Chapter 3 - Awesome talent

"Luck is caprious b*tch! She won't stay at a single place for long. But if you are not working hard, she will definitely run away from you."

- Theodore 'Ted' Moore

The details regarding the talent pool was really merger. Sampath (IGN of Ted) did not know if he has to swim up or find something in the pool or simply stay in the pool for long time. In a way, the game was recording how the player behaved in unexpected circumstances and his personal character.

He swam down instead of swimming up, trying to find something, anything in the bed of the talent pool. The water was crystal clear, the depth of the pool deceptive. And the pressure! At bottom of pool, the pressure was extremely high, making it difficult for him to even move. But he persisted and kept searching for something, anything. He could not hold for long before he felt suffocation and lack of stamina. Still he tried. Dying here, meant nothing. But if he got a really good talent, he could earn a lot more.

Before the stamina dropped down to zero, the guiding pixie fished him out. Yeah, she reeled him out using a fishing line. Was this less humiliating than being dumped into a pool by a tiny pixie?

The game was realistic. So Sampath spent some time coughing on his fours and breathing deeply for sometime. In real life, he would lie down like a fish, completely spent, not even having strength to breath properly. This was a game though, so as soon as stamina auto generated enough, he stood up. The default clothes, grey tunic and pants, had dried up without his notice.

The pixie started talking. "You are good, dear lost soul. The deity had blessed you. Check your status to know more about your talent. Remember, don't share your talent details recklessly. Agents of dark powers are roaming everywhere."

Ah, yes! This was one of the recurring themes in the game. Fight against dark powers. Leading to more large scale battles and wars. A staple for such games.

He nodded to show his understanding. The status window had new entry.

Talent

Legend has it that once, eons ago, a mortal forged a path to become immortal against all odds, thus becoming revered as Devayaani.

Talent - SSS grade - Against the odds

Passive 1- Devayaani's trophy

Any win, any loss, any deed for that matter, you gain something from it.

Can be upgraded. Currently locked.

Passive 2- Devayaani's lazy mode

Work less but get more.

Can be upgraded. Currently locked.

Other skills - locked.

"Can I ask in detail about my talent?" Ted asked. The devil is in details and more he learns about them, more he can try exploit them.

The R-rated pixie was fiddling with a gigantic hourglass while he was immersed in learning about his talent. Wait! Was she sneakily eating few grains of sand from that hourglass just now?

The pixie sighed. If only this lost soul was immersed in learning his talent! She could have snatched few more grains of time sand.

"I just told you, dear lost soul, you should not share details of your talent. How can I know about them and talk about them? Deity's will cannot be understood by all so easily. You have to explore it yourself. Now, I see that time is nearly up, so please decide where you want to start your journey." A snap and a huge map appeared with only few areas marked. Others were covered in haze. Even the map was 3-D rendition. Kudos to game developers to not miss even the smallest detail.

The game developers had given explanation about initial spawn point. In the olden era, there were different servers, catering to players of specific regions. Taking inspiration from that, the game developers divided the game world into different regions and allowed people from certain region to spawn in corresponding areas. Real world has fixed regions but there was no constraints for gaming world. So, the option to choose within a certain region actually did not hinder the player much. You can meet your neighbour as soon as you enter the village or when you go to the city or when you go to next city while on adventure.

Ted took screenshot of the map. The 3D rendition meant that he could see more details but the time was less to go over every detail. He could see the pixie tapping her toes, becoming impatient. For the pioneers, the players who were entering the game on launch date, the choice is just random guess but for players who come in later, they would know details of villages, towns and cities and choose accordingly.

Ted finally chose a village in vicinity to a bigger, prosperous looking place. The village was just a dot on the map but the areas around the village was all same, no mountain ranges or sea.

He was going to play the game to make money, not to have adventure of lifetime. No need to work on high risk environment, though high risk often equated high returns. Once he earned enough to have some leeway, probably he might try those things too. But choosing such village meant he would likely get oppressed by guilds. Sampath shrugged. Win some, lose some.

As soon as his finger touched a small dot on the map, he was sucked in. Kaleidoscope of colours, feeling of weightlessness for few seconds and when he got back his senses, he was standing near a village entrance. Thankfully, he was teleported within the village, rather than outside the village limits. As he stood, trying to bear his senses, he watched the notice board near the village centre getting updated.

Village - Dusk view

Population -145 +7356

Ted was interested in the village population. Potentially, he had around 145 quests within the village. He was fast. He had skipped most of player creation and yet over seven thousand players had entered the game before him. And that number was only the players within this village. How many villages had already opened and had reached full saturation by now? Tch! He was turning slow.

Ted checked his inventory. The status window was highly personalised. He put battle log and inventory just at the upper right most corner. He was no longer a grunt, following whatever the boss ordered. He could follow his own path. For that he should know what was happening in real time, thus realtime battle log was a must. And the inventory shortcut was his personal peeve. He should be able to know what he had at a glance. He would keep most commonly used items in the conspicuous space so that he would know if he was getting low on those consumables. He was no longer a part of team but a solo player. He had to plan for himself. He could not request for any missing consumables from the team members.

The status window was bare bones. He was garbed in grey coloured basic trash tunic and pants but thankfully, his feet were somewhat protected by trash shoes. Clothes were coarse and rough though.

In contrast he could see few players with coloured clothes, made of cotton or better fabric. Obviously they were the rich ones, who were ready to shell out game coins or cash to ensure their gaming avatars did not suffer due to poverty. This also worked out as advertising. Work and show off, all in one.

There was no glaring colours above the players or the NPCs he could see (the guards at the entrance of the village). No green, yellow or red colour codes for available or accepted quests. Right now it was very easy to differentiate between players and NPCs. The latter had better clothes and accessories and if they had weapons, they were definitely better. Would the situation remain the same even when player levels increased?

As he pondered the question, he walked further into the village. He had no friends and no share circle to share the details, so he had to comb through the details himself and create his own guide to level up.

He did not go to the village centre directly but tried to interact with NPCs he met. The two guards behaved as the usual guards, standing solid like a rock, not even blinking much. But he hit the jackpot with a tiny toddler NPC. Awww! He was cute, even with saliva dripping from his mouth. Plumpy, chubby and tempting him to grab those rosy cheeks. He assumed his younger brother Max would have looked just like that when he was young. Pity that he had not met his real family then.

"Hello, little kid. Is there anything that at I can help you with?" Ted asked, crouching down to talk with the youngest NPC who had crossed paths with him. Never mind the fact that even with kneeling, he still towered over the child.

"Nuonuo is in the hurry. Don't block the way," the child replied with a childish majesty. Ted's heart turned into puddle. Aww! So cute!

"Why is Nuonuo in such a hurry? I can help!"

The toddler looked up and down at Ted and had a despising look. "So weak! And you want to help?"

Ted had heard even worse words. He shrugged them off. He had developed a thick skin in last few years anyway.

"Uh-huh. I really want to help Nuonuo and be friends with him."

Was this just love for a cute kid? Get lost. Even seen a chubby kid with fake adult like seriousness in a poor household? This kid was now a shortcut to meet a rich and influential family. He would not let go of this golden thigh.

The toddler sighed. "Fine! I am tired anyway. I need to rest at Corwin uncle's hotel. Take me there and I will tell you what you have to do."