is friendly, neutral, or hostile. It¡¯s not just monsters, though. Animals and hostile residents will display pretty much the same way. Hey! Do it once more and you can see what it would be like if I were a Traveller like you.¡±


    Sunrise Sparkle, New Accounts Virtual Instructor


    Level 5 Elionne (Elemental Fae Archetype)


    Class: Traveller / Profession: Tutorial Experience And Starting Expert


    Health: 100% / Mana: 100%


    Primary Skills: Aerobatics, Elemental Magic, Lore, Spellcasting, Threat Mitigation


    ¡°Hey! When you Inspect a fellow Traveller, you get a lot more information. Like a monster, you get their health and mana, which can be useful if you¡¯re working together, and you also learn their class and profession like a resident. You can also see their active title, the one they want you to know about. Additionally, you can see what skills they have learned, but secondary skills remain hidden.¡±


    ¡°Um, so if someone were to Inspect me¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Try it on yourself and see!¡±


    Madelyn Alexis


    Level 1 Tauros (Beastkin Archetype)


    Class: Traveller / Profession: None


    Health: 100% / Mana: 100%


    Primary Skills: Archery, Stealth, <unselected>, <unselected>


    At least people that inspect me won¡¯t see that I¡¯m a Heroine, but my skills ¡­ no, won¡¯t they get the wrong impression if they see I¡¯ve learned Stealth? ¡°Hey?¡± (Great, I was starting to pick up her speech habits) ¡°Is there a way to hide my skills from inspection? Or maybe is there a way that I can move skills between primary and secondary?¡±


    ¡°Yeppers! In the tutorial instance, you can freely move skills around. And out in the full world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online, you can always promote a secondary skill to a primary skill if you have an open primary skill slot, but you cannot move primary skills to secondary skills except by forgetting the skill and relearning it. That¡¯s usually not a good idea! Hiding skills is harder. You cannot do that yet; it requires a skill that has prerequisites and then it will show as ¡®Veiled skill,¡¯ I think¡ªI don¡¯t know as much about skills you cannot get in the tutorial. If you think having ¡®Stealth¡¯ show up might be suspicious, I think it would be much worse in others¡¯ eyes to have your skills Veiled.¡±


    Hmm. She had a point and I had a problem. From my earlier reading, it was apparent that a player¡¯s primary skills were of, well, prime importance. They¡¯re the skills that the player is using or plans to use the most, and they¡¯re the skills that determine if a character levels up or gets stronger from having the skills level and affect the base attributes.


    I planned to use a fair bit of Stealth, especially when by myself, since it would¡ªin theory¡ªlet me bypass encounters I couldn¡¯t otherwise deal with, and attacking from stealth almost always was a surprise attack that did bonus damage in other games. It probably would be the same here, too. It also had the benefit of raising Agility and Willpower, both very important stat¡ª ah, attributes for what I thought my playstyle was going to be. Well, I wasn¡¯t so much interested in Willpower for the mana but rather for the pain tolerance. However, with a starting spell and maybe more later, mana could become important. And if the abilities that skills granted used mana, then Willpower would be important for everyone, not just spellcasters.


    But I also didn¡¯t want everyone to see that I had the Stealth skill just by doing a casual Inspect on me. Whether NPCs would judge me or not was one thing, but other players certainly would. If I ended up with a regular party that I travelled, explored, and fought with, I wouldn¡¯t mind letting them know I could Stealth and I wouldn¡¯t mind using it in support of friends. But a pick-up group of random strangers ¡­ I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d want to be shoehorned into the rogue role every time. After all, I¡¯m going with Archery primary and not Dagger.


    But if I moved Stealth to a secondary skill, not only would it level slower, but it would also fill up the last of my starting slots for secondary skills. And there wasn¡¯t anything else that I had taken that I thought I¡¯d be doing enough to make a primary skill. Dagger was to fall back upon, as was Dodge. Those were for close-quarters combat, which was something I was going to try and avoid having to do too much. I took them because there wasn¡¯t any way to guarantee never needing a backup plan.


    That left ¡­ Gathering.


    The more I thought about it, the better it seemed. Crafting skills were usually always in high demand but unless it was a game where everyone could do everything, there never was enough supply to meet the demand. And that tends to go doubly so for the collection skills that feed into them. Gathering looked to be important for Cooking, which was something I was interested in possibly pursuing. Being that food and drink are consumables, but not usually very glamorous, the crafted supply might not meet the demand.


    Plus, Gathering would raise Brilliance as its main focus, and since Brilliance should affect the spell that being a Heroine got me as well as contribute to increasing secondary skill slots, I would need at least one Brilliance-raising skill slotted to a primary skill. So, without dwelling on it too much longer, I swapped the places of Stealth and Gathering.


    Brandishing my bow, I smirked as a stray thought crossed my more-than-slightly sleepy mind. Archery and Gathering¡ªI was well on my way to becoming a primitive tribesman, or, well, tribeswoman. An actual hunter-gatherer. Maybe I should see about getting a leopard-skin bikini¡­.


    Okay, not that last bit.


    Hopefully, armor in this gameworld isn¡¯t quite as revealing as it tends to be in standard non-virtual games, but if it is ¡­ I guess I¡¯ll just have to deal with it when that time comes. If I do get an animal-skin bikini, I can always wear a dress, uh, robe over it. Besides, it¡¯s a little late for me to be fretting over swimwear when I¡¯m a pint-sized flying mermaid for my hivatar.


    Stifling a yawn, I thought a moment more about skills, considering taking Cooking to go with my Gathering, but decided to postpone that for later. Being concerned about how others saw my skillset meant more than just putting Stealth where it can¡¯t be seen¡ªsomeone with predominantly crafting skills for their primary skills might have problems even getting into a pick-up group, so Cooking would have to come later. It could be a secondary skill when Brilliance unlocks another or maybe an additional primary skill after I¡¯ve played and developed enough to unlock another. For now, I¡¯ll wait and see; perhaps the system will prompt me for a skill based on my actions.


    Speaking of which¡ªwhat was that notification box that popped up earlier?


    Do you wish to learn the skill Appraisal (L/B)? [Learn as Primary. (2 open slots)] [Learn as Secondary. (1 open slot)] [Do not learn.]


    Hmm.


    Appraisal: Based on and raises Luck and Brilliance, the Appraisal skill allows you to learn more information when Inspecting a target. Initially, the skill provides no additional information, but new categories (such as attributes, secondary skills, abilities, traits, or weaknesses) can be added every 10 skill levels. Contrast with the Identification skill which grants more information when Inspecting items and equipment.


    An enhanced version of Inspect? Not now¡­. Sure, it sounds potentially very useful, but a skill like that is something that only one person in a group really needs. It¡¯s something I might like, but Identification sounds more useful for my future in crafting. It was also not something that would be useful in the tutorial, since it seemed unlikely for anyone to level any skill up that high before getting out to the main gameworld. Thus, it was something I could wait on and see if anyone in my future group wanted or needed it more. Furthermore, Luck wasn¡¯t exactly a high priority attribute for me to invest into.


    Granted, that was definitely counting my chickens before the eggs are even laid, much less hatching. In order to have a future group, I will have to have future friends, and our play schedules and interests will have to mesh with each others: not always an easy task, though made somewhat easier by the relatively few commitments I had out in the real world.


    We¡¯ll see what the future holds when the future arrives. The present, however, strongly suggested that I cross the little stream and hunt for some monsters to practice my skills upon; then, finish the tutorial and go to bed. Does sleeping in VR count for sleeping in the real world? If I didn¡¯t get a move on, I might get a chance to find out.


    Just a bit upstream, past the rivulet where the fountain flowed into the stream, the water appeared shallower. Wider, but less than a foot deep compared to right here near the arena where the water looked to be approximately knee-high on my short avatar.


    Making my way upstream, I watched little, silvery fish dart back and forth. I stopped twice when I noticed the telltale glow of the skill guide highlighting plants along the waterside. The first was a stand of rushes that looked like cattails, but pale sky blue instead of the characteristic grey over brown. The skill guide had me digging the rushes up by their roots and collecting the whole thing from root to fluffy spike. Once harvested, they were shown to be ¡°Mountain Blue Typha¡± in my inventory. I took a moment to rinse off the mud in the water. The second plant was a bush growing close to the water¡¯s edge, but not upon it. It was about waist-high and covered with small waxy leaves that hid wickedly long thorns beneath the canopy of green. At the base of many of the thorns were clusters of four or five small, red berries that looked like a cross between a blueberry in shape and a strawberry in color and texture. When I looked at them in my inventory, their status screen was interesting:


    Sweet Redberry [Consumable] [Ingredient] Restores 1 health per 5 berries. ¡°It takes the toughest of hides or nimblest of fingers¡ªpreferably both¡ªto brave the thorns and collect the Sweet Redberry. Most people don¡¯t bother. By the time a bush is harvested, the harvester has usually consumed half or more of the harvest, soothing and repairing wounds acquired in the process.¡±¡ªJ.A. Kjeldon, Royal Alchemist and Scribe


    I could believe it. Those thorns were sharp and getting poked or scraped by one hurt just as much here in virtual reality as similar thorns would have in the real world. That didn¡¯t bode well for damage suffered in combat. Sucking on a stabbed finger, I contemplated trying to gather more of the berries, but decided that it would take too long to carefully harvest the bush in full and settled on collecting only the berries that were blocked by one or two thorns and not those deeper in the maze of branch and thorn.


    I still ended up with my health bar significantly depleted, by an eighth or so, before I finished gathering what I was willing to attempt. It gave me a healthy respect for the bush. If someone tripped and fell and got entangled in the bush, all the various pricks and stabs and scrapes the thorns would inflict, first in the fall and then in trying to get free, could potentially wound the person to death. I wondered if there was maybe a health threshold below which a person couldn¡¯t fall if only suffering minor wounds, but I certainly wasn¡¯t willing to experiment upon myself. However, I did try to break off a thorn or two¡ªthey might have a use for a weapon crafter¡ªbut the thorns resisted my attempts to bend or snap them.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    In contrast to the Sweet Redberry, the Mountain Blue Typha¡¯s item screen was virtually (hah!) non-existent:


    Mountain Blue Typha [Unrefined]


    No flavor text and not even listed as an ingredient. I knew that cattails, at least part of them, were an important food source for early peoples and that the dried rushes could probably be used to make baskets from, but the specifics of the whats and hows I didn¡¯t know. With no immediate clue, the manner in which this plant was refined and used will have to be learned later, I guess.


    Throughout most of the short walk and not-so-short gathering, Sunrise Sparkle remained on my shoulder, though she flitted off when I was braving the thorns for the berries. Understandably so. After all, I thought the thorns were big; they must have been absolutely humongous to someone only a few inches tall. That would have been like me finding a tree with thorns the size of greatswords upon it.


    But when I got to wider, shallower spot of the stream, slipped off my slipper-like shoes, and dipped a toe in to feel the temperature, I asked her to fly on across ahead of me. That way if I slipped on the shiny, polished stones making up this part of the bed, she¡¯d be safe. But more immediately, I squatted down and took a double handful of the very cold water and splashed it across my face. It was brisk enough to help keep me awake and maybe keep the yawns at bay.


    On the other side of the stream, the wildflowers gave way to grasses and bushes. The grass was about calf-high overall, but patches here and there, looking more like grains, grew taller than I was now. Scattered about were a few taller trees, deciduous, and just getting into their spring growth. That Sweet Redberry bush must have been a very determined plant to have produced berries while everything else was only budding.


    Now it was just a matter of finding the monsters, but as I was thinking that, Sunrise Sparkle took at an oblique angle. Shortly thereafter, she yelled, ¡°Hey! Over here!¡± By the time she called out, she was far enough away that her diminutive figure was hard to see. However, letting my vision follow her line of flight, I saw what I thought she was getting at. There was a patch where the grass was disturbed, and moving out of time with the surrounding swaying caused by the breeze. I caught a glimpse of light brown fur, enough to allow me to Inspect what the faerie had found.


    Mountain Meadow Rat (Lv 1)


    Health: 100%


    Mana: 100%


    Neutral


    A rat. A large rat even, though not man-sized like in The Princess Bride. Typical monsters for new players to fight in games throughout the ages, but at least I wasn¡¯t having to traipse through sewer tunnels beneath a city to get to them.


    Raising my bow, I pulled an arrow from my quiver and nocked it. But I didn¡¯t yet draw it back. From me to the rat was a bit beyond the range of the last arrow I had practiced with¡ªand that one had only barely hit the target. I¡¯d need to get better in order to hit monsters, small monsters anyway, from this far away. But ¡­ that¡¯s what I¡¯m here for.


    Walking slowly and quietly, trying my best to not disturb the grasses much as I passed through them, I closed the range from about twenty-five yards to fifteen, drew the arrow back, sighted, raised the bow just a touch to line up the glowing aimpoint of the skill guide with the bit of the rat I could see, scooted my aim a little to the left to adjust for the slight breeze, and let loose.


    SWOOSH¡ªI wasn¡¯t able to track the arrow¡¯s flight, it was too fast for that, but the pained squeal from the rat suggested I had hit my target. As did the half-depleted red health bar that appeared over it as it was bounding toward me, no doubt to wield its wicked incisors in vengeance for my unprovoked attack. That, however, was something I was going to try and prevent.


    SWOOSH¡ªand the arrow missed, apparently going high. I had forgotten to adjust my aim to account for the rat getting closer, so maybe I had hit where the rat had been for my first shot, but it had closed a good portion of the distance already.


    SWOOSH¡ªonce more an arrow leapt from the bow, but this time after a slight delay where I rechecked my aim and nudged it just a bit lower, aiming for where the rat would, hopefully, be when the next arrow reached it.


    The red health bar of the rat was now flickering dangerous low, and it was no longer trying to charge at me but was instead limping off to the side and away, perhaps trying to find a place to hide and recover. If this were the real world, the rat would probably have been fatally wounded and bleed out on its own, but in a game, who knows?


    Not taking chances, I fired one more arrow and successfully killed my first monster in ECHO. It may have only been a large-ish rat, but it was an important first step. Unfortunately, it also took me four arrows, three hits and one miss to do so. That was a problem; I only had thirty arrows total, and finding an arrow that arced off to who-knows-where in all this tall grass might be more than a little difficult.


    As I made my way to where the rat had fallen, the faerie flew back to me, half-dancing in her aerobatic display, ¡°Hey! Congratulations! With your shooty-shooty, you killed a rat! The big meanies are overpopulated here, so thinning them out won¡¯t hurt the environment. Go ahead and kill ten more! Hey, one more thing. In the tutorial here, your missed arrows will return to your quiver after a fight is over. But when you¡¯re in the full world, you¡¯ll need to find them yourself or buy extra. Or don¡¯t miss! That helps too!¡±


    While she was talking, a new notification arrived:


    System Message: You have been offered a quest by Sunrise Sparkle, your fairy assistant in the tutorial. [Accept] [Cannot Decline]


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Riff-Raff, Big Rat, Meanie, Take That!: With your shooty-shooty, stabby-stabby, slicey-slicey, clunky-clunky, kicky-kicky, or any other means, successfully dispatch 10 Mountain Meadow Rats. Reward: One skill level for any currently slotted primary or secondary skill.</li>


    </ul>


    Eyebrow slightly raised as I read the reward, I accepted the quest and continued to that rat I had already killed. I retrieved my arrows from where they struck: left side near the back leg, right shoulder, and right flank. Surprisingly, there was no blood or gore. There also wasn¡¯t any loot except the corpse, and I for sure wasn¡¯t going to haul that around, inventory system or no inventory system. But as I pulled my last arrow free, the dead rat disappeared, leaving only bent grass and scuffed earth to show that it had been there.


    Before I could complain, my attention was drawn to a flicker in the lower right of my vision. The triangle that the icon bar collapsed down into was flickering. When I willed it to expand, two icons were brighter and had a little motion to it. The bag, representing the inventory, and the scroll right next to it, probably representing the quest tracker.


    Looking in my inventory first, I saw that two more of my twenty-eight inventory slots were occupied. Counting the quiver and longbow that I was currently equipped with, but kept placing back into the inventory, almost one half of the slots were already used up. Of the two new items, one was a ¡°Large Rat Pelt (low quality)¡± and the other was a stack of two items labeled ¡°Animal Bone (small).¡± Convenient that I didn¡¯t need to cut up the rat to get its loot, but I was dubious that they had any real value. On the downside, an auto-loot function like that might introduce other problems, such as sharing loot with the group, once I had one, or being in danger of constantly having to throw out unwanted stuff to make room for more desirable treasure.


    But let¡¯s leave future worries for future times. For now, there¡¯s rats to kill and skills to advance. Tomorrow, maybe, I¡¯ll have time to poke through more of the settings and see if there are auto-loot options to customize.


    I looked around, searching for another nearby depression in the grass or disruption of how it swayed in the wind, seeking indications of nearby rats. There was one to the north, well beyond the maximum range of the bow even if I could actually shoot that far. I closed in on it, keeping attention on the distance (and ignoring the flickering of a new notification), and stopped a bit beyond the bow¡¯s effective range of about twenty-five yards. I had something I wanted to try.


    I eyed the rat and concentrated on my spell, not entirely sure how to cast it with no buttons to click. After a few abortive attempts, I settled on willing the spell to fire while I pointed at the target and spoke the spell¡¯s name: ¡°Mistshard.¡±


    Immediately, a silver-tinged, pale blue, foot-long crystal with the appearance of two faceted icicles materialized and flew toward the rat. It flew faster than walking speed, shedding little motes of light like snowflakes or dewdrops, but I probably could have kept up with it if I had wanted to try. After a count of thirteen, it apparently hit the rat and exploded into a fine mist of water and crystalline dust. With bow raised and arrow ready, I waited for the spell effects to fade¡ªor the rat to come charging at me¡ªbut ¡­ nothing. When the little cloud faded, the rat was still there, seemingly unperturbed by the attack upon its body.


    I glanced at the faerie, who had resumed her place standing on my right shoulder, and inquired, ¡°What just happened? I hit it, didn¡¯t I? That spell shouldn¡¯t miss, if I understand it correctly.¡±


    ¡°Hey! To get more information about your performance in combat, you should view the combat log. It¡¯ll tell you more about your shooty-shooty, casty-casty, and whatever else you do or have done to you.¡± She mimed shooting an arrow and then pointed, swinging her arm around in an expansive gesture that hit me lightly on the ear. As she did so, the triangle on the left side of my UI expanded, revealing again the ornately bordered, but mostly transparent, rectangle. The tab-like ornamentation on it¡¯s top left flickered as she caused it to switch between active tabs. On the third, she stopped manipulating the interface, ¡°There! Read and see and learn!¡±


    There wasn¡¯t much there. Apparently, my fights against the straw dummies or my shots on the practice range didn¡¯t count as combat¡ªor maybe enough time had passed that they had faded from the log¡ªbut what was there was revealing, starting with the first rat I had killed.


    Your arrow hits Mountain Meadow Rat for 7 damage! Mountain Meadow Rat is now hostile!


    You have missed!


    Your arrow hits Mountain Meadow Rat for 7 damage!


    Critical Hit! Your arrow hits Mountain Meadow Rat for 12 damage! You have slain Mountain Meadow Rat!


    Your Mistshard heals Mountain Meadow Rat for 6 health!


    ¡°Huh?! I healed it?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Look at the first line for your first rat.¡±


    I looked. What was different from the other lines in the combat log was that the first arrow that hit the rat had turned it hostile. When I had Inspected the rat before the fight, the rat had been neutral. ¡°So¡­. Because this rat wasn¡¯t marked as hostile, the spell didn¡¯t hurt it?¡±


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re a quick learner!¡± Even if the blue faerie was a little bit annoying, her tone wasn¡¯t condescending, but rather closer to teasing. Still, I was starting to look forward to being done with the tutorial and letting her go and help the next person. Idly, I wondered how many other tutorial assistant AIs there were since close to fifty thousand other players had to have gone through the tutorial already. Surely she couldn¡¯t have helped them all. But that was a question for another time. My immediately priority had to be learning my skills and spells.


    We talked a bit longer, and I learned that other similar situations could arise since spells and abilities cannot measure intent. Even though I had intended to hurt the rat, since the rat hadn¡¯t yet been marked as hostile, the spell couldn¡¯t treat it as an enemy and thus resolved its other effect. Perhaps that was better than doing nothing against neutral targets, since I was sure there¡¯d be a time when I would want to heal someone or something that was neither friend nor foe, but it was a bit annoying now. That was the price of versatility, I guess.


    The pattern of attack I developed was cast one or two Mistshards, and then take careful aim with my bow and fire off an arrow as the spells were approaching my target. So long as the rat was marked as hostile¡ªwhich an arrow hit ensured¡ªthe spells did the damage I had intended them to. Rarely did the combo take a second arrow, and that was usually when the rat was level 2 instead of level 1.


    The downside was the downtime. Two spells at five mana each was almost half my paltry pool of twenty-four, and not all of it regenerated in the time between killing one rat and finding the next¡ªeven with slight detours to Gather various plants and berries. (I didn¡¯t see anymore Sweet Redberries, but I might have skipped them anyway. Those thorns hurt!) I did, however, confirm a guess based on previous gaming experience: sitting down and resting increased the mana regeneration rate. Probably health, too, but since I had yet to take damage, I couldn¡¯t yet confirm that.


    After slaying my fifth rat, while I was kneeling and resting, I took a moment to go through the system notifications that had been piling up. Most were prompting me to take various skills based on my activities so far: Cartography, Spellcasting, Tracking, Skinning, Meditation, Running, Acrobatics (probably from when I tripped over a small tussock and turned it into a somersault), Athleticism, and others. I also received notifications that both Archery and Gathering had increased to level 1. Further, Mistshard had leveled up once as well, though it didn¡¯t seem to change its numbers at all. But it was one step closer to being able to evolve. And then there was this:


    [System Broadcast] Xixonalaya has earned the Unique Achievement ¡°Leading the Way¡± for being the first character to reach level 5!


    I wasn¡¯t even level 2, much less out of the tutorial yet, but maybe it said something that seven or eight hours into the game, the highest level someone had reached was only level 5. How long would it take to reach double digits? Nevertheless, that helped firm my resolve.


    Some of the skills looked interesting or very useful, such as Cartography which would expand the range of the minimap, but there were more than I could take, yet. However, since I had been using my spell a lot, I took Spellcasting (B/B) as a primary skill almost more for the pure boosts to Brilliance as it levels than for what it granted: Increased potency of spells cast and spell modifiers (whatever that meant) at skill levels 1, 10, and every additional 10 levels. I also took Meditation (W/E) as a secondary skill. While the boosts to Willpower and Endurance (and thus mana and health) as the skill levels up would be nice, I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted my actual level to depend, in part, on how long I sat around waiting for mana to come back. Plus, with those two skills selected, that left me with only one unselected skill slot, and there might be something else I wanted more.


    Despite my earlier concerns about specialists being better suited for power than generalists, I was turning into a hybrid character, still a damage-dealer rather than a healer or tank, but a hybrid between physical damage via my longbow and magical damage via my spell¡ªwith a spot of crafting on the side. Oh well, I was (for the most part) having fun, and that¡¯s what mattered. Even if I was having to have fun as a girl. Oh, my manly pride¡­!


    Several plants and five rats later, I completed the faerie¡¯s quest. As I was fighting, I was gradually increasing my attack range to the maximum range of my spell, and a few more arrows missed because of that. Rats, even rats much larger than normal, are still a very small target at thirty-some yards away. Even with the ghostly glow of the skill guides helping with aim, Archery wasn¡¯t exactly ¡°easy.¡± Not yet, anyway.


    One of the good points of the downtime, waiting for my mana to regenerate, was that it allowed my arms to rest. I rolled my shoulders and slowly stretched my arms as I contemplated which skill to put the awarded skill point into. Archery was a possibility since it would slightly boost my ability with the bow, but Gathering wasn¡¯t a priority. Dagger and Dodge hadn¡¯t got used at all in my fights with the rats, so they hadn¡¯t gained any skill experience beyond the little bit against the dummies, and Stealth was leveling slowly. That was, Sunrise Sparkle explained to me, a combination of it being a secondary skill, which meant it leveled slower than primary skills, and the fact that the use was unopposed. While I had been doing my best to walk quietly and stealthily, since the rats were neutral, they were effectively ignoring me anyway; thus, Stealth wasn¡¯t really doing anything. Without spending too long at it, I finally decided to put the point into Spellcasting.


    After I did so, I was briefly surrounded by a pillar of light (pale seafoam green, of course) accompanied by a brief fanfare of trumpets with high woodwinds skirling over them.


    System Message: You have reached level 2! You have five unassigned attribute points to spend!

 vol. 1: Tutorial 5

    ¡°Hey! Congratulations! You¡¯re getting stronger. You know, you might be able to investigate where these big meanies are coming from and stop them at their source¡ª¡±


    I held up my left hand in the nigh-universal wait-a-moment gesture. ¡°Whoa, whoa. Can you let me process my level-up stuff first before you offer me the next quest? Otherwise, I might forget something¡­.¡±


    She pouted slightly but nodded, continuing on in a teasing tone that was perhaps a little strained. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll wait for you to catch up with things, slowpoke.¡±


    I let her remark slide and willed open my status screen. Judging by the message earlier, leveling up was a somewhat slow process, which made the attribute points a much more valuable resource¡ªI wouldn¡¯t be getting very many of them very quickly¡ªso a little thought needed to be put into how to best use them, lest I do something impulsive and dump them all into Charisma to boost my cute power or something equally not optimal.


    I considered my skills. Archery would give me Agility and a bit of Reflexes as it leveled up, Gathering would give me Brilliance and a bit of Luck, and my recent Spellcasting skill would give Brilliance and ¡­ more Brilliance. That was five of the nine attributes covered, though maybe Luck wasn¡¯t that important.


    Strength wasn¡¯t important to my fighting style so far, and while my inventory was starting to fill up with plants and rat parts (pelts and bones only, fortunately), I wasn¡¯t anywhere near where it got too heavy. Perhaps it would help with the draw of the bow, but I wanted to see if leveling up the Archery skill further helped with that before spending limited points on Strength.


    Endurance seemed mostly for health and stamina. Well, it had a host of other things associated with it, but none of those had really come into play yet. As long as I took breaks to recover mana in between fights instead of rushing from fight to fight, I wasn¡¯t yet in danger of running low on stamina and none of the rats had yet managed to hit me, so I also wasn¡¯t yet in danger of running low on health. It wasn¡¯t an attribute I really needed to focus on just now.


    Willpower was probably one of my highest immediate priorities as it would increase the amount of mana I had and thus the number of Mistshards I could cast. If I continued with having spells be a large part of my fighting style (and if abilities granted by skills cost mana), it would be something I needed to consistently invest in, maybe even with also having a skill that raised Willpower as well.


    Defense, like Endurance, hadn¡¯t really come into play so far. Besides, with my armor, slight as it was, Defense was my highest modified attribute at a total of 17; the next highest were 14s. If monster started hitting me, I might need to invest in the attribute, but for now it was something I felt I could safely skip.


    That left Charisma, an almost entirely non-combat type of attribute. Slight earlier snark aside, Charisma was often an underappreciated stat in many games. Better reactions from NPCs generally meant more quests offered (with possibly better rewards), better prices for buying and selling, and¡ªoften¡ªentirely different dialogue options. Granted, actually being in the gameworld instead of just seeing it on screen meant that players weren¡¯t limited to a handful or fewer choices on what to say to an NPC, but the principle held. If I remembered correctly, the information I had read earlier specifically mentioned that Charisma also affected reputation loss and gain. Since I had Destiny¡¯s Designer, the perk reward from the unique achievement I had earned from spending so much time playing with character creation, I could do one of two things: I could skimp on Charisma since the perk would help offset the lack or I could raise Charisma each level in order to play to my strengths.


    I played to my strengths. Well, not entirely. I had to consider where I was now, in the tutorial instance, and had to keep in mind that Charisma would certainly not let me talk my way out a fight with a rat. Nor was trying to negotiate with a rat likely to have any result. Thus, I only put two points into Charisma. The other three went into Willpower, giving me six additional mana and bringing my total up to ¡­ 31?


    New base Willpower was 14. That was ten to start, one point from the first five unassigned points I had started with, and three points just now. Add to that one point from my Heroine title, currently hidden, and that gave me a modified Willpower of 15. Double fifteen is thirty, so where did the extra point of mana come from?


    Nevermind. Health had increased by one point, too. And I had just leveled up. Apparently, character level contributed directly, albeit minorly, to health and mana.


    I could tell that Sunrise Sparkle was getting a bit impatient to tell me my next quest, so I stopped what I was doing and looked to her. ¡°Hey¡ªI mean, okay. There¡¯s something else I still need to do, but I might need to ask you about it, so please continue what you were going to say earlier.¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! Here! Just have the quest.¡± Her expression was now more than just slightly pouty, and she turned her back to me, floating off my shoulder with a dispirited pose.


    ¡°¡­¡± Now I felt bad. I sidestepped and turned to face her, but she just turned her back to me again.


    ¡°I was the top in my class, you know.¡± Her voice was a bit listless, lacking the energy and exuberance from earlier. ¡°I, we¡ªthat is, those chosen to be part of the Tutorial Experience And Starting Expert program¡ªwe¡¯re not like those who are born when a Traveller first arrives in their home instance. We existed here before even the Heralds came to warn the towns and cities and villages and homes that Travellers from another world would soon be arriving in ours.


    ¡°I wanted to meet new people, and I wanted to help new people. We were told that Travellers come from a very different world, and they would need help learning about ours. But no one wants to learn; they just want to do their own things. They only ask a question if they get confused or stuck. One person kept trying to hit me with his sword. Another kept telling me to ¡®shut up!¡¯ Most ignored me, but two of them kept trying to grab me while having really perverted expressions on their faces. Then I got you, a girl, looking younger than my twelve cycles of the seasons, and I thought ¡®This time will be different.¡¯ This time will be like the young Nekoun three seasons ago. You listen sometimes like she did, but mostly not. But you don¡¯t really talk except when you want something. And you won¡¯t even look at me!¡± She burst out crying, great wailing sobs, and her following words were drowned under a deluge of tears.


    I felt three inches tall, and not in the suddenly-turned-into-a-little-faerie fashion. Here was a young girl (even if faeries aged differently), taking on adult responsibilities, having a very bad day, and I may have just put the final nail in the coffin of her dreams. It hit me especially hard since I, too, had trained to be a teacher before the lottery win meant I didn¡¯t have to work anymore. And even then, I had still been spending a few hours each week at the local library, reading to kids, and helping the really young ones with their homework.


    More than slightly misty-eyed myself, as if heartbreak were contagious, I stepped around to in front of her and squatted down so I could look up at her and catch her downturned gaze. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, voice slightly wavering, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You are right, and I was wrong. I was incredibly rude, treating you like a help menu, uh, like an encyclopedia rather than like a person.¡±


    She was too small to gather into a hug; doing so might have hurt her. So, I fully sat, hugging my knees to my chest, and tapped a knee lightly. ¡°Come, sit down, and let¡¯s talk. You sound like you¡¯ve had a really horrible day.¡±


    She looked at me, sniffling, and floated down to land on that knee¡ªwithout any of her usual aerobatic gymnastic dance-style moves. She sat, and mirrored my pose, hugging her knees to her chest. I made sure to look at her, eye-to-eye, even if I was more than peripherally aware of her silvery, clingy leotard.


    We sat like that for I don¡¯t know how many hours, talking. At first, mostly her talking with me listening, commiserating, and making sounds as appropriate. Unfortunately, the scale between us wouldn¡¯t work for me being a shoulder to cry on. Her story ¡­ it made me a bit ashamed, not just to really be a man outside this avatar from the way those two had tried to grope her, but also to really be a human. Almost everyone she had encountered had treated her like a game object. I had done the same, and I knew better, after having interacted more with Jasmine in the home instance than probably most other players had with their AI assistant. If I could see Jasmine as being her own unique, individual, special person, then there was no reason to not see Sunrise Sparkle the same way. From our standpoint as players, they were artificial intelligences, but all too many of us had been focusing on the first word, artificial, rather than recognizing the significance of the second word, intelligence.


    I learned a lot about her type of faerie, the Elionne. As I had seen from that first Inspect, they were part of the Elemental Fae Archetype, but there was so much more than just that. From what I was told, Elionne represent the element of Light (though seemed, to me, almost a nature spirit), and spring into existence, fully formed, every three or four years when a certain type of lily first blooms in its quest to seek the glow of the three moons that shone in Se¡¯Terrakai¡¯s sky. The Elionne may be fully formed physically, but they¡¯re almost a blank slate mentally. While they don¡¯t have a community of sorts, in almost every generation, two or more stay to tend the flowers and impart knowledge to their newly formed cousins who stay a year¡ªa cycle of seasons¡ªthen the newly formed travel, seeking new sights, new sounds, new scents, new tastes, new lights, and new experiences. Then, every twelve to sixteen years, four generations, that generation disappears, ceasing to exist as suddenly as they came into being.


    Sunrise Sparkle believed that their spirits return to ¡°The River of Souls,¡± flowing around the world, and drawn from time to time into new beings when various races, animals, monsters, or plants are born or created. I was a bit agnostic about religion in general, but saw no reason why something like that couldn¡¯t be how developers designed the game world. Maybe not plants or regular animals, but anything that needed a full-fledged AI to control it¡­.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    It was another blow to realize that this faerie was literally spending the last years of her life doing not stuff for herself but for others, for those of us arriving, ¡°travelling,¡± from the real world. No, better would be to say from the non-virtual world. She was so very giving of herself, and yet all she got back in return was disdain, assault, or avoidance.


    As time progressed, it became more and more me talking, answering her questions, doing my best to explain the possibilities for why people had acted to her the way they had. She had trouble with some concepts, like sexual attraction or like how many, maybe even most, Travellers would think of her and the others in the world as ¡°not real.¡± For the first, since Elionne sprang into existence without the need of mothers and fathers, it was a concept almost wholly foreign to her.


    Finally, as she was starting to understand it, she asked as question that struck a nigh-mortal wound to my manly pride. ¡°But, you¡¯re a girl, so it shouldn¡¯t matter, right?¡±


    How to answer that? Since she¡¯s had problems with men, would it be bad for her to know who I really am? Or would it be worse to let her continue with her mistaken beliefs and thus set her up for a potential feeling of betrayal later? When does it become a lie of commission instead of omission? What¡¯s the boundary for ¡°little white lies¡±?


    ¡°Sunrise Sparkle,¡± I said gently, ¡°Girls can still be attracted to girls. Also, remember how I said that the world that Travellers come from doesn¡¯t have all the other races? No Tauros, no faeries, no elves, and so on? All the people are humans?¡±


    She nodded.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m not really a Tauros; I¡¯m a human in my world. And, just like we can become different races when we come here, we¡¯re allowed to change¡ª¡±


    She interrupted, looking up at me with cheeks streaked with tear marks, but eyes no longer crying and now showing curiosity. ¡°So you¡¯re a boy human who chose to become a girl Tauros? Why? Do you like it?¡±


    SWOOSH¡ªHer questions were like arrows arcing into my manly pride, and with far better aim than I had with my longbow. ¡°Yes. Well, um, not exactly. And that¡¯s too many questions.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°Yes, I am a ¡®boy human,¡¯ well better to say ¡®male¡¯ rather than ¡®boy¡¯; I¡¯m older than I look now. And I didn¡¯t exactly choose to become a Tauros girl, that sort of just happened, but due to circumstances, I chose to stay like this.¡± I sighed softly and looked out into the distance, before continuing the explanation. We talked about things that Jasmine had told me, how I didn¡¯t feel out of place because the game systems made the bodies feel normal. We talked about how things like clothing or questions focused my awareness on my body, but that for the most part, I wasn¡¯t spending my time dwelling on the differences between Madelyn Alexis and my non-virtual body. I wasn¡¯t ¡°completely a girl¡± but I also wasn¡¯t ¡°a boy in a girl¡¯s body¡±¡ªI was just ¡­ well, just me.


    And as for the second concept ¡­ why many, maybe even most, Travellers might see her and others as ¡°not real,¡± it was far harder to explain. She didn¡¯t have video games as a frame of reference, and Elionne culture didn¡¯t even have play-pretend games like ¡°cops and robbers¡± or ¡°let¡¯s play house.¡± She may have been top in her class of faeries trained to be tutorial assistants, but the education she was given was fairly lacking. She didn¡¯t know a lot about Travellers, but instead seemed to have been taught about the systems and skills and questlines that Travellers would need or want to know to succeed in the tutorial. I hoped that the other faeries were faring better, but I was afraid that Sunrise Sparkle¡¯s experience would prove to be the rule and not the exception.


    Finally, part of the explanation seemed to spark some understanding. ¡°So, Travellers think we¡¯re all just a dream, a dream that continues when they go back to sleep again?¡±


    ¡°I, umm¡­. Well, that¡¯s the best I can think of to compare it to. Maybe, perhaps even probably, as they continue to interact with others in ECHO, they¡¯ll start to see that you and others are people and not just imaginary things. But I feel bad for you and the other tutorial assistants; you all have to see and interact with us before we learn that.¡±


    She was quiet for a long time. Finally, she stood up and looked me eye-to-eye. ¡°Thank you, Madelyn Alexis. I think I understand a bit better now. If you were Elionne, you¡¯d make a very good D¡¯skala-mi¡¯tera. It¡¯s hard to translate. They¡¯re the Elionne who return or stay to help teach the new generations.¡± I felt a slight swell of pride. She paused for a moment, looking skyward, and perhaps accessing something to help her translate, much like the slight pause Jasmine had when discussing the cost of changing a hivatar.


    ¡°Ah, I have it. It¡¯s not quite the same, since we¡¯re different. But you might say ¡®teacher of the very young¡¯ or maybe ¡®mother¡¯ in the nurturing sense and not relationship sense. But, hey!¡± and in a twinkle she went from contemplative back to her original energetic and cheerful self, though there was a slight edge to it, as if she was wearing it like a mask. ¡°We¡¯ve been talking a loooooong time; I should give you the quest now! I¡¯m sorry for taking so much of your time and doubting you!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­. That¡¯s okay, Sunrise Sparkle. It was understandable, and I think we needed to spend the time talking.¡± I stifled a yawn even as my slight swell of pride became a tangled, confused mess. On one hand, it felt good, validating even, to be regarded as a potential ¡®teacher of the very young¡¯ since that was what I had trained for and that was what I was volunteering my time as at the library. On the other hand, being seen as a potential mother was ¡­ complicated. Along with that was a touch of indirect shame that ¡°parent¡± wasn¡¯t in the running as a translation possibility as our non-virtual culture didn¡¯t really allow fathers to be nurturing. However, I didn¡¯t allow the complicated confusion to show on my face as I stood, saying, ¡°And I¡¯m sorry for being so focused on myself and my goals that I was treating you rudely.¡±


    But weighty issues aside, she was right¡ªtime for the quest!


    System Message: You have been offered a quest by Sunrise Sparkle, your fairy assistant in the tutorial. [Accept] [Cannot Decline]


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Something Whiskered This Way Comes: Investigate the source of the Mountain Meadow Rat population explosion. Reward: One common ring. // U P D A T I N G . . . // Quest reward overwritten. Reward: *pending authorization* // U P D A T I N G . . . // Quest reward replacement authorized. Reward: One [hidden] taught by Sunrise Sparkle.</li>


    </ul>


    I blinked, but didn¡¯t feel like it was quite the appropriate time to ask about the weirdness for the text about the reward. Later, I could mention it in another bug report or feedback. I¡¯d need to write one anyway, just to make sure that the developers are aware of the problems that Sunrise Sparkle faced with earlier players and that the potential exists for other faeries to be likewise affected.


    ¡°Just¡­. Just ¡®investigate,¡¯¡± I inquired. ¡°I don¡¯t need to actually do anything about it?¡±


    ¡°Hey! This is to introduce Travellers to the idea of chained and branching quest lines. After you investigate the source, you¡¯ll be given a new quest to do something about it. The something will depend on your actions up to that point.¡±


    Her verbal trademark was back though it had been almost entirely absent during our more serious conversation. Perhaps it was part of the ¡°protocol¡± she had mentioned before when she hadn¡¯t taught me about skill guides until after three attempts to shoot the target, something that she was required to do in her role as a Tutorial Experience And Starting Expert. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t find her use of it annoying anymore, not after the heart-to-heart we had, but it was something else to add to the feedback. Were the developers actively trying to make these poor faeries disliked?


    ¡°Okay. I think I get it. Would you mind if I hunted some more rats and gathered some more plants first? I think I¡¯d like to get a little bit stronger before going toward what sounds like a boss fight.¡±


    ¡°You will probably have to anyway to help you locate the source.¡± She kept glancing to the north as she was talking, ¡°but thank you for asking. Oh, hey! Didn¡¯t you have a question you were going to ask before we, uh, before I, well¡­?¡± She trailed off.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, I did. Thank you.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Sorry, since I¡¯m getting sleepy, it slipped my mind. So, Spellcasting should give me a modifier now that it reached level 1, but ¡­ what are modifiers? And how are they used?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Good question. You can select your new modifier by expanding the information for the skill. Modifiers change something about your spells, maybe make them cheaper or faster or more powerful or somehow better. Spells start with the ability to be modified once but usually get additional modifier spots as they level up. Any spell you have can use any modifier you know; they¡¯re not like equipment that gets used up. But if you want to change the modifiers a spell has, then you cannot use the spell for a while¡ªit goes on a long cooldown. The bigger the change, the longer it takes, so be careful later!¡± She gestured expansively, ¡°But don¡¯t worry, going from no modifiers at all to using the first one is very, very short: like five seconds.¡±


    While she was talking, she brought open my character screen and caused the Spellcasting skill to expand, showing me the list of possible modifiers I could learn. There were about a dozen shown, but several times that just listed as ¡°[Locked].¡±


    ¡°These locked ones,¡± I asked, ¡°when do they become unlocked? I think I get a new modifier at Spellcasting 10?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Well, some will become unlocked then. Others at 20, 30, or so on. Some other ones have other requirements, such as having one or more other modifiers learned or being able to use certain types of magic, or so on. There¡¯s really a lot of different things. No one can learn them all so everyone will probably be a bit different!¡±


    Well, that¡¯s true for now, but later when people start writing min-maxing guides, that might change. But even at Spellcasting level 100, that would be only eleven different modifiers. There were more than eleven that I could already choose from: Increased Range, Increase Restoration, Increased Damage, Sniping, Point-Blank, Decreased Cost, etc.


    I had two things to consider with my choice. The first¡ªthe spell I already had. ¡°Reduced Cast Time¡± wouldn¡¯t be very useful on a spell that had a cast time of zero, for instance, so I¡¯d need to choose something I could use immediately. The second, though¡ªthe spells I might learn in the future. With a very limited amount of modifiers, choosing something that offered flexibility might be more important that choosing something that offered power, at least for the first modifier. Something like ¡°Increased Damage¡± would maybe make Mistshard so much nicer now, but it wouldn¡¯t do anything for healing, buffing, debuffing, or other utility spells like Invisibility or Teleport (if such existed) later on.


    Consequently, I chose ¡°Increased Spell Potency,¡± which would make the spells¡¯ effects stronger. It wouldn¡¯t increase a spell¡¯s damage to the same extent that ¡°Increased Damage¡± would do, and it wouldn¡¯t increase a spell¡¯s healing power the amount ¡°Increased Restoration¡± would, but it would do both, and more besides, depending on what the base spell did: stronger buffs, harder-to-resist effects, that sort of thing. Granted, that was the base effect from Spellcasting already¡ªspells would become more potent as the skill leveled¡ªbut this meant that any spells I might learn between now and reaching skill level 10 wouldn¡¯t have to remain without modifiers if bonus damage wasn¡¯t applicable to them.


    Slotting it to Mistshard increased both the healing and damage it could do by one point. It didn¡¯t just raise the maximum, but also the minimum. So, instead of ¡°5-7 damage¡± or ¡°6-8 health¡± it was now ¡°6-8 damage¡± or ¡°7-9 health.¡± Presumably, as Brilliance got higher, those ranges would also increase, but so far they hadn¡¯t. I also had a feeling that the modifier was an additional percentage, so as the base damage range increased, the amount granted by the modifier would also increase. However, I had no way to check that yet.


    Problems probably resolved and character maintenance from leveling completed, we¡ªSunset Sparkle and I¡ªset out to slay more rats and gather more plants. This time, however, it wasn¡¯t just focusing on the game, but rather we talked. Trivial things, mostly, and nothing to deal with hunting, gathering, or game systems. She talked about her life before hearing about Travellers and applying to the class to learn to guide us, and I talked about the non-virtual world, mostly about my sister and me.

 vol. 1: Tutorial 6

    About a dozen rats; several plants; and a few long, meandering conversations later, we came across a fairly big hole in the ground. It was at the top of a small mound, almost hill-sized. The hillock was notable in part because the Mountain Meadow Rats were encountered much more frequently around it.


    I had passed the point where killing rats was more than a bit boring, since it was never more than a slight variation on the routine I had developed, so a furlong or two before we reached the bottom of the slope, I had already stopped killing them. The rats weren¡¯t hostile, not even when I passed fairly close to them, so it made skipping the fights fairly easy. A small part of me wanted to kill them all, to level my skills further, but the larger and more tired part won out.


    The hole in the ground was clearly not natural. For starters, it was rectangular with smooth edges rather than irregular. But more prominently, there were steep stairs leading down. As I eyed the stairs dubiously, a large rat came bounding up them, almost as if being chased, and scurried down the side of the hill without so much as a glance in my direction.


    ¡°This¡­. This would appear to be the source of the rats, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re getting close. The source must be somewhere inside.¡±


    Approaching the hole hadn¡¯t triggered the completion of the quest, or switched it to be the next in the chain, so it seemed that she was correct. Of course, since she had already guided many other players through the tutorial, she knew what the answer was.


    ¡°Well, before we go down, I¡¯m going to check these notifications that popped up while we were talking and travelling. Do you want another of these berries while you wait?¡± One of the plants I had found while Gathering was a small tangle of blackberry brambles across a half-rotted fallen log. Most of the berries were still a week or more from being ripe¡ªagain, a bit odd when the amount of plants in bloom suggested springtime¡ªbut I had managed to find about ten that were ripe. They were hardly worth the effort to gather since ten blackberries by themselves wouldn¡¯t make much of anything, but it seemed that the faerie was a fan. The speed she could devour a berry was surprising, especially since each was around the size of her head. She even managed to not get any berry stains on her silvery outfit. Impressive!


    While Sunrise Sparkle was happily eating the largest of the remaining wild blackberries, I went through the notifications. Two of them were nothing surprising; both my Archery and Spellcasting skills had leveled up again. That gave me another point in Agility, one in Reflexes, and two in Brilliance. It appeared that skills gave a point per level for their first attribute and a point every two for their second. Sadly, none of my other skills were close to leveling, though Gathering was about halfway to the next point and Meditation just a bit below that.


    The next message was a bit less routine, but nothing terribly out of the ordinary:


    System Message: You have earned the title ¡°Ratcatcher¡± for completing Tier 1 of the Achievement ¡°Slay Rats.¡±


    Ratcatcher had been automatically equipped as the active title, though that seemed like something even less desirable to be known as than Heroine. On the other hand, having Ratcatcher equipped provided ¡°+1 damage and +1% critical hit chance against rats, ratkin, and related encounters.¡± Probably not especially useful, but it was listed as ¡°Tier 1,¡± suggesting that maybe killing more rats and clearing a higher achievement would upgrade the title.


    The next notification, however, was completely unexpected:


    System Message: You have earned the Special Perk ¡°Empathy¡± for your actions in counselling and forging a relationship with a heartbroken individual. As the first player to unlock this Perk, you gain the Primus version of the Perk.


    Empathy (Special Perk): +5 Charisma; +5% chance of success when reading, detecting, or manipulating emotions. Primus: +1 Charisma; +1% chance of success when reading, detecting, or manipulating emotions. ¡°Empathy leads to understanding. Understanding leads to tolerance. Tolerance leads to acceptance. There is no more critical flaw for a soldier or citizen of the Empire than empathy.¡±¡ªGeneral Danvald Trampet, Commander, Yanari Imperial Anti-Sedition Militia


    I ¡­ didn¡¯t know what to say, so I ended up not saying anything. I couldn¡¯t agree less with the sentiment expressed in the flavor text about empathy being a flaw, and I hoped that the Yanari Empire was a historical place rather than a currently existing one within the gameworld. It certainly didn¡¯t sound like a place I¡¯d want to visit. While the flavor text was fairly negative, the values listed were positive ones: empathy, understanding, tolerance, and acceptance. So despite the overall negative message, it appeared that the developers shared my more positive view of empathy.


    On the other hand, I was fairly conflicted. I was being rewarded for fixing the mess I had caused by being rude to Sunrise Sparkle. Well, in all fairness, I hadn¡¯t caused the entire situation but had just been the figurative straw upon the camel¡¯s back. But it made me wonder if the whole situation had been set up and manipulated for the purpose of awarding someone with the Empathy perk. Or, perhaps, being sleepy I¡¯m overthinking and under-comprehending; surely there could have been, and will be, other means to unlock the perk¡­.


    And an additional six to my Charisma attribute was absolutely massive at this point though it would be far less significant if I keep developing the attribute as I reach higher character levels. That perk now represented an entire third of my new, modified base Charisma of 18. Ten to start with, two from that earlier level up, and now six more from the perk. Add in the point from the Heroine title and the point that the headband gave me, and my modified Charisma was 20, above even my earliest highest value of a modified 17 for Defense.


    Playing to my strengths, indeed. Little did I know¡­.


    It took me less time to review and dwell on my notifications than it did for her to eat the berry. To be fair, it would take me a lot of time to eat a berry the relative size of a halloween pumpkin, too. While she was still eating, I took a closer look at the hole the rat had bounded out of.


    The stairs inside it were steep, almost more of a ladder than a stairway, and descended to a stone floor about ten feet down. Even though the stairs were a pretty big indicator that the hole wasn¡¯t a natural occurrence, the room they led to would have shouted man-made regardless.


    Well, maybe not man-made. Even disregarding the potential exclusion of women in the room¡¯s construction, ECHO was a game with more than just humans. Could something crafted by dwarves or elves or even one of the monstrous races truly be considered as man-made? Perhaps someone with an architectural lore skill¡ªif such a skill existed¡ªcould determine if humans or elves or dwarves or whatever had built the place. However, that wasn¡¯t a skill I had either in or out of the game. So a better descriptor would have been artificial rather than man-made.


    Regardless¡­ From my vantage point, I could see that the room was essentially empty except for a stone balustrade a few feet from the far wall. It apparently shielded another descending staircase, though the shadows were too thick to tell. The room itself was a square about ten to twelve feet on a side with a stone floor and stone walls. They weren¡¯t, however, carved into the earth as a delving, but rather constructed of large blocks of stone mortared together.


    While I was considering the room, soft footsteps landed on my shoulder and Sunrise Sparkle offered some commentary. ¡°Hey! Once you¡¯re out of the tutorial, you¡¯ll need a way to see in dark places to explore places like this. That might be a spell, that might be a potion, that might be a torch, or that might be something like the lightstones that can be harvested from a certain type of very big beetle. But for now¡­¡± she trailed off and I was peripherally aware that she had started glowing. Then, a wispy ball of pale blue light floated off my shoulder and few down the stairs to hover in the center of the room. ¡°For now, you have me!¡±


    ¡°Thank you. That will help a lot. Shall we go down, then?¡±


    She nodded, and with her still on my shoulder, I started down the first, steep staircase. Since it had no handrail, I treated it as if it was a ladder, descending backward. This, of course, required that I put away my longbow. Reaching the floor was a relief. I didn¡¯t think I would slip and fall, but the possibility was still a little scary. I had no idea how the rats had managed to scamper up the stairs, but they obviously were able to.


    The room had apparently been used once upon a time. For what purpose, I couldn¡¯t tell, but there were places on the walls where the stone was lighter, suggesting it had been covered by something, tapestries maybe, or blocked by furnishings, but no other evidence of occupation remained.


    The balustrade I had seen earlier revealed itself to indeed be shielding another staircase. This one was much less steep, but it was built up against the wall, and descended into a room identical to the first: square, stone, and empty. This continued for ten such rooms, with the staircases forming a square spiral around the outside of the rooms, a ninety-degree turn at every floor, and with my left hand against the wall as I descended. At the top of each turning except the last, Sunrise Sparkle would send another wispy ball of light down to the room below. At the last turning, however, we stopped because the room below wasn¡¯t bare and wasn¡¯t unoccupied.


    Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt


    Level 3 Ratkin (Lesser Beastkin Archetype)


    Class: Ratmancer / Profession: Scholar


    Neutral


    In the center of the room, with his back toward the stairs, but facing an open archway into a tunnel, was a humanoid rat. I judged it to be only a little shorter than my virtual avatar, but whereas I, as a Tauros, looked pretty much like a young human girl with only the tail and ears to give away my Beastkin nature, this Ratkin resembled a human only in that it stood upright and had hands instead of paws¡ªor whatever they were called on rats. The creature was covered in matted brownish-grey fur, the brown could have been dirt for all I knew, and it wore a dirty, tattered robe of no particular color held shut with a length of braided pink ribbon functioning as a belt. The creature could have been male or female; I couldn¡¯t tell. Granted, there were no prominent breasts, but that didn¡¯t mean anything. The pink ribbon could have been a clue or it could have been just whatever the creature scavenged to use as a belt.


    Since it was clearly, so far, not hostile, I left my weapons in my inventory¡ªprobably I should have had drawn at least one of them on my trek down the stairs¡ªand switched my active and hidden titles. I didn¡¯t know if NPCs could normally see titles, but it would be far preferable to have it see me as a Heroine than as someone who got bonus damage if I attacked it. But ¡­ there was no reason to not have that very small ace up my sleeve if push came to shove.


    Inspect hadn¡¯t shown the the Ratkin to be hostile, yet. But moreover, it didn¡¯t look or, well, feel hostile. Perhaps it was the Empathy perk or perhaps it was just observation, but the Ratkin seemed more fearful than hostile, but that fear wasn¡¯t directed my way, that is¡ªupward or toward the stairway I was looking down. That fear seemed to be directed toward the archway and tunnel out of the room.


    As we quietly watched, three Mountain Meadow Rats materialized in front of the Ratkin, and it gestured with its staff, seeming to direct them into the tunnel. The three ree rats bounded into the tunnel, but half a minute later, one came scurrying back and raced up the stairs, passed by me without even apparently registering that I was there, and continued onward and upward, following the path that apparently so many other rats had blazed. The Ratkin hissed with apparent displeasure, and started chanting and gesturing with its staff.


    I glanced at Sunrise Sparkle, but she gave no indication that the quest was complete, so apparently the ¡°investigate¡± was a little more detailed than just seeing the rats be summoned. She was, also, uncharacteristically silent, but the look she gave me in returned seemed to say, ¡°You¡¯re the Traveller; you make the decision on how to progress.¡±


    Shrugging, and with my hands raised to show that I was¡ªcurrently¡ªunarmed, I walked down the stairs, taking no care to be silent or stealthy. I didn¡¯t actually stomp or stamp my way down, but I let my footfalls sound and echo down to the Ratkin.


    Nevertheless, the creature was still startled, and turned to face me as I stepped off the last step and entered the room on the far left corner from the archway it had been facing. Three rats materialized at its feet and took what, to my unpracticed eye, appeared to be a defensive stance.


    ¡°Skreee! Not good, not good. No come closer to Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt! Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt fight big bone mans, keep big bone mans from room. Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikit fight little moo girl and keep little moo girl from room! Stop! Stop! No come closer!¡±


    I stopped, keeping my hands raised and palms outward, and took a step backward back onto the last step of the staircase. Keeping my voice soft, and hopefully soothing, I spoke to the Ratkin. ¡°Peace! I don¡¯t come to fight. I came to see why so many rats were in the meadow above. There are too many for the environment to handle.¡±


    ¡°Skree! Rats, yes, rats. Little cousins come when Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt calls. Little cousins fight for Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt. Little cousins stop big bone mans. Many die. Dead, dead, dead, all gone. Some run away. But little cousins stop big bone mans. Little cousins stop little moo girl, too! Stay back, stay back!¡±


    Still maintaining the placating stance, though my arms were starting to hurt from holding them up so long, I responded. ¡°I¡¯m staying back. Please don¡¯t attack. You said something about ¡®bone mans¡¯? What¡¯s going on? Why are you here? What are the ¡®bone mans¡¯ doing?¡±


    If it came to a fight, I wasn¡¯t confident of victory. The Ratkin was higher level than I was, and four against one was pretty bad odds. Additionally, I was at a significant disadvantage. The longbow, which had been the cornerstone of my fighting style, was next to worthless here. The range was so minimal that I likely wouldn¡¯t even be able to aim before one or more of the rats would be upon me. The ten-second cooldown on Mistshard meant that I could maybe only hurt one of the rats, and since I wasn¡¯t going to be able to attack from long range, the pattern I had developed with two spells and one or two arrows would never be able to come into play. Perhaps I could have successfully taken out the Ratkin when it wasn¡¯t aware of me, but the time for that was passed. I had chosen a non-violent route, and now I just needed to hope that my non-violent skills were adequate.


    There was another blinking notification that arrived, but now was definitely NOT the time to be seeing what the system was saying.


    ¡°Skree! Big bone mans stop study. Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt come study sunken tower, Zulathan ruins. Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt learn many many things. No treasure. No sparkly, no shiny, but much learning. Much much learning. But big bone mans come and fight with rusty sword and shield and spear and weapons. Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt fight! Call little cousins fight! Stop big bone mans, but too many. Big bone mans stop study and Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt forced back to this room. You want help Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt, yes? You fight big bone mans, stop big bone mans, and Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt start study and much much learning again, yes?¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Skreeeeee! Good, good! Much very good. You go that way. You fight, stop, big bone mans. Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt wait here, guard room. Guard exit. You go. Go, go go!¡±


    As the Ratkin was speaking, a large white shape came through the archway. A skeleton. Big bone man, indeed. It raised up a rusty sword and made to strike, but my cry of ¡°Watch out!¡± alerted the Ratkin who span, dodged backward, and sent the three rats in to fight.


    A skeleton. Of course. Not only was my longbow at a disadvantage due to the reduced range of indoor combat, but it would take a very lucky shot for an arrow to do much. Maybe into an eye socket, but it would be all to easy to miss what would have been a hit on a fleshy body, such as sailing through the ribcage. Even my fallback weapon of a dagger wasn¡¯t going to be of much use: slicing and stabbing weren¡¯t much use against bones. Perhaps it was a good thing that I took a staff as well. That would give me a bit of range in melee combat¡ªmore than a dagger, anyway¡ªand bludgeoning and crushing were the historically preferred ways to fight skeletons in many games.


    For now, though, it was still a good ten feet away, so even while I equipped the staff from my inventory, I sent a Mistshard flying at the skeleton¡¯s head, skull, whatever. Between the Ratkin¡¯s three rats, a good solid thwack or two from its staff, and my spell, the skeleton was quickly dispatched. It collapsed into a pile of bones that the three Mountain Meadow Rats started gnawing upon. From the way they cracked the bones with ease, it made me very glad than none of the ones I had previously fought had managed to hit me.


    ¡°Hey! You completed the quest! Let me give you your reward before you take the next quest, okay?¡± Sunrise Sparkle flew from my shoulder and started circling my head, waving her arms for attention.


    The Ratkin looked over for a moment, ¡°You fight good. Good, good. Fight big bone mans and stop big bone mans from stopping Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt studying.¡± Then, apparently disinterested in the little blue faerie orbiting my head, the Ratkin turned to face the archway.


    I nodded to the faerie. ¡°Thank you. What do you have for me?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Skeletons are creatures of darkness and earth. I¡¯ll teach you a spell to make the fights easier! Watch and learn. You do this ¡­ and this ¡­ and this¡­. Then you do this and this¡­. Finally, you chant like this, and¡­.¡± A faint, shield-shaped glow appeared next to her, and both of her hands sparkled as if surrounded by starlight. ¡°Now, you try.¡±


    I copied her gestures as best as I was able, but when I started to chant, words seemed to come forth on their own: ¡°The Light¡¯s embrace is a shield and a spear. To Darkness and Stone neither yield nor fear¡ªElionne Embrace!¡± I, too, gained the shield-shaped glow, albeit on my right side, and my hands sparkled for a moment before the spell effects faded. In the upper left of my user interface, below the bars that measured health, mana, and stamina, a little shield icon appeared. A buff bar would make it easier to keep track of what effects were active, so that was helpful. The spell cost 10 mana, however, which was nearly a third of what I had available. Not something I could cast a lot of. However, an examination of the spell in my character sheet revealed it to have a one-hour duration, so it really was quite a bit more mana-efficient than Mistshard was.


    Elionne Embrace: [Special / Evolvable] [Lv 0: 0/100 (Max: 50)] [Cost: 10 mana] [Cast Time: 10 seconds] [Cooldown: 60 seconds] [Range: 30 meters] [Target: self or one ally] [Duration: 1 hour] Grants a boon to target ally that reduces damage taken from elemental earth or elemental dark sources by 10% (+1% per spell level) AND has a 8% (+0.5% per spell level) chance to reflect 10% of elemental earth or elemental dark damage received as light elemental piercing magic damage. Evolution available at spell level 25. Primus: 2.5% chance that spell duration is doubled.


    ¡°Are you sure this is okay?¡± I asked her. ¡°This really does seem a lot more valuable than what the quest reward had been. I¡¯m not ungrateful,¡± I hastily amended. ¡°It just seems like a lot more than I should get in the tutorial¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hey! It did get approved. Otherwise he,¡± she pointed to the Ratkin, ¡°would have given you a ring. Or you could have looted it from his corpse if you had killed him. I asked, and paid for it, and it was approved.¡±


    ¡°You paid for it?¡±


    ¡°Y-yesss.¡± She drew it out, as if realizing she had maybe said too much. Then she immediately launched into the next quest:


    System Message: You have been offered a quest by Sunrise Sparkle, your fairy assistant in the tutorial. [Accept] [Cannot Decline]


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Bone of Contention: This ancient Zulathan ruin has skeletons that are plaguing the Ratkin Scholar, Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt. Stop the incursion by dispatching the Skeletal Mage animating them. Reward: varies.</li>


    </ul>


    I didn¡¯t press her for more information. Gift horses, and all. Instead, with a quick wave to the Ratkin, I headed through the archway and into the tunnel. Strangely, it was lit with flickering torches mounted in brass sconces on the wall. Perhaps the Ratkin had left them to light the way when he was researching, or perhaps they were just a quirk of the tutorial to make it easier. Regardless, the torches meant that Sunrise Sparkle didn¡¯t need to send globes of light down the hallways and into the rooms.


    The skeletal fights proved to be fairly anticlimactic. Even though the monsters were a level or two higher than I was, I managed to develop a strategy¡ªquite by accident, mind¡ªthat let me fight without any significant risk.


    It helped that the skeletons were hostile. That meant that I could start a fight with Mistshard and not have to worry about trying to hit them with an arrow.


    It also helped that the skeletons were dumb. Perhaps that¡¯s why the rats had been able to hold them off. Once hit with a spell, which typically did about a quarter of its health in damage, a skeleton would blindly charge straight at me.


    The first one I had engaged from much closer than I would have liked to have. I had turned a corner in the tunnel, which was really more of a hallway, and nearly ran into the monster¡¯s back. As it was turning to stab me, I hastily backed up and sent a Mistshard crashing into it. With only my right hand hold the staff, since I needed my left hand to direct the spell, I wasn¡¯t holding onto the staff very well.


    The staff had been at such an angle that it was nearly parallel to the tunnel¡¯s floor, and the skeleton had run right into it, smashing its pelvic bone against the gnarled head of the staff, wrenching my arm and almost knocking the staff from my grip. But, the skeleton then dropped its blade, doubling up in apparent agony while I winced in subconscious sympathy. But that hadn¡¯t stopped me from taking a step backward, taking a solid two-handed hold low on the staff, and swinging it with all my diminutive and insignificant might.


    My twin was the sporty one, not I, but I had had to suffer through enough physical education classes in school to know the basics of swinging a baseball bat. Even though the staff was a good deal longer than a bat, the mechanics were much the same. And a skull was a bigger target than a baseball or softball. Staff met bone with a resounding crack, and the skeleton¡¯s skull separated from its (his, probably, given the way it reacted to a crotch strike) body and smashed into shards when it hit the stone wall.


    Down in one!


    Well, three. Spell, staff to the skeletal groin, then staff to the skull.


    It didn¡¯t seem quite fair that the skeletons were vulnerable in such a manner. After all, being all bone meant no, ah, well, vulnerable dangly parts. But they were. Every single staff hit to the groin¡ªand all but the first were deliberate¡ªwas a critical hit. My manly pride wasn¡¯t happy with this exploitation as it felt a bit like an abrogation of the unwritten rules of manhood, but given that I was occupying the body of a young Tauros girl, it was, perhaps, permissible.


    Permissible or not, abrogation or not, exploitation or not, I made use of it. Not a single skeleton landed a physical hit on me. Consequently, I was feeling a little cocky by the time I made it to a set of double doors at the end of the hallway. There had been other doors along the way, side rooms, perhaps, but almost all of them had been locked and I wasn¡¯t able to find a way to open them. These doors, however, had the look of being well-used. Moreover, a strange flickering light escaped through the gap between the doors and the floor, and I could hear a guttural, otherworldly chanting.


    It was time to stop, stretch, rest, check my notifications, and prepare for a boss fight. I gave Sunrise Sparkle another blackberry while I checked my now nearly-full inventory. The skeletons had dropped assorted loot, mostly ¡°skeletal bone chips¡± (27 of them) but also Basic Healing Potions (three), Basic Mana Draughts (five), Basic Energy Drinks (two), and something only labeled as Rusty Weapon (three). The potions, draughts, and drinks weren¡¯t tagged with the ¡°(Tutorial)¡± modifier, so unfortunately they occupied separate places in the inventory from the existing ones. With my quiver of arrows and staff equipped, rather than residing in the inventory, I had only seven unoccupied inventory spots out of the twenty-eight total. Without those two four-slot bags, I would have had to leave some loot behind. Even so, I was eyeing the rusty weapons as they added a fair bit of weight and started bringing me close to my carrying capacity.


    The notifications were mostly routine: prompts to take skills such as Negotiation (C/W), Stick Fighting (E/D), or Dirty Fighting (R/L). I frowned a little at the last, but took none of them just yet. Negotiation almost certainly was from the discussion with the Ratkin, and while it could become a very useful skill, I wasn¡¯t quite ready to decide on my fourth, and final for now, primary skill. Regardless, it was rather unlikely to be useful in the fight behind these doors.


    I did earn a new title and a new achievement, however. The title was ¡°Executioner¡± and was awarded for beheading ten enemies. It was one of those so-called ¡°cool¡± titles that seem good when min-maxing behind a screen, granting extra damage on any attack that hits an opponent¡¯s head, but lost a lot of its luster when I stopped to consider how I¡¯d react to actually being called an executioner. It just wasn¡¯t cu¡ª uh, appealing. I equipped it instead of Ratcatcher, as it might be useful for the fight, but I wasn¡¯t prepared to keep it after the tutorial. The only way I could keep it equipped and hidden would be to have Heroine visible to all who inspected me, and ¡­ I didn¡¯t want that, either.


    The achievement was titled ¡°Low Blow¡± and was awarded for ¡°Disabling 15 opponents with below-the-belt hits.¡± Why was the game even tracking that!?


    I took a moment to refresh the protection spell, then sat and meditated right outside the double doors. I wasn¡¯t going to go into the fight with anything less that full-strength, especially since I was unlikely to catch the skeleton (or skeletons¡ªhopefully only one though) unaware. In the time it took for my mana to recover, the Meditation skill finally increased by a point, but since it was a secondary skill, it didn¡¯t raise any attributes.


    While I was resting, and since Sunrise Sparkle was still working her way through the blackberry, I sent off a quick feedback message so I wouldn¡¯t forget later. It was probably a bit less than fully coherent, since I was still stifling yawns and not taking the time to make sure my grammar was correct, but I summarized my experience with the faerie and her experiences, suggesting that they alter the protocol and add more protections for the tutorial assistants. I also mentioned the spell I had been awarded for the quest. Sunrise Sparkle had said it was approved, but I wanted to cover all my bases since it still seemed quite a bit more than the tutorial should award¡ªespecially since I had received the Primus version for being the first player to learn that spell.


    A quick glance at the little faerie showed that she was just about done with the berry; in fact, she was licking the juice from her fingers. It still surprised me that she could manage to eat all that, so quickly, and not get any berry juice on her clingy silver leotard, but her clothing was still pristine.


    I slowly rose to my feet and stretched, stifling another yawn¡ªreally, as soon as I finally complete the tutorial, I¡¯m going to log out, crawl into bed, and not open my eyes for five hundred years, or until dinner time, whichever comes first. ¡°Well,¡± I remarked, ¡°this seems like it will be the hardest fight so far. I won¡¯t be able to catch the skeleton in there by surprise. Hopefully, there¡¯s just the one. Do you want to stay out here where it will be safer?¡±


    She nodded, and responded with a serious look. ¡°Hey! Good luck and be careful in there! You¡¯re almost done with the tutorial. You don¡¯t want to have to start it all over again, do you?¡±


    My expression of displeased surprise must have been very readable because, before I could say a word in protest, she giggled. ¡°Haha! You should have seen your face! No, no, there¡¯s no starting over. At worst, you¡¯d respawn outside at the top of the hill. Now go! Break a leg¡ªor two. Of the skeleton, that is!¡±


    Shaking my head at her antics, I steeled myself for the fight to come. I thrust open the doors, cast a Mistshard at the first skeleton-like shape I saw, and dodged to the left to hopefully clear myself out of the way of any attack aimed through the doorway.


    A bolt of malevolent darkness flew through the space I had occupied a moment earlier, but before I could congratulate myself on the wisdom of not charging straight in, another came sailing from the skeleton toward where I had just dodged to.


    I tried to turn my dodge into a roll, like as used in so many video games, but was a lot easier to do on a screen where the character model was animated than it was to do in virtual reality. My left shoulder slammed into the floor, probably bruising it pretty badly, and I ended up flat on my back, staring up at a skeleton that was so much larger than the ones I had fought before. The others had been vaguely human-sized, so taller than my childlike avatar, but this skeleton would have towered over them, being very nearly double my height, or half again as tall as the ones in the hallway had been.


    As the robed skeleton brought down the butt of its staff to squash me, I hastily rolled over and over again to get out of the way. Bumping up against the side of the room, I scrambled to my feet, and cast another Mistshard in its direction. Fortunately, my spell tracked the target¡¯s movements and would hit regardless of hasty or well-considered aim. Just as fortunately, the skeleton¡¯s spell didn¡¯t. As it made a gesture like throwing a ball, I sank to my knees, and let the two bolts of darkness impact the wall behind where my head had been not half a second prior.


    Thinking to catch the skeletal mage with the same exploit I had used on the regular skeletons, I came up in a combination thrust and lunge, aiming the head of the staff for its pelvic bone. Unfortunately, the skeleton was able to deflect my attack, catching my staff on its, and sending the force of the thrust harmlessly to the side. I tried to turn the force of the thrust into a swing, by bringing the rear of the staff forward while bringing the front of the staff backward, but the skeleton just swept its staff back and deflected that attack, too.


    Then it was my turn to defend myself as the skeleton brought its staff down in a fierce strike that very well could have crushed my skull if this hadn¡¯t been a game and I hadn¡¯t been able to get my staff raised up to block it¡¯s strike.


    This continued for a few more strikes, my attacks being harmlessly deflected and its strikes being blocked¡ªjust barely¡ªbut I was clearly at a disadvantage. The skeleton seemed tireless whereas my stamina bar was taking a battering with each attack I blocked. I had received no damage, but I was sore all over and getting worn out, breathing heavily as I attempted to deflect heavy attack after heavy attack. Further, I was tired and that was starting to make my movements a bit sluggish. Moreover, it was taller, stronger, and had a longer reach. I sent a third, and then a fourth Mistshard at it in between deflections and blocks, my staffwork now wholly focused on defense.


    I staggered under another heavy strike, knees buckling as I fought to keep upright, not even risking turning the deflection into another attempt to bring the staff up between the skeleton¡¯s legs. And that¡¯s when my brain caught up to the rest of the fight. While we were fighting, I was able to get a spell cast in the small openings between its attacks. The skeleton¡¯s health bar was halfway depleted from the four spells I had landed. But the skeleton hadn¡¯t cast its darkness spell since we had gone into close combat.


    All I had to do was survive a minute or so of its attacks, casting a Mistshard every time it came off cooldown, or as close to that as its attacks would allow. Four more spells should finish it off.


    I got two more spells cast that way, but the problem with focusing so much on defense and looking for openings was that I wasn¡¯t able to control the flow of the battle. Well, I hadn¡¯t been from the very start, but the skeleton¡¯s attacks were herding me, driving me in the direction it wanted, and just as that second Mistshard impacted its skull, I tripped over an uneven stone slab, and fell backward into a pedestal of some sort.


    I maybe could have recovered from that misfortune, but I banged my head against the corner of the pedestal and saw stars. Literally. A new icon appeared on my UI, next to the shield of the Elionne Embrace spell, showing a swirling line with stars. I was stunned.


    And, unfortunately, when the Mistshard had hit the skeletal mage, the skeleton started pulsing with an evil reddish glow. Enraged. Or Berserk. Or something. Regardless, its attacks increased in speed and power and I was unable to respond to them.


    First one massive strike knocked the staff from my hands, sending it skittering across the floor, and leaving me defenseless even if I had been able to move. Then another came down across my shins. I could have sworn they had both been broken, they hurt so much, and my health bar took a precipitous drop of nearly 20%. Its next strike in the flurry caught my left arm, nearly wrenching my shoulder from its socket, and I had no idea how I didn''t end up with multiple compound fractures from that strike. And another nearly 20% of my health bar was gone. Finally, a third strike caught me across the side, and actually lifted me up and sent me flying a few feet.


    On two of those attacks, a spark of light had leapt from my body where the weapon had hit it. The spark then flew unerringly at the skeleton, striking it and causing a brief pause in the flurry of attacks. More than just a brief pause, though, the spark of light¡ªthe retribution effect of the spell Sunrise Sparkle had taught me, no doubt¡ªinflicted noticeable damage to the flickering red health bar of my foe.


    Finally¡­. Finally the stun effect wore off and I was able to cast one more Mistshard right before the arc of my flight crashed me into the wall and blackness settled over my vision.

 vol. 1: Tutorial 7a

    When I came to, I had a hard time remembering who I was, where I was, why I was there, and why in the world I hurt so much. Also, why was there a little blue Elionne rubbing a damp cloth across my forehead?


    My eyes fluttered open on their own but they didn¡¯t want to focus. Strange images kept floating in front of them, shapes of bags and maps and weird colored bars in red, blue, and yellow. The blue and yellow were much longer, but the red bar kept trying to grow.


    It hurt to think and it hurt to not think. I floated in that state of partial awareness for ¡­ well, I don¡¯t know how long. My sense of time would say minutes then hours then days then minutes again. Slowly, I tried to put together the fragments of memory even as new strange shapes joined the bars. There was something like a shield, something like a set of stars, and something like a skull with a big red X over it.


    First question. Who was I? My name¡­? Alexis? No, that was part of it. Madelyn Alexis. Yes. Yes! That felt right.


    Second question. Where was I? On the ground, no a floor. A stone floor, slumped up against a stone wall. It wasn¡¯t any place familiar, so that was the next question.


    Why was I where I was? There was ¡­ a fight? Yes, but not quite. Something about travelling. Something about¡­. I couldn¡¯t quite grasp it. It was something important, but it was complicated. Skip it.


    Next question. Why was I so sore? It felt like someone had been beating me over and over with large sticks and stones. Were my bones broken? Was my neck broken? Is that why I couldn¡¯t move?


    I tried again, not big movements, but little ones. My fingers wouldn¡¯t move, my tail wouldn¡¯t move¡­.


    Then¡­. Then some of the shapes disappeared. The stars disappeared. The red bar seemed longer. The skull with an X disappeared, and everything came back in a flash of clarity.


    I was, but wasn¡¯t Madelyn Alexis. She was my character in a game, but I was different when I wasn¡¯t here. One of those shapes, that skull maybe, had shown a status effect that just faded. I remembered how to open my combat log. The last message:


    You are no longer confused!


    Well, I was but not to the extent I had been. I now remembered that I was a person playing a character in virtual reality and wasn¡¯t thinking of myself as actually a Tauros girl. If the confusion effect could mess with thoughts that much, I would have to further increase Willpower to aid in resisting it. Also, the message right above it said I was no longer stunned. Could I move?


    Slowly, I tried to sit up, nearly blacking out again as waves of pain shot throughout my entire body and crashed inside my skull. ¡°Ugh¡­. Just kill me already so the pain will go away.¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­,¡± Sunrise Sparkle¡¯s voice was soft and full of concern. ¡°Most of the pain will go away once your health fully regenerates. That will take a few more minutes. Or you could drink a health potion from your inventory. But congratulations! You beat the skeleton!¡±


    I groaned again and tried not to move much, letting myself remain slumped against the wall where I had apparently landed. ¡°If this is what winning feels like, I¡¯d hate to be the loser.¡±


    ¡°You had one point of health remaining. You were very nearly almost dead, yourself. That fight is supposed to be challenging, but not that hard. I wonder if it is because you¡¯re a Heroine?¡±


    The pain was starting to become manageable, relatively speaking. I still hurt all over, but not like being beaten half to death. Well, almost all the way to death. It was feeling more like the day after trying to keep up with my twin on one of her all-day outdoors and exercise expeditions followed by sleeping in a poorly pitched tent with tree roots and stones underneath. Sadly, that was a comparison I could make. ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know. If I wasn¡¯t a Heroine, I would have lost a lot sooner. I wouldn¡¯t have had Mistshard and I wouldn¡¯t have had the couple extra points of Defense from the accessory and I wouldn¡¯t have had the point in every attribute from the title. Less Defense, less health, no offense¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that skeleton was also bigger, taller, faster, and had double the health of any of the ones I¡¯ve seen other Travellers fight.¡±


    I shrugged, wincing as my bruised and battered body complained. ¡°I don¡¯t know then. Maybe the encounter was supposed to scale to the strength of the player and it misjudged me? If you don¡¯t mind, I think I¡¯m just going to quietly sit here and not move for a while longer.¡± I fumbled a little bit in my inventory, made clumsy due to sore and stiff muscles and protesting joints. ¡°Here, have another berry while you wait on me.¡±


    Her metabolism must have been sky high to have been able to eat even one of those berries and have room for more. And she had already gone through several of them. ¡°And thank you. If I didn¡¯t have that spell that you taught me, the skeleton would have triumphed for sure.¡±


    She blushed, cheeks darkening to a violet-tinged blue, and mumbled something that I couldn¡¯t quite make out.


    Meanwhile, I rested and slowly became less and less sore. If I wasn¡¯t actually experiencing it, I wouldn¡¯t have believed that a human body (well, a Tauros body in my case) could heal that quickly. It was still slow in terms of game time¡ªthough the out-of-combat regeneration rate was much faster than the in-combat rate¡ªbut a beating like I had suffered, even without any broken bones, would have taken days or weeks to recover from out in the real world.


    However, in less than ten minutes¡ªten long, painful minutes¡ªmy health bar was almost entirely recovered. While I was still somewhat sore, the pain was no longer an impediment, so I got to my feet and looked around. That skeleton should have some loot for me, after all! The beating I just recovered from needn¡¯t be in vain!


    Moving slowly and stretching as I did so, I made my way the few feet to where the remains of the skeleton lay sprawled out on the floor. Then, I remembered that the loot should already be in my inventory. Sadly, it¡¯s loot appeared to be nothing special: bone chips, copper coins, no staff, and¡­. ¡°Huh. The skeleton had a miniature treasure chest?¡±


    The coins and bone chips were left in my inventory, but I held up the little chest so that Sunrise Sparkle could see and comment on it. The chest was barely bigger than my palm but otherwise resembled a copper-reinforced, wooden treasure chest. For some reason, it made me think of a jewelry box, though that seemed a bit out of place for a skeleton.


    ¡°Hey! Congrats! You found some rare loot!¡±


    She then went into full tutorial-guide mode and explained in perhaps a bit more detail than I really needed. Apparently, monsters, animals, and any encounter in instanced dungeons had a chance of dropping a rare loot treasure box when it was defeated. Significantly, sapient beings such as villagers, guards, merchants, and even bandits¡ªincluding those of races normally considered monsters in other games, such as Goblins, Ratkin, and Imps¡ªdid not normally have a chance to drop rare loot. Exceptions included instanced content, raiding parties, and special events or quest chains. This was likely in an effort to keep Travellers from just wanton massacre as even regular loot was reduced from such encounters.


    These treasure chests came in several degrees of quality, denoting the rarity of the items inside. The first, and lowest, was the one I found: copper. Above it were silver, then gold, then assorted gem-encrusted ones. Typically, the loot found in a treasure chest would be equipment or accessories, but could include crafting materials, money, rare potions, and so on. Also, the equipment and accessories would typically be soul-bindable, meaning that they couldn¡¯t be stolen once bound ¡­ but also couldn¡¯t be sold. Before binding, though, such loot was saleable (and, presumably stealable though how that would work with PvP disabled, I wasn¡¯t sure). In fact, it was expected that the unopened treasure chests themselves could become a valuable commodity for those wishing to gamble on their contents. However, the guaranteed chest from the tutorial instance couldn¡¯t be sold or traded. Which meant ¡­ time to open it!


    For all its diminutive size, the little treasure chest appeared to use the same mechanics as its larger cousin back on the platform where I had started. That is, it was much larger on the inside than on the outside, and thus was able to contain something much larger than one would have expected it to otherwise. And what this treasure chest contained was a bow. Longer than my starter bow by a few inches, it was exquisitely carved from a dark wood that contrasted with a spiraling pattern of lighter wood inlay. The lighter wood, itself, was carved with some sort of script or pattern of symbols. The bow¡¯s string shimmered like braided silver.


    Enchanted Zulathan Great Bow (unattuned): [Bindable] [Attuneable] [DUR: 160/160] Increases damage of arrows by 10%. Enchantment: [Duration: 30 minutes] [Cooldown: 48 hours] [Special: 10% chance per activation to reduce maximum durability by 20]: When attuned to an element, the enchantment can be activated to allow the bow to consume 5 durability in order to imbue an arrow fired from it with the power of that element. Imbued arrow damage is doubled and is converted to elemental magic damage of the attuned element. Imbued arrows are consumed by the enchantment and are not recoverable.


    It was a very nice bow though it did have a couple critical flaws. At first glance, the chiefest of the flaws was that it actually consumed the arrows it fired when the enchantment was activated. That meant, until I got more arrows, I would be limited to only thirty imbued shots and then I¡¯d be out of luck for any archery at all. However, with it also costing the bow¡¯s durability to fire such arrows, I wouldn¡¯t have much more than thirty shots anyway, and as time went on and the max durability decreased, I¡¯d have fewer. The ¡°special¡± chance the enchantment had to decrease the bow¡¯s max durability meant that even if the bow was very good now (and it sure seemed to be), it would eventually become worthless. Planned obsolescence might be good for the game economy, but it was kind of a downer for the individual.


    The other major flaw was the long cooldown. Throughout my gaming history, it seemed that any ability with a long cooldown¡ªand in some cases that meant ten minutes or more¡ªrarely got used; the mentality was ¡°don¡¯t use them to speed up encounters; save them for true emergencies.¡± But careful play meant that true emergencies were hopefully few and far between. They still did happen, of course. Mistakes and unhappy surprises were part of the experience, especially when going blind into new areas that hadn¡¯t yet been researched and documented.


    At a two-day cooldown, the enchantment on that bow was likely to remain as unused as the charges on the Ring of Limited Wishes. Nevertheless, it was still an improvement over the Traveller¡¯s Basic Longbow I was using, and a magic bow certainly fit the playstyle I was developing here. Thus, I bound the bow and attuned it to Elemental Water to match Mistshard. Perhaps diversifying would have been better at the start, giving options against two different elemental weaknesses¡ªand not being hard-blocked by one strong resistance¡ªbut in my experience, specializing paid off in the long run. Imagine a future accessory that granted bonus damage to water-based attacks: it wouldn¡¯t help the bow¡¯s enchantment if I had chosen a different element, such as Light.


    But that was the future and this was now. There was more to this room than just the dead skeleton and its loot.


    First, I recovered my staff from where it had landed after having been knocked from my unresponsive hands. Then, the most important thing to investigate was that pedestal that I had been driven into. There were several others like it spread around the room, but that one had made an impression on me¡ªalmost literally. Even though the pain itself had now faded, the memory of that pain would likely last longer than I would like.


    Perhaps ¡°lectern¡± would have been a better descriptor than ¡°pedestal,¡± as the stone structure with its relatively thin pillar and wide, sloped top really did look like something a college professor would stand behind and lecture from. A professor with a flair for the baroque, anyway. In this case, the pedestal, lectern, whatever had probably been intended for a mage of some sort, as it and the five others were all facing toward the center of the room. More tellingly, however, was the faceted green gem resting in a carved depression on the top. The gem was sparkling, flickering almost, with a faint inner light.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    I couldn¡¯t see the tops of all the other stone structures to tell, but the one nearest me on the left seemed to have a violet flicker, so maybe another gemstone there.


    ¡°Looks like some more treasure to make the pounding I took in that fight worth it¡­.¡± As I spoke, I reached out to take the green gem, but as my fingertips touched it, all hell¡ªfiguratively¡ªbroke loose¡ªquite literally.


    I felt a sensation that was a cross between being flung upward and the suggestion of movement I had had when appearing into the tutorial instance. Bare moments later, I was standing outside, a few minutes walk from the base of the little hill that had contained the sunken tower.


    It wasn¡¯t just a ¡°get out of the dungeon free¡± card, however. Half the hillside and a large portion of the surrounding ground exploded upward, flinging boulders and other debris every which way, though fortunately none close enough to me to be a hazard. I could now see a side of the sunken tower, which didn¡¯t appear damaged, so hopefully the Ratkin scholar was safe.


    But from the ruined ground arose a figure. And kept rising. Dust swirled about it, obscuring it at first, but if there ever was a time to describe something as colossal, this was it. The silhouette of the figure in the swirl of dust was tall enough to make me seem like a faerie in comparison¡ªand I had experience in being a faerie.


    Two large green lights appeared on the silhouette¡¯s head, eyes no doubt, and several other smaller ones lit up all across the body and limbs. As the dust settled, I got my first view of the colossus that appeared: a figure of stone, nearly ninety feet tall, with four massive arms and four gigantic legs, like an enormous stone centaur. Well, a four-armed centaur. Flickering green lights, visible even at this distance, illuminated its joints and blocky face, with a larger one pulsing like a small star set where a belly button would be on a person, and forming a good part of the connection between upright torso supporting the arms and horizontal torso supported by the legs. I managed a quick Inspect.


    Sar¡¯Glagalth, Guardian of Stone, Destroyer of Nations (Lv ???)


    Mana: ¡Þ


    Hostile


    ¡°Run!¡± Abandoning her usual opening phase, Sunrise Sparkle flitted off faster than the eye could track. For someone who hadn¡¯t ever been more than a few feet away from me after my arrival at the archery range, her departure was significant and her panicked yell maybe more than just a suggestion. The monster, after all, didn¡¯t even have a health bar!


    But this was the tutorial; it couldn¡¯t be that hard, right? After all, I had beat the fight earlier. True, that skeleton had almost killed me, but I had still won. There had to be a gimmick to this encounter¡ªwe were, hopefully, long past the days when unwinnable fights were considered necessary and used to control the flow of the story. This was VR, not some 16-bit single-player experience!


    I narrowed my eyes and considered this Sar¡¯Glagalth. Besides the eyes and the massive orb in its midsection, it was covered with a lot of flickering green lights, seemingly concentrated at joints or presumably ¡°vitals,¡± though I had my doubts whether a stone monster had a heart, kidneys, or even a brain.


    That seemed to suggest that that the green lights were places to target, perhaps the only places that were damageable. When I shifted my focus to one, I found I was able to target it. So ¡­ while it was hopefully not an unwinnable fight in the vein of older games, it certainly looked like a multi-target fight.


    There were, however, problems¡ªbesides the fact that I was about to solo something that looked and was named very much like a high-end raid boss (it couldn¡¯t be, right? This was still the tutorial¡­).


    Problem number one: there were a lot of green lights. Besides the three very obvious high-priority targets of eyes and midsection, each major joint had several lights, and an eight-limbed monster had a lot of joints.


    Problem number two: the monster was big. At nearly ninety feet tall, its eyes would be almost completely out of range of Mistshard even if I were standing right at its feet. Likewise, my bow¡¯s effective range was even shorter though its maximum range was longer. In order to fight Sar¡¯Glagalth, I was going to have to get close.


    Well, someone with a sword or mace as their primary weapon would have to be even closer. If I had to fall back to my dagger, so would I. However, I was really glad that I didn¡¯t decide to play an unarmed fighter-type. Punching and kicking a giant stone monster seemed, well, not like my idea of an ideal evening, morning, whatever time of day it was now.


    As the boss stepped out of the hole from which it had appeared, it tossed a boulder in my direction. One moment, its hands had been empty, the next it was holding a rock that seemed no bigger than a melon in proportion to it. And the next, the rock was arcing in my direction. I was able to get well enough out of the way¡ªit didn¡¯t even really require dodging¡ªbut when the boulder landed, it sent out a shockwave that almost knocked me off my feet. Agility score to the rescue!


    But that boulder was more than double my height, which meant it was really, really massive. Which meant¡­.


    Problem number three: being hit by one of those, and it would be game over. Well, figuratively, but I highly doubted 60-something Health and 17-or-so Defense could withstand being squashed by a boulder.


    As I was contemplating problem number three, another boulder came sailing my way. This looked like it was going to be an encounter that required constant movement. I got out of the way, in part by moving closer, and began my attack with a couple Mistshards targeted toward two different glowing green spots on on the boss¡¯s front right leg, below the knee.


    I wasn¡¯t going to aim higher just yet, not until I got closer. This certainly wasn¡¯t the time to be pulling rusty algebra skills to the forefront and using Pythagoras to calculate distances. Until I got quite a bit closer, knee-high was about as high up the monster as I was likely able to hit.


    Brand-new bow in hand, I zig-zagged as I tried to get closer without presenting an easy target for a giant stone to land atop my head. The first Mistshard hit shortly before the second was halfway to its target, that ten-second cooldown meant they had to be staggered, and I was able to see that my guess had been correct. A health bar for the green glow appeared, and was depleted by around half.


    Two shots per target, hopefully, and not two shots with a little left over. But that was still double what would have been ideal. Well, as ideal as this fight was going to get, anyway. Another way of saying two Mistshards per green glow was to say ten mana per green glow. I had all of 31 mana, which had seemed like a lot when fighting the rats. However, I wasn¡¯t likely to get a chance to sit down and meditate in the middle of this fight. I sent a third Mistshard at a third glow even as I considered my options.


    I could, maybe, take down three glows before I ran out of mana, six if an arrow and a spell together was sufficient (meaning ¡­ if my aim was good enough, while moving, to hit what I was aiming at!). I did have some mana potions¡ªdraughts, if I recalled their names properly¡ªbut even the couple I started with and the handful or so more than I had gained as loot didn¡¯t seem like an adequate amount.


    I considered my new bow for a second. I was only going to get thirty shots whether I used the enchantment on it or not¡ªand whether they hit where I was aiming or not¡ªbut this definitely seemed like one of those occasions where using up cooldowns was warranted. I¡¯d just have to hope that this was the last fight for the tutorial (really, that skeleton had been hard enough to have been the last fight in any sane world!) and that I would be able to buy arrows once I arrived in the main gameworld.


    Still moving forward¡ªand zigging again quite a bit to the left as another boulder landed where I would have been if I had kept following zigging left with zagging right¡ªI traced a few of the symbols with my fingertip, somehow knowing that was the activation sequence for the bow¡¯s enchantment. The runes and script and symbols flared to life and wrapped the bow with a cerulean glow.


    By now I was close enough that maybe I could aim higher. That big green glow at the midsection was a tempting target because if I concentrated on the little glows, I¡¯d run out of resources too quickly. After all, a quick count as I was approaching showed at least four groups of three green glows on the nearest leg, and I had to assume that there were at least some on the backsides of the legs. Sixteen, twenty, twenty-four, something like that per leg ¡­ when I¡¯ll be lucky to manage taking down six glows without needing to drink a potion.


    There was also the not-so-insignificant consideration that a bigger target would be harder to miss.


    With that in mind, I slowed a little, drew and nocked an arrow, and aimed high. When the ghostly lights of the skill guide had me aim even higher, so that the point of the arrow was aimed higher than the top of the glow, I winced a little and complied.


    SWOOSH¡ªthe arrow leapt from the bowstring, and was wreathed in a blue glow as it flew in a high arc up, up, up, slowing, then down, down, speeding down, looking like the skill guide¡¯s suggestion for my aim was good when¡­.


    One of the boss¡¯s four arms swung in front of itself like a shield, and blocked the arrow. Instead of the streak of blue hitting the target, it bounced of the stone of the arm and dissipated.


    ¡°D***!¡± I wasn¡¯t normally a cussing person, but some situations just plain screamed for expletives. When the follow-on Mistshard met a similar fate, brushed out of the air by another of the monster¡¯s four arms, the imbued arrow wasn¡¯t the only thing turning the air blue!


    This was going to be a battle of attrition; I just had to hope that I didn¡¯t get attritted before Sar¡¯Glagalth did, but it wasn¡¯t looking good.


    Since attacking the obvious primary target was out of the question for now, I returned my focus to the leg I had already damaged. Three of the glows¡ªtwo at the ankle and one at the knee¡ªhad been hit, depleting them halfway, so I aimed much lower and sent an arrow streaking toward one of them, immediately following it with a Mistshard directed to a yet-untouched, knee-high glow.


    When the arrow hit, its blue glow pulsed into the green of the target point, washing it away with a burst of water. One down and umpteen many to go¡­.


    But the battle changed. With a target taken out instead of merely hit, Sar¡¯Glagalth reared back and roared. The shockwave from the sheer air pressure of that much noise nearly bowled me over, and my health bar took a few points of damage¡ªfrom sound alone. My ears were ringing and I nearly didn¡¯t notice when both its forelegs stomped back into the ground, sending out a rumbling tremor that did knock me flat. Rather than struggle to my feet, I rolled quickly to the side and kept rolling¡­. Just in time! Another of those unreasonably massive boulders crashed into where I had fallen, and would have obliterated me had I not moved.


    I kept rolling, and it was either the grace period of the tutorial or a quality of the quiver, but none of the arrows spilled out as I did so. I did get another Mistshard flying at a pristine glow, my last spell for my current mana bar, before I got to my feet¡ªjust in time to jump and tumble out of the way as a massive stone fist came crashing into where I would have landed if I had kept rolling.


    I fumbled around in my inventory for a ¡°Basic Mana Draught,¡± and got one of the ¡°(Tutorial)¡± tagged potions first. It turned out to be a a glass vial shaped like a chemistry beaker and capped with a cork. The liquid inside was an unsettling, vivid blue.


    And the potion was revolting; it smelled like mud and tasted like a really strong mint mouthwash mixed into flat root beer¡ªand mint with root beer is a horrid combination as I accidentally discovered a few years back after buying Girl Scout cookies. Thin Mint cookies and root beer floats don¡¯t make for a good dessert combination! Hopefully non-starting potions wouldn¡¯t be quite so bad. There certainly would be a market for alchemists who could control the flavor of their creations.


    But, disgusting as the potion was, it did what it needed to. With my mouth still tingling with the potion¡¯s aftertaste, my mana bar was immediately filled.


    Between arrows, spells, potions, and a heck of a lot of avoiding boulders, attempting to avoid stomp-induced shockwaves, and staying way-the-heck out of the way of fist strikes, I was able to extinguish most of the glowing spots on the one leg I had been attacking. A few arrows missed, and a few boulders almost didn¡¯t miss, but the next time Sar¡¯Glagalth reared back, that leg hung limply, and the resultant shockwave was uneven and less damaging.


    However, just as I was congratulating myself on a working strategy, the battle shifted into another phase, perhaps prompted by the limb being disabled. Huge chunks of the earth rose behind the boss and started whirling around it, breaking into smaller and smaller sections until there was a dizzying spiral of small and medium stones orbiting its body at a distance of¡­.


    Whoa! One nearly hit me, and then another did. And another. That hurt! Between the little bit of damage I had taken with each roar or shockwave and the impact of those two stones, I was nearly half-dead, with my health bar showing 32 points remaining. Even as a third hit, dropping me to 27 health, I was scurrying backward out of the range they revolved at.


    Problem number whatever-I-was-up-to-now: I was still going to have to get up close in order to realistically target the arms, and that whirling, spiraling barrier of flying stones would make it difficult if not impossible. It certainly would make it painful. Not to mention, would arrows and the spell make it through, or would they get knocked aside by stones on an intercept course. That dratted stone monster didn¡¯t even need to use its arms to block attacks now!


    Moreover, I distinctly remembered that Inspect had shown an infinite mana bar. That meant it could keep summoning and lobbing those boulder and keep maintaining the whirling stones in the barrier and keep doing whatever else took mana, perhaps the roars and stomps, and add new tricks to the mix, too. Unless the ability had a duration and cooldown, which I couldn¡¯t afford to just wait around and watch for, then this phase of the fight was likely to be close on to impossible.


    But I had already come this far; I wasn¡¯t about to turn tail and run yet. This monster might do what the skeleton mage had almost done¡ªtake me down¡ªbut I wasn¡¯t going to go down without a fight.


    I took stock of my options. Twelve arrows, three more mana draughts, five healing potions¡ªno four now, and blech!, that tasted like wet dog smelled, but I was back up to full health in a flash¡ªand not a lot of anything else that might be useful. The ring, but Sar¡¯Glagalth was almost certainly a boss monster, and one use of the Limited Wish could ¡°instantly defeat one non-boss opponent.¡±


    My skills weren¡¯t going to be much more help than they already were. Spellcasting and Archery were gaining experience from this battle, as was Dodge¡ªto a degree. But Gathering, Stealth, and Meditation weren¡¯t helping other than the point of Brilliance that I had gained from Gathering leveling up before. I did still have an unselected skill, but while I could take a moment to review my available options, the middle of a boss fight didn¡¯t offer time to peruse the list of all the skills and choose one that suited me.


    I dodged out of the way of yet another lobbed boulder¡ªI really should time the interval between them¡ªand spared one last glance at my character sheet, hoping for something to jump out at me.


    And there it was: I had a racial ability I hadn¡¯t used yet.

 vol. 1: Tutorial 7b

    ¡°Ultimate Skill¡ªHidden Nature!¡± To be honest, I didn¡¯t need to call out the skill name to activate it, and it certainly wasn¡¯t an ultimate skill but rather a racial trait ¡­ but it just felt right, even if my new, cute little voice didn¡¯t seem to handle shouting very well. Tiny little virtual lungs in my tiny little virtual body didn¡¯t lend themselves well to volume. Plus, there was still the matter of the distraction of hearing my own voice: a young girl¡¯s voice, cute and soft and a bit piping like a songbird¡¯s. I had quickly grown accustomed to my avatar¡¯s body, or at least the corrections provided by the game software had minimized the distractions of being small, being female, and wearing a dress, but proprioception and kinematics was one thing, and auditory feedback was quite another. Even all that time spent talking with Sunset Sparkle hadn¡¯t yet gotten me accustomed to hearing my virtual voice.


    It happened in an instant. A combat skill, and unleashing hidden strength can¡¯t be anything but combat-focused, would be useless if it didn¡¯t. And yet¡­. And yet, I felt the changes occur, not instantaneously, but rather over the course of many long, confusing minutes¡ªmade even more confusing since I seemed to experience it multiple times, from multiple angles, and not just from my own perspective. It was like watching a magical-girl transformation in a Japanese show, powering up from innocent schoolgirl into a costumed heroine capable of defeating the monsters of the week, but no transformation I had seen was quite like what I was experiencing.


    Throughout the whole process, I grew taller. As I had discovered, Madelyn Alexis is short. Well, not so much discovered, since I had designed the avatar (not that I had expected to inhabit it), but it¡¯s one thing to see a short character and quite another to be a short character. Even the newbie skeletons and giant rats looked more enormous than they should¡¯ve. But, apparently the ¡°more primal form¡± of a Hidden Nature is larger and more powerful, so I started growing from my childlike state to something more worthy of a so-called ¡°Ultimate Skill.¡± Taller, and taller, until I passed even above my normal not-too-shabby height out in the real world, and taller and taller still. To be honest, though, I was only tangentially aware of becoming taller as the other changes my avatar¡ªmy borrowed body¡ªunderwent were much more ¡­ noticeable. Much more demanding of attention.


    The ¡°good thing,¡± if it can be called that, of having a childlike body for my avatar was that I didn¡¯t have to deal with breasts or anything else drastically different, besides the obvious but less-important-in-a-game silhouette of a body. Perhaps that¡¯s why it didn¡¯t bother me, that much, after the first few moments. And with the aid of the systems behind the game, I had quickly adapted to be able to move and run and jump and fight as Madelyn Alexis. But all that changed in an instant¡ªa prolonged, drawn-out, very confusing and disorienting instant, since time seemed to run slower while the Hidden Nature was activating.


    As I grew taller, I grew in other ways, too. My breasts, non-existent as they had been, swelled up, starting slowly, perhaps hitting a modest average after half a minute of subjective time, but they didn¡¯t stop there. As they continued to grow, and grow, and grow, the glaring flaw of making Madelyn Alexis a young Tauros¡ªa cow-based Beastkin, in plain speech¡ªbeing VERY apparent. I¡¯m not sure how my poor little dress survived. And while it changed, too, to accommodate the changes that Hidden Nature was working upon my body, it seemed to struggle to contain the bountiful (in excess of bountiful, really!) bosom I was developing. And that was with the dress being open from neckline to hemline, held closed only by the brooch and sash.


    It wasn¡¯t just taller, and it wasn¡¯t just bustier. I felt myself getting broader to match, shoulders to give a defensive lineman pause, a waist proportionate and not waspishly thin, and hips full and wide. Even my arms and legs, especially my thighs, became larger. Not fat, but not muscular either. Toned at best, but still soft. Madelyn Alexis had been a girl, a youth, but her, my ¡­ whatever ¡­ Hidden Nature was indisputably a woman, matronly even.


    My tufted tail, which I had almost forgotten about, despite tails and short dresses being a dangerous match, elongated as well. Soon it was brushing past a backside that was no longer as-close-to-flat as my chest had been, but instead was plumping out to match. And as I grew taller and broader, it, too, grew larger and rounder. ¡°Full-figured¡± might be a euphemistic term for someone with excess weight, but even though I wasn¡¯t becoming fat, I was definitely full of figures.


    My scalp itched; short hair gaining in volume and length, fringe fluttering and flipping in an ethereal breeze, and the two little ponytails coming undone, joining garnet-tinted ebony waves that cascaded down my back to brush up against the newly prominent curve of my butt. With a sharp pinch and dull ache, even my skull seemed to shift and change underneath the scalp, as I started growing horns, though they stayed small and relatively unformed, perhaps even almost unnoticeable past the wild cascade of curls I was now graced with.


    And just when I thought the change couldn¡¯t get any more drastic¡ªtaking me from a childlike, near-waif to a small giant at at least double Madelyn Alexis¡¯s original height and with significant, pronounced curves¡ªthe changes continued. From fingertips to shoulders, from scalp to neck, and then lower and lower and lower, all over my body, short, dark fur grew out. Madelyn Alexis was already dark of skin, but the rich, dark berry brown of her, my, skin became concealed under a darker brown coat of fur, definitely bringing the ¡°animal¡± to the forefront.


    As the fur spread downward across my vastly changed figure, it seems that even those changes hadn¡¯t yet finished. The breasts, probably not much more than ¡°above average¡± for someone close to nine feet tall (though by absolute size, much larger than human women ever naturally get), continued to swell even as the dark flesh was covered by darker fur. The dress, by this time, had lost its ability to keep up with my changing height and size, and the previously knee-length fabric was now little more than a very abbreviated flyaway vest¡ªenough to maintain a semblance of modesty, but only a semblance. The sash was gone, perhaps consumed in the transformation or perhaps just busted loose and fluttering to the ground, but at least the black bandeau and bikini remained, sizing upward to accommodate the changes in my body, but somehow not quite keeping the same ratio covered. Even they were more skimpy.


    Even with doing the laundry, and thus knowing my twin¡¯s sizes, I couldn¡¯t even begin to hazard a guess at my size, but at a glance¡ªone I didn¡¯t linger on¡ªeach breast looked larger than my own head. If my twin were here and somehow scaled up to match my boosted height, hers would seem somewhat small in comparison. The breasts weren¡¯t pendulous, but rather full, firm, and embarrassingly prominent, riding high on my much broader chest. Protruding not just to the front, but to the side, forcing me to keep my arms further away from my body or else squeeze uncomfortably. Why was Hidden Nature working such changes on my body? Surely bust size had nothing to do with combat ability!


    There was a commensurate broadening of the rest of my body as well, as I grew thicker, though still neither fat nor muscular¡ªjust a wall of dark-furred flesh, though a wall wider in some places than others. As the fur spread down my legs, which felt longer in proportion to the rest of my body than they did when I was still little Madelyn Alexis, even the structure of the legs changed, making a much stronger connection to animal I was channeling. I felt myself rise up on tiptoes even as the ankle stretched higher and the above- and below-the-knee bones grew shorter to compensate. The little white shoes, almost slippers, that I had as part of my ¡°newbie outfit,¡± disintegrated into shreds of fabric and then seemed to be absorbed into the changes I was undergoing, giving the dark fur a bit of a white-tipped frosting above my new and shiny black hooves.


    The vestigial horns, as well, grew more pronounced. Longer, thicker, and probably sharper, though I felt they wouldn¡¯t serve any purpose other than cosmetic. Horns would be useless against the stone monstrosity I was fighting, and for almost anything else, arrows and spells and even daggers and staffs would be better than trying to slam my head into them.


    Then¡­. Then time returned to normal, and half-stunned by the dramatic changes wrought upon my body, I was unable to react in time to the onslaught. The shockwave from a strike of a massive stone hand slammed into me, tossing me end over end as I was blasted backward away from the stone monster. ¡°Graaah!¡± escaped my lips, in a voice that, too, was changed. No longer cute and piping like a songbird, I sounded almost sultry, definitely sensual, even in that started gasp of reaction. Even without the rest of the changes, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d be blushing from that voice alone, though with my animalistic side so far to the forefront, rather than just a cute little tail and ears, no blush could be seen past the fur.


    Coming to my feet, now twenty feet further back from my foe, I spared a moment to glance at my stats. ¡°Defense? This transformation gives me defense! How useless!¡± If I had been designing a character to play rather than one to just look at all the options that character creation offered, I would have min-maxed a little. Well, in games in the past I¡¯ve played unlikely race/class combinations, such as a Pixie Lancer or Barbarian Wizard, albeit never in virtual reality, so it wouldn¡¯t necessarily have been a lot of min-maxing.


    However, I had no intention in developing Madelyn Alexis into a tank character¡ªespecially not after how I had felt after the fight with the skeleton mage¡ªso that made an ability that boosted defense next to worthless in the long run. Which, in it¡¯s own way, was maybe a good thing. After all, with how the ability transformed my figure, it wasn¡¯t something I could see myself using all that much, if ever again. In fact, for a moment there as the transformation was occurring, I was more than tempted to just log out and restart anyway, regardless of everything that I would have lost. This figure certainly wasn¡¯t something I wanted my sister to see!


    But logging out would mean giving up, and I had come this far already. Regardless, I certainly didn¡¯t intend to give up in the middle of this battle, even if it was something that seemed like I wasn¡¯t likely to win. If I was going to go down, I was going to go down fighting, and not crying because I ended up in an embarrassing situation. I¡¯ve survived embarrassment in the past, like those times when¡ªwell, never mind exactly what¡ªbut this time, the only witnesses were the monster, myself, and Sunrise Sparkle ¡­ wherever she had flown off to.


    Still. The boosted defense did help as that massive attack I took when I was unready didn¡¯t hurt nearly as much as it should have. But ¡®taking less damage¡¯ is not a strategy for winning. Doing more, is. Well outside the range of the spiraling barrier of swirling stones, I readied my bow for another shot¡ªsomehow, it had scaled upward with my growth even if my outfit hadn¡¯t¡ªand very quickly discovered something that female archers have undoubtedly known since the dawn of time: breasts get in the way. And mine, massive as they are in this empowered form, got very much in the way.


    That left archery out, at least until the Hidden Nature transformation wore off in about five minutes, but until then, maybe I could put the boosted Defense to work¡­.


    Grabbing the bull by the horns¡ªvery figuratively speaking¡ªI put the bow back into my inventory and started another zig-zagging run toward Sar¡¯Glagalth. For all that my body was significantly larger and significantly transformed by Hidden Nature, my balance didn¡¯t appear to be affected at all. I could run on hooves as well as I could in shoes, and though my greatly enhanced bustline wasn¡¯t suited for such endeavors, I was able to move in this body as naturally as I had in the avatar¡¯s normal form, or as naturally as I had flown in my transformed hivatar.


    I fired off several more Mistshards as I approached, aiming for yet-unscathed locations, and wasting a little bit of mana on another attempt to hit the large green glow. Unfortunately, the spell was brushed aside by a stone arm, though it appeared to have actually hit a bit of green on the monster¡¯s forearm, so it wasn¡¯t entirely wasted.


    As I charged into the whirling barrier of stone, I was hit by several smaller rocks in quick succession. I barely felt the impacts, and only a couple did a point of damage. Still, even pinpricks could wear someone down, and since my maximum health was barely above 60, there wasn¡¯t room for too many pinpricks. On the other hand, without the enhanced Defense from Hidden Nature, that many rocks would have knocked me halfway to death rather than just a few points further down. Still, between the rocks and the earlier shockwave that had sent me tumbling, I was starting to get low on health, so I grimaced and downed another healing potion. Yuck! I need to remember to send in feedback about them¡­.


    When the stone hand came down a few yards away from me, I jumped and somehow avoided the shockwave. If I had been paying attention earlier, maybe I would have seen the rippling and bowing of the grasses and flowers as the shockwave passed through them, and had thought to jump as it approached me, but at the time I had had other things on my mind.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Somehow, the whole ordeal of the transformation had cleared my mind and made it easier to focus on the combat and less on extraneous things. Now that I was charging into battle in this form, even my earlier embarrassment seemed to fade into insignificance. What mattered was the task at hand.


    And the task at hand was that stone hand. After each strike, it seemed to take several seconds before Sar¡¯Glagalth raised its arms back up to throw boulders or remain in position to guard itself. So¡­.


    I changed course, double zagging, and got ahold of the arm and started clambering upon it. Even though I was significantly taller now, about double my avatar¡¯s original height, the monster was still around ten times my height, which meant that climbing upon its arms was like climbing upon a giant fallen log. And as a stone monster, there were plenty of hand- and toe-, uh, hoof-holds, so I was able to hang out as the arm was once again raised high into the air.


    I would have to hang on¡ªa fall from this height would surely be fatal, even with triple my original defense.


    As I climbed the arm, I got close to several of the glowing green areas. They turned out to be faceted gemstones much like the one I had assumed was treasure after the fight with the skeleton.


    I drew my infrequently-used dagger and tried to stab at them. The blade skittered across the surface ¡­ but it did damage. Compared to the spell and the imbued arrows, the damage was close to insignificant, however. It took ten stabs to deplete the health bar and shatter the gem instead of two arrows or spells. Strange as it may seem, it appeared that this stone monster was weak against water-based attacks! Consequently, more Mistshards were cast and thus more mana potions were rather reluctantly consumed, but I was starting to make significant headway against this boss fight. Though I don¡¯t know how any normal player was supposed to be able to manage to fight it, much less defeat it. Was this another example of encounter scaling gone wrong?


    Even though I was making progress, one mistake could end it, especially as I clung to the monster and clambered around the arm, stabbing at green gemstones.


    And right on time, Murphy came calling. I was clinging to the arm just below the elbow as Sar¡¯Glagath was swinging for another shockwave strike when Hidden Nature wore off. Unlike the transformation, it was done in an instant, without any subjective time extension.


    One moment, I was clinging to hand-holds with my hooves wedged into cracks in the surface, and the next I was dangling, suspended by only my arms since being half the height I had been meant that my feet couldn¡¯t reach where they had been for support.


    Somehow¡­. Somehow, I didn¡¯t fall¡ªbut it was a moment that was sure to give me nightmares in the future. Further, when the transformation wore off, it drained the little bit of mana I had had remaining too. At least that timing wasn¡¯t bad, as well. I had one more mana draught to force down, but it would have to wait until I could spare a hand to get it from my inventory. Just that moment, I was hanging on for dear life!


    Finally, after the impact and shockwave, I was able to swing myself back onto the arm and a less precarious position. Also fortunately, the stone arm was shielding me from any of the rocks swirling around. When Sar¡¯Glagalth was upright, its body and limbs weren¡¯t inside the area that the stones spiraled and orbited in. It was like the eye of a stone hurricane. But when it was bent in a ground strike, it was. Small again, I would have been pulverized by the stones if they had hit me.


    And ¡­ as I looked at my abilities, Hidden Nature wasn¡¯t able to be activated. It wasn¡¯t on cooldown, but it was greyed out. The description didn¡¯t mention anything about limited uses or cooldowns, and calling out ¡°Ultimate Skill¡ªHidden Nature!¡± repeatedly didn¡¯t do anything.


    Until it did.


    When natural regeneration ticked my empty mana bar up one point, I was able to reuse the ability. And just like earlier, the transformation was a lengthy process that nevertheless took no time at all, just an instant stretched out to seem like minutes.


    It wasn¡¯t that I wanted to be in that form, but it was that being taller made it easier to climb and the increased defense meant that I wouldn¡¯t be squashed quite as easily. I was also starting to formulate a bit of a plan that maybe would finish the fight faster than stabbing dozens, if not hundreds, of green gems ten times each.


    Unfortunately, the lack of mana for Mistshard was a bit of a limitation. I drank my last potion and resumed my climb up the arm, using the spell to hit locations on another arm while my dagger and I slowly chipped away the gems on this one.


    I reached Sar¡¯Glagath¡¯s shoulder just as my oversized form wore off, which enabled me to take a stupid, but calculated risk. As the monster turned its head to glare at me, and perhaps to unleash a sonic shockwave of a roar that surely would have knocked me off to fall to my doom, I re-equipped my bow and took careful aim at the nearest of the eyes.


    Surprisingly, the arrow hit and wasn¡¯t deflected by one of the three other arms, so I rapidly released another arrow and then a third and fourth. I didn¡¯t have the mana for a Mistshard, not yet. Sar¡¯Glagalth roared, but not as an attack¡ªinstead it was a roar of pain and disbelief as the green gem of the eye blinked out.


    It reared back on its hind legs, forelegs flailing as the monster expressed its shock and agony, and I saw my opportunity.


    Unfortunately, not only did I not have the mana for a Mistshard, I didn¡¯t have the mana to re-enable Hidden Nature, and I was out of mana draughts. That left only one option¡­.


    I had thought it would be something I¡¯d never end up using¡ªToo Awesome to Use as it was¡ªbut the Ring of Limited Wishes had a full restore option. And I was wearing the ring. Gritting my teeth and taking a deep breath, more from annoyance at the rhyme I would be reciting, I activated a charge on the ring:


    ¡°A mermaid is part fish


    And a fairy has no time


    So please grant the wish


    At the end of this rhyme¡ªFull Restore!¡±


    Amateur poetry indeed¡­. But the recovery was instantaneous. My mana was full; my health which had suffered a few points of damage was full; and my stamina, which recovered quickly enough on its own, was also full.


    Sar¡¯Glagalth was still rearing back, which with the way the head was tilted back as well meant the other eye was placed where I couldn¡¯t see it. But¡­. But there was another target, a much more prominent and tempting target. With the monster rearing back and flailing its arms and legs (well, the one arm I had destroyed so many gems on was hanging lifelessly from the monster¡¯s side), the great glowing green gem in its midsection was exposed.


    It was too tricky a shot for my level of skill in Archery, and it was too far away for me to target with Mistshard, but I had another option. My half-crazed plan¡­.


    I transformed again¡ªno it¡¯s not so I can get used to spending time in that shape!¡ªand leapt off the shoulder. With four arms, normally Sar¡¯Glagalth appeared to be a bit hulking, with with chest broader and deeper than its midsection, and more importantly with shoulders well forward. Now, rearing back, it was almost a straight downward shot from shoulder to massive green target.


    As I fell and got very quickly in range, I cast one spell, but my own speed outraced it. I braced for impact, and my hooves struck the gem with a thunderous force. The impact immediately took off over half my health¡ªeven with the increased Defense values I had in this form¡ªbut it did even more to the monster.


    Unlike all the other gems that I had attacked, this one wasn¡¯t set in stone and augmenting a joint. It, itself, was the joint. The stone torso supporting the centaurish legs was below the gem, and the stone torso of the humanoid portion above the gem. Cascading waves of energy seemed to hold the gem in place.


    Physics was never my favorite subject, but even I remembered ¡°Force is mass times acceleration.¡± I didn¡¯t know how much acceleration I had manage in that jump, but I did know that my ¡°more primal¡± form was massive, so I was sure I had applied a decent amount of force in that attack.


    From where my hooves had impacted the gem, large cracks spread out, not just on the surface of its facets, but plunging into its glowing green depths. The gem shuddered and some of the waves of energy seemed to fade, but it held its structure. Damaged, flawed, but unfortunately still relatively intact.


    I was then able to turn my strike into a controlled slide and tumble, landing on the ground at the back of the monster, where I hastily scurried to safety.


    When it finally stopped flailing about and resumed attacking, I was able to repeat the whole endeavor: up one arm after a shockwave strike, stabbing at gems as I went along, reactivating Hidden Nature as I could, making it to the shoulder, using the last of my arrows on the remaining eye, using another charge of the Ring since I wasn¡¯t given the opportunity to wait for a point of natural regeneration before I had had to shoot its eye out, and launching myself into another plummeting hoofstrike upon the damaged main gem of the monster.


    When my hooves hit the gem again, time seemed to stop¡ªnot quite in the same manner as the dilated time I experienced when transforming. Instead, I hovered there, unmoving, with my hooves just touching the now shattered facet as the cracks spread out to engulf the entire gemstone. Still unmoving and suspended in both time and air, I watched the gemstone shatter into uncountable shards and its green light flicker out.


    The two torsos separated and fell, breaking apart into smaller and smaller fragments of stone as they did so.


    I had done the impossible (that shouldn¡¯t have been impossible to begin with)! I had defeated Sar¡¯Glagalth, Guardian of Stone, Destroyer of Nations.


    I was also thirty or fourty feet up in the air with nothing between me and the ground. This was going to hurt!


    As time returned to normal, I fell. And as I fell, I fumbled for my last healing potion, getting a mouthful even as I crashed into the ground.


    But it was enough. Barely. I didn¡¯t quite black out, this time, but being at one point of health meant I was again seeing stars. I just closed my eyes and tried to not cry from the pain. And from the relief of winning. And from the pain. Hitting the gem and hitting the ground both hurt. I didn¡¯t have any broken bones, but I was more than just merely ¡°sore all over.¡± Right now, I just wanted to lie here, unmoving, for a hundred years¡ªeven if it meant staying in a Tauros body for a hundred years¡ªeven if it meant staying in a primal form for a hundred years.


    It wouldn¡¯t, of course, but right now I didn¡¯t even have the wherewithal to investigate the myriad of bouncing boxes for messages and system notifications.


    Some time later, it had to be more than five minutes since I was back into my regular body with my regular proportions, I heard an astonished Elionne voice somewhere above my head. ¡°Hey! What did you do!? And how did you do that? You weren¡¯t supposed to fight that monster!¡±


    As eloquent as a mostly-dead, fairly wounded person could be, I mumbled, ¡°Huh?¡± and opened my eyes to see Sunrise Sparkle hovering above me and wiping my brow with a damp cloth.


    ¡°Hey! The fight against the ¡®Guardian¡¯ was to teach Travellers about how to escape from encounters. If you get far enough away, the monster loses interest. Lesser monsters lose interest quicker. Or,¡± she added with a bit of a mischievous tone, ¡°it was to teach Travellers that death isn¡¯t final for them. Until you reach a certain level, being defeated has no penalty except being sent back to your last bind location¡ªhere, that¡¯s the platform you started on¡ªafter that level, you would suffer a temporary decrease in your attributes and skill levels.¡±


    ¡°Oh. So it was an unwinnable fight?¡± I sat up slightly, wincing, and let her flutter down to my shoulder as I investigate what could only be part of the boss monster¡¯s corpse. The loot I gained was fairly unimpressive in appearance, but maybe significant otherwise: two Chunks of Elemental Stone and one Fragment of Sar¡¯Glagalth¡¯s Core.


    ¡°Hey! You won it, so it wasn¡¯t unwinnable. But you weren¡¯t supposed to win it! But congratulations, you¡¯re now done with the tutorial. Check your messages!¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to. I didn¡¯t feel up to focusing on whatever the messages had, but¡­. But the sooner I completed the tutorial, the sooner I could log out and crawl into bed and sleep for a hundred years not as a Tauros girl.


    [System Broadcast] Madelyn Alexis is the first player to earn the rare Achievement ¡°Titanslayer¡± for completing [hidden requirements]! Rewards for the achievement are doubled!


    [System Broadcast] Madelyn Alexis has earned the unique Achievement ¡°Scorestopper¡± for being the first character to defeat a monster level 20 or higher!


    [System Broadcast] Madelyn Alexis has earned the unique Achievement ¡°Impossible Odds¡± for being the first character to defeat a monster more than ten times their level!


    System Message: You have gained the rare Title ¡°Legendary¡± for¡ª


    I swiped them away without reading them all. There were a few others, such as Archery, Spellcasting, and Dagger increasing by one as well as prompts for me to take skills such as Climbing, Unarmed Combat, Giantslayer, or so on.


    The last one, though:


    System Message: You have completed the tutorial! Speak with your Tutorial Experience And Starting Expert in order to select your starting settlement. Welcome again to the world of Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online!


    ¡°Ah. So, it looks like this is ¡®Goodbye,¡¯ for now, Sunrise Sparkle. What¡¯s the closest I can start to Kystari?¡± That was the place that the GM had mentioned in her postscript. Any place that a GM goes out of her way to mention was probably some place I should investigate. The oblique hinting seemed to suggest that the owner of that inn she mentioned was a high-level skill trainer, so if I wanted, maybe, to take Cooking as a skill later, it might be good to visit that inn.


    ¡°Hey! Kystari? Well, the closest would be Stone Lotus Fields, but that would be a really difficult journey.¡±


    ¡°The easiest, then?¡±


    ¡°The easiest road would be from Krystall Banner, but no¡­ That wouldn¡¯t be a good place for you. It¡¯s Yanari.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. Easiest path on one hand, and a place that popped up in flavor text as sounding like a very unpleasant place. ¡°Yeah. No Yanari. Just, well, I trust you. Find me a good starting place that¡¯s not too hard to get to Kystari but also isn¡¯t deep inside some evil empire, okay?¡±


    I searched through my somewhat depleted inventory and handed her another Wild Blackberry, ¡°One for the road, eh?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Thank you, and take care!¡±


    The tutorial instance disappeared around me and I got an impression of white, maybe snow, and a fountain before I logged completely out of the game¡ªbypassing returning to the home instance first. When I crawled out of the FIVR pod, the sun was already shining through my west-facing window. Fortunately, I had nothing planned for the day, so I could sleep through until whenever I woke. I was too tired to set any alarm, but just curled up in bed with Luna under one arm, and was instantly asleep before even pulling a sheet or blanket over myself.

 vol. 1: Player Data, Madelyn Alexis, End of Tutorial

    [Player Data]


    Name: Madelyn Alexis


    Race: Beastkin (Tauros)


    Level: 2


    Class: Traveller [Lv 1]


    Sub-class: n/a


    Active Title: Legendary (All reputation changes multiplied by 1.1)


    Hidden Title: Heroine (+1 to all base attributes)


    Profession: n/a


    Renown: 5


    Health: 61


    Mana: 31


    Stamina: 24


    STR: 10 (+1)


    END: 11 (+1)


    AGI: 12 [+3] (+1)


    BRL: 11 [+5] (+1)


    WIL: 14 (+1)


    RFX: 10 [+1] (+1)


    DEF: 10 (+7)


    LCK: 10 (+1)


    CHR: 18 (+2)


    Unassigned AP: 0


    [Equipment]


    Head: Traveller¡¯s Basic Headband (Ornamented) [DUR: ¡Þ] [CHR: +1]


    Torso: Traveller¡¯s Basic Robe [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +3]


    Arms: <nothing>


    Waist: Traveller¡¯s Basic Sash [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +0]


    Legs: Traveller¡¯s Basic Cloth Slippers [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +0]


    Main Hand: Traveller¡¯s Basic Quiver [DUR: ¡Þ] [Arrows: 0]


    Off-Hand: Enchanted Zulathan Great Bow of Water [DUR: 10/160]


    Left Ring: Ring of Limited Wishes (charges: 1) [DUR: ¡Þ]


    Right Ring: <nothing>


    Bracelet: <nothing>


    Necklace: <nothing>


    Other 1: Heroine¡¯s Basic Brass Brooch of Defense [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +3]


    Other 2: <nothing>


    [Skills - Primary]


    <ol>


    <li>Archery (A/R) [Lv 3]</li>


    <li>Gathering (B/L) [Lv 1]</li>


    <li>Spellcasting (B/B) [Lv 3]</li>


    <li><unselected></li>


    </ol>


    [Skills - Secondary]


    <ol>


    <li>Dagger (A/R) [Lv 1]</li>


    <li>Dodge (A/R) [Lv 0]</li>


    <li>Stealth (A/W) [Lv 0]</li>


    <li>Meditation (W/E) [Lv 1]</li>


    </ol>


    [Spells / Abilities / Traits]


    <ul>


    <li>Hidden Nature [Racial Trait] [Lv 1] Channel the power of your spirit animal. Transform to a more primal form with a boost to your subrace¡¯s and class¡¯s preferred attributes. Drains all mana after expiration. Duration: 5.2 minutes.</li>


    <li>Tauros Toughness [Subracial Trait] Incoming damage reduced by 5%.</li>


    <li>Mistshard [Spell, Unique, Evolvable] [Lv 3] Launch a slow, tracking shard of frozen mist at a target. Upon impact, it explodes dealing minor water damage to a foe or healing minor damage on an ally.</li>


    <li>Elionne Embrace [Spell, Special, Primus, Evolvable] [Lv 1] Grants a boon to a target ally that reduces damage received from elemental earth or elemental darkness sources and has a chance to reflect a portion of that damage as light damage.</li>


    <li>Increased Movement Speed [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Movement speed is increased by 5%.</li>


    <li>Increased Regeneration Rate [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Health regeneration is increased by 1 per 5 minutes. Mana regeneration is increased by 1 per minute.</li>


    </ul>


    [Perks]Stolen story; please report.


    <ul>


    <li>Destiny¡¯s Designer (Unique): Reputation gain is increased by 10%. Reputation loss is decreased by 10%.</li>


    <li>Chrysanthemum Heroine (Limited): A locus of fate around which stories and events swirl.</li>


    <li>Unique Spell (Unique): Grants a random, unique, evolvable spell from Element Water. Spell evolutions can be chosen at spell levels 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100.</li>


    <li>Empathy (Special, Primus): Gain +6 Charisma. Increase chance of success by 6% when reading, detecting, or manipulating emotions</li>


    </ul>


    [Inventory]


    Currency: 105 silver coins, 27 copper bits


    Equipped bags: 2 four-slot bags (3 unset)


    Total space: 28 slots


    <ol>


    <li>Ornate Ribbon (???)</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Longbow</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Dagger</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Staff</li>


    <li>Basic Energy Drink (Tutorial)</li>


    <li>Basic Energy Drink x2</li>


    <li>Weak Antivenom</li>


    <li>Mountain Blue Typha x32</li>


    <li>Sweet Redberry x75</li>


    <li>Wild Blackberry x3</li>


    <li>Tufted Meadow Grass x15</li>


    <li>Willow Bark x 18</li>


    <li>Unidentified Mushroom x5</li>


    <li>Large Rat Pelt (low quality) x3</li>


    <li>Large Rat Pelt x6</li>


    <li>Animal Bone (small) x21</li>


    <li>Skeletal Bone Chip x31</li>


    <li>Rusty Weapon x3</li>


    <li>Fragment of Sar¡¯Glagath¡¯s Core</li>


    <li>Chunk of Elemental Stone x2</li>


    </ol>

 vol. 1: Interlude 1: The First Dress (20ish years ago)

    ¡°No.¡±


    It was Easter. We were six. And my sister had a plan that I definitely didn¡¯t like.


    She had been grounded for the past five weeks. At school, the teacher had been called out of the classroom for one reason or another and had left the kindergarten class unsupervised. Many of the other little boys and girls had started talking or playing. I had been reading ahead. And my sister¡­.


    Well, she had used the craft scissors meant for construction paper to try to cut her hair as short as mine. After six years with barely a haircut except to trim the split ends, her hair had reached past her waist, and she had hated having long hair. However, the local barber had always followed Mother¡¯s wishes, of course, so Alexandra never got to have hair as short as mine.


    Until that day.


    Her remaining hair had been trimmed to match mine, maybe even a little shorter since mine had had a few weeks of growing since the last haircut. For a brother and sister pair of twins, we were nearly as identical as possible, and at that tender age, there weren¡¯t very many obvious distinguishing features besides clothing.


    Well, she was usually more eager to play outside than I, so her skin was maybe a touch more tan and her remaining blonde hair a shade lighter than mine, but since I was required to play¡ªwell, spend time¡ªoutdoors, I wasn¡¯t as fair-skinned as I could have been. So, my short-haired twin sister could very well have passed as my twin brother.


    It was still very early in the morning, long before Mother would be trying to wake us up and get us ready for the sunrise service at church. After church would be the Easter egg hunt and then a very early holiday dinner at Grandma¡¯s.


    Even though it was early, my sister was already fully dressed¡ªin my Easter clothes of dark blue pants with sharp creases; crisp white, button-down shirt; and the tie I didn¡¯t want to wear because ties reminded me of leashes. She even had on my shiny new shoes that pinched my feet because they were only supposed to be worn for Sundays and special occasions, so they had never been ¡°broken in.¡±


    ¡°Please!¡± She pointed to the pile of clothing she had laid across the foot of my bed. It was what she was supposed to wear. A very fancy white-and-pink Easter dress with a matching bonnet, shawl, tights, and her brand new pair of Easter shoes. They were the strange sort of dress shoes that girls are supposed to wear, with a strap across the top of the foot and a strap like a little belt around the leg above the ankle. They didn¡¯t cover the whole foot like regular shoes do, leaving the part between the strap and the part that covered the toes uncovered. The shoes even had a little bit of an elevated heel on them¡ªnothing like what the ladies at church wore and nothing like even the teachers at school wore. The heels were short and thick, maybe only half an inch of extra height. The shoes were white, with a pink bow on top of the toes and a pink heart-shaped buckle on the ankle belt part. They looked very uncomfortable.


    ¡°No!


    ¡°Please, Lexy!¡± We didn¡¯t use those nicknames much, yet, and never where other people could hear them. It was inconvenient that our names were so close, and both Alexander and Alexandra were too long to say all the time. I had started calling her ¡°Lex¡± since she wanted that, so she started calling me ¡°Lexy¡± since ¡°Alex¡± could have been either of us. She usually got her way.


    ¡°Pleeeeeeease,¡± she continued, going into a near-whine that showed just how desperate she really was. ¡°If I don¡¯t wear that dress, I¡¯ll be grounded for all summer and maybe for all first grade, too. Mother¡¯s still really mad about my haircut. I don¡¯t want to be grounded. She doesn¡¯t let me do anything except play in the yard and there¡¯s no one to play with since you just sit and read! So you owe me!¡±


    ¡°Wait, how do I owe you?¡± I sat up in bed, slightly outraged, and pushed the GI Joe bedding down. I didn¡¯t really like GI Joe and would have rather had plain green bedding, but it had been the only one with green that Mother would let me choose. Not even triangles, squares, and other shapes were good enough.


    ¡°Um, well, if you do it, then I will owe you,¡± she hastily began, then continued with a bit of stammer as she grasped for an idea of what she¡¯d owe. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll¡­ Um, I¡¯ll eat your lima beans for the rest of the year.¡±


    ¡°You like slimy beans, Lex. That¡¯s not owing.¡±


    She shook her head, ¡°Nuh-uh. But I know how to eat them without tasting them. One in the mouth, sip of milk and swallow, next one in the mouth, sip of milk and swallow. Or if you¡¯re getting ready to swallow potatoes or meat, put a bean or two in and swallow them too. No taste!¡± She looked me in the eye, ¡°I told you my secret, so now you owe me.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°That¡¯s not how it works. And the answer is still no.¡±


    ¡°Um. Umm¡­. How about¡­. What if...? I can¡­. I know! I¡¯ll let you have the desserts in my school lunches for the rest of the year!¡±


    I frowned, and knuckled some sleep out of my eyes. ¡°Kindergarten is almost over, that¡¯s not much.¡±


    ¡°All of first grade, too!¡±


    ¡°Even the applesauce?¡± Grandma made applesauce from apples grown in her own yard, so we had homemade applesauce year-round and it was good, not like the metal-tasting stuff served at school from big cans that should have been called cansauce instead. Applesauce was my sister¡¯s second favorite after orange jello with pineapple pieces.


    ¡°Y-yes. Even the applesauce. Pleeeease, Lexy? If we don¡¯t hurry up, Mother will wake up and then we¡¯ll get in trouble!¡±


    I sighed and got out of bed. ¡°You really owe me for this. More than just lima beans and dessert, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay! Thanks, you¡¯re the best brother ever!¡± She actually hugged me. She normally wasn¡¯t very demonstrative, so it was another very big clue on just how much she really didn¡¯t want to wear that dress.


    I didn¡¯t want to wear it either, but I guess she didn¡¯t want it more than I didn¡¯t want it. Something like that. It was going to be a very, very long day, and it was only.... I looked over to the clock on the wall. Big hand on 4, little hand on 3¡ªtoo early!


    I padded over to the closet and she stopped me. ¡°You don¡¯t need anything there. I brung everything you need.¡± She grabbed my hand and pulled me back to the pile of clothing on the bed. Rummaging around in it, which was more than just the dress, tights, shoes, and bonnet¡ªit included some things I really didn¡¯t have a word for¡ªshe pulled out a pair of her underwear. It wasn¡¯t that much different from boy¡¯s underwear. The shape was the same even if it didn¡¯t have the weird flap on the front. The material was thinner and the top had a little bit of a ruffle to it. And it had a bunny rabbit pattern.


    The green bedding I had wanted had been grass green with bunny rabbits. She planned on everything.


    With another sigh, I took it, turned around, and said, ¡°You turn around too while I get out of my pajamas!¡±


    Basic preparations complete, I sat on the edge of the bed and struggled with the tights. ¡°These are harder than socks,¡± I complained.


    My sister nodded. ¡°Girls¡¯ clothing is too complicated. I hate it! But you do it like this,¡± she helped me. ¡°You have to be careful to not let it twist so the back stays in the back on both legs.¡±


    Tights pulled up, a bit like very tight pants with built-in socks, I stood at the edge of the bed while my twin gave me the next piece of weird clothing. It looked like a tank-top undershirt, but the material was thin and shimmered sort of like the tights did, but a bit differently. It was smooth and the shoulder straps were very thin, stretchy, and had little buckles where they connected up front. The undershirt also had a small pink bow a little below the collar in the front, and the neck opening had a little bit of a ruffle that matched her underpants.


    That went on next and I found that while it looked like an undershirt, it was longer¡ªalmost a dress itself. ¡°It¡¯s so the dress moves ¡®properly¡¯ and doesn¡¯t rub on the skin,¡± she explained.


    After that was something like layers and layers of white skirts all sewn together. They crinkled and made a lot of noise when she helped me put them on. They buttoned in the back and were a little bit tight, probably so they wouldn¡¯t slip around much even though the undershirt-thing was a slippery material. ¡°To give the dress shape,¡± she explained. ¡°They¡¯re horrible.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not making me feel any better about this,¡± I grumbled.


    Fortunately, we were nearly done. The dress was next, and unlike a proper shirt, it buttoned up the back. No wonder she expected that Mother would have helped her get dressed in it. How does anyone do buttons on their back? My twin helped me, of course, and then helped to arrange the dress properly over all those layers of crinkly skirts. I felt like I was wearing a bell!


    Shoes, shawl, bonnet, little white gloves with pink ribbons around the wrists. When we stood side by side and looked in the mirror, even I had a hard time seeing who was who. If I had only seen it as a picture, not as in the mirror, I would have thought the twin in the dress was my sister.


    Noises were starting to come from downstairs, so we (reluctantly in my case) went downstairs. When my mother saw that we were already dressed, she patted Alexandra on the head, mussing up her short hair a little. ¡°You helped your sister with her dress? You¡¯re such a considerate brother, Alexander.¡±


    It was working. She had called my twin with my name, thinking that the kid in the pants, button-down shirt, and tie was a boy. And¡­.


    ¡­ and thus thinking that the kid¡ªme¡ªin the dress and all the hoopla was a girl. I wasn¡¯t a man yet, but oh my manly pride!


    Mother then placed a hand on my shoulder, ¡°And thank you, Alexandra, for not making a fuss about the dress. It wouldn¡¯t be good to make a fuss on Jesus¡¯ important day. If you¡¯re good all day, you can stop being grounded tomorrow.¡±


    My twin shot me a significant look. My mother continued speaking, ¡°Well, since everyone¡¯s ready, let¡¯s get going to church. Remember, breakfast will be at church after the service. And stop frowning, Alexandra. This is Jesus¡¯ special day; you don¡¯t want Him to think you¡¯re not happy He rose from the dead, do you?¡±


    Frowning and looking sullen, on the other hand, would be exactly what my sister would be doing if she had been in this get-up, so no one would think anything was wrong about me frowning and being sullen.


    Besides, if Jesus really loved the little children, like the song says, then He wouldn¡¯t make them wear clothes they didn¡¯t want to wear just to make Him happy. If He didn¡¯t love us in jeans and no dresses¡ªfor boys or girls¡ªthen maybe He wasn¡¯t as good as they said He was.


    And that¡¯s how I spent a whole day wearing my sister¡¯s Easter dress. Fortunately, it was the last year my mother had insisted on an Easter dress, so it didn¡¯t turn into a yearly thing. But the family Easter photo was hanging on a wall in the living room with every other family photo until we had moved out.


    As far as I know, no one ever figured out our deception, but my sister had to spend the rest of the year pretending that lima beans were her favorite vegetable, asking for bigger helpings after she was caught eating mine a few months later.

 vol. 1: Meetings 1

    ~Janet¡¯s PoV~


    Janet, in her avatar as GM Nazhai, discreetly sighed as the meeting dragged on into its third hour. Sitting on the dias as she was, with a handful of the other senior staff of Heraldic Echo, she couldn¡¯t even escape into daydreaming, gossipping, or even real work. Not that the meeting was unimportant, far from it with the game¡¯s global launch, but so much of what was being covered wasn¡¯t especially relevant to either her or her department. And the bit that had been, she¡¯d either already seen the reports for them or she¡¯d see them in the morning. Or she had already dealt with them herself.


    At the moment, a very junior member of the finances department was wrapping up a (thankfully) short presentation on alternate revenue streams. The only thing that had caught Nazhai¡¯s interest, besides the presenter¡¯s obvious distraction at being in VR, was the relatively low number of players that spent anything to customize either their home instance or hivatar. Nazhai smiled as she remembered the visit to one of the players who had. That player was going to be one worth keeping an eye on.


    But, truthfully, the presenter was probably more distracted by his outfit than by actually being in VR¡ªall employees of Heraldic Echo, including their newest hire, a payroll assistant, had by now had experience with the company¡¯s full immersion VR and most had had experience with other forms of VR or AR as well. But all employees, whether they interacted with players or not, were mandated a style of attire for official actions within VR. That included staff meetings as well as interaction with the AIs or interaction with players.


    It wasn¡¯t a uniform, with everyone dressing identically but for sizing, but it was, in a way, a uniform.


    Nazhai smiled again in recollection. This was a battle she had fought tooth and nail for, and had triumphed. Initially, the ¡°trade dress¡± had been with white feathery wings, white robes or gowns, glowing halos, and accessories such as trumpets, banners, or scrolls. However, she had been very much against setting themselves up as ¡°messengers of the gods.¡±


    Her core argument had been that by elevating themselves above the players, they would start to see themselves as more important than the players¡ªeven if only subconsciously¡ªand that would have been detrimental for the business and for player relations. Instead, she had argued, the staff was in service to the game and players, and their public presentation should represent that.


    Thus, the current ¡°trade dress¡± of employees was that of servants: maids and butlers in particular. However, the specifics of the stylings were left up to the individual employee, so it wasn¡¯t really a uniform per se.


    Most people had elected to dress like Nazhai herself did, conservatively. Hers was a long black dress, a white apron, and a little white ruffled hairband¡ªthough old-timey bonnets and maid caps were almost equally as common. Several, however, dressed in shorter skirts and deeper necklines, in a manner that would have been quite inappropriate in just about any other office. Those were usually not in Nazhai¡¯s department, however.


    The butler outfits tended to be more consistent, but that was mostly because there was less room for variety in men¡¯s fashion: dark slacks, a dark or white dress shirt, and a dark suit jacket with coattails. For one reason or another, cravats were much more common than traditional ties or bow ties. Despite the relative lack of diversity, there were two who paired culottes and waistcoats with bolo ties.


    Since the meetings were conducted in virtual reality, there were many¡ªlike Nazhai herself¡ªwho had chosen non-human avatars. Nazhai was Nekoun, a cat-based Beastkin, and the assorted Beastkin subraces made up most of the non-human avatars, though there were plenty of elves and even a dwarf or two. The most distinctive were a pair from the technical side who were clockwork golems and who had fashioned their appearance so that their bodies themselves were their uniforms, with rollerblade feet barely showing from under darkened bronze, bell-like skirts.


    A few, a bit less than ten percent of the staff, were crossdressed, with women as butlers and men as maids, though some of them¡ªespecially those with elven avatars¡ªwere androgynous enough that it was hard to tell. And that was just with the avatars¡¯ clothing. At least a few were taking the opportunity virtual reality offered and had crossgendered avatars. The wispy blonde elf on the dias with Nazhai was Dan Westbrook, the EVP of Marketing and Operations, but here in VR was known as Victoria Delacroix. Her outfit was almost more gothic lolita than it was truly a maid uniform, though the piratical eyepatch featured crossed feather dusters under a smiling heart instead of the typical skull and crossbones..


    That was probably why the presenter was apparently distracted with his outfit. Finances fell under Victoria¡¯s jurisdiction, and she was known to prefer her staff to match her style, so the fellow was one of the men with much more frills and frippery on his butler¡¯s apparel than was otherwise common.


    Also in attendance were several of the higher-tier AI, or their representatives, those that kept the game world running. While most of them were set to diminutive, winged avatars¡ªvarious sorts of faeries¡ªAurora Gamma, a facet of Mediator Aurora, took the form of a severe, bespectacled, dark-haired human woman. She appeared more of a governess than maid, and while still technically servant-themed, she looked much more like one to be obeyed. She was also on the dias, between Victoria Delacroix and Miguel Alphonso, the Lead Programmer. Nazhai mused that an outsider looking in might assume that Aurora Gamma, from her outfit, positioning, and demeanor was the one in charge.


    But the meeting was now shifting to a phase where Nazhai forced her wandering thoughts back to attention rather than contemplation. A staff member from Statistics and Analysis was summarizing what they felt were important findings. Nazhai, like others, took notes.


    ¡°As you can see,¡± the staff member had projected a series of charts, ¡°humans by far make up the majority of player characters. Around two out of every three characters that have left the tutorial instance¡ªcounting only characters created since launch¡ªare of the human archetype with the vast majority of them being Yanari, probably for the combat damage subracial trait, or Elleran for the increased mana pool. After humans, about one in five characters overall are elf archetypes, Tale¡¯a¡¯Dine and Na¡¯Dine predominantly. Ah, that¡¯s the ¡®Dark¡¯ Elves and ¡®High¡¯ Elves, respectively. The other elves are about equally dispersed, with Qo¡¯Dine, the ¡®Sea¡¯ Elves trailing.¡± Here, he shot an apologetic look to Victoria, whose avatar was one of the underrepresented elves.


    ¡°After humans and elves, most of the rest of the archetypes are roughly evenly split except the Faetouched. Several of them were created, but most were deleted in the tutorials. We¡¯ll have statistics on what those players eventually settled on later,¡± the presenter frowned for not having the data immediately at hand, ¡°but the general consensus seems to be that they found the racial metal vulnerability too limiting.¡± Tapping the percentage displayed next to Tallemaja, the presenter continued. ¡°This number is a little misleading. The twenty-five players who have, thus far, stayed with this subrace are just barely enough to round the number up to the two decimal points we¡¯re displaying on the chart. For them, it would be better to show 0.005% rather than 0.01%.¡±


    The presentation continued even as murmurs of discussion centered on some of the clusters of attendees and as Nazhai made a note to follow up with the players who did remain in that subrace.


    ¡°Like the larger racial archetypes, these less popular ones generally show an uneven distribution of players. They tend to prefer dark or fire over the other elements for Draconic. Ghosts are between five and eight times more popular than the rest of the Undead subraces. And Lapis, Nekoun, and Vulpix Beastkin¡ªRabbits, Cats, and Foxes¡ªcomprise the majority of created Beastkin. This number though,¡± the presenter circled a 0.00%, ¡°is a matter for concern. Unlike the Faetouched archetypes, we don¡¯t have a consensus on why so few players have chosen the Tauros subrace. Perhaps it¡¯s a matter of everything else being more popular, but of the half a million players represented in this data, there is exactly one Tauros, a girl, whom I believe we¡¯ll be hearing about later¡­.¡±


    A faerie AI flitted up to the presenter, who nodded as she whispered something. ¡°Apparently, there are four more Tauros currently in the tutorial, but we¡¯d still need a five-fold increase before they even registered as a blip in this data. And as the number of players in the sample grows, so too does the threshold for being a blip.¡±


    The presenter was replaced by another from Statistics and Analysis. This was a rather tall and imposing Tauros who shrugged his shoulders, ¡°I can¡¯t say why so few players have chosen this subrace, but I do have a few things to add. As you can tell by the number of players represented in the data my colleague displayed, we¡¯ve easily passed the 100,000th created character. We had a huge surge once the sun started rising on the east coast. So all twenty heroes or heroines have been created. ECHO now has seven Chrysanthemum Heroines and eleven Chrysanthemum Heroes. The remaining two deleted their characters before completing the tutorial. One of those was in the Faetouched archetype and is now playing a human character. The other logged out and hasn¡¯t recreated a character.¡±


    Nazhai made a note to have one of her staff get in contact with that player.


    ¡°Before anyone asks,¡± the Tauros continued, ¡°no player selected Imperial Lineage, though two appear to have seriously considered it. That means you story folk will have to find another way to get it out there. One of those two, by the way, was the sole Tauros player my colleague mentioned.¡± Here, his voice had a hint of pride, perhaps a spot of racial solidarity.


    ¡°There were, of course, several server firsts, which we all naturally expected, including, already the first player to reach level 5, which most of us had assumed would have taken a couple days. Three dozen different rare achievements were met, and a scattering of unique achievements. However, what I feel may be of most interest to some of you are these two.¡±


    The Tauros presenter gestured, and a projection of two players appeared over the assembled staff. One was a young Tauros girl¡ªrather, the young Tauros girl¡ªin white who was wielding a bow that seemed too fancy for the tutorial. The other was an atypical elf in red. Rather than thin and waify as elves generally were, she sported a figure that was all sensuous curve. Her gold-embroidered robe had a perilously low neckline and almost seemed painted on. Beyond its provocativeness, however, the level of detail in the embroidery and the sheen of magic it radiated suggested high-level gear. Likewise, the glowing skull wreathed with golden vines that she was using as a focus was obviously beyond what any player should have found within the tutorial.


    Everyone on the dias sat up straighter and focused on the two images. Aurora Gamma was surrounded by a faint nimbus of floating numbers and symbols, and a handful of lesser AIs popped into existence around her. The same intent focus appeared to be shared by the other staff as well since the sussurrations of whispered conversations ceased.


    ¡°We will start with the elf,¡± the presenter said, and the indicated image panned out to show the elf facing what appeared to be an enormous, shimmering, six-legged unicorn. The beast was many times the player¡¯s height; were they to stand side by side, the elf wouldn¡¯t even be as tall as the height of the unicorn¡¯s silvery horseshoes. The unicorn reared up and pounded the ground with its forelegs, sending out an ever-increasing ripple of light that reached almost precisely to where the elf was standing before fading away without causing any harm.


    The elf smirked, raised the skull, and sent off a magical barrage of her own. Bolt after bolt of incandescent violet energy streaked toward the unicorn, most to sputter out against a shield of light the unicorn raised, but some few broke through and struck the beast, leaving scars of darkness on its otherwise pristine, radiant white coat. Bolts expended, she knelt and meditated, paying no heed to her opponent¡¯s attacks, as none of them ever reached her. Then she rose and repeated, sending spell after spell to strike the beast.


    ¡°This continues for quite some time. For all of our convenience, let¡¯s speed this up by a factor of 100.¡±


    The scene then jumped into overdrive, and while the unicorn¡¯s attack patterns changed as it hit certain thresholds¡ªbeams of light from the horn first, then later something like shooting stars falling all around it, then finally a double stomp sending out concentric ripples of light¡ªthe elf remained standing, or kneeling for mana recovery, just outside the range of its attacks. Throughout it all, the unicorn¡¯s coat of white fur was being singed and corrupted by the few bolts from the barrages that made it through its defenses, turning more and more of its fur dingy and dark rather than radiant, until at last the unicorn was thoroughly blackened and collapsed to its knees, bowed its head, and dwindled in size, shrinking from a monstrous height to barely taller than the elf.


    As the end of the battle was happening, the replay slowed down to closer to 1:1 time, and then and only then did the elf move from her spot. She strode, strutted almost, forward and approached the defeated-but-not-yet-dead monster. The look it gave her was a mingle of malice and pleading, though she appeared to pay it no heed. Reaching forward, she snapped off its horn and placed her trophy in her inventory even as the beast disintegrated into ash and motes of violet light.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The whole replay took a little over four minutes. The Tauros presenter raised his hands to forestall to storm of questioning and exclamations that seemed likely, ¡°Please. I know or can guess what many of you are thinking, but there¡¯s one other to view, first.¡± He gestured toward the projection of the young Tauros girl with her bow. ¡°The encounter you just saw began before the one you are about to see, but it also lasted significantly longer. Watch.¡±


    The scene with the elf diminished and the other expanded to fill the space. ¡°This, too, will be sped up, though not as drastically.¡± And the fight between Madelyn Alexis and Sar¡¯Glagalth began again, replaying for an audience that she had never considered watching her. When at last her hard-fought victory was earned, there was a profound silence throughout the entirety of the audience chamber.


    Someone coughed, and like a spell being broken, people began talking one to another, when from the back of the room arose a cry, ¡°She cheated!¡± For a moment, Nazhai thought it was going to be a diatribe against the elf, who surely had benefit beyond what should have been in the tutorial, but the shouter continued. ¡°She was exploiting! No Beastkin should be able to transform that frequently! Strip her of her achievements! Ban her, even!¡±


    Then the whole room exploded into shouted arguments and counter-arguments. As was typical, the people of the least import were shouting the loudest, and the people whose opinion mattered most were silent. From a brief glance around the dias, Nazhai noticed that the rest of the senior staff were thinking as furiously or near as furiously as she. Victoria caught her eye and inclined her head, but said nothing.


    After about five minutes of unproductive accusations and recriminations, a loud ¡°Enough!¡± boomed across the dias and filled the chamber, nearly causing the virtual walls to buckle.


    That was Director Sonovich making his presence known. For personal reasons, he eschewed virtual reality and instead attended via telepresence¡ªa face on a monitor, the display of which now grew to match the size of the battles that the staff had just watched.


    ¡°It does seem that the Beastkin racial might need further tuning. We will discuss that presently. However, I daresay that girl would have found a way to succeed regardless. Whatever advantages she had that she should not have had, she at least took the game, its world, and that encounter seriously. The other, the elf harlot, she was disrespectful. That was no fight; that was no challenge; and those were certainly equipment beyond her means. I want a list of all equipment those two players had in their possession as well as the sources of those equipment¡ª Yes?¡±


    ¡°Your pardon, Director,¡± the Tauros presenter began, ¡°But my colleagues had anticipated this request.¡± Text, lists of their equipment, was then superimposed on both projections of the players. Nazhai¡¯s interface, and she assumed the interface of many others present, chimed with a new message containing a copy of the information.


    Equipment for Player Madelyn Alexis:


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Headband (Ornamented) / source: character creation</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Robe / source: character creation</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Sash / source: character creation</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Cloth Slippers / source: character creation</li>


    <li>Ring of Limited Wishes (charges: 3 / available charges: 1) / source: GM Nazhai via process system.addToInventoryWithMessage</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Quiver / source: initial equipment chest</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Longbow / source: initial equipment chest</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Dagger / source: initial equipment chest</li>


    <li>Traveller¡¯s Basic Staff / source: initial equipment chest</li>


    <li>Heroine¡¯s Basic Brass Brooch of Defense / source: Chrysanthemum Hero(ine) Reward Chest #10</li>


    <li>Enchanted Zulathan Great Bow of Water / source: Enchanted Zulathan Great Bow (unattuned) via Rare Loot Chest, Tier 1 via guaranteed tutorial drop from penultimate encounter</li>


    </ul>


    Equipment for Player Jazzybelle Ten¡¯kage:


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Crescent Tiara of Unrivaled Willpower / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Lust-embroidered Scarlet Robe of Unrivaled Charisma / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Gloves of the Unseen / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Enchanted Corsette of Deflection / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Shadow Walkers / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Shadowfury, Accursed Orb of the Deathseeker / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Scintara¡¯s Wedding Ring / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Scintara¡¯s Corruption / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Godsilver Band of Regeneration / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Pendant of Attack Nullification (charges: 999 / available charges: 928) / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Favor of the Undying / source: unknown (item log missing)</li>


    <li>Corrupting Godsilver Soul Cage (contents: Corrupted Tiabeth, Fallen Guardian of Light, Shattered Shield of the Righteous) / source: unknown (item log missing) contents source (Tiabeth, Guardian of Light, Shield of the Righteous / tutorial encounter ID: k999a4.6)</li>


    </ul>


    ¡°Well,¡± the Director¡¯s booming voice was sardonic, ¡°that makes it pretty clear who was cheating.¡±


    There was silence for a long moment punctuated only by the faint sounds of several staff members popping out of the meeting, leaving a ghostly afterimage behind. Chiefest of them was Gawain, the avatar of Heraldic Echo¡¯s Chief of Security. Nazhai had never met the person behind the avatar¡ªwhich was not uncommon as virtual reality made telecommuting much more feasible¡ªand didn¡¯t even know the name, face, or gender for Gawain¡¯s real-world presence. No doubt that was exactly as he preferred it.


    Finally the silence was broken. The same accuser in the back began again, ¡°That cow didn¡¯t just have an exploit to take advantage of, she also had to have foreknowledge of the fight. Why else choose water for her spell and bow and then choose a stone monster to fight? Why was she the only Tauros? Did she have insider knowledge? The log shows that Nazhai deliberately helped her!¡±


    More than slightly disgusted, since the shouter was ignoring the obvious apparent collusion between the overgeared elf and an insider, Nazhai rose to speak but was gestured back down by Victoria.


    Nazhai was still fuming and considering the possibility that the unknown accuser was in cahoots with Jazzybelle Ten¡¯kage. She didn¡¯t know who it was, but one of the many good things about having meetings in VR is that everything would be logged. Some of those now-absent security personnel were probably making their way to an employee¡¯s FIVR pod right now. But rather than dwell on something that wasn¡¯t in her area of responsibility, she maintained her polite mask and focused on what Victoria was saying.


    ¡°¡ªmoreover, that young Tauros achieved far better results with mostly starter gear than that cheater,¡± Victoria gestured an elegant, gloved hand at the still image of the elf in red, ¡°did with a whole set of ill-gotten equipment. I happen to know that the Scintara questline isn¡¯t active yet, so those two rings shouldn¡¯t even be in the game, much less the tutorial.


    ¡°Now, as for the Ring of Limited Wishes that the young Tauros used, two of them were handed out due to game-breaking bugs that were encountered. Both of them came from Nazhai, as player relations is her department, and the rings were previously established to compensate for time lost due to bugs.


    ¡°In fact,¡± the EVP of Marketing and Operations was definitely on a roll, warming to her subject as she continued. ¡°In fact, the player in question sent us feedback detailing what she felt were possible cases where the ring might be too powerful. The two charges she used for it, for a full restore, were something that we,¡± her gestures indicated the whole of the dias, ¡°explicitly decided was still okay even after the girl raised her concerns. And she was informed of it, was she not, Nazhai?¡±


    Here, Nazhai rose and nodded. ¡°We did temporarily cap the skill and class level gain abilities so that they couldn¡¯t raise a player above 20 pending a further review, but during development, the full restore option was given a lengthy activation to make it harder, though not impossible, to use while fighting. I will note that she appears to have only used the full restore in order to be able to activate her Hidden Nature, and that only because Hidden Nature drains all remaining mana when it expires. Under the old system, when I went through the earlier version of the tutorial, Hidden Nature required a full mana bar to use.


    ¡°That was changed, I believe, when the Vulpix were added, since a spellcaster would have found it difficult to use the ability reactively.¡± She shot a glance to the lead designer, who nodded. ¡°And it has gone through several iterations since, I believe. I haven¡¯t used the ability in ages, myself, so I haven¡¯t kept up on it. Johannes?¡±


    The Tauros who had been presenting shook his head, ¡°I¡¯ve actually never used it. I joined late enough that I was able to go through the non-combatant tutorial. My character is the village blacksmith, way out back of beyond.¡±


    Then, if the ring is legit, what about her bow!?¡± The accuser seemed to have friends¡ªor accomplices¡ªas the voice was different. ¡°The elf looks really bad, with the item logs missing, but that bow is still too fancy for the Beasktin¡¯s level.¡±


    Near, but not upon the dias, an aged, grey-furred Ratkin was gesturing for recognition. As Ratkin were Lesser Beastkin and thus non-player races, this staff member was someone who obviously had a significantly major difference between his official and unofficial characters.


    ¡°Go ahead, Talos.¡± Victoria acknowledged the Ratkin as she sat, smoothing her skirts, and gestured for Nazhai to follow suit.


    ¡°I have been looking into that,¡± Talos spoke with a voice quavery with his avatar¡¯s apparent age, yet still surprisingly firm. ¡°The bow was legitimately earned, but it is a bit stronger than should have been awarded in the tutorial. The reason for that, though, is simple. The encounter she fought was stronger than she should have encountered, so the guaranteed rare chest from that encounter contained a better loot table. It seems that Madelyn Alexis there inadvertently discovered a bug, or rather an oversight, in our encounter scaling.¡± He looked and sounded a bit sheepish since, as the head of instanced encounter design, that was his area of responsibility. ¡°Some of you may remember when we were considering a ¡®challenge mode¡¯ for instances, where content would be harder or more rewarding.¡± There were nods from many assembled, including all on the dias. ¡°One of the mechanisms we were experimenting with was to have players limit their skills upon entering the instance, with the more skills disabled, the better the rewards. The challenge would have come from having fewer skills¡ªand thus attributes as well. We haven¡¯t yet implemented it because it¡¯s been very difficult from a balance standpoint. Some builds are much more dependent on having multiple skills supporting each other.¡±


    The Ratkin shrugged, posture radiating embarrassment. ¡°We have the ability to ¡®de-equip¡¯ skills disabled except for a select group of testing staff, so the encounter and reward scaling should have also been disabled. Unfortunately, the scaling also appears to have been active for players who went into the encounter without yet having chosen some of their skills. Since this player in question fought that skeleton while only having three of four primary skills selected, the encounter was tougher than it should have been. The algorithm also seems to have weighted her specials and uniques too heavily, making the encounter even tougher. A tougher encounter, thus better rewards.¡± Talos shrugged again, ¡°Nothing nefarious involved, but she¡ªand presumably many others¡ªbenefitted from errors on our side. However lucky she may have been, it was still very definitely player skill and pure grit that got her through the encounter with Sar¡¯Glagalth. I, and my staff, will have to try and reproduce what she did, but I wouldn¡¯t want to solo him at level, much less so drastically underleveled and undergeared. It¡¯s not going to be a fun experience.¡±


    There was a long moment of silence in the face of that remark and Talos¡¯s obvious admiration. Not even the shouting accusers from the back seemed to have anything else to add. Finally, Aurora Gamma spoke.


    ¡°Encounter scaling in all instanced content is now disabled unless all participants have testing flag 4K909JCF set. There are seven players currently engaged in scaled combat whose rewards will remain higher unless the encounter is reset due to failure. There are 27,438 players who left the tutorial who have fewer than eight skills set. Of those, 19,310 completed the combat route of the tutorial and thus received higher than expected rewards. Recommendation: small currency compensation for unaffected players to offset the difference in value between the average expected vendor values of expected and higher-than-expected rewards. Calculated difference: 2.1337 silver coins.¡±


    ¡°Make it so, Mediator.¡± The Director¡¯s voice filled the chamber again. ¡°As for those two, put a hold on their accounts pending an investigation. I don¡¯t see how Madelyn Alexis did anything wrong, so hers will probably be perfunctory. Nazhai, Talos, and Gawain will speak to her and will lift the hold unless something significant arises. As for Jazzybelle Ten¡¯kage, I find it hard to believe that she is innocent. Gawain and his staff will speak to her as part of their investigation and make a recommendation to me, but her hold remains until I lift it or have it replaced with a ban.


    ¡°I will want to see a full summary all the rares, uniques, specials, and server firsts achieved as well as the circumstances under which they were received. That will need to be on my desk by the morning, but this meeting has gone on long enough. Unless an emergency arises in the next hour, you may stand down from all-hands. Unless you¡¯re on the duty schedule, you may log into your non-GM characters at that time. Dismissed.¡±


    The chamber quickly emptied save for a few small groups talking here and there. Nazhai herself was responding to a couple messages from her staff and looking forward to finally getting back to the inn she spent most of her off-duty time at. Being senior staff had its perquisites, and being able to write her own duty roster was one of them. Other than the all-hands period, and of course any situations that escalated to her, her duty hours were normal business hours and one weekend a month.


    Before she could leave, however, she was approached by Victoria Delacroix, who rested a hand on Nazhai¡¯s shoulder. ¡°When you and the others go to meet Madelyn Alexis, I want to be there as well.¡±


    Nazhai looked up, slightly startled. ¡°Sure, unless Gawain says otherwise, I don¡¯t see it as a problem. Why, though? It doesn¡¯t seem like¡ª¡±


    Victoria held up a finger, ¡°First, that fight. Think about it from a marketing perspective. With a little editing to, well, condense the battle to its salient moments, it would make an incredible trailer.¡± Another finger joined the first, ¡°Second, she¡¯s playing an underrepresented race. Drawing attention to her and her successes may have other players create Tauros characters of their own, trying to emulate her. And finally,¡± a third finger arose, ¡°she¡¯s cute. But more than cute, she¡¯s successful and she¡¯s one of our Chrysanthemum Heroines. Five of my staff already forwarded me draft advertising proposals using her avatar. Think of her as a possible mascot and how that might also affect an underrepresented race.¡±


    Nazhai nodded.


    ¡°I want to come along not just to meet her and see if she¡¯s as cute in person as she is in image, but also to possibly negotiate a deal with her. In any case, how¡¯s your inn going? I think I may pay a visit to Kystari soon.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Nazhai was a bit confused by the apparent non-sequitur. ¡°The inn is doing well and I¡¯m having fun relaxing there, but Kystari is a long way from the sea. Isn¡¯t it a bit out of your element?¡±


    Victoria¡¯s grin became almost predatory. ¡°Perhaps, but it also has a young Tauros invited to visit, doesn¡¯t it? Piracy isn¡¯t all I do as Natalya Mistsworn. I haven¡¯t yet had a good model to display my dressmaking efforts. Sailcloth isn¡¯t all I sew, you know. Picture Madelyn Alexis and Mona in matching dresses, perhaps a pink-and-white variation of this since sweet lolita seems more suitable for them than gothic lolita¡­.¡±


    Nazhai smiled.

 vol. 1: Meetings 2

    If my sleep was troubled by dreams, there was nothing left to bother me but a faint sense of unease or anticipation when I awoke. It was still dark, and thus far too early to be awake¡ªthe only light were from constellations of colored status LEDs on powerstrips or other electronics. The streetlight on the corner, whose rays could feebly reach through my bedroom window and which was my companion in many long hours of surreptitiously reading past bedtime when I was younger, only let in a little light around the edges of the curtains.


    For a long moment, I lay there, wondering just why it was that I had awoken so early and contemplating an unusual configuration of status lights slowly twinkling like the Pleiades off along the side wall where no electronics really should have been.


    Finally, my mind caught up with my body, and I realized that it was, of course, the FIVR pod. I had stayed up too late, playing from before midnight until after noon, then collapsed into bed and had, apparently, slept until after dark. I fumbled around for my phone, wincing as its sudden brightness stabbed into my eyes, and squinted against the brilliance until my eyes could focus on the time it displayed.


    ¡°4:45 AM!¡± Between the game and sleeping, I had lost an entire day! Granted, I didn¡¯t have anything else I had really needed to do¡ªmy twin was capable enough to make her own dinner¡ªbut, still¡­.


    Now that I was awake, though, my body was rather pointedly letting me know that it had certain needs that had gone unmet while I was lying in the FIVR pod or in bed for the past almost-thirty hours.


    A disadvantage of living in houses rather than apartments is that bathrooms are further away. Better than college dorms, at least the ones I had lived in, but still down the stairs, through the living room, through the corner of the dining room, and hope to high heaven that the bathroom was currently unoccupied.


    Most pressing needs resolved, addressing the empty hole in my midsection was next. I wasn¡¯t strictly ravenous, since I had done next to nothing all day, but a body accustomed to regular meals doesn¡¯t like to go without, and I had apparently missed a full day¡¯s worth of eating. So, breakfast was a bit larger than normal.


    Growing up, breakfast had been cereal and milk, and not even living on my own at college or stumbling into a lucky lottery win had changed that habit. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, and even toast¡ªall things that many others associated with breakfast¡ªwere still dinner foods. Dinner was the only meal that had been cooked, so perforce any food that needed cooking was thus a dinner food.


    My twin came down as I was finishing up the last of my cereal, fruit-on-the-bottom blackberry yogurt, and granola bars. She looked remarkably bleary eyed for someone who was as much a morning person as I was not. I raised a brow as I greeted her, ¡°Good morning, Lex.¡±


    ¡°Morning, yes,¡± she responded, using my typical response to her¡ªthe implication being that while it was morning, it wasn¡¯t a good one.


    ¡°Hey, is something the matter?¡±


    She brushed aside my concern, ¡°No, not really. Just stayed up too late two nights in a row. I shouldn¡¯t be getting up this early after so little sleep, but if I let myself sleep in, then I¡¯ll end up sleeping the whole day away.¡±


    Ouch. Shots fired.


    ¡°Well¡­. It sounds like you¡¯ve been having fun in ECHO then?¡±


    She nodded, and a couple minutes later I found myself jogging along with her down the couple short blocks (town blocks, a few homes and lawns long, not city blocks a few miles long) to the town¡¯s sole traffic light. My speed was a pace she probably found too slow, but she didn¡¯t complain, surge ahead, or chide me to go faster. I was even dressed for exercise, though more conservatively than she. Lex wore black jogging tights with blue racing stripes and a dark blue, fitted tank top over a sports bra that matched the tights. Me, I wore my old blue-and-gold running shorts from the year I had reluctantly been part of the track team and an overlarge, loose tee that nearly hid all of the too-short shorts. All my other shorts were knee-length denim or cargo shorts, and those are no fun to try and exercise in.


    And as we jogged, we talked since the pace was slow enough that we weren¡¯t needing to breathe heavily. I wasn¡¯t in bad shape¡ªI just wasn¡¯t in my twin¡¯s league. Then again, some Olympians probably weren¡¯t in her league, so at least I was in good company.


    ¡°I started in a town called Water¡¯s Edge,¡± she was saying, ¡°which isn¡¯t all that inspiring of a name.¡±


    ¡°Not that different from Seaside or Long Beach.¡± I named the next two small communities north.


    She snorted, ¡°You have a point. While I was there, I met up with a player who¡¯s been in since beta, and we grouped up. I think you might have to play without me, Alexis.¡±


    That was fortunate. Granted, we hadn¡¯t really planned on playing together, but we also hadn¡¯t planned on playing separately, either. However, it meant that I wouldn¡¯t have to explain how and why I was playing a girl in VR.


    ¡°Well, I probably would not have been able to keep up with you and your exploring anyway, Lex. I guess it¡¯s easier this way. We can both do our own things without worrying that we¡¯re slowing the other down. But ¡­ beta? I wasn¡¯t aware that the game had had a public beta.¡±


    She shrugged, ¡°She didn¡¯t say more and I didn¡¯t think to ask. But that¡¯s beside the point. She offered me a spot on her ship¡ªah, a pirate ship. Think about it, deserted islands, hidden coves, buried treasures, there¡¯s so much to explore and do.¡±


    When we reached the light, she pointed to the right, and I inwardly groaned. This would then be the ¡°short loop¡± with the hill at the end rather than the ¡°long loop¡± that was mostly flat.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    We jogged past the cluster of small businesses that gathered around the intersection like chicks around a mother hen, and then on past undeveloped woodland toward the too-small public library and not-much-larger hospital.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t there be, well, less to see and explore on a ship most of the time?¡± I asked. ¡°After all, we¡¯re talking about sailing ships, right. Certainly not a cruise liner.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she admitted. ¡°There is a bit of a trade-off. But since it¡¯s a game, I don¡¯t have to be there for all the sailing parts, though she is starting to teach me, so I will probably be there for a lot of it. Plus, you never know when something exciting might happen, like a sea battle with other pirates.¡±


    Beyond the hospital, we went a little further to School Road and made another right. Had I been walking the route, I would have gone a few dozen more feet beyond, to the access road that led into the school¡¯s parking lot and terminated outside the metal and auto shop, taking the sidewalk in front of the school and maybe even climbed the two flights of steps to the entrance to look in on part of my childhood. Instead, we followed the road that abutted the parking lot and then curved past the track and bleachers where my walking route would have rejoined the short loop.


    Technically, I suppose, School Road became some-other-street-name Avenue when it curved from being east-west to north-south, but it would always be School Road in my mind, since at the top of the hill, past the bus garage, was the middle school. After that, the route was all downhill, three blocks or so, until a final right turn and one block to our front door.


    Along the way, we talked a little more about the ship, sailing, and exploring before she turned the conversation to an unexpected topic.


    ¡°Did you hear?¡± she asked. ¡°Apparently one of the players beat the monster at the end of the tutorial. I really want to meet her, but that probably won¡¯t happen for a while unless she starts in the same town I started in.¡±


    ¡°Uh? Wha¡ª? Huh?¡± I couldn¡¯t admit to her that I was that girl. While she probably wouldn¡¯t make a big deal of it¡ªnot like others might¡ªI still had my manly pride to consider. Distracted, I didn¡¯t notice when we jogged right past our house, not until she shot me an approving look, hopefully for doing a second lap without complaint. Hastily, I decided on a bit of misdirection. ¡°I thought you were supposed to run away from that. That¡¯s what my faerie assistant told me to do.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, mine too,¡± she replied. ¡°When he wasn¡¯t being a flirt, he was pretty useful. But, anyway, I wouldn¡¯t have tried to fight it even without him telling me to run. I don¡¯t know how anyone could fight a giant tornado throwing lightning bolts around. I think you need to be pretty high level to be able to dodge lightning bolts¡ªI wasn¡¯t going to try. But even if I could, how do you fight a tornado? Still, she must have figured something out.¡± Admiration shone through in her voice.


    ¡°Um, maybe it wasn¡¯t a tornado? The boss monster that showed up for me was like a giant stone centaur, but it would have needed a lot of dodging too since it was throwing giant boulders that could have squashed anyone flat with one hit.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Maybe she got an easier one, but still easier doesn¡¯t mean easy. She couldn¡¯t have been more than level two or three, and that monster was more than level twenty and maybe more than level thirty.¡± My twin was definitely very focused on my exploits ¡­ even if she didn¡¯t know they were my exploits. ¡°That still has to have been very hard to have done, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡­. It sure sounds like it. But how do you know her level and its level? Speaking of which, how do you know it was a girl?¡± Before she could respond, I hastily clarified, ¡°I¡¯m not saying a girl couldn¡¯t do it or that it was likely a guy, but if you haven¡¯t met the player, how do you know any of this?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Alexis. I know you weren¡¯t going sexist on me. But, you must not have seen any ¡®System Broadcast¡¯ messages while you were on. I didn¡¯t see hers, but I saw a couple from other people. Apparently, being the first to do something special gets rewarded with achievements and certain ones get told to everyone who¡¯s in the game at the time.


    ¡°So someone posted about her on the forums, asking how it was possible, and people started jumping in left and right. The player¡¯s name has been censored out, which doesn¡¯t make sense because her name was in the messages everyone saw if they were logged on at that time, but with the amount of anger and vitriol in some of those posts, maybe it does make sense.¡±


    Drat. I had forgotten about those messages. I¡¯ll have to look to see if there¡¯s a way to turn off future ones; if I hadn¡¯t been so sleepy and distracted, I would have looked for that then. ¡°So, people are angry? Why? I mean, sure, maybe she got first to do something, but there¡¯s a lot of somethings out there to be first at, right?¡± More misdirection.


    My twin shrugged as we turned back onto School Road. ¡°Some are mad because they didn¡¯t even try, thinking it was an unwinnable fight. Others are mad because they think she must have cheated to win. And even still others are mad because they aren¡¯t in the game yet, so they don¡¯t have a chance to get any of the firsts that she and others are getting. Apparently the game staff are looking into whether she cheated or not, but their initial impression is that the achievements are legitimate but unintended. Whatever that means.¡±


    ¡°Probably that they don¡¯t think she cheated but aren¡¯t sure how she managed it, either? I might look at the forums when we get back and see what else is going on. Speaking of which, I think this lap is enough for me. I was only going to walk a bit to stretch out, not run up and down the school hill all day.¡±


    ¡°Sure, go in then. I think I¡¯ll do the beach loop once after this, which will give enough time for you to shower and for the hot water to refill.¡±


    The beach loop really should have been called something else, since it didn¡¯t quite get out to the beach. It went straight through the light and wound its way west and then south through the hilly land at the south of the peninsula, passing by the access road to one lighthouse, but stopping and coming back north along the river into town and returning to the traffic light from the south. Unless you counted the overlook, the closest the so-called beach loop actually came to the beach was about three quarters of a mile, where the main road continued to the beach, coast guard station, and the main lighthouse and jetties, but the loop route turned and came back to town.


    All in all, it was about a five mile loop. I¡¯ve certainly walked it in the past¡ªeven after moving back to town¡ªbut there were too many hills for me to want to jog it. Besides, there was a game to get back to!


    We finished the rest of the jog in companionable silence, and as I turned up our sidewalk, Lex picked up the pace, going from a jog to an actual run.


    A quick shower and a change of clothes later, I was lying back in the FIVR pod, ready to return to virtual reality.


    Before I closed the pod, though, I spent a long moment just contemplating things. I was getting ready to log in and turn into a girl again, but the prospect didn¡¯t really seem to bother me that much. It was still ¡°just a game,¡± after all. And despite the game systems making the body of my hivatar and game character feel natural, that didn¡¯t seem to affect me outside the game. I still felt just as natural and comfortable in my own body as I had before. It wasn¡¯t like being a flying mermaid or young Tauros girl was now the default and my real body felt foreign, so it was much more a case of ¡°What happens in FIVR stays in FIVR,¡± if I may misappropriate the catchphrase.

 vol. 1: Meetings 3

    SPLASH!


    When I first logged back into the home instance, I found myself in water up to my ti¡ªuh, in water just to the level of my mermaid/faerie-hybrid hivatar¡¯s bandeau. It wasn¡¯t cold water, like the beaches back home, but it was definitely a surprise. When I had last been in the home instance, it had been a semblance of a dirt-floored wooden hut, about ten feet wide, long, and maybe that high. It had been sparsely furnished, just a ramshackle wooden cot in one corner and a massive display screen comprising the fourth wall.


    Now¡­.


    Now it looked nothing like it had looked.


    The water, of course, was a very big difference. Instead of standing on packed dirt, or well, given that I was part faerie in this body, hovering over packed dirt, I was floating in warm water up to my chest, though the crystal clear water revealed a sloping, white sand bottom several feet below the fluke of my mermaid tail. I was bobbing in place as gentle waves rolled under me, the water not even crashing into foam as it flowed up to the beach and caressed the sands like a lover.


    Every which way I looked, there were no walls bounding the home instance. The white sand of the beach stretched out in a wide crescent to my left and right and continued on to rolling dunes and beach grass several dozen yards beyond the high-tide line. Behind me, stretching out to the horizon, was water.


    It was dark, so the horizon was much closer than it otherwise would have been, but the beach and sheltered bay? lagoon? was well illuminated by the light of three moons: one full, one near-to-full, and a third¡ªjust over the horizon¡ªa waning crescent. So, the light of two moons, really.


    And the light of a small bonfire burning merrily on the beach. Near enough to the bonfire to be illuminated, but not so near as to be overhot, were a trio of beach towels spread out on the sand: one in pink, one in pale seafoam green, and one in coral¡ªmatching Jasmine¡¯s and my colours.


    The scene was further decorated with starfish, sand dollars, and assorted shells on the sands and with many small, silvery, golden, or rainbow-hued fish in the water. Well, small to a normal-sized human, anyway. But given that I was a bit under six inches from head to fluke, they didn¡¯t seem all that tiny to me.


    As I was looking around in slack-jawed surprise, I was tackled from behind by Jasmine. <Welcome back, Starlight and Moonlight Playing on the White Sands at the Horizon of Sea and Sky!> Speaking in the musical trills, clicks, chirps, and other sounds of our shared non-human language, she used the name she gave me after my hivatar had been changed to be one of her race. <Like what you see?>


    <It¡¯s beautiful,> I replied, <but how did you¡­? I mean, all this must have cost a lot, right? I didn¡¯t think so much would come this quickly from playing¡­?>


    She giggled, <You get points to spend on customizing your home instance from achievements you earn in the game, and you certainly achieved a lot! Being first to get an achievement gives more rewards and getting unique achievements gives even more.> She pushed me under the water and I discovered what should have already been obvious¡ªwe could breathe and talk underwater. In fact, the sounds of the language were uniquely suited for underwater conversation, and more subtle nuances or suggestions could be more readily conveyed when water, rather than air, was the medium.


    We talked a bit, she wanted to know my reactions and thoughts about things she had observed while operating behind the scenes, but mostly we played. Well, frolicked.


    We darted deep to pick up shiny pebbles and shells from the sloping seafloor, then let them drop just to watch the way they tumbled erratically though the water. We skimmed along the surface of the water, splashing through the gentle wavelets. We built tiny sandcastles and giggled as the waves erased them. I felt a bit like a young child again, though obviously my sister and I had never flown as we played at the beach.


    <Ouchie!> I discovered that while the beach and sea looked expansive, it was partly an illusion. It was still a cubic room, bigger than the ten by ten by probably ten the original hut had been. However, the walls either were invisible like how many non-virtual games kept their areas bounded or were fancy displays that extrapolated from their surroundings and portrayed on their surface what was expected.


    I had backed into one of those walls. Not hard enough to actually hurt, but enough to surprise me.


    <Sorry, Cousin, I forgot to tell you about the walls. The home instance is still a room. I was able to expand it a lot with the points you earned, but making it bigger gets really expensive really quickly. The ¡®footprint¡¯ is twenty-five times larger than it had been, but to go to the next size up would take more points than everything that¡¯s already been spent.>


    <That¡¯s okay. I just wasn¡¯t expecting it. It surprised me.> I felt the wall and flew down to where it met the water. Now that I was looking for it, I noticed a very faint not-quite-shimmer where there was the tiniest bit of lag between the real wave and what the wall showed. <The wall reminds me, though. You said before that I could do some game-related stuff in the home instance, like manage messages and so on?>


    She nodded.


    <Well, there¡¯s two things I really should do before I log on to play the game and not just hang out in the home instance with you. After all, I can¡¯t earn more points for you to expand and decorate with if I¡¯m in here, right?>


    Once more she nodded. Then she flew close enough to hug me. <I¡¯m sorry to keep you from the virtual world, Cousin.>


    <You weren¡¯t keeping me; I was staying by choice. It¡¯s not fair to you if I only wave as I pass through, and I skipped stopping in completely last ¡­ night, whatever time I logged off at. I was just too sleepy to continue, then. Can you bring open Madelyn Alexis¡¯s status screen? I don¡¯t have a game interface here¡­.>


    The name was a bit hard to say in the language I was currently speaking, but it looked even weirder on the pink-bordered, pale seafoam green status screen that loaded up. Again, the screen was displaying text in English, but I had to focus to read it. I guess I was bilingual¡ªnow. But in this hivatar, English was definitely not my native language.


    <Okay, I want to change that!> Since I hadn¡¯t had an active title when I was fighting Sar¡¯Glagalth, the title I had earned from defeating it had been auto-equipped. Being displayed as ¡°Legendary¡± to anyone who Inspected me could cause problems¡ªat least this early in the game. The effects it granted were great, and combined well with some of the other effects I had earned, but ¡­ yeah. Not right now. When I get a few more attribute points, perhaps it could replace Heroine as a hidden title, but I didn¡¯t think I was ready to give up the boost to all attributes yet, nor was I ready to be known to all and sundry as a Heroine.


    Unfortunately, none of the other titles I had earned so far were particularly appealing to be known as, so for now Madelyn Alexis¡¯s active title would have to remain unset.


    That done, the next¡ªand perhaps more important¡ªthing to do was to send in some feedback. Now that I wasn¡¯t tired from a very extended play session and exhausted mentally, emotionally, and physically from all that had happened, it was very obvious that the Hidden Nature racial ability needed some adjustments. Even if it only gave me Defense, which was mostly useless if I got to play the way I intended, what was the point of it having a duration if it could be activated again with so little effort? For a lot of what I had done, I hadn¡¯t had the luxury of waiting for one point of mana to regenerate, but that had been an atypical experience (I hope!). Moreover, I was still a low-level character with limited supplies. Higher level characters would have faster mana regeneration and would likely have more resources for restoring mana.


    I was midway through putting my thoughts into coherent form¡ªhampered somewhat by the need to translate my thoughts back into English¡ªwhen Jasmine spoke up. <We have received a notice that some GMs would like to meet with you.They are requesting access to the home instance.>


    <Requesting? Didn¡¯t she just show up unannounced last time?> I remember having been surprised by GM Nazhai¡¯s arrival when a bug had prevented me from creating a character.


    She shrugged. <The notice didn¡¯t specify the reason for the request.>


    <Well, let them in,> I responded. <Um, just don¡¯t have them materialize in the water like I did. They might not appreciate that. The last one who visited was part cat, and cats are notorious for not liking to swim¡­.>


    She giggled, <They¡¯ll be on the beach. Near, but not too close to the fire.>


    I spent a short moment making sure my bandeau was straight and a longer moment smoothing back loose strands of hair and readjusting my ponytail. Then I flew over to the beach with Jasmine and awaited the GMs to arrive.


    One moment we were alone and the next there were four others towering over us. I recognized the feline, I guess Nekoun, maid as GM Nazhai from before, but with her were three others I hadn¡¯t met. Well, who gets much of an opportunity to meet GMs, after all?


    The other woman was a wispy blonde elf of some sort, the overlong ears betraying her race. She was dressed a bit like a maid, but with far more frills and ruffles and accessories than would be practical for anyone doing any maid-like work. It was more of an eye-candy style that way, but the long, voluminous skirts and modest neckline suggested that it wasn¡¯t in the same milieu as the stereotypical French maid. I didn¡¯t know what to make of the eye-patch, though.


    The men, I suppose, in their black slacks, white shirts, black ties and coats were supposed to be butlers. The grey-furred Ratkin¡ªI guess like hivatars, GMs aren¡¯t required to be player races¡ªmaybe looked a bit like a butler, distinguished but slightly disheveled, but the other man ¡­ I immediately thought of the Secret Service, and not the semi-professional ones of reality, but the genuinely scary ¡°men in black¡± of movies. This blond-haired giant of a man looked like a reformed thug and his severe expression would likely be enough to give hardened criminals nightmares. There was nothing in his manner or posture that conveyed deference; rather, this was a man to whom deference was due.


    I sketched a mid-air bow¡ªmermaids not really being equipped to curtsey¡ªand flew a bit higher. Focusing on speaking in English rather than this hivatar¡¯s native language, I addressed them. ¡°Welcome, GM Nazhai and ¡­ friends? I¡¯m guessing this isn¡¯t a social call, so how can I help you?¡±


    Before Nazhai or the men could answer, however, the elf exclaimed, ¡°Oh, I like what you¡¯ve done with your home instance. You¡¯re not the first to decorate, but I don¡¯t think anyone else has done quite as much.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that wasn¡¯t me. That was <Light of the Three Moons on the Beach of the Silver Lagoon; Jasmine and Lily Fragrances on the Evening Breeze>, my assistant, who did the decorating.¡± I slipped back into my new language in order to name Jasmine properly. The blond man winced a little and seemed to tap something in his ear. Definitely men-in-black-esque.


    ¡°You let your AI assistant decorate your home instance?¡± the Ratkin inquired. His voice was quavery with age, but his eyes were clear and sharp. While he looked like a Ratkin, albeit a well-dressed one, he lacked the phrasing and intonation qualities of the one other Ratkin I had previously met.


    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s more her home than mine, since she needs to stay here while I¡¯m in the game world or offline. I just pass through.¡±


    The Ratkin started to say something. It sounded a bit like ¡°¡­explains that¡­¡± but the scary blond man spoke over him. ¡°That¡¯s all well and nice, but we¡¯re not here for that. Nazhai, if you would?¡±


    Nazhai stepped forward, ¡°Miss ¡­ Starlight,¡± she said, giving me a short form of the name that Jasmine had given me. ¡°These are my colleagues, Victoria Delacroix, Talos, and Gawain.¡± She indicated the elf, the Ratkin, and the blond man in order. ¡°We have some questions for you.¡± She gestured at me and turned to her fellow GMs. ¡°This is the player of Madelyn Alexis. She¡¯s the one who encountered the glitch in character creation due to her hivatar not being a playable race, which is how I met her.¡±


    Gawain stepped forward. ¡°As Nazhai said, we have some questions for you. However nice your home instance redecoration may be, this is not a good setting for an interview. Will you come with us?¡±


    I shrugged and nodded, glancing back at Jasmine who seemed to be as clueless as I. ¡°I guess.¡± Then I looked at the half-composed message I had been working on, ¡°Uh, I was working on some feedback. Will it save, or should I just tell you directly?¡± I shot a questioning look toward Nazhai.


    ¡°Send it to me, now.¡± She gently replied. ¡°It may be relevant to the questions we have. Ah, don¡¯t use the regular feedback form though. Use, instead¡­.¡± She paused for a moment, and glanced upward and to the side, perhaps accessing her own interface. ¡°Ah, tmp5511397. That will go to all four of us. It will only accept the one message, though.¡±


    I repeated back the address for confirmation, and sent the half-written feedback about Hidden Nature. No sooner than my message screen had disappeared, I found myself ¡­ elsewhere.


    It looked like a meeting room at a really relaxed business or maybe a very large living room in a work-focused home. It reminded me a bit of some of the lounge rooms back at the college dorms. One wall was entirely hidden by bookshelves, floor to ceiling. Most books had the thickness one would expect with reference material or college texts, but one whole section¡ªand not a small section, either¡ªwas filled with what could only be pulpy paperbacks. They looked like the westerns or second-rate science fiction books that our local library had. The opposite wall was divided half and half with the left half featuring a giant corkboard with a variety of pinned notes upon it and the right half having a genuine blackboard with its tray filled with erasers and assorted colors of chalk.


    Behind me, though I didn¡¯t immediately see them, there were a pool table and foosball table near the wall, and a large flat-screen television or computer monitor built into the wall. The wall I was facing had a closed doorway with end tables adjacent and several paintings of landscapes displayed, almost like an art gallery. Throughout the room were several recliners, loveseats, and even long couches that could sit four or five comfortably. Coffee tables with fancy books or vases dotted the room.


    What I noticed most, though, was that the four GMs were no longer towering over me. Instead of flying, I was standing on a plushly carpeted floor. And¡­.


    Once again, my body was different!


    With four GMs waiting to talk to me, I didn¡¯t have the time to examine myself closely, but a glance downward was disconcerting: short-sleeved white blouse tucked into a box-pleated, khaki skirt that was way too short for my comfort. The schoolgirl look was enhanced by over-the-knee white socks, shiny black loafers with a bow accent, and a thin red ribbon tied into a bow in place of a tie.


    From the strands of hair that drifted in front of my eyes as I looked downward, I was still blonde. From the way my hair moved and brushed my shoulders, it was still in a ponytail. At a guess, they just human-sized and human-shaped my hivatar. But still ¡­ that made the third girl I¡¯ve been in VR without even making it into the full game world yet. Fourth, if you count the ¡°more primal form¡± of Hidden Nature to be different enough from my character¡¯s normal look.


    Argh! My manly pride¡­.


    Oh, one of the GMs was already speaking. It was time to pay attention to things other than my figure.


    ¡°¡ªcreates a non-game avatar extrapolated from the hivatar. This helps reinforce that the meetings are outside the game even if not outside virtual reality. It also is convenient when hivatars are as heavily customized as yours was, Miss. Meaning no disrespect, but it would have been hard to hold a serious conversation with a pint-sized, underdressed mermaid. Additionally, it seems apparent that you had even gone so far as to adjust your primary language. This will be easier on all of us if you don¡¯t have to mentally translate.¡±


    It was the Ratkin, Talos, who was speaking. Beyond my immediate situation, I was also distracted by waiting for and never hearing the expected ¡°Skree¡± that had marked the speech of the Ratkin I had encountered in the tutorial.


    ¡°And the school uniform?¡± I inquired, perhaps a bit archly. At least the girls I had been before were the results of my own choices and actions, even if I wasn¡¯t fully aware of what I had been choosing or, in the case of Madelyn Alexis, even that I had been choosing. This was ¡­ a whole different kettle of fish.


    ¡°It gives a more formal feel without being stifling.¡± This was the elf, Victoria, speaking. ¡°Your hivatar¡¯s swimwear would have been too distracting for these men, and the outfits that people wear in game need to change for the same reason the avatars do. Armor or robes wouldn¡¯t allow the separation from the game that is needed. But if you want something other than the outfit you have now, maybe I can come up with someth¡ª¡±


    ¡°You two can play ¡®dress up¡¯ later, Victoria.¡± Gawain cut her off with a dismissive gesture and a look I couldn¡¯t read. It wasn¡¯t quite condescension nor was it quite bemusement, but maybe somewhat in between with a hint of amusement and suggestion of approval. Besides scary, he was a confusing guy.


    She muttered something about ¡°all work and no play,¡± even as Gawain gestured for me to sit.


    ¡°Please, Miss Starlight. Take a seat and get comfortable. We do have some questions from you and would appreciate your cooperation.¡±


    A bit apprehensive, I sat on one of the few one-person seats, choosing a dark brown recliner near where I had been standing. Almost reflexively, I smoothed my skirts behind me as I sat, keeping to the edge of the seat so my half-exposed thighs wouldn¡¯t be against the probably scratchy fabric of the cushions. Knees together and ankles crossed, I folded my hands in my lap. It appeared that the behind-the-scenes systems were in play here, too, since I moved as naturally as if I had been wearing skirts all my life, which I most certainly hadn¡¯t been!This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Nazhai and the the men took seats near each other, Nazhai on a loveseat and the men on either end of a long couch. Victoria sat delicately on a couch further back, but with the skirts of her dress made voluminous by layers of petticoats, her outfit required a bit more care in sitting than any of theirs or even mine did.


    ¡°First question, Miss Starlight: why did you choose to make your character a Tauros?¡± Gawain was obviously the one in charge of this, whatever this was. It wasn¡¯t an interrogation, I didn¡¯t think. There was a probably a much less comfortable room designed for that.


    ¡°Huh?¡± That wasn¡¯t the direction I had assumed the questions would be going. After having heard my twin say that people on the forums were angry with my achievements and that the GMs were looking into accusations of cheating, I had thought that maybe the GMs were going to ask about that encounter¡­. ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly choose a Tauros,¡± I explained. ¡°It just sort of happened.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Gawain leaned forward somewhat. If he had taken a closer seat, I might have called it looming.


    ¡°Well, I was playing with character creation options, just seeing what was available. Maybe I spent too long with that because by the time she was made, I had forgotten that touching the displayed character meant selection. I patted her on the head, and the next thing I knew, I was in the tutorial as her.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t get a confirmation window first?¡± Nazhai asked.


    ¡°Uh? No, not that I saw.¡± I had got a confirmation pop-up for the hivatar change purchase and for giving Jasmine permission to remodel the home instance as she had seen fit, so why hadn¡¯t I got one for character creation?


    ¡°Hmm. Make a note of that, Nazhai. No, actually¡­.¡± Gawain looked to the side, and the chalkboard, which had previously been clean of even the faintest speck of chalk dust now had text upon it: Madelyn Alexis. Character Creation. No Confirmation. Turning back to me, ¡°If you weren¡¯t planning on playing a Tauros, then why did you keep her?¡±


    ¡°I had to figure out how to log out first, and in the figuring out, I saw several things that I assumed I wouldn¡¯t get again on a new character. A unique achievement for spending so long in character creation, getting Heroine for being the 50,000th created character, and even the ring which was compensation for the earlier bug. Since the ring went to my inventory, I didn¡¯t know if I would get a second one on a second character.¡±


    ¡°Reasonable concerns.¡± Gawain leaned back, ¡°In your shoes, I might have done the same. Next question, then, Miss. Can you explain why you chose the unique spell Heroine perk and why you chose water as the element of the spell?¡±


    I thought back to that moment. Though it had been only about twenty-four hours ago, give or take, so much had happened since then that it felt longer.


    ¡°Well, there were several possibilities that had caught my eye, but in the end, I didn¡¯t want to spend too much more time preparing to play instead of playing. It was effectively ¡®eenie meenie miney moe¡¯ between the spell and the aura. The spell won. And I chose water because, well, it seemed right since my hivatar was effectively a mermaid. It was a toss-up between water and air, mermaid and faerie. I didn¡¯t think about it too much.¡±


    ¡°The same reason for the bow¡¯s attunement, then?¡± So far, though Nazhai had said (or implied, at least) that all four of the GMs had questions, it was really Gawain running the show: all the questions, so far, had been from him.


    ¡°Hmm, basically.¡± I had to keep fighting back the urge to gesture as I spoke, but keeping my hands demurely in my lap seemed better. If nothing else, they were an additional defense keeping the hem of my skirt in place! ¡°But more planning for the future. Specialization. I could have taken a different element to minimize my chances of running into something that I was totally unsuited to fight¡ªI bet an ice monster might not be too deterred by Mistshard¡ªbut if I ended up getting an ability or equipment that let me boost water damage for my spell, then the bow wouldn¡¯t have benefited. ECHO seems to be geared more toward specialists than generalists, so that¡¯s what I chose. Even if I¡¯m not really there yet¡­.¡±


    After all, a level 2 player can hardly be that specialized yet, right?


    As if by unspoken cue, Talos picked up the thread of the questioning. ¡°Miss Starlight, when you went in to the last two encounters, and indeed when you left the tutorial, you did so with one of your skill slots empty. Please explain what prompted you do leave a primary skill unchosen.¡±


    ¡°Time, mostly,¡± I began. Were these questions related to a cheating investigation or what? I couldn¡¯t see how they connected.


    ¡°Elucidate, please.¡±


    ¡°Well, when I had chosen my first skills, it had already been a long time since I had gotten into the pod, and I then had spent even more time with all the Heroine stuff. I was tired, a bit out of sorts from the circumstances, and I just wanted to play. You all didn¡¯t publish enough information to plan out a build ahead of time, so I just took a few basic skills to enable how I had thought I was going to play. After I had started using the spell, I realized I needed a bit more support for it if I was going to use magic a lot, and I picked Gathering on a bit of a whim. That left me with only one skill to choose, and I didn¡¯t want to spend the time thinking about what I needed or wanted. It was late and I was more than tired by the time I got to the skeletons.¡±


    I shrugged and paused, though not long enough for another question to be asked. ¡°At that point, I just wanted to get the tutorial over so I could log out and go to sleep. Now, it¡¯s a matter of figuring out what I want. Do I focus on archery and take a skill to support that or grow Agility? Do I focus on my magic and take a skill that gives me more spells or grows Brilliance or Willpower? Do I take Cooking now or wait for later? Do I focus more on raising my offense, or do I take a skill to boost survivability increasing Defense or Endurance? Or do I take something utility, like Cartography, to help whatever party I end up playing with? Since skill slots are really limited, I need to put some thought into it, and with my playstyle changing from what I had thought it would be, I just haven¡¯t had the opportunity to really think about it. I bet I¡¯m not the only one who didn¡¯t have all my skills selected.¡±


    They were all nodding along as I spoke, even Victoria who seemed a bit disinterested in this portion of the question-and-answer period. I wondered what she was along for.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± Talos responded. ¡°So it wasn¡¯t an attempt to increase the challenge by having fewer options?¡±


    I shook my head emphatically, ponytail swinging back and forth. ¡°Nuh-uh! Not when ¡®challenge¡¯ means it takes longer and hurts more! That skeleton fight was too intense. Especially since I wasn¡¯t prepared for it and none of my skills really helped that much. It was a bad encounter for my build.¡±


    Talos glanced toward Gawain who nodded slightly. I wouldn¡¯t have seen it, but when the Ratkin looked away, I focused on where he was looking. When he spoke again, his tone was almost sheepish, perhaps apologetic.


    ¡°Miss Starlight, it appears that you¡ªand many others, you are correct¡ªinnocently stumbled into a bug that enabled a not-fully-implemented ¡®challenge mode¡¯ for that encounter, and so it was, indeed, harder than it should have been. You were compensated for the increase in difficulty, though. The bow you received was better than should have been available in the tutorial, and it seems to have served you well in your next encounter.¡±


    Turning to his peers, he continued. ¡°I checked the loot table for that chest. Madelyn Alexis had a one-in-five chance of getting that bow or something else that matched closely with her displayed fighting style. Getting the bow was a matter of luck, and while she might have achieved similar results with a slingshot or crossbow, if she had looted a greatsword, battleaxe, tower shield, or blacksmithing hammer, they would not have been as useful, I presume.¡±


    He turned his attention back to me. ¡°After the fight with the skeleton mage, you activated the green crystal. Why did you chose that particular one?¡±


    I thought back to that moment. ¡°Honestly, I didn¡¯t know it was going to do what it did. When I saw it, I thought it might have been additional loot from the fight. As for that pedestal? That¡¯s the one I ran into during the fight, so I started with it. I was going to investigate the other ones, too, but never got a chance.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± Gawain resumed. ¡°Miss Starlight, there is one last thing before Victoria has questions for you. My assessment is that your defeat of the final encounter was due to a confluence of effects. First, there was an element of luck and serendipity in that you became a Heroine and that your subsequent choices aligned to put you in a position where skill and determination could triumph. Luck alone couldn¡¯t account for your victory, but without luck¡ªand that includes the serendipity of benefiting from a bug¡ªneither skill nor determination would have been sufficient. For instance, if you had activated the fire gem instead of the earth gem, your chosen element of water would not have helped you.¡±


    Seeing my confusion¡ªafter all, water is traditionally strong against fire¡ªNazhai added a comment. ¡°Fire evaporates water. Water erodes earth. Earth impedes air. Air controls fire. Light shines upon the four; the four dominate darkness in their own ways, and darkness conceals light.¡±


    Apparently, ECHO had a very non-traditional take on elemental advantages.


    ¡°Yes, and you would have found it much harder to clamber upon the fire boss, I¡¯m sure.¡± Gawain¡¯s tone was dry. ¡°But luck and serendipity only go so far. There were other elements at play. Talos?¡±


    ¡°My staff has been re-enacting that encounter using a template based on Madelyn Alexis¡¯s skills, attributes, and equipment. Out of 108 total attempts so far, there has been one near-success and three other runs that passed the second enrage threshold at what would be 50% damage on a traditional life bar model. No one has succeeded yet, which means I¡¯ll have to try.¡± He didn¡¯t sound very enthused about the prospect.


    ¡°Based on my team¡¯s feedback, it is my opinion that a skilled and appropriately geared player might be able to reliably succeed with her strategy at level ten or fifteen, but that also depends on Hidden Nature remaining as it was for her. Which it won¡¯t. Thank you for your feedback, Miss Starlight, but the balance team is already working on it. Right now, the racial ability has been temporarily modified to have a five-minute cooldown, the same as its base duration, but it¡¯s under active discussion even as we speak. Who knows where it may end up.¡±


    Gawain then stood and bowed. ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure, Miss Starlight, but what we needed to address has been addressed. I have other work, and I¡¯m sure you want to get back to playing.¡± He turned and walked toward the door, fading out as he did so, leaving a ghostly afterimage behind for several seconds.


    Talos likewise bowed himself out, though he disappeared much more quickly, with none of the special effects.


    Victoria then bounded from her seat with much more energy and vivaciousness than one would expect from GM staff. She almost seemed to be as young as I looked. ¡°My turn, then!¡±


    Nazhai smiled as the fancily-dressed elf approached me. The catgirl maid¡¯s expression had a hint of mischief to it, suggesting that maybe this part of the interview wouldn¡¯t be quite as expected. Then again, I wasn¡¯t sure what I was expecting from the first part, either, but I don¡¯t think I got it.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve satisfied the Chief of Security and the Head of Instanced Encounter Design¡ªwell, they were pretty much already satisfied with what their investigations showed, I think, so this was mostly a formality¡ªnow you get to talk with Marketing!¡±


    Victoria sat on a nearby loveseat, and I got the feeling that if I had been on a multi-person seat instead of the recliner I had chosen, she would have sat next to me and maybe even draped her arm around my shoulders. Sitting on the edge of the seat to preserve her skirts and petticoats, she leaned forward. ¡°I¡¯m going to show you a video. Forget for a moment that you¡¯re watching yourself play and instead think about it as if you were someone else.¡±


    She snapped her fingers and pointed to a projected screen that appeared to our side. What it displayed was a greatly condensed¡ªand professionally edited¡ªversion of my fight with Sar¡¯Glagalth. Despite the editing, it was still over five minutes long, but at no time, other than maybe the first transformation sequence into Hidden Nature¡¯s more primal form, did the action let up. And even that transformation was condensed, focusing more on the growth in stature than on the growth in figure. Nevertheless, seeing myself looking like that caused me to blush.


    ¡°So, I showed you that for two reasons. First, Nazhai and her player relations people need something to help calm down the discussion threads about your amazing victory and achievements. Something more than the dry, clinical write-up that Gawain will create. If the players can see that you worked for that victory, they¡¯ll¡ª. Well, maybe there will still be some grumbling, but a lot will become grudging respect or out-and-out admiration instead of jealousy and envy. Second, think of the advertising value of that video! Doesn¡¯t watching that get your blood pumping and make you want to try it?¡±


    ¡°To be honest,¡± I inquired, ¡°wouldn¡¯t that be a bit misleading as an advertisement? I mean, there¡¯s more to the game than just big epic fights, right?¡±


    If anything, Victoria¡¯s smile became wider and Nazhai slowly shook her head in the way audiences do when they see a character walking into a trap.


    ¡°What? What did I say?¡±


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s more to the game than just fighting, and I bet you¡¯re going to see and do a tremendous amount of it, Miss Starlight! After all, how many others have befriended not just one, but two faeries?¡±


    ¡°Ah, about that¡­.¡± I brought up my concerns that the tutorial assistants might be suffering from their protocols and the way players might be seeing and treating them. I talked about Sunrise Sparkle and her issues specifically, and both GMs promised to have it looked into.


    From there, it turned into a bit of a freewheeling conversation, bouncing off past game experiences and touching on what I may plan to do in ECHO. I didn¡¯t learn too much about Victoria or Nazhai other than that both played as much as their duties allowed.


    I did learn, however, that primary skills were both more common and more scarce than I had assumed. They were more common in that the first additional primary skill would come at character level five with the second at level ten. They were more scarce in that by the time a player was level one hundred, he or she¡¯d finally reach the maximum amount of active skills: nine, four to start and five additional over the levels. Secondary skill slots, on the other hand, were solely tied to the Brilliance stat.


    ¡°That¡¯s mostly because Brilliance is important to spellcasting, and spellcasters tend to want or need a larger variety of support skills, such as additional types of magic or skill versions of modifiers, such as increased range,¡± Nazhai explained. ¡°A typical sword-and-board style or stealthy dagger style of player only needs a few core skills. Even a pure crafter, dedicated to one favored tradeskill, doesn¡¯t need that much.¡±


    As it turned out, it was likely that I¡¯d gain my next secondary skill slot before reaching level five and getting a new primary skill. At a total Brilliance of 25, not counting bonuses from equipment, players would get their first new secondary skill. Since I had two primary skills that provided Brilliance as they leveled, I could look forward to having more additional secondary skills than many others¡ªespecially if I added points to Brilliance when I leveled¡ªbut given that I was effectively a caster hybrid and likely would be a crafter as well, I¡¯d probably end up needing those secondary skill slots, too.


    Even though I was getting this information straight from two high-ranking GMs, they took care to note that I wasn¡¯t getting an unfair advantage. The information on skill progression was already on the website and posted in several forum threads. If I hadn¡¯t slept the rest of the day away, I might have already learned it on my own.


    Finally, however, the conversation rolled back to advertising and marketing. ¡°You want me to what?¡± I asked, semi-stunned in disbelief at Victoria¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°To be a mascot,¡± she repeated.


    Before I could speak, however, Nazhai smiled a bit mischievously and said, ¡°Do note, she said ¡®a mascot¡¯ and not ¡®the mascot¡¯. There is a difference.¡±


    ¡°But¡­. Why me?¡±


    Victoria shook her head, ¡°Not you, you specifically, but your character, Madelyn Alexis. Think about it. First, your character is cute. She¡¯s not got the stereotypical generic fantasy figure, so she provides diversity. Even powered up with Hidden Nature, she¡¯s still not a wasp-waisted comic book character. Additionally, you¡¯ve already accomplished much with her, so you have notoriety and even some name recognition, which I¡¯m sure won¡¯t be just a passing fad. Moreover, you¡¯re playing a very underrepresented race. Madelyn Alexis was the first Tauros player character, and as of just a few hours ago, you¡¯re still only one of less than a dozen. Having Madelyn Alexis as a mascot,¡± she stressed the indefinite article as Nazhai had done, ¡°may inspire others to try and copy her. That can only be good for diversity. Finally, you¡¯re one of the game¡¯s Chrysanthemum Heroines or Heroes, so things may be happening around you, anyway.¡±


    Victoria then stood gracefully and walked over to me, ¡°Of course,¡± she said, ¡°you you, and not just Madelyn Alexis you, are cute enough that we could use your hivatar or this avatar based on it for other marketing projects, too.¡± She placed a hand on my shoulder as she spoke, and I could feel my cheeks burning in further embarrassment.


    ¡°T-this is, well, this is very flattering,¡± I stammered, still blushing, ¡°but I¡¯m not really looking for a job¡­.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not a job per se,¡± Victoria responded. ¡°A couple afternoons a month, maybe an event or two here or there¡ªwe¡¯d need one of those afternoons soon for an idea my team floated¡ªbut for the most part, just play as you have been, and my team will do the rest. Of course, if you do want a job, I can kit you out in a dress like mine or Nazhai¡¯s in no time.¡± She looked ¡­ almost eager at that possibility. ¡°We do have a couple professional streamers that we sponsor.¡±


    The negotiations went back and forth, and while I was sure Victoria was probably getting the better end of the deal, I didn¡¯t really have too many things I wanted, just a couple hard limits, actually.


    First, I made it clear that I absolutely did not want anything related to real life, the non-virtual world, to be used. That meant, for instance, that a lot of the talk I had with Sunrise Sparkle couldn¡¯t be used, since I had talked a lot about myself and my twin. It also meant that I wasn¡¯t going to be personally attending trade shows or conventions on the company¡¯s behalf. While they might want to use Madelyn Alexis as a mascot, my real world self was very much not suited to be a ¡®booth babe¡¯ or anything. I didn¡¯t spell out specifically why, but neither Victoria nor Nazhai were slouches, they could probably figure it out ¡­ especially if they ended up reviewing the long discussion I had had with Sunrise Sparkle. After all, someone probably needed to do so as part of the investigation into that concern I had raised.


    Second, I wasn¡¯t planning on being a solo player, though I might do stuff on my own if the rest of the group wasn¡¯t around or had different plans. While I didn¡¯t have a group yet¡ªI hadn¡¯t made it to where I could even meet other players yet!¡ªVictoria or her people would have to make deals with whomever those players would be if was needed. If marketing wanted to turn a dungeon run into a promotional video, they¡¯d need the consent of the other people helping me do the run, after all.


    And, finally, I didn¡¯t want any compensation that would change my game experience: no game currency, no trinkets or gear, not even hints and suggestions like ¡°we would like you to run this dungeon or event you haven¡¯t done yet because it would make a good video and you¡¯d get good rewards.¡±


    Speaking of compensation, that matter was a bit tricky itself. I mean, it wasn¡¯t going to be a job so I wasn¡¯t going to get a salary, not that I¡¯d be able to explain that to Lex anyway, but apparently they thought that my, well Madelyn Alexis¡¯s, marketing value as a mascot was significant. In the end, we decided on two things.


    One: a percentage of any sales of physical or digital merchandise based on Madelyn Alexis, such as dolls, posters, licensed tee shirts, or phone apps. This money would go into an account that would donate to charities of my choice. After all, I didn¡¯t need the money, and just like a salary it would be hard to explain. This was my idea.


    The GMs felt it wasn¡¯t enough, so they offered another option in addition. Heraldic Echo would provide two FIVR pods and game subscriptions that I could give away. To say that I was stunned was a bit of an understatement. Honestly, it¡¯s not everyday that someone casually gives away nearly six figures in raising a payment. Was Madelyn Alexis¡¯s image and supposed future accomplishments really that valuable to them? Was Victoria getting the better end of the deal, now?


    After some hesitation, I agreed. I didn¡¯t have to think too hard about whom to have them send the pods to. One would go to Michelle, my former high school girlfriend. We parted amicably after graduation, when we went to separate colleges, but were still very close friends. We emailed, texted, or talked several times a week, often daily. She knew that I was going to be playing¡ªI had told her when I had ordered the pods¡ªand she had expressed regret that she couldn¡¯t afford it herself. Michelle wasn¡¯t especially into video games, theater was more her passion, but many a lazy high school afternoon had been spent, snuggled together on the couch and playing Smash Brothers before or after watching a TV show she liked or a film or musical she had rented. Of all the people I knew online or off, including my sister, Michelle was probably the one who I wouldn¡¯t feel uncomfortable with knowing I was Madelyn Alexis. We had been friends from fifth grade, sharing everything, ever since she her first day in middle school, in a class that had none of the kids she had known from the peninsula¡¯s second elementary school up north. Our romantic relationship in high school was more of a deepening of our friendship than it was taking it in a new direction.


    The other pod would go to my sister¡¯s best friend, Heather. She and my twin shared much the same interests as friends usually do, but Heather was even more gung-ho on exploration than Lex was. There wasn¡¯t all that much to explore on the peninsula north of the lighthouses, but she had surely seen it all. She¡¯d gone as far afield as she could afford for mountain climbing and spelunking. Not that she needed to go too far, with all that the Cascades offered, but Heather did go out to the Ozarks after graduation. Since Lex and I wouldn¡¯t be playing together, I thought it would be good for her to have a friend to explore with¡ªeven if she had already hooked up with that beta player.


    Of course, I asked Victoria to make sure the pods were delivered anonymously, to make it look like the girls were winners in the giveaway. After all, even rich people don¡¯t give ex-girlfriends presents comparable in cost to a new car, and Heather and I only knew each other through my twin. And who spends that kind of money on that tenuous a relationship? Since I wasn¡¯t actually spending anything, other than I guess some afternoons in the future, I didn¡¯t see it as that big of a deal, but it would probably have looked like one from the outside. I would never have bought her a pod, not even if were were billionaires instead of millionaires, but this would be okay. Just as long as she and my sister didn¡¯t know I was the source. Explanations would be complicated, otherwise.

 vol. 1: Meetings 4

    After the meeting, well meetings, with the GMs had ended, I was returned to my home instance and my hivatar form. I spent a few minutes talking with Jasmine, letting her know what the GMs had wanted and then what Victoria had offered. She was visibly impressed and practically chivvied me into the game world.


    When I materialized into the game world, I realized that my sleepy impression of ¡°maybe snow¡± had been wrong. There was indeed white all around, but it certainly wasn¡¯t snow. Instead, it appeared that I had yet again landed in an area surrounded by flowers. In this case, they were blossoms and wind-blown petals rather than wildflowers. I was standing in a cobblestone plaza near to the basin of a reflecting pool. It wasn¡¯t doing much reflecting, however. Just as the plaza was carpeted in white petals of fallen blossoms, so too was the surface of water covered in floating petals.


    The source of the petals was likely the tall, thin, silver-barked trees that lined the plaza, their own greenery nearly concealed by the masses of white blossoms upon their boughs. Despite all the petals on the ground or floating on the water or breeze, the trees did not seem to be anywhere close to being depleted of blossoms. The honey-sweet scent of the blossoms was undeniably present, but wasn¡¯t cloyingly overpowering. There was a faint hint of vanilla underlying the sweetness, perhaps also from the white blossoms, but maybe drifting in from outside the plaza.


    It was altogether too fancy for a starting settlement, I thought. Previous gaming experience had me expecting to start in or near a small village or hamlet, perhaps dedicated to farming or fishing, but certainly some backwater location. This, however, had the look of a park or plaza in a major city, possibly a capital city, but certainly one of some significance.


    There were people in the plaza, maybe three or four small groups of other players¡ªat least judging by their outfits and visible equipment¡ªand some scattered other people, possibly NPCs. The groups of players were standing around and talking but those not in obvious groups were walking around, passing through the plaza to whatever destinations they may have had.


    As I was taking in the sights, sounds, and scents of the square, it appeared that those groups of players had noticed me. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a small crowd, all talking at once.


    ¡°We need a pretty girl in our group. Please join with us!¡±


    ¡°With those robes, you¡¯re a healer right? We need a healer to help us fight!¡±


    ¡°Hey, cutie, come with me and not with them. I¡¯ll let you rock my world!¡±


    ¡°Back off, we saw her first!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of playing if it''s just with these guys? I¡¯ll leave my party and join with you!¡±


    With each comment, they were crowding closer and closer, jostling each other, and not really leaving me any path out of the encirclement.


    It felt like it was only a matter of time before they stopped shoving each other and started grabbing at me. Wait, was that last one a pickup line?


    All except for one, a grizzled dwarf who was staying in the back of the crowd and rolling his eyes at the antics of his party, were taller than I was. They were humans mostly, with two elves and one Nekoun with warpaint suggestive of tiger stripes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have good armor yet, but let me do my best to protect you.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know angels were player races.¡±


    Besides the dwarf who was staying to the back, some of the other guys were starting to look a bit uncomfortable with the way their teammates were acting and speaking. Not uncomfortable enough to speak up, but they were starting to sidle away.


    ¡°If you join our group, we¡¯ll buy you a pretty dress.¡±


    ¡°Forget dresses, we¡¯ll buy you a good weapon, maybe a fancy staff?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a staff she can use! Hahaha!¡±


    Ugh. I was about ready to treat these groups of guys like I had treated the minor skeletons in the ruins. Since PvP wasn¡¯t really enabled, it might not do any real damage, but it should at least let me get out from being surrounded. I might even take the time to hit that last guy twice! If I was in luck, pain would be enabled even if damage wasn¡¯t.


    But before I could access my inventory, a woman¡¯s voice rose over them. ¡°Hey! Leave my little sister alone! Get away from her, you jerks!¡± Though she was shorter than them, the woman pushed her way through the crowd and grabbed my arm, pulling me dangerously off-balance as she dragged me free of the men. ¡°There you are. I was looking all over for you! Why didn¡¯t you tell me you were being bullied by these boys?¡±


    Then she turned to glare at the crowd of young men. ¡°And you all should be ashamed of yourself, harassing a little girl and trying to kidnap her! Are you going to leave her alone, or do I need to tell the guards that you were bothering people again?¡±


    Several of the men shook their heads and a few even had the grace to look ashamed, but at least one continued on. ¡°Our group has room for more. We can take both you girls with us. With you two girls keeping us healed, we can fight any monster around!¡±


    She shot him a disdainful look. ¡°The only way you or your friends will ever get a girl in your group is if one of you rerolls a female character for yourself. Now, stop bothering us!¡±


    The dwarf guffawed, ¡°She¡¯s got you there, Laddie. Or, maybe Lady?¡±


    ¡°Shut up! You want to fight!? I¡¯ll duel you! I¡¯ll stab you, I¡¯ll stab you to death!¡±


    My, ah, rescuer? pulled my arm again, dragging me away from the reflecting pool and toward the treeline at the west of the plaza. ¡°Come along, Sis. Let¡¯s get away from here.¡± There was a definite sound of a scuffle behind us, with people taking sides and egging on one or another of the combatants. It sounded like a bad day at high school. A high school with weapons.


    She stormed off with me in tow, and though she seemed to want to put a lot of distance between us and the men, she wasn¡¯t moving as fast as I would have assumed someone in her mindset would. None of the men followed us physically, but I could sense their eyes upon us, at least those that weren¡¯t watching the elf and dwarf duel.


    As we left the scene of the confrontation, I got to study the woman who had come to my aid. She was taller than I¡ªnot like that was hard to do¡ªbut still shorter than most of the men she had faced down. She was pale, with light brown hair falling free to her waist and wearing a long, midnight blue dress that hugged a well-proportioned figure. The dress was tight in all the right places. A good many of the eyes following us were probably lingering on her hips.


    Though I was shorter, I kept pace with her easily once I overcame my surprise at being yanked free of the guys. Far enough away that the other players wouldn¡¯t hear, I spoke up. ¡°Um, thank you for the assist. But you must have me confused for someone. I don¡¯t have an older sister.¡± Well, I do, at least technically, but my twin wouldn¡¯t be looking for a younger sister. ¡°I can help you look for her, though.¡±


    She held a finger up to her lips, looked around, and shrugged. Speaking quietly, she replied, ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t move very fast. We¡¯ll talk once we leave the starting square.¡± A bit louder, she continued. ¡°I was sooo worried when you didn¡¯t appear in the plaza with me. Did you have trouble with the tutorial?¡±


    I didn¡¯t know quite what she was getting at, so with a slight shrug of my own, I played along. ¡°A bit. There were so many rats and then skeletons that it took a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, now that you¡¯re here, we can do things together. It¡¯ll go faster and be more fun. Don¡¯t worry about the monsters, I¡¯ll keep you safe.¡±


    As we approached the tree line, I saw that each tree was surrounded by a small wooden fence and that the fences were generally connected one to another by a rather prickly hedge, about shoulder-high to me. There were openings, places where there was no hedge between the trees, and we were headed toward one of those.


    Once out of the plaza, we were on a narrow cobblestone street lined with buildings, business of some sort judging by the signs hanging above the doorways. Most signs had a picture, like a sword and shield above what might be a weapons store, a bunch of grapes and a chicken leg for a restaurant or inn, and so on. The signs also had lettering¡ªor at least that¡¯s what I assumed the swirly shapes were¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t any language I recognized or could read.


    We started down the street and before we got to the first doorway, we passed through a faintly shimmering curtain of light that caused my skin to tingle and hair to briefly become frizzy. The woman¡¯s hair went wild, as if blowing in a strong breeze but then fell back to lie along her back as if nothing had happened.


    Just the other side of that, she stopped her slow forward charge and turned to face me. ¡°Barrier spell,¡± she explained. ¡°It keeps the flower petals mostly in the plaza.¡± With an expression that hinted at reluctance, she let go of my arm. ¡°I¡¯m Meredith, but you can call me Tabitha. And sorry to surprise you like that, but it was the best plan I could come up with on the spur of the moment. Those cowards have been harrassing everyone that newly appears, too afraid to even leave the starting square by themselves. There¡¯s plenty that they could do that doesn¡¯t need a big group to do; look at me, after all! But the way they were talking to you made my blood boil. I couldn¡¯t let them treat a little girl like that. Even if you¡¯re not really as young as you look. Can I ask how old you really are?¡±


    I blinked at the sudden outpour of information. ¡°Thanks again for the assist, Tabitha. I¡¯ve never been in a situation like that, so I didn¡¯t really know what to do.¡± I knew female characters, whether they were female players or not, often got treated differently in games, but seeing¡ªexperiencing¡ªit in person, so to speak, was quite a bit different than reading about it or seeing it happen on screen. ¡°I¡¯d rather not talk much about real life, if you don¡¯t mind, but I¡¯m in my early twenties.¡± An exact age wasn¡¯t needed here. ¡°And you can call me Madelyn Alexis. So you don¡¯t have a little sister you were looking for?¡±


    She smiled, her whole face lighting up. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty name; I like it. And you¡¯re still young enough to be a little sister. In a manner of speaking, I wasn¡¯t really looking for my younger sister. I was an only child. But in another way of looking at it, I was. It¡¯s my backstory.¡±


    ¡°Your backstory? So it¡¯s your roleplay?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no. It¡¯s more than that. But come on, let¡¯s get a little further from the starting square. You probably want to do some shopping, and I know the perfect shop for you!¡± She glanced up and to the right, possibly looking at the minimap on her interface, and then started down the street, gesturing for me to follow. ¡°This way, come on!¡±


    Not having anything else in particular to do, and well, I did need to buy new arrows, I walked alongside her. ¡°Your backstory?¡± I prompted.


    ¡°So, it¡¯s like this. You know how under ¡®other options¡¯ there¡¯s places for things that aren¡¯t exactly character appearance, such as voice selection? Yours is cute, by the way. Good choice. It fits you! Well, I¡¯m a ghost, and all ghosts have a reason they stick around in the world instead of going on to whatever heaven, hell, nirvana, or reincarnation exists in the game. Mine is that I was the last princess of an ancient kingdom and died while looking for my kidnapped little sister. There¡¯s more to it than that, but that¡¯s the short version.¡±


    Other options? Voice selection? Why did I never see those? I guess I hadn¡¯t explored character creation as thoroughly as I had thought I had. I mean, I did make at least one ghost character, but I don¡¯t remember seeing anything about backstories. ¡°Um, so you chose that backstory? What if you didn¡¯t choose one and just started the game without going into other options?¡±


    ¡°I think the system would have just given me something basic, like ¡®Widow who died while waiting for her husband to come back from war.¡¯ That¡¯s what mine was before I changed it. Boring!¡±


    ¡­ Does that mean I could have designed the ¡°more primal form¡± I turned into with Hidden Nature? Or at least modified it somewhat? And now I¡¯m stuck with what the system filled out for me? Argh! Well, at least I wasn¡¯t a ghost with an auto-created backstory that had me being someone¡¯s wife¡­!


    Rather than dwell on what could have been, I looked at Tabitha. She did seem to be waiting for me to say something, so I nodded. ¡°That does sound a bit generic. Princesses are usually better than widows, right?¡±


    ¡°And I died trying to do something rather than sitting around pining after a man who wasn¡¯t going to come back. Ugh, marriage! Who needs it? Oh, here¡¯s the first place. It¡¯s not the shop I¡¯m taking you to, but it¡¯s one you should visit.¡±


    The building she stopped in front of was a bit more dilapidated and ramshackle than its neighbors, but none of the buildings on this street seemed to be in particularly good condition. They weren¡¯t falling down or anything, but paint was chipping, shutters were loose, and some of the buildings seemed to lean or sag a little. This one, well it was probably only still standing because the two buildings on other side were so close that the shop didn¡¯t have any room to fall over into.


    The sign over the door ... doorway depicted a box and a bag and the same unreadable swirly script. Doorway, because rather than a door, this building had two flaps of some heavy leather-like fabric nailed up, one covering the outside of the doorway and the other on the inside, so entering the building was more like entering a tall tent.


    ¡°What is this place?¡± I asked. Just inside the doorway, with only a narrow clear path from the doorway to the counter, was an immense amount of ¡­ stuff. Wooden boxes piled upon wooden boxes. Shelves with all manner of bags from small coin purses to something large enough to have been Goliath¡¯s sleeping bag. In most places, the clutter towered over me, which wasn¡¯t hard given that Madelyn Alexis was rather short, but quite a few stacks of boxes were taller than Tabitha was, and she was the proverbial head-and-shoulders above me.


    Before my companion could answer, however, the shopkeeper did, or at least a voice from somewhere behind all the clutter did. ¡°Travellers, Travellers, welcome to Bags and Boxes. Oh, bless my bones, it¡¯s been such a busy day. Busy, busy, but busy is good for business, as Granny used to say. Just a moment, let me put this away and I¡¯ll be right out.¡±


    With a bit of apprehension, since some of those stacks of boxes looked as ready to topple as the building had, I followed Tabitha toward the counter. The counter, as it turned out, was basically an overturned box, a long one, granted, that stretched nearly from wall to wall, but low enough that it wouldn¡¯t be inconvenient for me to use.


    Shortly after we reached the counter, the reason for its low height became apparent. A stoop-shouldered dwarf with a nearly floor-length, unkempt, greying beard hobbled into view from behind a precarious stack of boxes. He was even shorter than I, so I had no idea how he could have managed doing anything with those stacks¡ªwhich was, perhaps, the reason the stacks were in such condition.


    He squinted and peered at us as he rounded the end of the counter and started down toward where we were standing. ¡°Tabitha? Tabitha, dear, I have no errands that need doing today. You haven¡¯t used up all those bags already, have you? And who is this you¡¯ve brought with you today?¡± He approached, and leaned over the countertop to stare at me. ¡°Well bless my bones and bounce my buttons, as Granny used to say, a real live Tauros, and a girl-child one, too? You¡¯re a long way from home, my dear.¡±


    He chuckled and leaned back, ¡°I used to think I was a long way from home, but we didn¡¯t cross any oceans to get here. We don¡¯t hear of too many Tauros north of the Great Sea. Those few are all grown men or an infrequent young bull, but never a girl-child. You must really be living up to being a Traveller, coming all this way.¡±


    I shrugged and nodded. ¡°I ¡­ I guess so, Sir.¡±


    Tabitha spoke up, ¡°Qrilli, this is my dear friend Madelyn Alexis.¡± She placed a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Like me, she¡¯s new to Echeirn and could use some bags to improve her inventory.¡±


    ¡°Oho, shopping it is. ¡®Put any two pretty girls together,¡¯ Granny used to say, ¡®and they¡¯ll want to go shopping or talk about men.¡¯ Of course, Granny would know, shopping being in her bones and men being in her buttons, as she used to say. Old Qrilli here doesn¡¯t have much to offer your pretty, young eyes to look at nowadays, but if you came by a hundred years ago, I cut quite the figure, I did indeed.¡±


    The dwarf looked and sounded like a jovial old man, but the way his eyes gleamed when he looked at Tabitha and me was more than a bit creepy. Being a jovial old man and being a dirty old man weren¡¯t mutually exclusively. I pulled the edges of my robes closer. Sash and brooch helped, but they weren¡¯t enough to hold back roaming eyes.


    ¡°So shopping it is, bags of course. Of course, of course. Nobody wants boxes anymore, not since the fall of the Underkingdom.¡± His voice had a note of sadness in it, but the reverie was lost in a flash. ¡°I can give you a discount, friend of Tabitha, not a big one, but she¡¯s been so helpful with running errands yesterday, that a friend of hers is a friend of us all. But discount,¡± he continued, ¡°still means payment. So, Traveller, coin or barter, which will it be?¡±


    ¡°Well, how much do the bags cost?¡±


    ¡°Well, now, Missy, that depends, that depends¡­.¡±


    The dwarf merchant fell silent as Tabitha raised a hand. She then turned toward me, her other hand still on my shoulder. ¡°You probably have several pelts from killing rats, right? Just put them on the counter unless you want to save them to use for your own crafting.¡±


    I nodded and accessed my inventory, placing all nine Large Rat Pelts on the counter. Three of them were low quality, perhaps damaged too much by the fight¡ªor perhaps just bad RNG on the loot table. I tended to think it was the latter. After all, I certainly killed more than nine of those rats, even if I was skipping a lot of them at the end. If it had just been a matter of damage, I should have had more than twenty pelts to offer.


    ¡°Raw materials as barter?¡± I asked.


    Some minutes later and with four new six-slot bags to expand my inventory, Tabitha and I were back outside the shop and headed, presumably, for another. ¡°What did he mean about no one wanting boxes anymore?¡± I asked.


    She shrugged slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t have the whole story, but Echeirn used to be an important stop on a major trade route. The town is on an island in the middle of a lake. The river that flows into the lake comes down from the mountains and the river that flows out joins with another that goes to the sea. So a lot of shipping came through the town.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Underkingdom was at one of the ends of the river?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Under the mountains, I guess, so Dwarves, which is why he was sad.¡±


    ¡°¡®They delved too deeply,¡¯¡± I quoted Tolkien.


    She nodded again, ¡°Perhaps, but we¡¯re not going to hunt Balrog or Gorgon today! Even if we were strong enough, that¡¯s a long ways away upriver.¡± She pointed to the southwest. ¡°And we¡¯re not strong enough, not yet.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    We continued talking as we went from shop to shop. It turned out that Tabitha had spent most of her game-playing time yesterday in town, doing little fetch or delivery quests, and filling in her map of the place. What she hadn¡¯t done, yet, was do much post-tutorial combat. However, the little island was dotted with ruins, places left behind when Echeirn began to wither and shrink. Temples, shrines, docks and warehouses, farmhouses, that sort of stuff. There would be plenty of opportunity for fighting and leveling later, then.


    Parting with some coins, I traded in my basic staff and dagger for slightly better ones. I already had a better bow, but I kept the starter one as a just-in-case weapon. The bowyer looked surprised when I showed him the weapon I got from the skeleton, and offered to restore its durability for free just so that he could say that he had worked on such a weapon. Since it would have cost ten silver coins, more than I would have had without the stash given for being a Heroine, I accepted. Hard to say ¡°no¡± to free, after all.


    The bowyer¡¯s brother was the town¡¯s fletcher¡ªthey both did business out of the same shop¡ªso while my Enchanted Zulathan Great Bow of Water was being repaired, I also replaced my quiver and stocked up on arrows. The starting quiver could hold thirty arrows, which probably would have been more than enough for anything other than fighting another Sar¡¯Glagalth-style monster, but the new quiver came with a slight modifier to Agility. Better stats was always a good idea, even if the quiver cost in excess of three silver all by itself. And that was with them extending me the same small discount that Tabitha had earned.


    The new quiver held forty arrows, and I bought extras. Now that I was out of the tutorial, arrows could be lost or broken in combat, so having spares would not be a bad idea. Moreover, if I had to use the ability of my bow, the arrows would be used up. Again. I had left the tutorial with nothing left to shoot, so it was a good thing that I was able to shop before I had to fight once more!


    For the three sets of forty arrows, I just bought the most basic arrows the fletcher had. At a copper bit per arrow, the quiver and arrows alone would have used up all my starting money if I hadn¡¯t been a Heroine. The more expensive arrows, ranging from three copper bits each all the way up to fifty silver coins for a bundle of twenty arrows, were beyond (even way beyond) what I wanted to spend right now. Archery was going to be even more expensive than I had thought. On the plus side, however, unless I used the special ability of my bow, I wasn¡¯t going to need to pay to restore durability for my weapons and armor as much as someone who was involved in melee combat every battle would need to.


    Continuing on our way to whichever mystery shop that Tabitha thought was perfect for me, we also stopped at a stall selling potions and other such adventuring necessities. Other than the energy drinks, I had used up everything the tutorial had provided me¡ªand then some!¡ªin the last fight. If I was going to be adventuring in abandoned ruins and fighting who-knows-what, it would be foolhardy to do so without proper preparation.


    Wincing a little as I paid double the cost for potions made with rarer ingredients that didn¡¯t taste horrible, I added the ten Basic Healing Potions (Quality) and fifteen Basic Mana Draughts (Quality) to my inventory.


    ¡°Someday, I¡¯ll be able to make those,¡± Tabitha stated. She had bought a few for herself, weighted even more to mana than healing.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re an alchemist?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Well, I took the skill, but I haven¡¯t been able to do anything with it yet. No ingredients.¡±


    Before I could tell her that I had the Gathering skill and might be able to help her, we stopped in front of a store that looked much fancier than any of the ones we¡¯d been to yet. For starters, it had windows, of what appeared to be glass. Every place else had made do with shutters over some sort of translucent fabric or maybe oiled paper. Displayed in the windows were several mannequins modeling outfits that the store apparently sold.


    ¡°Here we are!¡±


    I looked at the mannequins in the window. One was wearing a deep green dress of the same style and fabric as Tabitha¡¯s blue dress. It seemed apparent she had shopped for herself here. The second was also in a dress, though one much, much shorter and of a shimmery white fabric. With its high collar, negligible sleeves, and short slit on the side running from hem to waist, the dress reminded me of the stereotypical Chinese dresses, albeit a bit more sexualized due to its length than would likely be common. The third mannequin depicted a younger girl in a white-and-turquoise dress that had more frills than even Victoria¡¯s style had. It looked like what Dorothy Gale would have worn had she been an animated princess instead of a farmgirl from Kansas. The fourth figure was more androgynous, wearing what appeared to be form-fitting black pants and a tank top with a silvery belt and accents, but a second glance revealed the outfit to be one connected piece rather than two coordinating pieces.


    ¡°And ¡®here¡¯ is¡­. A dress shop?¡±


    My tone had been perhaps a bit dubious, and it seemed that she had caught on to that. ¡°Weeeeellll, they do have more than just dresses,¡± she replied. ¡°Think of it is cloth armor, and like your weapons, you should look into upgrades. Besides, there are a couple I saw in there yesterday that would look adorable on you! Come on!¡± She grabbed for my hand again, and led (well, tugged, almost) me into the store.


    The inside of the store was spacious and well-lit. Several globes of light were hovering near the ceiling, but didn¡¯t seem to be attached in any way. While there were racks of clothing along the two side walls, the main floorspace of the shop was populated by more mannequins displaying various outfits, mostly but not exclusively dresses. There were about half a dozen people, players probably by their manner of dress, browsing the racks of clothing under the watchful eyes of a trio of elven women.


    Based on resemblance¡ªthe same strawberry blonde hair; the same high cheekbones, thin brows, and vaguely too-large nose; and the same slim, lithe figures¡ªthe three elves were probably mother and daughters. The older of the three was fairly tall, at least head-and-shoulders above the other two who appeared to be close to Tabitha in height if not figure. They were all dressed spectacularly, probably modeling various clothing that was sold in the shop. The oldest wore a long, sparkling black gown that, despite the modesty of its cut, would not have looked one bit out of place on any red-carpet Hollywood award ceremony. One of the two younger women wore an asymmetric blouse and skirt combo in a deep pine green with emerald-hued embroidered accents. The third was all in oranges and reds, looking much like a living candle flame.


    The three turned as we entered, and the elf in black walked toward us, with outstretched arms. ¡°Tabitha, dear, welcome back. I trust you remain satisfied with your gowns?¡± She embraced my companion and kissed her on both cheeks, then held her at arm¡¯s length, looking the ghost up and down. ¡°Blue really is your color. You wear it well. And who is this you brought with you, someone else looking for a gown to match?¡±


    She studied my outfit and frowned slightly, ¡°The colour suits you, but that¡¯s not at all the style I would have chosen for you. But you¡¯ve come to the right place if you¡¯re looking to upgrade your image to something more refined.¡±


    Tabitha laughed, ¡°This, Madame, is my dear friend, Madelyn Alexis. Like me, she¡¯s a Traveller, and so didn¡¯t have much to choose from initially.¡±


    Again, I was introduced as a dear friend. We had only just met, but it didn¡¯t seem right to contradict her. Not only did she help me out with that situation when I arrived, but she¡¯s taken a lot of her time to show me around town already. I had a feeling that in time we would be close friends. Perhaps I¡¯ve found the start of my group in ECHO.


    Tabitha was still speaking as I was mulling that over. ¡°... would appreciate your expert assistance and advice in choosing her a new wardrobe.¡± I almost didn¡¯t quite see it, but Tabitha discreetly passed a few coins to the elf.


    Instantly, the elf was at my side, arm across my shoulders in a companionable way, and leading me toward a curtained-off staircase at the back of the store. With her at one side, and Tabitha practically holding my hand, I really had no recourse but to go along with them.


    ¡°Tiamana,¡± she called out and the younger elf in green turned. ¡°Please go and prepare the Flower Room. Ramantia, you¡¯re in charge of the shop. Call out if you need assistance.¡± One elf hurried upstairs ahead of us, and the other took an even more watchful and attentive stance as she was left behind.


    The room upstairs that we were led to was richly appointed. It featured hardwood paneling to halfway up the wall where it was capped by a small mantle. Continuing above, the walls were of plaster, but in a swirling pattern evocative of clouds. Three of the four corners of the room had a flowering plant in decorative urns: one plant with red blossoms like fountains of bells, one plant with tiny, pink blossoms nestled between heart-shaped leaves, and the third plant was a small shrub with waxy, dark green leaves like holly and graced with starlike, white flowers that seemed to sparkle. The fourth corner of the room was screened off with a folding, wooden privacy screen painted like a field of wildflowers¡ªlooking much like the tutorial instance did, for that matter. Three elegant couches surrounded a low, wooden table. A fine porcelain tea setting was in place as was a silver tray piled high with flower-shaped sugar cookies. Tiamana was standing just outside the doorway and followed us in, closing the door behind her.


    ¡°Well, my dear,¡± the older elf released me and stepped back a pace or two. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we have to work with, so I know how best to decorate you with fabric.¡±


    I blinked and stood there, ¡°Huh?¡±


    Tabitha laughed, ¡°She means get undressed. You can¡¯t try on new dresses on top of your Traveller¡¯s basic set, after all!¡± She also stepped away, and took a seat on one of the couches. Tiamana stepped forward from where she had been standing by the doorway and poured my companion a cup of tea.


    ¡°Oh? Oh! Um ¡­ ah¡­.¡± I¡¯m sure I was blushing, and the stammering actually helped in that it meant I didn¡¯t have to try to respond.


    The older elf laughed gently, ¡°A bit body shy are you? You make a cute counterpoint to your friend, Tabitha. Tiamana, if you would help her¡­?¡±


    Before I knew it, my robe, sash, slippers, and headband were draped over the back of the nearest couch. My ring and brooch were set on the edge of the table. Shouldn¡¯t the game system prevent players from being de-equipped? Or was being in a dressing room, albeit a very fancy one, considered implied consent? Sans equipment, I stood there in just the black bandeau and matching bikini briefs, trying to convince myself that it was swimwear and not underwear. Throughout it all, Tiamana was nothing but the consummate professional, and the shopkeeper and Tabitha shared a quiet, whispered conversation.


    Finally, after what seemed like ages but couldn¡¯t have been more than half a minute, the older elf approached me. She stayed out of arm¡¯s reach¡ªher arms, not mine¡ªbut studied my body the way a sculptor eyes a slab of uncut marble. My tail swished in nervous agitation, and I tried to not fiddle with my hands or cross my arms in front of myself.


    ¡°The foundation is solid, but the underthings will need to be changed. The material is too thick, intended as they were as partial outerthings, and they will mar the draping of the fabric. Too, the black will show through some fabrics. What do you think, Tiamana?¡±


    The younger elf angled her head and pursed her lips in thought. ¡°The melon creme, maybe?¡± she asked, much like a student who wasn¡¯t entirely sure of her answer. ¡°It is thin and light, but modest enough for a shy girl, and the colours will suit her complexion.¡±


    Her mother nodded. ¡°A good choice. I was thinking of the sunrise floral, but you may be right that the lighter hues of melon creme will suit her better than something bolder. If you would please get a set?¡±


    Tiamana nodded, and whatever followed must have been the equivalent of us players accessing inventory, for she presented me with a bra and panty set without leaving the room, and there was no chest or rack of clothing in here for her to rifle through.


    Gingerly, I accepted them. The bra was a bandeau-style like what I was currently wearing, and the matching panties were of a modest cut. The fabric was thin, but lightly lined with some soft, white fabric at the front of the bandeau and crotch of the panties. ¡°Melon creme¡± was apparently a very light orange and a very pale yellow that was almost white, both in thin, horizontal stripes. Each stripe was separated from its neighbor by a silvery line that caught the light and faintly sparkled.


    ¡°Unless you still need Tiamana¡¯s help,¡± the older elf slightly chided, ¡°you can change behind the screen.¡±


    Blushing, I nodded and made my way to the screened off corner. Behind the screen was a comfortable chair, a small rack for hanging clothing, and a full-length mirror. Avoiding looking in the mirror, I closed my eyes tightly and changed from the basic black underwear¡ªswimwear, right?¡ªinto the melon creme set. Sadly, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to delude myself into considering this set to be a swimsuit.


    Once dressed, and definitely still avoiding the mirror, I stepped out from behind the screen to let her evaluate whether the set met whatever esoteric criteria she was judging them by. Tabitha gave me a wink and an encouraging smile, and the elves¡ªboth of them this time¡ªwere looking me up and down.


    Tiamana turned to her mother with a questioning look and was rewarded with a slight nod. ¡°The colors do suit her, but I think the top needs something a little ¡­ more,¡± she responded. ¡°If she¡¯s going to be wearing a dress¡­. Perhaps¡­.¡±


    Tiamana smiled, ¡°Well, we do have more in melon creme. How about this one?¡± What she presented was a camisole, with spaghetti-thin straps, a slightly v-shaped neckline, and a little bow accent at the front and center of said neckline. Like the bandeau, it was all in light orange, pale yellow, and sparkling silver. This time, though, rather than horizontal stripes, the fabric was in colorblocks: half the bodice in light orange, half in pale yellow, with the almost-sheer fabric below also half-and-half, but with the orange and yellow reversed. The straps, the outline of the blocks, the bow, and the little frilly accent at the neckline and hem were all in the sparkly silver.


    Behind the screen, and with my eyes again tightly shut, I changed from bandeau to camisole. It too had the front of the bodice lined with the same soft, white fabric. Below the bust line, which was snug, the rest of the camisole was a bit more loose, swishing slightly as I walked out from behind the screen. The hem of the top reached a bit past the waistband of the bottoms, which meant that my tail was a little in the way.


    Tabitha gave me an encouraging smile and both elves nodded in satisfaction. ¡°That was what was missing, yes.¡± The oldest was studying me in a fashion that should have left me uncomfortable if not for her air of detached professionalism. ¡°That will help give the appropriate silhouette. Good choice, Tiamana.¡±


    Seeing my confusion, the younger elf laughed softly. ¡°You¡¯ll grow into your womanhood soon, I¡¯m sure, but until then a very little bit of padding will help showcase the fashion.¡±


    Padding? Oh no¡­.


    With apprehension, I looked downward at myself, turning my shoulders slightly from side to side to get a better angle. Small enough to be overlooked, but definitely still there, was the hint of a suggestion of an impression of curves. Not even to the proportions of my slight hivatar, the padding that I had somehow not noticed (perhaps because I had avoided looking as I got dressed) did give a very little bit of non-flat shape to my chest.


    Argh! My manly pride¡­.


    The older elf misunderstood my embarrassed dejection and placed a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Madelyn Alexis. You¡¯re still on the cusp of womanhood. In time, two or three months unless I misread my guess, you¡¯ll start filling out. Then, come back, and we¡¯ll set you up with something else nice to wear. But for now, let¡¯s see what we have that suits you.¡± She turned to face the ghost. ¡°Tabitha, dear, did you have any you wanted to try for her?¡±


    What followed next was worse than that Easter so many years ago when Lex had me masquerade as her so she wouldn¡¯t get grounded. It was maybe even worse than that time when ¡­ well, never mind that.


    Tabitha had if not hundreds, then dozens of suggestions starting with a dress that was the little sister of the one she was wearing: deep midnight blue, long, cap sleeved, and a bit clingy in places, though I didn¡¯t have the natural curves to do it justice. I shuddered a bit, mentally, as I pictured my primal form trying to wear it.


    My tail presented some challenges as it would be in the way of long dresses. Moreover, it was physically uncomfortable to have it buried beneath all that fabric, unable to twitch or swish or sway. I thought the obvious solution would be two separate pieces for top and bottom, preferably pants and a shirt, but when I suggested that, all three shook their heads.


    ¡°It¡¯s an easy enough modification,¡± Tiamana explained. ¡°Even Ramantia could do it in her sleep, though she¡¯s better with the business part.¡±


    Gown after gown, dress after dress followed each other while I endured my temporary¡ªvery temporary, hopefully¡ªrole as living barbie doll, though fortunately without her figure.


    There were even a few that I liked, surprising as that may be. Well, there were many I would have liked if someone else were wearing them, but me being the model was a different story. The first such was a rather simple fawn-and-white gingham dress with a ¡°peter pan¡± collar, apparently known here as a a¡¯limari, or faerie maiden, collar since Peter Pan wasn¡¯t part of their culture. The sleeves were loose and elbow-length. The dress, overall, was loose, with the hint of curves from the camisole¡¯s padding being obscured, and flaring out from a high waist to a knee-length hemline trimmed with a short, box-pleated ruffle of the same fabric. The outfit came with an apron with wide shoulder straps, a modest bodice that further concealed my imitation curves, and a wide expanse of fabric that reached three-quarters of the way down the skirts of the dress. The apron was sheer and off-white, maybe eggshell or ivory, and was basically decorative rather than functional.


    It was comfortable. It was modest. It was plain but pretty. I fell in love with the dress immediately, which is something I never thought I would ever say. I wanted the dress, but it wouldn¡¯t be practical for fighting in. Well, neither was the outfit I had started in, and this was a fantasy setting where some of the regular rules didn¡¯t apply. Maybe I could wear it in town when I didn¡¯t need to fight. Manly pride be damned, I wanted that dress.


    Something in my expression or bearing must have alerted Tabitha, since that dress was set aside while several others followed.


    While I was trying on dress after dress, the shopkeeper was conferring with Tabitha. I only heard snatches of conversation, but ¡°bow, dagger, and staff¡± from one was followed by ¡°Agility and Brilliance or maybe Agility and Willpower, then.¡±


    Eventually, after what had to have been more than an hour of modeling dresses with infrequent breaks to sip some tea, which was a honey-sweetened decoction that reminded me of the blossoms in the starting plaza, or nibble at a sugar cookie or two, they seemed to be wrapping up. Tabitha was now no longer suggesting outfits or helping button them up, but was instead sitting back and letting the elves decide amongst themselves.


    Tiamana presented me with a short and very form-fitting dress of pale cream embroidered with gold. It was the cousin to the Chinese-styled dress in the window display, with a mandarin collar, cap sleeves, and a hemline that, when worn, barely reached long enough to preserve modesty. Add a tail to the mixture, and it was trouble waiting to happen.


    She shook her head, ¡°As I thought, the style is a little too mature for your tender years.¡± She made an abortive gesture to help me unclasp the odd fastenings, then frowned. ¡°Well, maybe if¡­¡± Pausing, she turned to her mother, ¡°Leggings would make that a tunic instead of a dress.¡±


    The older elf smiled and nodded, radiating approval. ¡°Give it a try.¡±


    From whatever mysterious inventory space she was accessing, Timana the presented me with something different from anything else I had worn yet today. Pants. Of a fashion. The fabric was nearly as thick as the leggings my sister wore for jogging, but unlike them, this matte black fabric continued down the legs to cover the feet as well. They were more like thick tights or hose, but¡­.


    I slipped them on, the two leg openings letting me argue successfully with my manly pride. While the fabric was tight and formfitting, it wasn¡¯t any worse than wearing socks tucked into or over longjohns. That was my mental acrobatics in action, anyway.


    While I was doing that, the older elf found a pair of shoes to match the dress, uh, tunic, yeah, tunic. Leather ankle boots the same off-white shade of cream as the dre¡ª tunic, with gold-colored metal buckles to match the embroidery of the top. They did have a very slight chunky heel, maybe an inch in height, but since the rest of the sole was half-an-inch-or-so in thickness, the angle would be barely noticeable.


    Standing there, in the dress and leggings, I felt strangely comfortable in it despite the snugness and unmistakably feminine nature of the outfit. The dress was short enough that it wouldn¡¯t interfere with any quick movements and the leggings meant that I didn¡¯t need to worry about flashing people. While the three other girls were oohing and ahhing, I took a quick look at my status screen, focusing on the equipment portion:


    Head: <nothing>


    Torso: Risqu¨¦ Mianian Short Dress (borrowed) [DUR: 50/50] [DEF: +1] [AGI: +2] [CHR:+4]


    Arms: <nothing>


    Waist: Agile Elfweave Leggings (borrowed) [DUR: 75/75] [AGI: +3] [WIL: +2]


    Legs: Supple Miniboots (borrowed) [DUR: 65/65] [DEF: +1] [CHR: +3]


    Main Hand: <nothing>


    Off-Hand: <nothing>


    Left Ring: <nothing>


    Right Ring: <nothing>


    Bracelet: <nothing>


    Necklace: <nothing>


    Other 1: <nothing>


    Other 2: Melon Creme Padded Cami Set (borrowed) [DUR: 25/25] [DEF: +1] [CHR: +1]


    I also brushed away a prompt to take Modeling (C/E) as a skill. Why was that even in the game?


    ¡°Well?¡± Tabitha was grinning, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I ¡­ I like it,¡± I admitted. I studied my reflection in the mirror and tried to not pay any attention to how the tight fit of the top did nothing to hide the hint of curve that the padding brought out. I was still definitely wearing a dress, but the illusion of pants that the leggings created was sufficient that I could, with a little effort, see the dress as just a long shirt.


    With everything that had already happened, the unique skills and perks and so on, and with the deal I had just made with the GMs, there just was no way out of playing as Madelyn Alexis. It wasn¡¯t like she was the first female character I had ever played¡­. She was just the first one I had actually inhabited. I had always liked making my game characters look good, girls included, in part because I had to look at them on the screen and in part because, well, if I¡¯m being honest, a bit of vanity. I guess that carried over to Madelyn Alexis, too. Even if I had to endure waaaay too much game time modeling different dresses, the end result was, maybe, worth it.


    ¡°Great! I¡¯m happy you found something you liked, Madelyn Alexis. Now there¡¯s just two more things to do before we go on.¡± Tabitha¡¯s smile was both warm and hinting at mischief.


    ¡°Uh? Huh? What¡¯s that?¡±


    Tabitha raised a finger, ¡°One, thank Madame and her daughter for their advice, assistance, and time. And two,¡± another finger arose and she winked through the v-shaped gap, ¡°you pay them before you walk off with your new outfit!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Ah, yes. Sorry! Sorry!¡± I bowed deeply, ¡°Thank you both for your help. I am deeply indebted to you for your patience with me and for your help in selecting a new and lovely outfit.¡± No, system, I don¡¯t want to take the skills Flattery (C/L) or Charm Person (C/C). Aren¡¯t those too specific, anyway? Shouldn¡¯t they be implied by Negotiation or Bluff or some other skill? ¡°I would like to buy everything I¡¯m wearing, and¡­.¡± I looked around, but the brown dress was already put away, ¡°Err, well, maybe I should find out how much I will be spending?¡±


    Thirty-three silver lighter, more than a third of what I had remaining and certainly much more than I should have been able to afford were it not for being a Heroine, we left the shop, but only after the elves had extracted a promise from me to come back the next time I wanted a new dress. They did say ¡°dress,¡± too, rather than ¡°outfit.¡±


    Back out on the main street, with ring and brooch re-equipped (the brooch was now somewhat smaller than before, about button-sized, and attached to one of the braided fabric decorative buttons on the dress¡¯s mandarin collar), I was startled by Tabitha grabbing me into a tight hug. It was more than a little embarrassing, given our differences in height and figure, but she squeezed me tight against her and ruffled my hair.


    ¡°Thank you so much, Madelyn Alexis!¡± Her voice was husky with suppressed emotion. ¡°I never had a little sister or even a daughter or niece to take shopping, so you let me live an experience I¡¯ve never had before!¡± She released the hug and with her hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye. ¡°It¡¯s like you really are the little sister I¡¯ve been looking for, and not just as a spur-of-the-moment excuse to help rescue you from those boys!¡±


    [System Message] You have been awarded the Special Title ¡°Little Sister¡± by Tabitha.


    She must have received a system message too, since her eyes were as wide in shock as my eyes felt. Nearly in unison, we both exclaimed, ¡°How did you do that!?¡±

 vol. 1: Meetings 5

    There was a long moment of silence as we looked at each other. Then, Tabitha said, ¡°You first.¡±


    I examined the title, which had auto-equipped itself since I had had no active title displayed to the world. After a moment to process what it said, I replied. ¡°The system said that you gave me the title of ¡®Little Sister.¡¯ It, um, grants ¡®threat radius increased by 10%, threat generation decreased by 10%,¡¯ and ¡®+5 Charisma.¡¯¡± I read aloud the title¡¯s characteristics.


    She hugged me again. ¡°I knew it!¡± I was half-expecting her to pick me up and twirl around, but she took a deep breath and visibly restrained herself, stepping back from the hug.


    ¡°What about you?¡± I asked, ¡°Did you get called ¡®Big Sister,¡¯ then?¡±


    She shook her head, ¡°No. It¡¯s a bit more complicated than that. Just a moment, let me re-open the message log. Here we go; it says ¡®Backstory Activated! You have been awarded the Unique Perk ¡°Undispirited¡±!¡¯ And the perk says ¡®Your search continues but you may have found a surrogate. When in her presence, critical successes are more likely and more potent. When out of her presence for more than a day, critical failures are more likely and more potent.¡¯¡± She looked at me, eyes still a bit wide, ¡°So it¡¯s like you¡¯re my good-luck charm, now, ¡®Little Sister¡¯!¡±


    I felt my own eyes get a little wider again. The system had just made Tabitha¡¯s gameplay experience dependent, in part, on me. What if it did that to other people who didn¡¯t like each other? Or what if the schedules were incompatible even if the players did like each other?


    Rather than voice my concerns, though¡ªI didn¡¯t want it to sound like I didn¡¯t like her¡ªI asked something related. ¡°Well, it seems like we¡¯ll be playing together a lot, then? There¡¯s got to be a way to send a friend request to make it easier to find each other, right?¡±


    I focused on my interface and expanded the button bar in the lower right. One of those probably opened an menu for friending. As it turned out, the icon of two smiling faces was the Social menu, and it included a friend list (currently empty) among its myriad options. I sent Tabitha a friend request. Then, as an experiment, I tried to send one to a player name I recalled from the tutorial, but the request errored out:


    Request failed. There is no nearby player named Lynica.


    ¡°Huh. Looks like you can¡¯t send a friend request if the person isn¡¯t nearby?¡±


    Tabitha nodded. ¡°The website said that they didn¡¯t go with unique usernames in this game since they wanted names to feel real¡ªno Alexis1994 or xXShadowXx or the like. So, there¡¯s probably a hundred or more other Tabithas out there by now since it¡¯s a ¡®real¡¯ name. Therefore, you can only send a friend request or message to someone nearby to help ensure you get the right one. At least, that¡¯s the way I understood it.¡±


    That was fortunate. Since I was now somewhat famous, or infamous depending on how you look at it, due to the fight at the end of the tutorial, I could have been at risk of non-stop friend invites or unwanted private messages from hordes of random players. Even if there weren¡¯t any other Madelyn Alexises, the proximity requirement meant that I¡¯d be relatively unspammed. After all, there couldn¡¯t be all that many Lynicas, either, right?


    Tabitha then sent me a group invite, which I accepted through the social menu. After I did so, my UI updated with a small, square portrait of her below the larger, circular one of mine. A thin red bar formed the left side of the square, and a matching blue bar formed the right: health and mana, most likely.


    I also received two achievements: ¡°Social¡± for adding a friend and ¡°Party Time!¡± for joining a group. Of course, I didn¡¯t get the doubled rewards for being the first player to earn the achievements, but for something as basic like that, I wouldn¡¯t have expected it¡ªeven if I hadn¡¯t have spent so much time in the home instance and tutorial. Nevertheless, they were still achievements, albeit minor common ones, so they¡¯d add a few more points for Jasmine to spend decorating.


    As I was thinking that over, Tabitha said something that jarred me out of my train of thought. ¡°Oh, it looks like that dwarf won his duel.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± The statement came out of nowhere, and I wasn¡¯t sure what she was getting at.


    ¡°I was ... just looking through the message log to see if there was anything else in there to maybe foreshadow the backstory activation. There wasn¡¯t, but I did see ¡®[Local Message] Stegnar Rockbottom has defeated Ben d¡¯Overan-Tayket in a duel!¡¯ The first name sounds dwarven, or at least, sounds like what I¡¯d think dwarven sounds like, anyway. The second name?¡± She shook her head, ¡°I think the naming filters need a little work.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Yeah.¡± Well, it wasn¡¯t like I was any good at coming up with names, either, but still even if Pandachan or Casper hadn¡¯t been great names, which I had realized immediately, they weren¡¯t on the level of that elf¡¯s character. ¡°So¡­.¡± I didn¡¯t want to press her, but I was starting to get a bit antsy to go out and kill a few monsters, quest, or explore. I mean, there was a little bit of exploring in going from store to store, but walking around a town isn¡¯t the same as walking around the wilds, hunting wild monsters and wildflowers. True, I was having fun, even if a good part of the time had been spent as a living doll while Tabitha and the elves dressed me up in dress after dress, but that wasn¡¯t going to level me up!


    Well, not unless I took the Modeling skill or something similar, but¡­. Yeah, no.


    ¡°That was the shop you wanted me to go to, right? Anything else to visit on our way out to the wilds?¡±


    Tabitha shook her head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. Oh. Wait! Yes, there¡¯s a little jewelry shop on the way to the city gate. I didn¡¯t go in yesterday, but I could use a couple accessories. How about you, Sis?¡± She smiled as she stressed the last word.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got several empty equipment slots, but I don¡¯t know if I can afford very much. This outfit,¡± I glanced down at myself, admiring the fabric and fit but mentally wincing a little at the slight suggestion of a bust that the padded cami provided¡ªwhat would happen if I had to activate Hidden Nature again? I certainly did not need any extra boost in that form! ¡°This outfit and the new weapons took a big chunk of my money. Maybe we should get some loot to sell first?¡±


    ¡°No harm in looking, is there?¡± She took me by the hand and started walking further westward, so naturally I walked alongside her, following her lead. ¡°Maybe they have something cute and cheap, like a ribbon for your hair, but if nothing else, we¡¯ll get to see how much we need to save up.¡±


    A hair accessory might be nice; the ornamented headband that was part of my starting outfit didn¡¯t match my new dre¡ª ah, tunic and leggings, so I wasn¡¯t wearing it. A ribbon might be a bit much, though. Tabitha was wearing something like a small tiara, perhaps to match with her backstory, but that would be a bit much for me.


    The jewelry shop, denoted by a picture portraying five golden rings, was very near to the town gates, which was unexpected. Then again, it occupied the building immediately next to the guard post, so its placement did have its own sort of logic. The building was in better shape than most of the other shops we had visited¡ªexcept, of course, the dress shop. Like the dress shop, it had glass windows, though the displays weren¡¯t of mannequins and full outfits, but rather display cases of jewelry.


    As with most of the other places in town, the shopkeeper was an elf. Unlike most of the other places in town, the shop had its own security even beyond the adjacent guard post. There were a pair of older dwarves who had the look of mercenaries or former adventurers. One was thin (for a dwarf), dressed in studded leather armor, and carried nearly two dozen different blades in various obvious sheaths or bandoliers: daggers and throwing knives. Who knows how many concealed weapons he had as well. The other dwarf looked like he could have arm-wrestled Sar¡¯Glagalth and won. Though he was unarmored, wearing only a sleeveless white tunic and billowy trousers, he by far looked the most dangerous.


    In the end, we didn¡¯t get much. The jewelry was rather expensive, after all. And while we could afford a few trivial pieces, buying anything really good would have gone into gold prices rather than just silver. Even with my being a Heroine and Tabitha¡¯s money (did she really get that much from just quest rewards?), much of what was on display was significantly above our price ranges. However, I did get a cheap, copper hairclip ornamented with a small butterfly. The butterfly¡¯s wings appeared to have been made with petals from the white blossoms I had encountered in the starting plaza. The hairclip was mostly ornamental, offering only a minor boost of one point of mana, but even so it had cost an entire silver piece¡ªpossibly for the craftsmanship. Tabitha bought matching earrings.


    For a newbie starting settlement, Echeirn had some surprisingly high-end shops. Maybe the shops had a tradition behind them and they remained to retain that tradition even as the town started to wither away due to lack of trade. Or maybe, just maybe, those two shops had some of the high-level skill trainers for their professions. Idly, I considered my as-of-yet unselected skill slot. Perhaps I could learn sewing beyond the level of simple repairs to Luna? Being able to make my own dresses, um, cloth armor would go a long way toward being self-sustainable. But ¡­ no. It was a primary skill slot, so that meant I¡¯d need to level it up and couldn¡¯t just treat it as a hobby or dabble in it from time to time. Plus, there wasn¡¯t just to me to consider; there was Tabitha and whomever else I¡¯d be playing with. Tradeskills were one of the areas where a group should specialize rather than everybody doing the same thing, and it seemed like dressmaking might be right up Tabitha¡¯s alley. Speaking of which¡­.


    Almost as if she could read my mind, Tabitha turned to face me as we left the the jewelry shop and asked, ¡°So, Sis, I know you have a bow and arrow, staff, and dagger as your weapons, but can I ask your skill build? I have Restoration Magic for healing, Summoning to have a pet tank for me, and other skills to support them. Oh, and Alchemy that I haven¡¯t been able to do anything with, yet. But someday I will!¡±


    ¡°I do have Archery, yes, but Dagger is a secondary skill and it¡¯s mostly a just-in-case weapon that I haven¡¯t needed to use much.¡± Well, except for the fight with Sar¡¯Glagalth, but I didn¡¯t need to go into that. ¡°Mostly, my secondary skills haven¡¯t been used much, yet except Meditation. I also have Gathering, which levels slowly, and Spellcasting since I have a couple spells. I haven¡¯t decided on my last skill, yet.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Tabitha¡¯s eyes lit up again when I mentioned Gathering, but then she got a thoughtful expression. ¡°You really should set your other skill. With fewer skills to level, it¡¯s harder to level up and get the more skill slots.¡±


    ¡°I know. It¡¯s just¡­. Well, a lot of things sound fun or sound helpful, so it¡¯s hard to decide. Other things, well¡­.¡± I explained my reluctance to make something niche into a primary skill, since if I rarely made use of it, it would be much the same as not having a skill set¡ªat least, when it comes to leveling up. Cooking, for example. Right now, I think it would be something I¡¯d like to have, as a secondary skill, but was it something I wanted to work on every day I was in the game, which is what a primary skill sort of needed to be?


    ¡°Well, if you care about efficiency, probably your best choice is to take something you can use in fighting, then? Either a fighting skill like another magic or a support skill like my Arcane Reach. Or maybe something like Tracking, since you¡¯re a bow-user. That might not help in a fight, but it could help us get to the fights we want. But I think you should take something fun, like Dancing!¡±


    ¡°Dancing? Really?¡±


    ¡°Yep! It should boost Agility, which you need for Archery. It¡¯s fun; it¡¯s attractive; and in games, Dancers usually give buffs to their parties or audiences.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to be an exotic dancer!¡±


    ¡°No, no, not like that.¡± She gestured a bit dismissively. ¡°Well, I suppose you could, once you got older, but that¡¯s not what I was suggesting. Think of it like cheerleading!¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°That¡¯s still too embarrassing.¡±


    Tabitha shrugged and give me a one-arm-around-the-shoulder hug. ¡°We¡¯ll think of something, maybe something you do while fighting will suggest a new skill. So let¡¯s go and¡­. Oops, looks like we have company.¡±


    A group of five young men was standing near the gates to the city but to the side of the street and making it very clear that they weren¡¯t trying to block the way. However, striding down the middle of the street toward us was a dwarf, hands raised and palms outward in an apparent show of non-hostile intent. Of course, hostility right next to a guard post with a small squad of city guards would have been a less-than-brilliant-idea, anyway.


    We stopped, and the dwarf stopped several paces away.


    ¡°Ach, Ladies, we mean you no harm.¡± He lowered his arms slowly. ¡°Me and the boys,¡± with a tilt of his head, he indicated the group of five players, ¡°want to apologize for the trouble we helped put you and your little sister through. None of us knew what sort of scoundrels we had fallen in with, but we really should have done more than just back off. Some of those knuckleheads should have been pulled back, at the very least. For not doing more, we¡¯re sorry.¡± He doffed his hat and bowed deeply, forehead almost to the ground.


    ¡°Stegnar, was it?¡± Tabitha stepped forward and extended her arm, looking every bit the epitome of graciousness. ¡°Thank you. We accept your apology. It¡¯s not always easy to know how to react in a new situation.¡± He took her hand, and she helped him back to his feet. ¡°Congrats on winning your duel, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Ach, that pebble? All bravado and no follow-through. He got the first hit, but I got the last hit¡ªthe one that matters. My motto, after all, is ¡®When you hit rock bottom, you know it; when Rockbottom hits you, you show it!¡¯¡± There was a roar of approval from the rest of his party, but as an aside the dwarf half-whispered, ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t know what my motto would have been if the wife hadn¡¯t vetoed Stonejaw all those years ago.¡±


    He gestured his group forward, and they approached, all but one staying a non-threatening distance away. The last, a blond-haired youth in faded green caster robes approached and retrieved something from his inventory. ¡°Here!¡± he held it out stiff-armed and blushing. ¡°We thought that words were maybe not enough, so we all pitched in and bought something to help make up for appearing scary to you. Sorry again!¡±


    ¡®It¡¯ turned out to be a bundle of quality potions, four of healing and two of mana. While I remained in Tabitha¡¯s shadow, she accepted the potions and thanked him graciously, her smile including all six members of the band. Then she inquired, ¡°So, does your group have a name yet? Rockbottom Rascals or Stegnar¡¯s Soldiers or something?¡±


    Stegnar shook his head, but one of the four remaining in the background piped up with ¡°The Brotherhood of Brothers!¡± for which he was thumped on the back of the head by the other three.


    ¡°What, are you ten or something?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t just make things up on your own!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s like putting up a treehouse sign saying ¡®No Girls Allowed Forever and Ever.¡¯¡±


    Stegnar rolled his eyes and Tabitha laughed softly and continued, pitching her voice to carry. ¡°He has a point. Drat. There goes my idea of ¡®Sister Squad.¡¯¡± She winked to show she hadn¡¯t been serious about that name. ¡°Thank you all again for your apology and generous gift, and good luck with your hunting and questing.¡± She curtseyed, which prompted me to bow and wave as the dwarf and his band headed through the gates into the wilds.


    ¡°Well, that was unexpected, but not unpleasant,¡± Tabitha said after the men had departed. We divided the potions equally and then looked around. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for us to brave the wilderness and see what monsters there might be for us to defeat. Are you ready, Sis?¡±


    ¡°As ready as I¡¯m ever going to be, without spending fifteen hours looking through all the skills and trying to make a choice. We¡¯ll see how things go when we work together out there, but I¡¯ll probably end up taking something on impulse, like I did with Gathering.¡±


    ¡°I still think you¡¯d make a cute cheerleader.¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡±


    As we approached the gates, a pair of guards moved to block our way. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous for children this way,¡± one said. ¡°Go play in the parks or the farms out the eastern gate,¡± the other said.


    ¡°Excuse me, but we¡¯re Travellers, and my little sister is older than she looks,¡± Tabitha said. ¡°We¡¯re able to take care of ourselves.¡±


    The two guards looked at us with doubt. ¡°That¡¯s what the last children said, and it¡¯s been hours since those two girls left¡­.¡±


    I equipped my quiver and bow, being careful to keep it obviously not at the ready and definitely not drawing an arrow. ¡°Thank you for your concern, Guards, but I really am able to take care of myself. If you want us to look for the missing girls, we can keep an eye out for them. What did they look like?¡±


    The two guards conferred amongst themselves in hushed voices for a few minutes, shooting occasional glances at Tabitha and me. I was uncomfortable with the way one of the guards seemed to keep eyeing my chest. Finally, they stepped aside.


    ¡°I guess you might be old enough to not count as a child. We¡¯re not real familiar with Beastkin, but for you to be here strongly supports your claim to be a Traveller.¡±


    The other guard nodded and continued where the first left off. ¡°If you see them, you¡¯ll know them. They¡¯re two girls that look alike enough to have the same mother, but one is clearly not really an elf. The hyper one is Ria¡¯Dine and the shy one, I don¡¯t know. Maybe a type of human? Maybe a mixed-blood?¡± He sounded uncertain.


    The first guard picked up again. ¡°She looks elfin, but something about her suggests she isn¡¯t. Regardless, they¡¯re both flatter,¡± he winced as the other guard elbowed him in the ribs, ¡°uh, I mean younger than you. Shorter, too. Darker skin, but not as dark as you. Basically, keep an eye out for two young girls. Even if they are Travellers, they might need help.¡±


    System Message: You have been offered a quest by T¡¯Dhii and T¡¯Dhum, gate guards of Echeirn. [Accept] [Decline]


    <ul style="margin-left: 30px">


    <li>Resin Warning: The guards at the western gate of Echeirn are worried about two young Travellers who haven¡¯t returned. Soothe their minds by bringing back the missing girls or news of their whereabouts. Reward: Increased reputation with the guards of Echeirn.</li>


    </ul>


    Tabitha accepted the quest for the both of us, and we walked out of the town and into, well, more of the town. Just that outside the city wall, these buildings were clearly abandoned and overgrown.


    I looked around. Some of the plants growing in the yards and through the cobblestones of the old road looked like they could be harvested, but had clearly already been picked over by other players. There also was no sign of Stegnar and his group of guys, but with all the ruined buildings, it wouldn¡¯t have been that hard to get out of sight quickly even if Tabitha and I hadn¡¯t been delayed by the guards.


    ¡°Just a moment, let me summon my pet¡­. Spirits of earth, lend strength to one who honors you. Ground that supports and stone that shields, this one humbly requests thy assistance. By the pact that was made, the promise fulfilled, and accords that exist, this one calls upon the strength of undying stone to be her companion and helper. Rock beneath, rise and take form. Servant, sculpt thyself into an image of strength¡ªTamakotz!¡±


    While I was looking around, Tabitha was slowly chanting, her voice rising and falling rhythmically as if matching the beat of a slow drum. Magic energy swirled around her until, with a gesture, she directed it to a spot a few feet away. Then, the very ground seemed to split open as a stone ¡­ figure ¡­ of some sort climbed out.


    It was vaguely humanoid in shape in that it had a head and two arms in roughly the right places, but its body was a tapered slab of stone looking a bit like an inverted and stretched-out pyramid. It had no legs, but the slab of stone disappeared into a swirling cloud of dust at ground level reminding me a bit of how cartoons used to portray their characters running quickly. Tamakotz¡¯s face was fairly featureless, but it did have two glowing eyes the exact same shade of green as Sar¡¯Glagalth had had.


    When the creature, elemental I guess, fully appeared, its portrait showed on the interface as a smaller one immediately to the right of Tabitha¡¯s. The crack in the ground also faded away as if it had never been there.


    Tabitha sat, probably to meditate since my interface showed her mana had fallen by almost half in the summoning. ¡°It would be easier,¡± she said, ¡°if they let summoned pets inside towns, but I kind of agree with some of the rationale to leave them out. Can you imagine this guy in the dress shop, dust going everywhere?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yeah, and finding one to fit him might have been a challenge.¡±


    Tabitha laughed. ¡°Maybe something in green, to match his eyes. But Tama¡¯s been very helpful. He keeps the enemy¡¯s attention on him and away from me. And he¡¯s more than just a shield, he¡¯s a sword, hitting the monsters, too. He protects me and I keep him healed. It¡¯s a bit slow, but it works.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a weapon?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Tama¡¯s my weapon. Well, I do have a wand, but I can¡¯t use it until I can learn the skill. Until then, it¡¯s just a pretty, polished piece of wood.¡± She stood and took the wand from her inventory: thirteen or fourteen inches of gently tapered wood, the grain more of a hint than visible due to the dark varnish. ¡°If I was close enough, I could poke an eye out, maybe, but it won¡¯t shoot magic until I have the skill to use it.¡± Stretching languidly, she continued. ¡°That¡¯s my next skill. After that is probably another magic skill to give me more spell variety, but I don¡¯t think that will be something offensive. Well, we¡¯ll see. That¡¯s not happening anytime soon.¡±


    I decided to try my hand at teasing her. ¡°What about Dancing? You said yourself that it¡¯s a support skill, and a healer is very much a support player. You would make a cute cheerleader.¡±


    She laughed and ruffled my hair. ¡°I will if you do. Then we can dance together, Sis!¡± Seeing my pout at the deflected tease attempt, she gave me another quick one-armed hug. ¡°No, I get it. You¡¯re going DPS, so even if you were tempted by being a cheerleader, it wouldn¡¯t be the best skill for you this early, but¡­.¡± She paused for effect, and then winked. ¡°Maybe later, once you get a few more skills under your belt, it¡¯ll be a good hybrid fit.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± I tried to be non-committal rather than just dismissive, but I didn¡¯t think I wanted to relay this discussion to Michelle when we inevitably talked about the game. She would be tickled at the idea of me being a cheerleader, and I might not be able to resist her. I certainly hadn¡¯t been able to that time when, well, never mind¡­. ¡°I may still take something support¡ªTracking like you suggested or maybe Cartography. I like the idea of better maps and minimaps.¡±


    ¡°Sure, that would be good, too. Well, shall we go see what we can see and slay what we can slay? And maybe find those missing girls? I admit, it¡¯s a bit interesting to get a quest to find players rather than the typical ¡®Hey, kill ten of these pesky monsters that are threatening the gates.¡¯ Young girls, too. Maybe they¡¯d be a good fit to our party!?¡± She looked excited at the prospect of more little sisters.


    I felt a slight twinge of unexpected jealousy, which I immediately suppressed. With a smile, I pointed down the overgrown road and said, ¡°Monsters beware, we¡¯re coming for you!¡±

 vol. 1: Meetings 6

    Despite our exuberance, we didn¡¯t immediately come across any monsters to fight. The overgrown cobblestone street was empty as far as the eye could see. This, admittedly, was not especially far since the street wasn¡¯t straight and buildings got in the way. Even at the first intersection, a smaller street that crossed diagonally, there was nothing we could see to fight. Then again, we were still within arrow range from the city walls, and presumably guards patrolled close to Echeirn, so it may just have been that monsters had learned, by now, to avoid this area.


    By mutual assent, we didn¡¯t go into any of the buildings. Safety was a concern¡ªhaving a roof or wall cave in on us or a floor give out beneath us wouldn¡¯t be high up on the fun continuum¡ªbut other reasons were more important. Chiefly, our concern was our ability to fight in small spaces. The bow was my weapon of choice, but even my spell really was easier to manage with a bit of distance between me and the target. Moreover, Tabitha relied on Tamakotz to protect her from attack, something the elemental might not be able to do when moving from room to room. Ambushes, after all, would be much easier to launch in indoor combat.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem too dangerous out here,¡± Tabitha commented. ¡°The guards seem to be a little overzealous in protecting children from hazards that don¡¯t seem to exist.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know,¡± I temporized. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of risk for children in those old buildings even if there aren¡¯t any monsters around at all.¡±


    ¡°But why would they go in?¡±


    ¡°To explore! When I was younger, there was an old, abandoned house in the woods across the street from my grandmother¡¯s house. Well, more of a shed than a real house. I climbed up a tree and got onto the roof and pretended it was a pirate ship, looking out over the river. I think I read a whole book up there, perched on a rotten roof with the shingles falling through holes.¡± I shuddered a little, looking back at how risky that had been. And I was the stay-at-home, don¡¯t-do-anything-dangerous half of the twins. What had my sister maybe done that had been riskier?


    ¡°You think kids here would do that?¡±


    ¡°Maybe not all, but certainly some would. Children are curious and they explore. In a way, that¡¯s their job¡ªit¡¯s how they learn about the world. And they usually have no understanding of death or danger. Teens, in particular, think they¡¯re immortal.


    ¡°I used to explore and play in the old, abandoned WWII bunkers and gunnery installations along the coast, ignoring the ¡®no trespassing¡¯ signs, and I¡¯m sure plenty of others did, too.¡± I pointed at the nearest building, ¡°These are far easier to get to than those were. Of course, there weren¡¯t any city walls and guards at the gate, but still¡­.¡± I shrugged.


    Warming to the subject, I continued. ¡°My mother told me stories about how she and her friends used to go down to the beach and explore the little sea caves and tunnels that were revealed when the tide was out. She made me promise to never, ever, ever go in one. I don¡¯t know what happened, but maybe she lost a friend when she was younger. Instead, when I went down to the beach, I used to climb all over the rocky cliffs overlooking the water. One big wave, and, well ¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be here today.¡±


    My mother¡¯s stories of her youth were also how I learned that foxglove was a dangerous plant. There were very few things she had made us promise to not do: not entering the sea caves and never messing with foxglove were among the exceptions. So was staying away from that old house in the woods, once she had heard the story. However, if I saw foxglove here¡ªor something that looked like it, anyway¡ªI¡¯d gather it. Most likely it would be an ingredient for Alchemy.


    Tabitha looked at me with a hint of surprise in her expression. ¡°You sound like you were a bit of a tomboy when you were younger.¡±


    ¡°Ah, well¡­. Um¡­.¡± Argh! My manly pride¡­. I was a boy, not a tomboy¡­. Besides, I wasn¡¯t really an outdoorsy child. It was just that playing in the woods near Grandma¡¯s was a more attractive option than helping weed the garden. And going down to the beach was only once every couple weeks, except during winter. Usually when I had been told to ¡°stop lurking around in your room and go outside¡± I had gone to the library or taken the bus to Michelle¡¯s house, instead, or I had wandered around in the drug store, looking at all the knick-knacks, like miniature glass unicorns, porcelain faeries, or polished rocks (typically agates, quartzes, or the like).


    ¡°Anyway, yeah, besides the buildings, I think there¡¯s a simpler explanation. We¡¯re hardly the first people out the gate. Stegnar and his band of brothers were before us, and who knows how many other Travellers have already gone out. I think the monsters, if there were any this near to town, just haven¡¯t respawned or repopulated yet.¡±


    Tabitha looked thoughtful. ¡°I think you could be right, Sis. But, then, if we¡¯re looking for those two girls, maybe we should be looking in the buildings, perhaps?¡±


    I shrugged slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. The guards did say it had been hours since the girls went out, however. So, I don¡¯t think they¡¯d be this close to the walls still. Probably. Maybe.¡±


    It might have been a good time to take the Tracking skill, not just for attempting to look for the girls, but also for attempting to find some monsters to dispatch. But despite my tendency to decide on impulse after procrastinating ¡­ it would be a bit of a waste if more than one in the group¡ªand the group was far from complete yet¡ªhad Tracking. Like Cartography, or any other group-support skill, that was something that only one person really needed. And with limited skill slots, an unnecessary duplicate would be close to a complete waste. So ¡­ I waited, and ignored the little whisper in my mind that said to just take a skill and be done with it.


    As we were talking and walking, the surroundings gradually transitioned from a wide, overgrown street with decrepit buildings clustered together to a more narrow street with buildings both spread further apart and set further back from the path. Most likely, they were former houses with overgrown yards.


    It was in one of those probable yards that we had our first encounter with the local wildlife. ¡°There! Something¡¯s moving over there! It might be a monster!¡± Tabitha pointed to our right and I readied my bow.


    About thirty feet distant, the overgrown grass near the side of the building was shaking and we could faintly hear various grunts and snorts as whatever it was made its way slowly along the side of the former house, moving in our direction. Finally, I got a glance of black and brown and was able to do a quick inspect:


    Young Boartle (Lv 3)


    Health: 100%


    Mana: 100%


    Hostile


    ¡°A Boartle, whatever that is, and it¡¯s hostile. Are you ready?¡±


    Tabitha nodded, and with an imperious gesture, urged Tamakotz to get into position to intercept. I nocked an arrow and drew it partway back, aiming for where I thought the monster would come into sight. When again I caught a glimpse of black and brown, I fully drew the arrow and quickly released it.


    The arrow leaped from the bow and travelled in a shallow arc to strike at our putative foe. There was a pained squeal, suggesting that my arrow had hit, and then a truly monstrous¡ªbut not very large¡ªshape charged out of the grass toward us.


    The Boartle was, apparently, some unholy combination of boar and beetle: a short-tusked pig with six legs; gleaming black chitinous armor on its back, sides, and head; and a large, Y-shaped horn that looked more dangerous than the tusks.


    ¡°Twenty percent down already!¡± Tabitha exclaimed as Tamakotz moved to intercept the charge. The elemental did ¡­ something ¡­ and the Boartle¡¯s charge was slightly deflected to the right, to head toward Tamakotz rather than toward me. ¡°That will make things much faster!¡±


    She may have been delighted, but five hits to kill a monster was more than anything except the bosses in the tutorial. It would be slower for me. On the other hand, this wasn¡¯t exactly the area for teaching how to fight, so perhaps most of the tutorial fights had been deliberately trivialized.


    Nevertheless, three hits or five, it would have been difficult to do either quickly enough to prevent damage from the Boartle¡¯s charge.


    Speaking of which, the monster squealed in rage when its attack didn¡¯t send the elemental flying. Tamakotz stoically took the hit, which chipped off a small, but noticeable, fraction of its health. The elemental then countered with a double-fisted hammer strike that didn¡¯t appear to do much damage in return.


    I was also quickly discovering a difficulty with archery that always seems to be glossed over in traditional games. Tamakotz, tanking the monster for us, was necessarily right next to the monster ¡­ and very much in my way. I wasn¡¯t confident enough of my own abilities¡ªeven with the skill guides still on¡ªto be able to hit a small section of the moving target that was the unblocked part of the Boartle. And even if I was confident, the bit of the monster that I could see was part of the armored back and sides. An arrow might not even hurt it, there.


    While Tabitha was chanting a spell, I sent a Mistshard toward the Boartle, first making sure that I definitely was targeting it. Mistshard, at least, should path its way to the target, something my arrows certainly couldn¡¯t do. Then, I started moving to the side, trying to get out of the straight line between the monster, the elemental, and us. For a moment, my mind was distracted as it tried to set up a high-school geometry problem to determine where I should move to since triangles were clearly involved, but I shook my head to clear the thoughts away and kept moving to the side.


    Shortly thereafter, I figured out that it would be better for me to move to the side and forward, otherwise I¡¯d end up at least as far away from Tabitha as we were from the fight at the start in order to get a good enough angle to shoot past the elemental.


    Tabitha¡¯s spell was apparently a heal-over-time variant of a healing spell. Fortunately, the regeneration she applied to her elemental mostly offset the damage it was taking. I could see her having trouble, though, in really long fights since the regeneration effect probably wouldn¡¯t stack ¡­ and without any good damage source of her own, all her solo fights would be fairly long. On the other hand, Tamakotz did seem to have a fairly substantial health pool, so maybe the elemental could outlast its opponents in a fight.


    Finally, I had a clear enough line of sight to the Boartle. I paused, took careful aim, and arced another arrow into the Boartle. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a glancing hit and didn¡¯t do nearly as much damage as the first hit had. Quickly, I shot again, but¡­.


    Unfortunately, my aim was a bit off since the I hadn¡¯t taken enough time to line up my shot.


    SWOOSH¡ªthe arrow leaped from the bow and bounced off Tamakotz¡¯s side with a thunk audible even from dozens of feet away.


    ¡°Oh, sorry! Sorry!¡± I was afraid that was going to happen, which is why I had moved, but I still wasn¡¯t good enough with the bow to have prevented it from happening at all. What would have been a miss if I had been playing solo turned into friendly fire.


    Fortunately, my arrow didn¡¯t seem to do any damage to the elemental. I was glad that¡¯s one area where the developers didn¡¯t hew as closely to ¡°as realistic as possible¡± like they had with other areas.


    Even if the elemental wasn¡¯t damaged by my errant attack, it still turned its head to glare at me with those glowing green eyes.


    ¡°Sorry! I¡¯ll take more time to aim next time!¡±


    Tabitha and I finished the fight without taking any damage ourselves, but Tamakotz was down by nearly a third of its health even with Tabitha keeping Regeneration active on the elemental the whole time.


    Together, we fought several more monsters. Nearly a dozen more Young Boartles, three Lowland Rats, and even some weird plant monster called a Strangling Rosewhip fell to our combined might. However, that last monster was able to attack from range in a number of ways. We were able to stay out of the way of its whiplike tendrils, but it also shot three-inch thorns and had some manner of attacking with its roots, burrowing through the ground to wrap around legs. At the end of that fight, I was nearly half-dead even with Tabitha keeping Regeneration active on me, too.


    My Dodge skill got a good workout, going up by a point, but even so I spent nearly half the battle with my dagger instead of my bow, chopping at the woody grasp of the Rosewhip¡¯s roots to free myself from its entanglement.


    Along the way, both my Archery and Spellcasting skills leveled up to 4. Archery¡¯s increase gave me another point in both Agility and Reflex, and from Spellcasting I got two points into Brilliance. More importantly, those skill-ups also brought my skill point threshold high enough that I, too, leveled up, reaching the lofty heights of level three.


    During a brief bit of downtime to meditate and recover mana, I spent the five unassigned AP that I had gained with the increase in character level. Two points went into Agility, bringing it to 14 base, and 18 with the points from Archery included. Two points went into Brilliance, bringing me closer to another secondary skill slot; my base Brilliance was now 13, but I had an additional 7 points from my skills, so by my next character level, possibly sooner, I¡¯d reach that threshold of 25.


    The last point ¡­ I put it into Charisma. What? It was already my highest attribute, at 18 base before the point. Granted, a good third of that was from the Empathy perk I had unlocked, but between that, the Little Sister title, and my new outfit, my total Charisma had already exceeded 30. The next closest was Agility, reaching to 25 with equipment considered after the two points I had just put into it. I was just boosting what was apparently going to be one of my strengths. For a moment, I had a faint twinge of regret that I hadn¡¯t taken the Tallemaja character that had initially been suggested, since that subracial archetype was definitely Charisma-focused and would have further strengthened the gains I had made, but I doubted I could have been called Little Sister as her.


    Anyway, none of the loot we gained from the monsters was particularly interesting: a variety of ¡°pieces of chitin,¡± one ¡°pristine Boartle horn,¡± some small animal bones, and a single ¡°Vial of Rosewhip Nectar,¡± which as an Alchemy ingredient went to Tabitha. Along the way, I found a few Gathering nodes, and collected some more Unidentified Mushrooms as well as some Dragontooth Roots (from a yellow flower that reminded me of a dandelion) and a small handful of bright orange Wild Dwarfberries.


    We had been fighting and gathering for a few hours (I had hit Tamakotz only seven more times), and the sun was starting to sink low to the west when we heard the sounds of someone else fighting. Or, rather, we heard the sounds of a fight and someone, a young girl by her voice, screaming for help.


    Both Tabitha and I broke into a run. However, the Ghost was at a disadvantage due to her racial and subracial movement speed penalties, so I was first to crest the small rise and see the ongoing fight. Two girls were fighting a much larger version of the Strangling Rosewhip that had given us so much trouble earlier. Or, rather, one girl was still fighting and the other was effectively immobilized by the plant monster¡¯s four tendrils, one to each of her arms and legs. The plant monster wasn¡¯t apparently strong enough to rip the girl limb from limb, nor were the tendrils able to exert enough force to lift her very far off the ground, but the girl was very obviously in a terribly bad situation. While the first girl hacked away at one of the thick, vine-like tendrils in an attempt to free her friend, the monster was slowly, inexorably reeling in the captured girl toward a vast, thorn-lined maw.


    Gigantic Devouring Rosewhip (Lv 7)


    Health: 68%


    Mana: 15%


    Hostile


    They had clearly been able to hurt it, but not enough to do them much good. Both girls were in pretty rough shape. The one restrained was hovering around 15% health and her friend was a bit over half, but she obviously didn¡¯t have healing magic and the other wouldn¡¯t be able to get to her healing potions, if she even had any.


    Without even pausing to think, I targeted the girl in trouble and cast Mistshard at her. It would take a while for the slow-moving spell to reach her, but it was the first opportunity I had to use the spell in its healing mode. ¡°Tabitha, as soon as you¡¯re in range, start healing her and have Tamakotz go after the monster!¡±


    I had no idea whether the plant monster counted as Darkness- or Earth-based damage, but while I was waiting on Mistshard¡¯s cooldown, I began casting Elionne Embrace on the most vulnerable girl. It would use up a good portion of my remaining and rather small mana pool, but that¡¯s what potions were for. Maybe I should have put a point or two into Willpower when I had leveled¡­.


    As I was reciting the spell¡¯s activation chant, I was running down the slope toward the fight. Neither my bow nor my spells would do much to free the captured girl, so I¡¯d have to get into melee range and join the other girl in hacking and slashing with my dagger. As soon as the protection spell was cast, I immediately sent another Mistshard toward her, now down to only 16 mana. With a full minute cooldown, however, I¡¯d be in combat before I could get another Elionne Embrace cast, and a ten-second cast time would make that difficult to do in melee range. Really, it was a spell that was supposed to be cast in preparation, rather than in the heat of the moment¡­.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    So, instead of casting another spell while waiting on Mistshard¡¯s cooldown, I drew an arrow and fired it toward the main body of the plant monster. I didn¡¯t have time to aim¡ªwho can aim while running downhill anyway?¡ªso I wasn¡¯t expecting to hit anything vital. However, the monster was large enough that the arrow should hit somewhere and at least get its attention.


    It wasn¡¯t quite a broad-side-of-the-barn target, but the leafs and petals and woody body of the plant were enormous. That thorn-lined maw certainly looked big enough to devour the girl whole!


    They say that even the best-laid plans often go awry, so it was no surprise that hasty, on-the-spur-of-the-moment plans don¡¯t quite work as intended either. By the time that I had closed half the distance, the arrow had struck the Giant Devouring Rosewhip, and it certainly got the monster¡¯s attention. I attempted to dodge an incoming barrage of thorns, tripped, and tumbled out of control for a dozen feet or so before I managed to scramble back to my feet. Badly bruised, but not peppered with thorns, I winged another Mistshard toward the girl just as Tabitha crested the rise and was able to cast Regeneration.


    Between our combined healing efforts, the captured girl was back up to over 80% health, though it was still depleting as she took damage from the tight vines restraining her and stretching her limbs to the limit. I then felt a cooling tingle spread across my skin as Tabitha landed a Regeneration on me. My interface updated to show a little, pulsing green plus icon where other status effects, like stun and confusion, had been displayed in the past. I hadn''t noticed it the last time, but I had been too busy trying to disentangle myself from the last Rosewhip¡¯s attack. That, and the interface was designed to be non-intrusive. I had to deliberately look at the interface for it to really come into focus.


    Slightly ahead of me, the ground rumbled and bulged, a tell-tale sign of an impending attack if this Rosewhip operated like the one we had already fought. I dodged to the left just as a massive spike of a root erupted from the ground not too far from the path I had been taking. I avoided being skewered, but it added another element to the combat. That would be far more dangerous of attack to be hit by then the entangling roots from the previous fight. Situational awareness was a must!


    I shot one more arrow, and then I was close enough to switch to melee combat. Stowing my bow in my inventory, I drew my dagger and slashed as the wrist-thick, ropy vines that had snared one of the girl¡¯s legs.


    I spared a glance over my shoulder and saw that Tamakotz wouldn¡¯t be joining the fight. The elemental had been snared by a giant glob of gooey sap spat from the Rosewhip. While it wasn¡¯t doing any actual damage to Tabitha¡¯s elemental, Tamakotz was effectively immobilized and would be terribly vulnerable to one of those root-spike attacks. Tabitha had Regeneration active on all five of us, the four girls and one elemental, but beyond that she didn¡¯t have much to contribute to the fight. Hopefully she would be able to stay unharmed by the thorn barrages, root spikes, resinous globs, and whatever other tricks the monster had, or this fight was going to go south very quickly!


    The girl with the twin daggers shot me a quick smile and hollered ¡°Thank you!¡± as I joined her in hacking at the vines. As I sent another Mistshard toward the monster¡¯s mouth, the girl, too, was chanting even as she was constantly in motion, never keeping her feet in one spot for more than the blink of an eye. I didn¡¯t catch much more of her chant than a final ¡°Zephyric Agility¡± and ¡°Windcutter.¡±


    While she was finishing her chant, the ground beneath us began to rumble. ¡°Watch out!¡± I shouted and surged forward, drawing my dagger along the tendril as I did so, and the girl launched into an acrobatic tumble that didn¡¯t fail the way my attempted dodge-roll had when I had fought the giant skeleton. We both narrowly avoided the root spike, but the girl had returned to her rapid strikes even as I was still recovering my balance. Somehow, I had moved much further than I had intended!


    The clue was on my interface. Two new icons joined the flickering pulse of Regeneration, a winged boot and a blade with a swirl around it. Apparently, I had been the target of her spell and the probable boost to Agility from ¡°Zephyric Agility¡± was the cause behind my enhanced movement.


    Together, we returned to hacking at the binding tendrils, my Rough Bronze Dagger seemingly sharper than before, and the young girl directed a shout to her friend, ¡°Stay strong, Gabby! We¡¯ll rescue you!¡±


    It took about another minute, but both she and I severed the plant¡¯s tendrils nearly simultaneously. This freed the other girl¡¯s legs, but now all her weight, slight as it was, was on her much-abused arms. And the two remaining restraints were both high enough that they were out of immediately reach.


    Both severed tendrils pulled back away from us, retreating toward the main body of the monster. Whether it was to hide, to wait and regenerate, or to wait for a future attack, it didn¡¯t matter. What did matter was that they weren¡¯t flailing at us in attacks now.


    I spared a glance at the girl I had been fighting alongside. She was shorter and smaller than I, and while I hadn¡¯t invested any points into Strength, I could probably pick her up. ¡°If I lift you, can you pull yourself up on the vine and cut it from there?¡± I asked.


    She shot me a surprised glance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can reach it, otherwise. You cut her free, and I¡¯ll shoot some more arrows at the main body.¡± Dagger back to my inventory, I squatted down and interlocked my fingers. She stepped on my linked hands and placed a hand of her own my shoulder for balance. She couldn¡¯t be much more than sixty or seventy pounds, even with her obviously ¡°new player¡± outfit and short leather cuirass. The cuirass looked much like a leather bandeau worn over her white blouse, with only a single strap over her left shoulder to keep it up. It didn¡¯t look like it offered much protection, but, well, no player would be sporting high-level equipment, yet.


    With my low Strength attribute, I doubt I¡¯d be able to carry the girl very far, even as light as she was, but it¡ªand a bit of determination¡ªwas enough to lift her high enough that she could reach the vine. With both hands on the vine, she swung back and forth and pulled herself up like a circus acrobat, already starting to cut and hack at the tendril the moment she was wrapped atop it. Only with one dagger, though. She still needed to hold onto the monster.


    Fortunately, Plan B¡ªactivating Hidden Nature and then being tall enough for me to simply reach the vines¡ªwasn¡¯t needed. I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to reveal that form to anyone just yet.


    The tendril dipped lower when she was upon it, confirming my suspicion that the monster couldn¡¯t lift that much weight too high this far removed from its main body. After seeing that she was indeed going to be safe, well as safe as possible, up there, I re-equipped my bow and started taking aimed shots at the main body of the Giant Devouring Rosewhip.


    Somehow, during my ongoing struggles with the viny tendrils. Tamakotz got free of goo that had restrained it, and was even now approaching the monster. It was coming in from a bit of an angle to my line of sight, so I didn¡¯t yet need to worry about a hastily shot arrow hitting the elemental again.


    Between hacking at its ¡°arms¡± and shooting at its body, we had taken the monster to under 50% health. Fortunately, there didn¡¯t seem to be an enrage threshold since no new attack patterns appeared. Just the root spikes and thorn barrages. There wasn¡¯t even another glob of resin shot to immobilize any of us.


    ¡°Got this one!¡± a voice called above me, and I looked up to see the girl swing off one vine and catch the other even as the severed tendril started to flail about and recede. The captured girl was now hanging from only one arm, and I rushed over to hold and lift her, to take some of the weight off that one arm. She was sobbing in pain, but managed a weak, ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you¡± as I caught her legs and lifted somewhat.


    I steadied her, my arms protesting this second heavy-duty effort, but I told them to shush. They surely weren¡¯t hurting as much as the other girl¡¯s arms were.


    Three things happened nearly simultaneously.


    The girl I was holding was cut free, and I had to bear all her weight as she fell, sliding down in my grasp; hastily I converted the hold to a ¡°princess carry,¡± supporting her weight and keeping her from falling to the ground. The first girl shouted ¡°Whoa!¡± and jumped free of the tendril that was retreating back to the body of the monster. She landed lightly on her feet and bounced over to us.


    And the main body of the monster died in a great, booming explosion.


    ¡°Thank you for rescuing us! I thought we were goners for sure! That monster ambushed us and grabbed Gabby before we could even do anything! I could have run, maybe, but I couldn¡¯t leave my sister behind! Oh, I¡¯m Abigail, but friends¡ªthat means you now!¡ªcall me Abby!¡±


    If someone had asked for a crossbreed of sugar, caffeine, and youthful exuberance, the young elf certainly would have been a contender. Her gestures were wide and expansive, her short chestnut curls bounced with nearly every movement, and she seemed to speak with more exclamation points than even Sunrise Sparkle had. She looked, and sounded, like a ten-year-old on a sugar rush.


    ¡°Sisters?¡± Tabitha had heard that key word. ¡°You¡¯re sisters, too? I¡¯m Tabitha, and you¡¯ve met my Little Sister, Madelyn Alexis.¡±


    I looked between the two girls. They were more than sisters, they were functionally identical twins, though the one who had been captured wasn¡¯t an elf: same hair color and style; same dusky skin; same youthful build; and even the same basic outfit of calf-high leather boots, short shorts, and a blouse that looked like a button-up tee-shirt. They even had the same minimal armor, that half-length leather cuirass with one shoulder strap, but the straps were on different shoulders. Until they got new equipment, that would be one way to tell the two apart.


    Besides personalities, one hyper and one quiet, the only other semi-obvious clue to distinguishing one from another was their eyes. Both had mismatched blue/green eyes. Abigail¡ªAbby, that is¡ªhad the green eye on her right and Gabby¡ªGabrielle?¡ªhad her green eye on her left.


    ¡°Oh!? Are you two sisters IRL?¡± The girl turned toward Tabitha and took a few bouncy steps in her direction. ¡°Gabby and I aren¡¯t, but we should have been! So we are now, here! And¡­,¡± she gestured in mine direction, well, probably in Gabby¡¯s direction, and then paused. ¡°And, oh! Hey! Screenshot time!¡±


    She focused intently on me, and Tabitha nodded. ¡°Indeed.¡± And I was subject to two intense stares.


    In my arms, Gabby squirmed a little bit and looked up at me. ¡°Um, thank you for catching me, but you can set me down, now.¡± She smiled shyly at me, and her dark cheeks had a hint of a blush to them.


    In a moment, so too did mine. ¡°Oh! Ah, yes. You¡¯re welcome, and sorry. I was, well¡­¡± I lowered her to the ground, and she moved to stand slightly behind me, hiding from the two intent stares.


    ¡°It¡¯s Gabrielle here, by the way.¡± Her voice was a near whisper. ¡°But Abby calls me Gabby, and you can, too, if you want.¡±


    ¡°Awwww¡­.¡± Abigail looked as if she was pouting, ¡°I was one off from a dozen screenshots! You could have held her a little longer! Also¡­.¡±


    With a song-song voice that sounded younger than even her appearance suggested, she continued, going off on a different tangent. ¡°Gabby and Madelyn Alexi¡ª Wow, that name really is a mouthful! We need to shorten it. Abby and Gabby and,¡± she looked at Tabitha, ¡°Tabby and¡­.¡± She tilted her head in thought, contemplating me. ¡°Maddie? No! That sounds like you¡¯d be angry all the time! Ally? That¡¯s it! You¡¯re Ally, now!¡±


    From behind me, Gabrielle spoke up, a bit louder and more forceful that her personality would have otherwise suggested. ¡°No! You can¡¯t call her ¡®Ally.¡¯ That¡¯s my name.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly! Your name here is Gabby.¡±


    ¡°But if you say ¡®Hey, Ally,¡¯ I¡¯m going to answer out of habit.¡±


    ¡°You can get out of the habit!¡± Abigail was walking back toward us. ¡°You¡¯re already answering to ¡®Gabby,¡¯ so you have a new habit. Besides! Besides, wouldn¡¯t it be neat to share a name with her?¡± She flung her arms wide, turning it into a spin, before staring at the two of us again.


    Hesitantly, Gabrielle responded. ¡°Well, um, well¡­ I guess. Um. I guess I wouldn¡¯t mind, if that¡¯s what she wanted.¡±


    If she hadn¡¯t been standing behind me, and if I wasn¡¯t only just a little taller than she was, I would have put a comforting hand on her shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s alright, Gabby. I don¡¯t want to make things confusing for you.¡±


    ¡°Not Maddie,¡± Abigail was saying as she walked a little closer, ¡°And not Ally, either. Hmm, Lynnie? No, the stress is wrong. Oh, I got it!¡± She took my hand and gave it a firm handshake. ¡°Pleased to meet you, Lexy! And thanks again for saving us!¡±


    Lexy? But that¡¯s what¡­.


    ¡°Oh, ¡®Little Lexy,¡¯ I like the alliteration.¡± Tabitha was beaming.


    From behind me, ¡°It¡¯s cute. I like it.¡±


    All three were unified; it looked like I didn¡¯t have a choice. And while I had never let anyone but my twin, not even Michelle, call me Lexy or Alexis before, it looked like it would be my nickname in two worlds, now.


    ¡°Lexy it is, then!¡± Abigail was beaming. Then she started singing again, ¡°Gabby and Lexy, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N¡ª¡±


    ¡°A-bi-GAIL!¡± Gabby¡¯s voice was a cross between exasperated and embarrassed. ¡°Act your age!¡±


    ¡°I am!¡± She stuck her tongue out at her sister. Well, semi-sister, since apparently they weren¡¯t sisters in reality, but keeping those designations qualified would quickly become a hassle.


    ¡°Act your real age, then.¡± For all that she seemed generally shy, Gabrielle was quite able to stand up to her sister.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that made us little!¡± Once again, Abigail stuck out her tongue and made a face, but sighed and became a little bit more serious. ¡°Oh, all right. But being nine is fun. Being seventeen is boring!¡± She then glanced at me and gave a longer look to Tabitha. ¡°So, we fought one big monster together already. Shall we make it official and join parties?¡±


    I sent them both a friend request, and as I was doing so, the interface updated to show their portraits below Tabitha¡¯s; Tabitha must have done the party request. It was only then that I noticed something missing.


    ¡°Hey, what happened to Tamakotz?¡±


    Tabitha shook her head, ¡°He died in the fight. It looked like you weren¡¯t going to be able to do enough damage to finish of that Rosewhip, so I had him walk into the mouth of the monster and activate his self-destruct. It finished off the monster, but now he¡¯s on a much longer cooldown.¡±


    Abigail looked interested, ¡°That¡¯s what the boom was? Who was Tamakotz? How long of a cooldown?¡±


    ¡°My elemental summon,¡± Tabitha explained. ¡°Tamakotz is a ¡®Basic Spirit of Stone,¡¯ an earth elemental that was tanking for us. Normally his cooldown is four minutes after death or unsummoning¡­.¡±


    ¡°And now?¡± Abigail inquired.


    ¡°Twenty-four hours. Minus the time we¡¯ve been talking.¡±


    It turned out that the earth elemental, and probably other elemental summons, had a self-destruct ability that could be triggered in dire straits. It did enormous damage to an area, even for a tier 1 basic elemental like Tamakotz, but it had an enormous cost to go with it. Not only did it put the particular summon on a day-long cooldown, it also disabled the entire skill for twelve hours. Even if Tabitha had any other summoning spells learned, she wouldn¡¯t have access to them for a while. Because she had it slotted as a secondary skill, we didn¡¯t know if having the skill disabled would affect the attributes it would have increased if it had been a primary skill, but either way, it was a significant drawback. Self-destructing elementals wouldn¡¯t easily turn into a common tactic.


    Abigail grew bored while Tabitha was explaining the details, and set off to examine the monster¡¯s corpse¡ªor the scattered remains of it anyway. One thing I had discovered, playing with Tabitha, was that loot didn¡¯t automatically go to inventory when in a group. The common stuff did, but rare stuff remained to be divvied up at the party¡¯s discretion. Gabrielle stayed by my side, but when Tabitha was done explaining, the young girl spoke up.


    ¡°Um. If it isn¡¯t too much trouble, can you help me look for my sword and shield? I dropped them when I was grabbed by that monster.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take too long to find her weapons. They were just a few dozen feet back from where she had been suspended when Tabitha and I had joined the fight. But¡­.


    ¡°A wooden sword and shield?¡± Tabitha sounded surprised. ¡°Even if it¡¯s still newbie equipment, shouldn¡¯t the tutorial sword be metal, at least?¡±


    Gabrielle shook her head, ¡°I can¡¯t use metal,¡± she explained. ¡°Um, not iron anyway. It¡¯s part of my racial restrictions.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ¡­ insane!¡± Tabitha did more than just sound surprised, she now looked it, too. ¡°That¡¯s a really big penalty, worse than how slow I am. Can I ask what you are? I thought you were an elf like your sister, but the gate guards thought you were biracial.¡±


    ¡°Huh? The gate guards¡­?¡±


    Tabitha then explained the quest we had received, and Gabrielle¡¯s eyes got wider and wider during the telling of it. ¡°You got a quest to find us? This game is really something else.¡± She shook her head in disbelief, and after a brief pause, she picked back up the earlier thread. ¡°Um, and I¡¯m not an elf or biracial. Not technically. I¡¯m a faerie. Sort of. The race is called Faetouched.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Tallemaja?¡± I inquired. True, I probably could have Inspected her to find that out, but I kept forgetting to use it.


    Gabrielle nodded. ¡°I liked its description, but it was probably a bad choice for me. I¡¯m going to be a Knight to protect Ginn¡ª I mean, Abby.¡±


    I thought back to what I remembered from when the game suggested a Tallemaja character for me after the glitch: vulnerable to and can¡¯t use iron (which probably included steel), boost to Charisma and reduced difficulties when doing anything with Charisma, and that aura that prevented some monsters from seeing the character as hostile at first. It seemed like she had chosen, maybe, one of the worst possible races to try and tank with. Well, maybe except one of those Harpy subraces; having wings instead of arms and hands would likely make it very difficult to use a shield. Me, on the other hand, with Hidden Nature granting additional Defense and Tauros Toughness reducing incoming damage¡­. In a min-max world, I¡¯d be the tank and Gabrielle would be the one tossing extra points into Charisma.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Gabby,¡± I began. ¡°It may be a little more difficult at the start for you than for someone who can wear and use iron, but that just means that it¡¯ll be a bigger achievement. It¡¯s more satisfying to beat difficulties to achieve something, right?¡±


    She smiled shyly and nodded.


    ¡°Oh, and once we¡¯re not newbies anymore,¡± Tabitha added, ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find you something you can use. Fantasy games usually have magical metals or other things to make weapons and armor out of. Maybe it won¡¯t be mithril or adamantium, but it will be something special.¡±


    Gabrielle nodded again. ¡°I ¡­ I guess that makes sense.¡±


    ¡°In the meantime,¡± I smiled at her, ¡°we can work together. A group of four can do more than a group of two can, right?¡±


    Once more, she nodded. ¡°Y- yes, you¡¯re right. Thank you!¡± She gave me a hug, not at all like the one-arm-around-the-shoulder or the squeeze-tight-like-a-stuffed-animal hugs that Tabitha had given me. It reminded me a bit of the way my twin had hugged me when we were younger, in the rare times Lex had been feeling demonstrative. Sisterly, but not quite. It wasn¡¯t just a quick hug either, but almost as if she was seeking comfort. Hesitantly, I hugged back ¡­ just as Abigail came bounding back.


    ¡°Hey, girls! Guess what I found!? It looks like the plant was guarding a¡ª Heeeeeey! Screenshot time again!¡±


    Blushing, both Gabrielle and I hastily pulled back and looked toward Abigail, though neither of us actually met her eye.


    ¡°Awwwww. You were moving in the second one; it¡¯s all blurry! But, hey! I want a hug, too!¡± Bouncing like a caffeinated kitten, Abigail pounced at me and gave me a quick hug before I could react. Then she was hugging Gabrielle. She looked as if she might have been thinking about drawing us all together into a group hug, but instead bounded off to the as-of-yet-unhugged Tabitha and half-tackled her, exclaiming ¡°So you don¡¯t feel left out!¡±


    I nearly laughed at Tabitha¡¯s expression. She had clearly been feeling a bit left out, but here a little-sister-type was choosing her rather than Tabitha being the one to initiate. She apparently didn¡¯t know how to react.


    Finally, Gabrielle asked, ¡°What did you find, Abby?¡±


    ¡°I found a dungeon entrance! Probably! There¡¯s stairs down behind where the plant¡¯s body was, and there¡¯s this glowy, misty, white, ovaly thingy floating in the tunnel, blocking the way. It¡¯s probably an instance entrance! Come on,¡± she started tugging at Tabitha¡¯s hand, ¡°Let¡¯s go explore it!¡±


    Tabitha shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but with my summon down, I¡¯m half-useless until I can bring him back up again.¡±


    ¡°But Gabby can tank for us!¡±


    Gabrielle shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re ready for a dungeon, Abby. If that monster was guarding it, the dungeon is probably tougher than it is and we are.¡±


    ¡°But we beat it! Well, with Tabby¡¯s and Lexy¡¯s help, so we can beat this, too! It was only level seven, and we¡¯re three and three and three and three, so level twelve!¡±


    Tabitha placed a hand on Abigail¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Maybe we can look in tomorrow, after Tamakotz is ready again?¡±


    ¡°I think Gabby might be right,¡± I added, ¡°If it is an instance, it¡¯s probably tougher, so we should all be at full strength, which Tabitha won¡¯t be until she can summon her elemental again.¡±


    Abigail looked a bit dejected. ¡°But I have a doctor¡¯s appointment tomorrow. Gabby and I won¡¯t be able to play all day.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait for you,¡± I promised. ¡°We¡¯re friends now, and we¡¯re a group now, and groups do things together, right? Let¡¯s go back to town so we have a good place to meet up at. That way, if someone is early, they¡¯re not waiting out here all by herself. It might be risky if that Rosewhip respawns.¡±

 vol. 1: Player Data, Abigail and Gabrielle, End of Meetings

    [Player Data]


    Name: Abigail


    Race: Elf (Ria¡¯Dine)


    Level: 3


    Class: Traveller [Lv 1]


    Sub-class: n/a


    Active Title: Twin (+5 Luck)


    Hidden Title: <none selected>


    Profession: n/a


    Renown: 0


    Health: 57


    Mana: 38


    Stamina: 22


    STR: 10


    END: 10 [+1]


    AGI: 13 [+4]


    BRL: 11 [+3]


    WIL: 16 [+2]


    RFX: 11 [+3]


    DEF: 10 (+7)


    LCK: 10 (+5)


    CHR: 14 [+2]


    Unassigned AP: 0


    [Equipment]


    Head: <nothing>


    Torso: Asymmetric Leather Half Cuirass [DUR: 48/50] [DEF: +5]


    Arms: <nothing>


    Waist: Traveller¡¯s Basic Shorts [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +1]


    Legs: Simple Leather Boots [DUR: 47/50] [DEF: +1]


    Main Hand: Bronze Dagger [DUR: 68/75]


    Off-Hand: Light-Weight Bronze Dagger [DUR: 69/75]


    Left Ring: Shiny Ratkin Bauble [DUR: 25/25] [WIL: +1]


    Right Ring: <nothing>


    Bracelet: <nothing>


    Necklace: <nothing>


    Other 1: <nothing>


    Other 2: <nothing>


    [Skills - Primary]


    <ol>


    <li>Elemental Magic - Air (B/W) [Lv 3]</li>


    <li>Inspirations (C/E) [Lv 2]</li>


    <li>Dual Wield (R/A) [Lv 2]</li>


    <li>Dagger (A/R) [Lv 3]</li>


    </ol>


    [Skills - Secondary]


    <ol>


    <li>Spellcasting (B/B) [Lv 2]</li>


    <li>Acrobatics (A/C) [Lv 2]</li>


    <li>Elemental Enhancement (W/E) [Lv 2]</li>


    <li>Multicast (E/W) [Lv 1]</li>


    </ol>


    [Spells / Abilities / Traits]


    <ul>


    <li>Fae Legacy [Racial Trait / Passive] Mana regeneration rate is increased by 5%. Choose one Tier 1 Elemental Spell at Character Level 2 (Chosen: Calming Breeze).</li>


    <li>Who Needs Shadows? [Subracial Trait] Gain the ability ¡°Enhanced Stealth¡±.</li>


    <li>Enhanced Stealth [Special] (on cooldown): Disappear from all senses, magical or mundane, for five minutes. Hostile actions break stealth early.</li>


    <li>Calming Breeze [Spell] [Lv 2] Attempt to pacify a Hostile target, converting it to Neutral to your and your party for the duration.</li>


    <li>Wind Dart [Spell] [Lv 3] Shoot a strong gust of air at your target, dealing minor air elemental damage.</li>


    <li>Zephyric Agility [Enhancement - Air] Boosts an ally¡¯s Agility.</li>


    <li>Windcutter [Enhancement - Air] Enhances an ally¡¯s weapon to do minor additional air elemental damage in addition to its normal damage.</li>


    <li>¡°Endure!¡± [Inspiration] Briefly boost an ally¡¯s damage resistance.</li>


    <li>¡°Concentrate!¡± [Inspiration] Briefly boost an ally¡¯s Willpower.</li>


    <li>¡°Like the Wind!¡± [Inspiration] Briefly boost an ally¡¯s movement speed.</li>


    <li>Increased Movement Speed [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Movement speed is increased by 5%.</li>


    <li>Increased Regeneration Rate [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Health regeneration is increased by 1 per 5 minutes. Mana regeneration is increased by 1 per minute.</li>


    </ul>


    [Perks]The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    <ul>


    <li><none></li>


    </ul>


    <hr>


    [Player Data]


    Name: Gabrielle


    Race: Faetouched (Tallemaja)


    Level: 3


    Class: Traveller [Lv 1]


    Sub-class: n/a


    Active Title: Twin (+5 Luck)


    Hidden Title: <none selected>


    Profession: n/a


    Renown: 0


    Health: 82


    Mana: 22


    Stamina: 32


    STR: 10 [+3]


    END: 15 [+1]


    AGI: 10


    BRL: 10


    WIL: 10


    RFX: 10 [+1]


    DEF: 15 [+6] (+13)


    LCK: 10 (+5)


    CHR: 15* [+3] // *Racial Boost: +1 (0.8)


    Unassigned AP: 0


    [Equipment]


    Head: <nothing>


    Torso: Asymmetric Leather Half Cuirass [DUR: 43/50] [DEF: +5]


    Arms: <nothing>


    Waist: Traveller¡¯s Basic Shorts [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +1]


    Legs: Simple Leather Boots [DUR: 47/50] [DEF: +1]


    Main Hand: Wooden Practice Sword [DUR: 45/50]


    Off-Hand: Rudimentary Wooden Kite Shield [DUR: 27/50] [DEF: +5]


    Left Ring: Heavy Ratkin Bauble [DUR: 25/25] [DEF: +1]


    Right Ring: <nothing>


    Bracelet: <nothing>


    Necklace: <nothing>


    Other 1: <nothing>


    Other 2: <nothing>


    [Skills - Primary]


    <ol>


    <li>Sword (S/R) [LV 2]</li>


    <li>Armor Proficiency (D/S) [LV 2]</li>


    <li>Shield (D/E) [LV 3]</li>


    <li>Threat Generation - Charisma (C/D) [LV 3]</li>


    </ol>


    [Skills - Secondary]


    <ol>


    <li>Cartography (B/W) [LV 3]</li>


    <li>Appraisal (L/B) [LV 1]</li>


    <li>Identification (E/W) [LV 1]</li>


    <li>First Aid (L/B) [LV 1]</li>


    </ol>


    [Spells / Abilities / Traits]


    <ul>


    <li>Mystic Aura [Racial Trait] Vulnerable: Iron. Expertise: Charisma. Aura: Woodland Aura</li>


    <li>Woodland Aura [Subracial Ability / Toggleable] (OFF): Increase magical resistance but decreases physical resistance. Non-sapient creatures native to forest, field, swamp, and stream will not view you as Hostile without cause. Sapient creatures from those environments are more likely to view you as Friendly.</li>


    <li>Taunt [Ability] Raise the amount of Threat a target foe considers you to have.</li>


    <li>Increased Movement Speed [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Movement speed is increased by 5%.</li>


    <li>Increased Regeneration Rate [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Health regeneration is increased by 1 per 5 minutes. Mana regeneration is increased by 1 per minute.</li>


    </ul>


    [Perks]


    <ul>


    <li><none></li>


    </ul>

 vol. 1: Interlude 2: Another Year, Another Dress

    ~Senior Year in High School, half a decade ago~


    Dating a cheerleader has its disadvantages.


    Oh, sure, it certainly had its advantages, too, especially when the cheerleader had been your best friend for the past seven years, but there was always a price to pay for the advantages.


    Today, another installment in the payment plan came due.


    In the buildup to Homecoming, it was Spirit Week at school, with each of the five days having its own theme such as Blue and Gold Day on Monday for our school¡¯s colours or Movie Character Day on Tuesday.


    Cheerleaders, being the nearly literal personification of school spirit, were of course virtually obligated to participate. Boyfriends of the cheerleaders perforce had to as well. At least, if they wanted to keep their girlfriends happy. Actually, ¡°partners¡± might almost be a better term, since Angela was dating a girl this year.


    Until Michelle surprised nearly everyone by both trying out for and getting a spot on the cheerleader squad last year, I had always skipped out on pep assemblies, preferring to read or finish homework in the library. Sure, I had gone to my twin¡¯s home games to support her even if I hadn¡¯t cared that much about volleyball, basketball, or track and field myself, but I had always thought of ¡°school spirit¡± to be a bit unnecessary.


    But with Michelle on the squad, skipping out on pep assemblies was no longer an option. It wasn¡¯t even a temptation. I would have been there to support her just as I was at games to support my twin. I probably would have even if we hadn¡¯t been dating¡ªshe still was my best friend, after all.


    Blue and Gold Day had been easy. I could have gotten by with blue jeans and a tee-shirt, but since Michelle had been dressing up a bit fancy, I had as well: dark blue slacks and a pale yellow dress shirt. No tie, however. Michelle had worn an ankle-length yellow skirt that was a bit billowy and a pale blue blouse.


    Movie Character Day hadn¡¯t been that hard, either, though it had taken us several weeks of time in advance to decide upon and then plan out our costumes. Part of that time had been coordinating with the rest of the squad. This year, they had come to a consensus that the squad and their partners would go as movie couples, which made it a little harder for Angela perhaps. Michelle and I had gone as Beauty and the Beast, in their ballroom dance costumes. That conveniently let us do blue and gold for a second day. We had even arrived at school early to do an ¡°impromptu¡± (that is, practiced for three weeks prior) re-enactment of the dance just inside the doors where everyone arriving by bus would have to stream past us.


    Today, however, was Crossdress Day.


    For seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth grades, I had studiously avoided doing anything for Spirit Week. Well, one year I had researched the other school¡¯s colors¡ªthe one our school would be playing for homecoming¡ªand worn their colours (black and red) on Blue and Gold Day. But I hadn¡¯t done anything else, not for the easy Blue and Gold Day, not for the complicated Movie Character Day or Remember the ¡®80s Day, and not for anything else in between. Certainly not for Crossdress Day! I had my manly pride to consider even if I didn¡¯t have school pride to display!


    Last year, however, Michelle and I had been ¡°officially¡± dating for some months when Spirit Week rolled around. Looking back on it, I¡¯m sure that people had certainly thought we had been a couple for years prior, but my mother had been old-fashioned, so I hadn¡¯t been allowed to date until I had turned sixteen.


    That night, after my sister and I had celebrated our joint sixteenth birthday party at home, Michelle and I had gone out to eat at one of the fancier local restaurants¡ªnot a diner, but something listed as ¡°fine dining¡± in the tourist guides. It had ostensibly been her birthday present to me. As she had slid next to me in the booth instead of sitting across the table from me, I had turned to her in surprise, only to have been struck speechless when she had kissed me on the lips. ¡°I¡¯ve waited three years to do that,¡± she whispered, ¡°Will you be my boyfriend as well as my best friend?¡± There are some moments that live with a person forever. That kiss will forever be just a recollection away¡ªjust as any other person¡¯s first kiss always is.


    Anyway, we had thus been ¡°a young couple¡± and she had been a new member of the cheerleading squad, and so I had, under duress, had to wear a dress. I had drawn the line at wearing her uniform as she had initially suggested, and instead we had gone with a Little House on the Prairie look. The long dress and bonnet of Laura Ingalls would have let me be somewhat anonymous were it not a small school where almost everybody knew almost everybody else.


    This year, however, I wasn¡¯t able to weasel my way out of it. It was our senior year and thus the last opportunity, so I was going to be going to school in a cheerleader costume. Scratch that. Not a costume, but an actual uniform. Michelle and I were roughly the same height, her a little tall for a high school girl and me a little short, and she was athletically built rather than voluptuous, so her uniform would basically fit me. Our feet were even close enough to the same size, so from head to toe, I would be wearing her clothes.


    Once it had become clear that Michelle really wanted me to do this, I hadn¡¯t actually tried to argue that hard out of it. Michelle was my Kryptonite, my Achilles¡¯ Heel.


    Unlike last year, however, there were additional preparations. The Little House on the Prairie look was modest and a high school cheerleader was, well not so much immodest exactly, but without a doubt more glamorous. Certainly with much more leg showing. So yesterday, after school, Michelle had driven me to her favorite salon across the river, and I got to experience something very few men ever do: a beautician using hot wax to pull out hair by the roots followed by tweezers to get any left over. On a scale of one to decapitation, it didn¡¯t really hurt that much except for the inner thighs and the back of the knees. On a scale of one to mortification, however, it ranked fairly high on the embarrass-o-meter, especially with the work on the upper legs and lower abdomen. I don¡¯t want to call it a bikini wax, but ¡­ well, it entailed that. Fortunately, as a blond, I wasn¡¯t hirsute and the body hair I did have was light and fine, so other than the discomfort¡ªmore to the psyche than to the body¡ªthere weren¡¯t any problems. By the time the beautician was shaping my eyebrows, I barely noticed the tweezing.


    The other preparations were less physically problematic but almost no less damaging to my manly pride. However, some of them weren¡¯t really things that could be done too far in advance, so I had spent the night at Michelle¡¯s. Chastely! We were young and there were some lines we weren¡¯t yet ready to cross even if nearly everyone else assumed we had, judging by the frequent lectures my mother had given me. Michelle had a brother four years older than her, so it was his former bedroom I had slept in on those frequent ¡°spend a night over¡±s.


    The major preparations that couldn¡¯t be done too far in advance were hair and make-up, so it was for that reason we were up at three in the morning, several hours earlier than necessary to get to school on time. True, I could have had my nails done at the salon, and I had been letting them grow out for a few weeks in advance, knowing this was coming. However, Michelle wanted to do the nails herself.


    My fingernails were first gently filed, rounding them to a more tapered oval shape. ¡°If you really were going to cheer,¡± she commented, ¡°they¡¯d have to be almost as short as you normally keep them. They get in the way, otherwise.¡± Then polish was applied in alternating blue and gold, not a standard color scheme for nails, but since they were our school colors, the look would work for the day. Once the base coats were dry, something that took a lot longer than I had expected, Michelle got to work on decorating them. Using a glittery, white polish, she spelled out ¡°IHS¡± on the index, middle, and ring fingernails of my right hand, putting a star on the nails of my thumb and little finger. ¡°CHEER¡± was then spelled out across the nails of my left hand.


    If I turned my hands palms out so I could see the nails, it looked like it said ¡°CHEER ¡îIHS¡î,¡± but with palms toward me and nails out, others would be able to read it in the proper order, with IHS first.


    After the letters were carefully written out, Michelle then outlined them in black using the tiniest brush I had ever seen. If it had been on a computer screen, the black line wouldn¡¯t even have been a pixel thick, but it was enough to help make the letters pop.


    Finally, after the letters dried, she applied one more coat of polish atop, some sort of clear, chip-resistant coat that made the matte blue and gold base coats shine and enhanced the sparkle of the glittery white.


    After she had spent over an hour on my fingernails alone, I developed a new appreciation for the amount of time that girls spent ¡°getting ready.¡± Maybe three in the morning wasn¡¯t all that much earlier than necessary. My twin wasn¡¯t one to wear makeup, so I hadn¡¯t gone into it with any real baseline.


    Michelle then did my toenails in pale pink. ¡°No one else is going to see these, so they don¡¯t need to be in school colors,¡± she had explained. Honestly, the pink wasn¡¯t that vivid. Enough for me to notice it, since I knew to look for it, but not an eye-catching shock pink. There was no decorative script laid down, but the pink was followed by the same chip-resistant clear coating. While the fancy polish on the fingernails would have to come off tonight, my understanding was that she wanted me to keep the toenail polish on for some days longer. Argh, my manly pride! But when it comes to keeping manly pride satisfied or keeping girlfriends happy, the scale should definitely always be weighted toward girlfriends.


    The uniform was next since the rest of the cosmetics might be smudged by getting undressed and dressed, so¡­.


    A few articles of clothing in hand, I retreated from her room to the ¡°guest room¡± (her brother¡¯s former bedroom). Underwear first, she had chosen something plain cotton in blue and gold, with metallic gold cheer briefs over. After that, I slid into a short, pleated white skirt, too short to pretend to modesty. It was actually a little shorter than regulation, not quite reaching to mid thigh, but maybe that was just due to the difference in our sizes. Just a finger¡¯s width up from the hem of the skirt were two thin stripes, blue above gold, for our school colors.


    Then, with me half dressed, I walked back into her room to find her standing there with¡­. ¡°Falsies? You didn¡¯t buy them for this, did you!?¡±


    Blushing, she shook her head, ¡°No¡­. I¡¯ve, I¡¯ve had them for a couple years. I bought them online before I¡­ Well, never mind! They come with special tape to attach them to your chest, and they won¡¯t fall off even if you do try to do any tumbling routines.¡±


    I¡¯m sure my manly pride took a critical hit then, as she affixed the triangular tape to the back of the silicone forms and then pressed them against my chest, securing them in place. They weren¡¯t particularly large, the falsies no bigger than her own real ones, but ¡­ I did my best to not look down at my mostly bare chest. And intensified my not looking down as she helped me into one of her bras.


    ¡°If I was going to buy some for today,¡± she said as she was adjusting the fit of the bra, ¡°I would have splurged and bought something bigger. But then I¡¯d have to borrow a bra from your sister, and maybe part of Tara¡¯s uniform.¡± She winked at me, to show she was teasing, and softly laughed at my blushing response.


    The rest of the uniform consisted of a long-sleeved, thin white shirt, not quite reaching the top of the skirt, and then the blue, gold, and white top, called a shell, of the cheerleading uniform. The shell was sleeveless and v-necked, predominantly in dark blue, but with gold stripes at the arms, below the bust, and hem. White-outlined, blue capital letters spelling out ¡°FISHERMEN¡± were superimposed over a large, golden, capital ¡°I.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Now basically dressed, I sat on the edge of her bed while Michelle brushed out my hair and pulled it up into a high ponytail. Against my mother¡¯s wishes, I had been growing my hair out for years now. It was no longer the buzzcut I had been required to have when I had been younger. And since my hair now normally reached to my shoulderblades, it was long enough for Michelle to style it, if albeit a bit simply. Rather than the little elastic band I normally used to bring my hair back in a low ponytail, Michelle kept my hair in place with an overlarge blue bow. ¡°The girls with darker hair use yellow bows, but blondes like you and me need a bit of contrast,¡± she explained.


    Following the uniform and hair, she then brought over what seemed to be half the stock of the cosmetics aisle of our small local drug store. Concealer, foundation, lip gloss, eyeliner, mascara, an entire palette of eyeshadow, and maybe even a few other things I didn¡¯t have a name for. And even the things I had the name for, I didn¡¯t have the skill for. But all I had to do was sit quietly while she worked her magic, closing my eyes when directed, pursing my lips when directed, and tilting my head from side to side when directed.


    None of all that was needed last year. The dress had been a bit of a problem to find, but Laura Ingalls was from a different era and different background. I hadn¡¯t needed to have the hair ripped from my legs since the long dress would cover them. I hadn¡¯t needed to wear a bra with rather realistic (and probably expensive) falsies since the character I was portraying was young enough to still be undeveloped. And I hadn¡¯t needed to sit through an hour-long cosmetics session since a lot of that stuff wouldn¡¯t have been available to a poor girl on the prairie. This year, however, we were going all out. It was, after all, our Senior Year.


    Finally, with something pinching at my earlobes, Michelle stood back and made an approving sound. ¡°Go, look in the mirror while I get you a pair of socks and shoes.¡±


    I did not recognize the girl in the mirror. I couldn¡¯t see myself in that cute, young, blushing girl. She looked like, well, maybe my twin¡¯s or Michelle¡¯s younger sister¡ªa freshman or sophomore maybe, but never a senior in high school. The makeup, for the most part, wasn¡¯t even that obvious. The sparkly blue eyeshadow, yes, and the glossy pink lips were just a little glossier and pinker than natural, but the rest¡­? I turned my head from side to side, looking at my reflection. Whatever she had done to my cheeks was done artfully enough that I couldn¡¯t tell that that they were touched up and enhanced with anything. True, I knew they were, and I knew their reflection wasn¡¯t what the mirror normally showed me, but I would not have been able to say how the foundation and blush and who-knows-what-else had done the transformation. It was like magic. And my lashes, well ¡­ they were longer and darker than I had naturally, but if I saw a girl with them, I wouldn¡¯t have though they were augmented with makeup. Just showed the depth of my ignorance, I guessed.


    As I was studying the reflection, I was able to figure out what the pinching at my ears had been. Michelle had applied a pair of magnetic clip-on earrings. They weren¡¯t anything super girly, like pink hearts or little unicorn heads, nor were they anything ostentatious like big hoops or dangling ornaments. Instead, they were a pair of small silver stars, slightly glittery in the reflected light. I ¡­ I kind of liked the look. Maybe a little more muted instead of sparkly, but perhaps I¡¯d try getting my ears pierced after graduation, when I wouldn¡¯t have to listen to my mother say anything about it very often.


    While I was dealing with the conflicted feelings my altered reflection brought me, Michelle came back carrying a small pair of white socks and her so-called ¡°cheer shoes.¡± They were basically immaculate white tennis shoes with blue and gold laces. She set the footwear down atop the vanity and placed a hand on my shoulder, looking into the mirror and meeting my reflected gaze. ¡°Goddess above, Sugar, but you make for a cute girl. I¡¯m almost jealous.¡± Gently, she turned me around and kissed me lightly on the lips. Then she touched a finger to her own lips. ¡°It¡¯s a little weird kissing someone else with lip gloss, but I think I like it.¡± She kissed me again, a little more firmly, and the spark was almost as strong as our first kiss more than a year ago.


    Voice slightly husky, she shooed me out of the room. ¡°If you really were a girl, I¡¯d go dyke for you in a heartbeat¡­. But¡­. Now, go, put on the shoes and socks before I smudge your makeup and have to redo it since you don¡¯t know how to touch it up. I still have to get dressed, you know. And remember, don¡¯t rub at your eyes!¡±


    I nodded and picked up the shoes and socks. Leaving the room, I practiced the walk she wanted me to use. The slightly bouncy step with a little extra swish of my hips certainly didn¡¯t come naturally, but, well¡­. It matched the style.


    Then, fully dressed and sitting carefully on the edge of the bed, I mentally reviewed the cheer routine. Just like yesterday, there would be a bit of a show just inside the doors to the school¡ªonly this time, it wouldn¡¯t be ballroom dancing and it wouldn¡¯t be the both of us in the proverbial spotlight. I would be the sole performer while she she remained on the sidelines.


    Michelle¡¯s passion was theater, but that extended to choreography. Shortly after she had joined the squad last year, she had started developing various cheer routines for the girls. She had adapted some of them for me and then spent the past several weeks working with me until I had learned them. They were much more dance than anything else¡ªI just wasn¡¯t up to the level of athleticism of even the junior-most members of the squad, so cartwheels and even elaborate jumps were out.


    Between learning the dance for yesterday¡¯s performance, the cheers for today¡¯s performance, and preparations for Thursday¡¯s and Friday¡¯s events, we had barely had time to keep up on homework. I got most of mine done in the library while Michelle was at cheer practice, but I¡¯m not quite sure how she managed. Maybe she had planned ahead and had worked ahead, giving herself some ¡°easier¡± weeks for schoolwork to balance the extra work with dance practice and costume making. She was, after all, no slouch with her grades, being on track to graduate as Valedictorian.


    We had, of course, taken breaks here and there to play some matches in various games or to watch recordings of her favorite shows, but it had very much been a busy several weeks. Fortunately, after today¡¯s, the performances were much less demanding, for me anyway: Throwback Thursday would be ¡®50s fashion and a sock hop and Formal Friday would be a variation on the Beauty and the Beast ballroom dance, albeit with different outfits. They¡¯d also be much less embarrassing, but as long as I focused on being in ¡°character¡± rather than it being ¡°me,¡± I should be able to survive. I just had to think of it as role-playing.


    Michelle¡¯s outfit was, for today only, not on the same theme as mine. Since I wasn¡¯t an athlete, she couldn¡¯t wear my uniform. I had even eschewed Boy Scouts since they were sponsored by the local church, so there wasn¡¯t even a scouting uniform to adapt for her. Instead, she drew upon theater and went in a Newsies style, somehow managing to hide her hair under a newsboy cap. In addition, though I have no idea how, she even managed a close approximation of stubble and a vestigial mustache using nothing but make-up. It wouldn¡¯t survive a touch-test, but even from close up, it looked like real hair.


    Her bookbag for the day was an old-fashioned, canvas messenger bag. Mine, well, it was her cheer duffle bag, all in blue and gold and with assorted cheer-themed bangles and ornaments. And, of course, with ¡°IHS CHEER¡± emblazoned across both sides in bold, block letters. The bag had my books, Luna, Michelle¡¯s pom poms (which I would be using), and a change of clothes for her, which she¡¯d need for practice. My change of clothes was staying at her place. That meant my Crossdress Day wouldn¡¯t end for several more hours after the school day ended since I would need to wait for her. There was no way I was going to walk home to get changed since there was no way for me to get to my bedroom without going through the living room and thus past my mother. Some things ¡­ she didn¡¯t need to know.


    My nerves were starting to get to me on the drive to school, and the steadying hand Michelle put on my leg didn¡¯t really help. Instead, it mostly kept my attention on my smooth legs and the shortness of the skirt.


    We arrived early, but not early enough to beat everyone else who drove. The stairs up to the school¡¯s entrance felt like a hundred miles, and I took a deep breath as I walked through the doors and into the wide, open area where hallways branched off to the junior high classrooms, to the gym, to the office, and to the high school halls in the other wing of the school. I tried to ignore the voices by mentally running through some of the routines again, but nevertheless I heard some of the students¡¯ chatter.


    ¡°I thought all cheerleaders were participating in Spirit Week.¡±


    ¡°Of course they are.¡±


    ¡°Then why¡¯s she in her uniform? Shouldn¡¯t she be dressed as a boy?¡±


    ¡°Maybe she¡¯ll change in the locker room?¡±


    ¡°Look again, I bet that¡¯s a boyfriend?¡±


    ¡°No way! She¡¯s too cute to be a boy!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you might be right¡ª¡±


    The rest of the squad, it seemed, had beat us here. Michelle and I were surrounded by close to twenty girls, though except for Tara and maybe Cecily, they all passed well enough as guys in their costumes. Several were dressed as male athletes. Besides Michelle, there was another newsboy¡ªI recognized Katelyn by her red hair, even if it was mostly done up and hidden under her cap. There were a couple in suits, and all five of the freshmen made for a convincing boy band. Angela and her partner went as cowboys, going for the Brokeback Mountain look.


    Besides Angela¡¯s girlfriend, only one other of the cheerleaders¡¯ partners was here yet. Jeffrey Farseer, a defensive lineman on the varsity football team and debate club captain, was looking particularly uncomfortable. He, too, was dressed in a cheer uniform. Well, his was more a costume since he wasn¡¯t anywhere near the size needed to fit into Tanika¡¯s uniform. Instead, they had approximated the look with clothing from the the thrift shop. Unlike me, however, he wasn¡¯t even trying to pass. No makeup, no shaved legs, and no falsies. As I squatted to place the bag out of the way and retrieve the blue-and-gold pom poms, he walked up to me. ¡°Man, bro, that takes dedication. Mad props to you.¡±


    He then retreated a good distance away and the cheer squad and Michelle abandoned me after each girl had complimented me and wished me luck.


    It was time. I took a deep breath, caught Michelle¡¯s eye, and nodded.


    ¡°H E double-L O. Fishermen Spirit says ¡®Hello!¡¯¡±


    The assembled girls roared back with their ¡°Hello!¡± in response.


    The routine was just under eight minutes in length, alternating classic cheers like ¡°Two bits, four bits¡± and ¡°Spirit, want to hear it¡± with pom-pom shaking, short dance routines. The three main set pieces were an excerpt from the ¡°Imperial March¡± from Star Wars, a single-dancer variation of the cheer routine from Lucky Star, and, of course a cheer version of the clap-clap-stomping of Queen¡¯s ¡°We Will Rock You.¡± The accompanying music was provided by Michelle¡¯s cell phone, hooked up to the cheer squad¡¯s portable speakers.


    By the end, it wasn¡¯t just the cheer squad and a few students watching, the crowd that was assembled included nearly half the school. It was around a hundred and fifty students and at least two dozens adults, those being teachers, administrators, coaches, and even the librarian. Apparently, unlike yesterday, people arriving on the buses didn¡¯t stream past, but stayed and watched¡ªand participated. The crowd response parts of the cheers were just as loud as any pep assembly, but part of that might have been the exuberance of the squad doing the responding instead of their accustomed cheering.


    Then the five-minute warning bell rang, and the crowd started to disperse. Michelle gave me a quick hug in violation of the school¡¯s anti-PDA regulation, but none of the assembled faculty said a thing against it.


    Following that, the rest of the squad surrounded us, each wishing to tender her congratulations before heading off to her class with a ¡°See you at practice!¡± which, this time, was also directed at me and not just each other.


    Gathering up the duffle bag and stuffing the pom poms inside, I made my way down the hall to my first class, doing my best to keep with the bouncy, swishy gait Michelle had had me practice. My twin fell in step beside me. ¡°I see all that practice over the years has finally paid off,¡± she teased.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare tell anyone about that!¡±


    She snorted. ¡°Hardly. Mother would ground me for the rest of the school year until I graduated and moved out if she ever learned how many of those pictures were you instead of me. Anyway, I just wanted to say you were fantastic. I was impressed. If I hadn¡¯t known better, I would have thought you were one of the squad. Only your voice gave you away. Now go, and try to stay out of trouble today, Lexy.¡±


    Most of the day was a blur. I never got heckled, though I did hear a lot of whispering that I couldn¡¯t make out. More than half the girls had participated in Crossdress Day (though to be fair, crossdressing wasn¡¯t that hard on them since girls wore pants with much more frequency than boys wore dresses or skirts), and all of them wanted to compliment me and my look. I even had a few jealous comments about my fingernails and how Michelle had decorated them.


    Very few guys had participated, however. There were those coerced by their cheerleading girlfriends, a few of the athletes wearing tee shirts with feminine designs, and Coach McNarma wearing vivid pink sweats. However, other than me there were only two other guys who seemed to put any effort into it. One of the junior high students I saw in passing was done up in a Tinkerbell costume, and Mr. Schenk, the homeroom teacher, had shaved his prodigious mustache and dressed in a nun¡¯s habit. He had even given the non-crossdressers an extra-credit assignment to write an essay on the benefits of school spirit. Those of us who had participated were given full marks for the extra credit.


    The school day came to an end with me sitting in the first row of the bleachers in the gym while the cheer squad stretched, did their warm-ups, and practiced. The girls kept trying to get me to join them in practice, but I demurred, giving the very reasonable excuse that I didn¡¯t have appropriate clothes to practice in. The coach offered to rustle me up a pair of sweats, but Michelle came to my defense.


    The coach had to settle for having Michelle and I demonstrate a couple of the modified routines that Michelle had designed for me since they might be suitable for the squad to adopt. Well, that and telling me that it was too bad that I was a senior, or else she¡¯d have tried to recruit me for next year¡¯s squad, no tryouts necessary.

 vol. 1: Waiting 1

    The next day didn¡¯t begin with a morning jog; this was good for my laziness. Instead, I had a leisurely breakfast while browsing ECHO¡¯s community forums. I had been tempted to wolf down a quick breakfast and hop back into the pod to play, but I did have things to do today, and I didn¡¯t want to get so caught up in playing that I¡¯d forget to log out in time.


    So instead of wandering around Echeirn and doing delivery quests or finding a place to practice archery¡ªwhich I really should work on at least¡ªI was on my second bowl of breakfast cereal, third glass of chocolate milk, and fifth gargantuan forum thread.


    I had already read a heated discussion about whether or not allies should block line of sight which devolved into a litany of complaints talking about the worthlessness of magic and Archery. There was another thread where some players were attempting to create a listing of all known spells. Some good information there, but too many people were whining about perceived imbalances or the fact that there were no especially powerful spells available right away. People wanted massive fireballs or miniature tornadoes rather than the much more modest spells at the start of a magic path.


    I had also skimmed through a collection of screenshots, ignoring most of the discussion when it became clear that it was generally complaints about the terminology: there were no screens involved, so how could they be screenshots? Instead, I focused on the pictures themselves which were mostly of terrain: waterfalls, fields of wildflowers, mountains, beaches¡ªthat sort of stuff.


    I had also read through the patch notes, most of which was minor balancing and tweaking that didn¡¯t affect me, but there were at least two lines that were relevant:


    <ul>


    <li>As a result of a bug in encounter scaling, some players received better-than-expected rewards from tougher-than-intended encounters in the tutorial. All players will receive compensation of three silver coins via system mail upon their next arrival in the game world.</li>


    </ul>


    and


    <ul>


    <li>Beastkin Archetype Racial ability ¡°Hidden Nature¡± has been modified to have a scaling cooldown based on how frequently it was used in the past six hours. The initial cooldown is one minute (60 seconds), doubling for each use within the past six hours.</li>


    </ul>


    The ability would be less convenient, now¡ªat least for those who wanted to use it frequently¡ªbut the ability¡¯s duration now made sense. Given the number of times I had shifted to the primal form in that fight with Sar¡¯Glagalth, I probably would have bumped up against the the cooldown scaling being in the way at some point. Hopefully, however, future fights like that would be few and far between. And, by then, I should have enough abilities that such desperate measures wouldn¡¯t be needed. Moreover, I¡¯d have teammates rather than trying to solo a raid-style boss.


    The fifth forum thread that I was perusing was ¡­ related to that. Nazhai or Victoria or someone had released that much abbreviated and condensed video of my final tutorial encounter and the commentary ranged back and forth across at least fifty pages. Mostly, I was skimming the comments. Some were praise for my skills, some were accusations that cheating was somehow still involved, some were speculation on how dumb someone had to be to try and do a fight that was obviously intended to be run from¡­. A couple others were variation on incredulity, wondering why someone would choose to play as a cow.


    A lot of the discussion was on how to replicate or improve upon my performance. Stoneshaper Draconic would take less damage from the earth-based attacks of Sar¡¯Glagalth. Shielding spells, such as those found in Restoration Magic or similar schools, could also help reduce the damage taken. It was nearly universally agreed upon that high agility and ranged attacks were necessary, preferably with something to boost range.


    There was one long rant from someone who had tried to follow as much of the suggestions as possible, building his character specifically for that encounter. Unfortunately for him, it wasn¡¯t the giant stone centaur-thing he had encountered, but rather a water-based creature that morphed and shifted between a myriad of forms.


    There was even, amazingly enough, two pieces of fanart posted to the thread. One was of Sar¡¯Glagalth standing in a field littered with tombstones and fallen figures. And the other was of ¡­ Madelyn Alexis, portrayed in a bridal gown and standing atop the severed head of the stone centaur. The caption was ¡°This waifu needs no protecting¡± in letters resembling cracked and shattered green crystals.


    I was only thirty pages into the thread, but I finished breakfast and closed down the browser with a sense of unease. Where there was one fanart, others would follow¡ªespecially given my future role as a mascot. I was no stranger to the rules of the internet, but there were some things I just didn¡¯t want to contemplate. Even cutesy and innocent fanart would likely make me uncomfortable, but for the first to have labeled my character as a ¡°waifu¡± was ¡­ disconcerting and set a bad precedent. Thankfully, it hadn¡¯t been her primal form, but still ¡­ I resolved to stay well away from image boards for the foreseeable future.


    A bit more than half an hour later, I was walking into the small, local library, and one of the best cures for a distracting spiral of thoughts presented herself.


    ¡°Uncle Taylor, Uncle Taylor! Guess what? Mommy let me choose three books today, and you get to choose one of them to read today! We¡¯re going to the beach after Mommy is done working, so I¡¯m wearing my swimsuit under my shirt. Do you want to see it!?¡±


    With two red braids streaming behind her, little Noabelle Wirkkala came bounding past the four sparse aisles of non-fiction that separated the children¡¯s and young adults¡¯ side of the library from the adult fiction side nearest the door. She dodged past spinners of pulp westerns and Harlequin romance novels, treating them almost like a slalom course, and would have jumped up to hug me except for the three books she had clutched to her chest.


    Noabelle wasn¡¯t my niece and I wasn¡¯t her uncle, but after the second day I had read to the kids and helped with the library¡¯s literacy program, the girl had declared ¡°¡®Mister¡¯ is for strangers, so you¡¯re ¡®Uncle¡¯ instead.¡± It was possible we were related, though. In a small community, almost everyone is related to almost everyone else, and even newcomers that stay tend to end up in the web after a generation or two. If I remember correctly, the Wirkkalas and the Taylors were related through grandmothers being in-laws of some sort.


    I stepped to the side so I wouldn¡¯t block anyone else coming into the library, and squatted down to be eye-to-eye level with her. ¡°Hello, Noabelle. What books did you choose? And don¡¯t forget to use your library voice, we¡¯re not outside.¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s here yet except Mommy and me ¡­ and you ¡­ so it doesn¡¯t matter!¡±


    ¡°But it does matter, Princess Sunny Bunny. You don¡¯t want to turn into the Bad Habit Rabbit, do you?¡±


    Noabelle closed her mouth tightly, covered it with one hand, and shook her head back and forth, almost whipping her braids through the air as she did so. ¡°Sorry,¡± she whispered. ¡°Also, I¡¯m not a princess today.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not? Did you get promoted to queen?¡±


    She giggled and kept whispering ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. I¡¯m not a princess because I¡¯m a mermaid. When I show you my swimsuit, you¡¯ll see. Here! This book is for the little kids.¡± She handed me Dr. Seuss¡¯s One Fish, Two Fish. ¡°This book is for the big kids.¡± Harry Potter and the Sorcerer''s Stone. ¡°And this one is for me!¡± She proudly presented¡­


    ¡°Third-Grade Mermaid? Did you get older when I wasn¡¯t looking, Noabelle? Shouldn¡¯t it be First-Grade Mermaid?¡±


    ¡°No, silly! That book doesn¡¯t exist.¡± She wasn¡¯t whispering anymore, but her voice was still appropriately quiet for a library.


    ¡°I see. Well, maybe you can write it someday?¡±


    ¡°Maybe! Or maybe you can and I¡¯ll draw the pictures for it. Also, see?¡± She lifted up her light pink and overlong tee shirt to reveal part of the swimsuit she had mentioned. Coincidentally, it was pale seafoam green with dark pink, almost coral, accents. Emblazoned across the chest in sparkly white letters outlined with that dark pink was the phrase ¡°Part-time Mermaid.¡± The last curve of the small ¡°m¡±s extended further than normal and was stylized to look like a mermaid¡¯s tail. Both dots of the lower-case ¡°i¡±s were done with sea shells.


    ¡°A part-time mermaid, huh? That reminds me of a story.¡± Obviously, I wasn¡¯t going to tell her about my situation, being literally a part-time mermaid myself, but Noabelle and I had developed a tradition of telling somewhat collaborative stories while we were waiting for others to show up for the reading program. ¡°Let¡¯s go sit down and see if I can remember the story.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Come on, Uncle Taylor!¡± Noabelle took my free hand, the one not holding the books she had presented to me, and led me toward the little, low table in the children¡¯s section of the library.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    As we were passing by, Carrie Wirkkala¡ªNoabelle¡¯s mother and the library¡¯s only paid employee besides Mrs. Beard, the aged librarian¡ªcame out from the aisles. I didn¡¯t know her well; she was five years older than I, so our paths had never really crossed at school. She had, after all, graduated before I had started high school. Carrie was a single mother, which was why Noabelle was at the library now and spent so much time at the library in general. School was out for the summer, Noabelle wasn¡¯t yet old enough to be left alone at home all day, and daycare cost more than Carrie could spare on the low salary a small-town assistant librarian could make.


    Even if I had wanted to try and solve the problem by offering to pay for Noabelle¡¯s daycare, Carrie wouldn¡¯t have accepted. She, like many small town residents¡ªin fact, like my own family had been¡ªhad more than a faint disdain for charity: ¡°we¡¯ll manage, somehow¡± might as well be the unofficial motto of small town families everywhere.


    And, of course, throwing money at problems doesn¡¯t really make anything go away except the money. If I tried to solve too many problems like that, and there were no small number of them even in this little town, then very quickly there wouldn¡¯t be much of anything left for me and my twin.


    Carrie smiled at me, then squatted down to talk to her daughter. ¡°Now, Noabelle, make sure you share Mr. Taylor when the other kids arrive. He isn¡¯t here just to play with you, okay?¡±


    ¡°Mommy! ¡®Mister¡¯ is for strangers! You have to call him ¡®Uncle,¡¯ too.¡±


    It was a common conversation by now. So far, Carrie hadn¡¯t given in to her daughter¡¯s persuasion, but sooner or later she might. Just last week, Carrie had suggested that ¡°Uncle¡± was for someone older and since she was older than I was she couldn¡¯t use it; Noabelle had promptly come back with the idea of ¡°Little Uncle.¡±


    Between ¡°Little Uncle¡± and ¡°Little Sister,¡± I was picking up all sorts of new family relations lately.


    After a little bit of back-and-forth between mother and daughter, and an apologetic look or two sent my direction, Noabelle and I were seated at the table. I sat cross-legged on a cushion on the floor, and the young girl knelt across the table from me, with crayons and paper spread out in front of her.


    ¡°Once upon a time,¡± I began, ¡°there was a lonely mermaid princess named Starlight. Princess Starlight was the only daughter of the mermaid king. In fact, she was the only child her age in the whole giant mermaid castle under the sea, so she had no one to play with.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d play with her,¡± Noabelle interjected.


    ¡°Of course you would, but Princess Starlight lives many, many miles under the sea. Humans can¡¯t get there. Not even the world¡¯s best swimmer can hold her breath long enough. How long can you hold your breath, Noabelle?¡±


    ¡°Ummmm¡­?¡± She took a deep breath and covered her mouth with both hands, a blue crayon held between her fingers like a cigarette. I counted aloud, slowly, and by the time I got to seven, she had exhaled with a loud ¡°Whooooosh!¡±


    ¡°One for each year. That¡¯s pretty good, Noabelle, but it isn¡¯t enough.¡±


    ¡°How long is enough?¡± She fixed me with a determined stare.


    ¡°Hmmm? Maybe a million.¡±


    ¡°A million years old! That¡¯s older than the dinosaurs! No one lives that long!¡±


    I nodded. ¡°And that¡¯s why no humans could come to visit Princess Starlight¡ªeven if they learned where her house was. Princess Starlight knew what humans were of course. She read all about them in the story books in the great big library inside her father¡¯s giant mermaid castle. But Princess Starlight didn¡¯t know if humans were real.¡±


    Along came another interjection. ¡°I¡¯m real! If she met me or you, Uncle Taylor, she¡¯d know then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she would. Do you think she¡¯ll meet a human, Noabelle?¡±


    The girl responded with a vigorous nod.


    ¡°How?¡± I asked, prompting her. ¡°If humans can¡¯t go to where she lives¡­?¡±


    ¡°Then she¡¯ll go to where humans live! We have beaches, she could come here and meet us!¡±


    ¡°Or someone like us, maybe.¡± I nodded. ¡°So one day, Princess Starlight was very, very naughty. She swam away from home so she could find out if humans really were real. Maybe she could find a little girl her age to play with.¡±


    ¡°The story doesn¡¯t end there, does it?¡± Noabelle looked very worried. ¡°I don¡¯t want Princess Starlight to be in danger or in trouble. Mommy says it¡¯s dangerous for me to be by myself. I can¡¯t even cross the road alone yet. Princess Starlight should have gone with an adult.¡±


    ¡°Your Mommy is a very smart woman, Noabelle. It¡¯s good you listen to her. There are lots of dangers in the world and there are lots of dangers under the waves, too. But even though Princess Starlight was very, very naughty, she was also very, very lucky. She didn¡¯t see any hungry sharks or giant octopuses and she stayed very, very far away from the great big kelp forest where she might have gotten lost.¡± I took a couple of the crayons and drew a very simple shark in blue, octopus in orange, and lots of squiggly green lines to be the kelp forest all on one side of a piece of paper. Then I drew a stick figure of a mermaid with a blonde ponytail swimming on the other side of the paper.


    ¡°Princess Starlight swam up and up and up and when she got to the top of the water, she was tossed around by some very big waves. If she had been a human and not a mermaid, she might have drowned because of the waves. When the waves stopped throwing her around, she saw that she was on a beach with pink sand and lots of white and blue seashells.¡±


    ¡°Just like my picture?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Just like your picture, Noabelle. In fact, it was right, um .... here,¡± I pointed to a spot on her crayon drawing, ¡°that Princess Starlight landed right next to a real human girl. Both the mermaid girl and the human girl were very, very surprised, but they became very, very good friends right away. The human girl¡¯s name was Anabelle¡­.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s like my name! Is this Anabelle?¡± She showed another crayon drawing of a blonde mermaid with green scales next to a girl drawn with the darkest brown in the box.


    ¡°It looks like her,¡± I admitted. ¡°But Anabelle was wearing a bright pink swimsuit and had longer hair.¡±


    After Noabelle modified her picture by drawing a pink outline around the girl¡¯s body and drawing really long black curls to make her hair longer, I continued. ¡°Anabelle taught Princess Starlight how to build sand castles and how to listen to the sound of the ocean in seashells. Princess Starlight didn¡¯t know any mermaid games to teach because she never had anyone to play with, but she told Anabelle several stories, with the two girls acting out the parts as best as they could.¡±


    ¡°Finally, the sun started to set and both Princess Starlight and her new friend Anabelle had to go home for dinner. They promised to meet again on the beach in six days. Princess Starlight wanted it to be the next day, but that would be Monday and Anabelle had to go to school.


    ¡°So the next day, after school was over for the week¡­ Hmm, what day would that be?¡±


    Noabelle answered, ¡°After Friday is Saturday.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Very good. Thank you. So on Saturday, Anabelle went to the beach after breakfast, and saw that Princess Starlight was there, waiting for her. Before Anabelle could suggest that they build a bigger and better sand castle using seashells for decorations, her new friend said, ¡®I want you to come visit my place.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Uh-oh,¡± Noabelle said, looking worried again. ¡°Anabelle isn¡¯t a million years old.¡±


    I smiled, ¡°No. She¡¯s only seven and a half. But Anabelle was a smart girl. She looked at the big waves and told her friend she wanted to, but she knew she¡¯d drown if she went too far into the water. Princess Starlight said, ¡®Don¡¯t worry about that! I, um, borrowed a magic necklace. You¡¯ll be fine. See!?¡¯


    ¡°And Princess Starlight put a necklace made of white coral and pink pearls around her friend¡¯s neck and ¡­ POOF! ¡­ Anabelle¡¯s legs became a tail and the human girl became a mermaid like Princess Starlight.¡±


    ¡°Wow! Is it magic?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°They looked just like sisters, except one was dark and the other light. So Princess Starlight and Mermaid Anabelle went swimming down and down and down to visit the mermaid king¡¯s castle under the sea. Now both were very, very naughty¡­.¡±


    ¡°Both girls went without permission, right?¡±


    Again, I nodded. ¡°And if this was a sad story, something bad would happen so that little girls who are listening know not to do that. But you¡¯re a smart girl, right Noabelle, and you don¡¯t need a sad story, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very smart!¡± Noabelle smiled at me, and then looked over at her mother who had been working nearby. ¡°If it was me, I¡¯d ask Princess Starlight for a necklace for Mommy, too, or I wouldn¡¯t go with her.¡±


    Both Carrie and I smiled at Noabelle, somewhat sharing our smiles with each other. After Noabelle showed her mother all the pictures she had drawn for the story so far and was complimented for them, I continued the story.


    ¡°So, it isn¡¯t a sad story. Anabelle and Princess Starlight were very, very naughty but they were still very, very lucky. They didn¡¯t see any hungry sharks or giant octopuses and they stayed very, very far away from the great big kelp forest where they might have gotten lost. When they got to the giant mermaid castle under the sea, Princess Starlight showed her friend all the special places: her bedroom, the giant library, the little kitchen cupboard that always had snacks, and even a secret hiding place where the two girls could watch the mermaid king have boring meetings with other adults like soldiers and teachers and farmers.


    ¡°They swam around in the castle so long it was starting to get late. Princess Starlight begged her friend to stay with her, but Anabelle was getting worried about being away for so long. ¡®I don¡¯t want my Mommy to worry about me,¡¯ she said. So the two girls swam up and up and up and got back to the beach, where the big waves tossed them around until they landed on the sand. If Anabelle had been a regular girl then and not magically a mermaid, she probably would have drowned from the waves.¡±


    Noabelle was starting to look a little worried again, so I hastily reminded her. ¡°But it isn¡¯t a sad story, so both girls were safe. When they got to the beach, Anabelle took off the necklace made of white coral and pink pearls and ¡­ POOF! ¡­ her legs were back to normal again. She gave the necklace back to Princess Starlight and they hugged. Princess Starlight said, ¡®Please remember, don¡¯t try to swim to me without the necklace, humans can¡¯t hold their breath long enough.¡¯


    ¡°Anabelle promised, and the mermaid girl and the human girl hugged again, saying they would meet once more in one week. And that is how Anabelle became a part-time mermaid.¡±


    I wrapped the story up because other kids were starting to arrive and it was getting close to time for the reading program. So I would keep the idea of mermaid penpals and messages in bottles for another day. While Noabelle put away the crayons and carried her drawings to the library¡¯s office where her bag and her mother¡¯s purse were, I checked the notification that had buzzed on my phone in the middle of the story. It turned out to be an email from the ECHO devs.


    Dear Miss Starlight (player of Madelyn Alexis),


    Can you be available this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon around 3 PM (PDT) for working on a project that we alluded to in our meeting the other day? It will be one of the early steps in your not-a-job career as a mascot for Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online. By ¡°available,¡± I mean in the game world or home instance and not busy adventuring with the group you have connected with.


    GM Victoria Delacroix


    P.S. The two pods will be shipped to your designated recipients after they confirm their details and availability. Slightly modified ¡°Congratulations! You won¡­¡± emails will be sent this evening.

 Not A Chapter -- Slight Delay

    Hello. I''ve been struggling with the section that was supposed to have gone up yesterday. I''ve been trying to do a small bit from Allison''s PoV (player of Gabrielle), and I keep running into stumbling blocks where things are not working out as I want them to. Since it''s a webserial, it''s harder to retcon things, so I want to make sure I get it correct the first time.


    Originally, Allison''s PoV was supposed to have been Waiting 1 (like Janet''s was for Meetings 1), but I was struggling with it and pushed it back to put out the library scene first, swapping their order since which order they were in didn''t really matter for overall story flow. After continued difficulties all week, I''ve decided to give myself more time to dwell on them, pushing her PoV to Interlude 3 between Waiting and Dungeon Run.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Unfortunately, what that means is I have absolutely nothing for Waiting 2 to go up right now. If nothing goes wrong, it should go up at the next scheduled update day (the 10th).


    In the interim, have a quick little poll...

 vol. 1: Waiting 2

    ¡°Turn a little to the left, please, and raise your left arm about five inches.¡±


    I was in VR, but once again it wasn¡¯t either the home instance or the game world. This was something like a fancy portrait studio. The half of the room that I was currently in was all green¡ªfloors, walls, and ceiling¡ªgenerally a uniform bright green, but there were faint, darker green grid lines. It made me feel like I was in a weird holodeck set up with green screen technology. Which, in a way, I was.


    The other half of the room had half a dozen people, most of whom I didn¡¯t know, but Victoria Delacroix was supervising from where she reclined in a director¡¯s chair. The only other woman was a muscular young dwarf of some sort, looking very out-of-place in her frilly and fancy maid¡¯s uniform. Everyone else were trim and lithe butlers, albeit with fashion tending more to form than function. They all definitely took their style guidance from Victoria¡¯s overly fancy outfit.


    From the waist, I turned a bit to the left and raised up my sword arm as directed. Yes, sword. I was doing my first modeling gig as a mascot for the game, and the project that they were working on was to portray light, medium, and heavy armors in assorted rarities. Technically it was for a page on the game¡¯s website that discussed classes, with a distinct focus on the easy-to-obtain, common classes like archer, elementalist, shaman, priest, and knight. So it was more like ¡°newbie knight,¡± ¡°low-level knight,¡± ¡°mid-level knight,¡± ¡°high-level knight,¡± and ¡°decked-out-in-legendary-equipment knight.¡± And then the same for several other classes.


    We had started with the heavy armor classes since metal armor¡ªeven bare-bones metal armor¡ªtook a lot more work to get into and out of than caster robes or ninja leotards.


    At the moment, I was portraying a mid-level knight, wearing something like the proverbial chainmail bikini, except it was more like a chainmail, halter-top tankini. A metal collar called a gorget supported the weight of a swath of fine-linked chain mail. The armor was tapered narrow at the neck but broadened to cover the whole chest at the top of my currently non-existent bustline. From there it hung to just below the navel, providing perhaps adequate protection from attacks from the front. The chain mail was secured by four equally-spaced leather straps. The highest rested where the band of a bra would be, and the lowest was at the natural waistline.


    The lower half of the armor was effectively a short, A-line skirt reaching from just below the ¡°hem¡± of the top down to a little above mid thigh. Of course, a metal skirt was much heavier than a fabric one would be, but it would provide at least some degree of protection. More than might be expected, even, since combat in ECHO was a cross between hyper-realism and game systems: the Defense attribute contributed even for parts of the body that weren¡¯t covered by layers of protection, which is how magical jewelry worked as well.


    Of course, unlike the fantasy images of pin-up art, this chainmail tankini wasn¡¯t worn against bare flesh. Never mind the chafing that metal against skin might cause, the chain links moved slightly in relation one to another. This left the possibility of pinching, and as anyone who¡¯s ever caught themselves on a zipper knows, skin caught between two bits of metal HURTS.


    No, instead the metal armor was worn over a thin, but padded, leotard-like leather outfit, a bit like a wrestler¡¯s singlet except with sleeves¡ªand laces. Leather, being far less stretchy than modern fabrics, couldn¡¯t just be slipped into in a one-size-fits-most manner. Instead, the back of the leotard was laced from waist to nape. So, too, were the sleeves laced, from wrist to elbow and elbow to shoulder, leaving enough slack at the joints for mobility.


    This was the role of the dwarven woman, to help me into and out of the assorted outfits and to make sure they fit properly. Outfits that laced or buckled or buttoned up the back are generally terribly difficult to manage without assistance¡ªnot that I had much personal experience with such outfits myself. Since we weren¡¯t in the gameworld itself, I didn¡¯t have access to the game systems to quickly equip and unequip the armor. Actually, despite being in my game avatar, I didn¡¯t have access to any of the game systems at all, not the character sheet, not the menus, not the messaging, not the map.


    It was a little disconcerting at first, especially with no visible way to log out, but just as the behind-the-scenes mechanics of virtual reality meant that I was comfortable and moved naturally in the drastically different bodies of my hivatar and game avatar, I didn¡¯t feel ¡°out of place¡± in this section of virtual reality, either. And while there was no visible way to log out, Victoria had explained to me that I could leave at any time simply by willing to do so. Alternatively, I could walk out of the studio and back into the waiting-room-slash-office-area that I had arrived in and return to my home instance via the transfer pattern in the corner.


    That had been more than a bit strange when I had first encountered it. When I had logged in to ECHO after returning home from the library and a few other errands, I had arrived to see a new structure in the home instance¡ªa small, wooden hut a bit like a changing booth. An oddly subdued Jasmine had told me that Victoria and Nazhai had arrived to have it installed, giving me a relatively permanent (so long as the building existed) way to go between the home instance and a section of the office-like work area of the development staff. All I had to do was enter the hut and fly down to touch the glowing mandala-like inscription on the wooden floor. And poof! from flying mermaid in my home instance to human schoolgirl in waiting room.


    ¡°Okay. Perfect. Just like that.¡± The man who had directed me to raise my arm was speaking again. He looked and sounded almost human, but something that I couldn¡¯t quite place my finger on was off. He didn¡¯t appear to be elven or Faetouched, so perhaps he¡ªlike the Ratkin GM¡ªhad a non-playable race as his GM avatar. For all that Victoria was present and supervising, this guy seemed to be running the show. I didn¡¯t catch his name, but all the others present were treating him with deference.


    I held my pose, trying to ignore the discomfort radiating from my outstretched and raised sword arm. What occurred next was by now familiar, since prior to the chainmail tankini outfit for a knight, I had already modeled two different sets of banded mail, one incredibly heavy set of half-plate bronze mail, and a couple basic leather outfits with daggers as props instead of the current sword and shield. Three concentric circles appeared on the floor around my feet and rose, slowly rotating as they scanned upward. I was reminded of a photocopier. Then, when they faded out above my head, one of the other butlers ducked beneath the blanket of an old-fashioned and very steampunk-style camera while a third used a different camera, one that looked like an expensive lens attached to an overlarge cell phone, to take photos from different angles and positions.


    ¡°Good. Good. Good. Okay, take a minute to rest that arm. Then I want you to step backward with your left leg and raise your shield so it looks like you¡¯re peeking over the top of it at me.¡±


    I had asked Victoria why they really needed me to do this. The whole shebang seemed a little low-tech for a system that could create avatars and images out of nothing. I mean, photographs and even a scanned 3D image were kind of ¡­ behind the times even for technology before VR where fully posable and deformable computer graphics models could be created. Couldn¡¯t they just take my avatar data and construct an image using whatever armor and pose they wanted?


    Her answer had surprised me. ¡°Well, first,¡± she had said, ¡°it¡¯s a matter of publicity rights and personal privacy. A virtual reality avatar is you much more than a traditional on-the-screen game character ever could be. For many people, you not included of course, their game avatar is exactly or almost exactly their own out-of-the-game appearance. Sure, sure, we could have negotiated a contract that covered those rights in that manner, but that leads into the second point. A manipulatable model of you would lack that certain something, that ¡®ineffable spark,¡¯ that makes you, you.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    She smiled, ¡°In other words, a doll doesn¡¯t have a personality. And a mascot is more than just an image, a mascot has personality. So, you see, it¡¯s you and not just your appearance that will make this work. Finally,¡± she raised a third finger, ¡°it¡¯s fun.¡± Seeing my skeptical look, she laughed, ¡°You¡¯ll be surprised, I think. And, in the end, if you don¡¯t think it was fun, I¡¯ll buy you dessert.¡±


    Somewhat to my surprise, I was discovering that she was right. I took the lunging, sword-thrusting pose that was requested and followed that up with minor shifts to the placement and angle of my feet requested by one of the other men. As I did so, I realized that while I may technically be working, I was also having fun. In that way, it wasn¡¯t too far removed from the volunteer work I did in the library: kids like Noabelle would have made any teacher¡¯s job fun, but I enjoyed working with even the quietest, most withdrawn of the children. True, it was work and not play, but it was something I enjoyed doing.


    Likewise, even though I, myself, wasn¡¯t doing much beyond wearing what I was told to wear and posing as I was told to pose, I was having just about as much fun¡ªalbeit a different manner of fun¡ªas anything else I had yet done in virtual reality. It made me have second thoughts about the Modeling skill that the system had prompted when Tabitha was helping me shop for a new outfit. If I had had access to the game systems just now, I might have just given in to impulse and taken the skill. But third and fourth thoughts occurred long before I would have a chance to get into the game. Common sense dictated that I¡¯d have to make use of the skill frequently enough to level it up in order to improve my attributes and level up myself. And just where and when would I be able to do something like this in the gameworld? Maaaayybe it could become a future secondary skill, but it wasn¡¯t really primary skill material.


    Nevertheless, even if I couldn¡¯t make use of it in the game, I could relax and enjoy myself now. It didn¡¯t even bother me that much anymore when¡ª


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s it for this set. Please switch to your primal form and take the first pose again.¡± Immediately after the scanning circles and the photographer had finished with the lunging pose, right on cue with my thoughts, the guy directing the project requested that I take my other form. Since the intent of the project was to display various rarities of armors in the different weights, it made sense to have more than one character model. I don¡¯t know if they were doing something similar with a male model or two, but because my game character¡¯s normal form was diminutive and petite and my primal form was anything but, using me gave them two different figures to use.


    Unlike in the game itself, there was no weird subjective time or shifting of perspectives. When I concentrated on switching to my primal form, it just happened. One moment I was short and small and the next ¡­ I was not. Also, unlike the game, there didn¡¯t seem to be a limit on the duration. Modeling for several poses had to take longer than five minutes per outfit, yet the form never expired on its own. When it was time to switch to a new outfit, I concentrated on returning to my regular game avatar, and it occurred.


    As a consequence, I was starting to get used to being tall, buxom, and solidly built¡ªeven beyond the ¡°everything feels natural¡± effect of virtual reality. It helped, I think, that I didn¡¯t ¡°watch¡± my own transformation. It probably helped even more than none of the guys or even the girls present ¡°ogled¡± me in my primal form. In other words, neither the systems nor the others around me drew any attention to the way that Hidden Nature changed me.


    The process was almost exactly the same as with my character¡¯s default form: ¡°turn a little more to the left,¡± ¡°raise your arm a couple more inches,¡± and so on. There were only two differences. First, I changed back to my regular, small self before changing outfits, so there was no ¡°getting dressed¡± in my larger form. The dwarven woman would have struggled to deal with laces and buckles on someone approaching three meters in height.


    The other major difference was that the outfits did change somewhat, though not as dramatically as my newbie outfit had, when I transformed. Everything did scale upward with me, which was unlike what I had encountered during the fight with Sar¡¯Glagalth. The shape and materials also adjusted for the change in my own shape and size. This chainmail tankini, well halter top and skirt, still offered nearly the same coverage as it had when it and I were smaller, but the leather underpinnings were a bit more skimpy: higher cut over the legs, wider gaps where the parts were laced together, and a deeper neckline at the back, where it wasn¡¯t covered by metal or straps. Further, since my primal form had hooves instead of normal feet, the laced-up leather boots became something more like shin guards¡ªor the leg equivalent to bracers, greaves ¡­ if I remembered the terminology correctly. Who said gaming experience would never be helpful?


    Apparently, according to Victoria anyway, metal armor was primary for protection and cloth outfits were primary for fashion¡ªwith leather striking a balance between the two¡ªso metal armor didn¡¯t necessarily become revealing on ¡°sexier¡± frames whereas leather did to a degree and cloth changed much more. It was possible to craft non-revealing cloth and leather armor for more ¡°heroic figures¡± (her words, not mine), but it required deliberate intentions.


    By means of example, she spoke of a leather outfit I was familiar with. ¡°Those leather half-curiasses your young friends wear,¡± she said, ¡°they¡¯d be much the same on boys or girls or anyone with a smaller, slender frame. On the ghost friend of yours, they¡¯d still provide the same protection but not the same coverage. And on some big, buff, muscular guy, they might very well manifest as a strappy leather harness, the sort seen on fantasy barbarians and the like.¡±


    It made me a little worried how the dress and leggings of my new outfit would react, but that was a concern for another time¡­.


    Time progressed ¡­ strangely both quickly and slowly. Like I mentioned, I was having fun so it wasn¡¯t like the whole process was dragging on, but every time I looked over at the stylized grandfather clock at the back of the room, it¡¯s hands seemed to have barely moved at all.


    After the variety of metal armors with their assorted props were done, we moved on to leathers and the cloths. Even there, though, the outfits didn¡¯t change too drastically in the shift from normal to primal forms.


    The ¡°worst,¡± perhaps, was a cloth-wearing, eastern-themed character, using a long, curved blade on the end of a staff, a polearm a bit like a naginata, I suppose. This class wasn¡¯t one of the easy-to-obtain ones, but was rather an example of a hidden class. Known as a Sun¡¯s Ray, the class¡¯s fighting style was a combination of light and fire spells coupled with a graceful, flowing, dance-like martial art using bladed staffs. Her higher-level outfit was gold-embroidered scarlet silk: an ankle-length dress with a high collar, cap sleeves, and an almost-indecently-high slit up the right leg. Embroidered flats wholly unsuited for outdoor combat and embroidered wrist and ankle bands, three fingers¡¯ width long, completed the outfit. Transformed, however, the dress became almost immodestly short, sleeveless, and with a cleavage cutout almost big enough to turn the top into straps of a sling rather than the bodice of a dress. It really was not that much different from some of the over-sexualized outfits worn by some characters in fighting games, but it felt much worse to be the character wearing it rather than seeing it on screen.


    Nevertheless, by then I had become almost accustomed to it¡­.


    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s a wrap. Good work, everyone.¡±


    Finally, after portraying a score or so of different classes including such diverse playstyles as Tinkers and Tailors or Soldiers and Spies¡ªwith five outfits and several poses each across both of my character¡¯s forms¡ªwe were done, at least for now. As the guys were leaving, the dwarven woman helped me out of the last outfit, something that was almost more straps and laces than it was concealing fabric. And in no time, I was back into the outfit I wore in game: short, Asian-themed dress and opaque tights. While I still preferred to think of it as a tunic and leggings, over the course of the modeling session I had worn enough dresses and skirts (many of which were actually leather or metal armor), that it was now almost natural to recognize the dress for what it was.


    ¡°So¡­,¡± Victoria said, approaching me after the dwarf, too, had left. ¡°From where I was sitting, it looked like you were enjoying yourself. Was I right, or do I owe you a dessert?¡±


    ¡°It surprised me, but, yes, it was kind of fun. You were right, Miss Victoria.¡±


    ¡°See? I knew you would have fun. Well then, that means that you owe me a dessert, instead.¡± Then, she placed her hand on my shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she continued, forestalling my objections, ¡°the place I have in mind is here in our virtual offices, so there¡¯s no money involved. Also no calories, which is important!¡±


    With one hand in the crook of my arm as if I were escorting her, she led me out of the studio. And as I stepped over the threshold into the hallway, my form shimmered and changed as I once again was no longer in my game avatar, but rather the schoolgirl-ish form apparently based on my hivatar. This time, however, rather than a blouse and a pleated skirt, I was wearing a blouse and a pair of pants: girls¡¯ pants, with a distinct lack of any pockets up front and only the tiniest of belt loops, but pants nonetheless. The braided leather belt accompanying it was almost more ornamental than functional.


    Seeing my startled look, Victoria smiled. ¡°I took a moment to adjust your ¡®formal attire¡¯ while you were modeling. We can talk about it over dessert; we¡¯re almost there. Take the next right, and it will be the third door on the left.¡±

 vol. 1: Waiting 3

    The place Victoria had in mind turned out to be a small malt shop, looking very close to what one would see in a movie or show set in the 1930s or ¡®40s. There was a long, white marble counter with a baker¡¯s dozen red-upholstered spinning stools, most of which were occupied. A gleaming chrome-and-red-plastic jukebox playing scratchy vinyl oldies stood at the far end of the counter. There were another dozen sweetheart chairs paired up around small, round tables Those tables were immaculate and topped with the same gleaming white marble as the counter was. And along the wall were a handful of booths that could sit four to six on a curved bench around a half-moon table. Two booths were occupied, with one having a barely visible, shimmering curtain of light surrounding the booth and occupants.


    Victoria noticed my gaze. ¡°Privacy screen,¡± she explained. ¡°Sometimes people will discuss work over a malt or soda, and a lot of that doesn¡¯t need to be heard by others. ¡®Need to know¡¯ and all that: finances, upcoming events, you know. Also personal matters. Some things are better discussed informally over ice cream rather than in some formal office setting.¡±


    Together, we went to one of the booths, the last in the line. As we were sitting, the first person (besides me) that I had seen not dressed as either a maid or butler appeared. She was an older woman¡ªmatronly, with grey hair, and with a faded beauty that suggested that she had been quite the head-turner in her youth. Her outfit was a simple yet stylish, deep pine green dress that reached just past her knees. ¡°Well, well, Victoria. It¡¯s been quite a while since I¡¯ve seen you last. And who is this with you?¡± She turned slightly to peer at me.


    ¡°This is the player of Madelyn Alexis, who is doing some modeling work for a project my department is running,¡± Victoria answered.


    ¡°Just ¡®Alexis¡¯ is fine,¡± I said. I mean, at this point, it was really a bit of ¡°When in Rome¡­.¡± True, this form didn¡¯t officially have a name beyond my own, not like my hivatar or game avatar, but I couldn¡¯t keep being referred to as ¡°the player of¡­¡± or some such. It was just unwieldy. And the ¡°Miss Starlight¡± I had been called the other day, based on my hivatar¡¯s name, was almost as awkward.


    ¡°So, Alexis, very nice to meet you. I¡¯m Megan, and I run this little establishment. Do you ladies know what you want, or shall I give you some time to decide?¡±


    ¡°Ummmm¡­.¡± Megan hadn¡¯t even given us menus. Nor was there a menu board and pricing list above the counter.


    ¡°If it¡¯s a malt, float, shake, or sundae, Megan can make it,¡± Victoria told me.


    ¡°In that case, how about a root beer float?¡± I said.


    When we were growing up, my twin and I hadn¡¯t had many desserts, maybe four or five times a month at most: pineapple chunks in orange jello typically; a scoop of ice cream and a slice or two of homemade pie for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter meals at my grandmother¡¯s place; or maaaybe a pastry cut in halves or thirds and shared around the table. However, it had been tradition that we would have floats on New Year¡¯s Eve when we had stayed up late to watch the Space Needle¡¯s televised fireworks.


    Like desserts, soda pop hadn¡¯t been common in our house. My mother had slowly sipped a diet cola every morning, but the only other soda pop in the house (except for New Year¡¯s) had been generic, store-brand, lemon-lime soda for when we were sick. As for the floats, when we were younger, my twin and I had prefered the sweeter sodas¡ªstrawberry for me and orange or grape for her¡ªbut from about sixth grade on, we had reverted to the family tradition.


    Therefore, a root beer float, to me, was the epitome of ¡®fancy dessert.¡¯ Lex and I still continued the New Year¡¯s tradition, but I did treat myself to one every now and then even without a holiday or special occasion to celebrate. Being rich, I could afford to, now.


    ¡°Sounds good. I¡¯ll have one, too,¡± Victoria added.


    Megan smiled, nodded, and returned to behind the counter. Before I could do more than look around a little bit and try to identify the song (or at least the singer) that the jukebox was playing, she was back again.


    Each float was served in a tall, fluted crystal cup that would have belonged in a museum or a millionaire collector¡¯s fancy china cabinet had they not been virtual. In addition to the floats, there were two tall uncorked bottles of root beer and a metal tin looking like a small, covered dairy bucket which turned out to contain extra ice cream. ¡°Here you go, ladies. Enjoy! Holler if you need anything else.¡± And Megan was gone again, back to shop¡¯s counter.


    ¡°Megan was one of the company¡¯s early efforts in AI, before we had the game world itself going. She doesn¡¯t like numbers, so she declined a role in managing the world and instead is apparently satisfied with designing and running this place. That dislike for numbers means that she doesn¡¯t even deal with pretend currency here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad she found something she liked to do, then. Math and management aren¡¯t for everyone.¡±


    Victoria nodded and between sips of our floats, we chatted a little about the early days of the game and its world. One thing I learned from her was that a lot of the background and lore of the world wasn¡¯t designed by any developer. Instead, they had cobbled together the geography of the world, set the conditions for several of the races and species, and then run the whole thing as a high-speed simulation, pausing from time to time to interfere with world events or rewinding the simulation to tweak parameters and set precursors for certain storylines: omens, disasters, legendary artifacts, half-forgotten heroes, and so on. It had taken several hundred runs through the simulation before they had gotten to a point where they were comfortable with using what developed as a starting point for the game.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    As a consequence of ECHO¡¯s procedurally generated history, there were innumerable things in the world and its background that weren¡¯t collated in an internal wiki or design document. Victoria mentioned, for instance, whole archipelagos of island ruins, testaments to lost civilizations, with plenty for folk to explore and discover. That type of beyond-the-horizon exploration was some of what she did when she was playing on her non-GM character.


    The conversation then drifted from past to present, and Victoria activated the privacy screen. Before I could raise a question¡ªindeed, before I could do much more than raise a brow¡ªshe said, ¡°So ¡­ Alexis ¡­,¡± and hesitated a moment, looking and sounding unusually reticent or maybe abashed. For a brief and uncertain moment, I half-harbored a thought that she was going to ask me out. Depending on one¡¯s point-of-view, this after-work meeting in a malt shop might already be counted as a date of sorts¡­.


    Then she continued speaking and I buried that half-formed impression and quarter-formed response. ¡°We¡ªthat is, mostly Gawain and Nazhai¡¯s folks¡ªlooked into the issues you had brought up as well as some other things that came about as a result of our investigation, and, well¡­. It seems you¡¯ve been hit with the short end of the stick, and we might need to rectify it.¡±


    With the abrupt change from my initial impression to her actual comment, my response wasn¡¯t particularly elegant: ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Mister Taylor,¡± she began with an unreadable expression, stressing the gendered title. ¡°You told us during the investigation that you hadn¡¯t actually chosen to play a Tauros character but felt constrained to keep her due to the bonuses that you had received. What you didn¡¯t tell us, but did tell your TEASE, was that not only were you not planning on playing a Tauros character, but also that you weren¡¯t planning on playing a female character. Correct?¡±


    ¡°Uhmmm¡­.¡± I could feel my cheeks burning red, and not even a sip from the root beer float could cool them. ¡°Yeah,¡± I answered softly. ¡° I didn¡¯t go into things planning on being a girl in the game. It sort of happened.¡±


    ¡°Or the home instance and your hivatar?¡± she inquired.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s different. I wasn¡¯t planning on it, either. I just wasn¡¯t specific enough, I guess, when I asked to be able to understand her language.¡±


    Victoria nodded and shrugged slightly. ¡°Well, okay. We¡¯ll come back to that in a moment. The important thing is ¡­ when you entered the tutorial as Madelyn Alexis, you hadn¡¯t been intending to do so, and you hadn¡¯t received a confirmation prompt, correct?¡±


    Nodding, I answered ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask what you would have made as your character?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think I was still completely decided yet between human¡ªfor the Adaptability racial¡ªor an Elf of some sort for their racial. Bonus experience gain and a free perk or bonus MP and a free spell both sounded good. I hadn¡¯t settled on a subrace, but probably the crafting humans, Acosazi were they? For the elves, maybe Wood Elves for the stealth or Sea Elves for, well, for the ocean. I¡¯m a coastal kid. Always have been and always will.¡±


    She smiled a little bit when I mentioned the Sea Elves. Perhaps that was the subrace of elf she was. ¡°And you would have been male?¡± She wasn¡¯t letting up on this line of questioning. Maybe it was cycling back to dating after all¡­.


    ¡°Yeah. Well, 99.44% yeah, anyway. Maybe if I had chosen an elf, I might have gone with ¡®one thing is different, why not two things, too?¡¯ on the spur of the moment. But it wasn¡¯t in the plan, no. At least, insomuch as I had a plan beyond agility and arrows.¡± My manly pride would have taken a hit on that admission, even if I had fudged the numbers a bit upward, but it was still in shock at having had fun at the modeling session. I could imagine it with the swirling stars icon of being stunned.


    Victoria nodded to herself, as if my response had confirmed her expectations.


    ¡°So to lay it out, here¡¯s what we found,¡± she said. ¡°You should have received a confirmation prompt before loading into the tutorial as Madelyn Alexis. Your AI assistant suppressed that prompt, somehow. She shouldn¡¯t have had the authority to do so, and that is still being investigated, but she explained to us that she did so for your benefit. She could see the queue and knew that if you entered it about the time you did, you¡¯d be the 50,000th created character. Actually, you would have been the 49,979th created character, but she delayed your insertion into the queue to just the right moment.¡±


    I sat back, somewhat stunned. ¡°You¡¯re saying that I shouldn¡¯t have been made a Heroine?¡± Well, she was saying more than that, but if I hadn¡¯t had that¡ªand a few other things, true¡ªthen I could have logged out and recreated a different character with no problems.


    Victoria waggled a hand, ¡°Yes and no. You would not have been the 50,000th, but if you had made the character you wanted and logged in with him, who knows if you would have been maybe the 80,000th or something. Also, to clarify, we¡¯re not saying you cheated, Mister Taylor.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for that.¡± It was still weird being called ¡®Mister Taylor¡¯. Besides being a girl at the moment, I was half-expecting Noabelle to come in and protest that it should be ¡®Uncle¡¯ instead¡ªor maybe ¡®Auntie,¡¯ considering how I currently appeared. Sitting up straight again, and leaning forward a little, I asked, ¡°but what about the person who should have been number 50,000?¡±


    ¡°I can set your mind at ease on that. The player deleted his character after about fifteen minutes of playing in the tutorial and hasn¡¯t yet recreated one. So it¡¯s not like he¡¯s missing what he could have had.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Victoria continued. ¡°That¡¯s neither here nor there at the moment. The point is that the other things, the compensation ring, the Image is Everything achievement, and so on ¡­ those should have, maybe with GM help, been able to be moved to a new character if you had deleted Madelyn Alexis and restarted. If you hadn¡¯t been a Heroine, they shouldn¡¯t have been what were keeping you as a character you hadn¡¯t intended to play. But honestly, if things had gone as they were supposed to have, you wouldn¡¯t have been in that situation, and you would have received the ring and cheevo on the character you had actually intended to play.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying¡­?¡± I prompted.


    She took another sip of her float, set it down, and looked me in the eye. ¡°Because of the circumstances surrounding your situation, Heraldic Echo will allow you to delete and recreate your character. You¡¯ll keep your achievements, perks, and so on¡ªincluding credit for slaying Sar¡¯Glagalth¡ªbut your inventory will be partially reset. Unless you want to keep the new clothes you bought, they¡¯ll be removed and your money returned. You don¡¯t have to return to the tutorial, and you can choose a new starting location if you like.¡±


    Wide-eyed, I sat back in the booth again as I processed the offer Victoria had just made.

 vol. 1: Choices

    I couldn¡¯t immediately answer; I had to think about it. And in the end,  it was that hesitation that made my decision clear. ¡°If you had asked me before yesterday,¡± I began, ¡°the answer would have been ¡®yes.¡¯¡± I topped off my float with more rootbeer, spooned up some of the fizz it generated, and glanced at the maid-clad GM to my side. ¡°I mean, keeping what I was afraid to lose, and getting to restart with a new character¡ªone designed with the intent to be it, and one whose racial abilities support how I think I would play¡ªthat¡¯s not a bad deal.¡±


    I paused slightly for another sip of my float. ¡°And yet ¡­ And yet, it is. Because now there¡¯s other things to lose besides unique achievements. I¡¯ve made friends, already.¡± To be fair, Tabitha, Abigail, and Gabrielle were probably more like proto-friends since we hadn¡¯t played together all that much, but certain experiences¡ªin games or in real life¡ªdo tend to tie people together more closely and quickly than they otherwise might have been. And in this game, in this virtual reality, the lines between gaming and living were somewhat blurred.


    And I didn¡¯t really make friends all that easily, at least not close friendships. Besides Michelle, and of course my twin, there really hadn¡¯t been that many others. Noabelle, if she counts. Jacobi and Caroline at college (I wonder if either of them play), though neither were quite at the same level of closeness as my twin or even Michelle. But in fairness, a couple years at college doesn¡¯t nearly have the length of the other relationships. Mostly, however, my friends had been people I had studied with or gamed with. But while we were friendly, I wouldn¡¯t have called them close friends. With me being more than a bit of a homebody, I hadn¡¯t been in the social scene in school or in college, so parties and other typical college events weren¡¯t prominent in my school history.


    Something about the ghost and twins though suggested that they could become part of that small circle. That was something that I didn¡¯t want to give up.


    Victoria placed a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t have to choose a new starting location, and you could still meet up or group up with your friends.¡±


    I shook my head, ponytail swishing as I did so. ¡°Yes, but ¡­ it wouldn¡¯t be the same; the dynamic would be different. And¡­,¡± and how would it affect Tabitha and her backstory? She¡¯d lose her ¡°Little Sister,¡± and while the GMs could probably reset that for her too, so she wouldn¡¯t have the debuff applied for me not being around, it would be bound to color her experience with the game.


    As if reading my mind, Victoria said, ¡°You should choose for yourself, not for consideration of others. ECHO is intended for players to be able to be what they want to be. Not what they think they need to be.¡±


    Again, I shook my head. ¡°Maybe, but if I chose selfishly, I wouldn¡¯t be being what I want to be. And I think the game is more about discovery than it is about being, yes?¡±


    ¡°You may have a point,¡± she said.


    ¡°And, well, it¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t played a girl character before. My last three or four mains in other games were female¡ªone of which was because the race I wanted was female only. Sure, there¡¯s a huge difference between on screen and in VR, but¡­.¡± I paused, not really wanting to discuss all the times I had been talked into masquerading as my sister or the two times I had participated in Crossdress Day during Spirit Week. With a slight shrug, I continued, skipping over my pre-college days. ¡°And I took some drama courses in college. Once, I ended up playing Lady Rosaline in an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet.¡±


    Granted, that¡¯s because the person who was supposed to play her had been in a car wreck. Nothing fatal or even serious, just a couple broken bones, but between those and shattered nerves, she wasn¡¯t up for playing the part and dropped the class. Her first understudy had already picked up the role of Lady Capulet and her second understudy had been put on financial suspension and wasn¡¯t allowed to attend classes. Everyone else who could possibly have done the role already had a speaking part, so it had fallen to a very reluctant me.


    ¡°I guess,¡± I began and then paused slightly, looking for the right words, admitting aloud what I hadn¡¯t even yet fully admitted to myself. ¡°I guess it isn¡¯t so much that I mind playing a girl character as it is that I think I should mind it. Thank you for the offer, but I think I will choose to stay with my character. Sometimes, things don¡¯t always happen as planned, but if everything occurred exactly as planned, what¡¯s the point of even playing? It wouldn¡¯t be a game ¡­ it would be a, a spreadsheet.


    ¡°I mean, when I went into things, I hadn¡¯t planned on having a spell at all, at least, not unless I chose an elf, but Mistshard has been very helpful and I¡¯ve already chosen skills to support it, building a bit as the archery equivalent of a spellsword rather than a pure agility bow user.¡±


    Finishing up, I shrugged. ¡°And besides all that, I made a commitment not just to my new friends. I made a commitment to you and the company. You all have already sent out the pods to Michelle and Heather, so I need to hold up my end of the bargain, too. Plus,¡± I blushed a little, ¡°like you made me admit earlier, I actually had fun today. So ¡­ I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    Victoria placed a hand on my shoulder. ¡°If you ever need someone to talk to, send a message. My character¡¯s nowhere near yours in the gameworld, but as a GM, I can visit your home instance, or you can come here. I can¡¯t say I know exactly what you¡¯re going through, but one of the reasons I got in early with supporting the company is because I¡¯m able to be as Victoria, and as my character, what I cannot in the real world.¡±


    Continuing, she said, ¡°Times were different when I was your age, and options that exist now didn¡¯t exist then. Now, it¡¯s too late for me except in virtual reality. I don¡¯t promise to have answers; sometimes there are no answers except what you discover for yourself. But I can promise to make time to listen and be a comforting shoulder if you need.¡±


    We talked for some time longer, much like I had with Sunrise Sparkle, but with a more equal balance of who was speaking when. Moving from root beer floats to strawberry sundaes, to a giant old-fashioned banana split that we shared, and finally to an iced coffee creation that Megan herself had suggested.


    During our free-ranging conversation, I learned a fair bit about Victoria¡¯s childhood and the trials and tribulations she had gone through from a very early age, knowing that Daniel¡ªher birth name¡ªhadn¡¯t wanted to be a boy or grow up to be a man. She hadn¡¯t had a choice, though: the attitudes and culture of society at that time made my mother¡¯s insistence on my sister¡¯s compliance with dresses and long hair seem almost progressive in comparison.


    We also talked about what I had skipped over earlier, about Spirit Weeks and the almost annual masquerading as my sister. Besides that one Easter and school photos, there had been a couple Disney Princess costumes for different Halloweens. Many, of course, my twin hadn¡¯t been able to escape since we had been young enough that my mother had dressed her.


    I hadn¡¯t ever made a fuss about things quite the way Lex had, but I generally hadn¡¯t been keen on my mother¡¯s choices for costumes or formal attire, either. I had never liked ties since they had reminded me of leashes, but as a young boy I had also not been happy with being Aladdin or Prince Charming to my sister¡¯s Jasmine or Snow White. Strangely, my mother had not seen it odd to dress up brother and sister as a fairy tale couple.


    It wasn¡¯t that I had preferred the princess gowns. I guess I had just not disliked them to the same extent as my sister had.


    I guess it was more because at that age, I hadn¡¯t liked playing dress up and pretending to be someone else. It wasn¡¯t just the costumes, but also the little kids suits and ties had made me feel like I had needed to pretend to be a grown-up, then. I hadn¡¯t wanted to be anyone else; I had just wanted to be me.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Well, except for the one year I had apparently thrown a massive temper tantrum because I wanted to be a bunny rabbit for Halloween and couldn¡¯t. I don¡¯t recall it myself, but certainly had heard it brought up several times; it was part of ¡°family history.¡±


    As I grew older, I learned to appreciate the value and even fun in playing a role, whether for drama, tabletop role-playing games, or¡ªyes¡ªeven those times for Spirit Week. Role-play, of course, is an important aspect in early childhood education, so it had been part of my official studies even. Of course, as children, no one thinks of cops-and-robbers, house, or even toy trucks and EZ-Bake Ovens as roleplaying, but by putting themselves in another¡¯s shoes (sometimes even literally), children are developing important skills such as empathy, logic, tact, and even authority.


    Eventually, though, our wide-ranging conversation and dessert selections came to an end. It was a very good thing that Megan didn¡¯t charge and an even better thing that the virtual desserts had no caloric value. ¡°Don''t¡¯ try this in game, though,¡± Victoria said as she pointed to the assorted bowls and glasses. ¡°Player satiety isn¡¯t implemented yet, but your diet can affect your character¡¯s appearance. Of course, most players are active enough that a day or two of over-eating won¡¯t have long-term effects, but tummy-ache debuffs are nothing to laugh at!¡±


    ¡°And speaking of active, all this sitting and talking following all that standing still and holding poses probably has you ready to run and jump and play, so I shouldn¡¯t keep you any longer ¡­,¡± she winked, ¡°... today.¡±


    I glanced at the kitschy clock behind the counter and slightly frowned. According to it, either fifteen minutes had passed, or twelve hours and fifteen minutes. It hadn¡¯t seemed like we were sitting and talking that long, but it was also surely much longer than a quarter of an hour. If nothing else, the sheer amount of sweets we had consumed couldn¡¯t have been gone through that quickly.


    Victoria noticed the direction of my glance and smothered a giggle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we haven¡¯t been here as long as you think. I shouldn¡¯t tell you this, but since you¡¯re going to be in and out of our offices for projects and hopefully visits and chats, you¡¯ll continue to encounter it. Time flows differently here than it does in the gameworld or the real world. It¡¯s how we¡¯re able to get so  much work done and still have time to play our characters. Between modeling and dessert, what may have seemed like half a day was only¡­.¡±


    She paused and glanced upward, perhaps at part of her interface, ¡°... about an hour of ¡®real¡¯ time. You¡¯ve still got plenty of time left in the day!¡±


    ¡°H-How?¡± I was stunned.


    Victoria shrugged. ¡°A lot of the really high-tech stuff seems like magic to me. The way it was explained to me¡­. Have you ever had a dream that seemed like it covered days or months even? Or been in a boring lecture or meeting that every minute felt like an eternity? Perception of time can vary; the mind works in various ways. Since virtual reality is basically using the mind and not the body, we can exploit that variable perception of time. Up to a limit, anyways. That¡¯s both in duration and in speed. Forcing the mind to process information too fast for too long seems potentially unhealthy.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you don¡¯t use it in the game?¡± I asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°Actually, we do, just a very little bit. I¡¯m sure you noticed how time seemed to flow differently during the activation of you Hidden Nature racial. It¡¯s also how spells like Haste and Slow, or whatever they¡¯re actually called, work. And it¡¯s used in some instances. We¡¯ve also got an event planned in a month or two that will use it.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­.¡± I prompted.


    ¡°How long were you out of the game after you finally finished the tutorial?¡± she asked. ¡°How long between logging out and logging back in?¡±


    ¡°I ¡­ Hmm, twelve, thirteen hours. Half a day at least,¡± I replied. ¡°I way overslept. Well, I had stayed up way too late, too.¡±


    ¡°If we ran at near what the technical team decided was the maximum safe speed, people who had stayed in wouldn¡¯t just be hours ahead of you ¡­ they¡¯d literally have had weeks, about a month, more play time. That would set you back quite a bit. It also would make it hard for people with different schedules to play together. Plus, we don¡¯t think players are quite ready to eat and sleep and all that in the game, either. Well, since we haven¡¯t implemented player satiety, we¡¯re not ready for them to do that yet, as well.¡±


    I thought about that a moment. If Abby and Gabby had to miss a day of playing due to a doctor¡¯s appointment, but Tabitha and I had kept playing ¡­ it might have been hard for us to resume playing together as a group. If nothing else, the level disparity might have made things different, but hooking up with people you only met briefly a month ago¡­? Groups and guilds all over would have had problems with that.


    ¡°That makes sense. Then why here and now?¡± I still had questions.


    ¡°Well,¡± Victoria began, ¡°being the head of Marketing is a full-time job, and plenty of other people on the team work quite a bit more than I do: the technical folk, for instance, or some of the stats and analysis team. Player relations would need a much larger staff to handle all they need to handle. Running the offices at higher relative speed lets us put in ten to twelve hours of work and still have plenty of time to play our characters as well.¡± She smiled, ¡°Even staff who weren¡¯t big on video games before have found themselves playing a lot more than they had expected.¡±


    Then she shrugged, ¡°Really, the only time we cannot use it is when the Director is involved. He doesn¡¯t log in, so we cannot hold meetings in accelerated time if he¡¯s involved.¡±


    ¡°Um, doesn¡¯t it seem like something like that would be useful for more than just a game. Meaning no disrespect or anything, but I¡¯m sure colleges would love it. Actually, couldn¡¯t just about anyone use more time in the day?¡±


    Victoria nodded. ¡°We¡¯re actually in ongoing discussions with the government and academia, but I really can¡¯t talk about that in detail. I¡¯ve probably told you more than I should, already¡­¡± She started to look a little concerned.


    ¡°Maybe I should sign an NDA for all that, then?¡± I suggested.


    She visibly brightened. ¡°Would you? It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, and it¡¯s not that you wouldn¡¯t have figured out some of it on your own anyway once you logged out and realized that the modeling didn¡¯t take nearly as long as it seemed, but ¡­ well ¡­ I¡¯m sure our lawyers would appreciate it.


    * * *


    One NDA, a promise to meet again in a couple days for a continuation of the modeling work, a very sisterly hug, and a brief time later, I was back in Echeirn. I had gone straight to the game world from the offices, bypassing my home instance since I still wanted to mull things over before talking with Jasmine and her role in all this.


    Since we had spoken to the gate guards, T¡¯Dhii and T¡¯Dhum, yesterday when returning to town, completing the quest to find Abby and Gabby, I headed toward the eastern gate out of town. It¡¯s where the guards had suggested as being more suitable when they had initially warned us that outside Echeirn to the west was possibly too dangerous. Since I was going to do a little bit of practicing¡ªmy archery definitely needed improvement!¡ªa solo-friendly environment might be better than trying to deal with the Boartles, Rosewhips, and other monsters out the western gate.


    Readying my bow, I paused before heading out to the more tame eastern lands. There was still something I needed to get done sooner, rather than later. Opening my character sheet, I brought up my list of skills: Archery, Gathering, and Spellcasting with one unselected for primary skills. Dagger, Dodge, Stealth, and Meditation for secondary skills.


    Focusing on that unselected spot, I searched for the skill I wanted. It wasn¡¯t Cartography; Gabby had that and a few other only-need-one-per-group skills as her secondary skills. It also wasn¡¯t Dance (either of them) that Tabitha had suggested.


    Instead, I chose Gymnastics (C/A). Abby¡¯s Acrobatics skill had definitely been useful for her in the big fight even if she had it as a secondary skill that didn¡¯t boost her attributes. That mobility would suit me as well, especially if I ever needed to try and dodge-roll out of the way of an attack again. I rubbed my shoulder, remembering how I failed that maneuver against the skeletal mage in the tutorial.


    I chose Gymnastics over Acrobatics for two reasons.


    First, an acrobat¡ªto me anyway¡ªalways called to mind the trapeze and other high-flying circus stunts, and that¡¯s kind of what Abby had done in the fight, getting up to and balancing on that Gigantic Devouring Rosewhip¡¯s tendrils to finish freeing her friend. Gymnastics, to me, was more tumbling, jumping, and flexibility. Sure, that impression was primarily formed from watching highlights from the Olympics, or from Michelle¡¯s cheerleading practices, but that sort of mobility would suit me better than airborne maneuvers. I wasn¡¯t a faerie in the gameworld, after all!


    The second reason I chose Gymnastics was for the attributes. Like Acrobatics and several other skills, it boosted both Charisma and Agility. I had considered something for Brilliance or Willpower, a skill to support my spellcasting, but I was an archer first and a quote-unquote mage (with only two spells so far) second. Even with Agility secondary on Gymnastics, in contrast to Acrobatics, it would support me as an archer or when I needed to fall back to using my dagger.


    Agility was for the archer in me. Charisma was for the me in me. Whatever outer shell I might have in physical or virtual reality, the inner self was still the same.


    ~~~~~ End of Volume One ~~~~~

 vol. 1: Dramatis Personae

    The Twins:


    Alexander Lynn Taylor (Lexy/Alexis): Protagonist, and somewhat androgynous younger twin brother to Alexandra Lynn Taylor. Player of Madelyn Alexis. A young man, newly idle rich, with an interest in video games, stuffed animals, and bunny rabbits. Introverted and a homebody, makes few friends but those he does tend to be very close friends indeed. Studied early childhood education in college and volunteers at the local library.


    Alexandra Lynn Taylor (Lex/Luther): Older twin sister to Alexis. Very much a tomboy when she was growing up, hated dresses and having to have long hair. Athletic, with a penchant for exploration. Also plays ECHO, but her character hasn¡¯t been discussed in detail. Studied physical education in college and volunteers at the local swimming pool.


    Party Members:


    Madelyn Alexis: Young, extremely cute Beastkin (Tauros subrace) character of Alexis. Character 50,000 and thus one of twenty Chrysanthemum Heroes or Heroines in the game. Archery-focused spellcaster with high charisma.


    Tabitha (Tabby): Attractive, Undead (Ghost subrace) character of Meredith. Comes to the aid of Madelyn Alexis after the Tauros enters the gameworld. Her character¡¯s backstory is that she was a princess who died while looking for her younger sister. Considers Madelyn Alexis as a possible surrogate sister. Uses Restoration and Summoning magic.


    Abigail (Abby): Young, hyper Elf (Ria¡¯Dine subrace) character of Ginny. Appears to be almost an identical twin with Gabrielle. Uses Air Elemental magic and a variety of support buffs.


    Gabrielle (Gabby): Young, shy Faetouched (Tallemaja subrace) character of Allison. Appears to be almost an identical twin with Abigail. Defense-oriented character using a wooden sword and shield. Rescued by Madelyn Alexis and Tabitha.


    Tamakotz: Earth elemental who serves as the summoned guardian of Tabitha.


    Real World People:


    Allison: Friend of Ginny and player of Gabrielle. It was her idea to make their characters children in the game.


    Angela: High school cheerleader during Alexis¡¯s senior year. Dating a girl.


    Caroline: College friend of Alexis.


    Carrie Wirkkala: Assistant librarian and single mother to Noabelle. Five years older than Alexis.


    Cecily: High school cheerleader during Alexis¡¯s senior year.


    Coach McNarma: High school coach during Alexis¡¯s senior year.


    Dan Westbrook: Executive Vice President of Marketing and Operations. His GM character is Victoria Delacroix, a vaguely piratical elf with an outfit that¡¯s more gothic lolita than true maid. His player character is Natalya Mistsworn.


    Ginny: Seventeen-year-old player of Abigail. It was her idea to make their characters ¡°sisters¡± in the game.


    Hannah Mary Taylor: Alexis¡¯s and Lex¡¯s mother. Never named directly. Died of cancer before the start of the story. Single mother with very traditional gender expectations for her twin children.


    Heather Lopez: Lex¡¯s best friend and even more of an outdoorsy/explorer type. Keen interest in caverns and mountaineering.


    Jacobi: College friend of Alexis.


    Janet: See Nazhai (Other Player Characters and GM Avatars).


    Jeffrey Farseer: High school defensive lineman and debate club captain. Boyfriend of Tanika.


    Katelyn: High school cheerleader during Alexis¡¯s senior year. Red hair.


    Meredith: Player of Tabitha. Older woman with no sisters, nieces, or daughters of her own.


    Michelle Suomela: Alexis¡¯s childhood friend and high school girlfriend. A bit bookish with an interest in film and drama. High school cheerleader. Alexis and Michelle technically broke up when they went to different colleges but remain best friends and communicate almost daily. Has an older brother.


    Miguel Alphonso: Lead Programmer for Heraldic Echo.


    Mr. Schenk: Homeroom teacher during Alexis¡¯s senior year.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Mrs. Beard (mentioned, never seen): Town librarian. Elderly.


    Noabelle Wirkkala: Extremely energetic, first-grade student who has adopted Alexis as ¡°Uncle Taylor.¡± Daughter of the assistant librarian, so she¡¯s always at the library when Alexis volunteers. Likes to illustrate the stories that Uncle Taylor tells.


    Tanika: High school cheerleader during Alexis¡¯s senior year. Girlfriend of Jeffrey Farseer.


    Tara: High school cheerleader during Alexis¡¯s senior year. Buxom.


    Victor Sonovich (Director): Head of the Heraldic Echo company. Does not enter virtual reality but appears as a televised presence during staff meetings.


    Other Player Characters and GM Avatars:


    Ben d¡¯Overan-Tayket: Challenges Stegnar Rockbottom to a duel after being rebuffed by Tabitha and Madelyn Alexis. Loses.


    Gawain: GM character of the Head of Security. Real name and identity is unknown to even high-ranking GM and staff members. ¡°One scary dude.¡±


    Jacqueline Spellsworn: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines.


    Jaymee: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines.


    Jazzybelle Ten¡¯kage: An elf and apparent cheater whose victory over the final tutorial encounter was shown at a GM staff meeting. Probably banned as a result. Uses Darkness magic.


    Johannes: Statistics and Analysis staff member, his GM and player avatars are both Tauros. His player character is a village blacksmith and he went through the non-combat route of the tutorial.


    Leanna Sidhe: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines.


    Lukas: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines.


    Lynica: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines. Perhaps a future rival to Madelyn Alexis.


    Melody: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines.


    Mona: Character briefly mentioned in a conversation between Victoria Delacroix and Nazhai. Would apparently look good in a pink-and-white version of Victoria¡¯s dress, as would Madelyn Alexis.


    Mystarian: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines.


    Natalya Mistsworn: Non-GM player character of Victoria Delacroix. Pirate and Seamstress.


    Nazhai: GM and head of Player Relations. Her avatar is a Beastkin (Nekoun subrace). Her real world name is Janet. At her insistence, GM and staff avatars are dressed as maids or butlers to remind them that they serve the players and are not ¡°over¡± them like gods and goddesses.


    Stegnar Rockbottom: Dwarven player. Taunts someone harassing Madelyn Alexis and wins a duel. Forms a group with other players who were discomforted by their parties¡¯ treatment of Madelyn Alexis.


    Talos: GM character who appears as an aged, grey-furred Ratkin (Lesser Beastkin archetype and not available for player characters). Head of Instanced Content and Encounter Design. One of four GMs, along with Gawain, Victoria Delacroix, and Nazhai, who interviews Madelyn Alexis about her tutorial victory over Sar¡¯Glagalth.


    Tatebayashi Yumeko: One of the twenty chosen Chrysanthemum Heroes/Heroines.


    Victoria Delacroix: GM Avatar of Dan Westbrook As head of Marketing and Operations, proposes to use Madelyn Alexis as a mascot character for the game. Her outfit tends more toward gothic lolita than true maid, and she seems a little obsessed with dressing up cute girls in cute outfits.


    Xinonalaya: First character to reach level five.


    AIs and NPCs:


    Aurora (aka Mediator Aurora and Aurora Gamma): Advanced AI in charge of many game features. In her aspect as Aurora Gamma, attends staff meetings with the developers. In her aspect as Mediator Aurora, handles many things related to game stability and gameworld development.


    Jasmine: Mischievous AI assistant for Alexis. Her form is that of a winged mermaid. Manages the home instance and all the behind-the-scenes stuff like messages and inventory for Madelyn Alexis.


    Light of the Three Moons on the Beach of the Silver Lagoon; Jasmine and Lily Fragrances on the Evening Breeze: See Jasmine


    ¡°Madame¡±: Elfin owner of the dress shop Tabitha takes Madelyn Alexis to. Her name hasn¡¯t been given.


    Megan: One of the early AIs developed by the company, she disliked numbers and math, so declined a role in the game world. Manages a virtual reality ¡°malt shop¡± in the virtual offices. She appears as an older, but still attractive, woman with grey hair and a green dress.


    Qrilli: Older dwarven shopkeeper in Echerin. Sells bags and boxes out of a shop called Bags and Boxes. Frequently quotes his grandmother.


    Ramantia: Young elfin assistant shopkeeper in Echeirn. Daughter of the owner of the dress shop Tabitha takes Madelyn Alexis to. Better with the business aspect than the crafting aspect.


    Sar¡¯Glagalth, Guardian of Stone, Destroyer of Nations: One of six possible final bosses for the tutorial instance. Appears as a gigantic stone centaur. Defeated by Madelyn Alexis.


    Skri¡¯ki¡¯kikikt: Ratkin Ratmancer and Scholar in the tutorial instance.


    Sunrise Sparkle: An elemental faerie (Ellione, light-based) who serves as a Tutorial Experience And Starting Expert and guides Madelyn Alexis in the tutorial instance. Had bad experiences with previous players. Enjoys blackberries.


    T¡¯Dhii: Gate guard at the western gate out of Echerin. Offers Madelyn Alexis and Tabitha a quest to find Abby and Gabby.


    T¡¯Dhum: Gate guard at the western gate out of Echeirn. Offers Madelyn Alexis and Tabitha a quest to find Abby and Gabby.


    Tiabeth, Guardian of Light, Shield of the Righteous: One of six possible final bosses for the tutorial instance. Appears as a gigantic unicorn. Defeated, unfairly, by Jazzybelle Ten¡¯kage.


    Tiamana: Young elfin assistant shopkeeper in Echeirn. Daughter of the owner of the dress shop Tabitha takes Madelyn Alexis to. Assists Madelyn Alexis in finding a new outfit to replace the starter outfit.


    Miscellaneous:


    Annabelle: Fictitious human girl in a story that Alexis told to Noabelle.


    Miss Starlight: Unofficial name given to Alexis¡¯s non-player avatar when in the virtual reality offices.


    Starlight: Another name for Alexis¡¯s hivatar form.


    Starlight and Moonlight Playing on the White Sands at the Horizon of Sea and Sky: name that Jasmine gives to Alexis¡¯s hivatar form.


    Princess Starlight: Fictitious mermaid princess in a story that Alexis told to Noabelle.


    And assorted unnamed AIs, NPCs, GMs, player characters, and people.

 vol. 2: Prologue

    Michelle sadly smiled to herself as she re-read the three emails for perhaps the hundredth time. By now, she had practically memorized them, which, given her background in drama and the fact that she herself had written one of the three, wasn¡¯t necessarily surprising.


    The first was short, and with its ¡°[ECHO] Congratulations, Traveller! You are one of our 50,000 lucky winners!¡± subject line, she had been a little surprised to see it past her account¡¯s anti-spam feature. Before she could flag it as spam, however, the significance of the bracketed word had caught up to her, and trembling slightly, she popped the message open:


    Dear Michelle Suomela:


    Congratulations! Your entry into Heraldic Echo¡¯s launch giveaway was drawn from the proverbial hat. You have been selected to receive, free of charge, one state-of-the-art Full Immersion Virtual Reality (FIVR) pod and a five-year game subscription to Elemental Chrysanthemum Homeland Online.


    In order to receive your FIVR pod and access to a whole new world, please contact our offices via email at [email protected]</a> or phone at (555) 555-3246 to arrange delivery.


    Once again, Congratulations, and enjoy your visits to Se¡¯Terra¡¯Kai!


    Sincerely,


    Nahonia


    Heraldic Echo, office administration AI


    (Please note that this email address is monitored by an artificial intelligence. All replies to this email address will be initially processed by artificial intelligence and may not be directed to natural intelligence.)


    She had entered the giveaway because Alexander had. Or, more precisely, because he had told her that he and his sister were going to play, that he was going to buy the FIVR pods. While the days of snuggling up together on the couch and playing video games or watching indie films were now several years gone, she had gambled on a chance to be with him again, even if only in a game.


    The smile was sad, because even though their romance had only lasted the couple years from his sixteenth birthday until the summer after graduation, Michelle still harbored decidedly more-than-friendly feelings toward him.


    It had been her suggestion to end the romance, and they had split amicably¡ªremaining best friends, even. She had suggested it because the two of them were headed off to different cities and different colleges. It had been an ¡°if you love someone, let them go¡± sort of situation.


    But what did it mean if the person never really fully left?


    They had talked, or texted, or emailed almost every day throughout college. It hadn¡¯t just been ¡°How was your day?¡± or ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe what just happened,¡± but it was also the sharing of hopes and fears, of dreams and worries¡ªalmost everything. In her heart of hearts, however, Michelle kept buried the fact that she had never stopped loving him.


    Christmas came, then Spring Break, and then the summer after the first semester. Alexander hadn¡¯t come home to the Peninsula that year at all. Not that he technically had a home there, anymore. His childhood house had been sold and his mother had moved into a smaller apartment with barely room enough for her. But more than that, he had a job and never could get time off. His financial aid wasn¡¯t sufficient, and unlike Michelle, his family hadn¡¯t had the money to support him and his sister at school. Consequently, college was taking him and his sister twice as long as it should have taken with none of the breaks and holidays it should have offered.


    And the one time he had come home was for his mother¡¯s funeral, five years ago. If ever there was a situation completely unsuitable for seeing if the spark was still there, that was it.


    Nevertheless, they had stayed close, and with that Michelle had had to be content¡ªeven when he had briefly dated a college classmate of his. Never once had she let show a hint of the heartbreak she had felt when she had realized that the secret love she still had for him might no longer be reciprocated. And even more, she kept bottled up the secret and shameful rejoicing when the fling hadn¡¯t worked out. Had he been unconsciously comparing Caroline to Michelle?This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    And even then, in truly Alexander fashion, he and Caroline had remained friends. The chemistry hadn¡¯t been there, but they could sit in a coffee house for hours and talk about homework and class projects. Michelle had been jealous of that, too, since all her communication had necessarily been at a distance.


    But now Alexander had moved back to the Peninsula, and she was the one that couldn¡¯t go back. Not because of college, since she had completed her Master¡¯s, and not because of work, since she was between gigs, but because¡­.


    Because now he and his sister were millionaires.


    What would it look like if she came running back to him, now, after all these years?


    Never in a million years would Alexander think it was money motivating her to try and resume their romance. Nor would his twin sister ever consider it. Michelle was pretty sure her own family would understand: she and Alexander had been nigh inseparable before their romance and even more so during it. If a girl could love someone when he had been dirt poor, she could love him when he was filthy rich, too.


    And she generally didn¡¯t care what other people thought, either. No, what was stopping Michelle was herself. She knew she still loved him ¡­ and knew that she had never stopped loving him. But why was now acceptable when one year ago hadn¡¯t been, or three years ago, or five, or seven? They may have had to have gone to different colleges, but that hadn¡¯t required that they go to college in different cities. Michelle could have gone with her third choice, in Seattle, instead of her first or second choices further away. Even if she had gone to school in California or New York, she could have gone to him for class or semester breaks, rather than hoping that he¡¯d come home to the Peninsula like she had.


    She had chosen not to. She had told herself that she was giving him freedom to decide, out in the real world and big city away from the small towns of home. But had she really been giving him freedom or had she been trying to see if lack of fuel could cause the fires within her heart to die down? To give herself freedom?


    Michelle didn¡¯t have an answer to that. She didn¡¯t even know how to begin to answer that. So even though she could go back home and back to him ¡­ she didn¡¯t. Not now. She couldn¡¯t.


    But if they could be together without being together, would that work as a buffer? Playing together in a game that was more than a game. Being friends and ¡­ more than friends again? Being together but without the actual physical proximity that could complicate things?


    With a deep sigh, she pushed herself away from her computer desk. Enough! Enough with the moping and self-recriminations and self-doubt. She didn¡¯t need to re-read her carefully crafted, seemingly casual and excited email to him mentioning that she had won and could play with him. She didn¡¯t need to re-read his response, talking a little about the game and a lot about the friends he had already made, and how she would probably like all three.


    His friends were all girls, which had evinced more than a twinge of jealousy when she had first read it. But on subsequent re-reading, it became clear that none of them were likely to become more than friends, not unless one of the three was more than she seemed. A healer, who treated Alexander as a younger sibling, and two twin girls who had made their game characters children, or at least childlike. One was specializing in defense and the other in support. And as children or childlike characters, they were no more romantic rivals than Noabelle was.


    Of himself, Alexander had said little other than he was learning archery and having problems with it. He had hinted at something that ¡°might be surprising¡± and had told her that his group was operating out of a town called Echeirn, one of the places she could choose to start in after the tutorial. He had told her, ¡°If you choose to start there, we¡¯d love to have you in our group, but there¡¯s lot of other places you can start at if you want. Alexandra started in a place called Water¡¯s Edge.¡±


    He had said ¡°love.¡± Did that mean¡­? Did that suggest¡­? Did he still¡­?


    No. Enough. She would keep that buried and not pressure him this time, not make the first move¡ªat least, not right away. She had waited three years before, from the time she had become aware of her feelings until the time he had turned sixteen and been allowed to date. She could wait three more years, if necessary. She had to understand herself, first.


    But while waiting, she could continue to be his friend in-game and out. She could support his group and friends, at least when she wasn¡¯t working or looking for work.


    To do that, though, she needed to know more about the game and that type of game in general. What sort of person would be needed in that sort of group, what sort of skills or spells would fill the niches and make them more successful? What sort of player should she be? Drama was her passion, she could fit herself into any role needed.


    To answer those questions, she could turn to the internet. By now there was enough information about the game¡ªand that type of game in general¡ªthat there would be some answers she could find.


    If only the internet held answers for questions of the heart as well.

 vol. 2: Little Reunion

    I had barely been in the game more than five minutes on my third day of non-tutorial play when I was tackled from behind by a youthful bundle of sugar rush. It wasn¡¯t quite a hug and it wasn¡¯t quite a give-me-a-piggy-back-ride, but it was somewhere in between.


    ¡°Yay! Lexy, you¡¯re here!¡± Abby let go of me and walked, almost marched, around to in front of me and continued speaking. ¡°And how come you didn¡¯t tell us you were a movie star!?¡± the young elf demanded.


    ¡°Um? Huh?¡± Whatever I had been expecting as a greeting¡ªand the kinda-tackle, kinda-hug was close¡ªthat question hadn¡¯t been anywhere near any list.


    ¡°What Gin¡ª, um Abby means is the game¡¯s trailer.¡± Approaching at a more sedate pace, the young Faetouched ¡°identical twin¡± to Abby interpreted her sister¡¯s question. ¡°While we were at the hospital, waiting for her appointment, we spent a lot of time on her tablet, looking at the game¡¯s site. She thinks you are the girl in the trailer.¡± She looked me up and down, ¡°And I think, maybe, you look a lot like her, even if the clothes are different.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I admitted, ¡°it is me. They made that video to help prove I wasn¡¯t cheating and then asked permission to use it for promotional purposes.¡± The two girls looked at me with shining eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a long story. I can explain more later, if you like, once Tabitha is here, too.¡±


    ¡°Can you show us your big form!? That was so cool, it was like ¡®Boom! Leviathan hiding inside a baby shark,¡¯ or something or ¡®You wouldn¡¯t like me when I¡¯m angry!¡¯ ¡®Rawr! Lexy smash!¡¯¡± Abby seemed to have some unreasonable expectations.


    ¡°Umm,¡± I temporized, ¡°they changed the ability a bit after reviewing that fight. It¡¯s got a scaling cooldown, now, so it¡¯s more an emergency ability rather than for casual use. Plus, it drains all mana when it expires¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well, maybe before we log out, then? When a cooldown and mana regeneration doesn¡¯t matter?¡± Abby sounded a bit disappointed and both girls¡¯ expressions reflected that.


    ¡°Maybe. Or maybe when we¡¯re fighting, an emergency will happen and it will be needed. Hidden Nature doesn¡¯t give me strength, though. I¡¯m not the Hulk. For any Tauros like me, it really boosts defense. It¡¯s not real useful for an archer.¡± For all that I had basically accepted the character and her ¡­ differences, I was still a bit disinclined to showing off. Specifically, showing off that form.


    I mean, despite some antics I had got into with Michelle, I really wasn¡¯t one to seek the spotlight. Not even my outgoing, outdoorsy, athletic twin had been especially comfortable being the center of attention after a game or match. This was just ¡­ well, ¡®movie star¡¯ish¡ªessentially celebrity for celebrity¡¯s sake.


    Plus, I was still a little concerned for how my dress and tights would change with the transformation. I probably should have investigated that yesterday when I was doing some solo questing and archery practice, but it had slipped my mind. Given that cloth armor changed much more dramatically than leather and metal, it would be ¡­ well, who knows. But finding out in the middle of town was probably not ideal.


    Gabby was speaking and her voice drew me back out from my lapse into introspection. ¡°It sounds like we both chose the wrong races,¡± she shyly added. ¡°It would be harder for Abby and I to be twins, but maybe I should have been a Tauros for defense and you could have been a Tallemaja. I don¡¯t think ¡®no metal¡¯ is as bad for an archer as it is for someone with a sword and shield.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°From a min-max standpoint, you might be right Gabby, but Undine would be better for their Agility than your Charisma, at least for an Archer. But there¡¯s nothing wrong with you being Tallemaja and a tank. It might not be as easy right away as it is for some other races, but you can make it work. Once we get high enough that we¡¯re using fancier weapons and armor, stuff made from more exotic metals or things than just iron and steel, you won¡¯t even notice the difference in gear.¡±


    From there, we digressed into a discussion of skills, equipment and gameplay.


    Sooner or later, we¡¯d hit level five and unlock a spot for a new primary skill. Perhaps one of us would also get enough Brilliance to get a secondary skill before or by then, too. I knew Tabitha wanted to take Wand Use next, so she¡¯d have an attack to do other than sending her pet in to fight, and I was debating taking some sort of magic since I already had Spellcasting, Meditation, and two spells of my own. I hadn¡¯t decided yet, but I was leaning toward looking at what Elemental Magic had for Water-based spells.


    Gabrielle had already done a little bit of research and was set on taking Enhanced Health, which opened up as an option at character level five. The skill was entirely passive, doing not much more than modifying the formula used to calculate base health, but as it was purely an Endurance-based skill, it would raise her Endurance every time it leveled up, further boosting her health pool. Since her role was our tank (chosen in large part because she wanted to shield Abby from harm), it was a relatively good skill for her. Gabby¡¯s only problem was that she had no primary skill that boosted Brilliance and had no plans to add any points to it anytime soon (favoring Endurance, Defense, and Charisma as she leveled), so she wouldn¡¯t be gaining any secondary skills for the foreseeable future.


    As for Abigail, the hyper Ria¡¯Dine (that is, ¡°woodland elf¡±), she was torn between taking something flashy or something that boosted her mobility even further, like perhaps Athletics or Running. However, her biggest difficulty so far was having insufficient mana to power all her spells and abilities since she had shout-based Inspirations and Elemental Enhancement buffs she could apply as well as a spell from her Elemental Magic and another from her racial trait. She needed Meditation to increase the regeneration rate¡ªor a lot of potions. Unfortunately, it wouldn¡¯t be all that great as a primary skill, so to take it, she might have to promote one of her secondary skills to the primary spot once it opened up at level five.


    * * *


    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late, sorry!¡± Coming down the main street toward the plaza where we were standing around in the shade of a building was the fourth member of our little party ¡­ and the only one who had a non-childlike avatar. Her outfit was simple, yet would not have been out of place on any red-carpet event. Tabitha had purchased for herself a long, midnight blue dress that hugged her well-proportioned figure in all the right places. With the dress and matching shoes¡ªmore slippers really¡ªand her light brown hair falling free to her waist, she didn¡¯t really have the image of an adventurer, someone braving the wilds for fame and fortune.


    Well, not that we were after fame, and at only level three, we weren¡¯t really after fortune yet either.


    But Tabitha was a healer. Solo, she stood back and let her summoned pet, a minor earth elemental spirit called Tamakotz, keep the monsters¡¯ attention and slowly pound them into submission all while she used Restoration magic to keep Tamakotz alive. In a group, she still stood back from the action, but combat went much faster with others as sources of damage.


    Provided my arrows hit the monster and not the elemental, anyway. It would probably be a few more levels of practice until I was good enough to hit where I intended most of the time.


    Staying back from the action meant her outfit wasn¡¯t as impractical as it might have seemed. Plus, well, we were in a game, and even in a game with a high degree of realism, sometimes aesthetics occupied a higher spot on the totem pole than practicality.


    Tabitha¡¯s character was one of the undead, and to offset some of the advantages that racial archetype had, all undead had reduced movement speed. Her specific subrace was a Ghost (rather than Mummy, Banshee, or Zombie), which granted her reduced threat range and threat gain¡ªvery good benefits for a healer who might otherwise accidentally pull aggro away from the tank in critical moments¡ªbut those benefits were also countered by reduced movement speed. Consequently, even though she was approaching at a fast enough pace to make her breathing labored, she wasn¡¯t moving with anywhere near the speed that the ¡°twins¡± or I could make.


    So rather than waiting for her to reach us, we went to her. Dashing, Abby led the way and tackled her in a hug much like she had me. ¡°Tabby, Tabby! I knew you wouldn¡¯t forget about us! Welcome back!¡±


    Tabitha was ¡­ weak ¡­ to the little sister type¡ªin fact, it was part of her character¡¯s backstory even¡ªand she clearly didn¡¯t quite know how to react to the young elf¡¯s effusiveness. Finally, she embraced the younger girl in a quick, awkward hug and then patted her atop the head like a kitten.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± she explained, ¡°I did some fetch quests and other town errands yesterday morning and logged out on the other side of town. I thought I was going to come back on in the evening and walk over to this side, but I got distracted reading up on several threads and posts about the game online.¡± Tabitha then shot me a quick glance, ¡°It seems someone had become a little bit famous since we were last together.¡±


    Before I could answer, Gabrielle spoke up from behind me. ¡°Yes, it looks like Lexy is a movie star. Good morning, Tabitha. It¡¯s nice to see you again.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Gabby. You know, with your sword and shield, you should be leading the way, not hiding behind our archer, movie star, and fashion model.¡± Tabitha winked to show that she was teasing the shyer of the two twins, then disentangled herself from Abby and came to give me a big hug, catching Gabrielle in it, too.


    Not to be left out, Abby circled around behind us and tried to wrap the three of us in a hug, herself. But being shorter than even I, her arms weren¡¯t long enough, so she mostly only hugged her sister. ¡°Lexy¡¯s a fashion model, too? Tell us about it!¡±


    ¡°¡®Too¡¯? Are you a fashion model, scamp?¡± I asked. From there, though, we spent a few minutes discussing part of the deal I had made with Victoria and her team: the promotional video, the modeling armors, and of course the fight that had brought me to the attention of the community and GMs.


    Initially, I was a little surprised that they hadn¡¯t heard anything yet from Victoria or other GMs since part of the deal I had made with them was that they could use other excerpts from my gameplay for promotional videos or trailers, but if they included any of my group members (at the time of the deal, I hadn¡¯t had a group yet, but I had expected that I wouldn¡¯t be playing solo), they¡¯d need to make a separate deal with those players. Which meant, if Victoria or anyone wanted to use that fight where Tabitha and I had rescued Abigail and Gabrielle, that the other girls would need to give permission, too. And/or come to an agreement or contract of their own.


    But as I was retelling things, I had an idea why they might not have been asked yet. If Victoria had thought I was going to take her up on the offer to redo my game avatar without losing the bonuses I had earned, well ¡­ Madelyn Alexis wouldn¡¯t have been available for further promotional videos or modeling, and not being Madelyn Alexis might have meant I wouldn¡¯t have been playing more with Tabitha and the twins, so ¡­ why ask for permission for something that might not happen?


    ¡°In fact,¡± I concluded, without revealing to the girls that I could have remade my character and the reasons for that offer, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be too surprised if you got a message from a GM asking to talk about whether you¡¯ll accept being part of that deal or not. If we¡¯re going to go out adventuring together, I¡¯m sure some more of our encounters might make good videos.¡±


    Abby immediately began bouncing up and down, barely containing her enthusiasm. ¡°Yay, let¡¯s go become famous!¡± I could see that shy Gabby seemed a little apprehensive about the idea¡ªbeing in the spotlight might be difficult for her¡ªbut when she saw that her sister was really interested, she nodded.


    After a little further discussion, where everyone basically agreed with the concept of letting the company make videos of our adventuring, Tabitha asked the question that had been in the back of my mind since before we had got sidetracked on my apparent fame. ¡°Were we going to try that dungeon that Abby found? Tama isn¡¯t on cooldown, so I¡¯m able to help.¡±


    Abigail shook her head, chestnut curls swishing and bouncing as she did so. ¡°No. Well, if you want to, I guess yes, but¡­.¡± She looked to her sister, then continued speaking with a hint of regret in her tone. ¡°Gabby and I talked about it a lot yesterday while we were waiting for the doctors and the results. She thinks we should focus on getting to level five first, so we have more skills to help us.¡±


    ¡°Um, and so the skills we do have are higher,¡± Gabby added. ¡°Maybe high enough for a new spell or ability for some of them, and maybe high enough that we¡¯ve earned enough money for better equipment.¡± She took her wooden sword and shield out of her inventory. ¡°I really do want a better shield so I can keep Abby ¡­ and everyone ¡­ safe.¡± She was blushing slightly when she included Tabitha and I in as people she wanted to keep from harm.


    ¡°Oh, it would be nice to be able to use my wand, so I could do more than send Tama in and cast healing spells! I didn¡¯t mind when I was soloing slowly through the tutorial, but I felt a bit like a fifth wheel when Little Sis, here, was turning the monsters into pincushions.¡± She gave me a quick, one-armed side-hug around my shoulders.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t even remotely a fifth wheel, Tabitha. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to shoot nearly enough arrows before those Boartles got into melee range if it weren¡¯t for your pet and you keeping him alive. And with those plants, well, some of them we only just barely got by even with your healing. Without you, I would have been pushing up daisies so many times.¡±


    I looked up at the ghost. ¡°Plus, without your help, I wouldn¡¯t have found the dress shop or the bag shop. I might not have even been able to get out of that mess at the square. Thank you.¡± And feeling a bit daring, I gave her a quick hug and then winked up at her. ¡°You make a good big sister.¡±


    Tabitha blushed more fiercely than shy Gabrielle had ever done, and was flustered for a long moment before managing to stammer out a mix between thanks and a demurral. She was saved, in part, by Abby piping up.


    ¡°Two more good screenshots! And what about the dresses and squares?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it on the way, Abby, otherwise we¡¯ll be here all day and not get any closer to leveling. None of us have a Gossipping skill, after all.¡± I pointed to the west gate, not too far from where we were. ¡°Shall we head out?¡±


    The other girls all nodded and started toward the gate with me. I half-heard Abby whispering to her sister, ¡°Is there a Gossip skill?¡±


    * * *


    As we approached the gates, a pair of guards moved to block our way. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous for children this way,¡± one said. ¡°Go play in the parks or the farms out the eastern gate,¡± the other said.


    It was T¡¯Dhii and T¡¯Dhum, the guards from the other day, and their warnings sounded suspiciously like the one they had issued when they had tried to stop Tabitha and I from leaving. It was a little bit weird.


    Then, I had to wonder why I considered it weird. If it had been a regular game, having the NPCs repeat the same scripted lines would have been par for the course, but nearly every other encounter I had had was with AIs that were virtually indistinguishable from real people. Jasmine, Sunrise Sparkle, the dwarf at Bags and Boxes, the elves at the dress shop¡ªthey all had their own motivations and desires and plans.


    But these two? Did they even leave the gatehouse? Did they even have an original thought between the two of them? We had fought monsters with more creativity and initiative than them.


    But if there were dumb people¡ªand in both high school and college (not to mention at work, when I still had worked), I had seen my share of those below average individuals¡ªthen why not less-than-bright NPCs?


    Perhaps it was just my prejudices from reading other fantasy worlds, but it didn¡¯t seem right to have a dumb elf. Sure, not every elf was going to be Elrond, not even half of them, but these two had all the intellect and personality of stereotypical movie jocks, which is to say ¡­ significantly less than real-life jocks.


    But Abby was sweet-talking them, showing that while she may not have the boosted Charisma her Tallemaja sister had, there was more to the game than just numbers.


    ¡°... that¡¯s what you said two days ago,¡± she said, ¡°but look at us. We¡¯re fine and we¡¯re able to take care of ourselves.¡± She, of course, neglected to mention the encounter with the Gigantic Devouring Rosewhip that Tabitha and I had helped free the two girls from. Pointing back to Tabitha, she continued, ¡°We even have adult supervision, if that¡¯s what you want! It¡¯s nice that you¡¯re concerned, but we¡¯ll be fine. Really!¡±


    T¡¯Dhii and T¡¯Dhum conferred amongst themselves in hushed voices for a few minutes, shooting occasional glances at Tabitha and me. One ducked into the gatehouse and seemed to shuffle around some paper, muttering to himself before coming back out and resuming the hushed conference. Finally, they stepped aside.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯ll be fine enough in her company,¡± the first guard began. ¡°She¡¯s known to be responsible and helpful to the citizens of Echeirn.¡±


    The other guard nodded and continued where the first left off. ¡°You two might be young, but your companions have proven themselves. Don¡¯t go running off without them, though. We¡¯d hate to have to send another rescue party. The patrols have reported an increase in monster activity compared to last season. It could be dangerous.¡±


    I still couldn¡¯t tell which guard was which. I could just Inspect them, sure, but it didn¡¯t really seem important enough to care about. And as a twin who had been mistaken for my sister on more than one occasion when we were younger¡ªeven when I hadn¡¯t actually been masquerading as her for one reason or another¡ªI was kind of sensitive about telling apart one twin from another. The two guards might not have actually been related, but it spoke to the low regard I had for them that I just didn¡¯t care which was which.


    Be nice, I mentally chided myself, they¡¯re just doing their job. After all, Abby and Gabby had needed rescuing and some of those fights had been a bit tough for Tabitha and I. A group of four, however, should be relatively safe as long as we didn¡¯t stray too into higher-level areas.


    We were through the gate and only a little past hearing range when we stopped to let Tabitha summon her earth elemental. As she was doing so, Abby let loose with a gusty, exasperated sigh. ¡°Those guards! Next time, we should just climb the wall to avoid them.


    Gabrielle nodded. ¡°I almost agree. Maybe we should have started outside the other side of town, but what are they expecting, level five before we can go out here?¡±


    I shrugged, and got my bow out. ¡°Maybe, or maybe group size. The guys that went out before us the other day had six people, and I can almost guarantee that none of them were above level two or three."


    ¡°Sexist jerks!¡± That was Abby again, ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s go level up and show them that us girls are just as good as any guys!¡± Abby¡¯s dramatic pose was a little ruined by stumbling when the ground shook for Tamakotz¡¯s arrival.


    Tabitha just smiled, ¡°I may be biased, but I think girls are even better. I don¡¯t think the guards were being sexist, though. At least, not consciously. After all, they did let us through, and they accepted me as being good enough ¡®adult supervision¡¯ even though I¡¯m obviously not a fighter like you three. It¡¯s probably just a cultural thing. Elves live longer and have fewer children. Even if you were as old as I am, Abby, you¡¯d still be a child to them. With how young you look ¡­.¡± She shrugged and trailed off, seeing the obstinate look in the young Ria¡¯Dine¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°That part was Gabby¡¯s idea! But it wasn¡¯t a bad idea! Let¡¯s go fight things and get stronger!¡±

 vol. 2: Big Training and Bigger Results

    ¡°You look like your mother was Miss Piggy and your father was Spiderman!¡±


    As playground taunts go, it wasn¡¯t particularly good. Nor was it all that accurate; Boartles looked like an unholy cross between bristly, wild boars and some gigantic beetle: short tusks, six legs, gleaming black chitinous armor that made archery difficult, and a large Y-shaped horn that really was more dangerous than the tusks. There was nothing at all spider-like about them unless you considered beetles and spiders to both be bugs.


    Even then, having Spiderman as a father wasn¡¯t that biting of an insult.


    But since that statement was tied to Gabby¡¯s use of the Taunt ability her Threat Generation skill provided, it did the trick. The Young Boartle angled its charge toward her instead of me. I was of mixed feelings about that. Even though I knew the young Tallemaja was older than her avatar appeared (just as I was older than my avatar appeared), it still felt manifestly wrong to be letting a monster charge an apparent nine-year-old girl while I stayed in the background.


    Suddenly, I had far more sympathy for the gate guards and their attempts to keep us from the wilds and ruins outside the populated areas of town.


    Nevertheless, I took careful aim, lining up the aimpoint that the skill guides provided and then leading the Young Boartle slightly before letting loose with the second arrow. The arrow lept from my bow and landed with a solid thunk in one of the monster¡¯s fleshy legs. Due to the chitinous armor, a more damaging body shot was impossible unless the beast reared up and exposed its belly and chest. My arrows would just bounce off¡ªor worse, shatter. Maybe someday when I could afford a better bow and some better arrows ¡­ or when my Archery skill leveled up enough to give me a special ability or two ¡­ I¡¯d be able to penetrate that armor.


    From somewhere off to the left, a shout rang out: ¡°Be strong, Gabby!¡± It wasn¡¯t just an encouraging platitude; one of Abigail¡¯s primary skills was Inspirations, a form of shout-based magic that provided short-duration buffs to the target. That particular one was probably her ¡°Endure!¡± inspiration, boosting an ally¡¯s damage resistance. That was something especially useful for any tank, particularly a low-level one whose low Defense attribute and newbie armor weren¡¯t yet up to the task of fully protecting her.


    Gabby braced for impact, and staggered when the monster plowed into her wooden shield, but though the Young Boartle had to be at least two or three times her weight, she held her own against it, even managing to get in a counterstrike with her wooden sword. Chips of dark brown chitin flew from the horn, showing that the strike was a telling one. The Young Boartle¡¯s primary weapon, the Y-shaped horn it used to lift and flip it¡¯s opponents as well as knock them down with a swing of its head, was weakened. Perhaps Gabby¡¯s attack didn¡¯t do an awful lot of damage to the monster¡¯s health bar, but that damaged horn might snap off if the monster attempted to use it in an attack.


    As she groaned slightly from the pain of the impact, a cooling blue light settled around her; Tabitha had finished casting her Minor Regeneration spell. It probably wasn¡¯t the best choice for a healer to start with; after all, it only healed about five damage up front and another fifteen or so over the next several minutes rather than doing a more noticeable amount all at once. Those numbers would increase somewhat as Tabitha leveled up, but for now it wasn¡¯t that impressive. My own Mistshard, in healing mode, could restore around seven points of health with my current attributes and spell level. Granted, it had its drawbacks too, such as travel time to the target and a longer cooldown, but neither Tabitha nor I would be able to do any burst healing if things went poorly. In the meantime, potions would be everyone¡¯s friends.


    THUNK¡ªTamakotz¡¯s heavy strike hit the Young Boartle on its chitinous flank. While Tabitha was casting her spell, she had directed her earth elemental pet into the fray. With it¡¯s taunting ability temporarily turned off so that Gabby retained the monster¡¯s focus (and thus worked on improving her Armor Proficiency and Shield skills), Tamakotz was pretty much a minor player on the field, but at least his stone fists were a little more suitable for the combat against an armored foe than my arrows or Abby¡¯s daggers.


    Gabrielle continued to keep the monster¡¯s attention and continued to keep her shield in the way of its attacks as Abby cast another spell. This time she was using Wind Dart, the spell granted by her Elemental Magic skill. And after that, she would be relegated to using her twin daggers for the rest of the fight. Because her mana regeneration was still low and she lacked the Meditation skill to speed up its recovery out of combat, we had worked out that she would only use one or two inspirations and one regular spell per fight, unless things started going poorly. That way, we only had to stop to rest after every third or fourth fight rather than after every single one.


    Likewise, I mostly focused on Archery. Sure, I did have Meditation, but I also had a smaller mana pool since I hadn¡¯t put that many points into Willpower yet and none of my primary skills boosted Willpower when it leveled the way Abigail¡¯s Elemental Magic skill did for her. Plus, at our current development, Mistshard was more useful as an emergency secondary heal than it was as an extra damage source. True, it wasn¡¯t that much more useful, but it was better than nothing.


    I did keep Elionne Embrace active on everyone, but since it¡¯s duration was an hour, it didn¡¯t need an awful lot of recasts. The Young Boartles we were hunting probably didn¡¯t count as elemental light or elemental dark damage sources, but if we stumbled into a fight with another Rosewhip, some of its attacks almost certainly counted as earth damage. If nothing else, keeping the spell refreshed was some experience for my Spellcasting skill.


    The Young Boartle fell quickly, the final blow being one of Abby¡¯s daggers stabbed through an eye when it became momentarily stunned from the combined pounding it had taken from ramming into Gabby¡¯s wooden shield and Tamakotz¡¯s stone fists.


    * * *


    We continued fighting and training like this for the next couple days, slowly building up our skills as we developed our teamwork and coordination. We could have gone more quickly, but a few things held us back.


    First, we didn¡¯t stray too far from the city walls. Assuming the world was similar to other game worlds, the further we got from the city, the tougher the ¡°newbie mobs¡± got. Judging from our past experiences with the Rosewhips¡ªespecially the oversized one that Abigail and Gabrielle had encountered on their first day¡ªthe assumption seemed to bear out.


    Sure, the game didn¡¯t exactly have zones and zone boundaries the way older games did, so we weren¡¯t really in a ¡°level 1 to 10 zone.¡± And presumably, it wasn¡¯t like the difficulty was going to continue increasing with distance from Echeirn. For one, it wasn¡¯t the only place possible to start from, so the difficulty would necessarily decrease again when approaching another starting settlement. But also, even in those zone-based games, most of the zones along the normal paths of travel would be lower-level. The really dangerous areas were quite off the beaten path. Not that that necessarily mattered much to us right now. At character levels three and four, working toward five, a ¡°level fifteen¡± area or zone would be just as inhospitable as a place ranked ¡°level thirty¡± or ¡°level seventy.¡±


    Since we didn¡¯t venture too deeply into the wilderness and ruins west of Echeirn, not only were the monsters we fought relatively easy, but they were also not generally encountered more than one at a time. That, of course, meant that a lot of the time we weren¡¯t fighting but looking for fights.


    Or looking for places for me to raise my Gathering skill. Mostly, we didn¡¯t hunt those out, but rather stopped to Gather from what we came upon. Nevertheless, that did slow down our combat practice even though raising my Gathering skill would help level me up.


    We also talked a lot, getting to know one another and strengthening the bonds of friendship that had formed on our first day. Granted, a lot of that talking was while walking around looking for monsters to fight, but we usually started and ended each day with just hanging around in town as well. Half an hour here, an hour there, it added up to a lot of time¡ªtime that could have been spent more efficiently if leveling had been our only driving focus.


    And finally, Abby got tired easily. Due to an unspecified health condition, her IRL stamina was particularly low. Even if in reality she was doing nothing more strenuous than lying in her FIVR pod, mental fatigue set in much sooner for her than it would for others. Gabby always logged out when her sister did.


    On the second day of working on leveling, we had misjudged the distance we had traveled from the gate, and had to look around in the menus for an option we knew had to exist: fast travel. While modern games were on the pendulum swing away from the instantaneous access to everywhere that had been the recent norm, it stood to reason that if we had a respawn point to return to after death we would also be able to willingly return to that point, even if only infrequently.


    We finally found it one of the sub-areas of the Social tab. It looked like ECHO was striking a balance between promoting¡ªsome might say forcing¡ªexploration and allowing for convenience. It was still weighted heavily toward exploration since there were plenty of restrictions on fast travel, but there were at least a few nods toward player convenience.


    Every player was initially bound to one fast-travel location. For us, it was ¡°Echerin Flower Square,¡± where we had first entered the game after leaving the tutorial instance. Players could freely change where they were bound to, so long as the location was bindable: that meant certain points of interest, like town plazas or instance entrances; certain personal buildings or structures like shops and guild halls (presumably also ships, otherwise Lex¡¯s decision to sail with that pirate from beta might be problematic); and so on.


    Of course, until guild halls started becoming a thing, low-level players like us and, frankly, pretty much every other player even if some had made it to level five on the first day, most likely wouldn¡¯t have anywhere to change our bind spot to.


    Then, at character levels 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100, players would gain access to additional bind spots, eventually being able to fast travel between six different locations. We could tell this because there were five extra lines marked as ¡°<unset>¡± and greyed out in the list below Echeirn Flower Square. Each extra line had its own little lock icon showing the necessary level to unlock it.


    Granted, by the time we get to level five, we wouldn¡¯t be anywhere near needing a second bind point, but if they all had individual cooldowns, having a second bind to the starting square might not be a bad idea. Part of the ¡°weighted heavily toward exploration¡± we discovered was that the fast travel cooldown was eight hours.


    Not that inconvenient if traveling back to town to log out for the day, but it wouldn¡¯t be terribly useful for those wanting to frequently resupply or turn in and pick up quests.


    * * *


    ¡°Okay, Sis, those strips of Willow Bark should be dried now. If you take them off the rack and set them aside, we can start drying some of those mushrooms instead.¡±


    Since the twins had to log out after only four or five hours of play, Tabitha and I played together doing various stuff in or near town rather than hunting monsters to raise our combat skills. The first day, we had talked some more and did several errand-style quests around town. The second day, I had showed her the areas outside the eastern gate where I had solo hunted and practiced. There, we spent a lot of time with me just gathering various plants and fungi from the semi-abandoned parks and overgrown farmlands, leaving the developed and maintained farms and parks alone. The third day, I was helping her with Alchemy, using the materials we had gathered the day before.


    Her starting-level alchemy kit was both fairly simple and relatively impressive. It came with several components. First was a small, earthenware mortar-and-pestle kit. This was used for grinding herbs and other materials. Another piece was a small, bowl-sized bronze cauldron mounted on chains hanging from a tripod. It went with a mysterious device, looking a bit like a hotplate, that emitted heat without any obvious source of fuel. The kit also came with a collection of five tiny brass spoons with the largest being comparable to the smallest plastic measuring spoon I used when baking cookies out in the real world. Finally, there was also a wooden rack holding twenty glass vials looking very much like test tubes from the chemistry class I had to suffer through all those many years ago. If we took a vial from the rack without putting anything in it, the vial disappeared in a minute or so and another appeared on the rack. It was things like that that really made it clear that this was a gameworld rather than a real world.


    We tested it later, after making a healing potion, and the glass vial disappeared after the potion was consumed. Sure, I had probably seen that effect with the potions I had used in the tutorial fight, but I had been a little occupied then and hadn¡¯t been paying attention. The disappearing potion vials had two really huge benefits that shouldn¡¯t be ignored, however. First, a player¡¯s inventory wouldn¡¯t be cluttered up with empty potion vials. More importantly, the inevitable litter wouldn¡¯t be left lying around in the wilderness and instances. Granted, that did mean the vials couldn¡¯t be saved to be reused or repurposed, but that was a small price to pay.


    I set the dried Willow Bark aside and took a small handful of mushrooms out of my inventory. When I had collected them, they had simply been called ¡°Unidentified Mushrooms.¡± If they had still been unidentified, using them for Alchemy would probably have been a bad idea¡ªit would be hard to recreate an effect if we didn¡¯t know what the ingredients were. And with mushrooms, that could be very dangerous. These were no death caps nor avenging angels, but who knows what sort of other toxic mushrooms existed in a world where elves and ghosts and elementals spirits and Beastkin existed as well?


    The mushrooms were no longer unidentified, however. One of the group-support skills that Gabrielle had taken for a secondary skill was Identification which allowed her to get additional information when inspecting items or equipment. It was still low-level, so she didn¡¯t get a lot of information, but since the mushrooms were gathered from a low-level area, she was able to get at least some data on them. Instead of ¡°Unidentified Mushrooms,¡± they were now listed as ¡°Variegated Mushrooms,¡± which wasn¡¯t a whole lot of help by itself. But, critically, some of the additional information she had identified included ¡°edible¡± and ¡°may have medicinal uses when refined.¡±


    So, we were refining them.


    It might have seemed a little odd that I was helping Tabitha with her Alchemy¡ªafter all, she was the one with the skill, not I. However, she gained some skill experience from directing my efforts. Maybe not as much as she would have received if she had done all the work herself, but since she wasn¡¯t sitting idly by and just telling me what to do, she gained the benefit of both her work at the mortar and pestle as well as mine on the drying rack. So maybe it wasn¡¯t as much experience as possible, but it was a faster rate. That seemed like a good compromise.


    Also, my Gathering skill¡¯s experience bar ticked up slightly itself.


    Perhaps working with the plants I gathered and seeing how they were used contributed to knowing better ways to gather or harvest them? I certainly would be doing things a little differently when gathering willow bark, for instance. I had noticed that the longer, thinner strips from smaller branches dried quicker and more evenly than the shorter, wider, almost square-shaped strips from the trunk. They weren¡¯t sorted any differently in my inventory, so they weren¡¯t likely any different other than size and shape¡ªthat is, no different effect when used to craft something¡ªso there seemed no reason to not adjust my gathering methods.


    With the willow bark all completely dried, Tabitha took a break from turning some sort of leaf into powder. It wasn¡¯t one that I had gathered but one that the potion-vendor had sold her. Apparently, it was the base for those truly vile beginner health potions. Hopefully, Tabitha would be able to make something less bad-tasting with some of the other components I had gathered, but I didn¡¯t have my hopes up: a mushroom-flavored beverage wouldn¡¯t be any better than one that tasted like wet dog smelled.


    After washing the mortar and pestle thoroughly, she started to grind the dried willow bark. The slightly off-white powder it turned into reminded me of crushed pills. When my twin was younger, she had a very hard time taking medicine, so any time she needed to take a pill, my mother had ground it into a powder and mixed it up with applesauce to partially mask the bitter taste. Lex had then gone a couple years with not being able to eat applesauce normally, since she was always bracing for the bitterness of a crushed pill.


    Shortly, while the mushrooms were still drying, we started to experiment with the components, seeing what we could make. Even at around a week since launch, the typical guide and cheat sites didn¡¯t have much more than what was already released on the official site or discussed in the official forums. And even there, crafting was severely underrepresented.


    Basically, that could be chalked up, in part, to just who was playing right now. With the cost of purchasing a FIVR pod being prohibitively expensive for even middle-class families, those with unfettered access were generally either lucky lottery winners like my twin and me or other forms of the idle rich. Lottery winners tend to be few and far between and the key word in ¡°idle rich¡± is idle.


    As Tabitha and I were discovering, even basic, low-level crafting was a lot of work¡ªand it required a lot of work before even starting since the raw materials would have to be gathered. Sure, some like that basic medicinal herb could be purchased from NPCs, and later there would probably be players who gathered resources to sell to crafters, but at the moment neither would be sufficient to support a beginner crafter. A lot of the grunt work would have to be done by the crafter or her group of friends.


    For a lot of the people playing, real work at this level was done by people their family paid so that they didn¡¯t have to do it themselves: gardening, sewing and mending, cooking, and so on¡­.


    Most of the others who purchased their own FIVR pods were likely the hardcore gamers and adrenaline junkies. For them, the draw of the game was not in menial craftsmanship, but in group-scale combat and the race to be the first to do something: the first to clear a dungeon, the first to make it to some far-off location, that sort of stuff. With the way the skill system worked, dedicating one or more skill slots to crafting would diminish their combat potential. Sure, there were likely some who sought to become the best at certain crafts as well¡ªespecially considering the fifty thousand essentially random people who won a free FIVR pod¡ªbut at this stage of the game, people seeking to become the first and the best were focused on doing just that. They weren¡¯t spending time writing up guides that might give someone else an edge up on them.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    And pretty much everyone else playing was renting hours in a game center. At a couple hours or so a day, they just didn¡¯t have time to discover enough to write guides, not even by crowd-sourcing the discovery and experimentation process.


    All that would change, of course, the further ECHO got from launch and the more accessible pods and gametime became. Some information was already out there, but it would grow with more time and more players. Right now, there were just the starts of bestiaries, atlases, spell trees, achievement lists, and screenshot galleries. There were also already basic guides and some theorycrafting on skill builds to mimic traditional classes like warrior and healer. While still basic, there were already lists of recommended races for certain roles, at least for those players that weren¡¯t going to stay human.


    Ghosts, like Tabitha, were high on the recommended list for healers or mages since their reduced threat range and gain could make them less likely to accidentally pull aggro off the tank. However, elves with their free spell and passive boost to MP regeneration¡ªespecially Na¡¯Dine, the high elves, who traded a lower base HP for a higher base MP¡ªwere generally more strongly recommended. Even one of the human subraces was considered at the same tier as Ghost, mostly because Ghosts and Undead in general had a lot of negatives to balance their other strengths.


    Tauros, like my character, weren¡¯t even high on the list for tanking builds. Dwarves of all sort topped the list with several varieties of Golem and one Undead (the Zombie) above any Beastkin.


    In fact, Beastkin were barely recommended for anything in the available proto-guides. The fox-based Vulpix made the list for spellcasters since their Hidden Nature boosted Brilliance and they had a passive boost to spell power the way Tauros did to damage reduction. In theory, they could do a good amount of burst damage as a mage, but the mana-draining effect of Hidden Nature was considered too heavy of a downside to rank them higher. Even with me serving as a mascot for the company, Beastkin¡ªespecially Tauros and the equine-based Ruiterix as well¡ªseemed likely to remain a perpetual minority as people flocked to humans and elves or followed a min-maxer¡¯s guide to a starting build.


    Sooner or later, all those resources and more would expand, and the next wave of players would be taking their guidance from a variety of online forums and guides. But for now, we were in the early stages. That meant, like chemists of old, putting two or more things together in different ways and seeing what happened.


    Throughout all the mixing and grinding and drying and experimenting, we chatted off and on, interspersed with companionable silence. Tabitha, like me, had flat-out purchased her pod, though also like me, she was a bit vague about her background.


    Our real-life backgrounds, that is. Over the past several days, we had chatted rather extensively about books we had read and games we had played. Tabitha had been an avid reader, even if she hadn¡¯t read to a stuffed animal, and there was a lot of overlap in the stories we both had enjoyed. She was maybe a little more fond of harder science fiction where I had mostly dwelled in fantasy worlds, but we both shared a love for Middle-Earth, Pern, and Valdemar.


    Still, as a devotee of science fiction, she had always been more into the ¡°how¡± of hard science fiction than the ¡°why¡± or ¡°what.¡± Perhaps that¡¯s why crafting interested her so much, even¡ªor especially¡ªwhen the guides to crafting didn¡¯t yet exist.


    ¡°Even if there were guides, Sis, I wouldn¡¯t use them unless I was really and truly stuck,¡± Tabitha said. ¡°And that¡¯s more for puzzles or 100% completions than for something like this.¡± She took the smallest of her spoons and scooped a level spoonful of the resultant off-white, finely ground powder into the diminutive cauldron. ¡°That one Cydoru game, I had to give up and look up solutions to three of the puzzles, and even then I needed a walkthrough for my second playthrough to get the 100% completion. My save had only been 93.4%.¡± She pouted, then shrugged and filled the cauldron halfway with water and set it the whole thing to heat, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, I nodded in commiseration and swapped out a set of dried mushrooms for another handful from my inventory.


    A few minutes later, Tabitha poured the contents of the cauldron into three glass flasks. The resultant potions were relatively unimpressive¡ªaside from the fact that they were potions and not just simmered tree water. They still just looked like simmered tree water, though. Unlike a stereotypical healing potion, which would be red, these potions were clear with just the faintest hint of a cloudy white color to them.


    It seemed that production crafting skills, like Alchemy, also allowed the crafter to know what it was that they had made. With Gathering, I usually knew what it was that I had gathered and what it could be used for, sometimes even with flavor text, but then there were things like the Unidentified Mushrooms or even the Mountain Blue Typha whose description had only stated that it was [Unrefined].


    ¡°¡®Diluted Weak Basic Health Potion,¡¯ huh?¡± Tabitha softly sighed. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of negative prefixes.¡± Almost immediately though, she perked up. ¡°But, hey. We did it, Sis! We made a potion! On our first try, too! Now it¡¯s just a matter of making them better.¡±


    ¡°Diluted?¡± I asked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that mean too much water or not enough powder? How much does it heal for?¡±


    ¡°Ah, the full description is this: ¡®Diluted Weak Basic Health Potion: Heals 0-2 damage and may provide temporary relief from mild aches and pain. Crafted by Tabitha.¡¯ Hey, it left you out of the description, Sis!¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re the one with the Alchemy skill and did all the work on the potion. I just dried things out for you. Speaking of which¡­.¡± I took a moment to swap out a set of dried mushrooms for another small handful of variegated ones from my inventory. ¡°There. Anyway, maybe try using a bigger spoon of powder in the next batch?¡±


    She did. And it took up to using four spoonfuls of the largest spoon in her set, roughly a real-world teaspoonful of the powdered willow bark  in total, until the potions crafted lost the ¡®diluted¡¯ prefix. A non-diluted potion, simply a Weak Basic Health Potion, had an expanded range of healing 1 to 5 damage. It still wasn¡¯t particularly useful compared to my current maximum health of over sixty, but it certainly was better than nothing, especially since it still stated that it may provide some relief from pain.


    It did take a lot of attempts before we finally reached that level, however. The first successful Weak Basic Health Potion was on our fourteenth or fifteenth attempt. I had lost count. A little over half the attempts had resulted in crafting three of the diluted potions and the rest created items simply called ¡°Failed Potion Attempt.¡± Those items disappeared in around a minute just like an empty vial did.


    * * *


    Finally, nearly a week after the first player had made it to level five on the first day, our party of four had all hit that oh-so-lofty milestone. Of course, since level was determined by skill use, we didn¡¯t all reach level five at the same time.


    I was actually the first of us to make it to level five since two of my four primary skills didn¡¯t require combat to level up, so I had been working on them a little when we weren¡¯t all together. Sure, I did stop to gather plants as we looked for fights, but I also put in more concerted effort on the other side of town, looking for more components for Tabitha to use in Alchemy.


    While my other such skill, Gymnastics, could be leveled up in combat¡ªat least by those who spent more time in melee combat that I did¡ªits increases mostly came from practicing while no one else was around. Basically, I experimented with tumbles and handstands and various jumps and leaps while moving from gathering node to gathering node. Given my rate of falling down or bumping into things and getting hurt, it would have been too embarrassing to practice in the group.


    Practice, however, was paying off. The skill was up to level 5, giving me five more points of Charisma and two more Agility. Even more important than the attribute increase, however, was those skill levels were really necessary for getting me to character level five. Going from level one to level two only had taken three skill levels. Going from two to three and three to four each took an additional five skill levels. Going from four to five required having skills increase seven more times, for a cumulative total of twenty skill levels. If I had still been dithering about what skill to take, I would have been waaaay behind the rest of my group.


    Tabitha was next to level. Even though all her primary skills were related to spellcasting, she had just kept reapplying Minor Regeneration to herself while she had been working on Alchemy. When I was assisting her, I was used as another target for the spell. Consequently, she had got a lot of practice in.


    Gabrielle, despite being the focus of every attack any monster made to our group, was actually the last of the party to reach character level five. This was mostly because her skills increased somewhat asymmetrically. Threat Generation and Shield were fairly high, but her Sword skill was lagging somewhat. Her Armor Proficiency skill was increasing slowly, as well. Perhaps that was because she didn¡¯t have much that was really armor rather than clothing.


    When that skill hit level four, a pillar of blue-green light¡ªthe same color as Abigail¡¯s¡ªrose from Gabrielle signifying that she, too, had leveled up. We quickly finished the current fight and all returned to the town via fast travel. It was earlier than normal, but we wanted time to take our skills, distribute our points, and do a little shopping before Abby grew too fatigued to continue. Any of the loot drops we had collected that didn¡¯t look like something useful to us had been sold, and pooling it together would give enough to help upgrade Abby and Gabby¡¯s equipment ¡­ and get them each an outfit from the same shop Tabitha had taken me to on the first day.


    Gabrielle, true to her earlier stated intentions, took Enhanced Health (E/E) as her fifth skill. Because none of her primary skills boosted Brilliance and she had put no points into that attribute any time she had leveled, Gabby didn¡¯t have a secondary skill to choose.


    Abigail, who had become quite convinced for the need of Meditation, nevertheless didn¡¯t take it as a primary skill. Instead she promoted Spellcasting from being a secondary skill to a primary skill, consequently surging ahead of the rest of us in the race to level six since her new primary skill was already level five whereas the rest of us had a level zero skill for our newest.


    Abby had been torn between moving Spellcasting and Acrobatics to the primary spot. Even though Acrobatics would have boosted her Agility and thus her ability to do damage with her daggers, she had decided that she wanted to focus more on her support role than her damaging role.


    That and since Spellcasting was a pure-Brilliance skill, moving it to primary boosted her Brilliance enough to gain a new secondary skill slot, giving her two new skills to choose. One of those, of course, was Meditation (W/E), but she also took Improved Boon Duration (W/W). It was a skill that Tabitha had as a primary skill, but since almost all of Abby¡¯s support abilities were short-duration, it suited her very well also.


    As for Tabitha, even though she had been patiently waiting to be able to use her wand, she took Mana Efficiency (W/W) as a primary skill instead. Like Gabby¡¯s Enhanced Health, it was a skill that became available at character level five. Besides being purely Willpower, and thus indirectly increasing her mana pool as it leveled up, Mana Efficiency would reduce the cost of spells by a percentage, equal to the skill¡¯s level¡ªup to a maximum of 50% cost reduction. Other than raising Willpower, the skill itself wouldn¡¯t be much of an immediate benefit, but Tabitha was looking at long-term needs. Not only would reducing the cost of her spells effectively further increase her available mana, it might make spells that were otherwise too costly to frequently cast more accessible. Besides Restoration Magic, her other school of magic was Summoning, and those spells were all very mana intense.


    After spending her unassigned AP into Brilliance, she did have enough of that attribute to unlock a new secondary skill slot, so she was able to get Wand Use (R/B) anyway.


    As for me, I had determined to not sit on an empty skill slot waiting to figure out what I wanted this time. I had also opted to not just impulsively take whatever caught my fancy at the moment, either.


    Instead, I had done a little research on the website and forums over the past few days looking at those rudimentary guides and suggestions. Rather than choosing a school of magic like I had considered earlier in the week, I had decided to stay primarily focused on my role as an Archer with crafting secondary. My two spells were nice, and I would continue to use them at need, but I wanted to be a bit more focused and skilled before I branched out and diversified too much.


    Besides, since I had two spells even without a specific magic skill, it seemed likely that I could probably pick up another spell or two here or there from other achievements or quests.


    So, to support my role as an Archer, I took another of the skills that became available at level five: Perception (R/L). It was actually a rather broad skill, rather than narrowly focused. In the main, it conveyed a bonus to ¡°notice hidden things.¡± But rather than being purely anti-stealth like Detect Hidden (L/W) or only influencing the ability to land critical hits a la Vital Point Knowledge (A/W), Perception also aided in noticing concealed resource nodes, which aided my gathering, helped in crafting, and functioned like a rudimentary version of tracking and trap detection. I figured it might also be useful when combined with my Empathy perk.


    Truthfully, I did choose it mostly for all the various things that fit under the umbrella of the skill rather than just to support my Archery, but combined with my slowly-leveling Stealth skill, it would definitely help if I ever needed to assist my group by scouting ahead.


    When I hit level four, I had assigned my five AP as two into Agility, two into Willpower (for the increased mana, even if I wasn¡¯t using it much currently), and one into Charisma (still quote-unquote ¡°playing to my strengths¡±). At level five, I did basically the same, but only put one point into Willpower. That last point went into Brilliance because, with the earlier points allocated and the points granted by Spellcasting and Gathering leveling up, I was only one point away from a new secondary skill slot.


    Unfortunately, that hadn¡¯t been planned out ahead of time, so I didn¡¯t have a huge amount of prior thought into what skill I should take in addition to Perception. Well, that¡¯s not exactly true. I had considered a lot of other skills in the evenings when I was deliberating on what to take for my fifth primary skill, and I had arguments for and against many of them, weighing the pros and cons until I had settled on Perception.


    Any of the skills I had been considering primarily because of the attributes they were tied to weren¡¯t realistic options for a secondary skill which wouldn¡¯t boost attributes when they leveled. Thus broader skills like Athleticism and Acrobatics were out. I also wasn¡¯t yet ready to branch out into crafting things myself even if I did assist Tabitha with Alchemy, so Cooking, Weaving, Enchanting, and the obviously-helpful-for-an-archer Fletching were also out¡ªfor now. For similar reasons, other resource-gathering skills like Mining, Farming, and Gardening were low priority.


    I had strongly considered Threat Mitigation before two very good reasons to not take it had come to mind. While it would be useful to help ensure that I didn¡¯t draw the attention of monsters away from Gabby, I didn¡¯t really consider it a great fit for a primary skill. That was a skill that was mostly meaningless for times when operating outside the group because a solo player would always be at the top of their target monster¡¯s threat list. Perhaps the skill would synergize with Stealth, perhaps it wouldn¡¯t, but even though I did have a dedicated group now, I didn¡¯t really want a skill that I could only level while in a group. The other reason was that I was a Tauros. Because my racial ability, Hidden Nature, boosted my Defense attribute, there might come times when I would need to act as a very temporary off-tank. Making it harder to gain threat worked counterproductive to that contingency. Granted, I hadn¡¯t needed to use the ability since the tutorial, but who knows what we¡¯ll encounter in the future?


    And because I had decided to try and keep my focus on Archery rather than expanding my magical repertoire, the ¡°easy choice¡± of picking up some magic, like the water version of Elemental Magic or something more obscure, like Phantasms¡ªa form of illusion magic based on Charisma and Willpower¡ªwas something I forced myself to not consider. That also meant I had a ready excuse to not take the version of Dance that provided group buffs like Tabitha had suggested a few days back. It wasn¡¯t magic per se, but it was close enough.


    But even though I wanted to keep my primary focus on Archery, I also didn¡¯t want to take a too-narrow skill like the aforementioned Vital Point Knowledge.


    That didn¡¯t leave much more than things that impulsiveness might make me take without putting sufficient thought into it, like the Modeling skill I¡¯d have a difficult time leveling. Even if the experience in modeling armors for the game¡¯s site had been surprisingly fun, where would I make use of it in the game? The dress shop? Wouldn¡¯t that end up turning too much into a part-time job rather than part-time playing?


    If I had taken a magic skill instead of Perception, I could have taken one of the assorted skills that casters took to further support their spells, such as the Improved Boon Duration that both Tabitha and now Abigail had.


    Because I had spent several hours looking over the skill lists and reading discussions online, I did have several skills I could have taken instead of Perception. So I circled back around and took what had ended up as my number two choice: Leadership (C/B). It was very much a group support skill and not even tangentially related to Archery, which had been why it had lost out to Perception in the first place.


    Taking it had also undermined my arguments against magic or dance, but we¡¯re allowed to be a little inconsistent, right?


    But it wasn¡¯t a group-only skill. If I picked up a form of Summoning in the future or otherwise gained a pet or companion¡ªJasmine had said that there was a way for AI assistant faeries to join us in game¡ªthe skill would assist them. Likewise, if I were to do something like an escort quest in the future, the boosts from Leadership would affect the NPCs I was working with. Further, it was strongly based on Charisma which willy-nilly had become my secondary focus after Agility (and due to my Little Sister title and Empathy perk, was actually higher than Agility was).


    Leadership let me ¡°provide assorted benefit to up to 4 (+skill level) party members and allies.¡± I got to choose two benefits to start with and could choose an additional one every five skill levels. Leadership did have two considerable drawbacks, however. The first and most obvious was that the boosts I could choose generally would only affect other party members and allies; that is, Abby, Gabby, Tabitha, and Tamakotz could all get a health boost if I chose that benefit to use, but my own health wouldn¡¯t increase. Boosting movement speed was one of the exceptions, probably because its usefulness would be rather curtailed if the rest of the party ended up moving too fast that the Leader couldn¡¯t keep up with them.


    The second wasn¡¯t so much a drawback as it was a trade-off. Unlike Abby¡¯s Inspirations which were (so far) single target and short duration, the benefits that Leadership provided were without set duration and affected everyone if they were in range, and Leadership began with a fairly significant range of fifty meters (it would have been lower, but since my Charisma was already somewhat high, it had boosted the range). The balance there was that each Leadership benefit I maintained reserved a percentage of my mana, making it unavailable for other uses, like spells or other active abilities. Fortunately, almost all the benefits, including the two I chose, were toggles rather than something that were always on.


    I started with the basics. While some specialty benefits were available to be selected right away, I took one that boosted health and one that boosted mana. Each provided an increase of 5 points or 5%, whichever was greater, and each would reserve 10% of my own mana pool to keep it active. At least that¡¯s what the basic descriptions had said. When I took the abilities, they displayed as providing an increase of 6 points or 6%, perhaps because my attributes were high enough to scale the benefits upward.


    Speaking of abilities, both Archery and Gymnastics had reached level five and allowed me to select an ability. Spellcasting had also reached that level, but it didn¡¯t grant a new modifier until level ten.


    For both Archery and Gymnastics, I could select between a passive ability and an activatable ability.


    For Archery, it was the choice between Long Shot and Arrow Regeneration that Sunrise Sparkle had mentioned in the tutorial. Long Shot did half damage at double range, but cost five mana to activate. Arrow Regeneration provided a passive 10% chance for any arrow used to respawn in the quiver once shot. At certain skill levels, it provided an additional 10% chance, capping out at 50% at Archery level 100. That would be a long time in the future, but even the modest initial chance helped to slightly offset one of the problems with archery: arrows were consumable and could be broken or lost. Furthermore, an archer had to gather up any arrows shot after each fight.


    As for Gymnastics, the choice was between Mesmerizing Routine and Graceful Landing. The first was an active, with a cost of 2 stamina per second. The second was a passive ability.


    Mesmerizing Routine: [Ability] Perform an energetic gymnastics routine (involving jumps, tumbles, and dance-like movements) that has a chance to Mesmerize a number of targets (up to Gymnastics skill level) who view the routine. Mesmerized targets are considered Pacified and Immobilized for the duration of the routine.


    Graceful Landing: [Ability / Passive] Add Gymnastics skill level to Agility for any landing from a jump or fall less than 125% your height.


    Never mind that Mesmerizing Routine would put me quite literally in the spotlight and had the potential to be even more embarrassing than the cheer routine Michelle had developed for me for Spirit Week during high school. Since Endurance was an attribute that I hadn¡¯t put any points into and hadn¡¯t been increased by any of my primary skills, the activation cost for the ability was just too high. At best, I¡¯d get about ten seconds out of it. Though ten seconds of what was effectively a stun could be very situationally effective, it didn¡¯t quite work with my current build. Maybe if I had chosen to focus on daggers instead of Archery, I could have made use of it as an effective gap-closer¡­.


    So, just like with Archery, I chose the passive ability. Graceful Landing was something that likely wouldn¡¯t come up very much¡ªespecially since my avatar was relatively short, so the effective range wasn¡¯t that helpful. In essence, I¡¯d have a bonus when jumping or falling a bit less than six feet. However, I did have a bit of a ¡°cheat.¡± If I used Hidden Nature prior to jumping or while falling, my height would increase by a bit more than double and thus I¡¯d be able to land more safely from a jump or fall of nearly twelve feet. That was rather impressive even if it was a bit weird to think of that massive form being graceful.


    There were a couple of other minor changes to make since my class level had also finally gone up, and once that was completed, I reviewed my character sheet.

 vol. 2: Player Data, Madelyn Alexis, character level 5

    [Player Data]


    Name: Madelyn Alexis


    Race: Beastkin (Tauros)


    Level: 5


    Class: Traveller [Lv 2]


    Sub-class: n/a


    Active Title: Little Sister (+10% threat radius, -10% threat generation, +5 Charisma)


    Hidden Title: Heroine (+1 to all base attributes)


    Profession: n/a


    Renown: 5


    Health: 64


    Mana: 44 (+1)


    Stamina: 24


    STR: 10 [+0] (+1)


    END: 11 [+0] (+1)


    AGI: 18 [+8] (+6 +1 w/quiver)


    BRL: 14 [+11] (+1)


    WIL: 17 [+0] (+3)


    RFX: 10 [+3] (+1)


    DEF: 10 [+0] (+7)


    LCK: 10 [+2] (+1)


    CHR: 21 [+5] (+14)


    Unassigned AP: 0


    [Equipment]


    Head: Copper Butterfly Hairclip [DUR: 24/25] [Mana: +1]


    Torso: Risqu¨¦ Mianian Short Dress [DUR: 48/50] [DEF: +1] [AGI: +2] [CHR:+4]


    Arms: <nothing>


    Waist: Agile Elfweave Leggings [DUR: 72/75] [AGI: +3] [WIL: +2]


    Legs: Supple Miniboots [DUR: 64/65] [DEF: +1] [CHR +3]


    Main Hand: Echeirn Basic Quiver [DUR: 137/140] [AGI: +1] [Arrows: 40]


    Off-Hand: Enchanted Zulathan Great Bow of Water  [DUR: 132/157]


    Left Ring: Ring of Limited Wishes (charges: 1) [DUR: ¡Þ]


    Right Ring: <nothing>


    Bracelet: <nothing>


    Necklace: <nothing>


    Other 1: Heroine¡¯s Basic Brass Brooch of Defense [DUR: ¡Þ] [DEF: +3]


    Other 2: Melon Creme Padded Cami Set [DUR: 25/25] [DEF: +1] [CHR +1]


    [Skills - Primary]


    <ol>


    <li>Archery (A/R) [Lv 6]</li>


    <li>Gathering (B/L) [Lv 4]</li>


    <li>Spellcasting (B/B) [Lv 5]</li>


    <li>Gymnastics (C/A) [Lv 5]</li>


    <li>Perception (R/L) [Lv 0]</li>


    </ol>


    [Skills - Secondary]


    <ol>


    <li>Dagger (A/R) [Lv 2]</li>


    <li>Dodge (A/R) [Lv 3]</li>


    <li>Stealth (A/W) [Lv 2]</li>


    <li>Meditation (W/E) [Lv 3]</li>


    <li>Leadership (C/B) [Lv 0]</li>


    </ol>


    [Spells / Abilities / Traits]Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    <ul>


    <li>Hidden Nature [Racial Trait] [Lv 3] Channel the power of your spirit animal. Transform to a more primal form with a boost to your subrace¡¯s and class¡¯s preferred attributes. Drains all mana after expiration. Duration: 5.6 minutes.</li>


    <li>Tauros Toughness [Subracial Trait] Incoming damage reduced by 5%.</li>


    <li>Mistshard [Spell, Unique, Evolvable] [Lv 4] Launch a slow, tracking shard of frozen mist at a target. Upon impact, it explodes dealing minor water damage to a foe or healing minor damage on an ally.</li>


    <li>Elionne Embrace [Spell, Special, Primus, Evolvable] [Lv 3] Grants a boon to a target ally that reduces damage received from elemental earth or elemental darkness sources and has a chance to reflect a portion of that damage as light damage.</li>


    <li>Increased Movement Speed [Class / Passive] [Rk 0] Movement speed is increased by 5%.</li>


    <li>Increased Regeneration Rate [Class / Passive] [Rk 2] Health regeneration is increased by 1 per 3.5 minutes. Mana regeneration is increased by 1.5 per minute.</li>


    <li>Arrow Regeneration [Ability / Passive] Arrows have a 10% chance to respawn in the quiver after being shot.</li>


    <li>Graceful Landing [Ability / Passive] Adds Gymnastics skill level to Agility for any landing from a jump or fall less than 125% your height.</li>


    <li>Squad Health [Leadership Benefit] [Reserve 10% Mana] Increase health by 6 points or 6%, whichever is greater. Does not affect the Leader.</li>


    <li>Squad Mind [Leadership Benefit] [Reserve 10% Mana] Increase mana by 6 points or 6%, whichever is greater. Does not affect the Leader.</li>


    </ul>


    [Perks]


    <ul>


    <li>Destiny¡¯s Designer (Unique): Reputation gain is increased by 10%. Reputation loss is decreased by 10%.</li>


    <li>Chrysanthemum Heroine (Limited): A locus of fate around which stories and events swirl.</li>


    <li>Unique Spell (Unique): Grants a random, unique, evolvable spell from Element Water. Spell evolutions can be chosen at spell levels 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100.</li>


    <li>Empathy (Special, Primus): Gain +6 Charisma. Increase chance of success by 6% when reading, detecting, or manipulating emotions</li>


    </ul>