《Aldemoor》 Chapter One: Character and Class For an entire year, he''d been forced to listen to their excitement at playing the game. "This battle was awesome, I nearly wet myself that monster was scary as shit!" "You wouldn''t believe the girls in Alveri, they have bodies like ''Bam!" they bragged about a variety of things that just made Max want to kick their asses. They knew he didn''t have the game yet they kept shoving their success in his face. Dicks! However, he wasn''t much better. Despite the torture that it was, he couldn''t stop himself from watching videos of the large scale battles that took place during raids of boss monsters. Magic being thrown around, a rain of arrows through the sky, the crushing blows from the various warrior classes. Damn it made him shiver in anticipation. Seeing it in videos were awesome, leaving him to only imagine what it was like to actually be there. Now he could only laugh happily. He''d worked his ass off trying to save as much as he could, he''d worked overtime and even skipped some meals, it was that important to him. Some might have called it an obsession with the game, but he felt like he was being quite normal for someone who was surrounded by an amazing game that couldn''t actually play it. The installation was a simple process, all it required was an internet connection. The game was sent over the connection to the Drive capsule and a little screen on the front of the capsule told him of the installation progress. Max paced around his room as he waited. No matter what game it was, it always took a long time to install anything and not only did it have to install the game, but the software of the Drive was being updated along with it. With the addition of fully immersive virtual reality, the Drive had to be updated to adapt to it. Not that Max cared. "Come on" he said softly before a soft chime came from the capsule, indicating that it was ready to be used. With the press of a button, the capsule gave a soft hiss as it popped open before sliding away to reveal the pale blue Slime within. He''d had this thing for a year and the Slime still unnerved him. The gel like substance was slightly colder than body temperature and stuck to the skin like wax when the capsule was closed. It was designed to hold the person firm in the event that there was a failure and the person began to move inside of the capsule. When the capsule was open, the Slime easily moved away as one climbed out. Max sighed as he began to remove his clothing. As excited as he was to play Aldemoor, he never looked forwards to this part. Once he was in the game it was fine, but it was the few seconds of complete immobility that freaked him out. Once he was in the buff, he stepped into the capsule, the Slime wrapping gently around his feet before he turned and sat down. Taking a few breaths, he slowly leaned back, feeling the slime move along his back and over his chest. When he was fully reclined, only his face was left free of the Slime. That was a relief but Max had begun hearing rumors of a new capsule that encompassed the entire body, using an oxygen based slime to enable the user to breathe while submersed. He shivered, causing the Slime to jiggle slightly. "Nope, Hell to the no" he said firmly. He was happy with his current capsule. He lifted his hand from the slime and hit a button to the right of him. The capsule cover slowly moved over him before sealing him in. For a moment, he sat there in the dark before the inside of the capsule lit up, revealing a calibration screen. The slime slowly thickened until he couldn''t move as dots appeared on the screen. His eyes darted between them with ease. This wasn''t anything new, with each update to the drive, they always had a calibration to make sure that the capsule was properly interpreting the signals from the brain. Quick movements of the eye fired off signals rapidly and required no movement from the rest of the body. "Alright. Lets Start" the capsule immediately went dim at his words and he closed his eyes. After a few moments, a soft chime went off once more before the top of the capsule opened up once more. Max actually enjoyed this part, the Drive was designed to seamlessly integrate the human mind into the virtual world. As he climbed out of the capsule, he checked that he was now wearing clothes and nodded as he began moving about his room. Max had often read stories where the virtual reality device simply dropped its occupant into the game without warning, but the people who designed the Drive found that such a shock to the system could be damaging to the mind. Far more effective was having the user of the Drive design a room in which to appear after entering the device. Max had picked his bedroom as it was what he was most familiar with. Though things did feel different, his room was in better focus, more like his actual room than a room made out of pixels as it had been before. The new update had added a lot more realism to the system. The only reason Max was sure he was in the virtual world was that he was now wearing clothes and his room was much cleaner than he''d left it. He always meant to clean his room but always got distracted by something else. Max smiled and stretched slightly, enjoying that his body felt even more real than before. He did a few simple tests to make sure the system was responding to his commands. Walking in a straight line, touching his nose, basically all the tests one would perform if they were drunk and in danger of jail time. With that done, he opened the door to his room. Instead of the familiar hallway that should have been there in his real home, he found a large white room. He let the door shut behind him and walked through the white room. On the walls were video game covers. They represented the games he had installed on the capsule. A tap of one of the covers caused a small screen to appear before him.
Enter the Fray Delve into the battles of human history and fight against your fellow man. Human history is filled with constant strife, but with perseverance you can come out on top! Enter the Fray?
Max shook his head and selected No on the next prompt. This particular game had been one of the first virtual reality games to be released with the Drive. He didn''t really have a problem with it, but it was one of those games that was quite violent, emulating the actual battles from human history. Some people complained about the potential affect it would have on the youth and others complained that it was idealizing conflicts that could have been avoided. Max rolled his eyes "Everyone has their opinions" he said in response to his own thoughts as he walked through the room, gazing at games past. Shooters, strategy games, Minecraft and other simulators. He quickly averted his eyes from a particular adult oriented game. It had been an impulse buy, nothing more. He hadn''t even played it that much. It was fortunate that no one else could enter his Game Hub, to try to explain that one would have been way too embarrassing. Smiling, the young man stepped up before the newest addition to his game list. With a single tap, he brought up the information.
Aldemoor The beauty of the world is defined by those who live in it. Without exploration, there can be no appreciation. Aldemoor is open to all, but only a few will truly find its secrets. There is only so much an introduction can give. Enter Aldemoor and find its secrets?
Max couldn''t have pressed the Yes button any faster. Slowly, the games around him vanished, leaving him standing in an empty white room. Then a speck in the center of the room appeared. In an instant, the white room became black as night. In fact, it actually was the blackness of night. He could see small specks of light appearing around him. Beautiful tiny stars. They moved slightly, or more accurately it seemed Max was moving towards something. A small, bluish green marble was quickly getting bigger as he got closer. Eventually, he found himself standing in front of a massive planet. The distance had tricked him into believing that the planet wasn''t that large, but this world was at least the size of Jupiter. From his vantage point, he could see specks of light dotting the surface of the planet, most likely cities of great size. To his surprise, a large portion of what he could see was shrouded in darkness. Unexplored lands? Max grinned as he looked around the planet, trying to pick out locations he knew from maps posted online. But he was too far to get any good detail. "Hello!" a chipper voice came from behind him causing Max to whirl around. He came face to face with a young woman, curly black hair and bright green eyes were the first things that caught his attention. While they were outstanding, he was under the impression that she was rather plain in appearance. "Well, that is rude" she said before smiling, her entire face lighting up with the smile "But don''t worry, my dad always said that I was only at my prettiest when I was smiling" Max blushed when he realized that she''d picked up on his thoughts. Then he quickly realized who this woman was. "You are Mira right?" he asked. He''d seen pictures of her as a little girl when Aldemoor was first announced. It was crazy to think that this woman who looked about his age was actually that kid. "Kind of. I have a lot of things to do and I can''t personally appear before every person who arrives in Aldemoor. I''m actually an AI Fragment, Mira 64038. The real me is running this whole thing" she waved her hands around her. "Also, I''m not a kid, nor am I the same age as you. AI time is much faster than human time. Even the Drive can''t match me with its four times acceleration" though she seemed to be scolding him, he wasn''t completely sure she was actually mad. It sounded more like she was bragging. Still, he held up his hands in surrender "Alright. So what are you doing here? Is this some kind of introduction to the game. Backstory event kind of thing?" some games did that. They gave you a bit of lore on the world and then tossed you in. "Again, Kind of. It is a little of an introduction and more of a way for me to properly assess you. I get a feeling of how your mind works and then I can recommend specific races or classes that would best fit you. Of course, you can freely pick whatever you want, but if this wasn''t an available choice, people would spend weeks picking their character" she shook her head, curls bouncing "It helps keep people from wasting their time on a character they won''t enjoy playing as" Max nodded, he understood where she was coming from. In old style rpgs, people agonized over every little thing of their character, their appearance, their body type, their abilities. The time spend enjoying the game was spent on creating the perfect character. Then they got in the game and realized that all their planning was ruined because the rest of the game wasn''t nearly as put together. "Still, some people do what they want. I still have a guy working on his character and he''s had the game for a week now!" she sounded exasperated. Could an AI get annoyed with someone? Max was unsure. An AI was supposed to be an artificial being, a representation of human intelligence so maybe? "Alright, lets pick your race first" Mira suddenly clapped her hands and a book appeared before her before she handed it to Max. When he opened the book, he found that it was much bigger on the inside. The book contained various races of Aldemoor, though he found some entries were replaced with question marks, possibly races that hadn''t been unlocked yet. Werewolves, Vampires, Fairies, Goblins, Kobolds, Arachnae, Centaurs, Beastkin, Humans, Elves, Dwarves. Max shook his head at the sheer number of races that he could play as. When he touched the entry of Werewolves, it brought up other various Werebeasts that could be chosen instead of the wolf variant. Each selection had variants. The vampires had Dhampirs and Ghouls as well as a few other strange selections. He could even chose to play as a zombie race if he wanted too. "Quick and calculating" Mira said smiling as she looked over his shoulder at the book. She reached and flipped a few pages "I think this race suits you best" "The Selphas" he said eyeing the race. They were a race that resembled humans except for a few oddities. Long pointed ears and snake like eyes were the immediately noticed features. Max found that he could rotate the image of both the male and female of the species. Both were quite similar. They came in various colors and sizes, but all had scales along their spines and across their arms and legs. What really drew his eye was the long, powerful tail that flicked out from the base of their spine. While the scales of their body could be various colors, Max found that the tail was always jet black. "It is prehensile too" Mira said grinning "Very maneuverable" Max grinned with her. A tail that he could move freely like a monkey tail sounded awesome. He began to look at the traits of the race. "Intelligent and exceptionally agile, this race is known for its quick close quarters combat. While the scales on their arms and legs are strong, the rest of their body is known to be quite vulnerable. However, their tail is their greatest asset. The Selphas can freely move their tail and use it for a wide variety of situations. In combat, it becomes their strongest weapon, outside of combat it can be used as a third hand." Max chuckled as he read. He''d never been a stay back and attack from afar person. Even in games he played as a Mage but always ran ahead. It was a pain in the ass to always keep the distance, especially when certain games wouldn''t let the mage cast while moving. "No stats like in other games?" he asked. "A little. As you increase in levels, your racial specialties will increase over time. The Selphas are known for their Agility, so you''ll naturally get quicker. Combat skills can be learned and then improved the more you use them. Your physical stats won''t be accessible for manipulation" Max nodded. It made a little sense to him. Many games that allowed a person to adjust their stats made racial benefits a moot point. Everyone could get as strong as a Giant in the end, the Giant would just have a head start. In Aldemoor, the play style was determined by the race that was picked at the start. "Selphas it is then" he said smiling. The book vanished from his hands and his body began to glow. A projection of him appeared before him. It looked just like Max except for the scales and tail. The eyes were hard to tell because his eyes were brown so unless someone was up close, they wouldn''t see the slits they''d become. "You can alter your appearance as you wish" Mira said waving her hand to the Selphas version of him. Max shook his head "I''m fine with the way I look. But could the eyes be turned to a red color? The scales would look good as a dark blue" he watched as the changes were made to his character''s body before nodding "Oh! Could you make the hair a little longer, to just around the chin" Max had short black hair but he''d always wondered what it would look like if it was longer. He nodded, seeing the longer hair appear on his character. Mira smiled "Alright then, all that is left is to pick where you''ll start" she waved her hand towards the planet and several points of light turned blue "These are the major cities that are accessible and are friendly towards the Selphas" she said. "So some cities are unfriendly to my race?" he asked curiously. "Racism is always going to be a problem among any species. Accepting differences is a large step in growth" she shrugged "Some locations don''t accept other races but don''t refuse them either. You''ll just get lowered familiarity and increased prices" Max sighed before nodding as he looked at the planet before pointing "So the blue ones are friendly main cities, the red ones I''m assuming are unfriendly cities" he frowned "But what are the yellow lights?" "Oh! Those are rural locations, such as villages and monasteries" Mira said grinning "A lot of people don''t pick those places because there isn''t a lot of activity, but I wish more people would. Monster activity is higher in places with less people" she moved her eyes around before she pointed at a yellow dot "If you want my opinion, you should choose this location. It is within a valley between a few mountains, the monsters aren''t overly strong but..." she leaned in to Max "The real me is starting some new stuff" she grinned. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked confused. It seemed like developmental stuff would be kept away from the ears of the public. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Aptitude. I told you before, I recommend races and classes to those I believe should have them. There is a specific class in this location that I believe you would get the most fun out of." Mira had a strange light in her eyes and Max was sure that she was doing some behind the scenes stuff. She''d recommended the Selphas race and even showed him the lights. He''d naturally get curious about the yellow ones. He frowned slightly "I get the feeling that if I pick that location, I''m going to get pushed into some difficult stuff, am I right?" he asked. "Maybe~" Mira smiled sweetly at him before he sighed and nodded. "Alright, send me there" he said softly "Lets see what you have in store for me" Mira laughed and waved her hand. His character quickly charged towards him and overlapped his body. He felt his skin itch as scales grew before a sharp pain came from his behind as the tail sprouted, a hole forming in his pants. His eyesight grew sharper and his fingers twitched slightly as his muscles adjusted to the new acquisitions "Oh wow...that feels...weird" he said as he moved his arms and legs. The scales looked hard and immobile, but they were flexible and moved with him. The tail was difficult "It will take you some time to adjust to a new appendage" Mira said "Just be lucky you just have a tail. Those who picked multiple limbed species found that it was difficult despite my warnings" Max could imagine. He had to focus really hard to just move his tail slightly. It was like he was trying to move his butt without moving his hips. It was uncomfortable. He couldn''t even imagine what it was like to try to move with multiple legs. "Alright. Have fun!" she slapped him on the back and he went careening into the planet, heading for his chosen destination. Several screens popped up in front of him.
Selphas
You have chosen the Selphas race. While not strictly a combat race, they are well versed in hand to hand combat. With the addition of their prehensile tail, you have no obvious openings. Your agility and reflexes are better than most but your defense is limited to the scales on your arms and legs. The Selphas eyesight is far sharper than some races, allowing for faster reaction time than normal.
Class Change
Due to your specific racial choice as well as your location choice, you have reached the requirements for a Special Class. Certain circumstances prevent the class from being revealed until after it has been chosen. Do you accept this Class?
Yes No
Max frowned at this new information. He could either choose not to accept the class and find one later, or he could accept this uknown class and have his fate sealed in whatever direction Mira wanted it to go. It was a difficult choice, especially since he was just starting the game. There were a lot of things to consider but...Mira had created this world for people to explore. Besides, she was giving him the choice. Given her true capabilities, he found it hard to believe that she couldn''t force the class on him if she wanted. "Screw it!" he laughed. There was no point in over thinking it. If he didn''t like the class then he could just delete his character and start again. He pressed the Yes button and watched as the prompt exploded in a shower of light.
Congradulations! You have been given the Local Deity Class.
Max blinked "Local Deity?" he mumbled "Like...a God?" he watched as a new window appeared explaining the class.
Local Deity
This is a Special Class, one given to those who truly deserve it. A Deity is a being of extreme power, however, you have not reached that point yet. A Local Deity is a being worshiped by the people of a small area, such as a town or village. A Deity gains strength based on how many followers they have. If you treat your followers well, it will attract more followers. If you ignore them you will lose strength. As a Local Deity, you must insure that those who worship you are kept safe and happy.
Before he could even finish reading the first screen, another one popped up.
Congradulations! With the first prayer comes the first follower. Make sure to always honor the purest prayers.
Max was growing more and more confused as each window popped up in front of him. He was still falling towards his starting location! What the hell! Then a soft voice entered his ears and into his mind, running under his own thoughts. "Um...hello God? My name is Alicia and I am ten years old" A little girls voice, soft and a little scared "My mom told me not to explore the forest but the elder told me that there was an old shrine out here. I have no where else to turn" Slowly Max settled down as he listened to this girl speak. She seemed worried about something. "My farm is on the edge of the village and nothing grows there. When we try to grow something, it all just dies. If we can''t grow anything soon...we''ll starve. So please, please grant us your blessing!"
Quest! Save the Farm
You have heard the prayers of an innocent child and gained your first follower. But without aid your follower will lose faith. Unfortunately, you do not have enough strength to grant a blessing. Find a way to save their farm!
Success: Permanent Follower and ten points of Faith.
Failure: Alicia and her family die. Loss of follower.
Time Limit: One Week
"What the hell!?" this wasn''t normal at all. Max hadn''t had time to adjust to his body at all, nor had he had any time to explore. He was just suddenly thrust into a timed Quest from the get go. But he arrived at his location as well. His feet settled down onto a small wooden box that didn''t even move from his weight. In front of the box in a praying stance was a little blond Selphas. Maxsmiled as he looked at the girl "Fear not child, I shall help you!" he said triumphantly. ... ... The little girl sighed and stood up before turning around and walking away. "Wait! I''m serious" Max almost deflated when she ignored him "I may not be much but I''m at least here to help" he hopped down from the box and followed her. It didn''t take long to realize a few things. She couldn''t hear him and the grass beneath his feet wasn''t even flattening from his footsteps. "Uh...what?" Max said before he thought about something "Status!"
Status Window
Name: Max Alignment: Light
Level: 1 Class: Local Deity
Race: Selphas Gender: Male
Titles
N/A
Fame: 0 Infamy: 0
-
Health: 100 / 100 Health Regen: 0.5 / Sec
Faith: 0 / 10 Faith Regen: 1 / Day
Stamina: 100 / 100 Stamina Regen: 0.5 / Sec
-
Strength: 3 Agility: 5
Vitality: 3
Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 4
Leadership: 1 Luck: 3
-
Attack: 10 Defense: 10
Status Effects
Incorporeal, Weakened
Skills
Blessing, Aura of Divinity, Tail Whip
"Not good" Max said scratching his head. He assumed that his physical stats had been lowered by the Weakened status. But the Incorporeal status was the real problem. Max tapped Incorporeal and a new window opened up for him.
Status Effect: Incorporeal
You are afflicted with the status Incorporeal. This means that you have no physical form with which to act on the physical plane of existence. Until this status is removed, you will not be able to interact with anyone or anything physical. Incorporeal beings and beings with a sensitivity to the incorporeal world can interact with you.
"Damn...how am I supposed to help this girl if she can''t see or hear me" Max said softly as he followed Alicia. He watched her tail swing back and forth as she walked and attempted to mimic it using his own tail. While he couldn''t fight monsters in his current state, it didn''t mean he couldn''t train himself to use what he had. The village Alicia lived in wasn''t a large one, though there were multiple small farms dotting the landscape of the valley. At most there were a hundred people within the village. All were Selphas of course. Max was interested to see that their scales were various colors. He assumed that scale color would have been something special but it seemed to be a random change in their pigmentation. Some people waved at Alicia but he could see the sadness in their eyes. It wasn''t just Alicia''s farm that was having problems, that much he could gather, but only a child would have the naivete to ask a god for help, especially when he had such a small shrine. Max had wondered about them almost dying in a village, but now it made sense. The others could barely feed themselves. Shaking his head, he continued to follow the little girl to her farm. When he got there, he saw something interesting. Shadows moved across the ground of the farm. When he looked closer, he found that they were shaped a little like a crab. When he really focused on them, a name popped up.
Evil Spirit: Crab Variant
An evil spirit? Max watched as one of the crabs found a still living sprout from the farm and knelt over it. Wisps of bright white energ flowed from inside of the sprout and into the crab''s mouth. It was slight, but the sprout began to wilt. "Oh fuck you guys" Max said. He''d imagined that it was something like poor weather or improper farming techniques. This was different, this was monsters. From Alicia''s reaction, or lack thereof, Max could understand that no one could see these creatures. Running a hand through his black hair, Max moved closer to the crab and quickly spun, striking it with his tail. It wasn''t very effective because he couldn''t completely control it, but it knocked the crab away from the sprout. A damage value floated over the head, showing off the number six. A bar appeared over the crab, showing that it had fourteen of twenty health left. He was suprised that it had done so much damage, but it made sense. His attack was ten, if the crab had a defense of four then he''d do six points of damage. "Does that mean if it''s defense is higher than my attack, I won''t do any damage?" while he was thinking of this, the crab had gotten close to him and slahed out with one of its claws. Max barely had time to block with his scaled forearm before he was knocked back. Checking his status, his defense of ten had gone down by four "I see. My defense is higher, but it doesn''t just reset after an attack" Three attacks from the crab would damage him. Defense was like extra health if properly maintained. He didn''t have any armor at the moment, but it was safe to assume that a good armor value would add to his defense. Shaking his head, he refocused on the battle "What I wouldn''t give for a side of butter" he growled as he rushed forwards and swiped with his tail. Until he could properly control it, he was forced to move his whole body in an attempt to do damage. However, the crab was ready for this and quickly dodged the large attack "Smart bastard, you are weak but you have a good head on you" He and the crab watched each other for some time, wary of each others movements. Frankly speaking, Max had the strength and health to handle the creature, but this was a big farm and there were about a hundred of the little shadows moving about, not all of them crabs. Max was sure that this was the weakest of the Evil Spirits on the farm, further away from people he could see bigger spirits. Max then slapped his forehead "Damn, I''ve been doing it manually but I have a skill for this" he berated himself before he rushed forwards and spun quickly "Tail Whip!" he activated the skill that he''d forgotten about. His tail glowed softly with the activation and struck the crab before it could react, dealing a whopping fifteen damage with a critical hit. The crab was knocked back a few feet before it slowly got up and struggled towards Max before it slowly fell apart into shadowy particles. Max checked his status but saw now exp value. What did he get from killing these things? He also saw that using his skill once depleted his stamina by ten. That meant that he could only use it ten times with his current stamina. Sighing he walked over to where the crab fell apart and spotted a glowing marble. As he examined it, a window popped up to explain what it was.
Source of Life
A condensed form of Life energy. If consumed will provide a single point of faith. If crushed and scattered over dying or ailing creatures, will provide a small boost to vitality
Max chuckled as he looked at the glowing marble "So...this Faith stuff is really important apparently. Even my quest doesn''t give me exp" he was about to swallow the marble before he paused and looked at the sprout he''d saved before sighing "Guess that explains why it only gives one faith" he said before kneeling over the plant and crushing the marble. As the specks of life energy fell over the sprout, Max watched it begin to grow greener as it grew stronger. It even doubled in size before calming down. Standing back up, he looked over the farm "It is going to be a long day" he said as he began to head towards the next crab. He had a week to help Alicia and her family. He didn''t know what they were growing but he wasn''t going to stop until he''d killed ever Evil Spirit on the farm. This might even help him. Once others saw that Alicia''s farm was doing better, maybe they''d pray to him too. By saving this one farm, he might be able to save the entire village. Chapter Two: Crabs, Foxes, and Accuracy Max sighed as he stepped out of the capsule, the slime releasing its hold on him and falling back into place. Twelve in game hours spent cleaning up crabs from the farm and he was only partially done. About thirty of the Evil Spirits were crabs and they housed the area closest to the home where Alicia and her family lived, further out were the mid areas of the farm were, there were fox like Evil Spirits. They didn''t fight back and instead ran away. He was able to figure out that they were the majority, with around fifty of them appearing. It wouldn''t have taken so long if the foxes hadn''t spent so much time running away. He''d only managed to kill around ten of them before the sun began to fall in Aldemoor. When it got dark, the Evil Spirits were impossible to see, though Max found that his body gave of a soft glow, a sign of his divinity he supposed. It was annoying though. The foxes became far braver at night and would attack him. He''d only catch a glimpse of their figures with through his glow before they vanished into the darkness once more. He had to give up killing them for the night. Unfortunately, Aldemoor had specific rules for logging out. One had to return to a safe zone before they could properly log out. It was designed that way to prevent logging out in the middle of combat and abandoning team members. Unfortunately for Max, this meant he had to travel through the village and into the forest at night, back to his ''Shrine'' the small box was similar to what Max understood to be a small shinto shrine. It was strange but when he stepped into the clearing where his shrine was he received a notification that he''d entered a safe zone. Max loved the log out process. The second he placed his hand on the shrine and clicked the log out option, the shrine had grown and a doorway opened back to his game hub. It was a very smooth transition. Now that he was out of the capsule, his body felt a little sore. The slime did a lot of wonders but staying in place for three hours was pushing it. He could upgrade to the shifting slime which would move his body at intervals, enabling him to stay in for the maximum eight hours, but that was costly. Thirty two hours in the game was a long time to be awake. The capsule could theoretically simulate sleep, but it wouldn''t be as effective. When humans sleep, the brain processes all the information from the day, using the virtual world to replace sleep would just constantly pile on more and more information without letting the brain process any of it. Eight hours in real time was the maximum, most people would be at their safe zones by then. If not, they''d be forcibly ejected from the game and their character left defenseless. Max shook his head of those thoughts. Four hours at most was what he could stand. He did a bit of calculation in his head before nodding. He left shortly after it had gotten dark, that gave him about two hours before day broke in Aldemoor. It was stupid that he could leave with eight hours before morning and only have to wait two hours in real time. He could get something to eat, maybe take a quick nap, check the online boards for information on his own situation. So that is what he did, he sat before his computer biting into a sandwich as he scrolled through information on the Selphas race, but no mention of the yellow lights. There was some mention of Deities. Many of the Light Faction such as priests and paladins prayed to various deities, there was even mention of evil Deities that the Monsters and dark races revered. Max was stunned at this information. He hadn''t even considered that these were actual beings. Most games that used a religious background were just fluff for the abilities, but it seemed that in Aldemoor, there were really Gods and Goddess that granted blessings and curses. No mention of Players being made into gods though. Either he was the first or the other Players like him were keeping their mouths shut about it. It was a strong class that was for sure, but it was dependent on followers. No one would willingly give away information like that. There were evil religions as well as good ones. To be part of the light faction was to be their enemy and a newly born god of the light faction would just be a sitting duck. "Better to be quiet until I have a better understanding of my abilities and my surroundings" Max had temporarily attempted to leave the area beyond the village by following the road out of the village. However, he''d been stopped by an invisible barrier, attempting to push through the barrier actually caused him pain and lowered his health. "Some kind of Local Deity thing?" Max wondered as he pulled his sandwich apart and popped the individual pieces into his mouth "Can''t leave the place of my ''birth?" he sighed. He hoped that as he grew stronger, he''d be able to travel further. "Oh shit. Do I have to get more shrines made for me? There are only NPCs in the village and no players to go out and actually build stuff for me" he groaned. Even if there was a player, there was a very high chance they wouldn''t even be able to talk to him. "I have to figure out how to change my name too" he said frowning. The game hadn''t given him an option to pick a character name. If he was a deity, it was probably something he had to do once he got his followers to acknowledge him. Whoever heard of the great god Max? He made a spitting noise as he laughed and accidentally sent a few pieces of chewed up bread and meat onto the screen "Shit!" he sighed and got up to get a paper towel to clean up "Last time I make a joke while eating" he mumbled. Once he was done cleaning, he looked up a map of Aldemoor and frowned "Damn this place is big" he said shaking his head. He''d seen the planet first hand but it still amazed him just how big it was. This particular map was interactive, allowing him to scroll across the map and look at points of interest placed there by other Players who also used the map. Eventually he found his Village. It had been found by a player and left alone because it had very little to offer, a fact that Max wanted to change. "Hmm, if I can gain enough influence...maybe I could cause the generation of quests?" Max looked thoughtful as he smirked. The Selphas people in the village continued to live through hunting, but the food obtained was less than the amount of people in the village. The sustained themselves on a mixture of hunting and farming, with farming being the majority. Unfortunately, Max was weaker than the hunters of the village at the moment, even if he''d been just a regular player. The only thing he could do at the moment was make a quick note on the map, stating that the village needed supplies. Either an easy experience seeking Player or a good Samaritan would take chance to travel there. According to the map, it was rather far from the nearest large city, though there were other villages along the way. Some minor dungeons as well. "Can''t wait to explore those" he said grinning. If he could extend his traveling range, he could go fight monsters in dungeons. Well, that was a goal for the future. Max checked the clock and nodded "Guess I''ll take a nap" he said grabbing his phone and setting an alarm before heading to his room and lying down. It wasn''t long until he fell asleep, more exhausted than he realized. His mind had been awake for twelve hours after all. Funny enough, Max dreamed of using his tail. In the battles with the crabs and the foxes, he became quite adept at using it. It wasn''t at the level of a limb he''d used all his life, but it was getting there. Similar to those who practiced another language until the dreamed in it, he was now dreaming as if he actually had a tail. When his alarm went off, wakefulness eluded him for the moment, leaving him groggy. He stretched and sighed as he laid there. He''d always had a bad time getting up after sleeping, whether it be after a nap or a full nights rest, he always acted the same. After laying there for a moment, and nearly falling back asleep, he got up and properly woke himself up before climbing back into his capsule. Once he was back in his virtual room, he saw that he had a message waiting for him, one of his friends sent it.
Hey man, I saw in my hub that you finally got Aldemoor! Congrats, its been a long time coming. When you get leveled up, you should find us and we can party up. Send us your location and we''ll visit, maybe power level you.
Max smirked "If you only knew" he said softly as he quickly replied to the message. There wasn''t much his friends could do to help him at the moment though he did tell them that he might be taking the religious path and that they should be prepared to build shrines to his deity when he had one. It wasn''t that he didn''t trust them, but his friends liked to brag about a lot of things, their own exploits as well as their friend''s. He told them that he''d join them for a dungeon run when he finally got out of his starting area. Once he sent the message, he headed towards the game hub and activated Aldemoor. Unlike the first time he did, this time was much more reserved. A simple door opened, leading him back to the forest with his shrine as the doorway. When he returned, he found something strange about his shrine. It had been decorated with a small red ribbon. He couldn''t actually touch it but it was the thought that counted. It seemed that his efforts at restoring the farm didn''t go unnoticed. From the looks of the ribbon, it most likely belonged to the little Selphas girl Alicia. He chuckled "What a sweetheart" he said before shaking his head "At least she knows someone heard her prayers" he grinned and turned towards the village "Alright, lets kill some foxes!" he clapped his hands together and broke into a light jog. He could tell that he was a bit late as it was already nearing noon. It made him realize that Alicia must''ve gotten up early to check the farm and found it looking better before returning to his shrine to thank him with the ribbon. "The people of this world work hard, even the children" he said frowning "I''d hate to let them down now" when he arrived at the farm he frowned slightly. The crabs had returned, but not in as great a number. "How did they come back?" he asked himself as he moved close to one of them. He wondered if the other Evil Spirits attracted them to the location. He''d have to kill more than returned every day. "Lets get started" his body shifted into a battle stance as he moved forwards and immediately used Tail Whip on the nearest crab, knocking it back before he charged forwards and used his fists to strike the creature. A few well placed blows quickly ended its existence before he moved on to the next one. He knew what it took to kill these Evil Spirits. He already needed to find a way to deal with the foxes, he couldn''t waste time on the weak crabs. Given his weakened status, Max was a bit surprised that he was cutting through the crabs with such ease, but he didn''t look a gift crab in the mouth. The foxes were the real trouble. From the previous night, he knew that their attacks weren''t greater than his defense, but they attacked in groups when the sun fell. What they lacked in power, they made up in group tactics. Of course, they had none of that during the day but the bastards kept running away! Max looked at the glowing marble in his hand "Hmm, the Evil Spirits drop these and I assume this is also what they eat from the plants..." he scratched his head slightly before looking around "It would make a good bait, but there is no where for me to hide" the farmland was rather bare aside from the various small sprouts. If he wasn''t incorporeal, he could make some sort of trap...maybe...but he was so there was no point in thinking about it. Kicking at the ground showed that he wouldn''t be able to dig a hole either as he couldn''t move the dirt. As he was standing there thinking, he noticed one of the foxes approaching him or, more accurately, the sprout he was standing next to. He didn''t move as he watched the fox get closer and closer before it began feeding off the sprout''s energy. He''d never been this close to one of them before. He was sure that they were far weaker than the crabs, but their agility was through the roof. The second he moved towards one of them, they took off into the distance, closer to some larger spirits he couldn''t quite make out. They only attacked him at night, but they way they moved closer to the stronger Evil Spirits made it seem like they were luring him into a trap so he never followed them further.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Now it was strange. The fox was acting like it didn''t even notice him. He gently moved his tail slightly in an experiment and the fox froze for a second as it looked around. ''No way...'' Max thought ''They can''t see me unless I''m moving?'' the crabs hadn''t been like that. They''d attack whether he was standing still or moving about. It was easy to forget that these creatures weren''t real animals, just the Evil Spirits mimicking the form of the animal. Max slowly shifted his feet, stopping every time the fox turned to face him. With a little bit of time, he was able to put himself in a position to pounce before pausing to wait until the fox was looking away from him. Then he pounced, leaping forwards like a cat before landing on top of the fox. A solid five damage floated up with the addition of a critical hit notification. He quickly stood up and prepared to attack again when he noticed the fox not moving.
Status Effect: Stunned
A window appeared showing that he''d stunned the fox, though Max was unsure for how long and quickly used his Tail Whip to end the fox''s life. It seemed to only have five defense and only ten health. Picking up his loot he frowned "A lot of work to kill a weaker creature" he murmured before sighing. It had taken him a few minutes to get into position to attack the fox and now he had to move to another one and repeat the process. When he was relatively close to another one, he pulled out one of the Source of Life marbles and set it on the ground before moving away and crouching down. He watched as the fox sniffed at the air, seeming to smell the pure life energy coming from the marble before moving forwards. Max idly wondered if he also had the same smell. The marble gave faith, so maybe his body converted some life energy into faith? He had no faith so maybe the foxes couldn''t smell him at the moment, something he was glad for. When the fox was close enough, he bounded forwards and slammed his body onto the fox and stunned it again. ''This kind of sucks, at least with the crabs I was making good time, this is going to take me all day'' he thought as he struck out with his tail. He continued to do this for two more hours. He''d only managed to kill five more from the first two for a total of seven. Seven in two hours. It would take him about fourteen hours to kill them all at the speed he was going. The crabs themselves only took twelve hours and that had been because he was being cautious of attacks from others and often fought more than one crab at a time. Max was grumbling to himself as he pounced and killed another fox. A noise echoed in his ears as another window appeared.
Through repetition and sheer focus, you have unlocked a new skill: Pounce
"Oh great, two hours and I unlocked a new skill" Max said rolling his eyes "Wonder what this even does besides making me a better attacker" he opened his status screen and tapped on his new skill.
Pounce
Leap from one location to another using the minimum amount of sound. When used on an unsuspecting enemy it will inflict the Stun status.
Max laughed softly. It didn''t do much in the way of combat, but it did seem to help with moving silently. He knelt down and activated the skill, his body glowed slightly as he kicked off lightly, sending himself shooting forwards before landing lightly. A quick check of his status showed that it used a bit more stamina than his Tail Whip skill, which made sense considering that he was using his whole body to move instead of just attacking with his tail. The stun status was good too, Max had found that when pouncing without the skill, the amount of times he stunned a fox was only two out of seven times. Now it was guaranteed to stun all the time. "Physical skills use stamina, but I don''t use stamina moving around and doing the actions myself" he said. He lost the special benefits, the Pounce skill was effortless and quiet, but when he did it himself he made a lot of noise landing. "Repetition huh..." Max said scratching his chin. It had taken two hours of constant pouncing to unlock the skill, though there was no punching skill and he''d been doing that a lot. Maybe there was a specific way to unlock a skill beyond repetition. As he continued his fox killing endeavor, he couldn''t help but wish he had a long range skill. He was a Deity but didn''t have any evil purifying skills. He''d throw rocks if he could pick them up but, alas, there were no ghost rocks nearby. After killing another three, Max sighed before looking at one of the marbles he''d gathered. He''d been using them to pep up the sprouts he found but maybe they could be of more use... Turning around, he headed back towards Alicia''s small farm house. He paused at the door and wondered about getting in. Despite the size, they did have windows so he couldn''t climb through them... Max slapped his forehead "Damn, right. Incorporeal" he laughed before gently touching the door and feeling his hand pass through the wood "Weird.." he chuckled as he stepped through the door. It didn''t feel like anything, as if the door wasn''t even there, though his vision was immediately blocked off for a second when he did so. The room he entered was simple, a small living area connected to a kitchen area. He could see a wood stove and a table. On the other end of the living area was a small doorway leading into a bedroom. The bedroom had two beds in it though that was about it. It certainly was a village, Max had heard form his friends that the cities had magical device that acted similar to modern tools. These people barely had anything. Alicia was in the bedroom though he didn''t see her parents. They must''ve been out working somewhere. The little girl had a book which surprised him. Looking at the title, it seemed to be a book on botany. Plant care. Max rolled his eyes "This girl really does care about her farm" helaughed before he pulled out a marble. "You asked for a blessing, guess I''ll give you one" he popped the marble into his mouth and swallowed it. As it passed down into his stomach, it broke apart into warm energy that filled his body. His faith number went from zero to one. He grinned "Alright!" he said before bringing up the information on using his Blessing Skill.
Blessing
Beings of great strength can bestow a portion of their power to give those lesser than them great benefits. The type of blessing depends on the amount of Faith used.
Selecting Alicia as a target for his skill, he held out his hand to her.
You''ve chosen to bestow a blessing upon the individual known as Alicia Valtores. Please state the nature of the blessing.
Max looking thoughtful before he looked at the book the girl was reading and nodded "Botany" he said. The windows vanished as he said that, a soft white glow quickly enveloped the Selphas girl causing her to look up and gasp as the power flowed into her. The effect didn''t last long but it was showy. After it was over, a screen appeared in front of her. "Oh cool, because I gave her a blessing, I can see her screen" Max said kneeling down to read what the screen said.
Due to your faith and determination, the Local Deity of your village has bestowed upon you a Minor Blessing. You have been gifted the Rare Skill: Botany.
"What the hell? I can''t give myself skills but I can give them away?" Max said incredulously before shaking his head "Forget it, must be a special function of the game" he said. All he''d given was the type of blessing he wanted to get her. He thought it would give her some affinity with plants or something. The little girl however was extremely excited, so excited that she''d stood up and began looking around for anyone that might have been in the vicinity. He shook his head. She wasn''t going to find him. It took her a moment before she smiled and sat back down "Status" she said though he didn''t see that particular screen. He did, however, see the screen when she brought up the information on Botany.
Botany
The study of plants. This skill allows the user to further understand any plant they observe. Any plant touched by this skill becomes more resilient and less likely to die. Notice: Due to being gifted this skill by a Deity, the additional effect of warding off Evil Spirits is given to the plant.
Mana Cost: 25 Mana
"Oh..neat. High mana cost though" he said grinning. This would help him a little bit, at least to protect the plants he''d already saved. Once she started using her skill, the crabs that reappeared wouldn''t be able to attack those plants. She was young though, he wondered just how much mana she possessed. From the look on her face, it wasn''t much. She then made a determined face and stood up before heading out of the house. He quickly followed her as she walked towards her farm. The closest sprout to her house was still a bit further into her farm. He looked around to make sure there weren''t any Evil Spirits nearby. He didn''t know if they could hurt more than just plants, but he didn''t want to find out. "Botany" the small girl said as she knelt down before the sprout. A soft green light flowed from her hand and into the plant before she paused. From looking at her eyes, Max knew she was reading a new screen. Probably the information on the plant. Max was more interested in the very faint light that stretched out into a small bubble. A little bit of measuring put it at about three feet in any direction. Stepping into the bubble made him feel comfortable.
You''ve entered a warded zone. Health and Stamina increased by one second while within the zone.
Max grinned as he read the information that popped up. it wasn''t much, but it was better than what he currently had. He wondered if the effect grew as Alicia''s skill with Botany grew? She was going to be surprisingly strong when she got older. After this quest was over, she was going to be his follower permanently as well. He''d wondered why his faith didn''t grow every day but it was probably because he hadn''t finished the quest. He watched Alicia as she stood up and headed back home. He guessed that she barely had the mana to use Botany once and needed to rest but to his surprise, he could see her leaving her home a few seconds later, carrying a wrapped object in her hands. She was heading towards his shrine. "Oh?" Max was a little confused so he followed her through the forest, trying to get a clue as to what she was carrying but it was wrapped up too well. When they reached the shrine, she knelt down and began to pray. It was a weird feeling having someone else''s thoughts enter his mind. It had only happened once before after all. ''God, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you!'' her voice was extremely cheerful. He wondered if he even needed to be standing there to hear her. ''The skill you have gifted me is great and will help a lot! But my dad said to never accept a gift without giving one in exchange'' Max frowned. What kind of teaching was that. The whole point of giving a gift was to express appreciation or thanks, or simply just love for another person. ''So I''ve decided to give you this. My dad is a hunter and this is one of his old bows. It is too old to be used in hunting but maybe it can be of used to you. Again. Thank you'' She finished her prayer and unwrapped the bow. Despite the fact that she said it was old, it looked nice, well polished and taken care of. It was a deep brown and the string was a bit worn but not entirely unusable. She laid it against the shrine and stood up before bowing and leaving.
Your Temporary Follower has gifted you with a tribute. Would you like to assimilate it?
The window appeared immediately after he moved closer to observe the bow. He quickly selected the yes prompt when it appeared and watched as the bow slowly dissolved into light before the light flowed into him. "Oh shit! That is awesome!" he said as a new window appeared.
Old Selphas Hunter Bow (Assimilated)
A bow that was once used in great hunts. Continuous use eventually made it unusable in future hunts. Assimilated: The bow has been claimed by a Deity and given new purpose. Because of this, it has been returned to its prime.
+6 to Attack +3 to Agility
Max laughed and clapped his hands as he read the information provided. His first weapon that wasn''t his tail, and it was pretty good. It increased his attack to sixteen when equipped. "This is so cool. So people can actually gift me items? Too bad I can''t tell them what I want. I''d love to have a sword too" he said sighing before he held out his hand "Equip Old Selphas Hunter Bow" he said. It was a mouthful though, he''d have to see if he could change the name in the future. A stream of lights left his chest and flowed into his hand, quickly forming into the bow he''d seen before "Neat...but what about arrows?" he asked as he tugged at the string. When fully pulled back, however, it quickly formed a small arrow out of light. He released the string and watched as the arrow vanished into the forest. Looking at his status showed that his stamina had gone down by ten points "Of course it uses stamina" he said shaking his head "Nothing so convenient as something without a cost" He could fire ten shots before he had to wait for his stamina to regenerate. It was time to test out this bow on some foxes. When he reached the farm he was pleased to see that no crabs had respawed again. It seemed to be a daily thing. It didn''t take him long to find a fox to practice on. Kneeling down, he took aim at the spirit and pulled the string back. It felt so simple, the act of pulling the string was as natural as breathing to him. It was smooth and felt nice. Moving his fingers away from the string, he let the arrow fly. It soared through the air and, with a solid thump, struck down. "Ah damn, I missed" Max said sighing as he watched the fox immediately spring away when the arrow landed close by it. He''d thought that the game would automatically adjust his aim so that he''d always have a perfect shot. He''d been wrong. He couldn''t aim worth shit. The arrow had been close but that was only because he''d been pointing in the right direction. When he looked at the area he''d fired at, he also saw that it hadn''t fell very deep into the ground. It didn''t take long for the arrow to fade away leaving no evidence of its existence. It had been stuck in the ground but not physically. Max rubbed his head, feeling a headache form as he tried to figure out why an arrow would pass through the ground and then stop. He eventually left it to spiritual stuff and ignored that problem. His main problem was aiming. He only had ten arrow to fire and he couldn''t waste them on missing a stationary target. He moved forwards in search of a new fox to shoot at.