Fantasy Realms Online, The Journey Begins!
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
[System initialized!]
[Welcome to Fantasy Realms Online]
[New User detected. Please select a username for your character.]
[Note: Username can't be changed unless the account is deleted.]
"Shadster."
[Creating Character...]
[Please choose appearance changes for your character.]
The game was pretty tight about appearance changes. One couldn't change their gender or make their character too different from their real-life appearance. Only light cosmetic changes could be done.
After a few tweaks to his appearance.
'I guess this is good to go.'
"Continue."
[Please remember to change your sense immersion according to your needs. They are set to default at present.]
[Good Luck, Shadster. May your journey in Fantasy Realms be a marvelous one.]
'Finally, it begins.'
Fantasy Realms Online was the latest VRMMORPG with Full Dive Technology. The users just had to wear the VR headset and they can experience 100% immersion into the game. This meant that the users could sense touch, taste, smell, and even pain! Of course, it was customizable according to the user's comfort.
[Teleporting player to the Beginner Village Duskwood.]
Shadster was now standing in the Beginner Village Duskwood. On looking around, he could see many beginner players and NPCs interacting with them. Some were forming parties for hunting, some were selling their loot and some were sucking up on NPCs in hopes of getting a quest.
That was one unique thing about Fantasy Realms Online. The NPCs here were not just some pre-programmed bunch of code. Instead, they all were actual AIs (Artificial Intelligence) capable of their own thoughts and emotions. Having a good image in the eyes of NPCs was the key to getting quests, that was why many players were sucking up to the NPCs.
New players are confined in the beginner village area until they can reach level 10 and prepare for their first class advancement. This was to provide a safe and easy environment for the players to level up before they face the high-leveled monsters present outside.
"Status Window." A new interface opened in front of him displaying his character status.
[Player Name: Shadster
Class: Beginner
HP: 90
Mana: 0
Attack/ATK: 5
Defense/DEF: 7
Agility/AGI: 6
Magic: 0
Reputation: 0
Weapons: None
Armor: None]
*/ Author Note: Here, DEF stat also acts as Vitality/Stamina Stat here i.e, it provides affects both Defense and HP/*
'Hmm...The ATK is a bit lacking, and MAGIC is 0 as expected.' Players had 0 magic stat by default, hence zero Mana. Players could only use magic after they get their first class at level 10, after graduating from the beginner village. Also, it was to be noted that the player's HP was directly dependent on the player's DEF stat and ATK stat. 1 DEF gave 10 HP and 1 ATK gave 4 HP.
Closing the Status window, Shadster looked forward.
'So, this is the training center.' Shadster walks into the center in front of him.
The training center was where players could train and adjust themselves with their in-game avatar. Players just entered this as they would receive a starter weapon for free.
In the training center were a few dozens of scarecrows and a trainer with one arm sitting on the bench.
"Hello, Sir. I am Shadster." Shadster greeted him respectfully.
"Welcome, Adventurer Shadster. I am Zakran, the trainer of this center. This training will be for 3 days. Of course, you can quit whenever you want." said Zakran with a carefree expression. He already knew that most players would quit the training in a few hours or a day at max.
Many players tend to skip this part. Who would like to do tedious stuff like training in a game? Wasn't real life already too hectic?. Though aware that they could train and increase their basic stats by a few points, most of them were too lazy.
Ding!
[Quest has been created.]
[ Name: Beginner Village Training
Trainer Zakran is willing to let you in the center for 3 days. Pick your weapon of choice and train with the scarecrows.
Duration: 3 days.
Acceptance Reward: A weapon of your choice.
Clearance Reward: 300 Experience Points, 5 silver coins, 10 Reputation.]
'Except for the free weapon, the other rewards can be easily obtained by other quests as well. Makes sense for most of the players to skip this.' Shadster thought to himself.
"Yes Sir, I will take the training."
[Time left: 72:00:00]
"Good, pick your weapon of choice."
Zakran let him to the weapon shelf. The shelf only contained a sword, a bow and a quiver of arrows, a spear. There was no staff for magic as expected. Shadster picked the sword.
[Wooden Sword has been placed in the inventory.]
Zakran didn't say anything further, he just gave Shadster a small nod and returned to his bench. Contrary to Shadsters expectation of Zakran guiding him while training, he was supposed to train by himself. Shadster made his way to a scarecrow.
"Open Inventory." An interface opened in front of his eyes.
He could see a wooden sword in the first slot and the rest were empty.
"Equip Wooden Sword." As he told this, a wooden sword materialized into his hand.
A new interface opened in the corner of his eye, displaying the information of the sword.
[ Weapon Name: Wooden Sword
Grade: Common
Requirements: None
ATK + 5
Durability: 20/20
A common wooden sword that is distributed in the training center.]
'Hmm… So, this is all we can get for free. I guess I'll have to run quests and save up money for a Staff after I become a Magician.' Shadster's choice of class was a Magician. In fact, many players tend to pick Magician. Why? Or rather Why not? It allowed players to experience magic which they had only read in fairy tales and seen in movies. Just like them, Shadster wanted to feel mana and look cool casting magic. But that was something for the future. Collecting his thoughts, Shadster focused on the scarecrow in front of him.
It was just a basic sword. Gripping the sword in his left hand, Shadster took a comfortable stance in front of the scarecrow. Aiming at the chest, he slashed the sword as hard as he could.
As he hit the scarecrow, he could feel the sword hitting it and could even feel the slight vibrations caused by impact.
'Wow, the realism is no joke.' Admiring the game, Shadster continued to slash the scarecrow.
In the beginning, though the strikes were good, Shadster felt they were a bit off. As he continued to slash…
'Maybe I have to keep my center of mass a little lower.'
'Should I change the angle of the slash?'
'I think I can produce more power if I do this..'
Zakran who just used to silently stare at all the trainees was now staring at Shadster.
'Ohh….The kid's form is improving as he trains. Thinking about it, this kid is the second one with such talent for swords. Also, I wonder how that little monster is doing now. Time really flies soon huh? It feels like it was only yesterday that I taught him about swords, but it has already been 7 years.' Thinking of the old times, Zakran looks at his missing arm. A flash of sadness could be seen on his face, but he instantly comes out of it and goes back to looking at Shadster training.
'Yes! This feels good.' As Shadster was training and improving his form, he realized removing out the unnecessary movements saves stamina. Though stamina wasn't a viewable resource, the players could feel fatigued rise up as their stamina decreased.
Ding!
[ ATK has risen by 1.]
[ DEF has risen by 1.]
As he trained, he was getting alerts of his stats rising, though it wasn't significant, it wasn't something that could be ignored.
'If I am going to take Magician as my class, I will have to invest my points into DEF and MAGIC. I better use this opportunity to increase my ATK and AGI.'
But the problem was, only his DEF and ATK were increasing through scarecrow training.
'Maybe I should try to run and strike the scarecrow? But it's too congested here to run. Maybe I should ask Zakran if I can move the scarecrow to an open place.'
Upon asking and getting Zakran's approval, Shadster set the scarecrow in an open place and started to run and strike.
'Huhu...Look at this kid, getting worked up with a scarecrow. I knew my eyes for talent weren't wrong.' Zakran thought to himself while watching Shadster train.
[Familiarity with Trainer Zakran +10]
'Huh? But, I didn't do anything. Maybe it is because of my training? Well, anyway it's good for me.' Shadster got back to his training.
Meanwhile, many players got bored of the monotonous training and quit the quest. Shadster, who was training so hard, was an idiot in their eyes. A few of them even recorded Shadster's training and uploaded it onto the internet.
-- LOL, what is that guy doing?
-- Maybe he is trying to look cool XD.
-- I would die of embarrassment if it was me.
-- Why would someone waste 72 in-game hours on training with scarecrows...
Unaware of what people were speaking about him on the internet, Shadster was slashing, stabbing, and striking the scarecrow to increase his stats.
Shadster stood a few meters away from the scarecrow, taking a stance. Running at the scarecrow with all his strength, he stabbed his sword into the scarecrow.
Pkkkhht!
The wooden sword made its way through the wooden pole supporting the scarecrow and came out on the other side.
Ding!
[ Active skill 'Charging Stab' has been created!]
'Wow! We could create skills like this?'
Yes, skills could be created in Fantasy Realms online. But, that wasn't so easy. Basic skills like the one Shadster created could be done with repetitive labor. Advanced skills weren't something the players could manage to create on their own.
On checking the skill description…
[Name: Charging Stab (Active)
Rank: E
Active:
Movement Speed + 10%
Defense Penetration + 10%
Cooldown: 20 secs]
[ Passive skill 'Basic Sword Mastery' has been created.]
[Name: Basic Sword Mastery(Passive)
Rank: E
When Sword Equipped: Sword Damage + 10 %
Sword Attack Speed +10%
Sword Defense Penetration +10%]
'Wasn't this skill only possible to acquire after one chooses Swordsman as their class advancement? Well, I guess I am a genius after all.' Though Shadster just told that half-jokingly, what he didn't know was that he was really talented in the sword. So much that he had already caught Zakran's attention.
'Let's try the slashing move now...'
Distancing himself from the scarecrow again, he charged towards it. But this time, he did the slash attack instead of the stab.
Sshhluck!
The sword sliced through the wooden pole supporting the scarecrow and cut it in half!
[ Active skill 'Charging Slash' has been created.]
'What..! I didn't think it would cut through the pole. Do I have to pay compensation for damaging the property?' Shadster looked around awkwardly, only to find Zakran watching him.
As if that wasn't enough…
[Durability of Wooden Sword has reached 0. It will be destroyed.]
The Sword in his hands turned to pixels and disappeared.
'Nooo! My free weapon… How will I hunt monsters now? Maybe I could buy a proper sword with the 5 silver I get from the quest. But, I even broke the scarecrow. Will I get kicked out without finishing the quest?'
Just then, a system notification popped in front of his eyes.