Swords are Blunt Weapon
The next thing I knew, I was in a plaza full of stone-based constructions, if my memory served me right, as everything I see around is made of primitive materials, except for wooden things, as stones became a thing of both extreme value; either it is extremely worthless, or extremely valuable. With the former extremely common and the later extremely rare. Compared to building materials I can see around the neighborhood, which is completely of metal and a little of wood.
I walk around savoring the exotic view, as I notice most people acting the same as me, some people marvelling at how their body feel within the game(virtual game noobs, who are first timers), and people moving as if time was never enough(beta testers probably), and similar people but are acting less conspicuously (as if the are afraid of everyone giving them notice).
Sticking to my RPG 101(I have experience in games with same genre but not ran virtually, as Portal is the first VRMMORPG, as for why it was, I don't know why), and look around for a place that can be describe as a training grounds.
People always think that farming, questing, and treasure hunting(not limited to items) are must in the early parts of the game, but in my case, it is the game mechanic.
I always must know how the game works before everything else as every game has its own spice despite being similar to other games of the same genre. Like a game allows you to manual dodge while another game your dodge rate is according to the character stat.
Hearing the things around me, I found it funny that some people are already immersing themselves on their own roles as I heard some lines that won't be normally heard IRL.
But thinking that some lines would be useful in questing, I mentally took note of what some are saying and headed to what I think is the training area according to the sign hung on a post.
Entering the area, I noticed that some people are already using the training area doing some actions like hitting the dummies with their weapons, like a sword, short sword, mace, stick(?), or a bow.
Moving to a currently unused dummy, I opened my stat window.
[Character Window]
[Stats
Force: 5
Speed: 8
Control: 10
Endurance: 2
Affinity: 0
SP: 0/0]
[Equipment
Head: none
Upper Body: Beginner's chest plate
Arms: Beginner's armbands
Lower Body: Beginner's pants, Beginner's belt
Feet: Beginner's shoes
Accessories: none
Main Hand: none
Off Hand: none]
[Character Data]
[Name: manual
Physical Force: 5 + (0)
Cut Resistance: 0 + (1)
Blunt Resistance: 0 + (3)
Natural Resistance: 0 + (1)]
(*Note: Data with 0 value parameters are not shown and parameters inside a parentheses are modifiers. Modifiers displays the maximum bonus, but may apply lower bonus value according to situation. While the value before the plus sign is the usual minimum value, based on character stats, that fluctuates according to the situation *End Note)
As the sounds of various weapons echoed within the area, I went towards the instructor to ask for a beginner weapon.
(*Note: Players who do not get their weapon at the training area are given a weapon according to their starting stat composition with they try to leave the city by the guards manning the gate. *End Note)
"A sword please" (manual)
Maybe because many players have already went to the NPC manning the training area, the NPC just put out an acknowledging grunt, pulled out a shabby sword from a sack on his waist (which looks awesome), then handed it to me.
[Beginner's Sword (Sword)
Weapon: Edged
Durability: 10/10
Physical Force Modifier: .01
Note: A shabby wooden sword used by beginners for training]
After putting the sword on my waist (left side) and tying the sheath to my belt, I thanked the NPC and went back towards the currently unused dummy.
Unsheathing the sword, I took a basic stance (Stand straight, upper body leaning a bit forward, feet apart, right foot forward, left foot backward, both hands holding the sword, arms forward slanting downwards, then sword pointing diagonally upwards), took aim at the dummy's left shoulder and smash the sword at it like there is no tomorrow.
After the sword hit the dummy, Newton's law of inertia immediately kicked in and the rebound force that I haven't prepared even a little bit thrown me off balance and left me sitting on the ground, amazed at how the game physics replicate real world physics.
Doing a retake, I adjusted my stance in order to plant my feet more stable on the ground.
*hit!*
It was a bit more satisfying result as I managed to counter the recoil and managed to stand on the ground, letting to connect another hit on the dummy a few more times.
But after few strikes on the dummy...
[Weapon Skill (Passive) acquired
Blunt Weapon Handling]
"Kid, that's not how you handle swords, you're making me cry at this rate y'know?" (???)