《Grand Dream Online》 The Prologue Michael PoV My legs are trembling from the excitement as the countdown on the screen is slowly going down. ¡¯02:46:33¡¯ ¡°I can¡¯t wait anymore!¡± While I¡¯m focused on the screen I hear footsteps behind me. ¡°You know that sitting in front of the computer staring like a zombie won¡¯t make time go faster, don¡¯t you?¡± My little brother is standing next to the door of my room. I turn around and see the smirk on his face, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s enjoying my desperation. ¡°I have been waiting for more than two years for this day!¡± He looks at me and sighs. ¡°Then waiting a couple of hours should not be that hard¡± I stand from the chair in front of the computer and throw myself in the bed. My little brother sits in front of my computer and starts browsing through the internet. I hear the clicks from the mouse and the typing on the keyboard. Suddenly a video starts playing on the screen. ¡°What is your wildest dream?¡± I turn around and watch the screen, a beautiful woman stands on the peak of a mountain while a small dragon flies around her. ¡°Grand Dream Online is the place where you can make that dream a reality, a brand new world full of possibilities and adventures¡± The dragon becomes bigger and the woman hops in its back, seconds later the creature flies through the skies while the woman keeps talking. My little brother turns to me, a smile on his face. As I look at his expression, I know he is as desperate as me to start playing. ¡°I wonder how the game works¡± In his voice I can hear the excitement. ¡°I wish the company had shown more information¡± I stare at the ceiling, thinking about the hours I spent looking for details about the game, for some reason the company didn¡¯t explain anything about it, you can only find some short films played by famous actors publicizing GDO. The creator said in most of the interviews that the game will change the world, considering his previous work, many fans hold high expectatives, including me. Robert Wallace introduced the first VRMMO to the industry fifteen years ago, it was a hit, even though the hardware wasn¡¯t well received, as it was only a couple of screens attached to a headgear. He wasn¡¯t satisfied, so for the last twelve years he¡¯s been working on GDO. With GDO he introduced a new hardware, a headgear that puts you in trance and sends the information directly to your brain, allowing the game to reproduce the five senses as if it was the real world, at least that is what Mr. Wallace said. ¡°Are you listening to me?¡± I look at Gabriel, I was lost in my thoughts and didn¡¯t listen to him. ¡°Sorry little bro, I wasn¡¯t paying attention¡± He glares at me, then he sighs. ¡°Never mind, it¡¯s clear that you didn¡¯t sleep waiting for the game¡± Now that he mentions it, I was up all night reading about the game, chatting with some friends about the possibilities from this new technology. ¡°And I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t be sleeping for a couple of days just to play the game¡± I start laughing, clearly he knows me, I¡¯m sure I will get too involved in the game and won¡¯t notice the time. My little brother turns around and keeps browsing through the net. As I hear him typing something on the keyboard while I stare at the ceiling, my mind starts to drift, my eyes feel heavy¡­ am I falling asleep? I have to be strong. I yawn. I think I hear Gabriel laughing. My eyes close by themselves, that¡¯s it, I have no willpower. Sara PoV ¡°I can¡¯t believe that GDO ran out of stock¡± I¡¯m chatting with a blonde girl with blue eyes through webcam, she¡¯s my best friend Lucy. ¡°Apparently the company only distributed 100.000 copies for the first week¡± I¡¯m frustrated, you can hear in my voice the lack of energy. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, there are at least a million people on the waitlist for the game, why would the company put a limited quantity on sale?¡± Lucy sounds as frustrated as me, we both have been waiting to play for months. ¡°I heard that they are trying to control the number of players logging in the first week, they will sell 100.000 copies per week¡± My friend remains silent for a while, looks like she¡¯s checking something on the net. ¡°At least we are on the waitlist for next week¡± She says trying to sound positive, but she isn¡¯t very persuasive. I start remembering about what happened a couple of days ago, we went to the store the day they put the game on sale, when we arrived there were thousands of people camping outside to get the game, we realized that there wasn¡¯t a chance of getting it there. ¡°Damn Michael¡± My voice sounds irritated while I mutter his name. ¡°Why are you cursing Michael?¡± Lucy sounds curious, she wasn¡¯t supposed to hear that. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see him that day in the store?¡± Michael is the person I hate the most from my class, even though he¡¯s a lazy bastard somehow always manages to get the top score on the exams, while I work really hard and end up in second place. It¡¯s been like that since middle school. ¡°I don¡¯t remember seeing him there¡± She looks like she¡¯s trying to remember. ¡°He was the first in line, I thought you saw him, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t mention it earlier¡± Lucy smiles, then looks like she thought something funny, but doesn¡¯t say a word. I wait for a while, until my patience runs out. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You must really like him to see him among all those people¡± My face distorts at the mere thought, meanwhile my so called friend laughs really hard. ¡°Hahaha.. you¡­ you¡­ hahaha¡­ you should see your face hahaha¡± I try to compose myself, I take a deep breath and then look at her. I remain silent, Lucy keeps laughing until she notices the silence. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m sorry.¡± She stares at me with puppy like eyes. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°It¡¯s just so fun to tease you¡± I try to smile, for some reason she just doesn¡¯t understand my hate towards him. ¡°Could you explain to me why is it that you hate him that much?¡± I think for a few seconds how to explain, when I¡¯m about to answer her, someone knocks on the door to my room. ¡°Wait a minute¡± I close the chat windows and then turn around. ¡°Come in¡± My father enters my room with a box on his hands. ¡°Excuse me, were you busy?¡± I stare at the box on his hands then at his smiling face. ¡°I was just chatting with Lucy¡± ¡°I see¡± He remains silent and looks at me with a face full of expectation, he¡¯s always like that, he wants me to ask about the box. ¡°Dad, what is that in your hands?¡± His eyes shine, he coughs for a second as if he was preparing to give a speech. ¡°This my little sunshine¡­¡± I¡¯m no longer a little kid dad, but I don¡¯t say it, if I interrupt him now this will take a lot longer. ¡°These last few days you¡¯ve been looking really sad, it pains my heart to see you like that, so I asked your mother what happened¡± He stops for a second to think about what to say next. My eyes start shining, I think I know what he has there. ¡°She told me about this game you wanted and how it was out of stock, so I contacted a few people I know and got it for you.¡± A huge smile appears on my face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t capable of getting two so you could play with your friend..¡± My mind stopped listening after the ¡®I got it for you¡¯. I jump out of my seat and take the box from his hands. I put it on the table and unpack the headgear. My father looks at me silent while I examine the contents. I¡¯m so focused looking at the manual that I forget about my father standing there. He coughs, then I turn around, he looks really pleased with himself. I hug him really hard, I¡¯m so lucky to have such a caring father. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re happy sweetie¡± ¡°You¡¯re the best dad ever¡± I can¡¯t seem to get rid of the smile on my face. ¡°You deserve it, I will leave you with your game now¡± He walks to the door. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to eat, I know you can lose yourself when focused on something.¡± Then he gets out of my room and closes the door. I run to my computer and write a message to Lucy, then I open GDO homepage. ¡¯01:18:15¡¯ Looks like I don¡¯t have enough time to get ready. Gabriel PoV I¡¯m in my brother¡¯s room, for a while I have been playing around in his computer. I take a look at him, he¡¯s sleeping, maybe I should wake him up. I open GDO homepage and take a look at the countdown. ¡¯00:22:58¡¯ This could be fun. ¡°Brother, wake up¡± He remains asleep. ¡°Hey bro, it¡¯s time to eat¡± He¡¯s drooling, I need to hold back my laughter, he looks really funny at this moment. ¡°GDO already started¡± Suddenly his eyes open, he gets up from the bed really fast and looks at me. ¡°How long did I sleep?¡± I.. must.. not laugh. I control myself and look at him with a serious expression on my face. ¡°You were asleep for almost ten hours, you missed GDO opening you know¡± His face loses color, he looks like someone who just received the news about not getting into college. Is he going to cry? I start laughing really hard. He looks at me confused. I turn around and show him the countdown in the screen, while I keep laughing. His expression goes from despair to confusion, then happiness and finally he seems angry. ¡°DAMMIT GABRIEL¡± For some weird reason he¡¯s obsessed with being one of the first players to login in the games. I remember the one time he had to accompany grandma shopping, just at the same time a game he wanted to play went online. He went crazy, when he came back he didn¡¯t enter that game, he just stood there in front of his computer reading what other people said about the experience. ¡®It¡¯s spoiled¡¯ he said that time, and never played the game. ¡°I¡¯M GOING TO KILL YOU¡± Looks like it¡¯s my cue to get out of here, I get up from the chair and dash to exit. When I¡¯m outside I turn around and look at him. ¡°You should get ready, eat something, go to the bath, you¡¯re lucky I was nice enough to wake you up.¡± He glares at me. I walk away from there and enter my room. I already had something to eat, I even took a bath. In my room I go towards the headgear sitting on my bed. There are only a couple of minutes left for the game to go online. I put the headgear on, it¡¯s really light and comfortable. Then I lie down on the bed and turn it on. There is a screen on the headgear. ¡®10¡¯ A number appears in front of me. ¡®9¡¯ ¡®8¡¯ I begin to feel sleepy. ¡®7¡¯ ¡®6¡¯ My eyes close. ¡°5¡± A female voice keeps the countdown going. ¡°4¡± ¡°3¡± Then I no longer notice the voice, all goes white. Seconds later I open my eyes. There is a beautiful blonde woman in front of me. The room is completely white, I look around and the whiteness surrounds me from all sides, it doesn¡¯t seem to have an end. ¡°Welcome to Grand Dream Online¡± ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for reading, if you find any mistakes, have comments or suggestions, please let me know. English isn''t my main language so it''s possible that you will find a lot of problems with my writing, i apologize and hope you will enjoy the story. Chapter One Sara PoV ¡°Welcome to Grand Dream Online¡± Such a beautiful woman, I wonder if she is an npc. ¡°Hello?¡± She smiles, it¡¯s hard to believe such an expression comes from an npc. ¡°Hello, I am the one in charge of receiving new adventurers to this world, I will now proceed to explain about your character creation¡± I look at my hands, at the moment I¡¯m in my own body. ¡°To prevent privacy problems in your original world, it¡¯s been decided that adventurers must choose a body different from their original one. Which means I will present you different choices for your new body and you will be able to modify it until you feel satisfied with its appearance.¡± She stares at me a couple of seconds then continues. ¡°Do you have any questions about this process?¡± I think for a moment. ¡°No, I don¡¯t have any questions¡± ¡°I will now proceed to scan your brainwaves so I can show a suitable choice for you¡± Suddenly the woman makes a movement with her hand, a female body appears in front of me. She has a beautiful pale skin, a couple of big green eyes and long dark hair. Her height is almost the same as mine with a similar body type. ¡°I suggest this appearance, what do you think?¡± Somehow this is exactly the body I would like to use, quite different from my real body, as I have light brown skin and my hair is really short. ¡°Can I test it?¡± As if to answer my question, the woman makes a gesture with her hands, then a light starts surrounding me, the body disappears. I take a quick look at my hands, my skin has changed color. I move around, I don¡¯t feel much of a difference. The woman makes a mirror appear next to me. Even though I look completely different, it doesn¡¯t feel strange at all. ¡°Do you like your new body? Would you like to change something?¡± I examine myself, I¡¯m pleased, the only thing I¡¯d like to change is the size of my breasts, they are as big as the real ones, which are D cup. It isn¡¯t that I don¡¯t like my breasts, but I have always thought they are uncomfortable to move around, so I¡¯d rather get rid of that while I play. ¡°Could you make my chest smaller?¡± She makes another gesture with her hands, I feel the weight in my chest decrease. In the mirror I see that they are now smaller, between B and C cup. As I move around I feel this way more comfortable. ¡°I¡¯m satisfied¡± The woman claps and the mirror disappears. ¡°Now you¡¯re ready to begin your adventure, I will send you to the starting point, any questions you have about the game system will be answered there.¡± A light wraps around me, my vision goes white. Three seconds later I¡¯m in front of a huge city. A huge number of people dressed with the same plain clothes is around me, most of them walking into the city. At the entrance door you can read in big letters. ¡®Initia Academy¡¯ Michael PoV After choosing my avatar to play I¡¯m surrounded by people outside the city, almost everyone is walking towards the entrance. I see some people dressed in different clothes over there, my guess is that they¡¯re NPCs. Looks like it¡¯s necessary to talk with them before entering the city. I take a look around me, outside of the city there are tiny monsters roaming through the grasslands. A really tiny slime, it could probably fit in the palm of my hand. It¡¯s possible to see some small rabbits walking too. ¡°Welcome to Initia Academy¡± In front of me is standing a man that looks around forty years old, dressed in different clothes as the players. He pulls a sheet of paper out of thin air and hands it to me. I unconsciously grab it. ¡®Choose a name for your avatar¡¯ The sheet disappears from my hand. Now that I think about it, I have yet to choose a nickname to use in this game. ¡°When you decide the name, just say it once and it will be registered¡± Even though I¡¯ve been waiting for a couple of years to play this game, I didn¡¯t prepare a name for my character beforehand, so I stand there while trying to decide. ¡°After your name is registered, you will be able to access the Academy and learn all you need to know about this world¡± After saying that, the man walks towards another player and starts talking to him. It¡¯s always hard to choose a name, the last game I played my username was will99, as people couldn¡¯t have the same nick. ¡°William¡± The previous message disappears and it¡¯s replaced by a new one. ¡®Your name will be registered as William, is that correct?¡¯ ¡°Yes¡± A new windows appears. ¡®The name William has been registered, you can now use the command Show Status¡¯ After I read the message, the windows disappears. ¡°Show Status¡± ¡®Name: William Class: None Health: 25/25 Mana: 10/10¡¯ That¡¯s strange, there are no status like STR or AGI. Normally games like this have that kind of info on the status window. I guess it¡¯s necessary to enter the city to get more information, so I walk towards the entrance. Players all around say their name or use the Show Status command. As I walk through the entrance I¡¯m surprised by the size of the city, you can see the endless quantity of buildings. There is an NPC next to a building that appears to be a library, I hope he will be able to provide some info. ¡°Good afternoon¡± The man looks sleepy, when he hears me for a second he looks annoyed by my presence. ¡°Hello boy, how can I help you?¡± ¡°I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions¡± He remains silent for a moment. ¡°It is my job to answer your questions, we are here to provide information and teach you about this world¡± ¡°We?¡± ¡°Oh.. you really don¡¯t know a thing about this place, just as the headmaster said¡± Now I¡¯m confused, the man notices my confusion. ¡°Look at this emblem on my clothes¡± The he points his fingers towards an emblem in his clothing, an open book sewn with a gold colored thread. ¡°All the people in this academy wearing this emblem are instructors, tasked with the mission to teach you adventurers about the world you are currently residing¡± There are other players listening to our conversation, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re as curious as me. ¡°This is Initia Academy, the place where all adventurers must pass through to find their place in this world.¡± ¡°So, this isn¡¯t as city?¡± He raises an eyebrow. ¡°Well, I can understand why you would think this place is a city, considering that our academy is as big as most capital cities in the main continent¡± A girl moves right next to me, I ignore her. ¡°What should we know about this academy?¡± The man looks toward her and smiles. ¡°Every building in the academy has a different purpose, there are different martial arts dojos, sword training centers, magic guilds, you can even find restaurants which will teach you how to cook, every skill needed to survive in this world is taught here¡± ¡°So we can learn everything we need here¡± Then I see a crowd of people gathered around us, the girl walks away. ¡°Thanks for the information, now I will go look around the academy¡± ¡°Wait, there is something you need to know¡± He looks around all the players. ¡°Until your class is decided, you can only learn three common skills¡± His voice is louder than before, so that all the people around can listen. ¡°Common skills?¡± ¡°Class?¡± ¡°Only three?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. People all around starts bombarding the man with different questions, so I decide to walk towards the center of the academy, considering that most people are gathering near the entrance. I walk for about twenty minutes, there are a lot of NPCs surrounded by players asking questions. Finally I reach an enormous building. ¡®Examination Center¡¯ It¡¯s the biggest building in the academy, probably located right at the center. There are few players walking around here, I guess most people remained at the entrance asking questions to the instructors. I enter the building. Inside there are a lot of npcs, most of them have a desk in front of them and a lot of paperwork in their hands. A man near the entrance guides me towards one of the workers, a middle aged woman wearing glasses. She looks at me with a serious face. ¡°Would you like to take the graduation exam?¡± Just like me to come to take a test barely minutes before starting this game. ¡°Yes, please¡± What can I lose? I¡¯m just starting so there¡¯s nothing for me to lose. She grabs a document from the pile in her desk. That looks like the registration form I got at the entrance. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡± She raises one eyebrow. ¡°Mr. William, you can¡¯t take the exam yet. First you need to learn three common skills in the academy, and I would recommend getting some stats points too¡± ¡°Stat points?¡± ¡°Your abilities in this world are ruled by stats, for instance the power behind the swing of a sword depends on the strength of the user, or the speed of the attack is measured by their agility. There are countless stats which work with different skills, as you use your skills, stats will raise, also it¡¯s possible to raise a stats by training, if you run a lot, you will get agility, if you read books you will get wisdom¡± ¡°I see¡± I remain silent for a while thinking about this information. ¡°Is there anything else you would like to know?¡± I smile at her. ¡°Besides common skills, is there another type of skills?¡± ¡°Of course, there are two types of skills, common skills and class skills. The first are those that anyone can learn, such as sword mastery or cooking, while class skills are those unique to the class of the user¡± ¡°I understand, then, how are classes decided?¡± ¡°Once you graduate from the academy, a class will be suggested to you by the divine power that governs the world, but it¡¯s possible to refuse the suggestion and choose a class by yourself.¡± Divine power. I want to see that. ¡°Well, I hope that I have been of help to you, now I need to return to my work, with all of you adventurers arriving today, there is a lot of paperwork to do¡± She waves her hand signaling for me to leave. ¡°Thanks for everything¡± I proceed to leave the building, it¡¯s time to learn some skills. Gabriel PoV After registering the name of my character I started walking around the academy, I got some information about the game from people asking the NPCs around. ¡°Three skills huh?¡± It¡¯s going to be quite hard to choose only three skills to learn. I¡¯ve been exploring the academy for a couple of hours, sword skills, archery, hand to hand combat, crafting skills, it¡¯s even possible to learn fishing or painting. While looking around I found myself in front of NPCs playing a card game, I entered the building, for some reason I¡¯ve always liked the mini-games within the games, such as card games, board games, racing games, in fact, for me it¡¯s possible to spend most of my time playing those mini-games rather than the main game. ¡°Welcome to the monster card collecting club¡± An old man stands in front of me, smiling while holding some cards on his hands. ¡°I would like to know more about this cards¡± The old man laughs. ¡°Of course you¡¯d like to know more about them, you look like someone who can recognize an interesting game¡± Then he grabs my shoulder and guides me to a table. ¡°Sit here, I¡¯ll explain¡± As I sit, the old man sits in front of me and puts two decks of cards on the table, he picks a card and hands it to me. The image of a cute little dog is drawn on the card, and it has written on it. ¡®Baby Wolf Attack: 5 Defense: 1 Mana: 3 Ability: None ¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s a Monster card, as you can see it¡¯s got some attributes which are used to play the game¡± ¡°Cool, can we play?¡± The old man looks at me surprised. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to learn the rules first?¡± ¡°I believe it¡¯ll be more interesting to learn while playing¡± He starts laughing again. ¡°You¡¯re an interesting one, let¡¯s begin¡± He hands me five cards and takes five for himself. My cards are Baby Wolf, Little Slime, Small Rabbit, Birdie and Young Goblin. ¡°There are different types of games that can be played with monster cards, in fact you can create your own game. We¡¯re going to play the simplest game¡± Looks like this is going to be fun. ¡°For this game, you are going to be spending your mana, the cost to play a card is written on the card¡± I check my cards they all got a cost of three, except the Young Goblin which takes four mana. ¡°Let¡¯s begin, choose one of your cards and put it on the table facing down¡± I set the Baby Wolf card on the table, the old man sets a card in front of mine. ¡°Action¡± Magically both cards turn around, his card is Birdie. I feel something escaping from my body. ¡°Show status¡± ¡®Name: Gabe Class: None Health: 25/25 Mana: 7/10¡¯ Interesting, so my mana is used with the activation of the card. The Birdie card turns around facing down. ¡°Very good, you see how my card turned, why do you think that happened?¡± As I examine my own Birdie card, its attack is four while its defense is two. ¡°Is it about their attack?¡± ¡°That was easy, the first round is about attack, the winner decides if attack or defense will be used the second round, no need to tell me, just set your second card on the table and say Action¡± So, the Young Goblin has four attack and defense, I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s the safest one to play. I put it on the table, the old man selects a card too. At this time I want defense to be the attribute that is used to select the winner. ¡°Action¡± Both cards turn around, he went with Little Slime, defense five, my Young Goblin is defeated. ¡°Somehow I guessed you were going to choose defense¡± The old man laughs. I think I get it now, so I have to guess what he will choose next, attack or defense. He sets a card on the table, I will go with my Little Slime, being the one with the highest defense. The old man activates the cards, both of them face each other, he used Small Rabbit with both attack and defense of three. His card turns around, I win. ¡®You have used up all your mana for the first time Mana +1¡¯ ¡®You have won the basic card game for the first time Luk +1¡¯ ¡°Beginner¡¯s Luck, do you want to go again?¡± Once the game finishes, I feel my mana coming back to me. ¡°Sure, I will show it wasn¡¯t luck¡± We play again and it is my defeat, he won the three rounds. ¡°Again¡± The old man plays with me another five times, the result is the same, I always lose. ¡°Do you want to give up? If you manage to beat me again I will teach another game using more cards¡± Looks like I¡¯ll be playing this game for a while. Chapter Two William PoV It¡¯s been around three years since I¡¯ve started practicing softcombat which means I¡¯m familiar with sword fighting. That¡¯s the reason for my first skill to be sword related. After wandering through the academy I¡¯ve found different sword training centers, so when I find an empty one I go inside. ¡°Welcome to the sword training center, do you want to learn how to fight with a sword?¡± A tall, bulky man who resembles a viking is the instructor in this place. ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like to learn some sword skills¡± He grabs a sword from behind him. ¡°Follow me¡± We walk towards the practicing area. ¡°First I will teach you the basic movements and footwork required to master the path of the sword, watch and learn¡± He takes the sword with his right hand, his left foot on the front and right foot behind, the tip of the sword pointing towards my face. ¡°This is the basic posture while wielding the sword with one hand, the tip of the sword must always point towards your enemy line of vision¡± Then the instructor moves his right from behind to the front while attacking with the sword, just one step and he¡¯s advanced at least a meter towards me. ¡°Your hip movement is really important, as much as the movement of the wrist which decides the direction your sword is going to take¡± Then he goes back to the basic posture. ¡°Always remember to keep your knees bent a little, it¡¯s important to control your center of gravity while you move¡± He hands me the sword. ¡°Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes¡± I take the sword and assume the basic posture. The instructor takes a look at my posture. ¡°That¡¯s correct, now try hitting me¡± I look at him, clearly he¡¯s serious about attacking him, is he that confident? ¡°But you don¡¯t have a sword¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry kid, you won¡¯t be able to hit me no matter how much you try¡± Now I¡¯m pissed, he¡¯s underestimating me. I attack him with the sword aiming towards his shoulder. He easily avoids my attack. ¡®You have attacked using a sword for the first time STR +1 AGI +1¡¯ I stop moving to read the window that popped in front of me. ¡°Come on kid, keep attacking¡± As the window disappears from my sight, I attack again, this time aiming towards his legs. He keeps avoiding my attacks, one after the other. We keep going for around five minutes, until I can no longer move the sword. ¡®You are tired Stamina added to your status¡¯ ¡°You can rest for a couple of minutes, then keep practicing I will go to take care of the other students¡± Around us there are nine players watching while I was training. The instructor goes to the counter and starts talking to them. ¡®Skill Learning: Sword Mastery To learn this skill you have to swing the sword until your basic posture flows naturally¡¯ Looks like learning a skill in this game is similar to accepting a quest. I sit on the ground after reading de skill learning window. ¡°Show Status¡± ¡®Name: William Class: None Health: 25/25 Mana: 10/10 Stamina: 8/100 STR: 1 AGI: 1¡¯ For every second I rest, my stamina recovers one point. Now I understand something else about this game, it¡¯s possible to acquire status as I learn stuff. Little by little I feel my stamina filling up until it¡¯s full, then I stand and keep swinging the sword using the basic movement taught by the instructor. As I train, other players start doing the same after being taught by him. Each time my stamina hits zero, I watch the instructor showing the basic movements to the players that keep arriving to the training center. After two hours of practicing with the sword a message appears. ¡®By practicing the basic movement with the sword you have learnt Sword Mastery Show Skills command unlocked Health +5 STR +1 AGI +1¡¯ ¡°Finally, show skills¡± ¡®Class Skills: None Common Skills: Sword Mastery ¨C Beginner Level 1¡¯ No description, huh? I go towards the counter where the instructor is. ¡°I¡¯ve learnt Sword Mastery¡± He looks at me surprised. ¡°That was faster than I expected, normally it should take between two and five days of practice¡± Looks like learning stuff in this game is going to be harder than I thought. ¡°Do you have previous experience with a sword?¡± I can sense the curiosity in his voice. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve practiced a little¡± He nods. ¡°Previous knowledge is helpful while learning skills, for instance if you tried to learn some magic you would need at least a week of practice¡± I think I get how this skill learning works, it¡¯s going to be hard to learn stronger skills. ¡°Is there a way to see the description of a skill?¡± ¡°That¡¯s simple, just say Sword Mastery Description¡± ¡°Sword Mastery Description¡± ¡®Sword Mastery ¨C Beginner Level 1 Basic sword movements are stronger and faster, stamina consumption while wielding a sword is reduced. Sword Attacks +1 Sword Speed +1 Stamina consumption -10%¡¯ While I read the skill, the instructor starts talking to another player. I wait for him to finish with the other guy, then he comes towards me. ¡°Would you like to learn another sword skill?¡± ¡°Can I learn another one?¡± ¡°Yes, once you learn Sword Mastery I can teach you a skill that can be used during combat, but believe me, it¡¯s going to be much harder¡± I wonder about that. He notices my expression and starts laughing. ¡°Let me show you¡± He grabs the sword and guides me to a corner in the training area, there is a row of training dummies. ¡°The skill I¡¯m going to use is called Bash, it¡¯s necessary to focus all your strength in the sword and release it when you hit¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Then the sword has a faint glow around it, he slashes the training dummy with explosive power. ¡°Using this skill will use your stamina faster than a normal swing¡± ¡®Skill Learning: Bash To learn this skill you have to focus all your strength on the sword and release it while attacking, it will be successful if your sword starts glowing¡¯ The instructor hands me the sword. ¡°Let¡¯s see how long does it take you¡± After that he walks towards other players. I take the basic position and point the sword towards the training dummy, then I try to put all my strength in the sword and slash the dummy. It doesn¡¯t have the same effect as the skill the instructor used, my sword didn¡¯t start glowing. An hour later I¡¯m still swinging the sword, I tried to get the same effect as his skill but it doesn¡¯t work. I assume it¡¯s going to take a lot of time to get this skill. ¡®You are hungry, find something to eat Stamina reduced faster Satiety added to status¡¯ So I have to eat something to keep training, which was unexpected. I walks towards the instructor. ¡°Master, where can I find something to eat?¡± ¡°There are various restaurants and food related buildings in the academy, food is free to students so go find something to eat¡± ¡°Thanks¡° I leave the training center and walk around looking for food. At some point I notice the smell of food guiding me towards a building. When I arrive, there are hundreds of players eating inside, it makes me remember the dining hall at school. I walk towards the female NPCs that are handing food to the other players. There aren¡¯t many players on the line, so a couple of minutes later I¡¯m in front of the counter. ¡°Today we have Beef Stew on the menu, would you like a serving?¡± ¡°Yes, please¡± The female gives me a tray with bowl of beef stew. I walk towards a table and sit by myself, I notice there are groups of players eating together. I forgot to contact my friends so that we can play as a group. Well, I enjoy solo play. The beef stew is really good, I didn¡¯t expect to find virtual reality food with such an incredible flavor. I slowly eat my food, enjoying every second. After I finish, I check my status and find that my satiety was fully replenished. Thinking about it, there must be some way to carry food around. I try opening an item menu or inventory, doesn¡¯t seem to work. Looks like you have to carry items the old fashioned way, that won¡¯t be comfortable when looting items from monsters. I¡¯ll ask about that to an instructor. As I leave the dining hall, I notice that in front there is a marketplace with different kinds of food to take. I walk towards the NPC handling the items, a young female, she doesn¡¯t look older than sixteen. ¡°Hello, may I ask you a couple of questions?¡± She smiles at me and nods. ¡°It¡¯s okay, what do you want to know?¡± ¡°How do item works here? How do I carry them?¡± She tilts her head, her eyes look up while thinking how to answer my question. ¡°You need to get a bag to carry items, outside of the academy it¡¯s possible to get magic bags which allows you to carry a big quantity of items¡± ¡°Where do I get a bag inside the academy?¡± She looks at me while smiling. ¡°You should find a tailor shop and ask them to make one for you, it won¡¯t be a magic bag but at least you will be able to carry some food around with you¡± ¡°Thanks for answering, I will look for a tailor¡± I start walking looking for a tailor shop, I think it¡¯s really important to get a bag early. The company really wants us players to figure out everything by ourselves. ¡®Someone it¡¯s trying to talk to you from outside the game, do you want to log out¡¯ Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve spent around eight hours playing. ¡°Log out¡± Everything goes to white, then to black. I open my eyes and find my brother in front of me. ¡°The game is amazing¡± He looks really excited, not that I don¡¯t understand why. ¡°Yeah, did you try the food?¡± Gabriel raises an eyebrow. ¡°I spent the whole time playing cards with some NPCs¡± I start laughing. ¡°Well, you should try the food, I can¡¯t believe it isn¡¯t real¡± He seems to be thinking about something, then points towards the clock in my room. It¡¯s only been two hours since I started playing. ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡± ¡°I was as surprised as you when I saw that less than two hours had passed since we started playing¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I spent around eight hours in-game¡± ¡°Me too, so I checked the forums and read a lot of players asking about it¡± He sits in front of my computer and starts a video. A representative from the company starts talking. ¡°We wanted to surprise the world with our technology, every four hours someone spends inside the game only one hour will have passed in real time¡± Now I¡¯m surprised. ¡°Can you imagine all the possibilities this new technology introduces to the world? Studying, working, anything you do inside the game it¡¯s more time efficient than doing it outside of our system¡± The man keeps explaining the benefits of this technology. My brother looks at me smiling. ¡°So, will you go back to the game? There are at least three hours until dinner¡± I didn¡¯t even remove the headgear so I go back to my bed. Gabriel tries to stop me. ¡°At least let¡¯s share some information¡± ¡°You were playing cards all this time, I doubt you have anything interesting for me¡± Then I laugh and turn on the game. The countdown starts. Seconds later I¡¯m inside Initia Academy. Chapter Three Sara PoV I spent two hours walking around the academy gathering information, after that I decided to log out for a little while, only to find out that the time flow is different inside the game, I just played for half an hour. ¡°I envy you, I really want to start playing now¡± Lucy was talking to me through webcam. ¡°I wish you could play, it would make choosing my skills much easier¡± Truth be told I logged out of the game to decide my course of action, after all I can only choose three skills for now. ¡°I know I will be using a sword, but by next week you will already have spent around a month inside the game¡± ¡°I guess I will learn magic and wait for you so that we can explore the world together¡± She smiles. ¡°It isn¡¯t fair, I want to play too¡± Lucy starts throwing a tantrum, a while ago I was as frustrated as her. ¡°It¡¯s time for me to go back to the game¡± She calms down, but I can see the frustration in her face. ¡°By the way, what name did you choose for your character?¡± ¡°Victoria, spanish for victory¡± After that we said goodbye and I decided to go back to the game. Seconds later I¡¯m standing in the middle of the Academy, hundreds of players walking around. What skill should I learn first? I think I will go for a healing spell. I walk towards the closest NPC I find. ¡°Excuse me, do you know where can I find someone to teach me a healing skill?¡± The man looks at me, thinks for a little while before answering. ¡°There are several kinds of healing skills, for instance it can be done through magic or using first aid, you can even share your own health with someone else¡± ¡°Magic! I¡¯m looking for a place to learn healing magic¡± I wonder how magic works in this game. ¡°Then you should go towards a temple, there are five within the academy, each belonging to a different deity, I¡¯d recommend for you go to the temple of Naleya goddess of love and wisdom or Lihane goddess of beauty and abundance¡± Love and wisdom? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s such a wise combination, yet I feel less compelled to learn from the goddess of beauty. ¡°Where can I find the temple of Naleya?¡± The instructor points towards the west entrance to the academy, he said the temple is a unique building. Soon I arrive to what looks like an old church, on top of the entrance door there is a heart engraved with a book in the center. Underneath it has something written. ¡®Temple of Naleya Goddess of Love and Wisdom¡¯ I wish I could turn around and look for something else to learn, necessary evil, I want to use healing spells. I go inside, there are several NPCs sitting around reading books. Some players next to them trying to learn from them. A woman that looks like a priestess walks through another door, I follow her. She¡¯s in a garden with a fountain in the center, surrounded by trees, different fruits growing from them. She notices my presence and makes a sign with her hand to sit in a bench next to her. Seconds later I¡¯m sitting next to the priestess, we both remain silent for a while. ¡°I would like to learn about the healing arts taught in this temple¡± She remains silent, looks at me and it feels like she can see right through me. ¡°You have a good heart, maybe too ambitious of a nature but a good heart indeed¡± Then she pauses to think about something, I wait. ¡°Have you learnt magic before?¡± ¡°No, I haven¡¯t¡± ¡°I see, most of the adventurers here will only learn a healing skill and they will need around a week of practice¡± A week? That is a lot of time for a single skill, but I think most skills will take around that much. ¡°I think you have potential, I can teach you the healing arts but first you will have to learn another skill, it will take longer but if you endure this training your magic will be stronger¡± I¡¯m not in a rush, after all I need to wait for Lucy. ¡°Please teach me those skills, I will work hard¡± The priestess smiles. ¡°Let¡¯s begin right away¡± She stands and grabs a bowl of water from the fountain. ¡°First you have to learn how to control the mana within your body¡± Then she holds the bowl with both hands, a few seconds later the water starts glowing. After a while she stops and looks at me. ¡°I poured my mana into the bowl, making it glow, that¡¯s the most basic use of magic. I want you to try and do the same¡± She hands the bowl to me, I take it with my two hands. ¡°How do I pour mana into the bowl?¡± ¡°Mana is the energy flowing within your body, you need to feel its flow and after that it¡¯s possible to control it¡± ¡®Skill Learning: Mana Manipulation To learn this skill you have to practice feeling the mana within yourself and try to control it¡¯ I close my eyes and try feeling my mana, it doesn¡¯t work. If I can¡¯t feel my mana how am I supposed to control it? ¡°Feel the beating of your heart, the blood moving across your body, mana works in the same way¡± I keep my eyes closed, focus on my breathing, I slowly breath in and out, after that I feel my heart beating endlessly, the blood pumping from it moving from my heart to my head, my arms and legs, spreading through my whole body, after a while I notice something different moving across my body, I feel the flow of my energy. ¡®You have felt the flow of mana within yourself for the first time Mana +5 WIS +1¡¯ This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. I open my eyes and see the window in front of me, looks like I made it. ¡°I finally did it!¡± The priestess smiles at me. ¡°Very good, I knew you had the potential¡± Then her face puts on a serious expression while looking directly into my eyes. ¡°It took you a little less than an hour to get the feel of it¡± ¡°An hour? To me it felt like a couple of minutes¡± I¡¯m surprised, I didn¡¯t know I was capable of that kind of concentration. ¡°Well, you were focused on the task, that¡¯s a good thing. The problem is on the field, you don¡¯t have an hour to feel your mana, you must be able to feel it instantly, the ideal is that you¡¯re capable of feeling your mana every second, without even having to focus, it must come to you as if you were breathing¡± ¡°I understand, I have to keep practicing¡± I keep going for around four hours, every try it takes me less time to feel the flow of my mana. It¡¯s hard to believe how focused I am with this task, if someone told me before I would be doing this I would have said it was impossible for me, now it just feel natural to practice like this. ¡®You are hungry, find something to eat Satiety added to status¡¯ I have to stop training, somehow I¡¯m unable to focus while hungry. ¡°Miss, looks like I¡¯m hungry¡± I say while embarrassed. The priestess has remained by my side the whole time. ¡°There are fruits on the trees¡± Then she points towards one of the trees in the garden. I stand and pick an apple from the tree. ¡°Is it alright to eat them?¡± She nods. I put the apple into my mouth, I feel the hunger disappearing. I grab another one and bring it to her. ¡°Thanks¡± She starts eating the apple. ¡°Somehow all my hunger seems to have disappeared with just one apple¡± She laughs. ¡°These are special, they are blessed by our Goddess¡± ¡°They are delicious¡± I smile, the hours I¡¯ve spent inside the game have made me forget this is not real, that I¡¯m inside a virtual world. Everything here is incredibly realistic, people expressions, the beauty of the world in itself, the very feeling of my body. I¡¯m really happy to be here. ¡°I think we should proceed to the next step of your training¡± I look at her with surprise in my face. ¡°But I still need around ten minutes to feel my mana¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, for the next step you have to continue doing the same you¡¯ve been doing these past hours¡± ¡°I understand¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m going to explain what you have to do next¡± I nod. ¡°While holding the bowl between both of your hands you have to feel the flow of your mana, then you need to try to focus your mana towards the water, if you can manage to do that the water will start glowing¡± I grab the bowl between both of my hands, then close my eyes and repeat the same process I¡¯ve been doing until now. After a while I feel my mana flowing around my body, I feel the water within my hands inside of the bowl, I try to move my mana towards the water, at first the energy slowly moves to where I want it to, suddenly all of my mana is gone. The bowl cracks in my hands, the water falls in my legs. ¡°Good¡± The priestess doesn¡¯t sound surprised. ¡®You have used up all your mana for the first time Mana +1¡¯ As I open my eyes I see the message. ¡°Your mana focused on the bowl and not into the water, that¡¯s why it broke¡± ¡°What did I do wrong?¡± ¡°There are two things to fix, first you have to forget about the bowl you only need to focus on the water, try to feel its mana. Second, you have to pour as little mana as you can, try for it to go slower, until you get more experience controlling your mana if it goes too fast it will go out of control¡± ¡°Does everything have mana within itself?¡± I think if water has mana, then everything else should have it too. ¡°Almost everything has mana, an exception being the undead creatures, they don¡¯t have their own mana but have means to use it. Water is perfect for training because its mana is easy to feel, in contrast with a stone which mana is hard to perceive¡± I feel a little tired, she notices it. ¡°Rest for a few minutes before trying again, you need to replenish your mana, as you get better you will only use a little quantity and will be able to try countless times¡± Then she stands and grabs a few berries growing in the garden, and hands one to me. ¡°Eat it¡± I grab it and as I¡¯m eating it I feel my energy coming back to me. ¡°These berries can restore your mana, but I will only give you a couple of them¡± ¡°Thanks¡± After that I start training again. When I notice is already dark outside, I lost track of time. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I was so focused that I didn¡¯t notice the time¡± The priestess smiles. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you have progressed really fast, in a couple of days you will be ready¡± After hours of practice it only takes me around five minutes to do the exercise. ¡°I will go to sleep now, you can keep practicing if you want¡± ¡°I think I will¡± She walks into the church. When I¡¯m alone in the garden, I notice the stars in the night sky, it¡¯s beautiful. An hour later I¡¯m still practicing. ¡®Someone it¡¯s trying to talk to you from outside the game, do you want to log out¡¯ It must be quite late outside. ¡°Log out¡± Chapter Four William PoV ¡°You can find a tailor two blocks from here¡± A nice old man sets me on the right track to get a bag. ¡°Thank you¡± I walk towards the direction the NPC told me. Minutes later I find myself in front of a building that looks like an exclusive clothing shop. I was expecting it to be a little more medieval. I go inside the shop. ¡°Welcome¡± A woman around forty years old wearing a colorful dress is in front of the counter. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m looking for a tailor who can make a bag for me¡± She raises an eyebrow while looking displeased. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you introduce yourself first kid?¡± Now that I think about it I¡¯ve been going around expecting all the NPCs to answer my questions just because I¡¯m a player. That isn¡¯t right, I guess I will start playing the part. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, forgive my manners I was just really excited seeing all these amazing clothes¡± I bow towards her and make a gesture with my hand. ¡°My name is William¡± As I look at her, she smiles. ¡°That¡¯s more like it William, I¡¯m Violet, one of the tailoring instructors in this academy¡± ¡®You know how to get your way with words Charm +1¡¯ I smile at her. ¡°It¡¯s pleasure to meet you¡± ¡°What do you need from me William? Would you like to learn the tailoring skill?¡± No, I clearly don¡¯t but I won¡¯t let that show in my face. ¡°No madam, I¡¯m way too clumsy with my hands to learn such a refined art¡± ¡°I understand, tailoring isn¡¯t for everybody¡± She doesn¡¯t look displeased. That¡¯s good. ¡°I was told that you could make a bag for me, is that true?¡± Violet thinks for a moment. ¡°I guess I could¡± Then she pauses, suddenly a broad grin appears in her face. That isn¡¯t good. ¡°I will make your bag under one condition¡± I suppose not everything is free around here. ¡°What condition?¡± ¡°I would like you to deliver this letter to the headmaster¡± I can do that. ¡°Sure, I will do it¡± ¡°Are you sure? He¡¯s a hard man to find¡± ¡®Quest: Find the headmaster Violet has asked you to deliver a letter to the headmaster of the academy. Rewards: Leather Bag¡¯ It isn¡¯t like I can refuse if I want my bag. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will find him¡± She hands me the letter, I take it. ¡°Any clue where the headmaster could be?¡± ¡°You should try asking near the examination center, his office is supposed to be there¡± Supposed? Doesn¡¯t sound like this will be easy. ¡°Can you tell me what he looks like?¡± ¡°You will know when you see him, he¡¯s quite an eccentric old man¡± Violet giggles. ¡°I¡¯m off to deliver the letter¡± ¡°Good luck William, I will start making the bag¡± I leave the building and start walking towards the examination center. If only the headmaster was there, I really want to go back to the sword training. Outside of the examination center I spot a familiar face, the woman who answered my questions when I came here before. It seems she recognizes me. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to come back so soon¡± ¡°I¡¯m not here for the exam, I¡¯ve been asked to deliver a letter to the headmaster¡± At first she looks surprised, then the woman starts laughing. ¡°Good luck with that¡± Somehow her tone is bothering me. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s well known among the academy staff that the only way to find the headmaster is if he wants to be found¡± ¡°Really? Is there no other way to find him?¡± She looks at me with a pitiful gaze. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t help you this time¡± I remain silent for a while, what should I do? Maybe I should forget about the bag. No, I don¡¯t think a NPC would give me an impossible task, there must be a way. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will find him¡± My voice sounds confident. ¡°Interesting¡± She sounds amused, there is a smile on her face. ¡°Go to the temple of Naleya, Goddess of wisdom, the priestess there may be of help¡± ¡°Thank you, I will go there¡± Then I walk away. ¡°Good luck William¡± The woman whispers. After minutes of walking I realize that I didn¡¯t ask where the temple is, I should ask someone else. I get directions from another NPC. On my way there I notice it¡¯s already dark, the night sky it¡¯s filled with stars. Most players seem to be inside buildings, training, learning skills, so the streets are relatively empty. I can feel the wind in my skin, it¡¯s a nice feeling. Finally I arrive in front of a church, there is light inside. I walk towards the first instructor I see. ¡°Good evening sir¡± A man slightly older than me carrying a shield stands in front of the door. ¡°Good evening boy, are you here to learn the healing arts?¡± I didn¡¯t even know about that, well I suspected it. ¡°Not really, I was told the priestess in this temple could help me find the headmaster¡± The man with a stern expression looks at me, I can see pity in his eyes. A beautiful woman walks through the door, dark hair and pale skin. When he sees her corrects his posture and looks at her. ¡°Good evening my lady¡± She smiles. ¡°Good evening Francis¡± Both of them start talking, the man forgot about my existence. ¡°I was going to sleep now, I¡¯m sorry you have to keep guard all night¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s my duty after all¡± He looks proud. I cough, I¡¯m hoping that it will make them notice me. They look towards me. ¡°My lady, this boy here was looking for you¡± She remains silent while examining me, somehow it feels like she¡¯s seeing inside of me. ¡°How curious¡± Her gentle expression makes me feel warm inside. ¡°You¡¯re the second person I¡¯ve met today with such a pleasant aura¡± Then she puts on a serious face. ¡°What is it you need from me?¡± ¡°He¡¯s looking for the headmaster my lady¡± The man answers before I can. ¡°I believe I can help you with that, follow me¡± She says good night to the man, then starts walking, I follow her. We enter a room, looks like an office. She points towards a seat. ¡°Give me a minute¡± I sit, she grabs a scroll from a library, then sits across me. She opens the scroll and puts it on the desk. It¡¯s a map, I recognize the building in the center, the examination center. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°My name is William¡± ¡°William, I will ask our great Goddess to help you with your search¡± Then she closes her eyes and join her hands. ¡°Oh great goddess of love and wisdom, I, your humble servant ask for your help, Please help William find his objective, Guide him towards the right path.¡± The voice of the priestess is warm and gentle. When she finishes praying, a light appears on the map, it moves from one point to the next until it finally stops on top of a building. ¡°There he is¡± I imagine the light is signaling the position of the headmaster. ¡°I would recommend that you hurry there, the headmaster tends to move from one place to the next in a matter of minutes¡± ¡°Can you tell how to get there?¡± She smiles. ¡°You are a lucky one, this place is a block from here, look for a bar¡± ¡°Thank you for your help¡± ¡°If you need anything else you can always come back here, in fact, I hope you will come back before leaving the academy¡± ¡°I will¡± Then I leave the office after saying goodbye, on my way out of the temple I thank the guard. Once I¡¯m out of the building I run in the direction of the bar. A couple of minutes later I¡¯m in front of the bar, out of breath. I need to train my stamina. As I¡¯m standing right next to the entrance, an old man exits the bar. He¡¯s the strangest sight I¡¯ve seen in this game so far. His hat looks like a lion biting his head, he wears a cape with a rainbow colored pattern, and his shoes appear to be the lion¡¯s paw. If I were to describe his outfit, he¡¯s in some sort of a lion costume wearing a rainbow colored cape. He doesn¡¯t even notice my presence and starts walking away. That must be the headmaster, I don¡¯t think I can find someone that looks as eccentric as him. ¡°Excuse me sir, are you the headmaster?¡± He turns around and looks at me. ¡°Indeed I am, who are you?¡± ¡°My name is William, an adventurer¡± He strokes his beard while looking at me. ¡°Nice to meet you William, are you having a good time in the academy?¡± ¡°I guess so¡± He keeps stroking his beard. ¡°I think most adventurers won¡¯t enjoy their time here, the training is long and tedious, but necessary. This world is a dangerous place, certainly more dangerous than the place you come from¡± Interesting. ¡°I understand sir, certainly this time isn¡¯t the most exciting but learning is fun in its own way¡± ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand¡± Then he looks at the night sky. ¡°Oh boy, I¡¯m late, is there something you need from me William?¡± I grab the letter from my pocket and hand it to him. ¡°It¡¯s from Violet, the tailor¡± He grabs the letter and suddenly it disappears. ¡°Well if that¡¯s all, I have to go now¡± As he turns around his outfit begins morphing, dragon wings grow from its back, the rainbow colored cape mixes with the rest of the outfit the colors of the rainbow now covering the whole body. Slowly his wings start moving and his body leaves the ground, his speed increases and seconds later he is no longer visible. My jaw wide open, my eyes full of surprise. ¡°Okay, that was interesting¡± A few minutes later I finally come back to my senses. So it¡¯s possible to fly in this world, I want to try that. But a rainbow colored dragon costume, I¡¯m not sure I want to wear something like that. After thinking for a while I decide to go to Violet¡¯s place, this delivery took me longer than I expected. When I arrive to her building, it¡¯s closed. It¡¯s kind of late after all. Let¡¯s take a look in the sword training center. I can see there are lights inside of the building. In the counter, there is a different instructor, he has a similar Viking feeling. ¡°I¡¯m here to train, can you lend me a sword?¡± The man grabs a sword from behind the counter and hands it to me. ¡°Here you go, do you need any help?¡± ¡°The instructor who was here in the afternoon taught me how learn Bash, so I will keep practicing that¡± A surprised expression appears on his face. ¡°You are quite advanced then, I will be here if you need help with something¡± A couple of minutes later I¡¯m hitting the dummies with all my strength. Chapter Five Victoria PoV Slowly I open my eyes, my body feels rested. ¡®Results of your training: Health +2 Mana +1 WIS +1 VIT +1¡¯ Sixth day of my training in the temple, I have yet to learn my first skill. I have been playing the game as much as possible, luckily we are currently on summer break and there are two months left before going back to school. So far I¡¯ve discovered that you can sleep inside the game, in fact, your avatar gets tired and it¡¯s impossible to remain awake, I discovered that the second day of playing. Every day after waking up inside the game I get a message showing the results of the training from the day before. ¡°Show Status¡± ¡®Name: Victoria Class: None Health: 30/30 Mana: 23/23 Stamina: 100/100 Satiety: 18/100 WIS: 4 VIT: 3¡¯ At this point most players have discovered this, instead of having to level up, you get status by training. The Priestess told me that killing monsters works the same, you get status the next day taking into consideration the monsters you killed the previous day. While training with her, we have become good friends, her name is Daniah and she has been a priestess for around five years. Someone knocks on the door. ¡°It¡¯s me, Daniah¡± The room I¡¯m currently in has been lent to me by the people in the temple until I finish my training. ¡°Come in¡± The priestess enters the room and smiles. ¡°Good morning Victoria, did you sleep well?¡± ¡°I was really tired last night, training is really consuming¡± I sit on the bed. ¡°Your hard work will be rewarded, I¡¯m sure of it¡± ¡°I already feel the results, the amount of mana flowing through my body has more than doubled since I started training¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, let¡¯s have breakfast and then go back to training¡± I get up from the bed, one thing I really like from this game, when I wake up I look exactly the same as the day before, it¡¯s amazing how this long hair still looks good after sleeping. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± We both leave the room and walk through the temple. On the way to the dining room we greet the people passing by. The breakfast is delicious, I enjoy this food, after all for the rest of the day I will only have fruits. When we finish eating we go outside to the garden, it¡¯s time to train. So far the results are amazing, I can get the feeling of my mana within five seconds and one out of five times I manage to get the water glowing. I expect to get the skill today, Daniah said that I should learn it anytime now. Once I¡¯m in position, I grab the bowl and fill it with water from the fountain, then I begin with the usual exercises. Sometimes I feel the mana around my body almost unconsciously. ¡°It¡¯s glowing¡± I open my eyes, the water in the bowl is glowing in the first try of the day. Daniah looks happy, she¡¯s been really supportive these past few days. A couple of days ago I asked her why is she training me, she told me that only a few players have the potential to learn Naleya¡¯s teachings, most of the people learning about healing in the temple are being taught a basic spell, instead she¡¯s trying to teach me an exclusive skill to the followers of the Goddess. But to learn that skill there is a prerequisite which is what I¡¯m practicing right now and she said that the second step depends solely on me, there is only a fifty percent chance that I will learn the skill. Even if don¡¯t learn the exclusive skill, I feel that this training has helped me develop my character so I won¡¯t regret it. ¡°Try again, if you manage to do it three consecutive times then you¡¯re ready¡± ¡°Here I go¡± I close my eyes and focus a little portion of my mana on the water, without opening my eyes I know it¡¯s glowing. I think that my current wisdom status is helping. ¡°You have managed to do it again¡± Daniah¡¯s voice sounds really excited. ¡°This will be the last time, I¡¯m sure of it¡± I¡¯m confident, I feel different than the previous days. This time I will focus a larger amount of mana into the water, the more mana the brighter it glows. Little by little I pour my mana until I reach my target, I open my eyes, it¡¯s the first time the water has glowed this bright. ¡®By practicing the use of your mana you have learnt Mana Manipulation Show Skills command unlocked Mana +5 WIS +1¡¯ Finally. ¡°I got the skill!¡± ¡°Congratulations¡± Daniah hugs me. ¡°Thank you Daniah, it¡¯s all because of you¡± ¡°It¡¯s all because you worked hard¡± It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve felt like this, in the real world you don¡¯t notice your hard work paying off this fast. ¡°Show Skills¡± ¡®Class Skills: None Common Skills: Mana Manipulation ¨C Beginner Level 1¡¯ ¡°How do I get a description from the skill?¡± ¡°You have to say Mana Manipulation Description¡± ¡°Mana Manipulation Description¡± ¡®Mana Manipulation ¨C Beginner Level 1 Basic control of the mana flow within your body, it can be used for different purposes and has influence over all other mana related skills. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Magic Attacks +1 Chanting Speed +1 Mana consumption -10%¡¯ ¡°This skill is amazing¡± Daniah nods while smiling. ¡°It¡¯s the most useful skill for a magic user to have, most people learn it after years of using magic¡± So I will an advantage over most players. ¡°Look at this¡± She picks up the bowl of water and puts it on her lap, then she moves a hand on top of the water, seconds later the water is frozen. ¡°The skill you just learnt isn¡¯t only to make water glow¡± Daniah laughs. ¡°Try it¡± I pick another bowl of water and do the same actions as her. Once my hand is over the water, I spread my mana through it, a cold sensation leaves my hand, and then I watch as the water freezes. ¡°Wow¡± After that I notice that I exhausted my energy and my eyes close, everything goes black. As I open my eyes I see a sad expression on Daniah¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± My head is on her lap. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°You used all your mana freezing the water, it¡¯s all my fault, I forgot to tell you that freezing it consumes a lot more energy, I¡¯m really sorry¡± I smile at her. ¡°It¡¯s okay¡± I sit next to her. ¡°You know, it¡¯s a good thing I learnt about this while being here, can you imagine what would have happened if I exhausted my mana in front of a monster?¡± Daniah smiles awkwardly. ¡°I owe you for teaching me all about magic, so cheer up¡± I¡¯m really thankful to her and I¡¯m glad we became friends. She stands up and puts on a serious face. ¡°Take this¡± Daniah hands me a berry. I eat it and my mana is replenished. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to learn the healing arts from our temple, follow me¡± I follow her inside the temple, we walk through the corridors for a while until we arrive to a staircase. We go to the second floor of the temple. We enter the first room. On the center of the room there is a statue, it looks really similar to Daniah. ¡°She looks a lot like you¡± Daniah smiles at me. ¡°My family and me are direct descendants from the Goddess Naleya ¡°I see¡± I wonder how many people in this world are descendants from the gods. Daniah stops in front of the statue, drops on her knees and prays for a couple of minutes. I remain quiet while she prays, waiting for her to tell me what to do next. ¡°Do you believe in the existence of the gods?¡± Hard question, in my world I don¡¯t believe in god, I¡¯m not religious at all, but in this world I can¡¯t say that, besides I¡¯ve seen magic and Daniah told me she¡¯s a descendant from a goddess, they must be real. ¡°Yes, I do¡± ¡°Good, the next task should be easy¡± She stands up and faces me, looks at me like the first time we met. ¡°This is the room where we talk to Naleya, here she teaches us and shares her love and wisdom, you have to stay here until you can hear her voice, she will teach you the skill you are looking for¡± ¡°I understand¡± Daniah walks towards the door then she turns around. ¡°There is food on that basket, you can sleep on the bed, if you leave this room before you have learnt the skill, it means you have failed and won¡¯t be able to try again¡± She opens the door and leaves, once she closes the door I hear her whisper ¡°good luck my friend¡±. ¡®Skill Learning: Naleya¡¯s Touch To learn this skill you have to pray to the Goddess Naleya, if she deems you worthy she will grant her blessing. Conditions: You will fail if you leave the room before learning the skill¡¯ I¡¯ve never prayed before in my life, this is going to be hard. What does it mean to be worthy? If I¡¯m not, will I fail? My mind is clouded in confusion and insecurity. Daniah said I can do it, I have to trust in her. Then I get on my knees in front of the statue of Naleya. I close my eyes and wait for something to happen. I remain there for minutes, I don¡¯t feel anything different. The room feels the same. Should I talk to her? What should I say? ¡°Goddess Naleya, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re listening to me or not, the place I come from is different to this world, I have never prayed over there, I¡¯m not sure what is it that I have to do¡± At first I feel silly talking to myself. But the more I talk about myself and my world something inside the room starts to change. ¡®Goddess Naleya is listening Faith added to your status¡¯ Looks like I picked her interest. For hours I keep talking about different things, school, my parents, my friends. I know there is someone else in the room. After a while I feel tired and hungry. I get a fruit from the basket in the room and fill my satiety. [Sleep child, tomorrow you can tell me more about your world] A warm and gentle voice resounds inside my head. ¡°Goddess?¡± ¡®Goddess Naleya has left the room¡¯ Well, at least I know she was here and wants to hear more. For now I will sleep and try again tomorrow. Chapter Six William PoV ¡®By practicing how to focus your strength with the sword you have learnt Bash Health +1 STR +2 VIT +2¡¯ Finally, seven days hitting dummies. I didn¡¯t expect it would take this long. I get in my combat stance in front of one training dummy, then I swing the sword while using all my strength. The glowing sword hits the dummy with explosive force, almost destroying the dummy. It isn¡¯t necessary to call out the name of the skill to activate it, I always thought how silly it is to call out the names of your skills before using them like in games and movies, so I really like the skill system in here. ¡°Good job¡± The instructor is standing behind me with a happy expression. ¡°You are the first adventurer to learn this skill¡± I turn around with a huge smile on my face, I have always enjoyed being the ¡®first¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to the instructors in this training center¡± The instructor, whose name I learned during these last days is Eric, puts a hand behind his head and looks embarrassed. ¡°What do you plan on doing next?¡± That¡¯s a good question, I¡¯ve got two sword skills so I would like to learn something else but first I will have to figure out which skill could be the most useful for me. I already got my bag from Violet, she was surprised at how fast I managed to find the headmaster. ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet, I¡¯m going to look for a useful skill to learn¡± Eric grins. ¡°Then I would like to recommend a place for you to visit before deciding¡± ¡°What place?¡± ¡°Have you heard of the combat arena?¡± If that place is what I think it is I clearly want to go. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s only been a week since you arrived. Let me explain, the arena is a place for students to test their skills and put them to practice¡± Just what I expected. ¡°But, at this point I imagine only adventurers with at most one skill are there fighting¡± Right, a hundred thousand people have accessed this world so far, and learning skills takes quite long, it¡¯s quite impressive that I have two of them already. ¡°So I want to give you this¡± Eric hands me a letter, I grab it. ¡°Only one arena is open to all adventurers, with this letter you will be able to enter the elite combat arena, in there only the most talented students can participate¡± ¡°Thanks master, I appreciate it¡± I wonder how many players have obtained permission to enter. ¡°I look forward to hearing about your adventures in the future¡± After that I said goodbye and shook hands with him. Then I go to the marketplace and get some food in my bag, having food with you is way more comfortable than going to the dining hall every time satiety drops. ¡°Hey, where did you get that bag?¡± A group of five players approach me. I haven¡¯t seen many other players with a bag. I don¡¯t mind telling them, sooner or later they will get something like my bag. ¡°It was made by one of the tailoring instructors¡± ¡°I see¡± Says the one in the center that looks like the leader of the group, I suppose there are a lot of people who are playing together. ¡°Thanks for the information¡± They all smile and go their way after thanking me. My brother also went to the tailor and asked for a bag, he received a different task so there was no point in telling them about what I did exactly. I walk through the academy for a while, I got the location to the elite arena from a NPC but I¡¯m not sure if I should go, I want to learn a third skill and graduate from the academy as soon as possible, it would be great to be the first to leave this place. What skill should I learn? Maybe some magic, I could become some sort of magic swordman, a healing skill could be helpful, even a crafting skill may be worth it, I¡¯m even considering to learn the cooking skill, after all, food it¡¯s a must have in this game. While thinking about my third skill I arrived to the elite combat arena. There is a NPC guarding the entrance. I grab the letter from my bag and hand it to him. He grabs the letter and looks at it, after a few minutes I¡¯m allowed to go inside. There are around a hundred players in here, the place is divided in ten giant circles where people are fighting, next to the walls there are all sort of weapons and NPCs handling the order in which players fight. I approach one of the NPCs. ¡°Excuse me, could you explain to me how the arena works?¡± ¡°To participate you have to choose a weapon, after that you can register with any of the instructors, you will be assigned to a number and a battle circle, when your number is called it is your turn to fight¡± ¡°I want to use a sword and register please¡± The man gets a sword and hands it to me, it¡¯s the same type used in the training center. ¡°Please go to battle circle 5, your number is 81¡± ¡°Thanks¡± I look at the circles, the number is written all around them so it isn¡¯t hard to locate the one assigned to me. Inside the circle two players are fighting with swords, one of them is using a katana while the other uses a two handed sword. They must have learnt from a different training center, as I look at their battle neither of them are very skilled, they clumsily fight with the swords, so much for the ¡®elites¡¯ of the academy. I examine the other players around the circle, there are players with different kinds of weapons, swords, axes, bows, staffs, it¡¯s a good chance to watch other skills in action. After three fights I start getting bored, I want to fight. Up until all of the battles have been kind of boring, I understand it must be because we are all starting but I was expecting more from the players the instructors have picked. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Participants number 56 and 81, please enter the circle¡± The referee finally calls my number, I step into the ring. A man clearly older than me steps into the circle, he must be at least two meters tall, twenty centimeters over me. He carries a huge axe. I have to admit, I¡¯m intimidated by his presence. We both get to the center and look at each other. ¡°Let¡¯s have a good fight¡± The referee says calmly, looking at both of us, who nod. My opponent grins, looks confident of his victory. ¡°BEGIN¡± As the battle begins I move back and focus on my stance, my sword always pointing towards my opponent. He quickly holds his axe with both hands and swings it towards me. He¡¯s slow, I avoid the attack easily and move around him, he turns in my direction trying to hit me with his axe. Lucky for me, his movements aren¡¯t only slow but predictable, he doesn¡¯t have experience with his weapon. Every time he attacks I dodge, soon he¡¯s out of breath and gets even slower. I¡¯ve kept my guard while dodging. After circling around him I still have energy to move swiftly. Finally when I see an opening while he tries to recover his breath I charge with my sword using bash, the axe was dropped, my sword hit right in his arm, his huge body gets pushed to the side by a couple of meters and he falls to the ground. He cries in pain while holding his arm, during the precious combats I noticed that there isn¡¯t much of a pain reduction in this game, when hit, players looks seriously hurt by the attacks, at some point I will have to take a hit to know, but not against that huge axe. ¡°I give up¡± My opponent says after being hit just once, looks like I was intimidated over nothing. ¡°Winner combatant number 81¡± Players surrounding this circle look impressed, I suppose there aren¡¯t many players with active skills yet. Most of them have only something like my sword mastery. The referee approaches me. ¡°Please go back to the counter and register your win¡± I do as he said and go back to the NPC that registered me. ¡°I won¡± He looks at me, then writes something on a sheet of paper. ¡°Congratulations, your first victory has been registered, for adventurers that manage to get ten consecutive victories there is a prize, keep working hard¡± A prize, that¡¯s interesting. ¡°Do you want to register for another battle?¡± ¡°Yes please¡± ¡°Your next battle will be in circle number 2¡± I head over to the circle and wait until it¡¯s my turn. When I¡¯m called by the referee a female player is my opponent, she looks really small and has short red hair, what surprises me is that she is barehanded. I¡¯m not too keen on hitting a girl. ¡°I¡¯m Iris, please take it easy on me¡± She has an innocent smile and her cute expression makes me want to quit this fight. ¡°I¡¯m William¡± But my prize, I don¡¯t want to lose. The referee looks at both of us. ¡°Get ready, FIGHT!¡± I¡¯m not sure what to do. During my seconds of doubt she makes a fireball appear in her right hand. ¡°Magic¡­¡± Not realizing the danger of her skill I remain there staring the fire in her hand. She throws the fireball and I barely manage to avoid a critical hit. ¡®Health -5¡¯ I look at my left shoulder, suddenly the pain, I understand why my previous opponent quit after one hit. But there is no time to feel the pain as I see a fireball in her right hand, then another one in her left hand. Her cute expression has transformed in that of a femme fatale. I¡¯m afraid, I don¡¯t want to be hurt again. She throws a fireball, I dodge but the second fireball hits me right in the chest. ¡®Health -10¡¯ ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaa¡± It hurts, it seriously hurts. I try to calm myself, breathe in and out. She has another fireball in her hand, I need to calm myself. When she throws the fireball at me I avoid it and the next one too, then I step towards her and attack with my sword. She avoids my attack and throws a fireball, which I hit my right leg. ¡®Health -5¡¯ I keep attacking while avoiding her fireballs, I no longer care about hitting a girl, I¡¯m not willing to get hit again. After a while she stops throwing fireballs and concentrates on dodging my sword, she must have run out of mana. ¡°I quit¡± She says while smiling. ¡°Participant 81 wins the battle¡± This is frustrating. I didn¡¯t even hit her. This was her victory. She walks out of the circle and I follow her. ¡°Hey¡± She turns around. ¡°Congratulations¡± Her voice is sweet, but I know better, she¡¯s dangerous. ¡°It was your victory¡± She laughs. ¡°I know¡± ¡°Let¡¯s fight again in the future, next time I will make sure to win¡± She looks amused. ¡°Next time I will another way to deal damage besides magic¡± Then she turns around and leaves. I go to register my victory, even though I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a win. At least now I know what I¡¯m lacking. I want to use a shield, I want to stop her attacks. Then I remember the instructor in the temple of Naleya, he was wearing a shield and I would like to see the priestess again. After thinking about it I leave the arena, I will come back before graduating. Learning how to use a shield is my priority. Chapter Seven Gabriel PoV ¡°I¡¯m really frustrated¡± My brother isn¡¯t in a good mood, which I find strange because playing GDO has been a great experience for both of us. ¡°What happened?¡± Curiosity in my voice, I can¡¯t seem to think of a reason for him to be like that. ¡°I got beaten by a tiny little girl¡± What? ¡°How did that happen?¡± I¡¯m surprised, I didn¡¯t even know about PvP in the academy, but my brother losing to a little girl, that¡¯s something else. ¡°There is a PvP building, I went there and got beaten¡± ¡°Could you be a little more specific?¡± I notice the anger in his eyes. ¡°She used magic, you know, it¡¯s common sense for magicians to be weak against warriors, yet she avoided every swing of my sword as if it was the easiest thing to do¡± He clutches his fist. ¡°The worst thing is that she ran out of mana and gave up¡± My brother remains silent for a while, I¡¯m not sure what to say, normally I would tease him but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good time for that. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do a single thing besides getting hit by her fireballs¡± Then I smile sympathetically. ¡°And how was it? Magic in GDO?¡± He smiles and the mood around him changes. ¡°It was amazing, you should have seen those fireballs appear out of nowhere and they came straight at you really fast, there was no cast but I¡¯m guessing that was a really basic skill, I wonder how strong magic will be when the players are stronger¡± Michael talks excitedly about magic in the game for a while, looks like he already forgot about the beating, I will tease him about it in the future. ¡°How about you? Are you still playing card games?¡± He asks with a grin in his face. I don¡¯t want to answer, yes I have only been playing games, but I learnt a skill, a useless skill, he is going to laugh about it. He keeps staring at me, he knows there is something I don¡¯t want to say. ¡°You got a skill didn¡¯t you?¡± I knew it, he¡¯s sharp when things are of his interest. I nod. ¡°Of course you did, skills are learned by repeating the same action¡± I shouldn¡¯t have spent all my time playing cards. ¡°What kind of skill did you learn?¡± His tone is serious. I wait for a while before answering. ¡°It¡¯s called Bluff¡± Suddenly he burst out laughing. ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to tell you¡± It¡¯s depressing. When he finally stops laughing his tone gets serious. ¡°What does it do? Your skill I mean¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, the NPC I was playing with didn¡¯t know either¡± He laughs again. ¡°You know, you can see the description of a skill¡± ¡°What? How? I tried the show skills command and all I got was the name and level of the skill¡± He keeps laughing. ¡°You just have to say the name of the skill plus description, in your case ¡®Bluff Description¡¯ should work¡± I will have to try that. ¡°Well, you certainly fixed my mood¡± His face, that horrible grin of his when he is having fun mocking me, time to remind him of this little girl. ¡°You should go back into GDO to get beaten by little girls¡± His smile disappears. ¡°Forget about the little girl and I will forget about your skill, deal?¡± ¡°Deal¡± That was easy, his pride was seriously hurt. ¡°What will you do now? Did you decide what skill to learn?¡± He smiles again. ¡°I¡¯m going to learn how to use a shield¡± Interesting choice, usually he¡¯s all about attack power. ¡°And you?¡± He asks with a curious tone. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, keep playing cards I guess, but magic sounds interesting¡± ¡°You should hurry up, I will leave the academy as soon as I can and won¡¯t wait for you¡± I¡¯m stuck in the role of a supporter, after all he paid for half of my headgear with that condition. ¡°My instructor said that there are some useful skills to learn from playing cards, the problem is he doesn¡¯t teach them, you just learn them by playing¡± He sighs. ¡°I get it, you are going to keep playing no ma matter what I say¡± I nod. ¡°As long as you have fun¡± Then he turns around. ¡°Time to learn how to use a shield¡± He leaves. We already had lunch so it¡¯s time to go back to the game. William PoV Once I had lunch and let out some of my frustration talking with my brother I came back to the game. ¡°Show Status¡± ¡®Name: William Class: None Health: 40/40 Mana: 10/10 Stamina: 100/100 Satiety: 85/100 STR: 8 AGI: 5 VIT: 5¡¯ While learning my sword skills I got health, strength, agility and vitality. My brother has gotten mana, luck and wisdom, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to need those stats but my mana needs to increase. For that reason I¡¯m going to learn my shield skill to the temple of Naleya, I already checked and there are a couple of shield training centers but they do mostly the same kind of training I did on the sword training center, which makes me think I will only get the same stats. I hope in the temple there is a different kind of training. I arrive there shortly, lot of players reading books, praying and similar stuff. The instructor I saw the other day isn¡¯t here and there is no one carrying a shield, maybe I can ask the priestess, after all she asked me to come back. Asking around I was told to go to the garden, supposedly the priestess spends most of her time there. And there she is, the atmosphere around her is so calm, I even think that I shouldn¡¯t bother her. But she saw me and waved her hand while smiling. I walk towards her and bow my head. ¡°William, no need to be so formal¡± She says while frowning, I¡¯m glad she remembers me. I look at her and smile. ¡°I have to thank you for the other day, I managed to find the headmaster and deliver the letter thanks to you¡± She smiles, it feels so warm and gentle. ¡°No need to thank me, I¡¯m I could help¡± Then she stares at me for a while. ¡°You are quite talented, two skills in only a week, I knew you were a promising adventurer¡± How? ¡°How did you know that?¡± ¡°Oh.. certainly it must be quite strange for you, as a priestess of Naleya goddess of love and wisdom, one of my skills allows me to see the information concerning other people¡± That explains it. ¡°Well, most instructors have a skill which allows them to see some information about students within the academy¡± I see, that¡¯s why most instructors don¡¯t ask much questions when you talk to them. ¡°Good to know that, forgive me for asking but is it possible to learn that skill?¡± She giggles. ¡°It is possible, but it would take you at least five years and you would have to become a high priest within our temple¡± Stolen story; please report. A useful skill I will never have. ¡°I¡¯m no priest material¡± ¡°I know¡± She says while giggling. ¡°What can I do for you today?¡± The priestess gets in a more serious mood. ¡°I was wondering about the instructor who was here the other day, the one with the shield¡± ¡°So you are looking for Sir Francis¡± I nod. ¡°He only comes here at night, may I ask what do you want from him?¡± ¡°I was wondering about shield skills, after looking around at the training centers I figured out I may learn something different from an instructor in the temple¡± She looks at me with curiosity in her eyes. ¡°What makes you think that?¡± ¡°His shield looked different and I figured as a follower of Naleya he may practice a different skill¡± She nods. ¡°You are right, our knights learn shield related skills from Goddess Naleya teachings¡± Then it may not be possible for me to learn from him. As if she knew what I was thinking. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Sir Francis can teach you basic skills but it is harder to learn in comparison to normal shield skills¡± ¡°I want to learn here, please¡± She smiles, somehow I get the feeling she already knew I was going to say that. ¡°You will have to wait until he arrives in a couple of hours, meanwhile I would like if you keep me company¡± ¡°It would be my pleasure¡± She giggles. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that my friend Victoria can¡¯t come here, I¡¯m sure you two would get along¡± ¡°Is Victoria an instructor in the temple?¡± I think it¡¯s strange for a NPC to talk about another person without being asked, it may be a quest or something like that. ¡°No, Victoria is an adventurer like you, she has been learning from me this past week¡± Interesting, it doesn¡¯t look like the priestess teaches to just any player, besides she said my friend meaning they already got quite intimate. ¡°And why is it that she can¡¯t come here?¡± ¡°She is in the middle of a task I gave her¡± I¡¯m a curious person, if possible I would like to meet this Victoria person. ¡°Why do you think we would get along?¡± She giggles. ¡°You two have a very similar aura, I must say I was quite surprised to meet you both in the same day, people with similar auras are quite rare¡± ¡°What do you mean aura?¡± She gets serious again and remains silent for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I forgot you are an adventurer, aura is the energy that surrounds the body, every person has unique traits in their aura making it very difficult for two people to have similarities¡± I see, now I¡¯m curious as to why we have similar auras. Does it have to do with the fact that we are both adventurers, I don¡¯t think so, the priestess sees other players every day. ¡°Having similar auras, does it have a meaning?¡± ¡°Based on Naleya¡¯s teachings, when two people have similar aura means that they are compatible, you could even say that they are meant to be together¡± She laughs. My expression must be quite hilarious, I don¡¯t believe in fate or things like that, besides, how could a game tell all that information? Now that I think about it, Naleya is the goddess of love, that¡¯s why her teachings say that, it¡¯s possible that if I go to ask to temple of the god of war it may have a different meaning. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much, you will figure out what I mean soon enough¡± I will do whatever it takes to prove her wrong, I won¡¯t meet this Victoria person. After that we talk about different things until evening. ¡°Sir Francis should already be here, go find him¡± ¡°Thank you priestess¡± I stand and start walking. ¡°William¡± I turn around and see her pouting. ¡°My name is Daniah, please remember it¡± ¡°I will, if everything works out I¡¯m going to be around here for a while¡± She smiles. Then I go inside the temple and after a few minutes I find Sir Francis. ¡°Sir Francis?¡± The man looks at me with curiosity. ¡°How do you know my name?¡± ¡°I was here the other day while you were talking to the priestess¡± He remains silent for a while, he clearly is trying to remember. ¡°The kid looking for the headmaster, now I remember¡± I sigh. ¡°Are you looking for the priestess again?¡± ¡°No, I was just with miss Daniah a few minutes ago.¡± He looks shocked. ¡°Why? How do you know her name? It took me months to ask¡± Then he keeps muttering things to himself. ¡°Could it be? Do you like her?¡± He looks at me while blushing, didn¡¯t expect this character from a man who looks so serious. ¡°Wh.. what? Ho.. how?¡± He is clearly nervous. ¡°It¡¯s quite obvious by your expression when you heard her name¡± He looks down. Awkward silence remains for a couple of minutes. Sir Francis looks at me, he finally realized something. ¡°What do you need from me?¡± ¡°I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a shield¡± He frowns. ¡°I¡¯m not here to teach, my duty is to protect this temple¡± I thought so, no wonder there are no other players learning about shields here. It¡¯s lucky that I have a secret card to play. ¡°I was told by miss Daniah that you were the best person to ask about shield skills¡± He looks quite pleased. ¡°Of course, if the priestess said it I have to prove her right¡± He puts a hand on his chest while looking proud of himself. ¡°Come with me kid¡± As I follow him we go inside an empty room, quite a spacious place. Take this, he hands me his shield. Seconds later he takes out his sword and gets in a position of attack and swings his sword towards me. ¡°Wait¡± I¡¯m confused. Looks like he isn¡¯t the kind to explain things. ¡°You just have to block my sword and don¡¯t move from that spot, if you can hold back my attacks without moving you will learn something¡± ¡®Skill Learning: Naleya¡¯s Shield To learn this skill you will have to become a wall against your enemies, hold back the attacks without stepping back¡¯ I put the shield in front of me, Sir Francis attacks me. When the sword and the shield collide, the impact pushes me back and I hit my back against the wall. ¡®Health -15¡¯ What a monster, how much strength does he have? Those were at least ten meters that he pushed me back. ¡°Looks like I will have to hold back a little more¡± He says while looking amused. Hold back more? He was holding back, now I¡¯m afraid. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can¡¯t die inside this room, you will just get knocked out for a few minutes¡± I hope this doesn¡¯t last for a week, I don¡¯t think I can take this for a whole week. ¡°What are you waiting for? Come back here¡± Chapter Eight Victoria PoV [Thank you for talking to me about your life] After being inside this room four days, the Goddess finally talked to me again. Suddenly the sculpture gets enveloped by a bright light. Seconds later the Goddess is in front of me. ¡°I think this way it will be easier to talk¡± Her tone sounds relaxed, clearly in this world sculptures come to life every day, but not in my world, a warning would have been nice. ¡°Did I surprise you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not used to this sort of situation¡± My voice sounds nervous. ¡°You will get accustomed to it¡± Then she examines me for a few seconds. ¡°What is love?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Her expression looks serious but I notice a slight sign of a smile. ¡°What is your definition of love?¡± Wait a minute, is this the fifty-fifty chance of me learning the skill, what should I answer? ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you already earned my blessing so just answer honestly¡± At least I¡¯m not gambling my skill with this answer. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I love my parents, I love my best friend, but I don¡¯t have words to describe ¡®love¡¯¡± She smiles. ¡°Good answer¡± She walks a step towards me, I¡¯m still on my knees, she puts her hand on the top of my head and a bright light covers the room. ¡®By communicating with the Goddess Naleya you have obtained her blessing and learnt the skill Naleya¡¯s Touch Faith added to status Mana +5 WIS +1 Faith +10¡¯ [See you soon Victoria] ¡®Goddess Naleya has left the room¡¯ I didn¡¯t manage to thank her. ¡°Naleya¡¯s Touch description¡± ¡®Naleya¡¯s Touch ¨C Beginner Level 1 You can convert mana into health and transfer it to another living being, abnormal status can be cured upon direct contact with the objective. 1 mana for 1 health Simple abnormal status can be restored Health can be transferred within a 5 meters circle¡¯ Doesn¡¯t look as useful as I thought it would be, but being able to cure abnormal status is a plus I¡¯m grateful for. Now I can leave the room. I look for Daniah to tell her I learnt the skill, after a while I find her standing next to the door of a room. When I¡¯m closer I hear the sound of a sword hitting something, the heavy breathing of someone. Daniah notices my presence and with her hand makes a gesture for me to be silent. I reach the door and a knight instructor is attacking an adventurer holding a shield, when the sword hits the young man gets pushed pack a few meters and immediately returns to his original position to get hit again. The adventurer is handsome, short white hair and pale skin, broad shoulders, 1.80 meters tall. Suddenly Daniah grabs my hand and starts walking, I follow her. Minutes later we reach the garden. ¡°Looks like you enjoyed the view my friend¡± What? I feel the temperature of my face increasing, I flush. She laughs. ¡°Well, he¡¯s a handsome young man isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°I guess¡± I try to avoid the topic. ¡°Should I introduce you to him?¡± ¡°Enough teasing Daniah¡± I know he doesn¡¯t look like that in the real world, besides I¡¯m not here looking for a man. She pouts. ¡°Congratulations on getting your skill¡± Daniah smiles. ¡°Thank you¡± ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± ¡°I want to learn a combat skill, a magic attack maybe¡± The priestess remains silent for a while. ¡°I can¡¯t teach you magic attacks, it would take too long and you would have to become a follower of Naleya¡± That¡¯s disappointing, I like it here and I thought all my skills would be learned from Daniah. ¡°But I can tell you where to go, if you want to¡± ¡°I trust you, please tell where to go¡± ¡°My brother is the Priest in the temple of Natech, god of war and knowledge¡± She pauses for a second. ¡°He can teach you an offensive magic skill¡± ¡°I will go there¡± My friend smiles. ¡°Tell him I sent you¡± ¡°Thank you for everything Daniah, I¡¯m really glad I met you¡± ¡°We will meet again dear friend¡± Then she walks to a box in the garden and takes out a small bag. ¡°Take this, it will help you in the future¡± I grab the bag and put it around my waist. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to take some fruits from the garden with you¡± Then her eyes get teary, looking at her my eyes get teary too. We hug. ¡°I really enjoyed your company¡± Her voice sounds happy. ¡°It isn¡¯t like I¡¯m leaving the academy you know¡± We both laugh. ¡°I know, it¡¯s just that it has been a while since I could talk to a friend¡± Her duty doesn¡¯t allow her to have much fun. After that we talk for a couple of hours before I leave the temple. We say our goodbyes and leave to learn my last skill in this academy. An hour later I arrive to the temple of Natech, looks like a coliseum. All tree instructors are muscular men carrying a spear and shield. I¡¯m not sure what kind of magic I can learn here, Daniah told me to come, I have to trust her. Asking around for the priest an instructor points me towards his direction. Daniah¡¯s brother looks a lot like her, he doesn¡¯t fit with all the other instructors in this temple, I would say he has a girlish appearance. ¡°Excuse me¡± I interrupt him while he¡¯s talking to another NPC. He turns around. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Daniah, the priestess in the temple of Naleya sent me here, she said you could teach an offesinve magic skill¡± He looks at me, Daniah said that instructors have a skill to see information of the adventurers within the academy. ¡°Interesting, I did not expect my sister to find an apprentice so soon¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The air around him is completely different from his sister, he doesn¡¯t seem gentle. ¡°What is your name child?¡± I wonder why the instructors treat me like a child, I¡¯m already seventeen. ¡°My name is Victoria¡± ¡°Good, Victoria, my name is Darius and I will teach you the skill you are looking for¡± He smiles but his gaze makes me uncomfortable. ¡°First, let me test your abilities, come with me¡± I follow him outside, adventurers are learning how wield spears or use shields from the instructors. Darius call one of the instructors. ¡°Fight with her¡± What? Fight? I don¡¯t have fighting skills. The instructor get combat ready. Darius looks at me. ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± I don¡¯t like him. At least if I get hurt I¡¯m capable of healing myself. Suddenly the instructor attacks me with his spear, I barely have time to avoid the attack. I don¡¯t think I will last long, in fact, one hit and I¡¯m out. ¡°Block¡± I keep avoiding his attacks, I consider myself an agile person. Darius frowns. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you blocking with your mana?¡± The instructor stops moving towards me. ¡°Blocking with my mana?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Daniah teach you Mana Manipulation?¡± I didn¡¯t think about that. ¡°Wait a minute, Mana Manipulation can be used to defend?¡± Darius sighs. ¡°I bet Daniah showed you how make things glow and look pretty but didn¡¯t even mention how this skill can be used in battle¡± I nod. ¡°I get it, I¡¯m going to show you, Aulon, attack me please¡± The instructor uses his spear to attack Darius, he doesn¡¯t avoid the attack but I feel his mana concentrating into his arm, then he blocks the attack. ¡°Did you notice?¡± ¡°Yes, you focused your mana in a single spot of your body and used it to block his attack¡± He smiles. ¡°At least you are a talented child¡± I really don¡¯t like him. ¡°Do you think you can do it?¡± ¡°Maybe, let me try¡± The instructor gets ready to attack. I cross my arms and focus my mana there, I can¡¯t seem to focus as much as Darius, neither can I concentrate it in a single spot, my mana is dispersed all around my arms. ¡®Health -20¡¯ The spear hits right into my arms, somehow the mana managed to stop the attack, but I fall to the ground after his attack, the pain is unbearable and I can¡¯t seem to move my arms. ¡°As expected¡± Darius tone sounds confident. I try to take a look at him, but everything is blurry I believe I¡¯m going to pass out. ¡°Use Naleya¡¯s Touch¡± Right, healing, I can heal myself. ¡°Naleya¡¯s Touch¡± The mana flowing through my body starts converting into energy, the pain slowly disappears and my vision clears. A while later I try to stand, my arms remain numbed. Darius thanks the instructor and makes me follow him inside. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if my ways are too crude, but that is the way of Natech¡± He completely changed, is he bipolar? Before he looked like a sadistic fellow and now I feel the same warm feeling that I felt while training with Daniah. ¡°To learn the skill I¡¯m going to teach you it¡¯s necessary to feel a spear with your body at least once¡± ¡°I understand¡± He grabs a cup from a table in the room and fills it with magic. ¡°Drink this¡± As I drink the water the numbness in my arms disappear and I feel all my mana coming back to me, my body feels slightly different. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s normal water blessed by Natech, it restores energy and makes you thirst for battle¡± That¡¯s what I¡¯m feeling right now, it¡¯s an urge to start fighting. ¡°The thirst for battle will disappear in around five minutes¡± He laughs. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± He keeps laughing. I grab his collar and glare at him. Then I take a look at his face, he looks amused. The rage disappears, why is it that I¡¯m grabbing his collar? I let it go. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a little side effect from the drink, but at least you are in a better condition now¡± I don¡¯t want to drink that again, it felt like all reason left my mind. ¡°So, are you sure you want to learn from me? I¡¯m not a nice teacher¡± ¡°I trust Daniah sent me to you for a reason¡± He laughs again. ¡°Let¡¯s go outside¡± We leave the room. ¡°Look at this¡± He raises his hand towards the wall, the mana inside his body starts condensing in the air forming a spear of light which remains floating in his hand. ¡°This is Magic Spear, it¡¯s a simple magic attack but stronger than most spells you can learn in this academy¡± Then he throws the spear into the wall, which is easily destroyed. ¡°Can you do it?¡± I nod. I stand in front of the wall, raise my hand and focus my mana outside of my body, controlling the energy outside my body it¡¯s harder than I thought, little by little the mana takes a shape similar to an spear, an inconsistent spear and a smaller version than the one Darius used. ¡®Skill Learning: Magic Spear To learn this skill you need to be able to create a stable spear with your mana¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s shabbier than I expected but I guess it is good enough for a first try¡± My spear right now is humiliating, it barely resembles one and looks like it will disappear any moment. ¡°I will improve¡± Darius smiles, for the first time it doesn¡¯t look fake or sadistic. ¡°Keep trying, come back inside to rest when you are out of mana¡± Then he goes into the room and I keep trying to form a correct spear. Chapter Nine William PoV Seven days of training with Sir Francis and I have yet to learn the skill. At first he would just hit me, then he started telling me to change some things in my posture, and when he had to leave I was left doing some drills with the shield. My status have kept growing steadily. At this moment Sir Francis and I are sitting inside the training room having a five minute a break. ¡°You know William, at first I wasn¡¯t going to train you¡± He looks serious. ¡°I thought you would quit after a few hits, after all, this training we are doing is step five, and most people can¡¯t handle it before completing the previous steps¡± Then he laughs. ¡°But you are an obstinate fellow¡± ¡°Why would you want me to quit?¡± He sighs. ¡°You know I¡¯m in love with miss Daniah and used that information to get me to teach you, I was just going to hit you for a while¡± I look behind him, the priestess is blushing next to the door, he just confessed and doesn¡¯t even know it. ¡°Teacher¡± My tone is serious. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Miss Daniah is behind you and I think she heard what you just said¡± He raises an eyebrow and then laughs. ¡°That¡¯s a good joke¡± I sigh. ¡°Look behind you¡± ¡°I¡¯m not falling for that¡± I look towards the priestess and shrug my shoulders. Sir Francis face gets pale, he slowly turns around a sees the girl standing next to the door. They both remain silent for a minute. Awkward situation for me to be in. She smiles and then leaves. The instructor is too shocked to do anything. Five minutes later he finally realizes she left already. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I can see a tear appearing in his eye. ¡°Get ready to train, I need to relieve my frustration¡± That means he¡¯s going full power, scary. I grab the shield and prepare myself to hold my position, I must stop his attack no matter what. He swings his sword towards me, his movement is so fast I can¡¯t even see the sword coming in my direction. The clash of sword and shield echoes all through the room. I was pushed back a couple of meters, at least I have grown stronger these past few days. ¡®By holding your ground against a stronger foe you have learnt Naleya¡¯s Shield Health +5 STR +1 VIT +2¡¯ ¡°I got it¡± Sir Francis looks at me confused. ¡°I learnt the skill¡± He smiles. ¡°Good¡± His tone sounds depressed. I would like to fix his mood, I¡¯m thankful to him for training with me the whole week. ¡°Come on, it isn¡¯t the end of the world, besides I think you have chance with the priestess¡± He keeps looking down. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°She was blushing and smiling, didn¡¯t you notice?¡± He looks at me. ¡°Really?¡± This man clearly doesn¡¯t have faith in himself, at least concerning women. ¡°I saw her, she was smiling¡± He smiles awkwardly. That¡¯s it, I leave the room. I find the priestess sitting next to the fountain in the garden. Time to play matchmaker. Normally I¡¯m not the kind to meddle with other people affairs, but I like both of them and I think they would be a good couple. Besides, I know how it is to have to look at the person you like from afar. ¡°Miss Daniah?¡± She is playing with her hair while observing the clouds in the sky. A minute later she notices I¡¯m in front of her. ¡°William? What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I learnt my skill¡± She smiles. ¡°Congratulations¡± ¡°Anyway, that isn¡¯t the reason I¡¯m here¡± She tilts her head while staring at me. ¡°It is about Sir Francis¡± The priestess blushes. ¡°The poor man was shocked when he noticed you heard his unexpected confession, when I left the room he wasn¡¯t looking good¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± She seems concerned. ¡°Imagine that you are secretly in love with someone and that person happens to overhear your feelings, how would you feel?¡± She remains silent while thinking. ¡°I understand how Sir Francis feels, in his situation I would go to hide in my room and never come out again, not only would I be embarrassed, I would be too afraid to face that person¡± ¡°I have to talk to him¡± She stands up and leaves the garden. Should I wait here? I must admit I¡¯m curious. I will walk over there slowly, no need to meddle in their affairs anymore. When I¡¯m about to arrive there, Miss Daniah is leaving the room. She notices me and bows, after that she keeps walking. I enter the room and Sir Francis looks a lot happier than before, I imagine things went well. ¡°Teacher? Are you okay?¡± He looks at me, I don¡¯t remember seeing such a happy expression before in his face. ¡°Ah.. William, yes, everything is alright¡± I sigh. ¡°Sir Francis, I came here to thank you for training me¡± His expression turns serious. ¡°I only hit you, you learned the skill through your own hard work¡± Then he takes a small journal from his pocket. ¡°Take this, you may find some useful tips to improve your skills¡± I grab the journal and put it in my bag. ¡°Thanks¡± ¡°Are you going to take the test now?¡± First, I have to get to the arena and beat eight people to earn a prize. ¡°There is something I have to do before graduating¡± I hope that little devil is there, I want revenge. ¡°I doubt we will see each other again, I hope the skill you learned from me is useful in your journey¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it will¡± After that we say goodbye and I leave the temple, Miss Daniah was nowhere to be found so I couldn¡¯t thank her. On my way to the arena I stopped in the marketplace to pick up some food. A while later I arrive to the arena, there are more people than before. I register for a battle and go to my designated circle. When my turn arrives, the opponent is some guy holding a sword with two hands. I have a sword and shield. He swings his sword and I block with the shield, compared to Sir Francis his power is lacking I barely even feel it. I decide to keep blocking for a couple of minutes, until he runs out of stamina. Now he¡¯s a sitting duck, I use Bash and after a few hits he gives up. Every battle I have after goes in a similar fashion, I block and my opponents get tired, my skill even got to level 2. I looked for the little devil, doesn¡¯t look like I will have my revenge today. On my ninth battle a magic user appears, but compared to the girl I fought before he lacks control and speed, at least he has two basic spells, water ball and ice javelin. Water ball is fast but weak, my shield is good enough to stop it. While Ice Javelin takes him more time to cast and is slower, but I can feel its power when it hits the shield, when he starts casting it for a second time I rush and hit him with my sword, his concentration fails and his Ice Javelin disappears. A minute later I win the battle, in comparison with Iris, he was more like the stereotypical mage who is weak against physical attacks. My tenth battle I win easily. ¡°Congratulations on winning ten times in a row¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The NPC in the counter grabs a little box from a drawer and hands it to me. I open the box, there is a brooch with the shape of a sword and shield. I wonder if it gives some bonus, now I realize that I haven¡¯t learnt how to analyze items, do I need a special skill? The man notices my expression and explains to me that to see the description I just need to hold the item and say ¡®information¡¯, most items will show its basic information that way, but some will need to be identified by a special skill. ¡°Information¡± ¡®Initia Elite Brooch This brooch takes the shape of the weapons used to win on Initia Academy¡¯s Elite Arena, it is proof of being one of the best students. STR+ 1 VIT+1¡¯ I put the brooch on my shirt. After that I thank the NPC and leave the arena. I¡¯m a little disappointed, I think it was too easy and I didn¡¯t manage to fight the opponent I was looking for. Now it¡¯s time to graduate, I wonder what the test is like. I walk through the academy, it¡¯s almost evening. The examination center is open, I find the same lady that answered my questions on the first day. When I sit in front of her she smiles. ¡°I¡¯m surprised, it only took you two weeks to learn three skills¡± She smiles. ¡°You are the eight adventurer ready to take the test, so far only two have passed the exam¡± Six failed, I thought it was going to be easier. ¡°Are you ready to take the test?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready¡± The woman snaps her fingers and suddenly I¡¯m in a room surrounded by white, just like when I was creating my character. There are hundreds of weapons around to choose from. She didn¡¯t even explain the test, but it must be combat related. I grab a sword and a shield, they are the same type I used during my training. ¡°Show Status¡± ¡®Name: William Class: None Health: 55/55 Mana: 10/10 Stamina: 100/100 Satiety: 91/100 STR: 12(+1) AGI: 5 VIT: 13(+1)¡¯ My health has grown nicely, but I find my lack of mana to be a problem, maybe I should have gone to read books or something like that. ¡°Show Skills¡± ¡®Class Skills: None Common Skills: Sword Mastery ¨C Beginner Level 2 Bash ¨C Beginner Level 2 Naleya¡¯s Shield ¨C Beginner Level 3¡¯ I think I can handle anything they throw at me. I open the door, a completely different room appears, there is grass and you can see the cloudy sky. As I pass through the door, it disappears. I take a look around, there is a silhouette in front of me. I walk towards it. Slowly I get closer, a human shaped creature is there, grey skin, yellow eyes, bald head, some tattered clothes covering it, around 1.50 meters tall. When it notices me, it has a furious expression. The creature starts running in my direction, a knife in its hand. It is faster than any of the players I fought on the arena, I don¡¯t have time to react and my leg gets stabbed. ¡®Health -12¡¯ The pain in my leg is unbearable, the hits I took on the arena where nothing compared to this. Looks like at the arena there was some sort of pain reduction system. After hitting me the creature backs away and runs around me in circles. I manage to remain standing. Slowly I get used to its speed and manage to avoid its attacks, luckily the injury in my leg isn¡¯t serious, the pain was strong only for a few seconds. Then I notice the creature coming directly towards me at full speed, I raise my shield and block the knife, it isn¡¯t strong, it gets pushed back by my shield and falls on the ground. The creature looks stunned, it is my chance to attack. I gather all my power in the sword and hit while it¡¯s on the ground. I slash multiple times, the creature cries in pain until it finally falls dead on the grass. My sword remains inside its body, the feeling of having stabbed something it¡¯s strange, on the arena I never directly stabbed my opponent, I slowly damaged their health by slashing them. ¡®You have killed the Young Goblin¡¯ ¡®You have passed Initia Academy test¡¯ Once I finish reading the messages I¡¯m transported to a white room. It¡¯s completely empty. I wait a few minutes, nothing seems to happen. Suddenly a woman appears out of thin air. I notice she looks similar to the priestess Daniah, a little bit older. ¡°Congratulations William¡± She pauses. ¡°You are the third graduate from Initia Academy¡± It wasn¡¯t that hard, I was surprised by the goblin at first but after a minute I got used to it. ¡°I am Naleya, Goddess of Love and Wisdom¡± What? Why is a goddess in front of me? ¡°Every adventurer that graduates the academy gets the protection of a God, meaning we provide you with a class¡± I see, she will change my class. ¡°You are talented, that is why I decided to take you into my protection, most adventurers will be blessed by minor gods, only one in a thousand gets chosen by a member of the seven major gods of this world¡± This got better. ¡°Would you like to hear my suggestion for a class or do you have an idea of what you want to be? A class suggested by a God is most likely to be unique, shaped to your capabilities¡± Looks like I have no choice then. ¡°I would like to hear your suggestion¡± She smiles. ¡°King of Hearts, that¡¯s the class I suggest for you¡± King of Hearts? I¡¯m not sure about it, I don¡¯t think I could tell people that my class is King of Hearts, it would be embarrassing. My brother would certainly laugh about it. ¡°It is a special class tied to my followers, if you take it people would know you were chosen by me¡± What to do? I¡¯m sure the class has strong skills, Naleya¡¯s prot¨¦g¨¦e doesn¡¯t sound bad, but the embarrassment. ¡°What kind of skills would I learn as King of Hearts?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that I cannot say¡± I remain silent for a while, it is a hard decision to make. ¡°Then William, will you take my suggestion?¡± A vicious look appears on her face, I don¡¯t think I really have a choice in the matter. ¡°Yes, I will become the King of Hearts¡± ¡°Good¡± She smiles, the goddess is clearly a beautiful woman, probably one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It isn¡¯t only her pale skin and dark hair, nor her plentiful curves, I¡¯m just drawn by her eyes, such powerful eyes, and the warm and gentle feeling I get from looking at her. ¡°Are you done admiring my beauty?¡± She sounds amused. I blush. She laughs. ¡°Let¡¯s continue¡± Suddenly I feel a powerful force, I unconsciously kneel. The goddess puts her hand on my head. ¡°From now on you will be known as William Royalblood, the King of Hearts¡± ¡®You have become the King of Hearts Faith added to status Health +50 Mana +20 STR+5 WIS+5 VIT+10¡¯ ¡®You have learned the skill Royal Presence¡¯ ¡°Look for me when you become stronger¡± Slowly I pass out while looking at the goddess smiling face. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Only one chapter left to finish the academy arc and the real adventure begins. Thanks to everyone who leave comments and enjoy the story. Chapter Ten Victoria PoV I¡¯m tired. Eight days of Darius Spartan training. When I run out of mana he would make run around the temple, when I run out of stamina I have to start practicing my magic again, no breaks allowed. If he could, I wouldn¡¯t even be allowed to log out. Just this morning I got the skill, but Darius isn¡¯t satisfied. He says that unless I can hit him with my magic spear, I¡¯m not ready to leave. For hours we have been sparring, you wouldn¡¯t expect a magic user to be so skilled in physical combat. I¡¯m not even close to hitting him. Believe me, it isn¡¯t like my spear is slow, he is just too fast. ¡°Looks like you will be staying here for a while¡± There it is, his sadistic smile. By now I have grown used to his rotten personality. I form a spear in my right hand, slowly I get closer to him, little by little his movements get his back against the wall. ¡°Interesting¡± The smile hasn¡¯t disappeared. He looks as confident as ever. But I have been preparing something to get rid of that smile of his. I throw the spear towards him, he easily avoids moving to the right. I noticed before he has a pattern, always avoiding to the right, so a second spear formed in my left hand was thrown predicting his movement. It hits his hand, he easily stops the spear, but I managed to hit. I clench my fist and start happily jumping around. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that, to form spears in both hands it is necessary to have great control over your mana¡± Nope, his smile didn¡¯t disappear. ¡°I underestimated you¡± He pauses for a second. ¡°You can leave now¡± What? That¡¯s it? ¡°Thanks? I really appreciate your help¡± He turns around, I notice a grin in his face, then he walks back inside a room. Now I¡¯m going to say goodbye to Daniah. After eighteen days I can finally leave this academy. I hurry to the temple of Naleya. When I arrive to the garden, an unexpected sight appears before me. A man that looks like a knight is sitting next to Daniah, the mood around them is too romantic, I don¡¯t feel like interrupting. Awkwardly for me, she noticed my presence. The knight gets up and walks away, he¡¯s blushing. When I¡¯m in front of Daniah I notice she is blushing too. ¡°Looks like something is changed around here¡± I have not forgotten how she was teasing me the other day. As I look at her eyes she avoids my gaze embarrassed. ¡°How did it go with my brother?¡± Her voice sounds nervous. She looks so cute, I can¡¯t resist hugging her. ¡°Wha¡­ what?¡± Now she sounds surprised. ¡°I missed you my friend¡± She hugs me back. ¡°Even though you got someone to replace me¡± I sit next to her. She is pouting. ¡°It is not like that, Sir Francis is¡° She pauses, looking for a word to describe his new friend. I laugh. ¡°I know¡± I smile. ¡°I came to say goodbye, I¡¯m leaving the academy¡± She smiles at me. ¡°Me too, we will see each other outside of here¡± That is an unexpected answer. ¡°How come? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be an instructor here?¡± She giggles. ¡°I was here on a trial to become a High Priestess, which I completed thanks to you¡± ¡°What did I do?¡± ¡°You came here, my trial was to find an adventurer worthy of Naleya¡¯s teachings and prepare her to serve our Goddess¡± I remain silent for a while. She looks at me. ¡°Well, you have a choice in the matter, when the time comes it is up to you to become a servant of our Goddess¡± ¡°I understand, I don¡¯t see why not¡± She smiles. ¡°If you head to our main temple on the capital of Romunia Republic we will meet again¡± ¡°I will remember that¡± Then we bid farewell with the promise of meeting as soon as possible. After that I head to the examination center. Probably the biggest building within the academy. I¡¯m invited to get inside by a NPC standing outside the building. Apparently he can see I already have three skills. Once inside they ask me to wait a few minutes, until an older woman comes for me and asks me to sit in front of her. ¡°Welcome miss Victoria¡± The woman talks in a polite tone. ¡°Allow me to inform you that you are the seventy sixth adventurer ready to take the test, from which forty eight have already passed¡± Less than I expected, it¡¯s been two and a half weeks already. ¡°Are you prepared to take the test?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here¡± The woman smiles, then with the snap of her fingers I¡¯m transported to a white room. All around me are different kinds of weapons, some of them I don¡¯t even recognize. Should I grab something? I am a magic user after all and I didn¡¯t learn anything about weapons. Now I¡¯m starting to feel anxious about this, I¡¯m not as prepared as I thought. ¡°Show Status¡± ¡®Name: Victoria Class: None Health: 40/40 Mana: 45/45 Stamina: 100/100 Satiety: 84/100 AGI: 5 WIS: 14 VIT: 9 Faith: 10¡¯ At least training with Darius raised my health, I hope it is enough. How about my skills? ¡°Show Skills¡± ¡®Class Skills: None Common Skills: Mana Manipulation ¨C Beginner Level 4 Naleya¡¯s Touch ¨C Beginner Level 1 Magic Spear ¨C Beginner Level 2¡¯ Mana Manipulation went up three levels, I¡¯m guessing it has to do with using two spears at once. I¡¯ve decided, I won¡¯t grab any weapon, why bother using something I¡¯m not familiar with? This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. There is only one door within the room, I open it and walk through it. Once I step on the grass and take a look at the huge clouds in the sky, the door behind me disappears. Nothing I can do now. I walk around for a while, the grass extends to the horizon. It doesn¡¯t seem to have anything out of the ordinary. For minutes I keep walking, until I feel a sudden pain in my stomach, I look down and see a knife going into my body. ¡®Health -25¡¯ I fall to the ground on my knees. A disgusting grey creature is dancing around me, looks like he is celebrating its victory. I grab the knife and remove it from my body. ¡®You are bleeding Every 10 seconds health reduced by 5¡¯ ¡°Naleya¡¯s Touch¡± Saying the name of the skill helps me to use it faster. I feel my mana going down and my health recovering, the wound on my stomach closes and the pain disappears. Sadly, half of my mana was spent on that. I get up from the ground. The creature doesn¡¯t notice I¡¯m still alive. ¡°Magic Spear¡± On my right hand the spear is formed and a few seconds later is ready to be thrown. I look at the little monster, he notices me but it¡¯s too late, the spear pierces through its body. It cries in pain, but one hit wasn¡¯t enough to kill it. I only have mana to make one spear. The bleeding creature moves fast, it doesn¡¯t have its knife so it should be harmless. Making a second spear takes longer. The grey monster rushes towards me, I throw the spear piercing straight through its head. It falls lifeless to the ground. I have no mana left, somehow I survived. My knees lose strength and I kneel on the grass. ¡®You have killed the Young Goblin¡¯ ¡®You have passed Initia Academy test¡¯ So that was a goblin. After reading the messages I pass out, everything goes dark. When I come to my senses, a warm feeling spreads through my body. As I open my eyes, Naleya, Goddess of Love and Wisdom is next to me, her hand on my body. ¡°I restored your mana¡± She smiles. ¡°You barely passed the test¡± I smile at her. ¡°Where am i?¡± ¡°This is the room where your class will be decided¡± Class, right, I passed the test and now I¡¯m ready to leave the academy. ¡°And what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Every adventurer that graduates the academy gets the protection of a God, meaning we provide you with a class¡± ¡°I see¡± I get up from the ground. ¡°I knew you would come here soon¡± The Goddess look pleased by my presence. ¡°Normally you would be meeting a minor good, but you were trained to become one of my followers¡± So this is what Daniah meant by a choice. ¡°I have decided a class for you, well, you have a choice if you don¡¯t want to accept my decision¡± By the tone of her voice it doesn¡¯t sound like I really have a choice. ¡°Will you accept my decision or would you like to hear your options?¡± No need to anger a goddess. ¡°I will accept whatever you decide¡± She is the goddess of wisdom after all, I doubt I will get a useless class. ¡°Very good¡± The goddess seems pleased by my words. ¡°You will become the Queen of Hearts¡± What? I remain silent for a while. I hoped for the goddess of wisdom decision, I totally forgot she is also the goddess of love. Worst, I already said I would accept her judgment. I can¡¯t go back on my word, can I? The Goddess laughs. ¡°You adventurers are really interesting, most people would be thrilled to receive a class directly from me, yet you look like it is the end of the world¡± I awkwardly smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it is just, saying I¡¯m the Queen of Hearts to other people would be too embarrassing¡± This time she burst out laughing. ¡°That¡¯s what you are worried about?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± A minute later the goddess calms down. I don¡¯t understand what is it that she finds funny about this situation. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t have to tell you are the Queen of Hearts, you can say your class is Naleya¡¯s Priestess or something like that¡± I sigh. Well, if it¡¯s like that I don¡¯t see a problem. ¡°I understand, I will take it¡± ¡°Very good Victoria, I¡¯m expecting a lot from both of you¡± She sounds amused. Wait, both of us? ¡°What do you mean both of us?¡± ¡°Just a slip of tongue¡± Then her expression gets serious, a second later I¡¯m kneeling on the ground. I know it¡¯s her mana exerting pressure over me, it isn¡¯t intimidating, I just can¡¯t seem to control my body. She puts her hand on top of my head. ¡°From now on you will be known as Victoria Royalblood, the Queen of Hearts¡± ¡®You have become the Queen of Hearts Health +30 Mana +40 WIS+10 VIT+5 Faith +5¡¯ ¡®You have learned the skill Royal Presence¡¯ That is a great improvement of my status. ¡°Well Victoria, I know we will see each other again, hopefully by that time you will understand why I chose you¡± I try to ask something, but my voice doesn¡¯t come out. A moment later everything goes dark and I¡¯m no longer conscious. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I realize this chapter was a little bit shorter than the previous, but a bonus chapter about Gabriel will be coming later today. Chapter Ten - Bonus Gabriel PoV Eighteen days playing cards, I finally managed to win in all the different kinds of games. For some reason l learned three skills while doing so, the system is completely different, most people have learned their skills through repeating a specific training routine, all I did was play cards here and the skills appeared, the old man never even told me he was going to teach me anything, we just played. ¡°Take this Gabe¡± The old man hand me a card, it is completely different than the ones we use to play, a strange bird is pictured there, there are no values written on it. ¡°What is this card?¡± ¡°It is a magic monster card, I was never capable of using it, and it seems a special skill is needed¡± Then he pauses. ¡°In my whole life, I only managed to get this one, you see, this one is the monster itself, I was fighting against the bird and I don¡¯t know why, but it transformed into a card¡± I grab the card and store it in my pocket. ¡°Thank you for everything¡± The old man looks sad, there aren¡¯t many people here who play cards, in fact a few other players came into the building, played for about one hour and got bored. I say goodbye to him and leave the building. My brother left the academy four days ago, we are supposed to travel together so the moment I got my third skill I have no choice but to leave. Well, I¡¯m not sure I will be able to pass the test, after all two of my skills are kind of useless. At least I got an advantage, Michael told me about the goblin and how I could be able to beat it. I run to the examination center and take the test. In the white room full of weapons I pick a bunch of knives and put them into my bag. I don¡¯t have any skill related to using knives, but I have a plan, well part of a plan, half of it depends on my luck. ¡°Show Status¡± ¡®Name: Gabe Class: None Health: 35/35 Mana: 25/25 STR: 3 AGI: 5 WIS: 12 LUK: 16 VIT: 7¡¯ Compared to Michael I feel sort of weak. A fifty-fifty chance of beating the damn thing isn¡¯t bad. ¡°Show Skills¡± ¡®Class Skills: None Common Skills: Bluff ¨C Beginner Level 2 Tactics ¨C Beginner Level 1 Magic Card ¨C Beginner Level 1¡¯ I¡¯m really not satisfied with my skillset. Bluff can be funny, but I¡¯m not sure yet about its usefulness. Tactics, I¡¯m not sure how it works, supposedly I can make good choices on tough situations. Magic Card, maybe the most useful, I can materialize a card using mana, but I already tested its power and it is very weak. It¡¯s not like I can complain about it, after all I spent two and a half weeks playing cards. When I feel ready to fight I walk through the door. A few minutes walking and there it is, an ugly little goblin. The moment it sees me the creature throws itself at me. But I was expecting that, I position myself so that its knife will hit my bag. ¡®Health -1¡¯ That stings. Good, it didn¡¯t notice that it hit my bag. I grab my stomach with both hands. ¡°Oh.. the pain.. I¡¯m bleeding¡­¡± I throw myself to the grass as if I were passing out. I¡¯m hoping this counts as a bluff, and if it works, I¡¯m expecting the goblin to be dumb enough not to notice. So I wait there, I try to remain still. After a few minutes the goblin seems to have lost interest in me. It is walking away, his back is right there. I silently get up. I grab two knives from the bag an throw them at the goblin. It cries in pain, and the look of confusion in its face when he sees me standing gives me enough time to pick another knife and throw it. Still, I¡¯m lacking power, three knives weren¡¯t enough to kill it. The goblin with two knives in its back and one in its arm runs towards me, the anger on its face makes me shiver. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Michael told me how much it hurts to be hit in this game, I¡¯m scared. I can do something. ¡°Magic Card¡± As the card hits it, the goblin is slowed down and I easily dodge the knife in its hand. Then I try to take my distance. I take the last two knives in the bag. There it comes again. I throw one knife at the goblin which is easily avoided. ¡°Magic Card¡± I think it confuses him to see the card appear out of nowhere, making the creature an easy target. After the card hits, I run towards the goblin, its knife stabs me in the stomach. ¡®Health -25¡¯ But I manage to stab with my knife directly into its eye. A few seconds of struggle and the goblins falls lifeless. ¡®You have killed the Young Goblin¡¯ ¡®You have passed Initia Academy test¡¯ When I realize it is dead, the pain in my stomach makes me pass out. I don¡¯t know how much time passed since then, I woke up in another white room. An old man is sitting on the floor playing cards by himself. ¡°Hello?¡± The man looks at me. I assume this is the god that will give me a class. ¡°You finally woke up¡± He goes back to playing. I notice I have already healed. I sit in front of the man. All of his cards are magic ones, some of them have a golden color. ¡°Congratulations on passing the test¡± He is still playing cards while speaking. ¡°I assume you know the procedure already, do you have an idea of the class you want?¡± What? ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to suggest a class first¡± Now he looks at me and stops playing. He remains silent for a while. ¡°My name is Garin, God of Games¡± I laugh. Obviously my god is the god of games. He starts laughing. ¡°I have been watching you, I¡¯m intrigued, there aren¡¯t many people who can play cards non-stop without getting bored¡± ¡°But I got bored, once I won in all the different games¡± He smiles. ¡°I know, that¡¯s why I will offer you a very unique class¡± What kind of class can the god of games offer. ¡°Card Collector¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That is my offer, you can become a card collector¡± ¡°What exactly is card collector?¡± ¡°The ones that can collect these cards¡± He grabs one of the golden cards from the floor. ¡°They are magical cards, I bet you will find them interesting, besides I can only teach you the game when you have built your own deck¡± ¡°If there is a game, I¡¯m in¡± Garin laughs. ¡°I knew it¡± A magic card appears on his hand. He throws it at me. The card enters my body. ¡°From today onwards you will be known as Gabe Luckholder, the Card Collector¡± ¡®You have become a Card Collector Health +35 Mana +35 STR +5 AGI +5 WIS+5 LUK +5 VIT+5¡¯ ¡®You have learned the skill Card Identification¡¯ ¡°I know you want to go to the same town your brother is in, so I will give you a chance instead of transporting you randomly¡± ¡°What do I have to do?¡± ¡°Pick any card from my deck, every card has a different location, if you pick the right one I will take you to the same town as your brother¡± His trick is obvious. I take the card in his hand, the one he previously showed me. Garin looks surprised. ¡°Good¡± The card starts shining blinding me for a few seconds. When I recover my vision, I¡¯m in front of a village. ¡®Arumio Village¡¯ ¡°Yes¡± Exactly the village my brother is in. Chapter Eleven William PoV ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have been cleaning dishes these four days¡± Gabe is sitting in front of me, eating a bowl of rice. ¡°You are lucky I can pay for your food¡± Four days ago when I arrived to Arumio Town, my uniform from the academy disappeared and I found myself in the simplest of clothes, no weapons with me, no money, luckily my bag and brooch from the academy were still in my possession. That day as my satiety reached zero I almost died of hunger. An old lady passing by gave a rye bread and which gave some time to figure out what to do. Without weapons I couldn¡¯t fight against monsters. This village is surrounded by young goblins and wolves, considering I could barely beat the goblin from the test while armed, I doubt I stand a chance. The price for a sword, five silver. A shield, three silver. Food is cheaper, but I was penniless. After asking around I was pointed out to the only restaurant in this small village, they were in need of a dishwasher, thirty coppers a day and two free meals. That was the best option to gather money to buy my equipment. ¡°I see¡± My brother looks amused after hearing my story of the past four days. ¡°I think we can beat a goblin or a wolf if we fight together¡± He explains his skills, if I manage to get a shield it is possible for me to tank a monster while he uses his magic card to diminish its health little by little. ¡°I got one silver and ten coppers¡± Should have been twenty coppers, but I had to pay for his meal. ¡°You have to find a job and help me get three silver for my shield¡± He sighs, I know he is reluctant to find a job within the game. ¡°Who would have expected that after getting everything for free at the academy we would be thrown like this to the world?¡± I understand what he means, I almost died the first day here. Dying is no joke, when I woke up today I read the forums, a player posted his findings after dying for the first time. You permanently lose a ten percent of your maximum health, with a minimum of five points. But that is not the worst thing, if your health ever reaches zero permanently, your character is deleted and you have to start again. Looks like these penalties didn¡¯t apply while we were in the academy, but when we left, the world got a lot harsher. That is why I¡¯m not rushing to fight monsters outside of the village. ¡°Well, you can try fighting a goblin by yourself if you don¡¯t want to work¡± Gabe knows about the penalties too, so he isn¡¯t going to risk it. He glares at me. He believes we stand a chance if we go out to fight together. ¡°But the rewards for beating monsters are really good¡± ¡°Good enough to die for them?¡± After dying, you can loot the monster and receive certain objects that can be sold for good money. You can get wolf meat, which you can actually eat or its mane can be used for clothes. Also, the villagers pay for each goblin you kill, you just have to bring a pair goblin ears and you get fifty coppers, meaning, one goblin is worth more than my daily pay washing dishes. ¡°I know, the penalties are too heavy¡± My brother keeps silent for a while. ¡°I will go find a job¡± Finally, he gave up on the idea of going hunting. He finishes his meal and leaves the restaurant and I return to my job. My only regret is that I have barely increased my status after arriving here. Somehow I got one agility point while cleaning dishes, one point in four days. If I knew how things were going to turn out, I would have remained at the academy training for an extra couple of weeks. ¡®The Queen of Hearts has been chosen¡¯ What the ---? This message appeared in front of me while working. ¡®A new skill has been acquired¡¯ This is clearly a surprising turn of events for me. ¡°Show Skills¡± ¡®Class Skills: Royal Presence ¨C Beginner Level 1 Red String ¨C Not Ranked Common Skills: Sword Mastery ¨C Beginner Level 2 Bash ¨C Beginner Level 2 Naleya¡¯s Shield ¨C Beginner Level 3¡¯ Red String? Not ranked? Come on! ¡®Some of your skills have been modified¡¯ First let¡¯s see what this ¡®Red String¡¯ is about. ¡°Red String Description¡± ¡®Red String ¨C Not Ranked The King and the Queen are connected by an inseparable bond, this bond allows them to communicate through a mental link. 1 mana for 10 seconds This skill cannot be upgraded, replaced or deleted¡¯ What does this mean exactly? Let¡¯s check my other skills. ¡®Royal Presence ¨C Beginner Level 1 Your body has been imbued with an aura of royalty, people around you will feel its effects. Intimacy with NPCs raised 1% faster Allies stamina consumption reduced by 1% Enemies stamina consumption increased by 1% When the Queen of Hearts is in your party, effects are doubled¡¯ ¡®Naleya¡¯s Shield ¨C Beginner Level 3 By following Goddess Naleya¡¯s teachings you can use your shield efficiently to protect those important to you. Shield Defense +3 Stamina Consumption -13% When the Queen of Hearts is in your party, defense doubled upon defending her¡¯ Only those two skills were modified. Quite an improvement if I were to play with the Queen of Hearts in my party. ¡®The Queen of Hearts is trying to communicate with you Do you accept? Y/N¡¯ Interesting. [Hello?] A sweet female voice resounds within my mind. [Good evening] By just thinking in my answer, my voice is projected through to my mind. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. [Wow, this really works] I¡¯m guessing she is as surprised as I am. [My name is William, I think you already know, I am the King of Hearts] [I¡¯m the Queen of Hearts, my name is Victoria] I¡¯m sure I have heard that name before. Miss Daniah¡¯s apprentice, the one she said had a similar aura to mine. I suppose it can¡¯t be a coincidence. This damn game had already decided back then that we would cross paths. [Just out of curiosity, are you miss Daniah apprentice?] She takes a while to answer. [How did you know?] [I was in the temple for a week, she talked a lot about you] [I see] Awkward silence in three, two, one. For minutes neither of us says anything. Being connected to another person is kind of strange. It isn¡¯t like I can leave the room with an excuse or something. Somehow it feels like I¡¯m being forced to talk. [I think we need to have a serious conversation] I guess I will learn more about her and then decide how to proceed next. It isn¡¯t like we are forced to play together. We could just ignore each other and never talk again. [Yeah, I just left the academy so I have free time] [Give me a minute, I will take a break from my job] I speak to my boss asking for an hour, I can make up for it later. Then I find a bench near the center of the village and take a sit. [I¡¯m ready] She takes a while to answer. [This is awkward] I wonder what kind of expression she is making right now. [I know, it is a strange sensation to have someone else¡¯s voice inside of your head] By the way, my mana isn¡¯t being consumed, looks like she has been holding the conversation this whole time. [What do you think about our class situation?] Her voice sounds uneasy. [Well, there are some benefits to it, did you check your skills?] [No, let me check] Then her voice disappears for a couple of minutes. [Incredible, effects are doubled if I¡¯m in a party with you] [It is the same for me] At least she sounds pleased by the opportunity to make better use of her skills. [I use sword and shield skills, how about you?] [I¡¯m a magic user, I have both healing and attacking skills] Hearing that I think about the red little devil, the memory of her still angers me. [Looks like we could complement each other] She says while I¡¯m trying to calm down my rage. [Yes, it is possible for us to work well together] That¡¯s to be expected from Naleya, I¡¯m guessing she didn¡¯t chose us randomly. [It was Goddess Naleya who chose us after all] I laugh, she was thinking the same thing. [Why are you laughing?] Oh.. my laugh is also connected to the conversation. [I¡¯m sorry, it is just that I was thinking exactly the same thing] She laughs. [We are connected after all] She sounds amused. I think it¡¯s possible for me to get along with her. [Maybe we should meet] Let¡¯s see how she answers. [I think so too, we should make the most of our classes] [I have to admit, at first I didn¡¯t like the idea of being forced to play with someone else, but I have the feeling that we will get along] [I have a similar feeling] After that we keep talking until my hour is up, I have to go back to work. We talked about our experiences within these weeks in the game, what we have learnt so far. She didn¡¯t know about the death penalties, so I urged her to find a job and some food. We decided to meet but there is a great problem, she is in a different kingdom, for the time being we will both investigate about the world and figure out a place to meet. I told her that I¡¯m going to be traveling with my brother and she told me that she is waiting for a friend to get the game next week. For the rest of the day I was washing dishes and helping out at the restaurant. When my shift ended, I found my brother outside. ¡°Did you find a job?¡± He avoids my gaze. ¡°There was an old man player something similar to chess, I couldn¡¯t help myself¡± This guy will never change. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you are hungry¡± He shakes his head. ¡°The old man gave me a meal for keeping him company¡± At least I won¡¯t have to spend my money on his food. ¡°If things keep going like this, I will have to work for at least a week¡± He grins. ¡°Look at this¡± Gabe shows me a round piece of wood. ¡°This was the lid of a barrel in the old man house, he gave it to me when I asked¡± I see what he is trying to do. ¡°You want me to use that as shield, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course¡± I sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s go find the blacksmith, I¡¯m guessing with one silver I can get it modified and reinforced a little¡± My brother clenches his fist. I was tired of working anyway, talking to Victoria made me want to leave this village. ¡°If I end up dying you will pay for it¡± The smile on his face disappears. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let you die¡± He sounds confident. ¡°Sure, I guess you can bluff your way out of death¡± I laugh. ¡°Hey! Faking my death did work against the goblin¡± I imagine the situation, it must have been hilarious. Then we leave towards the only blacksmith in the village. Chapter Twelve William PoV We arrived to the blacksmith early in the evening, just about the time he was going to close. The blacksmith in front of me is young, probably just a few years older than me. ¡°I was just about to close, sir, what can I help you with?¡± The sir thing happens with a lot of NPCs, I¡¯m guessing is because of my skill ¡®Royal Presence¡¯, just by having it, the people of this world act different towards me. At first I thought it was the way they treated all adventurers, but when my brother arrived I realized they only act like that when talking to me. I put the piece of wood on the counter. ¡°Can this be turned into a shield?¡± The young blacksmith raises an eyebrow. ¡°Maybe, normally I wouldn¡¯t even think about it, but somehow it feels like I can¡¯t refuse a request from you¡± Looks like the effects are stronger than I thought, I wonder how much will improve when the skill levels up. ¡°And how much would it cost me?¡± I hope one silver is enough. ¡°This is an easy job sir, but I must tell you, a shield made with this wood won¡¯t last long, so fifty coppers should do¡± ¡°Deal¡± I take fifty coppers from my pouch and give them to the blacksmith. ¡°I will have it ready in the morning¡± After that I thank him and leave the building. My brother was waiting outside looking anxious. ¡°How did it go?¡± I shake my head with a sad expression, as if the blacksmith had said no. ¡°He even destroyed the wood¡± Gabe looks surprised and as he is about to storm into the building I burst out in laughter. He sighs. ¡°You just have to make fun of me, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Well, you are going to force into fighting with a weak wooden shield after all¡± He ignores my commentary, as if I didn¡¯t even mention it. ¡°And where is the shield?¡± ¡°It will be ready tomorrow¡± My brother looks dejected, he really wants to go fight monsters. ¡°Oh, come on, monsters are stronger at night¡± ¡°Really?¡± This time I sigh. ¡°Did you even talk to the villagers?¡± He avoids my gaze. Obviously he found a game and played all day long. ¡°Well, yes, monsters are stronger at night, so until we are able to easily beat them during the day, night isn¡¯t even worth considering¡± ¡°I get it¡± I wonder why he is so desperate to go hunting. After all, his skills aren¡¯t that great. ¡°Meanwhile, should we log out to have breakfast?¡± ¡°Sure¡± We both leave the game. Once outside in my room it takes me a while to feel awake. It is weird a weird feeling, being in a different world, a different body, I can even say that lately I spend more time in the virtual world than in the real one, to the point that GDO is starting to feel more real than reality. I stretch for a few minutes, my body felt numb. After a while Gabriel comes to my room and goes directly to the computer. ¡°Look at this¡± He shows me GDO forums. People have started leaving the academy one after the other, every hour there is more information posted about the world. Normally I¡¯m not that interested, I would like to discover the world on my own. But meeting with Victoria may have changed that, I need to find out where exactly I¡¯m located and how far we are from each other. Sadly, the village doesn¡¯t have a map of the continent, at most I could find how to get to the capital of the empire. In the screen there is a topic where people are posting information about their locations, the country they are in. Many groups have been separated all over the world and are trying to find a way to meet up. My brother said that he won against the god of games to be transported to my location, I guess we are lucky he chose to spend his time playing games. So far six different countries have been listed, we are currently located in Arumio Village which is a part of the Ralor Empire. I still don¡¯t know where Victoria is, but in a couple of days a rough map of the continent will be created and we will be able to decide where to meet. Besides the locations, players are starting to get how the system works, most of the people who have left the academy have taken jobs like me gathering money to buy equipment. There are also people forming groups to beat monster together, it is safer. In main cities you can find an adventurer guild, where you can register and get missions and jobs based on your rank. So there is another reason to leave the village fast. The problem is, I¡¯m not sure people are being thrown around the world at random by the gods, there must be some reason. If a minor god like the one my brother has can put him wherever he wanted, I think Naleya should have been capable of doing the same. In fact, I¡¯m not sure why she placed Victoria and me in different places. After all our classes are supposed to work together to reach their maximum potential. ¡°Hey! Are you there?¡± My brother had grabbed my shoulder and asked concerned. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was lost in thought¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go eat already¡± After we had breakfast, my brother said he would go back into the game in a two hours, meaning he would rather do something else until I received my shield. I decided to login right away, luckily, the owner of the restaurant allows me to have a room to sleep inside the game. So I just logged in to get some sleep. Something that amazes me is that I can sleep eight hours inside the game, and then leave the game as if had slept those hours in real time. Meaning if I were to only use the game to sleep, I would only need two hours a day to sleep. I¡¯m sure this will be useful when I have to go back to school. Seven hours later I wake up. My brother should be logging in already, I told him to meet me outside the smithy. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I greet the owner and explain that it is possible that I will not keep working here, as my brother needs help hunting monsters. The man tells me that there is always a job in here and I can come back whenever I want. I thank him and leave. A few minutes later I find my brother impatiently walking outside of the blacksmith¡¯s building. ¡°Took you long enough¡± ¡°Why are you in such a hurry?¡± Again, he avoids my gaze. This guy, I¡¯m curious now. ¡°Tell me or I won¡¯t go to hunt with you¡± He looks at me, opens his mouth as if about to say something, then stops and it takes him a few minutes until he is decided what to say. ¡°I have something I need to test from my skills¡± So he won¡¯t say exactly what it is, fine I will wait. ¡°Let me get the shield and we will go¡± Once inside the young blacksmith hands me the shield, it looks better than I expected. ¡°Information¡± ¡®Improvised Wooden Shield This shield was made from cheap wood in a small amount of time by a skilled young blacksmith. Defense: 3 Durability: 10/10¡¯ If I remember right, the shield at the academy had a defense of ten. Well it should work to beat some goblins and buy a better one later. I thank the blacksmith and leave. When my brother sees me carrying the shield, he smiles. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± This guy has a lot of energy. We leave the village for the first time. Based on the information given by the villagers, it¡¯s possible to find goblins near the forest but many advised not to go too deep inside, as groups of goblins and wolves wander around. The plan is to find some astray goblin or wolf and beat it. We walk around the edges of the forest, I spot some shadows moving inside but no monsters near us. So we walk a little bit farther inside of the forest. A young goblin rushes towards my brother, I easily block its attack. My brother didn¡¯t even see it coming. These creatures are fast. As its knife collide with my shield I feel how weak the wood is, I don¡¯t think it will last long. ¡®Shield Durability -1¡¯ Only ten hits? ¡°Attack the goblin¡± Gabe finally reacts, but instead of attacking he brings out a card. ¡°Card Summon¡± What? He never mentioned that skill. A grey bird pops out from the card and rushes to attack the goblin. The goblin tries to run away, I would swear it is afraid of the bird. The bird is way faster than the goblin and quickly hits it. In seconds its health is diminished. Ten seconds later after being summoned the bird disappears. The goblin is on its last breath. I hit it with the shield. The creature falls unconscious to the ground. Hitting it with the shield wasn¡¯t enough to kill the goblin. I pick its knife, it is rusty and worn out, but it will do the job. With the same knife the goblin used to attack me I slash its throat and kill it. When I turn around and look at my brother. He is sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. ¡°Five mana per second left me dry¡± I laugh. ¡°How long does it take to recover your mana?¡± He shrugs his shoulders. ¡°First time I use the skill, but I would say I recover one point every thirty seconds¡± ¡°Meaning we should get out of here until you recover¡± My brother nods. But before leaving I return to the corpse of the goblin. ¡°Loot¡± The corps glows and some items appear instead. Hunters on the village told me that this way I can get the items from the monsters easily, but they will only be low quality. To get regular or high quality items, you need to get the items directly from the body using a skill, it is also possible to hire NPCs skilled on item recollection to do it for you. I pick up the items and put them inside of my bag. Then we quickly leave the forest. My brother sits on a rock outside of the forest. ¡°What was that?¡± I¡¯m curious as to how he got that skill. ¡°Well, my class skill was card Identification and I had one card, so I used it, once identified some info appeared on the card and a new skill appeared¡± ¡°Card Summon¡± He nods. ¡°Supposedly I can use it on any magic card I get, every monster has a different mana consumption, I figured that the bird should be strong considering how much mana it takes to summon it¡± Well, it was stronger than the goblin, a lot stronger. ¡°What did you need me for then?¡± He sighs. ¡°I would have died before even having the chance to summon it, and let¡¯s say I managed to beat one by myself, my health would be reduced considerably after one fight¡± I understand. ¡°So I¡¯m your shield for now¡± Gabe grins. ¡°I will be in your care¡± His voice sounds amused. ¡°Well, we managed to kill the goblin without losing health, but my shield lost two durability points, at most we will be able to fight four more goblins¡± ¡°What did it drop?¡± I bring out the items from my bag. ¡°A pair of goblin ears and a couple of bones¡± I pause and take a look at the knife in my hand. ¡°We also got this¡± Gabe takes a look at the knife. ¡°Now you will be able to fight too¡± I sigh. ¡°Not that I can be of much help with this knife, I need a sword to make use of my skills¡± ¡°Let¡¯s beat some more and we can go back to town and get money from the loot, you can even try to sell the knife¡± I guess there is no other choice. After that we waited for his mana to fill and went back to the forest looking for a goblin to kill. Chapter Thirteen Victoria PoV The first thing that happened when I left the academy was a new skill being added, ¡®Red String¡¯, which I instantly tried and got to talk with William, the King of Hearts. After speaking with him, I concluded that he is a nice person and it may be useful to work together to take advantage of our classes. The problem is meeting, at the moment we are at different countries. I found out that my location is the town of Shipton, in the Boreagia Kingdom. For the time being I have explored the town and talked with the people. The population of this kingdom is divided between the followers of Naleya and Natech. Luckily for me a small temple for Naleya¡¯s followers is in the town. Daniah told me that if I ever needed help I could go to temple and use her name. Guess what? I don¡¯t have a place to sleep, I¡¯m hungry and penniless. William told me he had to get a job just to eat and gather some money to buy equipment. I don¡¯t want to lose time like that. My best chance is to use Daniah¡¯s influence in the temple. When I arrive outside of the temple, it is the biggest building in the town, that said, it¡¯s nowhere near as big as the one in the academy. I walk inside, a chubby man is praying in front of the sculpture of the goddess. By his clothes I think he is the priest here, so I decide to wait until he finishes praying. Once he is finished, he walks to me with a smile. For such a big body, the man has an incredibly innocent face which doesn¡¯t match at all with his body type. ¡°Good afternoon¡± His voice is soft, almost girly. It is quite hard to hold back the laughter. ¡°Just now the goddess told me that she sent you here to learn a skill and I¡¯m to teach you¡± Hearing about learning a new skill changed my mood. Looks like there is more training for me even outside of the academy. ¡°Could you tell me you name?¡± ¡°My name is Victoria, I was told by my friend, the priestess Daniah that I could get some help here, I wasn¡¯t expecting that the goddess sent me here with a purpose in mind¡± The priest looks shocked. ¡°Incredible, you are friend with a Grand Priestess candidate¡± I raise an eyebrow. ¡°Grand Priestess?¡± The man laughs. ¡°You didn¡¯t know? The Grand Priestess is the highest ranking member within the followers of Naleya¡± And Daniah is going to get that role. He sounds excited while talking about it. Then his mood saddens. ¡°The current Grand Priestess has reached old age and is sick in bed, so five candidates have been chosen to take over her place¡± ¡°I understand, Daniah didn¡¯t tell me about that¡± A smile returns to his face. ¡°By the way I am the priest in this town, my name is Ernest¡± ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you¡± ¡°The pleasure is mine¡± He seems rather happy. ¡°It is the first time our great goddess talked directly to me, and even more incredible, she entrusted the important task of teaching her chosen one¡± Chosen one? Well she did say something like that when she gave me the class. Now I wonder if that means that I have certain advantages within the followers of Naleya. ¡°So what is this skill I have to learn?¡± I¡¯m certainly curious about it, after all the goddess herself wants me to learn it. ¡°It is the most basic skill for a follower of the goddess to have, Naleya¡¯s Teachings, looks like somehow you skipped the most basic training for a member of our temple¡± What? Well, Daniah did teach me in a different way than the rest of the adventurers. I¡¯m slightly disappointed. He notices that. ¡°Don¡¯t be mistaken, even if it is the most basic of skills, it is one of the hardest to master, normally you would have to be reading books for months, then you would have to learn and practice some of the rituals and finally travel to a certain place to prove your faith, one or two years may be necessary¡± Years? I don¡¯t have that kind of time. Wait, he said normally. I stare at him. He is grinning. ¡°You said normally, which means there is another way¡± Ernest nods, he looks proud of himself. ¡°I developed a way to teach the skill in only one month, but it is a quite hardcore training and no one besides me have managed to accomplish it¡± ¡°I see¡± At least one month sounds more reasonable, if the goddess sent me here is because I should be able to keep up with the training. ¡°After hearing that, do you want to learn the skill from me?¡± ¡°I will follow the path that the goddess set for me¡± The priest looks pleased. ¡°For the time being I need you to rest, you must be in top condition by tomorrow¡± The priest takes me to the dining room inside of the temple, a couple of women serve food to our table. I can¡¯t refrain from jumping to the food, I was feeling really hungry. After eating, Ernest takes me to the room I will be using to sleep. ¡°We will start the training tomorrow¡± Then he leaves me to rest. As I look through the windows I notice it¡¯s already dark outside. [Victoria? Are you busy?] William¡¯s voice is deep and warm, makes me feel comfortable. [I was just about to go to sleep] [Sorry to interrupt, I just needed to know if you already found out your current location] The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I forgot to tell him. [Yes I did, I¡¯m currently in the Boreagia Kingdom] [Oh¡­ we are quite far from each other] His voice sounds a little bit disappointed. [I will check where the most convenient place for us to meet up is] [I leave it to you then] Before I forget. [Looks like I will be stuck training for about a month] William takes a while until he answers. [I guess that is a good thing, it will give me time to prepare for the journey] I¡¯m a magic user, so I don¡¯t really need equipment to fight, but in William¡¯s case, he has to prepare. [I will take into consideration that you need a month for training, maybe I will find a way to get there during that time] That would be great. I don¡¯t feel like traveling by myself and Lucy won¡¯t be able to play with me until she gets the game, besides, she will have to spend some time in the academy before meeting with me. [I hope you find a way, I would like for us to meet as soon as possible] [Well, I won¡¯t take more of your time] [I don¡¯t mind, talking with another player is quite refreshing] He laughs. [Then let¡¯s keep the conversation going] After that we talked a little more than one hour, until my body forced me to sleep. ¡°Wake up!¡± I slowly open my eyes. Ernest¡¯s voice comes from outside of the room. I take a look outside of the window, it¡¯s still dark outside. ¡°Victoria, it is time to start your training¡± His voice is loud enough for the whole temple to hear. ¡°I¡¯m awake, give me a minute please¡± ¡°I will be waiting at the dining hall¡± I hear his footsteps as he walks away. Let¡¯s see what this training is about. I put on my clothes and leave to meet Ernest. His expression is different, there is no longer an innocent face, he looks more mature and gives a different aura. We have something to eat, then we leave towards a room filled with books. ¡°I¡¯m going to use magic on you, but I have to warn you, it is possible that you will pass out during the process, are you okay with that?¡± There isn¡¯t much of a choice. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do it¡± ¡°Sit here¡± I do as he said. Ernest picks up a book and hands it to me. ¡°Don¡¯t let go of it¡± Then he starts chanting in a strange language. A light appears on top of the book. I feel information coming into my brain. The history of this world, mainly about the goddess. There various interesting parts. At the beginning of the world, gods fought each other making use of all living beings in this world. Naleya was one of the few gods who choose to remain out of the conflict for power, she disagreed with the notion of using living beings as playthings. For centuries the war between gods continued, causing the destruction of cities, extinction of species, a whole continent disappeared. Until a thousand years ago, ten human beings appeared. They appeared out of nowhere, it is said that these people came from another world. At first, no one gave importance to them, the gods thought they were just human beings. But these humans had a power beyond the gods, they easily stopped the war, destroyed the gods who didn¡¯t accept the new order of things and set up a ruling system. They chose seven gods who didn¡¯t take part in the war and gave them the power to rule above the others, their mission to maintain the balance in the world. When peace arrived, these ten people left the world one after the other, never to be heard of again. The ruling system they created has been successful, anything that could be a threat is efficiently dealt with. The gods no longer interfere in the matters of mortals, they just keep the balance between all living beings. I felt a sudden pain in my head, slowly I lost consciousness. When I woke up, Ernest was in the room reading a book. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°You passed out, you have unconscious for two hours¡± There is an incredible amount of information inside of my mind. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°It is strange, I have all this knowledge I didn¡¯t have previously¡± He smiles awkwardly. ¡°It is the first book of many to come, the pain may be unbearable¡± ¡°I understand, I can keep going¡± He shakes his head. ¡°No, we will do another tomorrow, it is possible to damage your head if you pour too much information in such a little amount of time¡± I hope this isn¡¯t dangerous. After all, the information is in my head, not only inside of the game. ¡°What should I do now?¡± ¡°Go to your room and train your mana, little by little you will become stronger and the amount of information I will be able to transfer will increase¡± I nod. Looks like more practice with water. Well, I have something else in mind that I would like to practice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I''m going out of town this weekend, meaning no internet connection until monday. I hope i will be able to write during these days so i can have chapters for you when i come back. Don''t forget to leave comments, questions or suggestions, it helps me improve the story.