《Arthur ReD》 Episode 1: The Beginning ~ edited EPISODE 1: THE BEGINNING Arthur''s POV RECORDING OF THE CK INTERVIEW < > Interviewer: And in latest news Fable of Fantasy, the game which you all have been waiting is finally set to hit the stores early April. The beta test will soon begin with a lucky 1000 people getting to play it ahead of its release. Today we have Mr. Luthor with us, the CEO of DreamIsle and lead designer of Fable of Fantasy. Mr. Luthor, how exactly do you classify this game of yours? Luthor: Mindy Czari, right? Did I get it right? I did? Well Mindy, what you got to understand that Fable of Fantasy is the complete VR experience that people have been waiting for since the headgear was first introduced in 2022. While there may have been other games, none of them I assure you, Mindy, had a development cycle of 16 years. Well now that we are releasing the game, and with the trial footage that¡¯s come through, with this game, I personally am promising that not only will it change the way we play, but also the way we live. We ¨C <> intelligent A.I. ¨C yes - - - - why of course - - - play type is yours to choose -- -- can I -- - - Tolkien¡¯s wet dream -- - play with Rober --- < > <> < > Yes, all those would be impossible without Robert. He would have finally seen the dragon he was chasing all those years dead. It was his dream, you know. He loved role playing games. I would give anything to play with Robert again. It was a great loss to the community, when Robert and Arthur¡¯s death was.. you know.. We will never forget them. There is an in game commemoration too, for them and all the imagineers who moved on during the making of the game. Their sacrifices will never be forgotten. I must ¨C < > <> A red light, which was just fixed above the TV had started glowing ominously. This woke me up from the lethargic trawl through the game interviews. The CK media interview contains the most information about the game, and even that is quite scarce. From the looks of it, the game will be given the ¡°Royal Road¡± treatment; skills with different levels, stat gains by leveling, hundreds of primary and secondary classes and so on. The Royal Road treatment had become common in the post VR era games. Only the actual ¡°Royal Road¡±, the first VRMMORPG ( for and made by the Koreans of course), the game had miserably failed, due to server failure, and of course, the AI processing allocation. DreamIsle, from the data on the other hand looked to vault of these bars easily. ¡°Doctor? Can you hear me?¡± I called Dr. Crane, my partner, or as I called him, Old Goat. ¡°Old Goat, you sleepi-¡± ¡°I told you not to call me that! What in Tesla¡¯s name is wrong with you? Why can¡¯t you just - How did you manage to gain access¡­ The cell frequency. That¡¯s why you were asking about cobalt level encryption yesterday. But that still doesn¡¯t explain how you managed to find a broadcasting channel. Wait, did you-¡± ¡°Doctor, focus please. Our bird has left for his nest. It¡¯s time to begin.¡± ¡°Phase 1? But - ¡± ¡°Yes. The next step has to be carried out now.¡±I sighed, ¡°Are you ready?¡± ****************************************************** Edward Crane¡¯s POV ¡°Ready? I can¡¯t just be ready just on your say so! Why don¡¯t you get your ass down you¡¯re here and do it? Why do you get to sit in your comfy sofa and order me around? Huh?¡± ¡°Doctor, we went over the plan together. You agreed to do this. In fact, as I remember, you specifically wanted to do this. Give me an actual role already, damn it! ¨C your own words.¡± ¡°I know what I said. But I just wanted to know it again. Can¡¯t a man ask something if he forgot?¡± ¡°You have asked the question five times in the last fifteen minutes. Doc, if you are scared, there¡¯s no need to force -¡± ¡°I am not forcing myself. I am not scared. You aren¡¯t listening.¡± ¡°You¡¯re nervous.¡± ¡°I am NOT. Okay, I haven¡¯t done something like this, ever before in my life. I mean, yes, I might have lied, but they were small lies. And I felt bad afterwards. I have never even stolen anything in my life. Well, perhaps once, but - ¡± ¡°Stop rambling¡­. just calm down and wait there. I am coming, alright? You don¡¯t have to do a thing.¡± ¡°No. I said I can do this, didn¡¯t I? I am going to do this, just you wait. I was the leading actor in my school¡¯s drama club. This much is going to be child¡¯s play.¡± I couldn¡¯t let the boy show me up again and again every day. No, it was best that I change the topic. Find something else to focus on. ¡°Man¡­ kids knew manners. This damn generation, you know! And I have a doctorate, too! If you can¡¯t respect your elders, then at least respect your betters! Why do you have to say it condescendingly like that, anyway?¡± I had played the age card. That always got the boy¡¯s blood pressure up. ¡°Seriously, you are going to bank on the I¡¯m older, therefore better bullshit again? You want to do this now? Huh? And let me remind you, that I have two doctorates. Not one, but two. Why don¡¯t you call be Dr. Dr. Arthur? No Doctor, blaming a generation is not going to work in this case, and let-¡± ¡°Oops, I have reached the nest. Got to go.¡± A small lie, as I had to cut the rant midway before it caught steam. Sometimes the kid is so damn dense¡­ at least I get to have a few laughs. With my mind at ease, I walked up to the building door. ¡°One last thing ¨C I am not sitting on a sofa. It¡¯s a chair. A big comfy executive chair. I am not that lazy.¡± Always needs to have the last word in any conversation, doesn¡¯t he? Or perhaps he wanted to calm you down by distracting with nonsense. That¡¯s another possibility. I pause, thinking over this for a moment. Nope. Definitely sure it was his ego at work. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I examine my clothes and props for the last time, clean my glasses and ring the doorbell. *ding-* Let¡¯s do it. ¡°Yes !¡± An overly eager middle aged wife responded and brightened when she saw my fake I.D. ¡°I am Duncan Kim, from Suntec-¡° ¡°Yes, Please, come in, come in.¡±She ushered me inside quite quickly. Damn it woman, I had rehearsed that line many times, at least let me finish! ¡°Can I offer you anything, Mr. Kim? Tea? Coffee?¡± ¡°No, thanks.¡± I was starting to get a hold on my panic. This looked it like it was going to be easy after all. ¡°Excuse me, but where is your son. I actually have a lot of other business, so-¡° ¡°No problem at all! Tom! TOM! Get your ass down HERE AT ONCE! THE LOTTERY MAN IS HERE !!¡± It looked wherever I go; I was to be constantly interrupted. Do I even get to complete one sentence today? And what¡¯s up with that lottery man? Is is like Super man or Bat man .. My thoughts were interrupted when a lanky 19 year old came down the stairs at double speed. ¡°Where? Where?¡± Right here, you stupid boy.*Ahem* ¡°Is your name Tom Ferrell,¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°son of Maria Ferrell¡± I decided to push on despite the interruption ¡°and did you participate in the Suntech lucky draw with a grand prize of with a two way trip to Hawaii for 4 weeks?¡± ¡°YES!¡±Both mother and kid shouted together. ¡°Well, as you were informed you have won the grand prize. I am here to give you your tickets and check your credentials. Sign these forms, please.¡± The boy did his illegible scrawl across several pages. Finally I offered him my custom made portable fingerprint scanner and saved his fingerprints onto the crystalex. *Phew*. The first hurdle was over. ¡°And here are your tickets for today!¡±I beamed at them. ¡°Wait the ticket is for TODAY?!¡± ¡°YES! Wait, didn¡¯t they tell you?¡± I said. ¡°No!Oh no! We have to pack!Tom, quick , pack your things.¡±Turning to me ¡° Please excuse us¡­¡± the mother dashed off the hall. I was only happy to leave. They left for their flight at 10:30 p.m. I watched inconspicuously from the street, making sure that I was not seen. I broke into their house exactly 2 hours later. ¡°First a conman, now a thief..¡±I muttered to myself. ¡°Don¡¯t be upset, Goat¡±,the voice in head fuzzed. ¡°As long as you aren¡¯t caught, there¡¯s no problem. I fed the cameras a loop. They would never know about you. Just go with the plan.¡± The plan. The insane plan. Right. Once I did break in from the back door, I decided to make my way to the couch and watch the TV. Because that was the plan.Right. THE NEXT MORNING When the delivery came, I was ready. ¡°Mr. Ferrell, you are the lucky winner of the Fable of Fantasy beta test. Please open the door, so we can install the VR pod.¡± I opened the door and did my best surprised impression. ¡°Really?! Come in! Come in¡± My enthusiasm was infectious as they soon started smiling too. I had already scoped out the kid¡¯s room and had the installation done there. It didn¡¯t matter, as the thing was going to be removed soon anyways. Once the installation was finished, I even tipped them generously. They would be singing praises for Mr. Ferell a long time. Once they were gone, I adjusted the saved crystalex from the kid on the machine to get the admin access. There. I had done my part of the PLAN. Now, it was time to vanish with the machine. ******************************************************************************** Arthur¡¯s POV Well, Dr. Crane had outdid himself. I admit I was worried when he offered those workers sandwich. The silly Doctor could easily mess that up and our cover could have been blown. But fortunately they had refused. But I was finally inside DreamIsle. Finally getting a chance to play the game. DreamIsle¡¯s entire network was off the grid. To access it, I or Dr. Crane would have to physically connect a port to their mainframe. Which was impossible, as the mainframe was inside the DreamIsle¡¯s top 20th floor of their iconic building. However, they had slipped up. In order to prevent favoritism amongst employees, they had outsourced the beta key randomisation to the military. But, formidable as the military cryptology was, I was even more formidable. Once I got the list, it was simple enough to send one guy to Hawaii (by making sure he won), get his fingerprint (the company database had been updated that Duncan Kim was a new employee) and getting the pod, which led me straight back to the DreamIsle¡¯s server, before they had a chance to patch their mainframe for the big release. Easy, see? And now I was in. I could almost feel my heartbeat. For too long have I waited for this moment. Far too many years preparing for this game since the day my father died. I have dreamt of this day every cold, black night since then. That I would one day return. Return and wreak vengeance on those who dishonor the memory of my father. The corrupt that prey on the poor. The perverse who gorge on the innocent. They all will pay. Every last one of them will soon wish that I had died those 5 years ago. It was finally beginning.
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The loading screen *************************************************************** Author Edit: Hey guys, this is my first fiction here. Please do leave comments and your criticisms about the story when you can. They mean a lot to the upcoming authors. Also I am not a native speaker, so forgive any spelling errors or the like. There is no proper update schedule, but I will see that the next chapter is posted within the next 2 weeks. So long then. Episode 2: A New Life EPISODE 2: A NEW LIFE Arthur¡¯s POV I had told Dr. Crane to get out of there as soon as the admin access had been granted to me. Within 30 seconds I had started the virtual copy, all the files on the pod were safely sitting on my own server. Gods, I love high speed quantum optics. ¡°Doc, you in the van yet?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah? Yes, that¡¯s good.¡± I switched off the call. The doctor would soon reach our lair with newly acquired pod and game. However, that was far too slow for my tastes. That¡¯s why I had created a virtual replica of the pod and game. While the doctor arrived from Central city, I could get the fun started here. Judging from the file sizes, the beta was still not available for me to play. The program would be available to me and all others from tomorrow. While I could still theoretically gain access, I decided to wait. I had waited for 5 years. A day extra would not matter in the long run. Hacking now could even tip off DreamIsle on what we were doing. And it was vital that they did not know what we were doing. The Beta had many differences from the final version. The most important was, of course, their Overseer A.I. The Overseer A.I. was the main A.I. that would run the game once it started. Basically the God of the gameworld. She (generally they are female, however males are also possible) would be responsible for all the player monitoring, the NPC A.I. , the environmental factors and all that. In the beta however, the developers themselves would be monitoring. That is because the beta is still not the actual Fable of Fantasy. Here¡¯s how it works. The beta is a slice of the game of a specific place, with boundaries set in stone. Once the beta is over and the developers satisfied, they will initialize the world with the Overseer. Then they allow the world to evolve for 5000 years. At this point, it is basically the Overseer and the NPCs filling their own and the world¡¯s backstory. So even the developers cannot know the history of the world. No changes can be made once the Overseer is switched on. So, the whole game¡¯s success depends on her. The Overseer will also create the backstory for the arrival of the players, and provide their in-game rationale for their undying and unstoppable growth. Dad would have seriously loved this game. I still remember that day. From the breakfast to the end. From the amount of juice he drank in the morning to the blood he spilled in the afternoon. With perfect clarity. Of all things that I regret that day, my words cause me the most pain. I should have been kinder. I should have said ¡°Good morning, dad !¡± instead of <> ¡°Good morning, father.¡± ¡°Arty! Come on kid!! Is it so hard to call me Dad for once?¡± Father shouts jovially. He¡¯s shirt is still wet from his morning jog. ¡°I made some pancakes! And we have raspberry juice, your favourite!¡± I still do not understand how he manages to sound so upbeat about something so mundane as breakfast. I sit down at his right, as is custom. I thank Bertha as she serves me my food. ¡°Father, we need to talk.¡± ¡°WHAT?! Who is she? When did you meet her?¡± I swear, it¡¯s like he screams each sentence so that it directly hits your brain. ¡°No, it¡¯s not,- I don¡¯t have a girlfriend. It¡¯s about business. My iterative A.I. that I told you about, LOTUS, is finished. My preliminary tests are over. LOTUS will work. It can break through the singularity.¡± ¡°HA HA HA. That¡¯s great, Arty! Let me just call Alex ¨C¡° ¡°No. Father, wait. Are you seriously considering selling the best A.I. technology to some nobody game company. You must reconsider! I know you love games, but this way we wouldn¡¯t even be making a profit!¡± ¡°What are you talking about son? Alexei and I agreed to share the profits equally between us.¡± ¡°That would work if he was investing equally. But we are the ones who are doing all the actual work! The A.I. , the pods -¡± ¡°Arty, enough. Sometimes, great dreams require great risks. Can¡¯t you see it? The game will be successful! I believe it.¡± He looked at me and then smiled. ¡°I have an idea. Let¡¯s visit the office today, you and me. I will show the headgear and you can see the development for yourself. And then you can tell whether we will profit from this venture or not. How¡¯s that sound?¡± ¡°Very well, Father. But if it does not work, I¡¯m afraid I would have to cancel it.¡± <> In hindsight, the trainwreck of our relationship is crystal clear to me. Why did I treat business as more important than our relationship? Why couldn¡¯t I have told him that I loved him? Why couldn¡¯t I show that I cared? Perhaps if I was different, he might have listened to me. He might have still been alive. ¡°Lost in your memories, kid?¡± The good doctor had come in just now. ¡°Don¡¯t do it, boy. Memories such as that cause nothing but pain. I should know.Hmmm.Well, better prepare yourself. Midnight is just two hours away. You aren¡¯t having second thoughts are you?¡± ¡°Doctor, DON¡¯T. Let me remind YOU, that this whole IDEA was given by ME. SO don¡¯t you dare.DON''T DARE to tell me that I AM HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS!¡± I was quite angry when I heard him and his idea about his damn second thoughts. I gave myself a few moments to calm down. Passion is the enemy of precision. Calm down. Slow and steady. ¡°I am sorry.¡±I apologized to the doctor. He was my only remaining friend. He had the right to question me. ¡°Apology accepted.¡±He looked at me and we then shook hands. ''''Holding grudges don''t help anybody." I grunted in acknowledgement. We soon got down to work, improving the pod, so that I could play without any risks and such and making sure the pod and data transfer were untraceable to the servers. It took quite a while, but it was necessary. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Well, it¡¯s about time. You ready? I will keep in touch, contact you with the servitor if something comes up, okay?¡¯¡¯ The servitor was the program I designed which would allow the doctor to communicate with me once I was in the game. The Beta had started. I decided to login. ¡°Arthur, diving in !¡± I shouted as I logged onto the server. I did this every time I put on the headgear. It reminded me of the mecha anime heroes with their catchphrases every time they sat in their cockpit. I arrived in a white spaceless room, typical of the VR loading screen. And then he arrived in front of me. Alexei Luthor. ¡®Good day, lucky player. Welcome to my wor-¡¯¡¯ And my memories came rushing back. <> I was walking down an endless field of green. There was a light breeze that I could feel. The clouds were just the right hue. It looked real. It felt real. ¡°Ha, so how do you like it Arty? Still think the game will fail? I hired the very best for the designing process! Wait and watch Art, this is going to be the best game ever! Hey, Alexei, what do you think, huh?¡¯¡¯ ¡°I think it¡¯s quite beautiful, Mr. Robert. However, there is a problem with the nervegear. The immersion settings do not yet comply with the government regulations. They fear that in case of an accident our applicants will not be able to ¡­wake up.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that quite a minor problem? Simply change the settings and we can easily-¡¯¡¯ ¡°No, sir. They are asking for a newer, better, non intrusive model.¡± ¡°I see, I see. This will set us back by more than 20 years. Ah, it¡¯s a huge problem.¡± I was watching from nearby. Our company¡¯s nervegear allowed for a deeper and better experience but seems like the government was afraid and pushing for cheaper alternatives. This was destined to hurt our sales. I was afraid that we would have to branch out to other fields. Surgery, or ¨C ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Sir Robert. There¡¯s a simple solution.¡± ¡°Eh? What is it?¡± ¡° For you to die. Once you do, the company becomes mine, and I am free to partner myself with Ruarke Industries and their headgear technology. Then, I can easily sell the game! What do you think Robert? Are you ready to die?¡± ¡°What sort of nonsense is-¡± I had started running towards them. ¡°FATHER, get away! He¡¯s serious! He means it!¡± Both of them turned towards me. And I saw the blood spill from my father¡¯s lips. I will never forget that moment. I was too late. <> -enjoy the beta!¡¯¡¯ The murderer¡¯s recording had finally stopped. It was customary for the CEO to give a customary message to the players before beginning the game. In this case, I had to listen to the bullshit of Alexei Luthor.
New player discovered!
Due to the Beta restrictions, you will be born in Imperial City, Kingdom of Cyrodriil !
Due to beta restrictions, your race is human!
Please wait. Calibrating.
Various colours flash in front of me. Violet, blue, green yellow, orange and red. Red. I remember the red. <> ¡°What have you done to him?¡¯¡¯ I scream at Alexei. My father had simply collapsed on the ground. When I turned him over, I saw his body drenched in blood. I couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. ¡°This is a demonstration, actually. The nerve gear accurately deduced the three .9 caliber that was fired in his heart in reality, and reproduced it here. See? The government was right to want better.¡± ¡°I am going to-¡¯¡¯ ¡°To do what, kid? You are going to be joining him.¡±He laughed. ¡°Without me, your A.I.-¡± ¡°Ah! Nice bluff, but your father already called to tell that his son had completed the LOTUS. Nice work. Your father would be proud! We can handle it from here onwards. Well, kill him.¡± As he was speaking, a searing pain pierced my chest. I had been shot, I realized. I could no longer stand and my vision began to go blurry. I.. ¡°Goodbye, kid. This is the end of your life.¡± <>
Are you ready to begin your new life?
YesNo
The screen stares at me. I press on YES.
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The loading screen ************************ Tables are hard. Someone tell me why.*sobs* Episode 3: Imperial City Author¡¯s Note I suck at building a game world. Therefore, I decided to ¡®borrow¡¯ the necessary details from the Bethesda game and their lore. The elder scrolls content is seriously fantastic, and I believe the games don¡¯t do it enough justice. The game world content is totally them and not me. Seriously. I hope they don¡¯t sue me. Also any resemblance to any character , living or dead, fictional or not, is purely coincidental. I will be using the elder scrolls lore and world, and also city and places, however I think I will add VRMMORPG elements where necessary. So don¡¯t worry, read and comment on my story! And to all the readers out there, leave a review! I know it¡¯s slow going, but I need to know how¡¯s it going anyway! ********************************************************************** EPISODE 3: IMPERIAL CITY Arthur¡¯s POV I materialized in the middle of a road. My clothes had been replaced by the traditional beginner outfit: A ugly rough hewn white shirt and pant. The shoes too, were quite uncomfortable. I decided to look around and see where I had landed. My breath caught in my throat. My dad¡¯s interest in role-playing games was deep. He had played the Seven Dragon¡¯s Saga, the D&Ds, the early precursors Ultima and Wasteland and Fallout. And he loved all of them. Our company had started when he had started selling his own take on the computer version of Dungeons & Dragons from his garage, right when he was still in school. Computers then were big, bulky and expensive. However, we lived in the Silicon Valley, where all agreed on one thing; computers were the future. When I was young, he used to tell me, ¡°I believe, Arty. One day, son, there will a game so real, so beautiful, that you wish that you lived there, instead of here on Earth. You would yearn to go on the dangerous, rescue princesses and slay tyrannical dragons. And then you will understand, Arty, of what I have understood all along.¡± I understood that now. Imperial City was breathtakingly beautiful. I could see a crystalline spire rising along a distance. It looked a diamond the way it refracted the light. The spire was surrounded by six smaller towers with different colours of the rainbow. The people were of various races, milled about. Wherever I was, it was quite busy. I caught sight of a high elf, two dark elves, and even a orc. It felt real. I felt like I was a boy again, and I once again thought of my Dad¡¯s saying. I was standing on the side of the street on a stone paved road with buildings on both sides of the road. And all the buildings were different shades of blue. I noticed that the hue was progressively darker as one would walk further down the road. Something about that felt strangely familiar. A guard, who had noticed me staring, slowly made his way to me. I say a guard, but he looked similar to a knight. Full body armor, with a long spear that extended past his shoulders, this man would have inspired fear on the battlefield. His chest piece contained an emblem of a glowing Sun with a dragon entwined around it. He reached near me and opened up his visor. I could see blonde hair with striking blue eyes. He was like a handsome football player that drove a Lamborghini and dated supermodels. This guy was a guard? Looks like they clicked the beautify button for all the NPCs! ¡°Welcome to our world, Adventurer! It is indeed a high honor that the Goddess has allowed you to travel and battle through our beautiful realm. It is a beauty, is it not?¡¯¡¯The guard, obviously having seen my fascination, decided to broach the subject. ¡°It is indeed beautiful, Sir. Can you please tell me more about the city?¡± I asked modestly. Every job had a weapon. This one required the use of my tongue. Besides, offending someone without knowing him intimately was never a good idea. The best insults are the ones that strike you personally. I speak from experience, of course. ¡°Of course! I am very sorry. You are the first one to arrive in our realm and hence I forgot my manners. I am Kent Den. You can call me Kent. And let me formally introduce you to our Imperial City, capital of Cyrodriil and the jewel of Tamriel! Please, let me guide you through the city!¡± A window popped up.
Kent has invited you on a tour of the city! Will you join him?
YesNo
I simply nod. The system identified my movement as a nod of assent and the request is automatically accepted. ¡°Excellent! Let¡¯s get started. Follow me!¡± I started walking beside him, thinking about the window that had just appeared. That style of quest message was actually started by Dad, during the company heydays. Most other games would have phrased it in the style of a quest, with various penalties about what would happen if you refused spelled out for you. Also, they would show the rewards as well. In short, it was like a trade market. Do this job, and get this in return. Dad hated this style. He said it destroyed the inherent sense of adventure. In our games, the NPCs might make requests, which the player may choose to accept. However, they would be going in totally blind, with no idea about the reward or losses. This ensured that a player did the quest because he wanted to do so, and not because he had a chance of a good reward. There was no quest log. Pop up messages did appear when something important had occurred, but it was up to the player to correctly deduce the meaning and advance on the quest. Every player had a Journal, which the player had to write themselves about what clues or hints they considered important. Depending on what was written in your journal, the game would show different messages. All this ideas were pioneered a decade ago by my dad in various different games. In those days, the execution of these ideas had failed due to limited variables and A.I. However, it looked like in Fable of Fantasy, those ideas could successfully come to life. While I was musing in my own thoughts, Kent was guiding me throughout the city. The city was shaped like a wheel with outer and inner spokes. At the exact center was the Imperial Tower, where the King resided. The inner spoke was separated from the outer spoke with a circular moat of a radius of about 100 meters. The inner spoke contained the Mausoleum of the Kings, the Elven Garden, the Dragon¡¯s Maw, just to name a few touristy spots. All in all, only the privileged could gain access and live in the inner spoke. The outer spoke had been divided into 6 districts, which of which rivaled the town of a small city. The buildings were also color coded according to the hues of the rainbow, so every district had a different color associated with it. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.Going anti clockwise, from where I began, they were ¨C Market District ¨C Containing all the shops for adventurers and heroes. It was colour coded harmonious violet. The Elven District ¨C Years ago, the high elves used to be accorded one district in Tamriel for themselves according to the peace treaty. Now, you can say it was the rich folk¡¯s home. There was a significant number of high elves in this district, I noticed. This district was bluish to green. The Talos District ¨C This district had the gate that led to outside of the city. Because of this reason, most of the inns, the merchant offices, and a few residential houses were located here. I saw that this contained the maximum no. of unsold houses. I suspect that they want this district to be populated by the players. This district was totally green. It gave off a fantasy world vibe. The Temple District ¨C Contained all the temples for all the major and minor deities. The Art and Crafting guild was located here. While I expected the district to be yellow, it lacked any dominant color. When I asked Kent the reason for this, he laughed and said, ¡°Well, it seems like you are a curious one, aren¡¯t you? This district was yellow, however different Gods wanted their temple colors to be different, so the various buildings were painted differently. Over time, the original color had been completely lost. Haha ha he ho huh¡± He had a peculiar style of coughing while laughing. Or was he laughing while coughing? It was hard to differentiate. The next two districts were the Lower District and the Arena. The Lower District was, politely speaking, where all the poor people lived. It was suitably orange. The Arena, on the other hand, was similar to the Roman coliseum. The people who fought here were the gladiators. Fittingly, this district was red. Three spokes of the city had roads leading out of them, making a triangular symbol. The Market District road lead to the Legionnaire Headquarters (the army and the police in this world), the Talos District to the outside and the Lower District led to the Arcane University (Mages!!). Every spoke had a guard tower between them. They were smaller than the Imperial Tower, however. Taken all together at once, it was beautiful. ¡°You know, you too can participate in the Arena. The rewards are quite good and it is a good place for training oneself. And besides, the Goddess would revive you, right?¡± Kent was fishing me for information. ¡°Training is good and all, but where can I get myself sorted? My inventory is quite empty, you know?¡± I asked, closing my journal. I had been taking notes of all the details as Kent had described them to me. At first, I thought he would laugh, but instead he had given me an appreciative nod. His disposition towards me had definitely increased. ¡°Ah! That¡¯s the last part of the tour. Come, let me take you to the temple of the Goddess.¡± As we went, Kent explained, that we after the tour was over, the adventurer would have to pray to the Goddess, to receive her blessings and our chosen equipment. Then we were free to do whatever we wanted to do. Until the goddess had blessed me, I had to stay in the city, and Kent had to take care of me. I hoped that the process would be over quick. One the way, I had seen several guards on their way to the complete circuit till the Arena, with the noobs trailing behind them. I had a considerable head start and I didn¡¯t want to lose that. We quickly reached the temple. It was relatively small. I looked at Kent and he hurriedly spoke, ¡°The Goddess does not like displays of vanity and greed. She thinks it petty and small. Please go in.¡± It looked like I could agree with this Goddess. The room was pitch dark, except for a small area illuminated blue with softly glowing stones. I made my way to the altar. Most possibly in the real game the Goddess would be the Overseer A.I. Here, it seemed like it was going to be a scripted event.Once I reached the glowing spot, I heard a soft voice. Kneel, and look at thyself. I knelt and thought -look at thyself?- How does that work? After a second, I figured it out. ¡°Stat window!¡±
StatusWindow
Name:Red
Level:0Class:???
Race:HumanGender:Male
Strength:10Endurance:15
Dexterity:30Agility:20
Intelligence:25Willpower:15
Personality:10Luck:15
Health:150
Magicka:250
Fatigue:150
Looked like I had named myself Red while I had been musing about the past. I thought about it for a moment and let it go. Red was a good name. That was the first game I had played, after all. Well done.
Your level has been raised by 1!
Now come back when you have known thyself. Known thyself? Looks like the tutorial would not be so easy to get rid of. I dusted out my pants and went out join Kent. Hmm, I better explore the city, and see if a trainer exists for what I have in mind. That might be the meaning of ¨CKnow yourself-. Humming to myself, I decide to explore Imperial City.
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The loading screen Episode 4: Know thyself Author¡¯s note: this chapter has now been rewritten. It is best if you read it again. I decided to introduce some plot points earlier so as their importance was not lost. While this is a suitably long chapter, it means now it is even longer. Episode 4: KNOW THYSELF Arthur¡¯s POV <> Pain. Intense and everywhere. It felt like my whole body was set on fire, both from the inside and outside. I could scarcely move my body. Each breath resulted in a fire in my lungs. The intense pain started subsiding after what seemed like an eternity to me. But, I was still not able to do anything. I was sore and weak all over. I felt like I was trapped in the body of a newborn baby. Somehow it didn¡¯t feel too bad. I was laying in some kind of soft material. I quite didn¡¯t know what it was, but it felt comfortable. I could see the azure blue sky. A cool breeze blew in from front. I could smell the salt in the air. I must be near a beach. I was quite content to lie in the sand, but there was something troubling me. It was like an itch that grew every second. I tried to think- And then I discovered I didn¡¯t remember. I couldn¡¯t remember. Only one thing was certain to me: My name was Arthur. Except for that, I didn¡¯t know anything about myself. <> No sooner than I had exited the temple had rejoined the city I spotted another guy with a guard coming our way. I motioned to Kent that I intended to leave now and we quickly got out of there before the other guy could notice us. Kent chuckled, but accepted my request. We quickly decided to criss cross through the Temple District and soon enough we had lost the other players. ¡°So, did you get the blessing of the Goddess?¡± He asked me as I briskly walked towards the Lower District. ¡°Can¡¯t you tell?¡± I asked him, surprised. ¡°No. Nobody can tell whose blessings you have without explicit permission of the one who gave you the blessing. As I was asking, is your initiation over? Will you be going outside now?¡± He asked, trying to keep pace with me. ¡°Not yet. The Goddess has decided to give me the task to know myself. I suppose that you wouldn¡¯t have any idea about that would you?¡± I asked, half hoping for an answer. ¡°Know yourself? That seems to be the work of a scholar, or a philosopher, instead of an adventurer. No, I can¡¯t help you.¡± I had guessed that much. If this question was such easily solvable, it would just have been bad game design. And I would have hated such a solution. Lost in my thoughts, I nearly did not hear when Kent spoke to me. ¡°Listen here, friend. I know that I am supposed to be chaperoning you all day, but I, uh, have a date today. And I thought that this would get over quickly and then I would go meet Anna, but it seems like your business will take some time, right? So, you know, I was wondering, if I could, you know, take a-¡± ¡°I understand completely. I can take care of myself, Kent. You don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± I put an arm around his shoulder. ¡°Go see her. I will be waiting for you at the Prancing Pony, okay?¡± The Prancing Pony was a quite a reputed tavern in the Talos District where the guardsmen frequently visit. Kent was the one who had told me about it. ¡°Thank you friend! Thanks a lot! I owe you one now!¡± He rushed towards the Temple District once more. And he was shockingly fast too! Normally, you would fully plated guys to be a little slow, but this guy ran faster than someone without any armor! Hmmm, I quickly understood that Imperial Guards were not someone you wanted to trifle with. I had decided to visit the library as soon as the Goddess had mentioned the word ¡°know¡±. Libraries were my favorite place to visit. Followed closely by museums. Yeah, safe to say, I was a nerdy kid. To reach the Arcane academy on had to walk quite a distance from the Lower District. The road was surrounded by all different kinds of trees. I could see the top spire of the academy rising in the distance. I decide to take a shortcut. <> The tree branches hit my arm, drawing blood. I cursed and decided to wrap another piece of my shirt around my arm. That made it five wounds within two days. I was doing a bad job of surviving so far. I had decided to explore the island yesterday. From the looks of it, it was totally deserted. I could see other islands from the beach where I had woken up. It seemed that I was stranded on a island chain. The jungle I was in seemed to cover the whole island. I had found a small pond from where I could get water.. Now, I was searching for something to eat. Till now I had no such luck. Worse of all, I had no idea of I was, or how I had reached here. Just my name. It was frustrating to say the least. I thought about it a lot, but decided to let it go. After all, I reasoned, survival came first. The trees seemed to never end. I decided to give up for the moment and took a break. <> I soon reached the university. It was broad, spacious and was like a giant gothic castle. There was a giant tree in the courtyard. All the roads led straight to it. The library, I figured out was directly to the left of the tree from where I stood. I saw various mages, roaming about in different robes. The different colors must have symbolized different ranks in the mage orders. I filed it away for later investigation. As soon I had entered the library, a chill went down my spine. There was someone behind me! I crouched down and kicked horizontally at my opponent. He went tumbling down, and soon I was on top of him and pressing my thumb on his¡­ scaly throat?!
Agility raised by 1 point!
Skill created: Sense Presence!
Governing stats: Dexterity, Willpower
Click to see details
I willed the messages away. There was a target in front of me. He had to be neutralized first. Then I realized. He was an Argonian, the reptilian species in Tamriel. However, I still did not ease up the pressure. ¡°Who are you?¡± I growled at him. I hoped that he didn¡¯t decide to fight me instead. This guy had got the jump on me and that was not something that anyone could do. Moreover, I reckoned that my current weak state could be easily pawned by even this¡­. mage guy. ¡°I am Keela! The librarian! The books! I look after the books! Don¡¯t hurt me! I meant you no harm! I promise! Just-¡± I let him go. The guy was suitably scared of me. ¡°Keela, huh. Do you try to jump on everyone who decides to come in here?¡± I asked, eyeing him. After that last stunt he pulled, I wasn¡¯t going to let him out of sights anytime soon. ¡°Oh no, sir! That¡¯s just a prank on the unsuspecting apprentices! I love to scare them. It¡¯s a part of the job description! Take care of the books, clean the halls; scare the apprentices and ¨C Ahem.¡± Here he stopped rambling and looked at me. ¡°But may I ask what you what brings you, a member of the Fighter¡¯s Guild, here?¡± ¡°I am not from the Fighter¡¯s Guild! I am an adventurer from another world.¡± Kent had taught me how to introduce myself in case I got lost in the town, and it looked liked it was going to pay off. ¡°An ADVENTURER! HOW GRAND! Adventurer in my library! This is unbelievable!¡± Kent was throwing an apoplectic fit. Then he seemed to collect himself. ¡°Please wait here sir. I shall bring you the Goddess¡¯s guide.¡± Bingo! I had hit the nail on the head. Any quest designed by my dad had surely included a visit to the library. He knew how much I loved them. And in this quest, the first job had been to look at my stats. Now I was certain that the Goddess had asked me to determine my classes and starting skills. While waiting, I leafed through one of the books. It was empty. I looked at another, then another. Nearly all books were empty. Then I got it. This world still did not exist. There were no writers, no history. The game was still under construction and until the main game started, these books would remain empty. I decided to visit the library again once the main game started. Meanwhile, Keela had returned with the book that I needed. Goddess Guide for Adventurers was embossed in gold on a hardbound green cover. As soon I got the book, a message popped up!
Congratulations! You have gained an important book, necessary for all adventurers in this foreign land! As the first one to do so, you receive a great reward of 1 skill point!
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. It looked patronizing. Well, I wasn¡¯t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. ¡°Thank you a lot, Keela. Well then, I must be off. I will come to the library later, I promise!¡± I got the hell out of there as fast I could. The University had quite spacious grounds, with big trees covering a lot of space and providing shade. I decided to climb one of the trees and read the book. The book was like the old game manuals of old. Lots of in game lore, game mechanics, with a mascot that offered different tips and ¡®clarifying points¡¯. It felt like I was reading my old physics textbook. I was so excited that I read it cover to cover twice. The major points were as follows: Stats: There were 6 main stats for all the different classes. Hidden stats were also available, but they had to be discovered first. These hidden stats once discovered, could only be modified by in game actions. You could not assign them stat points. Hidden stats were basically unlocked by doing special quests. They went hand in hand with hidden skills. Each skill had a governing Stat or two, which directly influenced how fast it rose. A player therefore had to spend his stat points carefully to maximize efficiency. The play system was basically classless. You could play however you wanted, do whatever you wanted. Your level would rise when you leveled up your skills. When a skill leveled up you would be one-tenth closer to your next level. So you could level up 10 different skills 1 time or one skill 10 times. However, leveling up a skill got progressively more difficult, so it wasn¡¯t easy. At different levels, skills had different perks. Perks were additional bonuses and actions that a skill provided. Skill points were awarded when a quest was completed or a special action was done. Perks were bought by skill points. And last was the cap of the skills itself. Ordinary games might offer skill leveling up till 100 but here the cap was a mind numbing 1000! It looked like this:
LevelSkillgain
Novicetill 250
Apprenticeafter 250 till 500
Journeymanafter 500 till 750
Expertafter 750
Master1000
Apparently, being a master was also not the limit. The book promised that if I raised myself to master, I could find other ways to rise. Quite mysterious . Most importantly, there was a unique quest for every player character. That was, as the book said ¡°true way to know thyself¡±. The player had to choose a birthsign, which was the constellation in the sky when the person was born. This birthsign would then apparently guide us to the knowledge of the truth if we followed its path. As adventurers, we could choose any birthsign we wanted. It provided us a small boost in the beginning. However, the book warned not to choose it lightly, as it would shape our very own destiny and soul. These were the signs: the Lady, the Steed, the Thief, the Warrior, the Apprentice, the Atronach, the Mage, the Lord, the Lover, the Ritual, the Serpent, the Shadow and the Tower. The different signs could be in conjunction with each other, but it was rare. Constellations that determined the fate. Interesting. <> I was looking up towards the sky, watching the shimmering stars. They seemed so vast and countless. And I was totally calm for a moment. I didn¡¯t know who I was; I didn¡¯t know where I was. I had no idea about I was going to survive in this place. But for the moment, I was at peace. The fire next to me was about to go out. I poked it with a stick to keep it going. I was lucky today. I had to eat a roasted lizard today; but at least it was food. I was getting drowsy. Looking at the stars, I decided to sleep. <> Now, I had to go tell the Goddess of my discovery. I quickly went back to the temple. However, by now I could see the crowd from over a mile away. All the beta players had arrived after their tour. There was a platoon of guards guarding the temple. Looked like it was going to be tough to gain entry now. I decided to come back later. Let the others scramble madly for their chance to get outside the city walls. I decided to use my prepared plans to get ahead. I opened up my Menu screen. Now this was the screen with all the options. However, there was one extra program that I possessed that no one else had. That¡¯s right, it was the servitor. ¡°Hey Doc, you got Imperial city¡¯s data, right?¡± Doc grunted. ¡°I am going to need a Yes or No here, Doctor¡­.¡± There were two grunts this time. ¡°Doctor¡­don¡¯t force me to log out¡­.¡± There was silence. I swear, it¡¯s like he does this to¡­ ¡°Hey, kid! Don¡¯t tear your head out. I was eating. You know, food? Some people actually do need to eat. So what were you saying? ¡°You have a list of NPCs in Imperial city, right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°And you can see their skill levels?¡± ¡°Yess¡­¡­..¡± ¡°Don¡¯t drag your words out, Doc. So listen, here¡¯s what I need¡­.¡± A minute later, after Doctor had told me what I needed, I went on my way to The Prancing Pony, where I had promised to meet with Kent. One the way, I saw how¡­.normal everything looked. Compared to the hell I had gone through in the last five years, the innocence of the city had me on a constant edge. I kept avoiding people and stayed in the shadows. I looked around the Talos square, a beautiful forest green, and I wondered. How many people would play this game? And what would be their reason? In the years following my dad¡¯s death, I had devolved, degenerated into a mindless beast, who had trained endlessly to kill. I thought that¡¯s all what I needed. Strength. Brutality. The intent to kill. The Hunter. But I have changed. I learnt from my failures. And this time, I would keep my promises and exact revenge. The right way. I made my way to the Prancing Pony. I easily saw Kent, laughing and drinking with the other guards. To my relief, no one was as handsome as him. ¡°There¡¯smy favorite buddy.I love you, friend!!¡±He got out of his chair and tried to hug me. I easily sidestepped his clumsy advance and decided to tap him on the back. He easily went down. ¡°I trust it went well?¡± I asked the other guards. ¡°WELL?!! HAhaahAAhAhAA¡± They started uproariously laughing. ¡°Uh, what¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. An older guard with tears in his eyes replied to me, ¡°It went very well!They actually held ¡­held hands today!!!!HAhHAHAHAA¡± Oh. Pure love. All the jealousy I felt for the guy turned to pity. It took an hour to wake him up, and hour to get him back to his senses. By this time, it was already evening. Kent had been suitably embarrassed, but I had played it smooth. Kent now considered me his BFF. ¡°So, where are we going now, Sir Red?¡± ¡°I am not a knight, so need to call me Sir. And¡­.we are going to my trainer.¡± ¡°The Legionnaire Barracks for the basic soldier¡¯s training, sir? Or wait, you probably want to be a mage, so the Arcane University, sir?¡± ¡°Neither. Our man is in the Arena.¡± ¡°Ohhhhh! So a gladiator, then, sir? Training for war with real fighters and putting your life on the line. It¡¯s so exciting. I mean-¡± ¡°No, not a gladiator. He is an indentured slave there. We need to free him somehow.¡± ¡°A slave, sir? Why are we going to a slave, sir? Theres a lot of other better teachers, for anything you could possibly need. I am sure-¡± ¡°No. He is the only one in this city whose Archery level is over 250. No one else even comes close. I need him to show me my path again.¡±
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The loading screen Episode 5: Welcome to Hell Author''s note: Chapter has been rewritten. It is even longer and totally new. Please read it again. Sorry for the trouble. Episode 5: Welcome to Hell Arthur¡¯s POV <> I could see the lizard sitting on that rock. I crept up closer and closer, not wanting to give my position away. There was no chance for failure this time. I had to get that lizard. I pounced to catch it, my quick reflexes giving me an unnatural handicap. Unfortunately, the lizard had even faster reflexes, and it escaped from my grasp. I sighed. This was going badly. I hadn¡¯t eaten anything since yesterday, and on top of that I appeared to have caught a cold. Being lonely sucked hard. My clothes were dirty and my vision was getting blurry. My nose was red and I could barely walk. I roused myself. Being negative wasn¡¯t going to help me. I needed to focus and find some food or I was going to die. <> I was interrupted out of my reverie by Kent¡¯s babblings. ¡°Sir, are you sure? That an archery Apprentice is just hiding amongst the slaves in the arena? But why would he do that? If he just revealed himself, he would be given a whole platoon in the Legionnaire! It doesn¡¯t make any sense! Why does he choose to remain a slave?¡± I could think of several reasons, actually. Torture, blackmail, negotiation, some sort of clandestine mission, anything was possible. But I chose not to say anything of that sort to Kent. After all, he had already become a comrade. We had arrived at the gates leading to the Arena, when I stopped Kent. ¡°Do you have any idea on how to free the guy?¡± I asked Kent. ¡°No, sir. I thought that you were the one with an idea here.¡±Kent replied. Only one day and he started to address me as his senior officer. It was flattering, but kind of weird how he looked up to me. ¡°Yes, I do have a plan, but it requires your cooperation on your part, Kent.¡±I told him, pulling him close to a nearby alley. ¡°Our man is an indentured slave. They are not going to let him go just because I say so. Nor can I earn enough money to repay his debt.¡± I paused, waiting for my words to sink in Kent¡¯s mind. He turned and then whispered back to me, ¡°So, what do we do, sir?¡± As soon as I heard his words, I understood that he was in. ¡°It¡¯s very simple, Kent. We break him out of jail.¡± ************************************************************************ Indentured slaves were generally people who had committed a very serious crime or the poor people who were unlucky to fall in the hand of unscrupulous moneylenders. These were people were then arrested and pronounced guilty. However, they were given a choice; either become an indentured slave and participate in the Arena or to serve an entire life sentence. Most people generally chose to become a slave. That¡¯s because there was a clause that stipulated that if you fought a hundred battles and survived, your crimes would be pardoned and you would be allowed to return home. An impossible chance. But they would bet their lives on that measly chance rather serve a life sentence. And unsurprisingly, no one had won their freedom. All this had been explained to me by Kent, when he had been showing me the city. My plan was as simple as I could have made in the limited circumstances. Every indentured slave had a tattoo on his shoulder signifying his status as a slave. I would get one of the same tattoos (only with washable ink). Then Kent would catch me, and report me to the Arena. Once there I would find my teacher, win his trust and prepare for breaking out. After three days when Kent would come to interrogate me, he would slip in the keys to the cell, upon which I would make my escape. Simple in theory. In reality, a million things could go wrong and end my virtual life short. Kent had totally trusted me on my side of the things. I had told him that I would escape without harming a single guard. In truth, that was going to be nearly impossible. However, I could see no choice other than to push forward. Which I have always done. <> I had managed to catch a fish today by sheer luck. I had gone today to wash myself in the pond and decided to kick the water in my hopelessness. And a miracle occurred. My legs had sent a fish flying in the sky. My luck held and I caught it before it fell into the water. Roasted fish tasted worse than roasted lizard but it was food. I forced myself to eat it all, and kept myself from vomiting it out. Each day had become a battle for survival, a battle that I was losing. I needed to know how to survive here on the island, and learn it quick. Otherwise I would soon die, and that idea did not appeal to me at all. My body was full of small bruises. I had learned to ignore them by now. At least there wasn¡¯t any large predator on the island. That way I wouldn¡¯t have lasted a day here. I decided to stop thinking. Each day was a new battle, and I couldn¡¯t fight if I was still stuck in the past. <> I was near the corner of the square, waiting for a suitable fool. Kent had reluctantly agreed to my request, although I could see that the idea bothered him. Even then he had agreed to help me. That had increased my respect for him immensely. I soon found myself a guy who was perfect to be my prey. ¡°Thief! Thief! Someone stop him! He stole my purse! Someone please-¡±. In order to make the beginning authentic, I had decided to indulge in some pick pocketing. And I even generated a skill.
New skill created!
Pick pocketing
Governing attributes: Dexterity
Click to see more details
For being the first to create the Pick pocketing new skill, you gain +1 to Dexterity and a skill point.
¡°Don¡¯t worry sir! I will catch the thief for you!¡± Kent leaped into action. I had a head start but was purposefully slow enough to make sure he would catch up to me soon. I kept glancing back to make sure he was following properly. Suddenly, a beautiful girl leapt out of the crowd and shouted, ¡°Kent, wait! Where are you going?¡± ¡°Anna! What are you--¡± Unfortunately, Kent never got to finish his sentence, as the big fool stumbled and fell flat on his face. ¡°Kent! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?¡± Yep. Physically and mentally they were both suited for each other. I had been engrossed in watching them that I did not watch the guard who had arrived behind my back. By the time I turned around, I could only see the blur of his scabbard. *THWACK*
You have lost 140 HP!
Your health is critically low!
Status effect: Concussed
My vision started to darken and I soon passed out. ************************************************************************************* <> My streak of luck seemed to have run out. My illness had gotten progressively worse. I had eaten nothing for the last three days. I could barely get up from my makeshift bed. My mind was heavy. It was difficult to think, difficult to act. Even I had realized that my end had come. A few crows seemed to think that I was already dead and had started to buzz about, waiting for their meat. I was not sad, that I was dying. Instead, I was angry. Angry that I was going to die in such a stupid pathetic way, on this nameless island. Angry that my body was going to be eaten by crows and vultures. Angry at how unfair the world was. If I was going to die, then I was going to die preserving myself. I half get up and try to shoo the crows away by using a stick from my fire pit. I had scarcely turned around when a sharp pain started in my left elbow. Something triangular was sticking out it. My shirt felt wet, and it was beginning to get colored with red. I couldn¡¯t understand what was happening to me. Tired, hungry, and bleeding, I soon passed out. <> The Arena guards had given me quite a thrashing. I had got a new skill called Physical Resistance from all the beating they had given me. It reduced the damage from physical attacks. Very appropriate under the circumstances. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The guards were quite good. Somehow or the other, they knew when my health was critical, and gave themselves and me a break until my health bar was again full. Apparently the man I had robbed was the son of a wealthy noble. They weren''t going to let me go so easily, I knew. I could have logged out, but I wasn''t going to give up . The plan had just wobbled a little bit, but it was still on track. I could still work this damn mess out. All I had to do was to find the guy. I had seen the Arena from outside, and thought it was a mighty big coliseum. I now realized that it was especially bigger underground. The jail of the city was located right here, only below the ground. Kent must have purposely avoided telling me this. Thinking about Kent gave me a pang of guilt. He had followed me to this insane plan, and I was sure that he was now feeling guilty over failing me. I decided to contact him as soon as I got out of here. The warden¡¯s office was just below the ground along with the preparation room. Here, people were practicing in different solitary cells for the battle. I saw a variety of weapons and people. There was a dark elf mage, a human with a broadsword, and even an orc with a morning star. And they all appeared to be real good. ¡°Kyle. Kyle Reese. No sir. I will not try to escape the Containment cell. Yes sir. I would love to fight in the Arena, sir.¡± At this point the prison warden having been assured of my compliance, sent me on way to my cell. Two guards flanked me, in case I tried to escape. <> I woke up in a cave. There was a fire going on near one of the corners. There was a mattress near it along with a bundle of ¡­. something. I couldn¡¯t see it clearly. I heard rocks scraping from my right side. Someone was coming in! A man, with long matted hair, and carrying a bow and arrow. He was the one who had shot me! He was quite surprised to see me up. I guess that he hadn¡¯t expected me to open my eyes. I took advantage of his surprise and quickly ran from the cave and that murderous man eater. <> I decided to contact Doctor again. ¡°Hey Doc, what¡¯s the average level of the NPCs here?¡± ¡°Here? Where is here exactly?¡± ¡°The jail below the Arena. Didn¡¯t I tell you about the plan?¡± For a few seconds, there was static. Then I could hear him sigh. ¡°I thought you were joking. YOU SERIOUSLY ARE IN JAIL? Why? Why can¡¯t you just kill mudcrabs like the other players? One guy has reached level 2 by now. You might be the only person to be in jail¡­. within one day of the beta, no less.¡± I give a snort of derision at his words. The guards look at with disgust. I was muttering the whole conversation till now. They must think that I¡¯m crazy. ¡°Mudcrabs. It sounds disgusting. Do you even hear yourself, Doctor? This isn¡¯t just some game to farm experience and grind for loot. So, what¡¯s their average level? ¡°Hmm, the highest here is level 43 and lowest is 1. Oh wait, that¡¯s you. The average is near about 27. Looks like you¡¯re in a fine mess. Well, I¡¯ll be signing of for tonight. Need to get to work, you know. Best of luck. Try not to get killed.¡± By this time now I had reached my cell door. It seemed to on the end of one sideways passage on the fourth floor. I had examined the prison on my way down. Quite frankly, it was nearly inescapable. BANG ! They closed their cell doors on me and went on their merry way. I had barely turned around when a voice came out doorway in front of me. ¡°So, what are you in for?¡± It was a dark elf. I hadn¡¯t seen him as he was hiding in the shadows. He had a long angular face, and his blood red eyes stared at me unblinkingly. Then he smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, kid. I¡¯m not going to eat you. Look, I just wanted to know how long you are going to be here. It gets lonely without someone to talk here.¡± I was curious. Could this be my man? ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Erasmus Areligon, at your service. Been here for over 23 years, will be here for 27 more. ¡± He then gave a bow. ¡°So, like I asked you, what are you in for?¡± ¡°Well, I stole some rich man¡¯s purse.¡± ¡°That should earn you a beating, not a place in the cell. What else?¡± ¡°And ¡­I was already fucked by the bank.¡± ¡°Ah. An indenture, huh? Most of the humans here are like you, fucked by the bank. They generally stick together in the yellow team. You¡¯ll fit right in.¡± ¡°Yellow team?¡± ¡°Ah! You are new here. Let me explain. The arena fights have been divided into two parts. One can called be team battles. There are four teams ¨C Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. In team battles, you fight together in your teams. Sometimes the teams fight against each other, but that is rare. In team battles, you fight against monsters and such, with various handicaps to make it interesting. They are brutal though. Many people die fighting these monsters. If one team performs too well, they will be pitted against other team to reduce their numbers. No great chance of survival.¡± ¡°So how do they survive, then?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s where the other type comes in. If you perform well in the team battles, you will be made a pit dog. Pit dogs fight one ¨C on ¨C one against other pit dogs. Pit dogs don¡¯t have to necessarily kill each other, you know. It¡¯s an easy life. There are ranks of advancement too, right up till the Champion of the Arena. You become the Champion, you''re free.¡± ¡°So how does one become the champion?¡± ¡°Win. Keep winning fights and work your way up.¡± Well, that¡¯s a real help. I decided to try my luck about my teacher. After all, this guy had already helped me out. ¡°Have you heard of Iorveth?¡± ¡°Iorveth? Iorveth Maneater? Hah! I knew you were different from the rest of them! I am telling you that for your own good, you know. Stay away from that elf. He is seriously deranged. I mean, he eats dead people! How much more crazy can you be than that!¡± ¡°Even so, I need to meet with him. I know about his archery skills . He is highly skilled. If I can learn how to shoot like him..¡± ¡°Archery skills, huh. Makes sense.¡± ¡°So, how can I meet him?¡± ¡°Whoa, kid! Don¡¯t get too ahead of yourself. Survive your team battle first. Then, if you are still alive, we will talk about Iorveth. Alright, now sleep. You have a big day tomorrow..¡± I decided to drop the matter for now. Erasmus had been pretty helpful. I hope that Iorveth would be the same. But from the sound of it, it wasn¡¯t going to be so easy. Thinking about tomorrow, I drifted off to sleep. <> I had been running for a few minutes when my body gave up on me. Clearly, I was not in good condition as I thought. I tried to keep walking, but my legs were starting to go numb. There was little warning as soon my mind started to blackout and I fainted. I woke up. I looked around and realized that I was back in the cave. The man was there too, cooking something. It smelled really good. I managed to ask a question. ¡°Why did you shoot me?¡± ¡°A man can survive up to three days without water. A month without food. However, he will die within the day, if he is bitten by a venomous cobra. Fortunately for you, it was not venomous, but I decided to stop the blood flow anyway. ¡° I checked my left hand. There was a small bite near the joint. I hadn¡¯t noticed it till now. ¡°So wait, are you saying that you saved my life? Why?¡± ¡°Good question. Ask everyone their motives. Nothing is same as it appears. I saved you because you needed help, and you were clearly dying and could pose no threat to me. Furthermore, given your skills, you are not going to survive here. But your will to live was strong. You went two days without food, being infected and still managed to surprise me by escaping. I will teach you to survive here. But first, drink this.¡± He gave me something in an old clay cup. I decided to drink it. It was disgustingly bitter. I nearly spat it out, but didn¡¯t. ¡°Good. Now rest for a while.¡± ¡°Wait. Who are you? And where am I?¡± ¡°Me? Well, you can call me Yama. And as for where you are, let me officially welcome you to Hell.¡± <>
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The loading screen The loading screen Annotations and such I decided to do annotations and give you guys a general idea of what goes on in my head as I write. Feel free to comment and give me suggestions. Some of them might be even incorporated in the story. Okay, let¡¯s start. Episode 1: the beginning Fairly short chapter. Maybe even the shortest chapter I have written so far. This is exactly a prologue. Only it is not titled as such. Starts with a game interview which is my setting. VR and such. Typical info dump and therefore my main character, Arthur, decides to skip it over. He goes back and sees the part about his father again. Right now, the main character hasn¡¯t shown any notable¡­.characteristics. He just exists. Then we get to meet our second character, and a important one: Dr. Edward Crane. Crane¡¯s is supposed to be a jaded, cynical old man, dragged into this mess by Arthur. The next two scenes are there to show Arthur¡¯s dedication and planning skills. He plans a lot. We then get a closing monologue, about revenge and get a tiny glimpse into his thinking. I hope it was a sufficiently interesting chapter. PS. The reason why it is called episodes and not chapters is because of my fascination with shrimp samurai¡¯s story on this site called blut and eisen. It is still the best fiction I have read on this site, and I had decided then and there if I ever read a story I would try to do it in his style. Sadly, it is discontinued. I would give nearly anything to read season two again. I do admit, I did dislike the feeble attempts at comedy. To me it was best when it focused on Gerhard and his past. Which brings us to - Chapter 2: Chapter 2 is sufficiently longer, and can be considered to be the real beginning. Here, we get our first flashback of the past and I hope it is interesting. Arthur and crane¡¯s relationship is explored and interactions noted. A little info dump, about the A.I. here. It is important. Flash backs will be important and consistent in my story. Flash backs also serve as a good contrast to the present and help cement the details. In reality, it is 2 stories right now I¡¯m juggling, the past and the present. Both of them are tough to write and remember. Arthur is actually a genius, if you haven¡¯t realized this by now. He writes a.i. , hacks military encryption..yep, but he is emotionally distant¡­. from everyone. We see that he likes to order people around however, and is very controlling. In the breakfast scene, I wanted to show that Arthur is like the dad whereas Robert himself is like the son. LoTuS, is the A.I. which can improve itself. Improve itself long enough, and it will become intelligent enough. Yeah, Arthur is , indirectly or directly, the creator of all A.I. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. There was a scene here, with what I call are emotives (I¡¯m sure there is a better name, but that¡¯s what I call it). IMs are short sentences, which show the heightened emotions of the character, and will be used by me everywhere I can fit. An example of emotives is the ending of chapter 1. The Im that I deleted here was about Alexei Luthor. It went like this¡­. Alexei Luthor. Handsome face. Striking eyes. And a soulless murderer. I think back now, of the thousand times I met him, and the thousand times I was fooled. Right up till the end, I did not know. If only I had paid a little bit more attention, I might have realized the truth, and ended it all before it began. As of now, this is another of my regrets. The scene would then cut to the flashback. And the flashback would have another line in the end like- I was too late. Another regret to look back on. In the end, the scene was removed because I felt that the emotive could be better used somewhere else.And even if it was too obvious, I would be giving the next scene, which would have removed it¡¯s purpose. I do feel sorry that Robert was not properly introduced and characterized. It looks like he was solely there to be killed and give Arthur purpose. He is the main motivation for Arthur, and his teachings do live on. Arthur is still not over it, as he still thinks about his dad lots of times [IN THE FUTURE CHAPTERS]. From there on, it was pretty obvious where the chapter would end. And even if it was¡­ I do pat myself on the back for the ending. I love that whole and scene. I try for such symbolism and contrasting viewpoints in the flashbacks, so that we see how his life starts to change. ****************************************** Will update tomorrow. EDIT: Well, I was supposed to update yesterday, but there was a RL problem, and I accidentally closed the file, without saving it. 5 hours of work gone. Yeah. So things will be a little slow now. Chapter Progress Chapter 4 rewrite Chapter 5 rewrite - 68% Done Chapter 6 - 1% Done (Yeah, it sucks) Back to Main Page Episode 6: The Arena Author¡¯s note: Caught a slight cold. Currently have a week off, so you might get more chapters. Don¡¯t forget to visit the loading screen. It contains information you might be interested in knowing, along with chapter progress details. Also, this chapter has a quite a lot of names (4) with various meanings in different languages. See if you can figure it out. Episode 6: The Arena Arthur¡¯s POV ¡°GOOD CITIZENS OF THE IMPERIAL CITY! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE ARENAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± The crowd roars. I could see them from behind the dusty iron gates. ¡°TODAY WE HAVE THE YELLOW TEAM VERSUS A HORRIFYING MONSTER! WHO WILL WIN? PLACE YOUR BETS! GET YOUR REFRESHMENTS! THE MATCH BEGINS NOW!¡± The iron gates slowly creak upwards. Dastur looks at us all. ¡°Okay mates! Let¡¯s get this over with. Ready yourselves.¡± He walks into the arena. I ready myself. I will be mostly staying in the rear, supporting the vanguard. Thinking rationally, I felt that I wasn¡¯t going to be in much danger. That was until I saw the monster. It was easily 16 feet tall, with a grayish skin. He was humanoid in appearance. But his face was something out of a horror film. Bulbous eyes, crooked eyes and sharp teeth for eating flesh. Whatever it was, it was certainly capable of killing us all. ¡°It¡¯s a troll! A mountain troll!¡± Cartamor shouted next me. The troll then screamed a deafening shout that silenced the whole arena. He then charged at us, screaming like a madman! The monster had gone berserk. Fortunately, even if my mind had stopped, my hands had not. Almost reflexively, I drew my arrow, nocked it and fired it within a second. My aim was true; it buried itself squarely into the troll¡¯s eye.
Critical hit! Your enemy is blinded! Attack did 10% more damage!
Dastur gave me a thankful nod, before turning to the troll. The troll howled with pain. He waved his hands wildly, shocked at his blindness. A spiked black ball attached to a chain then flew at us. The troll was wielding a flail! ¡°Everybody, duck!¡± I hit the ground before he had finished his sentence. I could feel the air whoosh as the flail passed above me. Zaubern was not so lucky. He was in the midst of preparing his spell when the chain hit him. His body was sent flying to the wall. A dust cloud erupted where he had stuck, making it impossible to see his condition. But, I am sure he wasn¡¯t going to fight in this battle. ¡°Damn, look at his eyes!¡±, someone shouted, most probably Cartamor. I looked back at the troll. It had managed to pull my arrow out his eye. The blood flow too was slowing down. He blinked his eyes and then looked directly at me. His left eye, which I had shot, was fully healed. Damn it all! How were we going to kill it? How had I gotten myself into this mess? *********************************************************************************************** Few hours earlier I had logged off in the night, so as to not to exert myself. It didn¡¯t make a difference; both the game and my home were the same. My workshop was empty. I decided to spend some time reading up on the forums. All the game content related facts were posted under the FoF site. It was a company rule. They wanted to harvest all the traffic. And judging by the views on each post, there was a lot of it. No beta player had less than a million views. I skimmed through a few of them. The stat window riddle had stumped a few of them, but they had managed to solve it. The book was the greater challenge. Everyone seemed to have received it from different sources. Some from a old beggar, others from a mysterious man, others found it after helping a old lady and so on. I decided to rest for a little bit. By the time I had logged on, there was a thumping on the cell door. An ugly guard was staring at me. ¡°Get up, maggot! It¡¯s time for your initiation!¡± I wearily get up from the bed and ask, ¡°Initiation? What¡¯s that?¡± The guard opened up the door and shoved me aside. ¡°Just keep on walking. You will figure out soon enough.¡± I nod my head at the guard and walk with him back to the warden¡¯s office again. ¡°Ah! Kyle! Today is the day of your initiation! You should be impressed! Platoon leader Kent himself has come to plead your case.¡± ¡°Ah, excuse me, but what is the initiation you speak of?¡± ¡°You must have been told that when you were indentured, right? No? Well, I¡¯ll explain again. Initiation is the formal registration of a person to the Arena. We will see your records, and a legionnaire personnel will verify your guilt. It¡¯s a simple process.¡± He then ushered me to a small room behind the office. It was mostly blank with only a small chair and a table. It looked like a classic interrogation room. I saw Kent as soon as I entered the room. He was still wearing his plated armor, but had taken off his helmet. I noticed that his eyes were red. Had he been crying? As soon as he noticed me, he leaped up to attention. The warden, clearly startled, said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave the interrogation to you, sir. I¡¯ll be going now.¡± Saying that he hurriedly left. Kent and I stared at each other for a moment. He was the one to break the silence. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m sorry. You counted on me and I failed you. I should have been more focused on you, sir. I am sorry that your plan failed,¡± ¡°Failed? No, not failed, Kent. It is still possible to work it out. The rest of the plan is still intact. Look, you are my investigating officer, right? So, just go tell the warden that I may be innocent, but you¡¯ll need to find proof. And when you find that, I can walk out of here as a free man.¡± ¡°How will I find proof sir? There isn¡¯t any.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t actually have to find proof! You know I am innocent, so come back after a week, tell the warden that I¡¯m not guilty, and free me.¡± Kent appears to consider this a moment. Finally he looks and says, ¡°3 days, no longer than that.¡± ¡°6 days, I need time to become a pit dog and find Iorveth.¡± ¡°Absolutely not, Sir! If you become a pit dog, then it will attract attention. Then, if you simply walk out of here, people will be suspicious. Four days, maximum.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. I am not going to become a pit dog. Give me five days, to work it out.¡± In the end, we agreed on five days. After Kent had left, the warden entered the room, looking a bit sullen. ¡°Ah! Mr. Kyle! Platoon leader Kent just informed me that you decided to plead innocent.¡± I shrugged, not wanting to say anything that gave me away. ¡°Apparently, you¡¯ve convinced him too. But I¡¯m sorry to say, until evidence to the contrary, you will have to participate in the arena.¡± He then waited, hoping for a reaction. When I didn¡¯t say anything he scowled at me. ¡°Take him to the Bloodworks!¡± The bloodworks is the location of the training area I had seen, just below the ground. It was quite large, larger than what I had originally seen. The guard led to me a bulky woman sitting at the corner of the Bloodworks. ¡°NAME?¡± she shouted. ¡°KYLE REESE, MA¡¯AM!¡± I shouted back. The woman must have been surprised, whether at my shout or politeness I couldn¡¯t tell, but she appeared to soften a little. Just a little. ¡°Alright, there. No need to shout. Which team you want to join?¡± I remembered Erasmus¡¯ advice and said, ¡°Yellow team, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Good choice. Doesn¡¯t mean anything though, as I was going to put you there anyway.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because the red team hates the weak, the blue team hates the indentured and the green team hates human. As a result, you could only be on the yellow team. Now, what type of armor; light or heavy?¡± ¡°Light.¡± She hands me a packet from under the desk. It is a garish yellow color, but otherwise it looks okay.[tr]Arena Leather ArmorBasic leather armor for the Arena warriors. It reduces physical damage by 12%, magical damage by 3%, and speed by 3%. Can be enchanted.[/table] ¡°You must wear this armor, while fighting in the Arena. Anything else, will lead to your disqualification and death. About your weapons, you can fight with anything you want. Knives, swords, axes, spells, all are fair in the battle. You can choose your weapons here.¡± It was a large room with various weapons adorning its walls. There were various small showcases too containing exotic weapons. I didn¡¯t waste my time on any of the frilly things. I quickly got myself a bow, the throwing daggers and a shortsword. ¡°You must have fought before. Otherwise you couldn¡¯t have chosen them that quickly. Come on; let me introduce you to your team.¡± She led me through various rooms. I followed after her, making sure that I didn''t fall too far behind. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Dastur! You have a new team mate!¡± ¡°Matron! So glad to see you! And you are?¡± The two exchanged greetings. Dastur was a dark skinned, relatively young person. His eyes were pale blue in color. Like me, he wore the yellow light armor. But it seemed to suit him better than me. He carried two scimitars around his hips. Because of that, he seemed to be one of the Mongols of the old. ¡°Kyle Reese.¡± ¡°You seem to have prepared yourself quite well, Kyle. Follow me; I¡¯ll introduce you to the rest of the team.¡± He led me to a large room were few other people sitting and introduced me. None of them were non ¨C humans, but even so, their diversity was astounding. Dastur was the team leader, and was a fighter who wielded scimitars. He was a Redguard, from Hammerfell. Cartamor was a bard. He used ¡°song spells¡± to provide the team with different buffs and the enemy with debuffs. He also acted as a scout. He was a Breton from High Rock. Out of all of us, he seemed to the youngest. Sh¨±sa was from the Seishinshima islands, west of High Rock. He had come to this land to seek fame and fortune, but an impossible contract by this unscrupulous business man had forced him into this position. He carried a giant sword that appeared to about 6 feet tall and about 2 feet wide. It seemed to be really heavy, but he carried it with ease. Zaubern was a mage. He was squinting over a book as I introduced myself, not even bothering to look up. Apparently, as Dastur explained, he was an eccentric magician who had forgotten to pay his bills. And he decided that since he was already here, he might as well fight in the Arena. I introduced myself, remembering to provide a background as an orphan in Lower District. The others looked touched at my sob story. After some time, they had dispersed, Dastur asked me, ¡°You carry a bow. Can you shoot?¡± ¡°I can shoot. But my skills are a little rusty.¡± ¡°The way you are holding the bow, it seems that you¡¯re itching for a fight. Practice rooms are over there. Good luck, and don¡¯t worry too much. It¡¯s going to be all right.¡± I make my way to the practice room, and see that Zaubern is already there, casting fireballs at a dummy. He did eight before stooping, presumably due to lack of mana. I give him a friendly smile and ask, ¡°Can you teach me that?¡± Zaubern looks at me and says, ¡°What do you know about it?¡± ¡°Nothing, actually.¡± Zaubern sighed and sat down on a chair. ¡°You should be more knowledgeable about the arcane arts. Even if you don¡¯t practice it, you should know how to counter it. You¡¯re lucky that you didn¡¯t fight someone with magical arts.¡± Saying so, he explained to me the different schools of magic. They were - Alteration ¨C It involves manipulating the physical world and it¡¯s properties. Conjuration ¨C It involves raising the dead and summoning elementals from other planes to do your bidding. Destruction ¨C it involves harnessing the elemental energies to ravage your enemies. Illusion ¨C it involves manipulating minds of your enemies. Restoration ¨C it involved manipulation of life forces. Out of all these Zaubern was skilled in Alteration and Conjuration. He was currently trying to practice his Destruction, as it would help him in the arena. After this, I practiced with my bow. I was genuinely fearful that I had forgotten how to wield it, but I need not have worried. I could still hit the target properly. I made sure to advance my archery skill to the 5th level. It was easy for me, as once I remembered I could fire the arrows even far away, up to 200 meters. The longer I shot, the more the skill level increased itself. At the 5th level, I could finally unlock my first skill perk, which would cause 2.5% more damage with bows and arrows. It wasn¡¯t much, but every little bit helped. When I was about to work on my dagger moves, Dastur interrupted me. He had a serious look on his face. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s time. You ready, Kyle?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Good. You¡¯ll need this.¡± He gave me a quiver with steel arrows in it. ¡°This will hurt more than the iron ones you¡¯re carrying.¡± I nod and walk with him. ¡°You¡¯ll be the rearguard. I and Sh¨±sa will be the main damage dealers, and stay at the front. Zaubern will stay in the middle and support us with his elemental. You and Cartamor will stay in the back. He will provide us with buffs and you with ranged attack.¡± I nod to him. It made perfect sense. No matter what came before us now, I was certain that we had a decent chance of defeating it. ******************************************************************************************* Now Our chances had dropped pretty dramatically. Our mage had been taken out of battle quite quickly, and without a way to seal the troll¡¯s regeneration, we would get tired out and lose. The troll had decided to focus on me, as I was the primary damage dealer till now. I decided to provide a diversion so that Dastur and Sh¨±sa could get close enough. ¡°Cartamor! Run to a corner and start buffing us! I am going to check on Zaubern!¡± Cartamor nodded and ran away. The troll waved his flail again, but this time I was ready. I rushed towards the flail chains and dived below them. The troll was crafty too. He pulled the chain towards him at the last moment, intent on crushing me. But I was faster. I escaped his swing and made my way to Zaubern. I could see him sitting dazedly at the wall. ¡°Zaubern! You okay?¡± ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t worry about me. I put up my mage armor before every battle. Now let me rest a moment to recover my Magicka. I will take care of the troll after that.¡± And he closed his eyes. ¡°But how? The troll isn¡¯t that weak! And he keeps on regenerating himself!¡± ¡°Well, a troll¡¯s regeneration won¡¯t work if he is hurt by either fire or poison. Remember that. And you should also know that our teammates are strong, too.¡± Immediately, a bunch of messages popped up in front of me.
You have listened to: The Song of the Berseker. Your strength increases temporarily by 20 points.
You have listened to: The Song of the Mermaid. Your Magicka regeneration increases temporarily by 10 points/sec.
You have listened to: The Song of the Lucky Lady. Your luck increases temporarily by 20 points.
By this time, Dastur and Sh¨±sa had reached the monster. Without any closed ranged weapon, the troll tries to defend himself with his bare hands. But my teammates are too fast for it. Both of them attack the different legs intending to bring it down. Dastur breaks out into a whirlwind of slashes at the leg joints, effectively killing its muscles. The monster howls in agony. But what Sh¨±sa does is even more amazing. He simply runs at the monster, grabs his gigantic sword and neatly cuts the monster¡¯s leg in half. The troll falls to his knees and loses his grip on the flail. But Sh¨±sa doesn¡¯t stop there; he jumps upon the monster¡¯s back and sticks his sword in his spine, drawing blood. He then roars; not louder than the monster, but much more ferocious in his intensity. Zaubern says to me, ¡°Sh¨±sa is¡­¡­ unique, to say the least. He can¡¯t cast any spells and his Magicka is non-existent. However, he has extraordinary strength, more than any of the Arena competitors. Hmm, looks like the match will be over without me lifting a hand.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Sh¨±sa has dragged his sword and cut off the whole spine till the head. The troll was thrashing about in agony. But he was still regenerating. Sh¨±sa screamed and raised his sword straight up in the air. ¡°Apart from fire and poison, there is another way to kill a troll. Decapitation.¡± And the sword came down. Just like that, my first match in the Arena was over. *********************************************** Author: Yeah, Shusa is OP. Deal with it.
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The loading screen Episode 7: Expectations Author¡¯s Note: Crossed 500 average views, so decided to do something¡­tougher than usual. Also updates may slow down with exams approaching, but will pick it up again when it¡¯s over. Don¡¯t worry, won¡¯t be gone for long. This chapter is divided into four different parts with a common theme. Also, all four parts are taking place at different times in the story, so don¡¯t be confused. The last part is actually a riddle, and it¡¯s up to you to figure it out. Not too difficult, actually. So here goes¡­. Episode 7: Expectations Iorveth¡¯s POV Alone in the dark, I open my eyes. The hunger grows. Not being fed, the stomach awakens. I close my open eyes and see. See the breath rise, from the lungs, to the hwe¡¯st, to the nose and finally free. But for not for long. I pull it back again, into the nose, to the hwe¡¯st, and finally back to lungs. Breathing in the s¨²l?; the essence of Air, is what keeps me alive during the dark. ¡°HEY YOU! MANEATER! IT¡¯S TIME FOR YOUR MATCH!¡± The loud dhu¡¯aine¡¯s shout annoys my eyes open. I rise, and prepare myself. Finally, it was time to feast. They stare at me as I walk through the¡­Bloodworks, they called it. The blood of the fallen would seep down the cracks, and thus the name. How appropriate. Sometimes, even after all the¡­time, the dhu¡¯aine did surprise me. I walk into another room, and everyone starts waiting. They hope to know how I do it, hope to stop my bow. They do not understand the truth. I do not comprehend it fully either. But anyone can begin walking.. if they tried. I rise when I feel the s¨²l? changing, the ripples increasing. They have arrived for the Agar auth. How human of them to just to feel the lust by sitting here. Like crows, waiting for blood but unable to feed on it. Pathetic. The s¨²l? and I are in harmony. The gate slowly rises, like a sword from a dead man¡¯s gut. I survey my opponent for the day. It is an orc, complete with plate mail and a broad axe in hand. ¡°IORVETH MAN-EATER! TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!¡± The orc then thumps his axe twice both times, as if that would make it true. I let loose an arrow, as practice. The armor stops it. The orc laughs, ¡°WHY DON¡¯T YOU TRY IT AGAIN?¡± I smile to myself. It was time to end this childish game. The s¨²l? rises at my bidding. The entire world seems to stop for a breath. I shoot. Surprisingly, he deflects the arrow with his axe. However, he couldn¡¯t stop it entirely and is pushed back by the force. His axe too is cracked on one side. As he recoils in shock, the second arrow pierces his armor, passes his heart and exits from behind. It doesn¡¯t stop until it hits the wall and tries to go through. The arcane sphere glows briefly, making sure that the spectators aren¡¯t hurt. The arrow falls lifelessly on the ground. As he levels his death stare at me, the third arrow penetrates his throat and exits, causing the barrier to ripple once again. I walk up to him. ¡°You were a good warrior. You actually stopped the first one.¡± ¡°But not good enough to stop the other two, huh?*Cough* I guess, this is the end for me. Do you like orc meat?¡± ¡°Never eaten one, so no.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I taste good. I know why you do this. The calan gwad. But can you plea¡­¡± He didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence. I wonder what he was going to say. The screams began as soon as I started eating. They didn¡¯t try to stop me anymore. At first they had tried to do so, but after my severe retaliation every time must have made it clear that I was not to be disturbed while eating. After I completed my lunch, I found myself chuckling. The orc had lied. As I had expected, he was the nastiest piece of meat that I had ever eaten. ******************************************************************** Dr. Crane¡¯s POV I get out the cab and stand in front of the office. As usual, there is a huge crowd. It had become common since a month ago. I sighed to myself. I make my way to the parking lot entrance, which had become the official entry point for us employees these days. I made my way to the entrance lobby. A familiar man greets me before I can reach the elevator. ¡°Mr. Crane! Good morning to ya!¡± He raises his hand and waves them at me. I wave back at the ¡°old guy Harriman¡±. Everybody here called him that. Harriman had been working here for at least 10 years, or even longer. Some say that he had been working since the company itself had been founded, 80 years ago. Well, all I knew was that he was here the day that I had joined. <> Late. Late on the first day of the dream job. This was seriously embarrassing. Yesterday¡¯s interview had gone so well, and it was barely a day before I had ruined it all. I burst into the double doors, nearly crashing into them. I decide to stop for a while to catch my breath. A man walks up to me and hands me a bottle of water. I nod gratefully and take a few sips. Once rested, I decide to introduce myself. ¡°Edward Crane, sir. A new employee at the Advanced Research branch.¡± I offer him my hand. Politeness costs nothing, but the returns may be huge. Who knew, this guy could even be even my boss! He laughs and refuses to shake my hand. ¡°My name¡¯s Harriman and I have working here for a long time. I was hired by Mr. Robert himself, you know, back when there wasn¡¯t any company. We started out small, in a crowded basement, and look at us now. Beautiful skyscraper in the middle of the city! If I hadn¡¯t seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it at all! In the beginning -¡± I hang onto his every word, nodding and smiling at the opportune moments. This man was surely a high ranking member of the company. I must leave a good impression instead of a blithering idiot who arrives late on the first day! DAMN! SAY SOMETHING! Compliment his tie or something! But what if he doesn¡¯t like it? And thinks I am trying to curry favor with him? Wait, the weather! No, he might think I¡¯m complaining! Football? But if I mistakenly bash his favorite team then? Oh no! We have reached the elevator. ¡°-Advanced Research, right? That¡¯s on the -7 floor. Good luck, Mr. Crane.¡± <> I make my way down to my office, managing a smile and a good morning at those who recognized me. It was easier said than done, because I had started seeing a lot of new faces. Most of these people were the newly hired people to manage our fame and reputation. Personally, I hated them. Their clothes were too slick, hair too shiny and tongues always ahead to lick their bosses¡¯ shoes. None of them were ever going to speak their mind. I make my way down to my office. Few people were present here. Mostly all had gone up to the Monitor room, this being the big day and all. I chuckle and relax in my office. I decide to open up a secured encrypted link to Arthur¡¯s video feed. This way, even if I couldn¡¯t talk to him, I¡¯ll be able to watch his ass whooped in the Arena. <> I make my way down to the -7 floor. As soon as the door opens, I can see the area is still under development. Boxes of stuff lay scattered across, with various wires running through different machines. A few large mainframe computers are attached to the end of these wires. The air is comfortably cold, probably to prevent these machines from overheating. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Hello? Is anyone here? I am a new employee, and today is my first day. My name is Edward and I was recently hired to work here...¡± The silence is unsettling. I continue speaking; half hoping that someone would respond. Had Harriman sent me to the wrong floor? The whole office seemed to be empty. I keep on moving, hoping to catch sight of someone. No such luck. ¡°Open the door to your right.¡± A thin voice seems to appear out of nowhere. Looking to my right, I spot a nearly invisible door that I hadn¡¯t seen before. I make my way to the room. Inside is a stark contrast to the rest of the office. Everything appears to be wood paneled instead of colorless white. The lighting is astonishing too. Fake windows are open, which allow the fake sunlight come in. I could see and hear the birds chirping outside. Probably holograms. There is a fireplace too, on the wall opposite of the door. Animal heads are mounted too, which seem to be staring at me. Various bookshelves are arranged at the corners and the floor is covered with a satin blue rug. Despite all this, it is strangely comforting. Like I have stepped into the past. However, it certainly doesn¡¯t seem like a Research office. There is a humongous desk in front of the fireplace, with a chair that¡¯s facing away from me. I make my way to the desk, dreading the first meeting with my boss. The chair turns and I wince, coming face to face with ¨C - a twelve year old boy? We stare at each other for a moment, each surprised by the other. Finally, the boy is the one to break the silence. ¡°You look like a goat. I hadn¡¯t expected that." <> ************************************************************************ Kent¡¯s POV Don¡¯t need to do it, they said. And it is exactly why I needed to see. The adventurers would be stronger than us in time, and that is why I need to know! What were they planning? What did they plan to do here? The King too had taken this seriously. As long as these adventurers were here, they were to be guarded. I decided to order all the guards to wear their full armor for the day. That should hopefully impress them. I myself decided to patrol the Market area. And soon enough, there appeared ¨C in a flash of light ¨C the Adventurer! He appeared to be completely unarmed. His clothes too, were ragged and unwholesome to look at. However, his face was angular and sharp. It seemed that he was quite intelligent. He was observing his surroundings carefully, not having moved a spot since the beginning. Finally, he caught sight of me. My observation period was over. It looked like I needed to talk to him. ¡°Welcome to our world, Adventurer! It is indeed a high honor that the Goddess has allowed to travel through our beautiful realm. It is a beauty, is it not?¡± I ask, hoping that he will respond by talking about his own world in return. He doesn¡¯t oblige; and after a few pleasantries I invite him to show him across the city, just as the king had instructed. The man, I notice, is always guarded. His eyes dart about everywhere, always aware of his surroundings. I nod appreciatively. I show him around the city, conversing with him along the way. Despite his sharp senses, his words are easy, dragging me into talking. I find myself laughing sometimes too. The lower district seemed to evoke some emotion in the man. He traversed it carefully, not looking away from the people there. But I could see the pain in his eyes, as he looked upon the people here, coarse and uncivilized, fighting over scraps of food. I was ashamed myself. What could I tell him? That the king, despite his best efforts, could not stop this suffering? That there are people in the court who would rather line their own pockets with gold rather than help? In the end, I chose to say nothing. After we had silently walked through the entire district, he spoke. ¡°Do you know many types of people are there, Kent? I¡¯ll tell you. The good, the bad and the desperate. And these people, they all are desperate. Desperate to do anything in order to survive. And therefore, they are the most dangerous of all. Because sometimes, a man may make impossible choices; choices that you and I wouldn¡¯t even consider, just for survival.¡± I look into his eyes as he speaks. ¡°Have you ever been desperate before, sir?¡± ¡°Me? Do I look desperate to you, Kent? Come on; let¡¯s get this tour over with. I am feeling hungry already.¡± I show him the last district, the Arena. I tell about him everything that goes on here, but he isn¡¯t impressed. Perhaps they have bigger Arenas in his world. We backtrack again to the temple, with me explaining the rest of the things on the way. After the temple visit, I could still notice a frown on his face. Perhaps it hadn¡¯t gone well. ¡°So, did you get the blessing of the Goddess?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you tell?¡± ¡°No. Nobody can tell whose blessings you have without explicit permission of the one who gave you the blessing. As I was asking, is your initiation over? Will you be going outside now?¡± ¡°Not yet. The Goddess has decided to give me the task to know myself. I suppose that you wouldn¡¯t have any idea about that would you?¡± I simply told him that the expertise on these matters were scholars and philosophers, not of us warriors. However, while waiting I had remembered that I had promised to meet Anna today. After a moment¡¯s consideration, I told him my problem. He was quite untroubled and even encouraged me. His easy manner and way was refreshing. A man free from all duties, free to do whatever he wanted. Perhaps all the adventurers were like this. I decide to trust him and let him wander alone. He was already very different from my expectations. ************************************************************* Alexei Luthor¡¯s Encrypted Diary TODAY¡¯S EVENTS 6.30: woke up early in The morning. 6.45: brush teeth; Plan for jog cancelled due to urgent business call. 7.00: bathed; had breakfast; wore my suit and tie. 8.00: Took a cab to the office, gave the driver a day off. 8.45: signed the various papers; approved the game cover and Its advertisement posters. 9.20: began the First interview of the day with ck company, followed by gameinformer, exagames and vrmmo-rise. 1.00: sent everyone away; emailed Major newspapers about tomorrow¡¯s front page. 1.20: took lunch break at a small caf¨¦; decided to Step into small game shop as a part of our social marketing. 2.20: had a meeting With the executives about censor board rules. explained that vr laws are restricted to The state itself. 4.00: assembled everyone in the main room; signed the first copies of the Game to be shipped out. 4.40: whole office celebrated Beta day, started the final Release day countdown clock. 5.00: leave office, go home and unwind and relax. already expect long days from now on. *****************************************************************
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The loading screen Suggestions and Rants Hello and welcome back. I have been gone for nearly two weeks, mostly due to RL work. In this time, I have discovered a few things, namely ¨C Writing is tough work. I am highly critical of writing. When I first began, I dived in thoughtlessly. Now after careful planning, I can see that I have to write a lot more to improve. But don¡¯t worry; I am not going to stop writing Arthur Red because I need more practice. Second, balancing is tough too. Writing and editing takes a lot of time (or perhaps I am slow). Whatever the reason, it is difficult for me to write even 8000 words per week (my original plan). Instead, I have decided on a general 6 chapters a month. That comes about to 17000 words. You will definitely get more, depending on various factors. But 6 is the bare minimum I am aiming for. Third: Popularity. Well, I need this series to get more popular. I feel disappointed with the lack of readers and their comments. I thought if I posted more, I could get more viewers. That partly led to the chapter 5 fiasco (pushed too late in night, wrote crap). Now, I have decided to push it slow and steady, with focus on the quality than quantity. However, I am accepting all suggestions on how to make my series popular here. This brings us to the next point. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chapter 8 and 9 which was supposed to go together on Saturday is released individually on Friday and Sunday. Chapter 10 and 11, which was supposed to be released on Sunday, is pushed back to the next week (undecided on whether to release separately or not, comment your opinion). As of now, this thread is my suggestions and updates, while the loading screen is completely for Annotations.
Episode 8: First Lessons Author¡¯s note: This episode is inspired by wuxia stories that I have wrote. But¡­too long to post here, will do so in the loading screen. Alright, I hope you have as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it. EPISODE 8: First Lessons Arthur¡¯s POV ¡°Well, now that the battle is over, it¡¯s time for our discussion.¡± Dastur announces to the group. Everybody seemed to groan at his words. ¡°What discussion?¡± I asked. Even louder groans could be heard. ¡°Why, our post battle discussion. You present your views on the performance on the battle: How you fought, how can you improve yourself, what you expect from your teammates and other important things like that. It¡¯s a great bonding exercise, we get to spend some quality time together! What do you think, Kyle? Isn¡¯t it exciting?¡± Zaubern¡¯s, Cartamor¡¯s and even Sh¨±sa¡¯s reactions had tipped me off about the excitement that was about to come. However, I could not see a way out. Zaubern came to my rescue. ¡°Ah, hope you don¡¯t mind it, but I promised the lad that I was going to teach him some spells after the fight, you know, help him out¡­.¡± ¡°Yes! That''s it! You should have seen Zaubern. I had to get on my knees to get him to agree! I am sorry Dastur, but I can''t let go of this chance. We will do the discussion later, okay?¡± I pick up from where Zaubern left off. Dastur frowns then nods. ¡°Alright, you two are excused. But the rest-¡± Cartamor was the next to speak up. ¡°Actually, I need to get writing a new song that I told you about. And my lute needs some tuning, so I guess... I will have to skip it¡­¡± ¡°Fine! So, it¡¯s you me and you, Sh¨±sa. Let¡¯s get started.¡± Sh¨±sa walked over to a chair and sat down without a word. He then started staring impassively at Dastur. ¡°Well, then let¡¯s begin. Sh¨±sa, what did you think of today¡¯s battle?¡± Sh¨±sa furrowed his brows as if in deep thought. Finally, after terse minutes of silence, he uttered one word, ¡°Good.¡± Dastur, however seemed unfazed. Perhaps he had grown used to Sh¨±sa¡¯s demeanor. He started speaking animatedly again. Zaubern had started to insistently tug on my arm. ¡°Come along, Kyle. This is going to take hours.¡± I followed him back to the practice room. ¡°So, are you going to really teach me magic, or was it only an excuse?¡± ¡°Kyle, I want you to know that what I did now, getting you out of Dastur¡¯s claws¡­¡± Here he paused to take a breath, ¡°¡­is a bigger favor than teaching you magic.¡± ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± ¡°You have no idea. One time, he had kept us in that room for over six hours!¡± ¡°Really?¡± He glared at me and said, ¡°Do you think I am lying, boy? Six straight hours! And he went on and on about tactics and whatnot. In the end, the matron herself had come over to shut him up. Sometimes, I think that he- KWACK KWAC-¡± The old man suddenly burst out coughing. Blood spluttered from his lips. I rushed towards his side but he waved me away. After a few worryingly long seconds, he stopped. ¡°I am alright. It is just my asthma acting up again.¡± I must have looked worried because he added, ¡°Don¡¯t frown too much. I am an old man with a nasty cough. That doesn¡¯t mean I am going to keel over any moment.¡± Something about that sentence was off. I voiced my suspicions. ¡°You know, I think you are right. But I also think that you are lying.¡± ¡°Oh? And where exactly, have I lied?¡± His face gave the truth away. ¡°You told me that you cast mage armor spell armor in time. But you lied, didn¡¯t you?¡± He gave a weak laugh, ¡°That¡¯s preposterous! If that¡¯s a lie, then why, your whole story being a poor orphan must also be a lie! That¡¯s how serious your untrue allegations are!¡± At the end of his tirade, he gave me a pointed look. The old man was hiding something. At first, I hadn¡¯t looked too closely at him. But now, when I really observed Zaubern I could see a depth that I had missed before. I realized that the eccentric mage that everyone saw was only an act. It was an incredible moment; as if a light had been suddenly switched on in the room. Nothing had changed, but it was like I could suddenly see through the dark. And I saw a man, old and frail, but still fighting. ¡°Why are you here, Zaubern?¡± ¡°What do you mean? I am here because I defaulted on-¡± ¡°That¡¯s another lie.¡± This time I looked directly into his gray eyes. ¡°You are here by choice. I see it now. You¡¯re not the man everyone thinks you are. You didn¡¯t simply decide to fight in the Arena because of a whim. Tell me why you are here, Zaubern.¡± He sighed and said, ¡°Well, if you have already seen through the act, I guess there is no harm in telling you.¡± For a few seconds, he paused, collecting his thoughts. When he started speaking again his voice felt sorrowful. ¡°I had an apprentice once. He was a real orphan from the streets, unlike you. Had real talent. But was headstrong and stupid. Never listened to anything that I said.¡± He turned again to look at me. His eyes were filled with regret. ¡°One day, I caught him stealing. Or what I thought was stealing. I didn¡¯t even listen to him. I didn¡¯t know¡­¡± Every word of his had started increasing the sinking feeling in my stomach. The horrible truth was slowly dawning upon me. ¡°You sent him to jail. He was forced to fight in the Arena, and he died. And then you discovered the blood on your hands¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know. If I had known the truth, do you think I would have DONE THIS?¡± He suddenly thundered. A fit of coughing followed. Finally, he was the one who broke the silence. ¡°His mother was the reason. She had borrowed too much and¡­ well, that isn¡¯t relevant. You wanted to know why I was here. I am repaying her debt. It¡¯s what he would have wanted.¡± ¡°So you can choose to be here for somebody else¡¯s crimes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s that kind of ignorance that reveals you as an Outsider. Take my advice, shut up and listen to what others say and just nod accordingly. That way, you¡¯ll last longer in here.¡± The old man changed from sad to sarcastic in a moment. Well, that suited me better anyway. ¡°I want another favor from you Zaubern. Don¡¯t worry; it¡¯s a smaller one than the Dastur one.¡± He narrowed his eyes. ¡°Teach me magic.¡± ************************************************************************************************ I didn¡¯t care if the old man had taken pity on me, or simply had accepted to shut me up. I was finally learning magic! ¡°Okay. Close your eyes and relax. Take deep breaths. Empty your mind. What we are trying to do is to remove all distractions and enter the meditative state. Once you can do so you can feel your own Magicka. This is the basic step for casting all spells, but also the most important.¡± ¡°Sounds easy enough.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t.¡± Actually, it was easy, to a man who had done it over a thousand times. I meditated regularly. By now, I could let go of everything and enter the trance in a heartbeat. It had saved my life and sanity a lot of times over the past years. <> I found myself to be stuck into a grey world of sleeping in the cave and eating what Yama offers me. Time doesn¡¯t seem to pass at all. Finally, I was somewhat healthy enough to take a walk in the cave, even if it was one lousy step. The way my body had deteriorated frightened me. Unfortunately, Yama was there to see me and my embarrassing fall. He chastised me soundly. ¡°You are still recovering from the fever. And every exertion you make only extends the recovery time. If you want to run, then do so after you have healed, but not before.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to do nothing. I just¡­ need to keep moving. I don¡¯t know who I am, or how I got here¡­ but I need to do something..¡± He looked at me pensively. ¡°Very well. We will begin your training today.¡± ¡°What? You just said-¡± ¡°I know what I said. But we are going to train your mental ability, which doesn¡¯t require you to even get up from this bed.¡± ¡°Okay, sounds good.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Alright. Now, the first step is called Remove the Unneeded. It¡¯s a meditative state where your mind is totally empty. If you can learn this, it would make the upcoming steps easy for you.¡± I nod. ¡°So, what do I do?¡± ¡°Meditate. Achieve tranquility within yourself. There are various methods; I don¡¯t care how you do it. Why don¡¯t you try?¡± Meditate. I sat in a cross legged position, and took deep breaths. I then tried to clear my mind. It was very hard. My mind, I discovered, was never still but always darting about. It was always saying something, always working. I had to find a way to quiet it down. ******************************************************************************** I discovered the trick after¡­I didn¡¯t know how much time passed here. But it must have a day or two. Maybe even more. To Remove the Unneeded, I had to completely sink in myself. It is hard to describe in words. But I had finally done it. When I mentioned it to Yama, he motioned to show him. ¡°Not like that, kid. You are too slow. You must do it in the span of one breath.¡± ********************************************************************************* To learn a span of one breath took several weeks. I had now recovered enough to walk around the room easily. But I still wasn¡¯t strong enough to stand enough for long periods of time. I believe that I had begun to condition myself, in pursuit of this meditation. I found that challenges excited me, pushed me more. I must have been a competitive person before my memory loss. My breathing had grown longer and more measured in the past few days. Sometimes Yama would help me out and give me tips, but I mostly figured out this on my own. When I had gotten it down, I showed it to Yama again. This time, when I was meditating, he suddenly drew his bow and shot a arrow at me. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± ¡°Testing your concentration. You must be able to remain in control under any situation. In this case, I will shoot arrows at you.¡± ********************************************************************************* Calm under fire. The third stage. It took over four months. By this time, I had fully recovered. Still, I mostly stayed near the cave. Yama had given me various exercises that were supposed to help my physical recuperation. Instead of starting with lifting weights or running, he had me maintaining different poses for as long as I could. At first, they were pretty difficult, but soon I could do them passably well. The he added different weights in the postures; and I had to balance them in different postures. As long as I could. Finally, when I could barely do it, he added running in the night, on the beach. Again, as long as I ¡­ let¡¯s just say my life sucked. Yama would generally leave in the morning, waking me up so I could begin practicing. He would return around midday, with birds and some fish that were our lunch and dinner. I ate the most of it. The days passed peacefully and silently. Yama was a laconic person. Whenever he spoke, he was forever wistful and sad, as if remembering his better days. Yet he enjoyed my company. His behavior had changed drastically. He now laughed and spoke more than before. I believe that he saved me because he was lonely on the island and wanted a companion. Neither he nor I asked personal questions. However, from his words I knew there was no easy way to get off this land. But the way he evaded these questions? He was definitely hiding something. I didn¡¯t still completely trust him; but in time I knew that he was serious about my survival and training. Even so, his motivations remained unclear. I spent my days training. Even a Tibetan monk would be envious how easily I could attain my Zen state. A professional ballerina will be ashamed of herself if she could see how flexible I was. My body was a mean machine; only lean muscles that radiated power and grace. But, according to Yama, it wasn¡¯t enough. So I trained even harder. ****************************************************************************************** ¡°I can do it now.¡± I announced to him one morning. I had promised him that I wouldn¡¯t say these words until I had completely mastered everything. I believed that I was ready a week ago; but even so I had decided to push on. Today, I was sure. ¡°Let¡¯s take it outside.¡± We reached the small glade, where I practiced. ¡°Sit.¡± He walked away, from me eying the distance; probably intending to fill me with arrows. ¡°Begin¡± I took a breath. I removed the unneeded. The world wasn¡¯t needed. Worry wasn¡¯t needed. Pain wasn¡¯t needed. Anger, Hope, Happiness, Guilt, Envy¡­ everything was unneeded. Thinking was unneeded. Only the moment remained. I was aware of the moment, the time itself. Yet I was also distant from it, as a bystander. It was an out of body experience. Three arrows, one after the other. Dodged the second one. The other two flew harmlessly from the left side. Four arrows, my body moves by itself. I roll right. The arrows thudded neatly where I was sitting moments before. An arrow, aimed at the sole of left foot. Moved an inch to the right. Three more, aimed at my midsection. Turned sideways. Arrow to the head. Lean backwards. Another to the arms. Step¡­ no, duck downward. Three arrows fly above me. A continuous stream of arrows fly, all forcing me to contort my body. The different postures engraved in my mind take over. The Bending Heron. The arrows fly over my head. The Subtle Peacock. My feet continuously bend, evading arrows left and right. The Humming Bird. The slightest of jumps, allowing me to change directions haphazardly. Arrows miss me entirely. ¡°Getting old, Yama?¡± My body speaks. ¡°I expected better from you!¡± ¡°Hah! Let¡¯s see you deal with this!¡± The man speaks. A boomerang flashes near my head. The Diving Falcon. Arrows aimed where I am going to dive. The Diving Falcon flows into the Dodging Gazelle. The boomerang comes back, now aimed at my feet. The Dodging Gazelle becomes the Leaping Grasshopper. Eight thrown knives. The Leaping Grasshopper returns back to the Diving Heron. Each of them smoothly becomes the other; as if in an unending dance. My body decides to counter attack. The Charging Rhino. I swat arrows left and right with my hands. The Running Leopard. I lower my center of gravity and start running. Arrows fly, but I dodge them by miniscule changes. The Running Leopard naturally becomes the Roaring Tiger. I put the arrow that I had picked up while running to his throat. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± ¡°You have learnt well. Let¡¯s go.¡± He turns away and starts to walk. It¡¯s over. I have won. Wait. He is carrying the bow wrong. Without facing me, without stopping, he lets loose an arrow. The fastest one I have ever seen him shoot. It manages to catch me off guard. But not my body. I raise my right hand and catch it, inches from my face. Then I snap it in two. ¡°Beautifully done. Your body has been perfected. Tomorrow, we begin your training in earnest.¡± I stare dumbfounded, as he walks away. <>
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by the way, have added some important info here. Please read it and voice your opinions. Episode 9: Magic and Mystery Author¡¯s note: Another early chapter! Yay! EPISODE 9: Magic and Mystery Arthur¡¯s POV I felt the Magicka as soon as I take a breath. It felt like¡­ blue electricity. Those were the first words that came to my mind. The only words, actually. I wonder how the VR did this Magicka representation. Perhaps triggering a response in the superior colliculus? Or perhaps in the occipital lobe. Maybe.. The slew of messages interrupted me.
You have discovered the flow of Magicka! For doing so without the Goddess¡¯ help, you gain +5 Intelligence!
You have discovered Fire Affinity. Your Fire affinity is average.
You have discovered Earth Affinity. You Earth affinity is average.
You have discovered Wind Affinity. Your Wind affinity is average.
You have discovered Water Affinity. Your Water affinity is average.
Great. A total average. That meant all the different paths were open to me. Or perhaps this was only a quirk of the beta; so that players could test out the different elements. Zaubern was clearly shocked. ¡°How did you do that so fast?¡± ¡°I have done this before. How did you know that I realized my Magicka?¡± ¡°Your eyes glowed blue.¡± That was a nice effect. Too bad I could see it only in a mirror. ¡°Very well. Now that we have gotten over the hard part, tell me¡­What do you think is magic?¡± This is one of the questions that I was prepared for since childhood, along with other important questions, such as: ¡°If a genie granted you three wishes, what would you wish for?¡± and ¡°What is your plan in case of a zombie apocalypse?¡± I even had a plan in case I died and reincarnated with my memories intact. Yeah, I was an over planner. I unhesitatingly gave my theory. ¡°Magic is imagination made reality through the power of Will and Magicka.¡± Zaubern¡¯s eyes went wide at my declaration. He exclaims, ¡°That was¡­ incredibly well thought out!... It should be on every book. Eloquently said. What a sentence¡­ I think I should write it down somewhere¡­¡± He produces a pen and a parchment from the inside of his robe and does so. He then looks at me. ¡°Well? Do some magic.¡± ¡°Uh, how?¡± ¡°Just do what you said.¡± Hmm, I imagine a small ball of fire floating above my hand. I feel the electricity and direct it towards the hand, willing it to change into the fireball. And it does. Incredible. The game was incredible. It accurately deduced a complex range of brain functions and reproduced what I wanted. And this was only the Beta. How good could the complete game be?
You have learnt the spell Fireball by yourself. For this achievement, you get +5 to Intelligence.
¡°So, it looks like you taught yourself Magic, lad. Want a few pointers?¡± ¡°I will be grateful.¡± Zaubern went on to explain the difference between the class magic and elemental magic. Basically, Alteration, Destruction, Illusion, Conjuration and Restoration were newer varieties of magic, called Class Magic. Elemental magic was easy and could be cast wordlessly. Most of the elemental spells involved manipulation of elements to do your bidding. Some people were more attuned with one element than others, which made it easy for them to cast the spells of the specific branch. Class Magic was a more recent discovery. Basically, it was imagining pseudo-science into reality. For example, ¡°Levitate¡± would allow you to fly in air, by reducing your weight and canceling gravity. You could also levitate if you had a sufficient Wind mastery but that was totally by manipulating the Air. Class Magic had more rules and restrictions than Elemental Magic. Improper visualization in this case could be deadly. A cast focus was also required. Cast focus related the Idea to the Magicka. For example, every time I needed to cast Mage Armor I could cast the spell just by saying Mage Armor as that reminded me of the spell. Or if I truly believed that clicking my heels would cast the spell, then I could use that too. Anything that I mentally associated with the spell can be used. Could a Class Spell be cast without a cast focus? Yes, but that was dangerous, as you had imagine each of the complex steps each time, and you could easily screw up. Intent is required to cast a spell. Accidentally casting a spell is impossible. The intent is always present; either consciously or subconsciously. Elemental Magic doesn¡¯t generally have cast focus, as people find it intuitive and thus impossible to screw up. The few required chants to set the variables in place. If I needed mage armor with a purple border and gold threading, I needed to have a chant where I could specify the different colors each time I cast it. Basically, anything you imagined was possible. Only sometimes you needed help with imagining, so you used a cast focus. That¡¯s it. More details meant more Magicka spent. So class magic was about the most efficient way to do something. Well, after a lot of discussion with Zaubern, I finally learned a few Class spells. Candlelight ¨C Would provide a small light, about the intensity of a candle. It consumed one Magicka/sec. Woodflesh ¨C Would absorb 60 points of damage. It consumed 100 Magicka. Stoneflesh ¨C Would absorb 120 points of damage. A stronger variant of armor. Consumed 150 Magicka. Conjure dagger ¨C Would conjure a small dagger that I could use for 60 seconds. The damage done depended by the dagger seemed to depend on my intelligence stat. This consumed 45 Magicka. Conjure shortsword ¨C Same as the dagger, only a shortsword. It consumed 100 Magicka. Conjure Bow ¨C Again, a spectral bow and unlimited arrows. This needed 180 Magicka, which was out of my range at the moment. We spent a lot of time discussing magic. Underneath his gruff exterior, Zaubern was definitely a good guy. Before leaving, Zaubern warned me not to practice in the jail cell, as it was against the rules and they had set up countermeasures. I had figured that one out by my own, but it was nice to get it confirmed. ******************************************************************************************* After all the fights were over for the day, we were escorted back to the mess, which is where I hoped to make my acquaintance with Iorveth. No such luck. I found Erasmus sitting in a lonely corner. I decided to join him, and explain the new situation. ¡°I heard you survived your fight today.¡± He nodded to me. ¡°If you used your eyes, you could see it too.¡± I nod back at him. ¡°Already joking around here? You are going to get beat up.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t plan on staying here much longer.¡± I lean in conspiratorially, indicating its serious business that I wanted to talk about. ¡°I will be getting out after four days. I need to speak to Iorveth before that happens. Do you have anything that can help?¡± Erasmus eyes me carefully. ¡°How do you get out?¡± ¡°I will be declared innocent by the legionnaire.¡± ¡°Hahahah ahaHaHahaha..¡± He laughs loudly, yet nobody seems to notice. ¡°That¡¯s a good one. Wait, you are actually serious, aren¡¯t you?¡± I nod. ¡°Okay, assuming that you can actually get out here aaaaaaannnd assuming that I somehow get him to meet you¡­. How the hell are you going to learn anything in three days?¡± ¡°I am a quick learner. I can pick it up if even if he shows me only the basics.¡± He looks at me, clearly disbelieving. After a while he shakes his spoon at me and breaks into a smile. ¡°Alright, I believe you. And I do need a little bit of excitement in these cells. Kid, you have won me over in a day. That¡¯s a rare feat. And I do happen to have a plan. Therefore I am going to send you to where Iorveth is. After that, you¡¯re on your own. That fine with you?¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s great.¡± ¡°Look sharp, the Warden is coming. And remember, you agreed to this.¡± Before I can ask him what he means, he grabs my plate and sends it flying. The plate traces a perfect parabola as it lands straight on the Warden¡¯s head. The sloppy mess runs down his face. After a moment of stunned silence, everyone start searching for the plate¡¯s origin. They traced their eyes straight back to me. I turn to point towards Erasmus, but like a good criminal, he had already disappeared. And now the blame was on me. ****************************************************************************************** After another thorough beating, I am assigned to a solitary cell for ¡®misbehavior¡¯. It seemed that they couldn¡¯t find a rule by which they could hang me. So, the warden assured me that as long as I was here, he would do everything he possibly could to make my life hell. On the plus side, my Physical Resistance stat had increased, and my level had gone up to 2. They threw me inside the solitary cell, 9 floors below the ground. The jail was a lot deeper than I imagined. This was Erasmus¡¯ plan, and Iorveth was here somewhere. ¡°Have a nice time here, boy.¡± The whole floor was totally dark. When the guards left with their torches, it became pitch black again. The cell was also much smaller, and I could barely sit in there without scraping my head. How could someone stay here? ¡°Hello! Anybody here?¡± I shouted. No response. ¡°Helloooooooo¡­..¡± After the third time, I slumped down. At that moment a voice sounded in my ear. Stop shouting¡­human. It disturbs my sheep. ¡°Sheep? You meant sleep right?¡± A string of gibberish resounded in my head. It sounded vaguely Elvish. I decided to try my luck. ¡°Could I be speaking to Iorveth, by any chance?¡± Silence. ¡°Do you know where I can get some water? My throat is parched.¡± A soft chuckle sounded, again without source. How did he do it? Feel behind you. I turned and touched the wall. It was damp. A small trickle of water was running down the walls, from God knows where. ¡°You mean I have to drink this?¡± Another soft chuckle could be heard, unnervingly close. Was he using magic? But how? It seemed that I had to use my special techniques to get some answers. But for the moment, I decided to log out. ************************************************************************* After a few moments of rest, impatience began to take hold of me. What was I doing? My original plan was to investigate Alexei, through the game¡¯s connection to the servers. I had made a lot of modifications to my pod and the system. When the beta ended, I would have access to Luthor¡¯s files, and send the incriminating data to the police. I also planned to confront Luthor about the truth, on the day of my father¡¯s death and record him. Taken together, that should be enough for any jury to convict him. Then why was I uneasy? Because deep down in my gut, I knew the truth. There wasn¡¯t going to be any incriminating data. Luthor¡¯s testimony within the game wouldn¡¯t mean anything in the real world. And the words of a dead boy and a sorry scientist carried no weight. Luthor was safe now, and he was going to walk away unpunished. No. I wasn¡¯t going to let that happen. There had to be a way. I wash my face, to focus on the task. I glance upon my reflection. It was thin, angular face, with a scar under the lips. Slight stubble could be seen on my chins. My face had changed drastically from before. Even the Doctor, with whom I had worked for a long time, didn¡¯t recognize me when we met again. Perhaps even my own father wouldn¡¯t recognize me now. A haunting music further deepens my musings. Instead of focusing on Alexei, I had instead chosen to play the game. And for what reason? A foolish hope. That I could meet her again. Wait a second. Real life doesn¡¯t have a soundtrack. That was my phone. ¡°What is it, Doctor?¡± Only he had my number. ¡°It¡¯s important, something that you should know. Meet me in Sigil, now. It¡¯s urgent.¡± No time to waste. I jumped back into my VR pod. But instead of choosing Fable of Fantasy, I chose Sigil. *************************************************************************** Sigil was the VR world. When virtual reality was introduced, the possibilities were limitless. One entrepreneur had the bright idea of creating virtual cities, similar to real cities, and making it accessible to anyone who had VR pods or headsets. It soon replaced Internet. Every city now had its own Sigil. All the Sigils were connected through portals, which meant one could travel the world without leaving his home. The beauty of Sigil was that it was completely private. Your account was completely anonymous. Nobody could access the space you owned without knowing the password. It made Sigil a popular place for shady businessmen, underground casinos, and all sort of unsavory people. Of course, there were legitimate businesses too. Most of the new generation spent their time here in Sigil. Enjoy spending time with your friends without ever leaving your own home? Customizable avatars beyond your wildest fantasies? Win-win situation for everyone. I made my way to ¡°Wildest Dream Bar¡±, a place secretly owned by me. Everyone had a private place inside Sigil. For most people, it was the size of an apartment, but you could buy larger spaces. And I had a lot of money. It was locked, which represented a private server. I walked up to the locked door, and making sure no was looking, whistled ¡°Twinkle Twinkle little Star¡±. The door opened to a futuristic looking workshop, my home here on Sigil. Doctor was waiting for me. ¡°I have bad news. They are shutting down the beta early.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Here. A NPC committed suicide. That wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.¡± A holographic report appears in front of my face. I check the details. Kiroh, age 15, resident of the Lower District. He jumped from the top of a building publicly today, at 9.00 a.m. (game time). A few players witnessed the event. ¡°Why did he kill himself?¡± ¡°It was due to a curse. Kiroh got his hands on a cursed item and it drove him insane. In the real game, you would get a quest to remove it. However, in the beta, without checks of Overlord A.I. the cursed progressed rapidly, resulting in his death.¡± ¡°That is written here. It''s Alexei¡¯s summary to the press.¡± I wave the hologram away. ¡°But that isn¡¯t the real reason, is it?¡± ¡°No. We don¡¯t know the real reason.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°There wasn¡¯t anything special about Kiroh. No curse quest was associated with him. His behavior settings were completely normal, as a small time pickpocket in the District. As far as we know, he simply decided to¡­kill himself.¡± ¡°No one simply kills himself, Doctor. There must be some reason. And we need to find it out.¡± ¡°Whatever it was, it had definitely rattled Luthor. He came to my office, threatening to fire me if I didn¡¯t support his version of the story.¡± Looks like Luthor has even more secrets than I thought. But now I had a small thread of his vast web of lies. And I was going to keep pulling the thread until his whole world unraveled. Alexei Luthor was definitely going to pay.
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The loading screen Episode 10: Strange Bedfellows Author''s note- Real life problems again, so 11 will take a while. I decided to post chapter 10 so you could whet your appetite. have a nice day. EPISODE 10: Strange Bedfellows Arthur¡¯s POV ¡°So, what are you going to do now?¡± Doctor asked me. ¡°Hmm¡­ My plan of getting a racial Archery skill from Iorveth is bust. I¡¯ll be inside the game until they shut it down. See it through the end. You try to get more data about Kiroh. By making the story of the quest public, Alexei has forced his hand. Kiroh now has to definitely exist in the final release. We will pick up on his trail from there.¡± ¡°You¡¯re too bossy, even now. I hoped that part of you would have changed as well.¡± ¡°Wrong. I don¡¯t change that easily.¡± There wasn¡¯t any time to waste. I think about my Sigil menu, and it appears automatically. It contains information about me, my friends (currently grayed out), my private servers and a lot of similar things. I open ¡®Change current world¡¯ and select ¡®Fable of Fantasy¡¯ from the list. The room slowly disappeared, leaving nothing but white blankness. After a few seconds, another room started to form. A growing pressure on my back forces me to sit down upon the nothingness. Within a minute, the earlier jail cell has taken shape around me. ¡°IORVETH! I WANT TO ASK A FAVOR FROM YOU!¡± I shout, hoping to get him riled up. ¡°Uh, sir¡­ I think he is sleeping right now.¡± A familiar voice. Wait a second¡­ ¡°Is that you, Kent?¡± ¡°Ah yes, sir.¡± It was Kent¡¯s voice. Either it was him, or a really skilled impersonator. The man didn¡¯t stop speaking. ¡°I am very sorry sir. I failed you and your plan. I was supposed to get you out of here, and I couldn¡¯t even do that properly. I am ashamed from the depths of my heart.¡± The mixture of self-loathing and guilt negated all doubts of an impersonator. The person was really Kent. ¡°Let it go, Kent. I know it¡¯s not your fault. And you don¡¯t have to worry about me too much. I have another way to get out of here.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I take another breath and continue on. ¡°And I realize now, that it is I who should be sorry. It is my actions that led you here, didn¡¯t it?¡± Apologies were hard for me. It meant admitting that you were wrong about something. And for a person with a lot of pride, it was virtually impossible. But if I didn¡¯t apologize, I was going to repeat the same mistake again. I was so intent about getting here in the Arena that I dragged Kent into a mess. That was completely my mistake. ¡°Well, not exactly. I don¡¯t blame you. You see, I was not entirely truthful the entire time I was with you, sir. There are other reasons..¡± Even if there were other reasons, I was sure that I was the root cause of all this. Yet Kent had implicitly forgiven me; his words lifted my heart. The silence continued for awhile. Finally, I couldn¡¯t contain myself any longer. ¡°Well? What is the reason?¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of a long story. And I need to rest for a bit..¡± Kent was clearly evading my questions. That was unacceptable. ¡°Just start from the beginning. I¡¯ll figure out the ending.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± He composed himself and began. ¡°It¡¯s about my friend, Anna. She-¡± ¡°Wait a second. Just friends?¡± ¡°Yes, just friends. As I was saying-¡± ¡°You sure? I mean, a man just like you doesn¡¯t leave his post to go on a date with just a friend, does he?¡± ¡°Alright, she might be someone more¡­dearer than any other friend.¡± I could hear the slight note of exasperation and embarrassment in his voice. ¡°Anna is a noble and I-¡± ¡°Alright, I got this. She is a rich girl, you a poor boy. You meet, fall in love. Suddenly, a twist in the tale! The rich nobles angry at your insolence throw you in the Arena to die! And the resolution? You survive your trial, your good name is restored, the villains punished and your princess marries you. Every one lives happily ever after!¡± ¡°That sounds beautiful, sir. But Anna isn¡¯t my princess. And I am not in love with her. All that I hope is she secures a proper and fair trial. That is enough to prove my innocence.¡± his wistful voice sounded. *You are wrong. You do not know the¡­ mail? of your kind. There is no justice in their words or their deeds. They lie, steal and kill. Without any semblance of remorse or guilt. Your people are a blight upon the land, and should be eradicated ENTIRELY! * Iorveth¡¯s outburst had me reeling. The words resounded in my head, creating intense pain unlike anything like ever before. My words to Kent must have brought up painful memories. For a while, his words seemed to echo in my small cell. What had Iorveth suffered through? Still, the situation had turned to my favor. An agitated man was easier to bargain with than a rational one. ¡°Hey, I think I understand your cynicism, but the nobles have to play by their rules. Kent is innocent. After that is proved-¡± *It won¡¯t.* ¡°You think he isn¡¯t innocent?¡± *No. I know it doesn¡¯t matter. Once you are here, you can never leave.* ¡°How about we bet on that? If Kent is released, you owe me a favor. If he doesn¡¯t, I owe you one.¡± *Interesting proposal. What favor do you wish to ask for?* Iorveth suddenly speaks. ¡°I want to learn how to use a bow like you do.¡± *That¡¯s fattening. Mahat? istanlyen¨ª? Very well, I will make your odds easier. If this man here survives his first fight, I will make you my disciple. Now let me consider my favor in silence.* I was happy that he had agreed, so I didn¡¯t point out his flattering mistake. After all, why ruin the mood? Kent was strong enough. Nevertheless, one problem remained. The doctor had said that the NPCs who remained in the final game would have no memory of the Beta. Iorveth would completely forget about me. ¡°I am an Adventurer, by the way. So the next time we meet, I might be in a different form than my current one. You might not even recognize me. We need to figure out a way we can recognize each other.¡± *Legends do indeed talk of adventurers. I never would have expected them to be so¡­ disappointing. As for remembering you, that¡¯s easy. Can you feel the Magicka inside you?* ¡°Easily.¡± *Let this be your second lesson. Focus your Magicka on your eyes this time.* I do as he says and direct the electricity to my eyes. My vision slowly changes. The walls are illuminated with a soft blue glow, directly from my eyes itself. After some time, even more strange things start to appear. Faint, small floating white orbs appear, rising upwards, unhindered by anything. They must be spirits; sentient beings of Magicka itself. Ominous red symbols start to appear on the cell doors, focused on the lock. They are the magical wards to prevent mages from escaping. And lastly, a thin tendril connected to my body. I touch the tendril and understand. It is a subtle magical stream of air connecting me to another consciousness. I cannot see him, but just sense his presence. *You have discovered my s¨²l?, and the connection that exists between us. It is done through the Air element, which we Bosmer excel in. Remember this, you who wish to pursue the path of Archery. Without understanding of the Air, your Art will forever be incomplete. Now, accept the contract.* A surge of energy forces its way towards me. Instead of resisting it with my own Magicka, I accept it. And for a moment, I lose consciousness. Salty breeze from the seas. The rusting of leaves as the wind moves through them. The chilly wind howling from the North. The blistering oppressive air from the South. The moment is quickly over, yet it seemed to last for an eternity. All to convey one idea. Be free. Free like a leaf in the wind. That is the heart of the Bosmer culture. For Iorveth, imprisonment must be an even greater torture than I imagined. How did he survive? A sharp pain appears on my left hand. A tattoo of a hollow leaf glows brightly and disappears.
You have gained a tattoo: Bosmer Initiate.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Bosmer Initiate Tattoo: Grants permanent +10 to Intelligence and +10 to Dexterity. Raises your wind affinity slightly. Can increase wind affinity faster. Wind spells consume less Magicka.
Bosmer Initiate Tattoo can be further modified by the Bosmeri Elders.
¡°What¡¯s with this tattoo?¡± *The Bosmer Initiate tattoo is given to all the children by the clan elders, when they reach of age. Each child is blessed by an elder, and the tattoo appears differently, depending on the Elder. The magic is woven into your s¨²l? itself, so no matter whatever form you take, it will always be there.* ¡°Cool.¡± *As you gain a deeper understanding of Air and Arrow, the pattern will change, befitting that of a great warrior. Show me the tattoo if I forget, and I will at least give you my ear.* ¡°So what¡¯s with the generous gift?¡± *When you lose the bet, I want you to go back to my homeland, and show the tattoo to El¡¯ysana the Elder. She will then know of my fate.* Iorveth¡¯s cunningness didn¡¯t surprise me. But I had gained the better part of the deal. A Bosmer tattoo. If not wrong, this would be the most important racial benefit the Bosmer players would get, apart from the starting bonus. And getting it in the Beta meant that my future choices had grown a lot. ¡°Thanks a lot, Iorveth, even if you did it for yourself.¡± *Your bargain was sound. Be silent and let me rest now. The bestowal is not without its costs; though a good night¡¯s sleep would cure all the ailments.* The silence continued on for a few minutes. With my magesight, I could see Iorveth¡¯s¡­ s¨²l? glow dimming out. What did it mean anyway? ¡°I didn¡¯t want to interrupt your talking, but did you just gambled over my life, sir?¡± ¡°Not your life, Kent. Just your future.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not very reassuring either way, sir.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Kent; just trust me.¡± He muttered something under his breath that I couldn¡¯t quite hear. ¡°What was that, Kent?¡± ¡°Nothing. I fully trust you sir. I only hope it doesn¡¯t end the same way it did last time.¡± ¡°We are already in jail, Kent. It¡¯s impossible it will be the same as last time. Also there are no pretty girls here, so our chances have improved drastically, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sensing a bit of a grudge, sir.¡± ¡°Only a bit? It was the easiest THING THAT ANY GUARD COULD DO! CATCH A THIEF! BUT NO! KENT DEN HAS HIS ANNA TO IMPRESS!¡± ¡°I DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE WAS GOING TO BE THERE!¡± ¡°KNOW? THAT¡¯S NOT THE REASON! YOU COULDN¡¯T JUST STOP OGLING HER!¡± ¡°I WASN¡¯T OGLING HER!¡± ¡°YOU WERE!¡± ¡°WASN¡¯T!¡± ¡°WERE!¡± ¡°WASN¡¯T!¡± ¡°YOU DITCHED YOUR DUTY SO YOU COULD GO ON A DATE WITH HER!¡± ¡°DID NOT!¡± ¡°DID TOO!¡± ¡°DID NOT!¡± ¡°YOU LOVE HER!¡± ¡°NO!¡± ¡°ADMIT IT!¡± *SILENCE! Rakbo''la dhu''aineve! IF YOU DO NOT TIE UP YOUR TONGUES RIGHT NOW, I WILL SUFORATE YOUR VERY LIVES!END YOUR FOOLISH SQUABBLES RIGHT NOW, OR SUFFER MY WRATH!* A blinding headache followed, though not as painful as the first one. Air manipulation could be really deadly in the right hands. Testing out the theory seemed unwise. We shut up immediately. The hallways were quiet once more. But not for long. ¡°What does suforate mean, sir?¡± ¡°I think he meant suffocate. He messes up his words sometimes.¡± ¡°Oh. Do you think he can really do it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But better be safe than sorry.¡± ¡°Right.¡± We were silent, without anything left to say. But I decided to pick up on my old thread. ¡°By the way-¡± ¡°Yes?¡± A pause, while I make sure Iorveth was truly sleeping. Even after confirmation, I didn''t speak too loudly like earlier. ¡°You love her, Kent. That¡¯s the reason you recognized her voice, and tripped over. Love makes you lose control over your actions. Now admit it.¡± ¡°Even if I did, it wasn¡¯t my fault that you were caught. That was because you were looking at us. You admit that, right?¡± ¡°Even if I did! You said it! Yeah!¡± ¡°Why are you so adamant about this, Sir?¡± The most important question. ¡°Because of love, Kent. I see what you have and I envy you. But I am angry too, because of your pride. If you love her, admit it now. You might think that you are happy with the way things are. Being close to her, to see her every day, to hold her hands. But time is a cruel lord, Kent. It will move on, and things between you will change. And if you cannot admit that you love her, you will lose her. You might think it acceptable, but later you will look back and it will be one of your heaviest regrets. Don¡¯t do it, Kent.¡± I pause for a while and then continue. ¡°I am fatigued and need rest. Let me sleep for a while.¡± I do not say or hear anything more. The words brought up memories best forgotten. But Kent is similar to me in some ways¡­ and maybe that¡¯s why I told him. But he wouldn¡¯t remember, would he? My advice usefulness ended with the Beta. I chuckle softly at my stupidity. The whole beta, I spent around with people who would forget about me. I should have used the time to do something more useful. Maybe get some special skills. But I didn¡¯t regret my decisions. These people may forget about me, but I wouldn¡¯t. I would remember my experiences with them. I would see each one of them again when I came back. And Kent? I would be friends with him, on equal terms this time. None of this ¡®Sir¡¯ and all that. Perhaps my way to play the Beta was stupid. But it also might lead to unseen paths. Who knew? Feeling loads lighter, I fall asleep. <> ¡°Wait, what do you mean by real training? What have we been doing till now?¡± ¡°If you think you have learnt everything you need to know to survive, you are wrong.¡± ¡°Well, what was the past four months for? What¡¯s the meaning of all that training? I can survive fine on this island! What else is there for me to learn?¡± We had reached our small cave. It was very deftly hidden, and the entrance was covered by grass and other foliage. If I didn¡¯t know it was there, I would have never been able to find it. Yama entered the cave without a response. Infuriating. I wasn¡¯t going to let the matter drop without an answer. A stick came out of nowhere and hit me on the side of the head. It mildly hurt, but was shocking nevertheless. ¡°What was that for?¡± ¡°To show that you aren¡¯t ready. Your rapid progress is astonishing, remarkable even. You learnt everything that I have taught faster than I could ever imagine possible. But I haven¡¯t taught you everything. All that you know is the fundamentals of movement and evasion. No aggression. You see? You need to know how to fight.¡± ¡°Movement and evasion is fine! I mean, who will I fight? Boars and pigs? Maybe fish? I don¡¯t need training from you to do that.¡± ¡°No. Not fighting animals. Others.¡± ¡°Others?¡± ¡°The other people on this island.¡± <>
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The loading screen Episode 11: Saved by the Belle Author''s note: There''s a poll in the Suggestions thread. Do vote in it. Thanks for reading. Episode 11: Saved by the Belle Arthur¡¯s POV The night inside the cell was supposed to be torturous, but I was used to it by now. With my mastery over the meditative state, the discomfort didn¡¯t register any more. I had even gained a skill.
You have gained a new skill: Calm Mind
Calm Mind (Governing Stat: Willpower): Increases Mental Fortitude. Hostile Illusion spells have 8% chance of failing completely, 12% chance of reduced effects. 5% less chance of critical hit.
All the skill effects seemed unhelpful, but their potency would increase as the skill leveled up. For now, I was content that skills could be gained even by sitting in prison. Without anything to do, I decided to recite multiplication tables. I was on 14 times 21 (294) when I heard a rhythmic clacking on the stone. Someone was coming down. A guard appeared and opened the door. ¡°Get out!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. I got a crick in the head and I don¡¯t want to move too much, you know? It hurts if I move too much. Sorry.¡± The guard seemed to be taken aback at my nonchalance, but recovered quickly. ¡°If you don¡¯t come out right now, I will stick this spear in your gut!¡± I wanted to continue the game for a while, but decided to let it go. Besides, I needed to move my legs again. I crawled out of the cell with a deliberate slowness to piss the guard off. As soon as I exited, the guard cuffed me with two silver manacles. ¡°Don¡¯t try to do anything funny; the manacles are primed to kill you if you do.¡± His words weren¡¯t completely true. I was using the Magesight when he cuffed me, but I wasn¡¯t dead. Maybe the manacles only responded to active Magicka. But they were definitely enchanted; I could see red shapes on the cufflinks. Some of the shapes repeated themselves at places. I quickly figured it out. The manacles were enchanted with runes that formed some sort of language. If I learned this ¡®Runic language¡¯ perhaps I could enchant my own weapons as well. ¡°Get moving! To the top! ¡± I looked back and saw Kent, handcuffed similarly like me. Behind me, I could see the silhouette of Iorveth, his face hidden in the shadows. Whatever situation came next, it seemed we three were going to face it together. I nearly stumbled on the steps, but managed to keep myself from falling flat on my face. Thankfully, there were torches on the walls after we climbed two floors. Small glimpses of each floor greeted me as we worked our way up. Each successive floor contained more guards than the last one; the prisoners seemed tame too. They depended too much magic to keep the hardened prisoners in the isolated cells below. A weakness waiting to be exploited. When I reached the Bloodworks, an amazing scene greeted me. When a super star steps out his car, there are generally hordes of fans screaming from the sidelines with his bodyguards protecting him. The same scene was front of me. Except the fact that no was screaming. Only staring. They were just staring¡­ with an intensity that scared me. Like when a deer unexpectedly confronts a lion. Staring at each other, preserving the moment of calm before the chaos. Staring before the chase began. Staring at Iorveth Maneater. I look back. Elves. Present in all fantasy stories, they possess unmatchable grace, unrivalled beauty and peerless wisdom. But I saw the truth when I saw Iorveth¡¯s face. A long scar ran down from his cheek to the chin. A cut below his lips. His beauty had been stamped out. His unnaturally thin face bore a savage smile. No grace, but only an animalistic savagery. But the most chilling were the terrifying eyes. They were completely black and soulless. When seen all at once, only one truth remained. Iorveth was empty inside. He was inhuman. Were all elves like this? And if not, what had happened to Iorveth to change him into this monster? ¡°Get moving, maggot!¡± I was soon led away from the crowd to a smaller room. The whole Bloodworks was a really complicated maze. It was surprising how people didn¡¯t get lost. ¡°You have one hour. Prepare yourselves.¡± The guards took off the handcuffs and left. There was a black armor displayed on the corner of the room. Another side had a range of bows and quivers. This was Iorveth¡¯s personal room before the fight. So where was our equipment? ************************************************************************************************ Kent¡¯s POV Just an hour before the fight began. ¡°Kent, you alright?¡± No, I wasn¡¯t. Both Iorveth and Sir Red were seasoned veterans. But I had never killed before in my life. Only death awaited me in the Arena. ¡°I am alright, sir. Just didn¡¯t get much sleep last night.¡± A woman walked into the cell, carrying a very heavy chest. ¡°Matron! Are those weapons in the chest, or are you just happy to see me?¡± Amazing how composed he was. Were all great warriors like this? ¡°It¡¯s your armor and weapons for the battle. Here, I think I got all of them.¡± ¡°Guardsman Kent?¡± She was talking to me. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Your sword and armor. They don¡¯t allow full plate mail, so it is just your pauldrons and the chestplate. Is it all right with you, Sir?¡± It wasn¡¯t. Sir Red was right. I should have told her that I loved her. And now I would never get the chance. ¡°Yes, thank you, Matron.¡± I take my sword. Was it always this heavy? ¡°He¡¯ll be alright, Matron. Just the jitters. Don¡¯t worry too much Kent. You can do this.¡± Do what? I could barely hold the sword, let alone swing it. ¡°Your chances are getting lower, Adventurer. The Arena is going to devour him.¡± -I know that, elf!- I wanted to shout, but my throat had clenched up. Holding the sword had somehow woken me up from the dream and into this nightmare. ************************************************************************************************* Arthur¡¯s POV Kent was losing it by the minute. This was the turning point of his life. Either he would find the courage, or he would lose and break down. Training mattered little in this case. Only Will did. And if Kent lost the fight in his head, he would lose the real one too. ¡°Captain Kent! Attention! 100 straight swings, right now!¡± I shouted in the most authoritarian voice I could muster. He involuntary saluted me and got swinging. The sound of the swings filled the room; he was that fast. ¡°When in shock, soldiers can sometimes still respond to commands by their superior. That¡¯s because they are subconsciously indoctrinated from their training. Hopefully, it will get him to calm down.¡± The explanation seems to satisfy the Matron, and even Iorveth gives a slight imperceptible nod. Perhaps our mysterious elf was a soldier. ¡°Kyle? Zaubern asked me tell you something.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s against the rules¡­ but alright, listen. Zaubern doesn¡¯t want you to go easy against your opponents. He says it will be disrespecting them if you don¡¯t fight them with everything you have.¡± The old man must have known that I was holding back the last match. ¡°Alright. I promise I won¡¯t be holding back.¡± There wasn¡¯t much of a point, anyway. She looks relieved at my words. ¡°I will be taking my leave, then.¡± I quickly changed into my new armor. I promise I won¡¯t be holding back. I chuckle inwardly at my words. Today, the people were in for a show. A guard knocked the door open. ¡°It¡¯s time for the fight. Come with me.¡± I nodded back at the guard, and looked to see the others. Kent hadn¡¯t completely calmed down, but at least his hands weren¡¯t shaking any more. Iorveth was rising from his supposed meditation. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ******************************************************************************************* ¡°GOOD CITIZENS OF THE IMPERIAL CITY! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE ARENAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± The crowd roars, perfectly timed with his words. ¡°TODAY WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL MAAAATCH! COURTESY OF AN ANONYMOUS BENEFACTOR, WHO WIIIIIISHED FOR THIS AAAAAAAMZING FIGHT!¡± Anonymous benefactor? Sounded like a setup. ¡°SO HOOOLD ON TO YOUR SEEEEEATS, PLAAAACE YOUR BETS, AND GET YOUR REFRESHMENTSSSSSSSS. TODAY, WE HAVE THREE CUTTHROAT PITBULLLLLLS ¨C ¡°THEEE FAALLLLEN PALADIN!!!!! THE ARROW !!!!!! AND THE ........MAAAAAAANEAAAAATER..... VEEEEEEEERRSUS THE ONE AND ONLY YELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOW TEAM! LET THE GAAMES BEGIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!¡± Definitely a setup. And Zaubern knew. The gates start to open. No time to think about the setup. The situation needed to be salvaged. I just needed to convince Iorveth and Kent about the plan that had sprung up in my head. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ********************************************************************************************* ??? POV ¡°Father! You need to stop this right now! Why would do so with the-¡± Hush, child. This has nothing to do with your... friend. ¡°Then why would you-¡± Hush. I obey. I wanted to see the skills of the Outsider. Or should it be Insider? Hmm? Father leans forward, his face unnaturally gleeful. Even the air is silent, bending before the power of his Voice. The gates open before us, and for a moment, father smiles. Terrifying. Don¡¯t disappoint me, Arthur. I involuntary shudder. And offer a silent prayer for this¡­ Arthur person. May his success appease father, and if not, may his death be quick. The yellow team steps out of their gate. And the out of the other steps out one man in front, with a bow in his hand. The Arrow. Behind him, two other follow, an elf and another man. The Maneater and the Paladin. Was that- The battle began abruptly. The Arrow is the first to act. His arrow flies impossibly fast. The proficiency in Wind magic is astonishing. Instead of striking down the unprepared fighters, the arrow whizzes past the swordsman, going straight for the bard hiding in the back. The arrow misses him entirely, and instead hits the lute, breaking it by the middle. How disappointing. Their first attack wasted. Taking out the rook first. Interesting. I try to make sense, but Father¡¯s words were often cryptic. What did Rook mean? The yellow team warriors charge their enemy. But the Arrow and his compatriots are one step faster. The elf breaks off to the left, while the paladin to the right, running towards the other end from the sides. Meanwhile the Arrow starts shooting while running straight towards the enemy. What the hell is thinking? The Maneater had crossed halfway and started shooting at the mage. I could make out the soft blue glow on his arrows from here. Enchanted bow, perhaps? Soon, one of the arrows hit the mage in the knee, bringing him down. The Bishop down. Only the Knight and Queen left. The Man eater doesn¡¯t stop running, but instead starts shooting from the back towards the swordsman, who by now had nearly reached the Arrow. The man with the broadsword turns back and starts deflecting with his sword, leaving the dual wielding man to face the Arrow alone. The paladin too has changed directions and is charging towards the battle in the middle. Surprisingly, the Arrow is evenly matched with the swordsman. He uses his bow like a staff, maintaining the delicate balance between offense and defense. But the swordsman plays a dirty trick, throwing sand into the Arrow¡¯s eyes. It¡¯s over. The swordsman swoops in for the kill, but in that second, an intense light bursts out of the Archer¡¯s hand. It doesn¡¯t last for a second, but the damage has been done. The Arrow hits sharply as possible with the bow, knocking the other one down. Only one left. But they couldn''t end the battle without killing him, unlike the rest. You cannot let that happen. His soul is unique. If Sh¨±sa dies, then the balance will be broken. He will never be born again. What? Who was that? The voice is so distressed that I want to help it. But how? You have not yet realized the truth. Your gift is still locked within you. I can unseal it for a moment, but the price will be high. For both of us. My gift? The power granted to your father also flows through you. Let me show you. Intense power coursed through my body, racing. The power rushes through my lungs, forcing a single word. No. And the world disappeared. **************************************************************************************** Arthur¡¯s POV Things had mostly gone right so far, but now we faced Sh¨±sa. If he went berserk, there would be no choice for us except to kill him. Assuming we could kill him. I charge¡­ but something changes. The world disappears and¡­ I¡­. But tell me, what good is the ship if it never even sailed? ¡­.. No¡­ Who knows, we might even have been heroes¡­ The voice¡­ fading away. Who was he? We needed an alternative¡­ A cold voice dulling the pain. All fading away. Wrong. I will uphold my promise. MARK MY WORDS! I WILL¡­ The anger, leaving me like a receding tide. Something was breaking. Live well. No. No. Not this. Not here. My heart beating so fast, now could run no more. This was my end? NOT YET. *************************************************************************** Crane¡¯s POV The boy suddenly jolts awake. He looks wildly me for a moment. Thank God he recognized me. ¡°Doctor, what the hell happened just now? I felt like I was being¡­ erased.¡± ¡°You were dying. Your heart stopped beating for a moment.¡± ¡°Explain.¡± His words are shaky. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened. One moment, you were in the game, and the next, your heart started shutting down! I somehow kept you alive by giving you electric shocks with these..¡± I show him the wires in my hand. ¡°But otherwise, if you were alone you wouldn¡¯t even have survived! Arthur, what did you do in there? The electrodes of the machine all lit up at the same time! The whole thing burned up!¡± His brow if furrowed, deep in thought. Looks like I wasn¡¯t going to get an answer. I was proved wrong. ¡°Doctor, you saved my life in there.¡± ¡°Well, you don¡¯t need to state the obvious. Of course I would save you. We are in this together, aren¡¯t we? ¡± The answer comes ever so softly. ¡°Yes, yes we are.¡± *************************************************************************** Arthur¡¯s POV The Doctor leaves after some time. With my whole machine a wreck and the Beta over, I had nothing to do for the moment. I think about the incident over and over, trying to figure it out. Was it Luthor? But no, that was implausible. It seemed like something else. Something I had seen, a long time before. I rest, and let it come back. <> ¡°Well today is a good day. We can finally start your practice.¡± I sullenly follow after Yama. The revelation that there were other people on the island had angered me a lot. What other secrets was he keeping from me? And why? ************************************************************************ ¡°So, here. Watch carefully, you hold it like this¡­¡± Rustling in the bushes. Too large for an animal. We turn back immediately, Yama ready with an arrow. Three men burst out of the bushes. They are wearing camouflage uniform and carrying guns. Guns that were pointed at us. Who were they? ¡°SURRENDER RIG-¡± The first man had an arrow in his throat before he finished his sentence. What the hell? The second man went down right after the first. The third man raised his weapon to fire, but the strangest thing happened. Break. And it disintegrated into pieces. The third arrow found it¡¯s mark. He died without a sound. ¡°How did you.. do that?¡± I ask. Even if I had lost my memories, I was sure that guns didn¡¯t simply break. And that Voice¡­ Yama looked back at me, his face sorrowful. ¡°My curse.¡± <>
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The loading screen Episode 12: The World We Live In Author¡¯ Note: In this chapter, there is a lot of exposition and a very long flashback. That¡¯s why no italics are used to describe the flashback in general. AND VOTE HERE.It''s a little short, this chapter, but you''ll get the next one earlier! Episode 12: The World We Live In Arthur¡¯s POV <> ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Yama said his face stoic. ¡°Your lessons have to be postponed for another time.¡± ¡°Wait. I¡¯m NOT going anywhere, until you explain what the hell is going on. Who were they? Why did you kill them? And how did you do¡­ that?¡± ¡°Boy, not now. Let us get back to the cave-¡± ¡°No! You tell me right now. How many secrets have you kept from me? How many lies have you told straight to my face?¡± ¡°Not now! There could be more soldiers. There¡¯s no time now. Once we get back to the cave, I¡¯ll explain everything. I promise.¡± ¡°Very well. But if your explanation doesn¡¯t make sense, I¡¯m going to ¨C hey, wait!¡± Yama had taken off after my said words. The soldiers must have spooked him. But who were they? And why hadn¡¯t I seen them on the island before? *************************************************************************** We reach the cave without any scares. After I get in, Yama shifts a large piece of rock over the entrance. We were safe for now. I don¡¯t sit, but instead pace the corners of the cave. It helps me to think. ¡°You want an explanation. I understand your impatience. But I didn¡¯t want to tell you because¡­ you wouldn¡¯t believe me.¡± ¡°Let me decide for myself, alright?¡± He gives me an amused expression. ¡°Alright. But no interruptions. You¡¯ll get all your answers in the end. Just listen carefully¡­ *************************************************** I was a NEET. No job, no money, just smooching off my parents money. It all started in middle school, when I¡­ why are you grimacing like that? Well, I was severely bullied in middle school, and after that I lost the will to live. I stayed in my room for years, hiding away from the world. I found solace in the internet, anime, and¡­ became a fat lazy slob. And things would have stayed the same, had my parents not died in an accident. After that, my uncle threw me out. Imagine that. A man walking outside for the first time, with nothing but the clothes he was wearing. I knew nothing. At that time, regret was the only thing on my mind. I regretted wasting my life away. If only I had realized sooner. If only I had listened to my mother. If only I seen what I was going to become. They were the saddest words in the world. If only¡­. I kept on walking the whole day and ended up lost. You probably realize what happened next. I was mugged, and when the man realized that I didn¡¯t have any money, he shot me. Eight times. I guess he liked to do his job thoroughly. So there I was¡­ dying on the pavement like a sick dog, having wasted my life. But I got a second chance. I was reborn. Reborn in a new world. Wait- Don¡¯t be impatient. I said you will understand everything in the end,didn¡¯t I? So, with my memories intact, I was reborn in a world of swords and magic. My wish had been granted. And I promised to myself that I wasn¡¯t going to let this life go waste. I would live my life my life without regrets. And I did. Yeah, I skipped a lot of exposition there, but bear with me. The point is, I lived a fruitful life and had a peaceful death. But I was reborn again. A different world, with a steampunk vibe. This life was better than the last. And I died. But I was reborn, again. Reborn. Died. Reborn. Died. Reborn. Died. The cycle was never ending. My memories became nothing but pain. All those people, never to see them again. Never to love them again. People became... unnecessary. They would leave me. I couldn¡¯t take them with me. I would grow close, and suffer, as usual. I finally realized when I woke up one morning, crying for my previous life¡¯s wife. After that, I decided to avoid entanglements completely. The first thing I started researching whenever I was born was a way to remove my memories. But nothing worked. I could remember everything. Every time. I wasn¡¯t normal. My mind had no limits. Life after life I spent in agony. Sometimes, I tried to change. I would become a swordsman in one life, and a magician in the next. Sometimes a tyrant king and other times a dutiful cobbler. A thief, assassin, alchemist, inventor, blacksmith, cook, scientist, merchant, sailor, hunter, painter, musician, beggar, artist, doctor, teacher. If the job existed, I had done it. After a lot of rebirths, the world that I lived in slowly started to unravel. It was small at first. Glass shattering, books falling, things like that. Then in grew weirder. Spells failed. Machines broke. Gravity disappeared at inopportune moment. The sky became red. And one day, I woke up in a completely white space. And there, I met someone. Something. That was the day when I realized the truth. The world I lived in was a lie. I wasn¡¯t reincarnated. I wasn¡¯t given a second chance. No, what happened that day was far more probable. They caged me in virtual reality. It was so simple. After all, we are just the sum of our senses. Only the brain is essential. As long the brain is fed something, you¡¯re alive. If your brain is dead, you¡¯re dead. Keep feeding the brain, and you¡¯re always alive. Forever. ********************************** ¡­well there it is. I see you still have some questions. What is it?¡± ¡°At this point, your story has raised more questions than it has answered. Let me get this straight: You got fatally wounded in the real world, but instead of letting you die, they put in a virtual reality game, to see if you could figure it out?¡± ¡°Maybe. And no, I don''t know why they did this to me.¡± ¡°Maybe? What¡¯s maybe about this?¡± ¡°Well, in the beginning, I assumed I was human. But now I know I am caught in virtual reality. Perhaps the memories of the real world are also fake. Perhaps all along, I am a program. A program to see how a NEET would react if reborn.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that there¡¯s no such thing as reality?¡± ¡°If a tree falls and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± ¡°It means that our whole universe might, just might be a programming assignment for an advanced alien being; which he completed the night before. It means that we all might be simulations. It means since there is no way to know for sure, why worry unnecessarily?¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°I get what you¡¯re trying to say. And the answer is: I don¡¯t know. After so many cycles of rebirth, I don¡¯t know if I was born in the real world and became like this, or if I am just a program with false memories. I don¡¯t know, and don¡¯t want to know any more.¡± ¡°But I still don¡¯t understand. How did you get here? How did I get here? And what am I? Who were the soldiers? And you didn¡¯t even answer the real question, how did you do that¡­ magic?¡± ¡°Well, I told you that I met with something. That program was the Overseer A.I., the program in charge of running the world. He was affected by a virus or something, which is why my world was suffering¡­ glitches. He explained me everything in detail, and gave me administrator privileges. So I ended up creating Hell. As for you, you might have suffered a fatal damage¡­¡± ¡­.Father!......end of your life¡­The memories flash before my eyes. A man, dying in my arms. My father? If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°¡­but didn¡¯t die, and they put you here. Or perhaps you are a program like me. I can¡¯t know for sure.¡± ¡°I am real. I am sure of it.¡± My father. No, the memories were real. I was real. ¡°Well, whatever makes you happy. As for the soldiers, they are humans.¡± ¡°Humans?¡± ¡°Yeah, humans. I ruined their experiment, so they want me to repair it back. They have been trying to capture me for some time now. They don¡¯t actually die, so don¡¯t worry. No, I expect they wake up from their machines. We, on the other hand are fully mortal. If we are programs, then dying is the same as being deleted. Even if we are real people, we wake up only to die. Remember our bodies? No, we have to stick together and survive. Death to the Players!¡± He was more talkative than ever. By telling me his life story, a huge burden had been lifted off him. ¡°Death to the Players?¡± ¡°They are the Players. We are the NPCs. Therefore, Death to the Players. That¡¯s the general sentiment around here.¡± ¡°Who else is around here?¡± ¡°The other people on the island I told you about. You¡¯ll meet them soon enough. Don¡¯t worry, they are all oddballs, but won¡¯t bite.¡± ¡°That¡¯s reassuring. Now explain the gun breaking.¡± ¡°Well, after you realize the truth, you can see the code itself, instead of the outer lies. For example, you sense this fire in front of you. I, however, see the truth, and thus can manipulate reality.¡± ¡°What truth?¡± I was getting exasperated. ¡°The truth that there is no fire. There is nothing around you except code. The walls, the food, the cave, the island ¨C everything is code. And once you grasp this simple truth, you¡¯ll able to bend the code to your will, like I did. ¡± ¡°Wait a second. You¡¯re telling me that I can be Neo?¡± ¡°Who''s Neo?¡± No one watches the classics any more. Sad. I try to do as he says. There isn¡¯t any fire, only code. Only code exists. The fire is a lie. I reach out and speak. STOP. Nothing happens. ¡°Your subconscious is still refusing the idea. Don¡¯t worry, even I hadn¡¯t gotten it wrong on my first try.¡± ¡°Well, even Neo couldn¡¯t do it in the beginning. I¡¯ll guess I¡¯ll get the hang of it soon.¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re making me curious. Who¡¯s Neo? ¡°Well let me tell this story.. that will leave a bitter taste in your mouth in the end. It begins with police arriving, supposedly¡­.. <> *************************************************************** I remember the conversation I had with Yama, ages ago. The way to bend the code to your will. That¡¯s what had happened, except on a much larger scale. Much larger. My pod had burned out trying to force my heart to stop beating. So it was extremely powerful, enough to affect the people in reality. Wow. I think on that a while. Both virtual and reality were inextricably linked with each other. But only I understood how deep the connection went. I once believed I was a NPC. Perhaps I still am, in a game that aliens play, like Yama would say. But that¡¯s why I would never treat anyone differently. Whether the person was here or there it didn¡¯t matter; they all were equal. They all were real to me. Yet, would others understand? What would anyone think, if they believed they were a program? Would they be different? I shook myself out of the philosophical quandaries. There was a lead to follow. The workshop was cluttered with the remains of the charred pod. But thanks to the modifications I had made, I had saved the data on my computer. It was time to check my suspicions. The visual data contained only video of the whole Arena. I clicked play and watched my fight. At the end, before everything went black, I could hear someone shouting NO, in the unnatural Voice. Someone had bent the code. I reverse back and focus on the person. A young girl, about 16 or 17. Black hair covering a pretty face. Cute. She wore a frilly flower dress, but I could see her carrying a sword in her hands. Strange. Next to her sat an old bald man, his face half hidden by the shadows. He had a cane in his hand. Wait.. from the distance I could also make out a gaudy ring on his forefinger. The details were undecipherable from the distance. So much for the investigation. I play the video from the beginning, this time focusing on the pair, adjusting the volume so I can hear their words. After it was over, as usual, I had more questions than answers. But one chilling fact remained. The old man had called me Arthur. And no one knew that in the game. Who was this guy? Questions adding up, with no answers in sight. Dammit. Now, I had to wait for the game to release until I could actually do something. ********************************************************************************** A month later ¡°You ready, Arthur?¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s get the show started.¡± ¡°Arthur, diving in.¡± A white world. And my mirror image staring back at me. A whole range of menus appear in front of me, showing the different choices I could make. Good. No pesky voice telling me what to do. I make my choices, and make slight changes to my avatar. The hair a little longer, and the cheekbones a little narrow. It resembled how I used to look earlier, but even so I was sure nobody would recognize me. Besides, I was the pointy ears had totally changed my look.
Selected Name: Arthur
Selected Race: Altmer (High elf)
Selected Gender(locked):Male
Seleceted Birthsign: The Thief
Selected Starting City: Imperial City, Tamriel
Bonus Code: Ux6T0844
The Bonus was a special code for a unique item a player could choose once in the game. It was available for all those who had purchased the costlier version of the game in the beginning. A great advantage in the right hands. After making sure of everything, I finally click on ¡°Begin New Life.¡± And I¡¯m back.
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The loading screen Episode 13: Preparations and Plans Episode 13: Preparations and Plans Arthur¡¯s POV I was back again on the same street in the Market District. Yet this time I knew what to expect.
Welcome to Fable of Fantasy! In order to get you started, let¡¯s begin the tutorial!
Or not. The tutorial was mandatory and completely thorough. By the end of it, I had a complete grasp of the basics. Surprisingly, a lot of the features had been revamped. Dreamcast had basically changed Fables of Fantasy from a game to something more akin to an alternate life. The few functions that had remained were conveniently placed in the inherent skills or items category. For example, the chat menu and friend list were now a type of magic, just available to us players. You had to buy interspatial backpacks or pouches in place of an inventory. Even the stat menu skills menu had been completely merged into a magical Codex containing all information about the game, the quests, the monsters, the alchemical ingredients, the blueprints for the craftsmen and all that. It was well thought out and designed. The whole thing evoked an air of a person on a fantastical journey, instead of just playing a game and min-maxing your stats. Even stats would be automatically distributed over time based on your in game actions. I said ¡°Codex¡± to see it once again. Instead of the usual futuristic screen, a book appeared and flipped itself open to a random page.
My name is Arthur. I am a High elf from the Summerset Isles. I was born under The Thief, and it has forever hidden me from Destiny¡¯s cunning hands. Now I have come to Imperial City, Tamriel to seek my own fortune and glory. I am known as the Adventurer.
My hands are weak and I can barely harm a rabbit. I am frail and tire easily. My fingers are a little clumsy but I can carry things without dropping them. I can run faster than a 7 year old being chased by his mother. I am capable of simple addition and subtraction and even multiplication. I tend to give up only after 3 tries. People often ignore me. I can find a four leaf clover sometimes.
Currently I am Very well and am Magickally invigorated. I am in full Vigor.
I have very little talent in ¨C ? Alteration ? Archery ? Conjuration ? Destruction ? Illusion ? Magesight ? Pick pocketing ? Restoration ? Sensing Presence ? Small weapons
My air, earth, fire and water affinity is nonexistent. I am highly immune to most diseases. I am weak against attacks by fire, frost and shock magic.
I have a Bosmer Initiate Tattoo on my left hand, which helps me increase my air affinity and archery skills.
The page ends there, but I know it will provide even more details if I turned it. Instead of doing so, I touch the slightly bold words ¡°High elf¡±. The letters all merge together and reform to show new sentences.
As an Altmer from the Summerset Isles, I have an innate knowledge of Magicka related Arts, so I learn such skills faster. My total Magicka is also a lot higher than that of a human. My body is also highly resistant to all diseases. On the downside, my strength and my endurance are a little lower than normal. Fire, frost and shock Magicka affect me adversely.
Nice racial bonuses. Now, what did it say about the Birthsign?
The Thief is the last Guardian Constellation, and its Season is the last Month of the year. Those born under the Thief typically take more risks and rarely come to harm. They run out of Luck eventually, and rarely live longer than those born under other signs.
A little too morbid at the end, but I had no reason to fear death here. No, it was time to get started. The first stop for me was the bank. Fable of Fantasy had set up a real money transfer and auction site, and it was too large an advantage to pass up. The only downside? Dreamcast kept a 10% of the transfer. A bit steep, but I had the money to burn. When I was alive, I had a few offshore accounts in private countries to fund my different research materials. They were under Father¡¯s name, but technically I had full access. When he died, some of the accounts were frozen as he had no heir or next of kin. Normally that money would be seized by the country, but international financial laws are monsters that no one wants to disturb. So, the money remained in those accounts. They are supposed to be still there, but I hacked a few of them and transferred the money to my new persona. It made me now a very, very rich millionaire. I walk out of the bank carrying a little over 100,000 gold coins. Time to enjoy being rich. The first thing I did with the money was to make myself presentable.
Dark Leather Cuirass (Custom)
A custom crafted leather cuirass. The cuirass has three layers sewn together, offering more protection than standard armor. There are straps in the back, allowing the wearer to carry extra weapons. The armor is also enchanted, providing a small bonus to Endurance.
Dark Leather Pauldrons (Custom)
Properly crafted custom set of leather pauldrons. The pauldrons has belts that can be attached to a cuirass, making it more effective. The armor is enchanted to provide a small bonus to Strength.
Dark Leather Gloves (Custom)
Properly made custom glove set. The gloves have a spring loading mechanism embedded in them, allowing the wearer to hide small weapon in them and equip them faster. The gloves have been enchanted to provide a small bonus to Dexterity.
Dark Leather Leggings (Custom)
Properly made custom leggings. The leggings have different straps on the sides to hold different weapons in place. The leggings have been enchanted to provide a small bonus to Willpower.
Dark Leather Sabatons (Custom)
Properly made custom leather sabatons. The insides have been lined with comfortable velvet and the outer sides have been made with different layers of hard leather, increasing comfort and protection provided. The sabatons have been enchanted to provide a small bonus to Agility.
Leather Belt (Custom)
A custom made leather belt. The belt has various hidden pouches, increasing carrying capacity by a small amount. The belt has been enchanted to provide a small bonus to resist fire and frost damage.
Hooded Cowl
A hooded cowl to hide your face. People will now notice you less. Guardsmen will find you more suspicious.
A matching armor set has been equipped. A bonus has been granted to Strength, Dexterity and Agility.
I didn¡¯t want to buy an ungainly backpack, as it would be too heavy and slow me down. I wasn¡¯t going to be collecting herbs or loot either. On the other hand my belt pouches were too small in case I wanted to store other weapons. After much deliberation, I bought a small interspatial ring. It was the size of a small trunk but cost me an ungodly amount of money. So much that I was completely broke and had to visit the bank again. But the ring was pretty sweet. It was the closest thing to an inventory I could get. I would simply think about the ring and a ghost trunk would appear, with any objects inside visible to me. I could even rearrange them in case I wanted to squeeze a little space. The thing was perfect for me. Now set on the dresses, I hit the accessory stores.
Elvish Bow (Rare)
A sleek and light wooden recurve bow made by the Bosmeri. The bow is made with different types of wood that provide unmatchable flexibility. Even the string is magicked, and can be changed at will with Magicka. The entire bow is enchanted, providing a small bonus to Air magic.
Leather Quiver (x2)
Beautifully designed quivers which hold can hold up to 30 arrows.
Steel Arrows (x500)
A large amount of steel arrows fletched by a master blacksmith.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Steel Daggers (x2)
Finely balanced steel daggers crafted by a master blacksmith.
Steel Shortsword
A double edged steel shortsword, commonly used by the Legionnaire.
Well, that took care of nearly everything. But to be on the safe side, I purchased a spare bow, some raw leather, grindstone, twine and other miscellaneous items. They were necessary in case of emergency repairs. I also visited the spell book shop. The magic aspect had remained similar. The spells from the book would be copied on your codex, destroying the spell book in the process. I bought the basic Candlelight tome and tested the spell. The Magicka felt the same as ever, but this time I could feel the force of the flow. As I continued, the flow started slowing down and stopped completely; ending the spell. I learned all the important spells I could. When I tried to use a higher level spell, I felt magical recoil. The higher the level, the more the recoil. So they were out of my league for now. I also bought a few skill books. Skill books gave you knowledge of the skill and one measly level in it. Enough to get you started.
You have learned the fundamentals of Alchemy!
You have learned the fundamentals of Cartography!
You have learned the fundamentals of Enchanting!
You have learned the fundamentals of Cooking!
Better to get going. I couldn¡¯t waste entire day shopping. Wait! I still needed paper and ink for my maps. Almost forgot. After exiting the bookstore, I hurriedly bought the potions and ingredients I needed from the Alchemy store. There, all done. The next step was to find Kiroh and get some answers. And I did have a plan in mind. I made my way over to the Temple District, generally trying to keep to the alleys. It was quite different from what I had seen. There were now a lot of marble statues of different people in the vicinity. Some buildings were opulently painted, while others looked like rundown barns. Guess it all boiled down to which God was popular at that moment. I climbed one of the rooftops from the alleys, one having a good view of the street and a particular temple. *Doctor, I¡¯m in position.* *What? Oh! Okay. Or was I supposed to roger that or something?* *NO, you are supposed to keep your two eyes GLUED to the screen from now on. If Kiroh appears and I miss him, it¡¯s up to you to tell me.* *Well, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll spot him.* *I am sure too, but in case I lose him; I want you as backup. Just stay over my head.* The visual data sent to the player was a reasonably big sphere that centered on his eyes. If I was recording my gameplay, I had all the images of everything around me, even if I wasn¡¯t looking there at that moment. All I had done was to fix the Doctor¡¯s monitor with the display feed. *Staying over your head. Roger that.* I had looked over Kiroh¡¯s profile from the Beta. He was the leader of a small pick pocketing gang, generally operating in one of the smaller area, around a small temple dedicated to Zenithar. In that sense he was lucky, for Zenithar was the God of Commerce. Lots of merchants to choose his prey from. But according to the quest details, he was going to get his hands on a cursed object and possibly die. And I had decided to find him before it happened. If I was successful, the Overlord would be forced to change the details and possibly make a new quest. The game maintained a registry of all items and what belonged to whom. It also maintained how the objects interacted with each other. Taken together, it had variety of uses. By tinkering with the pod, I had my registry details copied to my mainframe. Access to Dreamcast servers allowed me to search for it. Effectively, I could find anything that ever belonged to me. But the task was heavily resource intensive and location based. The nearer I was to the object, the faster I could find it. Too much distance would mean shifting through a lot of information, taking too much time. And it might have moved by the time I got there. A district would be the ideal boundary in this case. *Look sharp. Someone¡¯s coming.* I see him. He¡¯s a small mousy boy with brown hair and a scarred face. He¡¯s eyes are downcast and he¡¯s wearing nothing but rags. It¡¯s obvious to everyone that the boy is just a beggar. What¡¯s unobvious is the way his arms are hidden and the way he keeps moving his head. The boy is also a good thief. *So how are you going to handle this?* *For now, I¡¯m going to just follow. We need to talk to Kiroh first; no point in burning bridges by bullying his¡­crew.* We continue walking, the boy on the streets and me side by side by the rooftops. The boy¡¯s good. In this short time, he¡¯s already stolen from three men. But his techniques are a bit stale. All he did was fall down when he collided with someone and stole their purse when they helped him up. If he continued this, someone was bound to get suspicious. But no one did. Was everyone here blind? No, the boy was cleanly making his way west and had reached the gate to the Lower District. The rooftops had come to an end. I had to follow him on foot now. Just when I thought everything was going to end well, someone screamed,¡±THIEF!!!! SOMEONE HAS STOLEN MY PURSE!!! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!¡± Oh dear. It was a woman, wailing like a banshee. I could see that this was a complete surprise to the kid. It was some either thief; they weren¡¯t that rare. Nonetheless, the boy panicked. He started running. And as everyone knows, when someone¡¯s wailing and another person is running away, always chase the running person. There were total of four guards plus me in the chase versus the miraculously cured limp beggar thief. The boy was fast and knew the streets. And occasionally he would throw boxes, roll barrels, and smash carts behind him to slow us down. Basic Donkey Kong stuff. One by one the guards began to fall off. After a mile of running, only I remained. I was working up a sweat, and the constant obstacles meant that I had to stay on my toes. I dodged the incoming basket and kept running. Both my mind and body were functioning as one. The whole thing was great fun. And are you here to have fun? I asked myself. Get serious. Oh. Alright. I decided to speed things up, and started closing the distance. A wine seller cart was coming up on the left. As I ran past it, I grabbed two bottles and threw a few gold coins. Hoped that was adequate, it was hard to buy things when chasing. The first bottle hit exactly his back. The kid stumbled, yet continued running. But I nearly had him now. *Arthur, watch out. There¡¯s a roadblock in front of you. The legionnaires are guarding the sides. Someone¡¯s important passing through.* Damn. I could see a row of guards, all standing in attention. I slowed down a little expecting the thief to do the same. But the kid ran between the gaps of them, and was fast enough to get by them by before they could catch him. A guard on the other side caught his hands, but he twisted and escaped to the other side. But now they saw me, and lowered their spears to bar my way. Should have ended this chase earlier. But you had to have your fun, didn¡¯t you? Nope, blaming myself now wasn¡¯t going to work. I could hear a carriage coming. This was going to very close. I hunched my shoulders down and increased my speed. Before I reached, I hit one of the guards with a bottle. That disoriented him momentarily. Another of the guards caught my elbow from behind, but had underestimated my momentum. I dragged him to the middle of the street before he let go. On the other side, they had their spears, so I aimed and slid between the gaps to the other side and continued running, in case one of them decided to chase me. After a few twists and turns, I realized two things. The guards weren¡¯t chasing me¡­ and I lost track of the thief. No, I hadn¡¯t. *Doctor, I hit the child with one of the bottles. The wine definitely stained his shirt. Use the registry and find it. If we find the spilled wine, we find the boy.* *Already began it when he was hit. Hmm¡­ The boy, or his stained shirt, is not far¡­ I¡¯ll tell you the directions once you are ready.* *I¡¯m ready. Let¡¯s go meet Kiroh.* ***************************************************************
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The loading screen Suggestions and Rants Artwork Sorry, this is not a chapter. No, this is the artwork thread. Okay without ado this is the main world map. Courtesy of imperial-city.info . (Visit the site if you want to know more about the lore). The world map - Spoiler : This is to show which countries the different characters are from. X is Imperial City. All players have begun the game in the Continent of Cyrodriil. Spoiler : Imperial City (General idea) Here it is a lot smaller than what it is supposed to be. Spoiler : This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Argonian [race] Spoiler : All images are taken from uesp or from imperial-city.info. Not by me. And this is drawn by Straborvsky. Arthur ¨C in game. Spoiler : Arthur is very similar to this, but he generally looks a bit more angry and haunted. He also doesn¡¯t smile a lot. But if he does, he will look very similar. Otherwise, a beautiful work. The hair and the blue eyes are spot on. Episode 14: Sparks of The Flame Author¡¯s note: Chapter experiment is over.. sorry for the trouble./ Episode 14: Sparks of the Flame Kent''s POV The throbbing pain in my head was slowly subsiding. My whole body seemed sluggish and numb. I couldn¡¯t move at all. Where was I? A wizened old fellow appeared before me, poking at my tender muscles and pushing me back to the bed. A physician. I was at a healer¡¯s house. ¡°Easy there, fellow. You had a big accident. What made you jump in front of a horse, anyhow?¡± The carriage. The thieves. Damn them to Oblivion! ¡°I was part of the cordon. In the Lower District. The whole place¡¯s dangerous, you know, so they sent a whole regiment for guard duty. I was the¡­¡± The man was only nodding his head at my words. Guess he just wanted to check if I could still speak or not. ¡°¡­at the end, two people did break through. One was a small boy. He slipped through before we even realized. And the other was a man chasing him. I grabbed his hand but he had dragged me halfway before shaking me off. And by the time I could understand what had happened, the horse had barreled into me.¡± ¡°Well,-¡± Before he could finish his sentence, a door blasted upon and rapid footsteps approached us. I strained to see the face. When I did, my heart stopped for as it all came together. I was dead, and the old man was Arkay, testing my virtues. But this angel had given it all away. Her coifed golden tresses gently slid down her rounded face. Soft and tender cheeks glowed softly, making her radiant. The slightly pursed lips made it impossible for me to look away. But the epitome of perfection was her eyes. Deep purple eyes that I could stare into forever and never tire of it. Was I dead? Both the healer and the angel turned to look at me. I had said that out loud. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± The angel asked me, her brows furrowing together. I couldn¡¯t bear to look at her tensed face, so I spoke the truth. ¡°Because you look like an angel, come to take me to heaven.¡± The words just tumbled out before I could think them over. The angel¡¯s eyes widened at my words, and her cheeks reddened slightly. She sat down on the side of the bed, her face closer than before. My mind nearly blanked out. ¡°I am sorry to disappoint you Captain, but you¡¯re not dead yet. I was the one who was handling the carriage, and I went faster than I should have¡­ and the horses hit you. I am so sorry. I hope that you can forgive me.¡± You didn¡¯t deny the angel part. She blushed further. I had said that aloud again. What was wrong with me? ¡°Alright, I¡¯m also not an angel.¡± She smiled a little at the end, making her face even more radiant. ¡°Now, please rest, alright? I will be going now.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± I caught her arm as she was about to walk away. Don¡¯t mess this up. Say what you want properly. Think it over. ¡°Please don¡¯t blame yourself for crashing the carriage. That¡¯s what I would have wanted, anyway.¡± Pin drop silence followed as the two stared at me, wondering if I was crazy. I realized my mistake immediately. ¡°I mean¡­ if you hadn¡¯t crashed we wouldn¡¯t have met, right? And that¡¯s what I would have wanted. I mean¡­ not wanted. The crash horse wasn¡¯t totally bad. Horse crash. What I¡¯m trying to say is¡­like the horse¡­ no. The crash was simply¡­ Wait.¡± I looked up at her increasingly confused face. I would do it right this time. ¡°Everything was for the best, as it ended up with me meeting you. And I wouldn¡¯t mind going through it again, just to meet you. Can I see you again even without an accident?¡± WHY? WHY! WHY COULDN¡¯T I SAY A SINGLE LINE PROPERLY! Her face seemed to be blank for a moment, but then she burst out laughing. That laugh erased all the pain away. ¡°You¡¯re very funny, you know that? Alright¡­ I¡¯ll visit you again, but you better not expect another accident from me.¡± She wagged her finger at me and left quickly as she had come. I just remained staring dumbfounded as I thought over her words. She had actually agreed! Oh no. I hadn¡¯t even asked her name. Way to go. Perfectly creepy and completely idiotic. The healer was the one to speak next. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that you don¡¯t know her?¡± ¡°Should I?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know of the Blade?¡± ¡°She is the Blade?¡± Cold water suddenly doused all my thoughts. Image of the beautiful girl contrasted with the monstrous tales that I had heard. ¡°You¡¯re joking with me, right? Why would a Blade on a noble carriage¡­ oh. It was the royal carriage? Was anyone else hurt? But if they were hurt¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be here now would I? Seriously though, she really is the Blade? But how? I mean, the Blade does guard the king, but her? It¡¯s impossible.¡± He said nothing, but pierced a needle in my arm. That hurt. ¡°But the stories? About what happened in Rihand? Then they are surely exaggerated, right?¡± They had to be. No one as beautiful as her could do... something like that. ¡°All true.¡± But I could see a hint of smile on his lips. He was definitely joking. Before I could ask further, another man entered the room. I leapt to my feet and immediately saluted. Commander Hieronymus, the head of the Imperial Garrison himself had entered the room. ¡°You. What¡¯s your name again?¡± ¡°Captain Kent Denson of the 42nd division, Sir!¡± ¡°Captain Kent. Good job today. I have been informed that you have been injured when you were assaulted by a thief on the District today. Is that true?¡± ¡°No sir. I was injured in pursuit of two unknowns who had broken through the cordon.¡± ¡°Interesting. So you¡¯re saying that the thief broke your formation and you could do nothing?¡± ¡°Our primary assignment was the protection of the carriage, Sir.¡± He stared at me, occasionally twirling his busy moustache. I stared back at him, not wanting to break eye contact. When my eyes had nearly started tearing, he spoke. ¡°Can I get some privacy?¡± He asked the healer. Well, more like ordered. When Commander asked, it generally meant that he was expected it to be done. Even the healer understood it. After he was gone, the Commander turned to me. ¡°Sit down, Captain.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Another silence followed. ¡°Do you know how long I¡¯ve stationed in Imperial City, Captain?¡± ¡°About a month, sir.¡± ¡°About a month. That¡¯s correct. And what have I done in this month?¡± That was hard to answer. After Commander Hieronymus had transferred here from Bravil, he really hadn¡¯t done anything new. Extra sparring, marching and inspections were the only changes. But that was common when a new head came in. ¡°Can¡¯t answer? Let me tell you. I have been studying.¡± ¡°Studying, Sir?¡± ¡°Yes, studying the city itself. Did you know there were over 6 different commanders over the past few years? And each of these commanders had failed to eradicate the pestilence in this City that corrupts an entire district. No changes in crime at all, even after six different commanders? And that¡¯s why I studied the city and learned its secrets.¡± ¡°If I may ask, what secrets, Sir?¡± He leveled his face at me. The scar above his eye seemed more menacing than ever. ¡°The Thieves Guild, Captain. I learned about the thieves¡¯ guild. I learned that my predecessors were all corrupt and struck a deal with them to keep a cushy life here in the better districts. I went through all the reports they made, the arrests they did. Only those who had betrayed or worked independently from the Guild were arrested. In some cases they even had hardened criminals let go. The revelations were shocking. But I also learned something about you. Exceptional sword skills. A natural leader. A winning streak of 12 matches in tactical scenarios, often impressing your teachers with improvised and highly effective methods. That man is still a Captain?¡± He continued speaking. ¡°You should have at least been a Centurion by now, if not a Centurion Captain. But what happened? You were too idealistic. Too confrontational. And they realized that if they promoted you, their entire careers would be over. And that¡¯s why you are still stuck on cordon duty.¡± The truth stung. Years and years of diligent work, to realize a childhood dream. To become a true knight of justice. That dream had ended when I graduated from the academy. When I saw the world for what it truly was. ¡°Deep in your heart you knew the truth. And even deeper I know that you wish to change it, to do better. I know you, because I was you, back when I had joined the force myself. And now, I am going to make you an offer. I hope you accept.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the offer, Sir?¡± ¡°A special cohort, that answers to no one else but me. This cohort works alone, free from all jurisdiction requirements throughout the city. If a crime has been committed, the cohort gets priority investigation. Your task would be simple: To capture or to eliminate thieves in this city. How you do it is of no consequence. Feel free to break rules in order to capture them; I¡¯ll take of the paperwork. This corruption has gone far too long. Accept the offer, and clean this city up, Captain!¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The words had lit a fire inside me. I couldn¡¯t let go of this chance. ¡°Sir, it would be my honor to serve.¡± ¡°I knew you were going to agree, so I had already briefed your second-in-command of the details. They begin immediately.¡± The man acted fast and efficiently. Imperial City could have been a much better place if he had arrived before. ¡°Sir, I request to be present on the scene.¡± ¡°Not allowed, Captain. You¡¯re still injured and need rest.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be fighting, Sir. Please, just let me be present there.¡± The commander sighs. ¡°Very well. The location is somewhere at the southern warehouses southeastern of the Gangly way, where you had your accident. Now, this gang is made of mostly children, but makes no mistake, they are hardened criminals. The leader, Kiroh; I want you to capture alive. The rest can depend on the circumstances.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t fail you, Sir.¡± ¡°Good. Now, I must be off. Have some hands to shake, you know. Best of luck, Captain.¡± The Commander walked out of the room, leaving me by myself. No time to waste. In one single day, my entire life had changed. And I wasn¡¯t the one to let go any opportunities. **************************************************************************************** Doyle''s POV The commander exited the building. He had been inside for some time, visiting the surprisingly popular Captain Kent. The wait was torturous. I couldn¡¯t get inside and had to listen in from the window. A new cohort? The boss needed to hear this. Finally getting a chance to use my feet again, I tail the man carefully, changing ways and hiding in the alleys. The man was a top priority; the guild needed information. Information that they couldn¡¯t get I was caught. But there wasn¡¯t any reason to bother. Hieronymus might have been a Commander, but he sure sucked at being discreet. I could see him fumble around, looking around for tails from a mile away. The man was obvious. But the fact that he was worrying was problematic. None of the commanders ever before was like this. They generally strutted about with a cohort of guards, or roamed about in the richer Districts. No, this was suspicious. The commander took a few twists and turns to shake tails like me off. Amateurish effort on his part. And I was one of the best. Finally, he reached a small alley. In the shadows, I could see a robed person waiting for him. A mage? I ducked around the corners, and kept walking. A mage complicated matters. Their sight could expose me in a heartbeat, and I didn¡¯t know his capabilities. But I couldn¡¯t just let this go. The invisibility potion! The boss had given it to me for this very purpose. After I had drunk tit, I silently crept back to the alley. The effects would last only for two minutes. The commander better hurry up. ¡°¡ªyes, he¡¯s the man for the job. You asked me to find the person who could do this, and trust me, Kent is the best.¡± The robed man muttered something, which I was too far away to hear. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t he? He needed a reason to fight, and I gave him that reason. Now answer my question: Why is this Kiroh so important anyway?¡± ¡°-- - --- ----------------¡± ¡°None of my business? It¡¯s my business to know if I sending my men to danger!¡± ¡°--------------------------------------------------------------------------¡± A long string of whispers, and I couldn''t hear any of it. ¡°Very well. But you better live up to your end of the bargain.¡± The man again muttered something which I couldn¡¯t hear. Damned to Oblivion! The guy was clearly up to no good. The commander then exited so suddenly that I nearly ran into him. Somehow I managed to balance myself at the last second. He looked around, and evidently again started walking away. The invisibility potion had worked. Of course, I knew it was going to work, but if the ingredients had been improperly mixed¡­No, better not think about that. I saw Commander walk away. No, the priority now had changed. I needed to tail the mage, preferably from far away. The mage started slowly walking and soon stood at the edge of the alley. I started slightly backing off, in case he made any sudden moves or casted a spell. The potion¡¯s effect was going to stop soon. I needed maximum distance before me and the this man before it did. ¡°Log out.¡± And he teleported away, leaving me alone on the street. Of course, as a mage, he could simply teleport. The idea hadn¡¯t crossed my mind at all. No way to know where he came from. I could see the Commander in the distance, but chose not to follow. No, it was imperative that Fox knew of this conversation. I started my long run back to the hideout. *********************************************************************************** Dreamcast Corporate Offices, Ground floor Eliza''s POV ¡°Did you get that all, Eliza?¡± ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t worry, I can handle it.¡± Finally. After a week of internship, I could finally see him in person. In the afternoon, Darwin had handed me the file to check for errors. I had done it, but then Sybil informed that the file needed to be signed by the boss himself by tomorrow. But since Darwin had already left; it was up to me to get it signed. And I wasn¡¯t going to hand it anyone else. The guard gives me a look over as I walk over to the executive offices on the ground floor. The special elevators there had fixed with all sorts of high tech stuff that I didn¡¯t understand. Biometrics or something. Only senior executives could use it. But today, I had the permission. The ride up was beautiful. It was entirely transparent at the sides. I could see the entire city as the elevator rose up to the 49th floor. The topmost. There was a small lobby that led to the elegant black door. The words, ¡°Alexei Luthor, CEO¡± were embossed on it, giving it an ominous appearance. I entered softly, not wishing to disturb him. The office was dimly lit by a small white light overhead his desk and chair. It looked simple and bare, stripped off all but the bare necessities. A bookshelf, a fish tank, and a red rug were the only other objects of interest in the room. It wasn¡¯t what I had expected. I approached slowly, but Mr. Luthor was nowhere to be seen. Better leave the file on his desk. I was about to leave when I caught sight of it. The bookshelf was slightly ajar. Was it a door? And where did this stairs lead to? I slowly climbed down, the only light being the soft blue neon glow in the hand rails themselves. Another door? I opened it, and could see my breath crystallize inside. The room was cold. I stepped in and looked around. Rows and rows of black behemoth cubes, seemingly extending to infinity. This was the server mainframe! I needed to leave immediately. If they found me here¡­ I had nearly walked out of the door when I saw it. A capsule. And inside it was a¡­ body. Millions of wires seemed to be attached to his head, connecting to the server nearby. No way. The body was alive! It was moving slightly inside the liquid goo. No damn way. What damn mess had I gotten myself into? I needed to get out of here. Something was deeply wrong. ¡°Oh dear.¡± Mr. Alexei himself. ¡°Sir, I can explain. I was here to-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I understand. Go now.¡± He smiled. Oh thank god. It was going to be alright. I had stepped out of the room when he called out to me. ¡°One more thing, miss¡­¡± Oh no. No. No. No. No. Please God, No. Don¡¯t let this happen. I couldn¡¯t let this happen. But I couldn¡¯t move. The gun had frozen me in my tracks. Don¡¯t. Don¡¯t do it, please. Please¡­. ¡°You should have knocked.¡± The gun recoils slowly, the cartridge thundering¡­. down on the floor. The red stain grows¡­..I try to make sense¡­. but it''s all dark¡­¡­
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The loading screen Suggestions and Rants Questionnaire? Hello, dear readers. No, again, this not a chapter, but rather an important questionnaire for the future of the story. The story is paused until I get your opinion, because I will commit to my style from the next chapter, and it will be too late to change it. Flashbacks ¨C Your views on the utilization of flashbacks. Are they overdone, useless, irrelevant, boring? Please comment your views. Multiple POVS ¨CMy story plans on using multiple POVs to get the information across to you. Are they badly done? Do you wish to follow Arthur only and throw all the messy side characters away? Or you want to know, but a little less would be better? Or is it alright? Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The past ¨C You might not want flashbacks, but do you still want to know what happens to Arthur in the last five years? Or some even rarer scenes of the doctor¡¯s and arthur¡¯s first meeting? The Villian ¨C POV from villain¡¯s point of view? More? Less? The riddles ¨C There was a small riddle in chapter 7. Did you like it? Would you like to see more? Also feel free to comment on any aspect you found worth mentioning. BIG EXPLANATION THREAD, PLEASE READ IT I wanted to post this in the questionnaire thread, but it is too long, and that¡¯s why I post it in a thread of its own. For those expecting a new chapter, I AM AGAIN SORRY. BUT YOU WON¡¯T BE DISTURBED THRICE, MARK MY WORDS. THE NEXT THREAD IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A NEW EPISODE. Let¡¯s continue on, if you still you wish to read. BIG EXPLANATION PARAGRAPHS AHEAD- I have read all your points, and now, I want to clear some things in the story - VIRTUAL REALITY As it happens, the VR is the dominating element right now, but the story is going to nearly evenly split between the real and the virtual world. After the first arc is over, you¡¯ll get a clear idea the direction my story is going to take. Hope you stay for the ride till then, at least. Second point. I can¡¯t write the VR story like the way you are used to. In fact, I would prefer if you read the story as an action thriller or something similar like that. The thing with VRs is that they have numbers and tables (LMS, Ark and all that) to show how strong the hero is. I can¡¯t write that. I am not writing that. Yes, there are game like elements in my story, but my focus is actually more on the characters and the plot. This isn¡¯t a young man¡¯s journey as he becomes the greatest or the strongest or the best in a game. No, think of it like¡­ people spend time in a medieval fantasy land and go on adventures. No NPCs, but real people who happen to be programs and don¡¯t know it. Not a game, but a true, real another world merged with ours, with all the implications it might have. THE FLASHBACKS The flashbacks. Here, let me lay it all out. Arthur spent 5 years in hell, and there are going to be 5 major arcs (seasons) and each season of the story will contain one present arc and one past arc. At the end, we will see the resolution of the story, as well as Arthur¡¯s return from the Hell. So the flashbacks are going to stay. WHY ARE YOU WRITING FLASHBACKS, ANYWAY? In this case, the difference is like¡­ the good way to put it, is the difference between fantasy stories and reincarnated stories. Reincarnated stories have a prologue, or at least a few chapters showing the life before, don¡¯t they? To show the protagonist¡¯s before and after? Why they change? In this case, that will be stretched into the end of the story. Arthur will further descend and fall in the past, but the redemption arc will be continued in the present. The contrast, I believe, will give heart to the story. (If I don¡¯t mess it up, that is.) SHOULD I READ THE FLASHBACKS? Hmmm, personally I would recommend you do, but there¡¯s no harm in skipping it. But of course, there are significant plot details that might just come back¡­. FLASHBACKS ARE BADLY DONE! REMOVE THEM, OR PUT THEM WHERE THEY DON¡¯T HURT THE NARRATIVE!! I¡¯m sorry. Really. Interrupting narrative of the story is like hammering a nail to your own foot. Nothing turns the readers faster away when the story is disjointed or confusing. And this happened because I am the writer. I falsely believed that you saw what I saw. That¡¯s not the case. You can¡¯t see what is yet to be written, the way I do. Flashbacks for me are leading up to a big major point that will really hammer home the differences between the past Arthur and the present Arthur. But for you they are distracting, boring and annoying, because I made it that way. Again, I apologize. So here¡¯s the plan for now - FLASHBACKS WILL BE RE-WRITTEN. After going through the story again, I found that the episode 3 and 4 flashbacks are distracting, too small, and annoying. THEY WILL BE EDITED WHEN I GET THE TIME, PROBABLY AFTER ONE MINOR ARC IS OVER. Yes, so the current idea that I have for flashbacks is to write episodes in such a way that the flashbacks fit. Like chapter 2. If they can¡¯t, or are distracting, they will be given their own episodes. Smaller episodes, true, but at least it won¡¯t be distracting. So, TELL ME ABOUT ANY EPISODES YOU FOUND TROUBLING. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I will then try to release it with a big present scenario chapter, so you don¡¯t feel duped. This is a compromise, I know, but I can¡¯t think of a better solution. IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS, LET ME KNOW. My flashback explanation is over . Let¡¯s go to the next big point - MULTIPLE POVS Okay, after again major deliberation, I have decided to keep them. My story is mainly told through First person POV. I chose it specially because I felt this made the story more personal and thus better, in this case. But first person POV, is seriously boring when I continued writing. Arthur¡¯s adventure seemed okay. But that was all it was. Just okay. I don¡¯t like that. As you will see (if I keep on writing), this story is not Arthur¡¯s story. WHAT? THIS IS FALSE ADVERTISING! IT SAYS CLEARLY ON THE SYNOPSIS ¨C ¡°THIS IS MY STORY¡±. WHAT THE HELL, AUTHOR? Phrasing. This story is Arthur¡¯s story, but you see, stories to me, don¡¯t revolve around one guy. No, everybody is a hero in their story of their life. And sometimes, our stories intersect. Arthur¡¯s story is the main story, I won¡¯t deny it. But there are other characters too, with their own stories. And Arthur¡¯s fate entangles with all of them. And when it does, it will be¡­ amazing, I promise. That¡¯s why they are there. My main focus is always on Arthur, but Kent, Doctor, Iorveth, Zaubern, Yama, their fates are all connected. My plan in this case is simple, the more connected they are going to be, the more you get their point of views. So on the center stage is Arthur, taking up maximum screen time, with his sad past and all that. Sideways, we have Doctor, Yama, Kent as secondary characters, and a few others with major plot lines of their own, hidden away, consistently popping up from time to time, showing what happens in their life and how Arthur¡¯s fate is entwined with them. Sometimes they get their own flashbacks too, but that¡¯s rare. Even more sideways, we have a few other characters, like two in chapter 14; a thief and intern. They are there to reveal important details to the readers, details that can¡¯t be given without breaking the first person view. They serve generally no further use to the plot. I hope this system is cool with you all. If not, feel free to comment. ANTAGONISTS VILLIANS Yes, let¡¯s get to the fun part. Antagonist seems to have a simple definition: Someone who offers opposition. That¡¯s what I should have asked about, not villains. Villains can be bad, boring, and disinteresting. Antagonists, to me, are as much a driving force in the story as the protagonist. Like I mentioned earlier, every person is a hero in their own story. Even antagonists. Right now, there is only one in my story. But you don¡¯t know him. Yes, you have seen him twice (and read his diary) but you haven¡¯t been inside his head yet. And you¡¯re not going to, at least for a time. Who knows why he is doing this? Is there a reason? He¡¯s evil. That¡¯s a little boring answer, a black and white answer. Antagonists are going to be totally different in my story. They have their own reasons, own causes, that they are going to be fighting for. It¡¯s going to be awesome. Antagonists also won¡¯t be ¡°pissing their pants¡± when they meet Arthur. No¡­ in fact, as we progress, they will be more dangerous. Very dangerous. Arthur is going to work hard to defeat any villain in this story. And even then, there¡¯s no guarantee they are going to be completely defeated. No, there will be very few OP curb stomp fights (one in the beginning arcs). Fights will be¡­ amazing. That¡¯s a promise.
NEW UPDATE Episode 15 and perhaps 16 will be released this month. During this time, I will be spending most of my time fixing the first chapters and all the problems. Next month, The fiction will be on hiatus, as my exams will be knocking on the door. After that, SUMMER VACATION, when i can devote my maximum time to the fiction, re writing and writing, as necessary. But you''ll have to wait for it. Episode 15: New Faces Author notes: Changed everything. Sorry for the trouble. Huge chapter with new CONTENT. You can skip it to the third part. Episode 15: New Faces Arthur¡¯s POV <> ¡°Well, this time they have us in a bind, haven¡¯t they?¡± said Yama, as we peered out of the bushes. The soldiers were unloading boxes on the beach I used to run. ¡°They are too close. We need to move from that darn cave.¡± I said. The situation seemed worse than I thought. Yama moved back, slinging his bow back on his shoulder. ¡°Way ahead of you, boy. I have a friend, up north. Usually likes to stay alone, but I think he can be persuaded to share.¡± ¡°Good enough for me.¡± We were walking through the foliage when we suddenly stumbled upon three soldiers. We all froze. It was Yama who moved first. With a vicious ferocity, he slammed his hands against the faces of the two guards. The third guard, finally back to his senses, ran off yelling towards the camp. Shit. ¡°Get him!¡± I didn¡¯t stay to listen further. The soldier had a head start, but I knew the terrain. I tackled him before long, and we both went tumbling on the ground. After seconds of rolling, I emerged on the top. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me! Please, I got a-¡± He cut off mid sentence, swinging a rock, hoping to catch me by surprise. That didn¡¯t happen. I stepped hard on his arm, yanked free the rock. Then I stomped my foot on his damn mouth and wrenched his arm. I could hear the crack as his bones broke and his teeth shattered. I punched him again for good measure, but he was already out. When I walk back to the spot, I see Yama already having a small rucksack slung over his shoulders. ¡°Too slow. I already took care of the necessities. Let¡¯s go!¡± ******************************************************************** ¡°Well here we are.¡± After a few hours of hiking through the forest, we seemed to have finally arrived. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°Look up.¡± There. Just to my right, there was a small plane jammed between two trees. It seemed to have crashed a long time ago. The cockpit seemed to be covered with moss, and the left wing was missing. This plane wasn¡¯t going to fly anywhere. ¡°Well come on, let¡¯s go. He stays up there, hanging in that rust pile.¡± said Yama, and we began climbing the tree. One of the branches that we reached was twisted, and a wooden plank attached to it led straight to the door. The inside was clean compared to the outside. A stove, a few bags, some bottles lying about was all I could see. A hammock lay on the side. No sight of the man himself. ¡°Well, looks like it¡¯s completely empty. Your friend is-¡± *THUD* A man leapt down from a hole above. Before I could react, his hand reached out and grabbed my face. And my mind went blank as he slammed my head on the walls. ¡°You¡¯re going to regret meeting me, boy!¡± I tried to wrest free of his grasp. No use. Think! The Praying Crane. My left back heel connects evenly with his knees. His handhold loosens as he stumbles back from the loss of balance. But that¡¯s all I needed. I kicked off the wall and gave him a straight kick to the guts. His hand releases me as he stumbles back a few steps. ¡°Now you have gone ahead and done it, you stupid piece of shit!¡± I ready myself. The man was tall, ridiculously so. And even weirder were his arms. They reached till his knees. He appeared slightly old, with his black hair completely sticking out on the sides. The brown eyes were completely wild. Those eyes wouldn¡¯t look out of place in a horror movie. And the way his mouth curved up in a maniac smile gave me chills. ¡°Mer- stop fighting. Arthur is with me.¡± said Yama, stepping out of the shadows of the cockpit. The mad guy is his friend? No wonder he kept it a secret. ¡°Oh. You should have said it earlier.¡± It was a complete reverse turn. He relaxed, and all the tension in the air seemed to dissipate immediately. He gave a dazzling smile, and he mad man in front of me disappeared, to be replaced by this creepy looking, but good natured fellow. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t be blamed for living cautiously, can I? Eh?¡± ¡°Merlyn.¡± He offered me his hand, and I gingerly shook it. ¡°Arthur.¡± ¡°Well, now that the introductions are over, why you¡¯re here, Yama? This isn¡¯t simply a social visit, I can tell.¡± ¡°Soldiers buzzing about on the beach. Too crowded there, so we decided to relocate. For a short time anyway.¡± ¡°Yeah...nope, I don¡¯t buy that. You could have gone anywhere. The number of holes you have on the island are crazy. So why come to me?¡± He gave me a pointed look, and turned to Yama again. ¡°You want me to train Arthur.¡± ¡°Your words, not mine.¡± Merlyn sighs and turns to me. ¡°Well, I guess I got time to spare. Your skills need improvement, I need to practice. Mutual benefits. Yama¡­ this isn¡¯t such a bad idea. Let¡¯s do it.¡± He walked over to one of the bags, and threw me a sleek wooden baton. Did he mean to start right now? ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get started!¡± And as he turns and smiles, a shiver runs through my body.
Arthur¡¯s POV I approached the warehouse sneakily as I could. Getting seen before I actually entered would further derail the plan. From afar the warehouse had seemed normal. Only a second glance revealed the missed signs: the boarded windows, the suspiciously obscured numbers on the door. They were here, hiding. I entered swiftly, an arrow nocked and ready. There was no one in sight. The room was completely empty. I walk around, taking in the surroundings. A few chairs a table with cards scattered out. A few mattresses lay in the corners. On another side, there was a large chest, completely open and empty. Bits of coins and gems lay about, carelessly left behind by whoever had taken them. They left in a hurry. But not because of me. They couldn¡¯t possibly know I was coming. No, it was something else. Who? And where did they go? *Doctor, where¡¯s the shirt now?* *What? Didn¡¯t I just tell you?* *They¡¯re gone. No, run the search algorithm again. I need to know- wait.* Horses were neighing outside. And a lot of them. *Doctor, inform me when you get the location.* I creep near the door and peek outside. Lots of horses and men. They were wearing proper uniforms with red and gold designs on their armor. One of them even carried a standard with an eagle on it. The Imperial Legion. How pompous. No sane thief could ever be caught if they paraded themselves like this. The soldiers assembled themselves rather quickly though. Archers and mages remained behind, while the spearmen and swordsman advanced in front. I could see about 30 people, perhaps more. *Doctor, you better hurry up. I will contact you in a minute, alright?* The Legion outside going would be inside by then. And they would probably arrest me, wasting valuable time in the process. But I couldn¡¯t give up the chase and escape. How inconvenient. For them.
Vice-Captain Kylen¡¯s POV ¡°All ready, boys? There are children inside there, so it shouldn¡¯t be too much of a hassle for you. But in case they give any trouble, you are free to retaliate. Just smack them in the head, alright?¡± A few murmurs of yes and understood sirs. They weren¡¯t particularly excited on getting this type of work. A full cohort for arresting children? What a joke. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this done!¡± I kick the door open, and there¡¯s someone just behind the door. A man completely covered by the darkness. A bow in his hand, but no arrows. I could barely see him. ¡°Drop your weapons. You¡¯re facing the Imperial Legion here.¡± He slowly walks forward, as if taking a stroll. ¡°Why don¡¯t you drop your weapons, soldier? After all, you¡¯re facing me here.¡± ¡°You think we are afraid you?¡± The barest hint of a face, hidden under a hood. ¡°You really should.¡±
Kent¡¯s POV Borrowing the horse from the officer took a little bit of hassle. He wouldn¡¯t believe that I was above him now. Fortunately Commander had left the signed order and my new stripes, so it all worked out. I rode the horse as fast it could go. Kyler was a good man, but he couldn¡¯t improvise properly. And if something changed unexpectedly, he wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with it. The warehouses loomed ahead of me. A right turn here and¡­ No. I dismounted the horse and ran towards the impossible scene in front of me. Runkar¡¯s face was a bloody mess, his left arm twisted unnaturally behind him. Faruk¡¯s entire right leg was wrenched out, the bare bone jutting out of his legs. Rynar nose was completely broken, the blood slowly dripping to form a small puddle on the ground. Everyone I looked, shattered limbs, bloodied faces and broken teeth greeted me. The carnage here¡­ the senseless violence numbed me for a moment. Only for a moment. Then, I could feel my anger rising. This man had ripped through my men like a hot knife through butter. And by the looks of it, he had left them all alive. Not because he couldn¡¯t kill them, but he didn¡¯t think them important enough. This man was going to pay. ¡°Ugh¡­¡­¡± I looked to see the source of the voice. Kylen! He seemed to be the one most beat up, but miraculously, he was conscious. ¡°Kylen, you don¡¯t need to say anything¡­ alright?¡± I cradled his head in my arms. ¡°You just rest. The healers¡­ I am going to bring them now. It¡¯s going to be fine¡­. Everything¡¯s going to be fine.¡± He gives the slightest hint of a nod. ¡°I am going to find the man who did this and make him pay for what he did.¡± ¡°No¡­..no¡­¡± Was he worrying about me? ¡°Not¡­. a¡­. man¡­.¡± He grasps my hand firmly, and looks straight into my eyes. They¡¯re swollen and bleeding, and barely open. Even so, I could make out the fear in his eyes. ¡°Demon¡­¡± ******************************************************************** Arthur¡¯s POV There are times in the world when one must do what¡¯s necessary. Even if it¡¯s distasteful. No one¡¯s fault, but it still ends up this way. *Doctor, I hope you have some info of the location.* *That¡¯s the problem. It seems you¡¯re there.* *There¡¯s no one here, Doctor.* *The data isn¡¯t wrong, kid. It¡¯s there. You and them, both are there.* That simply wasn¡¯t possible. There wasn¡¯t anyone here. Either they had tricked me, or they¡­ The chest. I walk over to the chest. The way the coins are scattered, as if they had¡­ I push the chest out of the way. It¡¯s heavy, but slides easily. There¡¯s a dark hole underneath, leading below. So that¡¯s where they went. One level lower. *You don¡¯t plan on jumping in, do you? You don¡¯t even know what could be down there.* *This is no time for caution, Doctor.* And I went down, making sure to slide the chest over me as I did. Instant darkness covered everything. Activating my mage sight, I descended down the small rungs on the wall. The whole thing was certifiably spooky, but I had seen worse. After some time of carefully placing my feet ever downwards, I finally touched ground.
Discovered a new location: The Imperial City Sewers
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Imperial City Sewers: Note added to codex.
Intelligence has risen slightly.
I activated my Mage sight and looked around. I was standing on a small ledge which continued on in both the directions. On the other side there was a similar one. But in the middle, there was a huge black river of dirty water was flowing through. The smell from it was overwhelmingly bad that I hold my nose to keep myself from vomiting up. Pinching my nose, I made my way forwards. A side tunnel to my right suddenly stopped me in my tracks. There was a small light ahead, getting smaller by the second. I turn and run towards it, not wishing to lose them. The deeper I go, the smell gradually fades and the pool dries away. Only crumbling smelly rocks, and sounds of rumbling water remind me that I am still inside a sewer. The light, as I reach it reveals itself to be a torch, flickering uncertainly. The torch as I see, illuminates a staircase, leading even downwards. I sling my bow over my back and go downwards, my muscles tensed for the next confrontation. Instead, I find a hallway leading to a door. There¡¯s a man waiting outside. ¡°Uh, hello?¡± ¡°It¡¯s gonna be 50 golds for newbies.¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone.¡± ¡°50 golds, or my fist ends up lodged in your teeth.¡± I seriously doubt that. ¡°Very well. 50 golds, here it is.¡± The man counts the money, and then steps away from the door. ¡°Get in.¡± ¡°One last question. Did Kiroh and his gang just pass through?¡± The man shifts slightly, his hands casually resting against the hilt of his axe. Wrong question to ask. ¡°You want Kiroh?¡± He opens the door and walks inside. ¡°Follow me.¡± I expect it to be another grim dark dungeon like this one. But instead I walk into a large¡­ night club? It was definitely a night club. Multicolored lights hang from the ceiling, and there¡¯s a bar at one corner. People roam about, dressed in dark leather armor and hoods, exactly like me, drinking, eating and mingling about tables. There¡¯s a huge crowd on another corner. Chips pass hands and people are intently watching a few men playing poker. The gambling tables.
You have discovered the Thieves Guild.
More like the Party guild. The man keeps walking, past the bar and into another door, guarded this time by two huge brutes. My guide whispers something at them, points towards me, and we are ushered inside. The sound of chatter outside cuts off suddenly as the door closes. A hallway full of doors on different sides. The Thieves Guild sure was organized. My guide keeps walking, and we reach another staircase leading downwards. How deep does this one go? There¡¯s only a single door at the end of these stairs. ¡°Wait here.¡± He turns the key in the lock and knocks on the door thrice. A muffled voice sounds from the other side, and I could hear another key being turned. Locked from both sides? Finally, he motions for me to enter. I do, prepared to fight at a moment¡¯s notice. There¡¯s a slight change in the air as I step into the room and the door clicks shut. I however, am engrossed in the room. It¡¯s a broadly spacious room, bigger than any mansion¡¯s ground floor with a huge beautiful model of the Imperial City in the middle of it. Sunlight streams from the windows, leaving me confused. Where the hell was I? I try the door, but it¡¯s locked tight. From the windows I could see the trees and the streets outside. The windows are too shut, so I couldn¡¯t determine if they were real or fake. The walls were faded yellow, with plans and papers covering most of it. Various oddities line the shelf. Walking further, I could see a green house leading left. A table covered with flasks and bottles of liquids of various colors catches my eye when I turn right. Everywhere I look, there¡¯s something or the other. Mannequins with various armors on them, each of them extremely different from the others. Black, white, silver¡­ all kinds. ¡°Interesting, aren¡¯t they? The silver ones are taken from the Fangs of Men themselves. Werewolf hunters; went extinct 300 years ago. Extremely rich, but equally untalented. The werewolves tore them apart.¡± A man had suddenly appeared behind me. He was well dressed in a purple dress that accentuated the gentleman vibe. The first thing however, that caught my eye was the mask he wore. It was completely dull grey, with runes running from both the sides of his cheeks. The holes for his eyes and mouth gave off a sad impression. He moved leisurely to his table, and sat down regally on his chair and pointed towards me to take a seat. ¡°You want to meet Kiroh.¡± Straight down to business. I kind of liked this guy immediately. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you know what he is?¡± He leaned back in his chair, testing me. ¡°I know what he isn¡¯t.¡± The man stayed like that for a moment. I imagined that he was staring at me under the mask. ¡°I am the Gray Fox.¡± ¡°Nice name. And if we are doing the code name shit, you can call me¡­ Dark Arrow. And now if the introductions are over, I would like to meet Kiroh.¡± ¡°He¡¯s sleeping right now. And I can¡¯t just let a stranger kill one of my subordinates, can I?¡± ¡°I am not here to kill him. He¡¯s different in a way that neither you nor he can figure out. I have an idea why. But I need to meet him to¡­¡± ¡°You think us stupid? You think we can¡¯t figure it out?¡± ¡°Well no, but¡­¡± ¡°I adopted Kiroh when he was a kid. I raised him. When he started to see his visions¡­ it was me at his side. So when he did start to change, you think that I WON¡¯T BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT?¡± He had been getting progressively agitated as he continued on speaking¡­ but it was unsettling to hear him scream under the mask. Without couldn¡¯t see the face underneath, it was hard to gauge his emotions. ¡°I am sorry if I¡­¡± ¡°No. I went overboard. Kiroh is¡­ I had always treated him like my own son. Can you imagine my pain when that turned out to be untrue? Can you imagine the pain when your son starts screaming for his father in the middle of the night? Can you imagine the pain when he doesn¡¯t remember you?¡± The man was a really good actor, or this was heartfelt emotion. The mask kept it hidden, but I think that he might have been crying. ¡°Kiroh¡¯s a Traveller, like you, isn¡¯t he?¡± Poker face. Don¡¯t give anything away. Face him neutrally. ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°But not completely like you. He was born here, like us. It was meddling on your part, wasn¡¯t it?¡± He had figured out a lot of things that I didn¡¯t even expect. ¡°Not mine.¡± ¡°But you¡­ the rest of you all that came today are different. You teleport here with complete knowledge of your identity. But he was born here with no idea of what he is. Why would do you do that? There¡¯s only one answer¡­ you wanted him to believe that he was a resident of Tamriel and not of¡­ Yearth, is it?¡± This guy was very, very close to being a self aware AI. And I couldn¡¯t let that happen. But he continued on speaking. ¡°Which led me to think¡­ am I resident of Yearth too? And you erased my memory and sent me here to be reborn? Is everybody on this planet DEAD ON ANOTHER WORLD? AND THAT¡¯S WHY YOU¡¯RE HERE, ISN¡¯T IT? THAT¡¯S THE REASON YOU ALL ARE HERE! TO MEET WITH THE DEAD, TO KNOW HOW THEY LIVE NOW? SO TELL ME AGAIN, HOW DO YOU KNOW KIROH?¡± Holy¡­ this man had constructed a seriously messed up idea from a basic truth. And I could understand how he could have come to that conclusion. But the thinking behind this was¡­ seriously painful. I needed to tell him the truth. As much as I humanely could. ¡°That¡¯s not the case. I know, because, I was the one who¡­ discovered the gate between our worlds.¡± Close enough. ¡°But someone betrayed and killed me because of that. I survived the attack¡­somehow. But he is the one who controls the gate now. And he has made it in a way so that a lot of people on Earth can visit Tamriel. I sort of¡­ snuck in through the gaps. The details aren¡¯t important. What¡¯s important is he¡¯s still planning something. And that plan involves Kiroh.¡± ¡°Listen¡­ when I created this gate.. I had no idea of¡­all the dangers, all the monsters that would be born because of this.¡± But five years of hell changed all that. ¡°I know now better than anyone, about the thin line that exists between your world and mine. But the man who is doing all this, the man who killed my father, he doesn¡¯t. And he will keep committing atrocities in both the worlds, to get what he wants. I need to bring him to justice. And right now, your son Kiroh is the only lead that I have.¡± And that¡¯s the truth. Fox stares at me for what seems like an eternity. ¡°He killed your father?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re doing this for revenge.¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± He stares at me some more. ¡°I can feel that you¡¯re telling the truth. But I don¡¯t want revenge. I just want my son¡­ to be happy.¡± ¡°Help me out, and I promise that I¡¯ll do everything in my power to help Kiroh.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± He gives me a look over. ¡°So it¡¯s a partnership.¡± And he offers me his hand; I shake it. I don¡¯t know why, but I get the feeling that I just made a powerful ally. ¡°Well, I¡¯m offering you a position in my guild. It will help you out. I have eyes and ears everywhere in the city. You don¡¯t get to order anyone, but no one will order you return. You¡¯re free of all the hierarchy and guild tax. What do you think?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care then, Fox.¡±
You have joined the Thieves Guild!
¡°You are not letting me meet Kiroh, are you?¡± ¡°No. Because I know the lead you¡¯re talking about. There¡¯s someone else out there looking for him. After listening to your story, it makes sense. He¡¯s a traveler, like you. And he¡¯s ordering the new commander of the city around, tearing my district apart just to get at Kiroh. I can deal with Hieronymus, but the traveler is another matter. Now that¡¯s your job.¡± ¡°How am I supposed to go about doing that?¡± He reaches into his desk, and throws a diary at me. ¡°Read that. It¡¯s contains all the gibberish that Kiroh wrote. But I realized now that¡¯s written your language, not mine. That should give you a clue. Otherwise, just bash the guy who murdered you and get him to talk. No matter what it takes, find a way.¡± His voice had changed into one of steely resolve and determination, that wasn''t going to take No for a answer. ¡°Oh, and by the way, the door¡¯s enchanted. Once you step out, you can¡¯t come back here again. If you want to find me again, just give 27 silver coins to any beggar in the district. He¡¯ll point the way.¡± Wow. This guy must be pretty popular in the right circles for every beggar to know him. He went back to poring over the model of the city, and I exited the room into a bright sunny day with a diary in hand.
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Lednacek - flashbacks are giving me a lot of trouble right now. They are interconnected, but we haven''t reached that point yet. We will soon, promise. Sorry for all the trouble. Teaser Episode: Kiroh鈥檚 Diary Teaser Episode: Kiroh¡¯s Diary V qba¡¯g xabj jul V pnzr gb or obea urer. Gurfr zrzbevrf, Sbk nffher zr ner snyfr, ohg V jvyy jevgr gurz qbja, whfg va pnfr. Zl erny anzr vf Lhxvebu Gnena. Zl erny zbgure¡¯f anzr vf Nyyvfn Gnena. V unir gjb lbhatre fvoyvatf, Zlan naq Xlyr. V jnf vaibyirq va n nppvqrag. N gehpx? Zl fcvany pbeq erprvirq rkgerzr qnzntr. Fbba V jbhyq unir orpbzr n irtrgnoyr. Ohg V unq n pubvpr. Gur snpr, gur anzr, vg nyy oheaf. Khyna Qheany. Ur¡¯f gur bar. Ur chg zr urer. Ur bssrerq zr gur pubvpr. Gb rkcrevrapr n arj yvsr. Khyna Qheany¡­ zbgure nterrq.. vg jnf gur bayl V pbhyq unir yvirq. Zl urnq uhegf..gb znal zrzbevrf. Gbb zhpu cnva. Juvpu bar vf erny? Jung vf snyfr? Zl yvsr va arj jbeyq¡­. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.************************************************************** Author¡¯s note: Probably the last episode you guys are going to get for some time. If you figure this one out, do post the answer in a spoiler.. It''s a bit tougher than the last one, but..let''s see. The series will be on hiatus for about a month, as my exams are knocking. If you have liked it so far, please leave a rating or a review.
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Solutions, Updates and return from Hiatus. The date is given as 28 on the fiction list, but I decided to make an early return. No episode today, but we will back on track starting from Thursday or Friday. The summer vacation is a month long, and i will be free most of the time, so expect a few extra chapters from now on. Some other details that you should know - Rewrite - The re-write is indefinitely postponed. This is because after reading through the fiction again and again... there are a lot of things that I want to change every time... from first person view to third person... from slow build up to fast build up... and drastically cutting plot... so much that I want to re write everything. So, for the moment, those chapters will remain. If there is overwhelming criticism, then I may consider it. But for the moment, I believe that you guys are okay with this, so... let''s just improve from here onwards. The solution to the Kiroh''s Diary. Spoiler : I don¡¯t know who I came to be born here. These memories, Fox assure me are false, but I will write them down, just in case. My real name is Yukiroh Taran. My real mother¡¯s name is Allisa Taran. I have two younger siblings, Myna and Kyle. I was involved in a accident. A truck? My spinal cord received extreme damage. Soon I would have become a vegetable. But I had a choice. The face, the name, it all burns. Xulan Durnal. He¡¯s the one. He put me here. He offered me the choice. To experience a new life. Xulan Durnal¡­ mother agreed.. it was the only I could have lived. My head hurts..to many memories. Too much pain. Which one is real? What is false? My life in new world¡­. It will again be posted in the next episode, as Arthur figures it out. By the way, how many of you did figure it out?Please reply! The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Then, another news. I am going to write another fiction! Now don''t worry, it will have a slower update rate than this one. But the problem is, I have written no less than 3 stories, and so there''s the poll... No mind you, none of them are usual royalroadl fare.... like VR or re:life. And there''s no wuxia either, possibly no harem... no OP protagonists (this one might be broken. but only might, no gurantee.) No... I aim to differrent... if underrated.... <> here are your choices - The Magic Thief - Read Kaitou Kid? The name Lupin is a music to your ears? love mission impossible? ocean''s 11? the magic thief is my variant on the magician thief - the best thief who pulls off impossible heists (with magic!) foiling detectives and police alike-- facing impersonators, fake thiefs, evil businessman at night while trying to maintain his cover at day. The story will be fairly light hearted. Infernum - a dying boy makes a deal with the devil. he loses his memory, so has no idea what he bargained. Now, he serves as the devil''s collector, dealing with people who think they can cheat the devil, trying to remember who he was and unraveling the secrets around him. Fairly dark, but nonetheless with good action sequences. Merlin''s greatest wish is to be a great mage; but his small stature and height and constant bullying makes it impossible. Also, he can''t use magic...(but that''s rectified in the first chapter itself.) An accident leaves him changed.... and with powers that makes his dream not so impossible after all. (Takes place in fantasy land not england. no reborn.) Fun, OP, and light-hearted ---- exactly what royalroad wants! That''s three choices for you. And there''s another story, which is definitely going to be written; so I am not going to spoil it before hand. Episode 16: What Lies Ahead Author¡¯s note: Sorry for the tardiness. Changed the POV style. Blame the Doctor and Merlyn for that, they were causing a lot of problems. Also, if you feel like you got cheated of the plot, blame them too. Episode 16: What Lies Ahead As Arthur flipped through the pages of the diary, he quickly figured out the code used. ¡°A ROT13 cipher? How nostalgic.¡± It was a simple code. Substitute the first half of the alphabet with the second half, and then write your message. Arthur himself had used it to encrypt his messages when he was five years old. ¡°Now, to change the n¡¯s into a¡¯s, v¡¯s into i¡¯s¡­ there. All done.¡± He smiled involuntary, pleased with his success. ¡°Now, what does it say?¡± He read through the diary, speed reading through the paragraphs. At the end, he pieced together the important parts. I don¡¯t know who I came to be born here. These memories, Fox assure me are false, but I will write them down, just in case. My real name is Yukiroh Taran. My real mother¡¯s name is Allisa Taran. I have two younger siblings, Myna and Kyle. I was involved in a accident. A truck? My spinal cord received extreme damage. Soon I would have become a vegetable. But I had a choice. The face, the name, it all burns. Xulan Durnal. He¡¯s the one. He put me here. He offered me the choice. To experience a new life. Xulan Durnal¡­ mother agreed.. it was the only I could have lived. My head hurts..to many memories. Too much pain. Which one is real? What is false? So I was right, thought Arthur. Outwardly, his mouth changed into a thin, hard line. He had managed to get one name at least. Xulan Durnal. Now to arrange a meeting. ¡°Log out.¡± The world around him dissolved, and slowly reformed into a twisted ceiling. Then the glass slid upwards with a click, and he was breathing real air again. He waited a second, re-orienting himself, and the next moment he was again ready for action. He rose up and stretched his limbs, glancing around his basement as he did so. It was reasonably small, with a large amount of space taken up by his behemoth mainframe. Wires lay strewn about, connecting everything to everything else. The only illumination came through the three large monitors on top of a huge table on one side of the room. Three chairs lay in front of it, out of which two were occupied. Doctor Crane was sitting leisurely in one of them, with his legs resting on another chair. ¡°You!¡± The Doctor leapt up when he saw him. ¡°What?¡± said Arthur, annoyed at the noise. ¡°What was that all about?¡±, Crane asked. ¡°You just beat up the guards at the warehouse!¡± ¡°They were legionnaires, Doc. And I didn¡¯t beat them up too badly.¡± replied Arthur, as he took a seat in front of the monitors. A few short taps later, the search for Xulan Durnal was under way. The algorithm he had chosen was a harmless one, only combing through the public databases. Now if that didn¡¯t yield any names, he would have to change his tactics. ¡°Don¡¯t evade by using technicalities! You beat up the legionnaires, and I want to know why!¡± ¡°Why?¡± Arthur turned to face him. ¡°They were going to get in my way. I didn¡¯t have time for that, so I took the shortest path, available to me. Which was to beat them up.¡± ¡°Arthur, did you even hear what you said? The shortest path?¡± He sat down to face him directly. ¡°You seriously think that by beating a few guards will help you catch Luthor faster?¡± ¡°Yes I do.¡± He replied evenly. ¡°You don¡¯t understand Doc-¡± ¡°Then help me understand. If the shortest path is so important, why don¡¯t just go and kill Luthor? You can do that, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not-¡± ¡°THAT¡¯S EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID!¡± Crane slammed his hand on the table. ¡°Violence was not the shortest path for you, but the easiest one! You are just a thug who beats up people!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. And you know it. I considered all the options, and I chose the best one.¡± Arthur replied calmly, matching his gaze with Crane. ¡°You are not trying to understand what I¡¯m saying, Arthur!¡± ¡°Then explain better!¡± Both of them paused, waiting for the other to speak. Finally, Doctor Crane spoke, although his voice was much quieter than before. ¡°Let¡¯s just suppose, for the sake of the argument. Somehow, by beating those guards today, Luthor is caught. I don¡¯t know how, but let¡¯s just suppose, alright?¡± ¡°Alright.¡± said Arthur. ¡°Your mission, your goal, your grand quest for vengeance is over. Then what?¡± asked the Doctor. ¡°We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we get to it.¡± Arthur replied resolutely. ¡°No! You need to think about it now! You¡¯re so consumed with vengeance that you don¡¯t stop to consider the repercussions. You need to slow down. Look, I know that you feel angry, but-¡± ¡°Angry? You¡¯re wrong, doctor. I¡¯m not angry. I don¡¯t hate Alexei Luthor. Hate, anger, disgust¡­ you can define all of them. There are no words for what I feel, Doc.¡± As he spoke, Arthur¡¯s fist tightened and cracked the handles of the chair. He paused briefly to look at the pieces, then spoke again. ¡°It just boils over me. The rage I feel¡­ you can¡¯t imagine it. Can you? Can you feel it burning you up? And now, with him so close, you¡¯re asking me to slow down?¡± The machine beeped briefly at the end, indicating the search complete. ¡°Now, if you excuse me,¡± said Arthur, reaching for the console, ¡°I have work-¡± Crane cut him off, shutting down the monitor before he could look at it. ¡°No.¡±, he said, ¡°I am not letting you do this until you cool off.¡± ¡°Cool off?¡± Arthur pushed the chair and asked, his cracking voice revealing his rising temper. ¡°Yes. Stop the damn obsession about Luthor, or at least stop using it as an excuse to beat people up. Until you do that, I am not letting you go any further. If you continue like this, you¡¯re going to do something you regret. Your goal isn¡¯t worth the path you have taken, and it¡¯s high time you realized this! And you can consider all the options again, and beat me up, but I¡¯m not going down without a fight!¡± Breathe. Calm down. Breathe and calm down. This isn¡¯t worth getting angry over. Let it go¡­ repeated Arthur in his head. He clenched and unclenched his fists, imagining his anger fading away. And it worked. When he looked again, Crane had got up and started pulling apart the wires connecting the monitor. But he had stopped with the wires in his hands, surprised by the lack of a reaction. ¡°You¡¯re not going to stop me?¡± ¡°I know you consider me egotistical, but I¡¯m not, Doc.¡± replied Arthur, slowly rising from his chair. ¡°And to prove it, I¡¯m going outside, where I will think about your opinions with, as you said, ¡®a cool head¡¯. And after that, if I am wrong, I will come back and apologize. Alright?¡± he said, dusting off his pants and walking towards the staircase. ¡°Alright, I guess.¡± said the Doctor, clearly surprised by the turn of events. ¡°See you in a hour, Doc.¡± Arthur¡¯s voice sounded from the top of the stairs. ¡°That boy really knows how to surprise people.¡± the Doctor muttered to himself. *************************************************************** <> ¡°I can¡¯t do this anymore.¡± Arthur said, hanging over the pit of superheated water. Letting go meant second degree burns. Not letting go meant Merlyn stomping over his hands, until he started again. Or fell down. Wasn¡¯t much of a difference, anyway. He had doing the pull ups all morning, every morning since he had met Merlyn. At first, he thought the volcanic springs was going to be a relaxing session. Like a sauna. Especially after the all-night sparring. But he was soon corrected after he dipped his feet accidentally in the water. Had it kept it there for even more than a second, his skin would have burned. ¡°What?¡± asked Merlyn, raising his feet. ¡°I said, I can¡¯t do this anymore!¡± said Arthur, as he lifted himself up from the edge. ¡°I am done. You can kill me now. Or hand me over to the soldiers. I don¡¯t care anymore. I¡¯m done.¡± he said, panting on the ground. Day after day, he had doing the same thing, over and over again. Finally he had snapped. ¡°Okay. You¡¯re done. I get it.¡± Merlyn replied. ¡°I pushed you too hard. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Damn right.¡± said Arthur, trying to control his breathing and failing. His muscles were starting to burn. It would hurt all through the night and as soon as it would begin to fade away, he would be forced to begin again. But no more. He was done. ¡°Very well. Then today, you will learn two things.¡± Merlyn replied. The ominous way he said was the only warning Arthur got as Merlyn¡¯s foot landed on his gut. ¡°What the hell?¡± Arthur scrambled away as he sought to defend himself. But he was tired. Even in his best form, he had never defeated Merlyn. Doing so now was impossible. ¡°There¡¯s no being DONE on the battlefield!¡± The blow landed cleanly, pushing Arthur back. ¡°No MERCY because you are tired!¡± Another blow, landing below the ribs. Spittles of blood flew from Arthur¡¯s mouth. ¡°Nobody will come to save you! You will beg for mercy! Beg again. And again. And again. And again.¡± Each of the sentences were punctuated by a blow. All of them were aimed at the same spot, and all of them landed cleanly below the ribs. Every time the fist connected, the air completely escaped his lungs. His vision began to blur, and his eyes no longer could keep up with the punches. ¡°And when you¡¯re done begging, you will scream.¡± Merlyn grabbed him by the throat and pulled him close, staring into the eyes. And Arthur stared back at the wild, animalistic eyes of his teacher. Eyes without remorse or mercy. The eyes of a killer. ¡°Scream and die. But you won¡¯t die. No, death would be a mercy. They won¡¯t kill you. They will break you.¡± Merlyn¡¯s grip tightened around Arthur¡¯s neck. He tried to free himself, but his strength and breath had been completely sapped away. This was the end. Merlyn continued conversationally, unhurriedly, in a calm, soothing manner. ¡°And when you have broken, they will again mold you. And then, only then, will you be done.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He let go, and Arthur fell helplessly on the ground. The seriousness disappeared, and it was replaced by a big, fake smile. But the eyes remained that of a killer. ¡°The second lesson, is that I know the importance of listening. And so you get a break for the rest for the day! Enjoy!¡± he cheerfully said and walked away, whistling a tune to himself. <> **************************************************************************** The cool evening air was a warm welcome to Arthur. As he rode around the city on his bike, he was saw the many things that had changed in his absence. And the few that had remained the same. As he parked outside the Sealey Park, he recalled his childhood. The last time he was here, he was with his whole family. Father, me and ¡­ No. Not now. He strolled inside, and calmly sat down on a corner seat. They were the best ones, offering unmatched visibility and making it impossible for anyone to sneak upon him. Sealey park was one of the larger park in the city, and it was evident from the crowd that was present. Families, lovers, yoga groups, and children of all ages were present everywhere he could see. And for the moment, he pretended to be a part of them. That moment was over as soon as began. Looked into the abyss and became a monster. Too late for me to be normal, isn¡¯t it? And that was the question which remained. What happens after I¡¯m done? He hadn¡¯t let it show, but the question had rattled him. Because he honestly didn¡¯t know. Should I go back? Have I stayed in Hell so long that I belong there? He contemplated. They will break you, and mold you¡­ He had been broken, but somehow pieced himself together. And after it¡¯s done, the pieces will again fall apart¡­ There wasn¡¯t anything for him, he realized. Doctor Crane was right. The whole thing with Alexei was his last mission. Rushing wouldn¡¯t help, in any case. He would proceed slowly and carefully¡­ and end it properly. End everything properly. ¡°Do you mind if I sit here?¡± The voice belonged to a middle aged woman. She was well dressed and carried a handbag in one arm. At first glance, she appeared to be a kind, caring mother. Yet years of training had given Arthur an uncanny intuition about people. And that intuition revealed that the woman was not simple as she appeared. ¡°No, not at all. Please do.¡± Arthur said as pleasantly as he could. She sat down quietly, on the other corner of the bench. Then the knitting yarn came out from her bag. For several minutes, only the clickety sounds of the needles could be heard. ¡°Did anything happen?¡± She asked. And there it is. ¡°Not really, no. Look, I really should get going-¡± Arthur tried to end the conversation, but the woman was having none of it. ¡°My husband was in the war. When he returned, he often had the same look as on your face. Haunted.¡± she said, never taking her eyes of Arthur. His curiosity awakened, Arthur asked, ¡°What happened to your husband?¡± ¡°He committed suicide. Couldn¡¯t bear living anymore.¡± she said, intently looking at Arthur¡¯s face. ¡°Why did you ask?¡± ¡°I just wanted to know, I guess.¡± replied Arthur. ¡°Well, it¡¯s only fair that I get to ask in return, isn¡¯t it?¡± said the woman, revealing a small smile. Realizing he had fallen in her trap, he sighed. ¡°Alright. Ask away.¡± ¡°So, what happened? Let me guess. You fell in with a bad crowd in school, and now you are in trouble. So much that it looks hopeless, and you are now sitting here thinking of a suicide. Am I right?¡± she asked, putting her needles and yarn away. ¡°I guess that¡¯s right, in a sense.¡± replied Arthur, uncomfortable with her concern. ¡°What about your parents? Do they know?¡± she asked, drawing closer. ¡°My parents are dead.¡± he replied. ¡°My father died five years ago.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± she said, obviously worried. ¡°And what about your friends?¡± Friends? ¡°I don¡¯t have any friends.¡± He replied, surveying her features. It changed from concerned to sadness, then back to concern again. ¡°Yes you do. Everybody has friends. You just have to look for them.¡± she replied, distressed at his reply. ¡°Not me.¡± said Arthur, questioning himself now. Why am I so insistent in making her understand? ¡°Then make some.¡± said the woman, suddenly fierce. She grabbed his hands, and enclosed them in hers. ¡°Everybody needs friends. You too.¡± ¡°Look, lady, lacking friends isn¡¯t my problem. It¡¯s just that¡­¡± he sighed in exasperation, wondering how he had got up in the whole act. ¡°It¡¯s that, I had a different life before, and now I¡­ have a different one. And I can¡¯t go back.. even though I want to.¡± ¡°Did you have friends in your old life?¡± she asked. ¡°Not really, no.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s useless trying to go back there.¡± she said, matching her gaze with Arthur. ¡°Here¡¯s what you will do. You go back to school-¡± Arthur laughed weakly. ¡°Or your college¡­ or whatever, and you talk to people. Alright?¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an order.¡± she replied, the stern mother looking for arguments. ¡°Fine! I will go to my¡­ college and talk and make friends. Satisfied?¡± ¡°And join a club. You have a hobby, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I like archery¡­ sort of.¡± he replied, genuinely frightened by the intensity of the emotions that the lady was showing. ¡°Good. Join the archery club and make friends. It might be hard for you leave your old life behind, but trust me, there are always people willing to help. Understand?¡± She grabbed him by the shoulders, making sure he looked into her eyes. ¡°I understand completely!¡± said Arthur, giving up before the lady. ¡°And if you can¡¯t, or need help, you come to my dojo. Here - this my card.¡± Arthur quickly put it into his pocket without looking. ¡°Alright, ma¡¯am, can I go now?¡± he freed himself from her grasp. ¡°Very well. But will you remember my words?¡± she asked, with one final glare. ¡°I will, I promise.¡± said Arthur, as he hurriedly escaped. What the hell just happened? was his only thought. **************************************************************************** The ride back home was shorter than he had expected. Perhaps it was the experience with the woman, or his new found resolution. He walked in to find the Doctor stuffing his face with Chinese food, playing games on the mainframe. Two things he had expressedly forbidden. ¡°Look¡­ I can explain¡­¡± said the Doctor, trying to hide away the takeout box. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Doc. And you were right. I¡¯m sorry, and I promise I won¡¯t let it happen again.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­ SORRY? REALLY? This isn¡¯t a dream or anything, is it? Arthur is really apologizing? Am I dreaming? Is it the end of the world? Quick, somebody check my pulse? Am I dead? Has -¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Arthur¡¯s quick retort cut Doctor off. ¡°Now, I have apologized to you, can we get back to Durnal?¡± ¡°You are also going to apologize to those soldiers you beat up.¡± said the Doctor, deciding to see how far he could go. ¡°Apologize to the soldiers? How the hell am I supposed to do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But you¡¯ll find a way, I¡¯m sure.¡± said the Doctor, starting to eat again. ¡°Fine! I will also apologize to those soldiers! Now can we get back to work?¡± said Arthur, grinding his teeth. ¡°And¡­¡± began Crane. ¡°Doctor, don¡¯t push your luck.¡± ¡°we go back to work, is what I was going to say....¡± replied Doctor, wiping his mouth, ¡°but we don¡¯t need to, actually.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± said Arthur, crossing his arms. An ominous aura started to emerge. ¡°Well, we have Xulan¡¯s house address-¡± ¡°Break and enter?¡± asked Arthur. ¡°No. It¡¯s in a high-tech neighbourhood. Not worth the risk. And I thought you agreed to take things slow?¡± ¡°Fine. What about his computers?¡± asked Arthur, taking a seat in front of the monitors. ¡°His personal one is¡­ disconnected from the network, so no chance there. And he works at Star University, which, you said-¡± Doctor paused and pointed at Arthur, daring him to contradict. ¡°Has better security than most government agencies.¡± finished Arthur. ¡°Exactly!¡± said the Doctor, triumphantly. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I got you covered.¡± He said, tapping away at the keyboard. Anything but that¡­ Please¡­ Anything but that..Pease¡­ Anything but that.. Arthur mentally chanted to himself. He had a vague suspicion about what Doctor had done, and he didn¡¯t like it. ¡°Look at that, will you!¡± said Doctor, pointing at one of the monitors. Damn. thought Arthur, as he looked. He did exactly that. ¡°I got you enrolled at the University!¡± Damn me to Hell. *****************************************************************************************
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Episode 16.5: Il mio nome 猫 Dante Author¡¯s note: Short chapter, and full of dialogues. Originally bundled with the next chapter, which was going to be huge. Didn¡¯t, as it couldn¡¯t fit the theme and made it too large. But the next chapter is still huge and important, while this is mostly a fun chapter. Episode 16.5: Il mio nome ¨¨ Dante ¡°You got me enrolled to Star University?¡± asked Arthur, his face twisting into a grimace. ¡°Yeah! Why, what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Crane. ¡°Doctor, I have already graduated! Why would you make me suffer that hellhole again?¡± ¡°Well, this time, you are the right age for attending. And second, you need a degree to get a proper job. Your Arthur Stark identity is gone,remember?¡± ¡°And you thought by enrolling me in an university would help me create a new one?¡± Arthur asked, frustrated with the conversation. ¡°Doctor, can¡¯t you see? Now you have thrown me back into the public world again!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good thing, right?¡± Crane asked. ¡°NO! No, that¡¯s not at all a good thing. Up till now, I just existed on paper. One faceless man living in his uncle''s basement. And now, with the university enrollment, you essentially made the world look! Now I need to have fake high school grades, fake high school photos, complete fake identity! I need to be out there, have a social profile! I can¡¯t be doing my job if I attend the University!¡± ¡°Doing your ¡®job¡¯? Excuse me, but it¡¯s me who can¡¯t do his job, babysitting a NEET!¡± Doctor scoffed back. ¡°Look at this way. You needed a fake identity sooner or later. And this way, you actually get to build up your past!¡± ¡°My past?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°Yeah, your past. You cannot be Arthur anymore. You need to be someone else. Didn¡¯t the thought cross your mind?¡± ¡°Someone else? Who?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± said the Doctor, handing him over a sheet of paper. ¡°This is what I gave them.¡± Arthur read the first line. ¡°Name: Dante Angelo.¡± ¡°Cool, right?¡± asked Doctor. ¡°That¡¯s the name of the main character in ¡®Devils Don¡¯t Cry¡¯.¡± said Arthur, completely poker faced. ¡°Voted the coolest video-game character of the last decade!¡± Doctor gleefully replied. ¡°You can¡¯t go wrong with that!¡± ¡°You named me after a video-game character?¡± ¡°Your fake parents did. They were big fans of the game, and that¡¯s why they named you such. If there had been another son, they would have named him Virgil. If a girl, then Mary. But unfortunately, before they could-¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait. You wrote a backstory for my fake parents too?¡± ¡°I have got an entire family history. Not too detailed, but, wait-¡± Doctor said, as he clicked on a document. ¡°See?¡± It displayed a total of sixty-seven pages. ¡°You have been planning this, haven¡¯t you?¡± asked Arthur, suddenly weary. ¡°Yep.¡± He grinned. ¡°For how long?¡± ¡°Well, ever since you came back, I knew you were going to need a new identity. And now it pays off!¡± He grinned again. ¡°So, what¡¯s my fake father¡¯s name? Sparta?¡± Seeing the Doctor about to reply, he hurriedly continued. ¡°No, don¡¯t tell me. I don¡¯t want to know.¡± ¡°How can you not know your father?¡± said the Doctor. ¡°Let me just give you a short-¡± ¡°I will read through your¡­ fan fiction later, alright?¡± said Arthur, motioning him to stop. ¡°Let¡¯s just go through this¡­ character sheet first.¡± He said, pointing to the paper in his hand. ¡°Country of Origin: Italy.¡± Arthur looked at the doctor again. ¡°ITALY?¡± ¡°Oh come on, it fits with your name. Dante was born in Italy!¡± replied Doctor. ¡°And you can speak Italian.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± asked Arthur. ¡°You¡¯re a genius. Surely you know, like, twelve or fifteen languages, right?¡± Arthur sighed in exasperation. ¡°I may know Italian, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I can just start speaking naturally in it!¡± ¡°Alright.. we¡¯ll add a accident in your past which caused amnesia. Happy now?¡± asked Crane, his voice cranky. ¡°Amnesia. Wow.¡± said Arthur, staring at Crane. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°What? Amnesia is the memory loss one, isn¡¯t it?¡± asked Crane, confused. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s schizophrenia. I always get mixed up between the two.¡± ¡°Yes, Amnesia is memory loss¡­¡± Arthur sighed. ¡°Look, just it make simple. My fake parents spoke English, and so do I. Italian, not so much.¡± Doctor considered it for a moment. ¡°That works, I guess.¡± ¡°Moving on¡­ don¡¯t care about birthdays¡­ still male (thank God)... this looks alright.¡± Arthur said. Then his eyes fell on the next line. ¡°High school.. 93% ? Isn¡¯t that¡­ ¡± began Arthur. ¡°What about it? You¡¯re going to complain about that too?¡± the Doctor angrily remarked. ¡°No. Did you tinker with the government sites to create this?¡± ¡°Maybe¡­¡± ¡°Very good, Doctor. Hypocrisy at the finest. Embraced your evil side.¡± said Arthur, jokingly. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°This is no way comparable to what you did!¡± ¡°Yes. Yours is worse.¡± Arthur replied, pretending to be serious. ¡°How so?¡± challenged the Doctor. ¡°Making a false data, you tainted the official census.¡± He paused for dramatic effect. ¡°So?¡± ¡°You pushed up the median for the high school average, making students appear better than they actually are. And when next year comes around, they will find it worse.¡± He again paused. ¡°So?¡± ¡°So they will look for someone to blame.¡± Arthur whispered. ¡°They?¡± ¡°The parents, Doctor, the parents! The hungry, blood thirsty monsters will reveal their true form, looking for prey¡­ ¡± ¡°And they won¡¯t blame themselves.¡± He jabbed the air, emphasizing his point. ¡°They won¡¯t blame their children. No, Doctor, they will blame the teachers.¡± He lowered his voice even further, forcing Crane to lean in. ¡°And their blame will get the teachers¡­ fired.¡± The Doctor gasped in horror. He knew intimately what that meant. ¡°And once the unlucky teacher is fired, he will fall into depression¡­ become an alcoholic¡­ and eventually become a NEET, doomed forever by you...¡± ¡°No! Not because of me!¡± Doctor¡¯s voice turned shrill in the end. Arthur continued in a fake sympathetical voice. ¡°But no one will blame you, Doc. You shouldn¡¯t worry.¡± The doctor stared in horrified silence. ¡°Or it might all be baseless conjecture. Nothing will actually happen, because one result actually changes nothing.¡± Arthur shrugged his shoulders. ¡°What?¡± The Doctor blinked, his face a mixture of confusion and surprise. Arthur couldn¡¯t control it any longer. He burst out laughing. ¡°I was joking!! Seriously.. Doc,¡± ¡®NO! Not ...because of me!¡¯¡± He imitated the Doctor¡¯s voice. Realization dawned on Crane¡¯s face, as it started to turn red. It further prompted Arthur to burst out again. ¡°You should see your face¡­ ¡± Arthur said, between gales of laughter. ¡°That wasn¡¯t funny at all.¡± crossly replied the Doctor, after Arthur stopped laughing. ¡°It was mean.¡± ¡°Mean? That¡¯s the word you could think of? Mean? Are you in kindergarten?¡± He asked, still chuckling. ¡°Ha ha. Very funny, Dante. Perhaps I will change your goals and dreams from being a cryptographer to a comedian. How would you like that, huh?¡± ¡°Alright, alright¡­ Continuing on¡­¡± He focused again on the paper. Silence prevailed for a minute. ¡°Everything else seems okay.¡± said Arthur, after reading through the paragraphs. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. Seems inconspicuous enough. They will buy it, I¡¯m sure. Good job on this, Doctor.¡± ¡°So you are going to go, Arthur?¡± Arthur smiled. He had been troubled at first, but now he felt differently. He felt something that he hadn¡¯t felt for an eternity. Something that he never expected to feel again. Hope. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°YES!!¡± Doctor jumped in the air. ¡°This is great! Yeaaah!!¡± ¡°Woah¡­ don¡¯t get too excited. If I don¡¯t like it, I will quit.¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± The Doctor had already turned away on the computer, typing away details. ¡°If I want to bunk a few classes, I will.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t want to join any clubs, so change the interests-¡± ¡°Sure.¡± He isn¡¯t listening, Arthur realized. ¡°I will be needing a fake mustache.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± ¡°Wear a red shirt everyday.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Run for president.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Be a tap dancing champion.¡± ¡°Will be done.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll do my assignments and help me cheat on the tests.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Arthur paused, waiting for the sentence to sink in. ¡°What? Nononononono --- I meant, no. Seriously, no.. I mean I wasn¡¯t listening. This doesn¡¯t count, alright? It doesn¡¯t count. If I wasn¡¯t listening... I mean, you can¡¯t-¡± Arthur laughed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t count, Doc.¡± The Doctor sighed in relief. ¡°Well. You got me there, Arthur.¡± Arthur laughed again. Another prank came to mind. ¡°Il mio nome non ¨¨ Arthur, contadina. Il mio nome ¨¨ Dante, figlio di Sparta, e tu mi chiamer¨¤ in quanto tale!¡±
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Primer Episode: Star City Author¡¯s note: I was sick. So sorry. No, I haven¡¯t written the episode yet, but I figured I should post something. Here¡¯s a primer episode, containing no characters but rather information. This one is about Star city. You can skip it, this won¡¯t make much of a difference (or it just might. ). Primer Episode: Star City Arthur Stark¡¯s School History Assignment, Grade 3 (Age: 8) Question - What is Star City¡¯s shape? (Hint: The answer lies in the name!) Answer: Unless I misinterpreted your hint, the answer you expect is star. But it is not so. Star City isn¡¯t shaped in the form of a star. A star is a celestial body in a space producing light and heat with nuclear fusion of hydrogen and helium. (Note: this is an extreme generalization. Stellar nucleosynthesis is not my field of expertise.) Unless the star in the hint refers to an hypothetical, two dimensional gravitational star, which raises several other questions. (From my calculations, such a star will never be possible, due to the nature of gravity warping above and below itself at the same time, creating a black hole which would lead to the third dimension.) What Star City does resemble is a 5 sided star polygon, (not to be confused with a star-shaped polygon), better known as a star-pentagon or a pentagram. So, Star City is shaped like a pentagram, not a star. Please give better hints next time; or skip them entirely. (Unless Star referred here to Star of David, in which case you¡¯re right. If that¡¯s the case, I protest the lack of the clarifying words.) Question - Who is the founder of Star City? (You can ask your dad/mom for help, but be sure to thank them!) Answer: Parental assistance was not required. As for Star City¡¯s founders, here¡¯s a brief run down. It¡¯s original name was Starling City, after Craius Starling, one of the founders of the original settlement in late 18th century. Legend has it that he gambled with Raging Bull (the Formari tribe leader) to win the land; the basis for the city. That legend has now been disproved. He actually lost and started the Northwest Indian War, hellbent on wiping them out. The Potowami, Formari, Shikwakwa tribe were the major victims. Fort Dearborn archives have records detailing the fact. The skirmishes continued well up till the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, in which the Native Americans were finally forced to accept the apparent generosity of Craius Starling. They gave up the vast lands in order to retreat behind the Greenville Treaty Line, for the reputable sum of 19 dollars and 99 cents, modified to 20 dollars (Craius didn¡¯t have any coins). It was later changed to 20,000$ per year, under the sympathetic guidance of General Anthony Wayne. In 1797, Starling City was founded mainly by Craius Starling. Other founding members include Anthony Wayne, Isaac Stark, Jonathan Kent and of course Wallium West(not William; as frequently misspelled). Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! It grew moderately as a small city well up till the 19th century, partly due to it¡¯s focus on education and research. The Starling University was founded in 1812, making it one of the oldest and prestigious universities in the whole country. Since then, Starling City has a reputation for being an intellectual and cultural hub. Well up till the 20th century a series of good business decisions catapulted Starling City into one of the fastest growing cities on the continent. (Mostly the ones that promoted underhanded business tactics. White collar crime was a flourishing trade.) Then the 1920s and the production boom happened. Starling City quadrupled in size almost overnight, with new people and buildings popping up almost everywhere, bringing in a new set of problems. Intolerant communities, riots and clashes between the students and the workers became common. The Great Fire of 1923 was the result. To prevent total social and economic collapse, a new architect was hired (in 1924) to give the city a makeover: Alabaster Wright. And thus, the octagonal Starling City died and the pentagram Star City was born. Which is why we have named Alabaster Wright as our true founder and have a holiday on his birthday, whereas Craius Starling is left forgotten. (Rightfully so, in my opinion. ) Question - Name a personal incident from the life of our founder. Answer - While others undoubtedly will be writing the same old story of Alabaster and his kindness to a blind woman at the end of which he supposedly gets his inspiration for the city, (which is blatantly false), I have chosen to recount another tale. In 1920, four years before being chosen, Alabaster Wright wasn¡¯t a famous architect. He wasn¡¯t even an architect. At that time, Alabaster Wright was a high school dropout who had managed to talk his way into the office of John Silsbury, an architect. (Standards were low and jobs were plenty back then.) In 1921, one of Silsbury¡¯s clients was Roland Stark, my great grandfather. He wished to commission the Stark Mansion (a home to last his family forever, in his words). Seemingly displeased with the designs, he would have left, until Alabaster showcased his work. And the rest, as they say, is history. (Or in my case, Stark Manor). Stark loved the blueprint, and hired Alabaster immediately. From then onwards, Alabaster¡¯s career skyrocketed, as people began to see the brilliancy of the designs. The manor became the beginning of a deep friendship between the two. And when the fire happened, Roland also pushed for Wright as the main architect of the city. So when time came around, and Alabaster Wright had to propose a new name, he submitted Stark City. My great grandfather forced him to knock off the K, (he didn¡¯t want a city in his name) and hence we have Star City. TEACHER''S NOTE - Arthur, see me after class.