《Enor》 Prologue Part 1 A/N: Well, you can pretty much read Parts 1 and 2 of the prologue interchangeably. Their events sort of coincide. I released part 1 first since I wanted to give you a sneak peak into what''s to come. ___ Rogen rounded the rocky cliff and came to a stop before a dying shatterhound. A black bone-like structure protruded from its chest, from which a stream of blood oozed out, coating the once magnificent pure-white hide with a thick mat of the vile-smelling blood. The hound noticed her presence and lifted its head to stare Rogen in the eyes. It attempted to growl, but all that escaped was a series of short, pained rasps before blood bubbled out instead. Rogen felt a pang of pity for the creature. Shatterhounds were a dying breed. Their hide was highly prized in the Three Realms. It was incredibly sturdy, resistant to four schools of magic, and largely substance-proof -- water, dirt, etc. all fell off with a single shake, leaving behind only the shock of white. The one exception, of course, was the shatterhounds¡¯ blood. University researchers still haven¡¯t figured out why the blood dissolved the fur on contact. This wasn¡¯t the work of poachers, however. No, this was far too messy. Most poachers utilized the paralysis techniques from the Eastern schools or commissioned for spark glyphs to be fixated onto their weapons. They would capture the hounds first and drain the blood through a siphon at a later date ¨C an all-around nasty trade to get into. This had been a battle. Rogen noted the scuffs along the ground and the claw gashes in the cliff face. She turned her attention back to the jet-black impalement. ¡°Must¡¯ve been one strong sonovabitch,¡± Rogen thought, ¡°to be able to penetrate that hide.¡± Rogen had fought a few shatterhounds over the centuries herself, but still couldn¡¯t confidently say she could do the same. Often, she had to rely on a few tricks picked up during her time in the East. "Shit... Where is this person... " Cursing, Rogen threw up an Ice ward just as she heard a grunt behind her. She turned around and saw a huge rock flying precariously close as crystal lattices began to form in the space surrounding her. Rogen was lucky that it rained yesterday. Ice wards typically formed the fastest, since it merely froze and rearranged water around the user, but for it to be effective, there had to be water in the atmosphere or nearby to begin with. There just wasn''t enough time for the ward to form, though, before the rock made impact. However, the impact slowed the rock just enough for Rogen to twist out of the way. The rock crashed down behind her and the half formed ice crystals began to break and reform to follow her every move. She crouched low and released a wave of power into the ground to set up an earth ward as well. Bits of sand and loose particles began to swirl up around her, picking up more as she retreated behind the shatterhound. She reached into her belt to pull out a pair of lenses and put them on. She also grabbed a handful of flat glass discs, let loose a bit of power into them, and flung them past her wards. The discs bobbed in the air and began their transmission. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± A wave of nausea rocked Rogen. No matter how much she trained, she just couldn¡¯t get used to the feeling of viewing the world in third person. Her wards were condensing. The swirling ice was growing thicker; more and more rocks were being compressed as well. Pretty soon, she wouldn¡¯t be able to see past her own wards, hence the glasses. Through her lenses, Rogen watched a woman in her 40¡¯s staggering out. Her dark, braided locks had come undone and stuck out wildly from her head. There was deep gash in her side, the blood bright against her black skin. She limped closer and drew her weapon from the now-dead shatterhound. ¡°What do you want?¡± asked Rogen. The woman remained silent. She stepped closer, and Rogen saw that the weapon actually was a large bone carved into the shape of a pike. From what creature, she couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°Again, what¡­¡± The woman lunged forward. Huge cracks spidered out from the point of impact and Rogen gulped as she stared at the tip of the pike mere inches from her face. Rogen ducked and rolled to the right. Her wards fractured and let her through, but followed close behind. Given the chance, it would reform at any moment of pause. She scrambled to her feet and sprinted forward, putting faith into her speed. She reached into her belt and grabbed the flame glyphs she had fixed onto paper. After a few yards, Rogen spun around, ready to fire off a few flame bolts and cursed at herself. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Stupid, Rogen, stupid. Why¡¯d you even put on the lenses if you weren¡¯t going to use them to check on the woman¡¯s position.¡± The woman was just a few feet behind her. She swung her pike left and right, flinging large chunks of Rogen¡¯s wards to the side. She thrust forward and barely missed Rogen, who dodged using the few precious moments granted to her by the weakened ward. Rogen leapt towards the woman, aiming to buffett her opponent with the flying chunks of rock and ice. When she drew close, however, she noticed that both the woman¡¯s arms were broken. Rogen looked up and saw a feverish white glaze coating the woman¡¯s eyes. Her mind had been shattered. ¡°Wait, stop,¡± Rogen shouted, grabbing the woman¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Stop, I don¡¯t want to fight. You need treatment. I could help.¡± A shatterhound¡¯s bite injected a highly hallucinogenic venom that lasted hours. Victims went mad with rage. Rogen had once seen a man beat a wall until the bones in his fist had been pulverized before the venom wore off. The woman shrugged her off and prepared for another thrust. Rogen spun and grabbed a vial from her belt. She flung its contents in a 60 degree arc in front of her and leaped forwards, a cold chill running down her spine as she heard the shattering of Earth and ice behind her. Transitioning from a forward leap into a somersault, Rogen channeled power through her arms into the ground to the contents of the vial. Vines rapidly began to sprout from the ground, wrapping themselves around the shattered woman''s legs. The woman hacked at the vines, but they grew too quickly for her, and her broken arms were swinging at odd angles. It wasn''t long before she was completely overtaken and went still. ____ Rogen was cursing at herself again. "Stupid...stupid...stupid..." she muttered as she hacked away at the vines. Flora wards were great defensively, but their major flaw was that they were largely sessile. They only stayed where they were planted, so there wasn''t a lot of synergy with Rogen''s fighting style. She mainly used them as snares or traps, or as a last resort barrier. Its other major flaw, which Rogen was really despising at that very moment, was that it didn''t just disappear after she stopped supplying magic. Instead, she had to cut her way through the growth. She was losing a lot of valuable time she could be using to treat the woman''s wounds. Recuperating magic already wasn''t her specialty - it took 89 years of recuperative meditation to heal her recent injury. The dragurs of the Wrait Crag¡¯s noxious breath had seeped into her ward and combusted, leaving her critically injured. She barely escaped with her life and holed herself up within 8 layers of wards. She¡¯d only woken up from the restorative hibernation a year ago. Rogen finally pulled the woman free, pulled off her arm guards, and began tracing out the recovery sigils across the woman''s arm over and over again. Rogen was rapidly using up her magic reserves, but even with that boost, she could see that the woman had lost too much blood and that the new blood production couldn''t keep up. Still, she kept trying. A few minutes passed before the woman sputtered awake, back arched as she took in a huge breath and her eyes wide open, the amber flecked irises now clear. She coughed a few times and slowly looked up at Rogen. ¡°You know, you¡¯re incredibly strong. I¡¯m pretty confident about my wards, and you nearly destroyed them.¡± The woman barked out a short laugh and went silent. Tears started to streak down her face. "I''m dying, aren''t I." "Shhh. Shhh. Tell me your name, little one." Rogen stroked the woman''s hair back gently with her free hand. "Nal''ari," she whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, tears still falling. "Why''d it have to jump out at me?" The question hung heavy in the air. Nal''ari turned back to look at Rogen with pleading eyes. "Save me, please." Rogen didn''t say anything. "Please, I need to go home and protect my wife." "Strength, little one. Stay strong. Protect your wife from what?" "It will be soon... Too soon¡­ The calamity... The Oreclai... " At that moment, a thunderous clap sounded and bright red pillars extended to the sky from multiple directions. The color began to spread out from the epicenters, engulfing the noon sky in a crimson red. The hue shifted from red, to violet, to a deep blue, green, and finally a bright burst of blinding yellow. "It¡¯s beginning..." Rogen looked down. Nal''ari was dead. Prologue Part 2 A/N: Well, you can pretty much read Parts 1 and 2 of the prologue interchangeably. Their events sort of coincide. I released part 1 first since I wanted to give you a sneak peak into the world of Enor and start a bit of world-building. Also, I mention Lars Anderson''s school of archery somewhere here. I don''t think it exists right now (it might in the future), but what I''m referring to is the style of archery Lars Anderson is making/bringing back. Youtube it, it''s pretty cool. ___ My chest burned. I reached into my pocket, fumbling around for my keys. It clattered to the floor and I looked down, glaring. My thighs groaned as I bent to pick the key up and I rubbed them appreciatively. They¡¯d served me well. If they hadn¡¯t, I¡¯d probably be in the back of a police van right now. I opened the door and nearly slipped over a stack of letters - bills probably. I sighed and kicked them aside. I hung my bow on the coat rack and unclipped my quiver, putting that aside as well. I walked into the kitchen and turned the sink faucet. Sticking my face under the spout, I took a much needed gulp of water and ran water through my hair as well. Something caught my attention - a pair of beady eyes stared at me from the edge of the basin to the left. A cockroach. Great. I stopped the water and reached for paper towels, but it scurried off. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Run.¡± I dried off my hair instead and sighed. It won¡¯t be like this forever - I promised myself that. Someday, I¡¯d move out of this dump. Speaking of... I grabbed my phone from the countertop and flipped open the news app in search of a particular story. It took a bit of sifting. It seemed like every news outlet was focused on reporting the eminent solar flare that was expected to reach us in about a week. I didn¡¯t understand what the big deal was. They¡¯ve happened at least 8 times in the past year - shouldn¡¯t we be used to them by now? ¡°Scientists baffled by the abnormal frequency of recurrence¡­¡± Yeah, okay. Never liked science anyway. Ah. Game News. Here we go. ¡°Release date for Enor announced. Launching on June 13, 2034.¡± It was...in 5 days?? I read it over a few times to make sure the solar flares hadn¡¯t fried my brain. The fuck¡­ What sort of game company announces a release five days prior? Enor Ltd., of course. I thought about it a little, and it made sense. Enor Ltd. certainly knew how to make a statement. Everything they did right from the founding of the company a year ago has sent massive ripples throughout the VRMMO community. Within days of forming, before even announcing what sort of game they would create, they announced that only 1000 players would be invited to play. Furthermore, those players would be paid to play - their day-to-day finances would be taken care of through a daily stipend of $2500, and those that survived to the end of a year would be awarded $1,000,000 each. That was nearly $2 billion they¡¯d have to reserve for payment alone. Critics accused them of a hoax or of illegally procuring the money, but they invited multiple government agencies to look into it, and it was completely legitimate. People became very curious. Their next big announcement was more of a mini-guide with a focus on demonstrating how someone would log off from the game - you had to draw a circle around your character and draw a series of strange symbols. The rest described how Enor would have none of the hallmarks of virtual reality games. There would be absolutely no status bars, no holographic popups, no item descriptions and flavor texts, no quest dialogs, no experience or levels, no skill descriptions, no rankings, and of course, no typical log-out button. With all the other VRMMO¡¯s that boasted 99% realism, this would be at 100% realism with all the nit and grit. It would be as if the player lived in that world, and your only goal was to learn about the world through your own means to get stronger and survive whatever they had planned at the end of the year. Their only allowance was one free revival of your character sans all the items you¡¯ve gained unless you head to where you died and the items were still there. You would restart in the city you began in, and if you died again, you could no longer play. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.The VRMMO community was divided. Some hailed it as the ultimate form of escapism while others argued that Enor was doing too much; that they were trying too hard to be different. Of course, the real clincher and the biggest shitstorm had yet to come. No, that title has to go to when the Enor invitations were announced and sent out. Top VRMMO professional players thought they would be shoe-ins for invites and spent months preparing for every eventuality, but not one of them received an invite. Those who did receive invites were largely unrelated to the world of VRMMO gaming - war generals, combat veterans, internationally lauded martial artists, olympic medalists, weapons designers, inventors, survival experts, and¡­me. I was pretty damn confused when I opened that invitation letter. I¡¯d never even heard of Enor up until that point. I guess my one claim to fame, and the reason I was invited, was that I was the top archer in Lars Anderson¡¯s school of archery. Gamers everywhere demanded an explanation, and Enor Ltd. released the statement: "Success in Enor will depend entirely upon the player''s real life capabilities. True, it will be boosted slightly in-game, but min-maxing in the traditional sense of the term has been thrown entirely out the window. There will be no hand-holding with stats or what-not. If you don''t have the skill or strength needed to split armor, even with the boost, you will be hard pressed to accomplish the feat no matter how long you play." VRMMO critics labelled Enor a sham, saying that it wasn¡¯t even remotely like a game anymore. They said it was doomed for failure. Invitation acceptance rate was at 98.2%. See that? 98.2 fucking percent. From war generals and world-class inventors. They barely even mentioned what the game would be like yet - no pictures, no promotional videos. Zip. Nada. I accepted the invitation for the money, but people couldn¡¯t be that curious, could they? They have lives to lead, right? Enor Ltd. then announced that the game would be fantasy-themed. People sort of guessed that already, what with the bit about armor splitting and all. That was a month and a half ago, and apparently, they were already ready to push the game out. Oh well. Works for me. I needed that stipend. I heard a knock at the door. Shit...how¡¯d the cops find me? ¡°I wasn¡¯t hurting anyone,¡± I called out. ¡°And those crates were abandoned anyway. You can¡¯t arrest me, come on.¡± ¡°Er...Uh...Delivery?¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I unlocked the door and a blonde 20-something year old delivery man stood uncomfortably in the doorway. ¡°Boo.¡± The delivery man jumped and I smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill you.¡± ¡°Ha ha¡­¡± he laughed uncomfortably. ¡°Um...Delivery for Jessie Kimmel?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Okay, uh. Sign here.¡± I did so and he handed me a large box before he turned tail and nearly tripped down the stairs. I looked down at the huge logo plastered across the box. ¡°Enor Ltd.¡± Huh. ___ It was launch day. I sat on the couch munching on some cereal, flipping through the channels looking for a cartoon to watch. A sleek black virtual reality helmet sat in the space next to me with the Enor logo plastered along the top. I tried setting stuff up in the past few days, but nothing ever happened when I put the helmet on. I thought I got a defective model, but apparently, nothing was supposed to happen. Well, I guess I¡¯d find out in 10 minutes whether this works or not. Suddenly, in the middle of my cartoon, my TV sounded an emergency alarm and the screen flickered to a news broadcaster. ¡°This is an important announcement. EMP radiation from the X-class solar flare is approaching Earth at an alarming and unprecedented rate. Please turn off all electronics to prevent irrevocable damage. I repeat, please¡­¡± I turned the TV off. ¡°There, happy? Finally shut your pie hole up.¡± I put on the helmet and sat back. The lights in the ceiling began flickering wildly. I think I heard a light bulb pop behind me but, all at once, the power went out. A green light began blinking in the top right of the helmet and I closed my eyes. ¡°Welcome to Enor.¡± Pronunciation Guide Since I''ll be using a bunch of made-up words and names, I''ll just compile the way I pronounce everything in my head here. - Enor: En-er (like enter but without the t) Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.- Rogen: Row-jin (jin like gin the alcohol) - Nal''ari: Nahl-ah-ree (nahl rhymes with fall)