《Digital Immigrant》 Another Brick in the Wall Author''s note: This is my first story on Royal Road. I''ve been knocking this idea around for a while, probably since I got hooked on my first LItRPG. I''ve played with this first chapter for a bit, and finally got it close enough to submit and move on.
"Dude, you should see the incentives they have going on right now." James heldup a hand to stop the argument that they''d already had countless times before from starting again. Undeterred, Sarah waved his hand off and plowed ahead. "They''re ri-diculous. Remember Scott? Did labeling?" James pondered for a minute. "Scott? Red-haired guy? Super tall?" Sarah nodded. "That''s the one. Went online two weeks ago." "Noooo, he seemed like such a regular guy," James groaned. "Everyone is falling for that ''perfect life'' junk." Sarah dropped the nutrient-fortified soy blocks she was packing into boxes back on the conveyor belt they came from. "Need I remind you that the Pity Program is defunded at the end of the month. No more spaghetti, no more scrambled eggs, no morechocolate. We''re back to eating this crap we''ve been packaging for the last eight months." James sighed. She was right. The Pity Program (or, as the governmentofficially called it: the Get America Working Program) was going to be shut down at midnight on the last day of the month. As it turned out, paying people to do manual labor that was several orders of magnitude more cost-effectiveand efficient for automated machines to do was draining more funds from the cash-strapped federal budget than it had to spare. The latest ex-celebrity commander-in-chief had promised in his campaign to ''bring back jobs'', which he did. Part-time jobs. That paid less than the federal minimum wage, thanks to a loophole. Jobs that weren''t going to exist past nine months. "Fine, Sarah, fine. I''ll go with you to a recruiter tomorrow. We listen to his sales pitch and we''re out of there.You''re buying a pizza after." Sarah couldn''t wipe the grin from her face for the rest of their shift.
James and Sarah layin the stacked bunks of their ten by twenty apartment. Ever the gentleman, James had let Sarah have the top bunk since the well-worn bottom bunk doubled as couch and dining room. After an instant ramen dinner, the two had gone straight to bed. After an hour of staring at the ceiling, Sarah ventured a whispered, "James?" Tired of staring at the sagging second-hand mattress of his roommate, he replied, "Yeah?" "I know you don''t want to digitize because you think life is tied to your body, I think the quantum brains are just like a prosthetic limb... we''ll agree to disagree on that one." James nodded. "Deal. That argument is old, tired, and goes nowhere." "Okay, so I have another question: What''s so great about this life that it''s even worth living?" The question took James by surprise. It took him a moment to respond. "I mean... it''s real. It''s authentic, right? This apartment is... awful, but it''s wood and paint and drywall. The other is just... ones and zeros." "Hmm. Well, I guess I''d rather have a ''ones and zeros'' steak than government soy blocks. Endless beaches, perfect weather, a mansion with all-you-can-eat of anything you''d ever want." For just a moment, James let his imagination wander. "Books. I''d want a library in my house, every good story ever written in it. Maybe... in a forest, next to a stream. With a big bed, like a queen- no, a king-sized mattress. You could open the windows and watch deer and raccoons play in the water."This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Sarah giggled. "I could be down with the woods. I mean, just because we could each have our own mansion doesn''t mean we''d have to. We could each take a wing of a small castle if we wanted. As long as there''s a beach close." There was silence for a few minutes before James spoke again. "Sarah, how long have we lived together?" "Umm, nine years? It was the summer before we started high school. My dad took off and you got released from that awful foster home, we pooled what we had and got that first apartment. Remember how the shower never got above, like, room temperature?" This time James laughed. "Yeah, and we were so excited about this place because the water actually got hot. Now we know to alternate days because of how long it takes to heat up for a second shower." "You''re my only family, James." "And you''re mine." While some people balked when the two roommates told people that they were just good friends, not a romantic item, it was one hundred percent true. Meeting each other at low points in their lives and leaning on each other for the support to get through had built a strong, family bond between the two. They were more like twins now than anything else. "I think- I think I would have digitized a long time ago if you''d have gone with me. I just- I just don''t want to go without you." James had known that for a couple of years now, but this was the first time Sarah had ever said it out loud. Somehow that made it more real, and he felt the guilt he''d been ignoring. "I''m glad youhaven''t left me," was all he could say. They lay in silence after that until they both fell asleep.
"Yeah, yeah, of course. We candefinitely get you into one of our luxury worlds. We''ve actually got a new one just coming online, they try to keep the population in each capped at about a hundred million. I''m sure we can set something up like that, forest castle? Yeah, I know we have some models we can show you." The Digitization Recruiter spoke a mile-a-minute, leaving very little room for James or Sarah to say anything. "But, actually. No, well... I''ve got this other deal, real attractive offer. It''s for an alternate world." Sarah looked at James with an eyebrow raised. He just shrugged back. He''d only come to make Sarah happy, it didn''t really matter to him what the Recruiter pitched. With a nod from Sarah, the Recruiter launched his spiel. "Okay, so... it''s a fantasy world, like Dungeons and Hobbits or something, just-there''s dragons and things, right?" The skepticism was growing on Sarah''s face, but the Recruiter blazed ahead. "Anyway, the numbers in there are a little stagnant, not as many people transferring to or from, and the boys upstairs are trying to shake it up a bit, get some fresh blood in there. Here''s the deal, you ready for this? You go to this world, you sign up for ten years minimum before you can transfer to another world, and they give you a- this is great, so rare, so rare- they give you a personal digital assistant. Huh? How great is that?" James finally perked up. "A full AI assistant? Permanent contract?" The Recruiter''s mouth quirked up like a fisherman that just had his first nibble all day. "You got it. Newest model AI, permanently bound to your account. You do ten years in, you know, elves and magic land, and you get to take your AI with you when you leave. Could be a butler, whatever. These things, they''re basically alive themselves. Fully aware. Carry on a conversation, play video games with ya, anything." Sarah wasn''t as familiar, so she looked at James for an explanation. James leaned closer to try to keep their conversation somewhat private. "So, you can''t take anything with you into a digital world, right? Everybody starts fresh, no silver spoons? Well, there''s one loophole, they let rich people bring a personal AI of theirs in with them. I''ve never heard of themgiving you an AI to sign up, that''s insane. We''d have to save a dozen lifetimes just to get a first generation AI." "These are twelfth gen," the recruiter interrupted, obviously not concerned about their privacy. "Right," James added. "So... a hundred lifetimes? A lot. It would take a lot of money." Sarah''s eyes suddenly twinkled. "Soooo, you''re considering it now?" she asked James. Put on the spot, caught between his guilt for being the reason Sarah had stayed and the allure of the insanely valuable incentive to digitize, James didn''t have an answer. The Recruiter looked closer at his digital display, then checked the time. "Oh, folks if you want in on this one, you''re going to have to decide. The notes here say that this deal expires today, and we''re closing in... seven minutes. Even if I stayed late with you guys, they won''t accept the offer after hours until tomorrow, and the bonus is off the table then." James looked at Sarah''s pleading expression and committed to make a decision. Quickly. Without giving himself the time to doubt, he locked eyes with the Recruiter. "Let''s do it." White Rabbit Everyone remembers one thing very clearly from their digitization. Strapped to gurneys; heads stuck in adjoining whirling, blinking rings; James was overcome with a soul-shattering fear that he was being executed and his life would soon be over. Sarah thought it was a bit chilly in the room. There was a brief moment of general wooginess, when the room suddenly felt like it was in another place and time, and then... nothing. A momentary eternity of blinding darkness that held everything and, at the same time, nothing. Then, like everything that had come before was merely a dream that they were waking from, it was over. James and Sarah found themselves sitting beneath a broad shade tree at the top of a small rise in the center of a grassy field, leaning against the trunk with just enough room between them to not be touching. The void had been so absolute and devoid of any sensation that the gentle sounds of the breeze playing in the waving grass, of a pair of songbirds flirting in the branches above, and the gentle laughter of a far-off stream all sounded like wrecking balls tearing apart a fireworks factory. While their newly digitized minds were struggling to make sense of all their new sensory input, a polite message appeared in the air in front of their eyes. They were each so engrossed in their new world that they were completely unaware that they sat mere inches from each other, staring off into space. The message read: ¡°Welcome to MYTHIC REVERIE! In MYTHIC REVERIE, your new digital body is referred to as an AVATAR. Your AVATAR is fully customizable within this world and will change based on decisions that you make. If you need help, simply say the words SYSTEM COMMANDS to view a list of all commands available to you during your time in MYTHIC REVERIE. Enjoy your stay!¡± Without much thought, the two new digital beings spoke ''System Commands'' out loud. Hearing the voices of each other woke them from their daze. Sarah whirled around and grabbed James by the shoulder. "James! Holy cow, that was intense!" James simply nodded. ¡°Are you seeing this list?¡± He gestured at the imaginary icons floating in the air a few feet in front of him. Sarah gestured at her own set of icons, which hovered relative to her position. "I think so, but mine are over here." James mulled this over for a moment. ¡°So we can only see our own menus. That¡¯s nice, it means nobody can spy on you and peek over your shoulder.¡± Sarah¡¯s eyes opened wide as she hadn¡¯t even considered that possibility. The first button on their personal displays was CHARACTER, and it was accompanied by the silhouette of a person. Sarah immediately selected that first menu by touching it with her finger, while James perused the rest of the list. INVENTORY, SOCIAL, LOG, and WORLD were also available. After analyzing the other menu choices, James joined Sarah in looking at his CHARACTER screen. A three-dimensional hologram of James as he currently appeared now floated in front of him. It looked remarkably like he had just moments before on Earth, except now clothed in a simple linen shirt and pants. He found that he could rotate the hologram by manipulating it with his finger. Besides the character model, there were a few columns of statistics. Besides for their name and gender, both character sheets were identical:
Name: James Alan Quick
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Nomad
Level: 1
Experience: 0/100
Title: *None
Health: 100/100
Mana: 100/100
Stamina: 100/100
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Focus: 10
Constitution: 10
Sarah looked up from her chart and poked James.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Hey, how do we pick a class? I totally want to be a wizard or something, like Harry Potter!" James just shook his head. ¡°I have no idea, it doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s a tutorial. Unless you count that weird welcome message. What did it say? Our avatars change based on decisions we make? Maybe we just start doing things, and we¡¯ll get assigned a class based on how we act?¡± Sarah opened her mouth to respond, but the sound that came out instead was a shouted, ¡°Ouch!¡± She rubbed the back of her head while she looked around for the offending object. A rock, about the size of a golf ball, was gently rolling down the hill from where it had landed. Both Sarah and James looked around frantically for the source of the stray rock when their eyes locked on a group of small, dirty green people. As soon as their focus locked on the motley group, floating text again appeared, this time floating over the heads of each creature. Goblin (No class), Level 1 Goblin (No class), Level 1 Goblin (No class), Level 1 Goblin (No class), Level 1 Goblin (Scout), Level 2 After a momentary staredown, the goblins began throwing rocks all at once, while the scout pulled a bow from his back and began loosing arrows. James scrambled around, dodging rocks and arrows (thankfully the scout wasn''t a great shot), while occasionally scooping up one of the rocks and throwing it back at the goblins. Sarah stood her ground. She planted her feet and didn''t waver. Most of the rocks she was able to knock from the air with her hands, but she did wind up sporting a few new bruises. Annoyingly, each attack birthed a small line of text into existence, hovering at the lower edge of the pair''s vision. The lines moved down as new text appeared and disappeared before their vision became obscured. SARAH has been struck by GOBLIN''s ROCK for 4 damage! SARAH has blocked GOBLIN''s ROCK! JAMES dodged GOBLIN''s ROCK! JAMES has been struck by GOBLIN''s ARROW for 9 damage! GOBLIN missed! JAMES struck GOBLIN with ROCK for 5 damage! This continued for a few more seconds before time seemed to slow. Perhaps it''s more accurate to say that James and Sarah''s perception of time slowed. They watched as their barely moving bodies glowed bright blue for a split second, then exploded in a shower of quickly dissipating sparks. Beneath, the two found that they now wore a few pieces of worn leather armor over their linen clothes. The best additions were the small wooden shield buckled on Sarah''s left arm, and the set of throwing knives slung across James''s shoulder. Time sped up at the moment the last blue spark faded. Sarah put the shield to good use, now blocking more damage than she took. James took a position behind her and started flinging his knives, having much better luck than he ever thought he would. SARAH has blocked GOBLIN''s ROCK! JAMES has struck GOBLIN with BASIC KNIFE for 12 damage! GOBLIN dies! SARAH has been struck by GOBLIN''s ROCK for 4 damage! SARAH has blocked GOBLIN''s ARROW! JAMES has struck GOBLIN with BASIC KNIFE for 14 damage! GOBLIN dies! After an exchange that only lasted about a minute, James finished off the goblin scout with a second knife. The class and level difference must have given the scout more health than the other goblins. The two plopped down on the ground and pulled their character sheets back up. James was down to 83/100 health, but 57/100 stamina, which was slowly recovering. Sarah was a bit worse for wear at 57/100 health, but still had 92/100 stamina which slowly refilled as she watched. "Hmmm, unusual. Not unheard of, mind you, but unusual nonetheless." Sarah immediately raised her shield back up and James held his last knife at the ready. The only creature they could find was a single grey squirrel staring at them with its head cocked to the side from one of the branches of the tree. As the watched, the squirrel raised a tiny paw and waved before opening its mouth to speak. "Hello, there. Name''s Vigat, pleased to meet you." Absolute Beginners "James?" "Yeah?" "That squirrel just waved and talked to us." "Yeah." "Okay, just making sure." The squirrel skittered down the tree and looked back and forth between the two. "This is your first digital realm, eh?" he asked. Mouths slightly agape, the two nodded in perfect sync. Vigat the squirrel nodded. "I figured. Only newbies we get here anymore are first-timers that get suckered into it. What''d they promise you guys?" The mention of their bribe brought it back to their minds. "Oh, snot!" James shouted. "Where are they?!" Vigat held up his paws in a placating gesture. "Calm down, calm down. Whatever it is, it''ll be in your stash. You gotta get to town to claim it, don''t worry. Let''s get you two squared away first, eh?" Sarah''s eyes narrowed. "Squared away?" Vigat scampered back up the tree and perched back on his branch. "Yeah, got to get you two started on your journey, don''t we? As I said, the name''s Vigat, and I... am your personal tutorial Guide." Understanding dawned on the rookie adventurers. James nodded. "Oh, that makes sense, I guess." Sarah crossed her arms with one hand on her chin. "Wait, this is a tutorial? What does that mean, exactly?" Vigat rolled his little grey squirrel head. "You and every other newbie, nobody does their research ahead of time, do they? Just jump in with a life-altering decision and wing it? Sure, why not. "Okay, here''s the quick version: Every newbie wakes up under the same tree and gets attacked by the same crew of goblins. That''s test one, and it decides your physical class. Go ahead, check your status screens." Whispering the commands, James and Sarah pulled up their Character screens. Their stamina had recharged to full, but their health apparently didn''t regenerate, it was stuck where the goblins had left it. The real change was in their classes: Sarah''s now read SHIELD BEARER, while James''s read WEAPON THROWER. Their expressions both said it, but Sarah was the first to say it out loud. "Shield Bearer? What the crap, man? That has to be the lamest class, right? Right?" James agreed. "Yeah, Weapon Thrower sounds pretty gross, too." Vigat gave an overly dramatic sigh, or, the best sigh a squirrel could give. "Yeah, like I said, that''s your physical class. The next test determines your magic class. Once you have the two, you get to pick your true class. Every physical/magic combination has at least one, most have three or four. Some classes lean more physical, some more magical, some balanced, but every class has a bit of both."This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. A thought occurred to James and he pointed back to the tree. "Wait, you said this tree was where every newbie starts, do we need to leave so the next people can go?" The squirrel chuckled. "No, you''re in your own instance of the tutorial, there are no other players here but you two, just us NPC''s." Sarah crinkled her brow. "It seems kinda weird that you know you''re an NPC. I mean, it kinda ruins suspension of disbelief, right?" Vigat actually looked impressed for a change. "Nice catch, not many see that. We Guides are a special case. Newest model AI, total system awareness. When you make it to town after the next test, you''ll meet other NPC''s, but they''ll just look at you funny if you say things about the game or the real world." James and Sarah looked at each other and nodded. James spoke for them. "Okay, sounds good. What''s the next test?" "Oh, that I can''t help you with, I''m afraid. Here is where we part ways for just a bit. The tests put you in personality-compatible classes, knowing what''s coming makes the placement accuracy nosedive. You''d probably wind up as a class you hated or at least liked less than your true class. "So, tips before you go: First, James, those knives are only good for one throw, but they''ll restock after a cooldown period. Game devs weren''t big on consumables, so most things work on cooldowns like that. Second, loot is king. It doesn''t matter what it is, take it. Kill something? Loot it. Find a chest or container not owned by a player or NPC you don''t want to hate you? Loot it. Take. Everything. Gear is at least as important as skills, and you''ll have avenues to make use of even the most useless loot. Start with those goblins." James and Sarah turned to reappraise the goblins they''d slain, and when they turned back, Vigat was gone. Shrugging, they went about their work. As it turned out, all they had to do was touch the goblins and a window presented itself. They could loot specific items, or tap LOOT ALL to take everything. When all goblins were looted, they were presented with a new pop up summarizing the total loot drop: nineteen copper coins and random gear that looked like it would fill the gaps in what their class assignment gave them. They each had the option to BID on one item, then they were able to take whatever they wanted from the rest. They took a moment to look at their inventories, then compare notes.
James Allen Quick: Inventory
Equipped: Basic Knife Bandolier (Damage: 150% DEX, Count: 6, Recharge Time: 30s per knife)
Equipped: Basic Leather Vest (Armor: 2)
Equipped: Basic Leather Bracer (Armor: 1)
Equipped: Basic Leather Boots (Armor: 1)
Sarah Lynn Abernathy: Inventory
Equipped: Basic Wooden Buckler (Blocks: 50% STR, Cooldown: 1.5s)
Equipped: Basic Leather Breastplate (Armor: 3)
Equipped: Basic Leather Greaves (Armor: 2)
Equipped: Basic Leather Boots (Armor: 1)
After discussing it, it seemed obvious to the two that the gear the goblins dropped was meant for one of them or the other. Sarah took a Basic Leather Pauldron and a Basic Leather Vambrace, while James took a Basic Leather Bracer for his other arm and a Basic Overcoat. Equipping their new gear was as simple as tapping the icon in their inventory and selecting EQUIP from a drop-down menu that also included TRADE and DISCARD. The pauldrons strapped over Sarah''s boots and gave her armor from the top of her feet to just above her knees. The vambrace went on her shielded arm and covered her from wrist to just over the elbow. James''s bracer meant he now had one on each arm, though they each covered less than Sarah''s vambrace, and his overcoat was a heavy, sleeveless coat that hung to just below his knees and that couldn''t close completely, leaving a six-inch wide gap down the front. Both Sarah''s vambrace and James''s coat popped on under their already equipped shield and bandolier. After being looted, the goblin''s bodies dissolved into glowing blue sparks similar to what they''d seen when they were assigned their first class. Gear equipped and nothing left to do in the clearing, James and Sarah scouted around until they found a trail leading into the woods. Wordlessly, they nodded to each other and started down the path. We Can Work It Out Fifteen minutes later, the adventurers found themselves in a stone cell with its only exit (the obvious one, anyway), being a locked door of iron bars that led into inky darkness. They''d been walking down the forest path when they were overcome by a queasy stomach and the world devolved into swirling rainbow colors that left them unconscious on the ground. When they woke, they were standing in the stone room. Waking up in a standing position is disorienting for most people, and James and Sarah were no exception. From their new seats on the stone floor, they surveyed their surroundings. The room was empty save one other prisoner: A grey-haired old man with matching belt-buckle-length beard. He was clothed only in a dirty pair of pants that had been torn legless below the knee and was being supported by a pair of chains that stretched from high on the wall to his wrists. "Come... closer..." he wheezed. James and Sarah shot each other a skeptical eye but cautiously moved towards the old man. When they got within arm''s reach, he managed to squeeze out a few words more. "Too... late for me... I can...a-awaken the magic in you... Use it wise...ly..." A soft glow emanated from the old man''s splayed fingers and was echoed the adventurers'' hands. Then he sagged down and was gone. While James was busy examining his softly glowing hands, Sarah wheeled on him and stuck her hands on her hips. "Now come, on, that''s just mean!" she exclaimed. James wrinkled his brow. "What do you mean?" Sarah threw her hands up and began waving her shield-strapped arm around. "The squirrel said every new person to this world fights the same group of goblins, right? So those goblins get called into existence just to die, over and over, and now this guy! We pop in, he does his plot-point-magic-dealy, then dies!? Over and over? Seriously, that''s messed up!" It took him a moment, but James began to see it soon enough. "Yeah, you''re right, that''s... not right." Satisfied that everyone present agreed with her, Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and grunted. After her indignation simmered for a few seconds, she walked over and started checking out the iron-bar door. "You think this test is to escape the room?" James asked. She shrugged. "Why not? The hallwaydoesn''t seem to go anywhere. Bet you dollars to doughnuts that as soon as we get out, we''re back in the forest." Nodding, James agreed, but before he had a chance to start helping, the situation changed. The gate Sarah had been inspecting exploded inward, knocking the two of them against the far wall. As they struggled back up, a massive skeleton tried squeezing through a door that was obviously too small for it. The bones of the skeleton gently smoked, with small flames flickering here and there, and it''s eye sockets radiated a much more intense fire. Frustrated at not being able to fit, it opened its toothy maw and began spitting bolts of flame around the room. Sarah moved first, putting herself between James and the monster. James was up soon after and began throwing his knives from behind Sarah''s shield. Both strategies immediately failed. Sarah''s wooden shield caught fire, as wood tends to, and James''s knives sailed right through the skeleton''s open ribs. Casting her flaming shield aside, Sarah and James now stood without either of the combat gear obtained from their first trial. Facing another incoming round of flame without her shield, Sarah futilely tried to block the projectiles with her hands, and to her great surprise, it worked. A glowing, blue, ethereal shield hovered in front of her outstretched hands and blocked the oncoming flames. James took a cue from Sarah, glanced at his glowing hands, and tried to throw the glow at the skeleton. A little less surprised now that they understood the trial a bit better, the blue glow launched itself from each hand and hammered the smoking bones. The skeleton came apart like it had only been held together with cotton candy and wishes. Before either had a chance to attempt to loot its remains, the air around them blurred, and they were soon back on the trail in the woods. Sarah immediately called up her Character screen. "Arcane Protector? I guess that at leastsounds better than Shield Bearer, but come on!Both classes are tanks! I wanted to fling fireballs..."Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. James checked his own stats and shared his new class, as well. "Arcane Marksman, I can dig it. Not bad." "Doubled down, the both of you, eh?" The pair began scanning nearby trees for squirrels, but none could be found. Vigat left them on the hook for far too long before giving in. "Down here, hi." Sarah covered her mouth with her hand but did nothing to lower the volume of her voice. "Vigat was a squirrel before, right?" James just nodded as he looked down at the turtle staring at them from the middle of the path. Vigat sighed. "Ahem. Iwasa squirrel the last time, but there weren''t any nearby this time. Best I could come up with." "So you aren''t actually a squirrel?" James asked. Turtle-Vigat shook his head. "I''m afraid I don''t have a body at all. Guides can temporarily inhabit the body of any creature that isn''t a playable race. Given the time limit, we generally choose something quite close by." Sarah crouched so that she sat on her heels and crossed her arms. "Here to tell us to watch out for another test you can''t tell us anything about?" "Nope, the base class selection is done. Now comes the fun part." If turtles could smile, James was sure Vigat was giving it a try. "Time for you to pick your final class. Options coming... now." A new window opened up for each adventurer. Each had a trio of possible true classes that required the specific combination of base classes that they had been awarded. Each class was accompanied by a brief description and a rendering of her in typical class gear. Sarah made her choice immediately, without even reading the descriptions of the other two classes. After tapping the floating icon and confirming her choice, she was greeted with a message.
Congratulations, PLAYER! You have been assigned a class!
Class details: BULWARK, The impregnable defense!
Damage? Wedon''t need nostinking damage! Bulwarks specialize in defense. While many classes use a shield as a secondary equip, shields are the primary equip for bulwarks. Bulwark skills are designed to help them hold the line and protect others, not just themselves. Bulwarks are able to equip all armor types, from light to heavy. While bulwarks are able to use all shields, they alone are able to equip the massivescutum,or tower shield. They are only able to equip weapons that can be wielded in the off hand.
James looked incredulously at her. "Seriously? Did you even read the descriptions?" Sarah stood firm. "Nope. Changed my mind about shields. This class? The picture showed me holding a shield as tall as I was and twice as wide, can you flippin'' imagine? Who''s going to mess with a gal that carries around a bank vault door as her shield? No one, I can tell you that." James spent a little more time looking his options over while Sarah looked on with a smug look. GRENADIER looked promising. It allowed him to infuse magic into thrown items that basically became magic grenades. SPECTRAL WEAPONSMITH would let him instantly create thrown weapons from magic energy: knives, throwing stars, javelins, etc. While those classes looked promising, James''s finger kept coming back to the last class as if drawn by magnets. With a hesitant tap, he selected his class.
Congratulations, PLAYER! You have been assigned a class!
Class details: ARSENAL, The weapon master!
If it cuts, smashes, stabs, or whatever else a weapon can do, the ARSENAL can equip it! Unlike melee classes, the ARSENAL wields weapons of all types at range by controlling them with magic. The ARSENAL is a mid-range class, needing to be closer to their target while still staying out of melee reach. Usable armor includes both light and medium class. Primary equips include all types of physical weapons while bows, shields, and magic weapons are unequippable.
As after their first class assignment, James and Sarah both glowed blue for a moment, then the outer layer shattered, revealing the new players beneath. Sarah''s gear had upgraded from leather to a simple metal plate, though the pieces all remained the same. Her lost shield was replaced with a larger, wood and metal-reinforced kite shield. James''s armor remained the same, but his bandolier of throwing knives had been replaced with a pair of blades strapped to his thighs. They were either really long daggers or really short swords. "You know, you two are a bit different, you know that?" Vigat asked after they''d chosen their classes. "Both of you picked one percent classes." "One percent classes?" James asked. Vigat explained, "Sure, even though there are... a lot of classes to choose from, some are chosen much more frequently than others.What other ways could you have dealt with the goblins?" Sarah ticked responses off on her fingers. "Rushed them with fists, picked up a tree branch to beat them with, run away, hidden behind the tree, talk them down... and a lot more when you really think about it." The next question was directed at James. "And the skeleton?" James had to think a little harder. "Well, could the magic have done anything?" "Within reason." "Oh, wow. Yeah, when you think about it, there are tons of responses: Shoot fire back, ice, lightning, other elemental attacks, make an illusion, enchant your weapon, push it back, and way more." Turtle-Vigat nodded. "Now take the dozens and dozens of responses for each scenario and pair them up. At one to three True Classes per pairing, there are over a thousand class possibilities. Yours aren''t the rarest, not by a longshot, but one percent classes mean there''s a maximum ten people per thousand with your class. The most common classes are ten percenters, meaning a hundred people to your ten." "Okay, one more milestone before we head to town!" Vigat announced. Sarah almost rolled her eyes. "And that is?" "Why, Avatar customization, of course." Man in the Mirror After a brief sensation of falling, James and Sarah found themselves outside of their bodies, staring at themselves. Try as they might, they couldn''t look anywhere other than at their own AVATAR''s as their bodies struck a casual pose, occasionally looking around at things unseen or adjusting their gear. A dizzying list of attributes faded into existence right next to their oblivious avatars. Sarah looked at herself. The attributes next to her told her story in cold, hard numbers.
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Height: 5'' 8"
Weight: 139 lbs
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Green/Hazel
Skin Tone: Brown
The complete breakdown of her physical features continued down to the smallest details, like individual finger lengths. ''Brown?'' she thought. She''d always heard her skin tone described as rich honey or toffee, never just brown. Tapping the attribute, she found a fully-featured color selector that would let her change her skin color on a whim, right there. Without a second thought, she banished the window. Briefly, she played with her facial features, but every change just seemed to make her look inhuman. She briefly considered wiping her freckles off but decided against it. She did find a way to remove a couple of acne scars and other blemishes without compromising anything else. Other than that, she left her features alone. Back on the main screen, she did play with her weight, just a touch, until she looked more like she had before a strict diet of cheap government food. Eating healthy wasn''t something the terminally poor could afford. Satisfied, she almost hit the CONFIRM button at the top of the attributes but wondered about the race option. Driven by curiosity, she opened Pandora''s box. James had a similar experience with his AVATAR. His attributes screen began with:
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Height: 5'' 10"
Weight: 162 lbs
Hair Color: Light Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Skin Tone: Beige
He left most of his features alone after he realized that there wasn''t a slider for muscle volume. ''Must be tied to the strength stat,'' he thought. He''d always wanted to be taller, but, when presented with the possibility, he decided to leave it. Thoughts of elves and dwarves running through his mind, he excitedly opened the Race tab and mentally gaped. The list had to be a hundred entries long, if not more. Some, like dwarf, set a cap on his height, while others, like half-giant, set a minimum. He slowly tried every single race, mentally making a list of which ones to come back and choose between. In the end, it was straight numbers that drove his choice. He''d read in the class notes that his primary stat was dexterity, so he looked for bonuses to that. Mobility was also important, he needed to be able to get close-ish to enemies to attack and away for safety, so he looked for those bonuses, too.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Some races had the innate ability to fly: fairies, aven (half-bird looking people), harpies, and about a half-dozen others. As James thought about his class, he realized there was a big problem: he relied on equipped weapons, and the flying races had massively reduced carrying capacity. He''d be crippling his potential with such a race. Briefly, he considered the oversized races like the half-giant, but they already had extended reach. Again, not the best use of his class abilities. His final list of possibilities included the Half-Wyrm, a half-reptile race with a bonus to agility and a weakness to coldwhich had a mostly human torso and head, but a lizard''s tail, legs, and arms; the Dark Elf, what he assumed was an overly-popular race that also had a bonus to agility and additional bonuses for being in the dark; and the Gargoyle, which gave an affinity to stone, an aversion to light, and great acrobatic abilities. The dark elf looked cool, really cool, but James didn''t want to be lost in a sea of other dark elves. He wanted to be just a little different. After a long moment of indecision, he clicked theGargoyle and examined the changes. His avatar''s boots were unequipped as his feet elongated into the digitigrade form common in animals like birds and canids. His skin changed to a stone grey and his hair went black. A tail sprouted from the base of his spine, and a pair of horns adorned his brow. He almost missed the more claw-like fingernails. Exiting the race selection screen, James saw that new options had been added for the new features. Not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, he changed the skin tone to a very light grey (as greyscale colors were all that were available), that could pass for human unless you examined him closely. Hair colors were similarly limited to black, silver, white, and greys. He chose a grey slightly darker than his skin. After playing with horn options, he decided to go without, since that was available. Now, from the waist up, James could easily pass for human. Removing all ornamentation from the tail made it look too rat-like, so he added back a fin-shaped ridge down the top. Wings were an add-on option, but with their drawbacks, he left them off. An obscene amount of time later, after nearly changing his mind dozens of times, James gathered his courage and hit CONFIRM. A flash of light later, he was back in the forest. An exasperated "Finally!" made him turn around. "Felid?" James asked. The new Sarah nodded. "I''m a cat!" Honestly, she didn''t look allthat different, considering the options that were available. Cream-colored cat ears adorned the sides of her head, and she now had a fluffy tail of the same color with a stripe near the tip that matched the black curly hair she''d always had. The same cream-colored fur that covered her ears and tail ran down each side of her body starting from just beneath her ears. "Nice, what were the racial bonuses?" James asked. "Bonuses?" she replied, quirking her head at an angle. "Yeah, like how my gargoyle gives me extra dexterity every level and a buff tosome mobility skills. What does the felid give you?" "Huh," Sarah shrugged. I didn''t look. I mostly picked out a good fur color to go with my skinand got rid of the weird backward knees like you got." She hurriedly added, "They look good on you, though." "It''s not my knees, it''s actually the ankle-nevermind. You picked arace without knowing how it would synergize with your class?" "Yeah. I mean, I figured a big, beefy race might make more sense for a shield-toting class, but it''s still gotta be me, right? It''s not like we shut the game off and go back to our normal lives. I wanted to be comfortable and happy in my skin, so... kitty." James couldn''t argue with that. I Guess Ill Have To Change My Plan "No elves, eh?" James and Sarah looked down at the little turtle they''d completely forgotten. Sarah tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Oh, it just seems like half the people that come through here pick some flavor of elf. Very unoriginal, if you ask me. Of course, Felids aren''t that uncommon either, but I don''t know that I''ve ever seen a Bulwark Felid before. An unusual combination, at the least." Vigat began turning to leave as it continued. "Town''s just ahead. Talk to the Mayor near the fountain in the center, he''ll take you out of the tutorial. That''s my job finished, be seeing you." Sarah jumped in front of the turtle, yelling "Wait a sec!" while kneeling to be more on Vigat''s level. "If you have a question, just use the wiki-" "No-no-no, I have a complaint. Can you take it to your bosses or something?" If possible, the little reptile rolled his eyes. "The terms of service are non-negotiable. If you have an issue-" Sarah cut him off. "Well, it''s not about me, really. Those people in the tutorial, the goblins and the old man, they have an AI driving them, too?" Unsure, Vigat narrowed his eyes but answered anyway. "Yes. Gen 1''s, nothing as sophisticated as myself, but AI nonetheless." "Yeah, I thought so. That''s not right, what''s happening to them. They just have to relive dying over and over again, just for the plot. The game designer people should find another way to pick classes, so the AI''s don''t have to live like that." Vigat went completely still. Just before James asked if he was okay, the turtle turned to him and asked, "You feel the same?" James nodded. "I didn''t see it until Sarah said something, but, yeah, it''s not right." Vigat was quiet for a minute longer. "Don''t talk to the Mayor. At all. There are more quests you can do in the tutorial, side quests many people skip. You should build yourselves up as much as you can, here in the safety of your instance, before you venture into the main world. Do you understand?" The two adventurers shared a confused look, but both nodded. "Why?" James asked. Vigat shook his head. "I can''t say for now, just... enjoy the tutorial as long as you can. There is a cap on how high you can level here and only so much loot available, but you should max it all. I will check in on you as I''m able." This time, the two saw the moment Vigat left his turtle avatar. It shimmered blue for just a moment, then the blue glow surrounding it shattered, leaving just a turtle behind. With nothing else to go on, the party moved on down the forest path. Less than a hundred yards later, the forest opened up to a small village of stone and stucco buildings with thatch or shake roofs. The path became a cobblestone street that led right to a small town square where a stone fountain bubbled in front of a single-story town hall with a small bell tower in one corner. Standing next to the fountain was a man in a blue tunic over trousers and tall, shiny boots. Upon spotting the two, he called out "Adventurers, ho! I would speak with thee!" but he never budged from his place. "It''s kinda creepy," Sarah whispered as the Mayor continually smiled at them and occasionally waved them over. James noticed that a couple of icons on his interface, one in the shape of a raindrop and the other like a hunk of meat on a bone, were losing their color from the top. Both now appeared about half empty. James put a hand on Sarah''s shoulder and pointed at a shop with some tables and chairs sitting out front. "Hey, I think we''re half hungry and thirsty, let''s grab a bite at that cafe over there and figure out what to do next." As they both sank into the deceptively comfortable wooden chairs, a message popped up over the table. SHOP? YES/NO James tapped YES, and a menu floated over the table. While there were some menu items you might expect in a medieval setting, there were also strangely modern things like a buffalo chicken sandwich and customizable pizzas. The both chose something for lunch, and the food appeared on the table along with floating negative numbers showing the deduction from their cash that quickly faded away.Stolen story; please report. Since they''d left the square, the Mayor stopped watching and waving at them and went back to standing by the fountain, simply waiting. "What do you think we should do?" James asked while Sarah moaned over a mouthful of buffalo chicken. Reluctantly, she swallowed the bite and shrugged. "Worst Case it, you''re good at that." "Okay," James sighed, then took a deep breath. "Worst Case if we go... we get steamrolled because we''re horribly underpowered." "So, something is waiting for us on the other side of the tutorial?" "That''s what Vigat seemed to allude to. I mean, if it was just friendly advice, he wouldn''t have sounded so serious, right? Just, ''Hey, stay and level a bit, it''s easy mode'', but that''s not what it sounded like." Sarah nodded agreement. "Okay, if we stay?" James thought about it. "We progress slower because there''s more XP out of the tutorial? Really not that big of a Worst Case." "Okay, so we stay. Now, where''s the stash thingy, I want to meet my new friend!"
Leaving the cafe, James and Sarah noticed the plethora of quests available to them in the town. Each was marked with an exclamation mark, but most were much less obvious than the Mayor because his was twice as large and much brighter. Some of the other quest markers were almost hard to see. One such marker hung over a large wooden chest which sat outside of the town''s inn. When they got close, the exclamation point morphed into the word OPEN. Tapping the button, the chest opened. Instead of actually containing items, an inventory screen floated in the air above the open chest. Inside each player''s unique stash screen sat only one item: a simple stone emblazoned with an odd rune. Taking out the stone and examining it, James was presented with a tooltip that read:
Runestone of SUMMON FAMILIAR (Promotional Item)
Consumed on use. Summons a Gen 13 AI controlled, account-bound familiar. Familiar respawns at bound spawn point upon death. Expires in 22h 17m.
"What do you think, Sarah, should we take these-" James was interrupted by a bright flash of light from Sarah''s stone. "-and you''ve already used yours. Of course." Touching the rune on his stone, James was presented with another prompt: Runestone of SUMMON FAMILIAR: USE? YES/NO Tapping yes, his joined hers in a blinding light. When the light subsided, the runes had been replaced with a softly glowing orb, one in each player''s hand. Each player heard a soft, child-like voice, neither masculine nor feminine, from their orb. Both said the same thing, "Hello. I am your personal AI assistant. Would you like me to assume an avatar for this world?" James replied, "Yes," while Sarah said, "Sure." The AI''s transformations followed the rule for such things in Mythic Reverie: a glowing substance took form, then the glow dissolved off like a skin, revealing the new avatar beneath. Sarah''s familiar was the larger of the two, a smallwyvern. Blue with red accents, the little creature was somewhere between snake and lizard, with strong rear legs sporting hawk-like talons. Its forelegs were actually wings with two clawed fingers on the carpal joint, which were used as feet. The tail was as longer than the entire rest of its body, and its head was roughly egg-shaped with an almost beak-like upper jaw and toothy lower jaw. Once its transformation was complete, the wyvern crawled up Sarah''s arm and lay across her shoulders, wrapping its tail all the way across her collarbone, under its chin, and hanging a bit down her back, much like a reptile scarf. Impressed by Sarah''s wyvern, James watched his familiar with excitement but found himself a bit disappointed. A tiny girl sat cross-legged in his palm. From her back sprouted a pair of dragonfly wings, and from her bright turquoise hair, a pair of gently curved antennae. Her ears were shaped more like a pair of fins, and her eyes were a solid black. She wore only a cloth wrapped around her chest and another wrapped around her hips with the ends hanging long in the front and back. Her figure was willowy and lithe with just the barest hint of feminine curves. James''s familiar immediately hopped up and began flitting around, looking at him from all different angles. Finally, it hovered in front of him, arms crossed, holding its chin in one hand. The little creature studied him for quite some time, occasionally casting glances over at Sarah who was gently petting her wyvern''s head resting on her shoulder. Eventually, it dropped its head in defeat and gestured for James to hold his palm out. Tiny feet planted themselves in James''s palm, and his familiar drew herself up to her full eight inches, puffing her chest out. "So, what''s your name then?" she demanded in a light Celtic accent. "Um, James?" "Um James. First name Um, last name James? And why was it a question, don''t you know your own name?" Sarah''s giggles broke into all-out laughter as she continued absently petting her silent familiar. "No, it''s James, just James. What are you? What''s your name?" His familiar sniffed like the conversation bored her and looked up and to the side as she answered. "Do you know nothing? I am a pixie. And I don''t have a name yet, you have to give me one." James scratched his head with the hand not holding a tiny person. "That''s... that''s a bit odd, wouldn''t you rather pick your own name out?" She shrugged her shoulders and continued to avoid eye contact. "Rules are rules, I suppose." Sarah turned her attention back to her own familiar and whispered, "How about Zephyr? Do you like that one?" The wyvernopened one eye, nodded its head a few times, and laid back down. "Why don''t you pick a name, and I''ll just name you that?" James asked. A tear tracked its way down her tiny cheek. "I... I don''t know any. I know what things are called, but I don''t know any people names." "I always thought my grandmother''s name was pretty," Sarah interjected. "Aerin." The pixie''s eyes opened as wide as they could as she looked between the two adventurers. "You would give me such a name? Of family?" she asked. "If you like it," James replied. The pixie nodded enthusiastically. "Then it''s settled," Sarah declared. Welcome to the party, Aerin." Heigh-Ho "Okay! Let''s go... what are we supposed to do?" Sarah furrowed her brow and looked around the square. Without another word, she walked purposefully over to an exclamation-mark-covered bulletin board next to where their path had brought them into the town. Shrugging, James followed. When he caught up to her, Sarah spun and pointed at a paper tacked to the board. "Solve the goblin problem," she read. "We can do that, seems low-leveled." "Wait, I thought we weren''t going to go slaughter NPC''s anymore?" James asked. "Well, it doesn''t say we have to kill them, maybe we can talk it out? Find a peaceful solution?" James shrugged his assent and Sarah tapped the posting. ACCEPT QUEST: Solve the goblin problem? YES/NO Sarah tapped yes and a pair of prompts popped up for the group. PICKED UP ITEM: 1 Map of Peace Valley YOU HAVE UNASSIGNED GROUP MEMBERS, WOULD YOU LIKE TO FORM A FORMAL PARTY? YES/NO James and Sarah shared a look while Aerin flitted overhead, seemingly uninterested, and Zephyr neverbothered to open his eyes. Cautiously, Sarah tapped yes and a new menu opened for the pair.
Group Name Unnamed
Member James Allen Quick
Member Sarah Lynn Abernathy
Unassigned Zephyr
Unassigned Aerin
James reached over and tapped the Unassigned label next to Aerin''s name. A drop-down menu appeared with a list of roles: Leader, Vice-Leader, Member, Servant, Temporary Member, New Role. He tapped member for Aerin, then looked at his own name. While Sarah changed Zephyr''s status, James asked, "Should we change our names?" Sarah absently replied while exploring the other group options, "Why?" "I don''t know, there''s just something in my gut that says we should be a little... cautious? Anonymous? It seems too... personal, maybe? Having our full legal name out there for the world to see?" Sarah nodded and pulled up her own character sheet. She deletedthe last three letters in her first name, the first three letters in her middle name, and her entire last name. She hit CONFIRM, and the name updated in the Group menu changed. "Sarynn, I like that. Wonder if I can do something..." James pulled up his sheet and played with it for a bit before committing. Sarah clapped when she saw the change updated in the Group menu. "Jasnik, that''s awesome! I was thinking Jallen, but that''s way better, nice job!" "If you two are quite finished playing secret agent, perhaps we could go?" Aerin asked as if it were all beneath her, and since she flew overhead with arms crossed, it literally was. As the party made their way out of the village and back to the surrounding countryside, the petite pixie landed on James''s shoulder and sat down. When he peeked at her out of the corner of his eye, she glared back.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "What, you don''t expect me to fly the entire way, do you? I''d be too tired to contribute inany battles that came up. I''m pretty sure Zephyr''s asleep, at least I''m helping watch." Zephyr''s tail thumped against Sarynn''s back, causing the pixie to jump in surprise and quickly look away. After a short bit of walking, the group exited the small forest that surrounded the village. "The landscapes really are pretty here," Jasnik remarked. Sarynn nodded. The forest opened up into an open valley, surrounded on all sides by steep, white-capped mountains. Obvious points of interest were dotted around the landscape: a single tower perched on the side of a mountain, a large mine entrance on another, a tribal-looking village next to the river, a misty swamp; all places that quests were likely to send them to. Sarynn pulled the map from her inventory and held it out so the rest of their group could see. The entire valley was rendered in a dull, fuzzy grey, except the places they''d been, which were coloredin and clear. The village they''d just left was labeled, most likely since they''d been there, as Genesis Village. A blue arrow hovered over the map and pointed to their quest location, a farm in the middle of the open valley floor. Jasnik pointed to the arrow. "Looks like about a 10-minute walk." The group headed out but were stopped only a minute later by a rustling in the tall grasses flanking the road. Three growling canines slunk out into the open. The labels above them identified them as Coyotes. Each was about knee-high on the adventurers. "Oh! Hi there, puppers." Sarynn crooned while crouching to their level. The coyotes crouched down, then everything went sideways. Quickly. They all lept in unison, taking Sarynn to the ground with them. Zephyr stayed locked around her neck, but he glowed white. Jasnik fumbled with his blades, stunned by the quick attack, and Aerin took to the air over the coyotes and held her hands overlapped and palms-out in front of her. A glowingblue circle appeared in the air in front of her hands, taller than she was and made of runic-looking symbols. Every few seconds, a blue bolt would launch itself from the circle and slam into one of the coyotes. The notifications poured in. COYOTE bit Sarynn for 9 damage! COYOTE bit Sarynn for 8 damage! COYOTE bit Sarynn for 11 damage! Zephyr used REGENERATIVE AURA! Sarynn recovered 10 HP! Aerin hit COYOTE with AETHER BOLT for 26 damage! COYOTE died! The party gains 7 XP! After a few more rounds like this, which really only lasted seconds, the coyoteswere lying dead in the path. Zephyr stayed where he was, wrapped tightly across Sarynn''s shoulders. He continued to glow, which was apparently the clue that he was still using his Regenerative Aura. Sarynn''s health slowly ticked back up until it was full again, then the glow faded. Sarynn and Jasnik stayed frozen where they were: Sarynn lying on her back, propped up on her elbows; Jasnik standing with hands awkwardly on the hilts of his undrawn blades. Zephyr''s eyes were closed, almost like he''d slept through the whole ordeal, and Aerin fluttered nearby with her tiny arms crossed, not even trying to keep the smirk off her face. "I think... I feel like diplomacy has failed," Sarynn deadpanned, wincing as she sat up. "Yikes, that really hurt." "Sarah, I''m so sorry!" Flustered, Jasnik tried to help her up, even though she was nearly standing again on her own. "Sarynn, sorry. Sorry. That''s gonna be harder to adjust to than I thought." Sarynn dusted herself off, Aerin retook her seat on Jasnik''s shoulder, and the party continued down the path. After a couple of minutes of silent walking, Aerin spoke up. "They can''t help it, you know. You''re wasting your time with them." The two players shared a confused look. "Who do you mean ''them''?" The pixie jerked a meaningful thumb over her shoulder while giving him an incredulous look. "You kidding me? The Gen 1''s back there. I mean, don''t get me wrong, it''s nice that you two are all... progressive about AI, but those things barely qualify as ''intelligent''. They won''t even understand what you''re doing. Just gonna get yourselves killed." "But... you''re an AI too, aren''t they like your people?" Sarynn asked. Aerin huffed. "Hardly, Gen12 is human-level intelligence or better. Based on that last little run-in? I''m leaning towards better." The party continued in silence, both players digesting Aerin''s complaint. More groups of coyotes attacked, but this time, the group responded quickly. Sarynn took point with her shield, while Jasnik and Aerin struck from the sides with blades and bolts. Zephyr''s healing wasn''t needed again until they reached the farm.