by K R Dimmick
(Available after level 5. Given to you from your interactions with others. Can be either positive or negative. Affects how much others like you & how they treat you. Influences your access to help and information.)
CHARISMA: n/a
(Available after level 20. Affects how much others like you & how they treat you. Influences things like bargaining, teaching, access to quests and information.)
Alliances:
None
Magic Skills:
None
Physical Combat Skills:
None
Non-Combat Skills:
None
Partnering Skills:
None
Crafting Skills:
None
Life Skills:
None
OK, I thought, but I had no idea what Partnering Skills might be, as I hadn’t come across anything like that in the card and dice games I’d been trained on. The other thing that seemed to be missing was a class.
“When do I get to choose a class?” I asked, still looking at my stats.
“There are no classes in Zones of Alacria. Since you only have a limited time to complete your goal, it was decided that every player should have complete control over their stats to give them the exact build they desire. This way, you succeed or fail completely due to your own decisions.”
Well, that was interesting. I’d never liked being constrained by a class. I dismissed the stats screen from my vision.
“The game also provides individualized rewards to help you toward your ideal character build. If you can see a piece of armor or weapon that has dropped, then it belongs to you and no one else will be able to see it until you pick it up.”
“How would the game know what my ideal build is?”
“Well, your consciousness is currently held within the computers that house the game. It knows everything there is to know about you. Therefore, it knows what is in your best interests. This game is designed to guarantee the perfect player experience by anticipating every need you might have.”
“What happens if it gets it wrong?”
“It won’t.”
Hmm. From what I’d read about computers in the 21st century, the only thing you could guarantee was that they had bugs and messed stuff up from time to time. Oh well, it’s not like I had a choice at the moment. Hopefully, it would work out, and as long as I didn’t end up with a support build, I’d be all right.
“The only other information I have for you before we start on your training is that the pain you will experience in this world is a muted version of what you’re used to. This will protect you from being overwhelmed by the pain, yet still provides a deterrent to rushing into something without thinking it through.”
“What about dying?” I asked. Something I was not looking forward to experiencing.
“You will respawn a certain amount of time later, at your respawn site. The amount of time that passes will depend on your level. The higher level you are, the longer the respawn will take. Below level 10, it is only 5 minutes.”
“Where is the respawn site?”
“Initially, it will be at the exact spot you enter into the game after the training instance. You can change it to any other marker stone whenever you desire.”
“What’s a marker stone?”
“I am not privy to that information, but I’m sure you will discover it in game. Now it’s time for your training. Follow me.”
The hard look on his face before he turned away told me that was all the information I was going to get out of him. So, I followed him to the center of the lawn.
“The first lesson is on how to Dodge,” he said as his fist flew at my face.
I screamed and ducked as fast as I could. He still caught the side of my head and made me overbalance, so I landed heavily on my right shoulder. Pain radiated out down my arm and into my neck. Not as bad as it would have been back on Earth, he’d been right about that, but it still hurt enough to make my eyes water.
“What was that for?” I yelled, the noise making the pain in my head worse.
“Without something to avoid, how can you possibly expect to learn how to do it?”
I got to my feet, still mumbling under my breath.
“How about you tell me how to Dodge first?” I said as I glared at him. If looks could kill, he would’ve been dead by now, but I guess that wasn’t a skill in this game.
“Well, you can either duck, roll or step away, the choice is yours. While you’re learning, it helps to simply think Dodge.”
I thought Dodge, but nothing happened. I was about to say it didn’t work, when his fist came flying toward me again. I quickly thought Dodge and, sure enough, my body automatically threw itself into a roll. A notification also popped up.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Dodge.
Dodge is linked to the stat Dexterity.
Increase your Dexterity to improve your ability to avoid incoming attacks.
I noticed that the red bar at the bottom of my vision was down to only 75% full. That had to be my health bar, and I’d lost 25% of my HP (Hit or Health Points) from that single attack.
“How do I heal back up?” I asked.
“You have a natural HP regeneration rate, so it will heal back up over time. The more points you put into Endurance, the faster your HP will regenerate. Other than that, you can take a health potion, or have a healer heal you. Now onto the fighting,” he said as he turned away, heading toward the edge of the lawn.
As I got up, I noticed a training dummy that hadn’t been there when I’d arrived.
“I’m going to give you the basics of hand-to-hand combat. You will get to learn about whatever weapons you want to use once you get into the game. Now, make a fist.”
I curled my fingers around my thumb and held my fist up for him to see.
“That is the fastest way to break your thumb,” he said as he rearranged my hand into a workable fist. “Now, punch the dummy as hard as you can.”
I hit its chest and my hand exploded with pain.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Punch.
Punch is part of the Hand-to-Hand Combat Skills
It is linked to the stats Strength and Dexterity.
Increase your Strength to increase your physical attack damage.
Increase your Dexterity to increase your physical attack speed.
Increase your Hand-to-Hand Combat skills to increase the accuracy of Punch.
I clenched my fingers a few times, trying to work out if I’d broken something, but everything seemed to be working.
“What was the point of that?” I growled, rubbing my throbbing hand.
“That was a way to teach you some basic hand-to-hand combat skills, so that if you ever lose your weapon, you won’t be completely useless.”
“Thanks,” I said in a deadpan voice, “I’ll make sure to avoid losing my weapon when I get one.”
“All that’s left is to give you your adventurer’s pack and tell you the first riddle.” He picked up a dark brown leather backpack and handed it to me.
You have received: 16-Slot Bag of Holding
This bag forms part of your inventory and remains with you (contents included) in the event of your death.
Each slot can hold up to 250 copies of a single item
I opened it up to see two red, two blue and two green glass vials. There were also two small items wrapped in brown paper and two items that looked like bandages in there. I pulled a red vial out of the bag.
You have received: Basic Health Potion.
Consuming this will recover 30% of your health + 50 HP
“The red ones are health potions, the green ones are stamina potions and the blue ones are mana potions, which you’ll need if you decide to learn magic. They’re all basic quality as you won’t be able to use anything higher until you reach level 10. All you have to do is pull the stopper out and drink it in one go. The packages are basic food rations to tide you over until you earn some gold and
can buy some food. They don’t taste like much, but they’ll keep you from getting a debuff for not eating.”
I pulled the bandages out of the bag.
You have received: Rough Hand Wraps
1-3 Physical Attack Damage.
Quality: Basic.
Rarity: Common.
“These will help you with your hand-to-hand combat until you find a weapon,” he said, winding them around my hands. “Now wish the bag into your inventory.”
I imagined the bag disappearing into my inventory and it vanished from my hands. A little icon of a bag appeared in the bottom left of my vision.
“The only thing left is to give you this,” he said, handing me a piece of rough paper. “It is the riddle you need to solve to transfer your consciousness into the game world permanently. It is the only way you will survive from day seven onward. It is also the only way you can get into the next zone of the game.”
You have received: Riddle.
“To move onward,
have the Mark,
ensure your light outweighs your dark.
Decipher runes, or you’ll remain,
R G D T defines the frame.
A potion drunk, no time to drain,
go through stone, reborn through flame.
Once twice wise,
now clever two,
see the blue light cover you.
Lore describes the Elven death
intentions glow in one Long breath.
Voice your courage to get the heart,
enter alone, forever a part.”
As soon as I finished reading, the piece of paper vanished in a puff of smoke and the little icon of an envelope appeared next to the last one.
“You can access the riddle again at any time by simply wishing to see your mail.”
I nodded.
“Now it is time to go into the game,” he said, pointing at a swirling blue portal that had just appeared. It looked like a vertical puddle of water just hanging there in the air.
I took a step toward it and just as I was about to turn around and ask him how to find the other people that were supposed to have come through with me, he put his hand on the small of my back and shoved me into the portal.
My vision went black as the ground fell out from under my feet. I felt like I had been compressed down into a single atom and was now floating in nothingness. No sound, no sensation and absolute blackness whichever way I turned my head. Before I had time to panic, the portal spat me out.
4
Death to the Bunny
I stumbled forward onto my hands and knees, landing on a dusty cobblestone floor. Sound returned all at once and my ears were assaulted with different people yelling as loudly as they could.
“Potatoes, only 3 Shekels a bag!” yelled one guy.
“Get a new jacket here! Softest rabbit’s fur lining you’ve ever felt,” yelled another person.
I looked around in a daze. I was in what could only be the main square of a little village on market day. The cobblestone streets were dusty, but otherwise clean, and the stone buildings around the square all looked well cared-for. Right in front of me were about 10 tables with farmers and craftsmen yelling out their offers to the crowds of people walking around.
Behind me was a glowing, circular swirl of energy, which must’ve been the portal I’d just travelled through. I could hear a faint hum coming from it. As I watched, it started to fade away, leaving me looking at the wall protecting the back of the village.
This was now my new life, at least for the next six days, and hopefully a lot longer. I took a deep breath, pulled my shoulders back and turned to face the village.
Everyone was dressed in leather or cloth, nearly all of it some shade of brown. However, it all seemed to be well made and well cared-for. A lot of the women also had colorful flowers in their hair, which brightened up the whole place considerably.
Looking down, I could see I was still wearing my hand wraps. I was also dressed in some very rough cloth pants and a shirt, as well as some basic leather sandals that looked like they’d seen better days. Everything was in some shade of brown, with various rips and tears that needed patching. I looked like I’d crawled out of a gutter.
Just beyond the village square, the cobblestones petered out and the ground became rough grass with a few trees and bushes dotted around the place. In the distance, I could see the deep dark green of a forest surrounding the natural clearing the village was built in.
It was time to get myself a weapon. I had no intention of sticking to hand-to-hand combat. My hand was still sore from the training instance. I spotted a table in the market with some rough weapons on it.
“How much for the bow?” I asked, pointing to what looked like a bent stick with a bit of waxed string attached to it.
“10 Florins,” he said, looking pointedly at my scruffy clothes. “Before you ask, it’s a hundred Shekels to a Florin.”
“Thanks.”
“You look like a traveler. When did you get here?”
“A few minutes ago. This might seem like a stupid question, but where am I and how do I earn money?”
“Well, you’re in the village of Milgate, and you can make some money by doing quests for the locals. The board is over there,” he said, pointing to the side of one of the largest buildings, where a few pieces of paper fluttered in the breeze against the pins holding them to a big, wooden board. “Then again, some travelers just rush out into the forest and start killing the wildlife to find something to trade.”
“Well, I can’t imagine trying to kill something without a weapon, so I guess I’ll start with the quests. Thanks.”
I headed over to the board, hoping there would be a quest that wouldn’t involve killing something with my bare hands. Most of the quests seemed to center around collecting some kind of animal pelt or ridding someone’s house of mice. Just as I was about to give up, one quest that was right on the edge of the board caught my eye. I pulled the piece of paper off the board.
You have received a quest: Gatherer
The Herbalist Isviar Wyrten needs 10 Cress-Rose flower heads.
Accepting this quest will mark possible locations on your map.
Completion of this quest will give you 1,000 XP and 1 Florin.
Do you accept? Yes / No
Now that was more like it. I thought yes and the piece of paper instantly burst into flames. Before I could scream or drop it, the flames petered out on their own and a little cloud of ash was slowly floating toward the ground.
A small red icon of a pin started flashing in the bottom right of my vision where the map should be. I thought map, and the little map popped up. Little red dots appeared all around the north side of the village, in the gray mist of the area I hadn’t uncovered yet.
I enlarged the map and found a group of red dots on it, directly north of my position. That was where I needed to go. I walked toward the woods and the edge of the gray mist on my mini-map.
Congratulations! You have discovered: Boon’s Forest.
The mist receded and was replaced by a green area labeled Boon’s Forest. Ahead of me, I could see a light, pleasant looking forest stretching out into the distance, with some cultivated fields off to my left. Onward, I thought, walking down the rapidly disappearing path.
About ten minutes later, I realized I’d misunderstood the scale of the map. I was still only a quarter of the way to the red dots. No wonder this Herbalist hadn’t gone out and collected the flowers himself.
I could hear the birds singing and other animals chattering away in the undergrowth though, so it was kind of relaxing to just walk around.
Since this area seemed to be safe, I pulled up the riddle to see what I could make of it.
To move onward,
have the Mark,
ensure your light outweighs your dark.
Well, it looked like I had to retrieve some kind of mark. I was sure someone would be able to tell me what kind of mark, and hopefully where I could fin
d it. It all seemed pretty straightforward so far. The light outweighing the dark was probably something to do with alignment. As far as I could remember, there hadn’t been anything to do with alignment on my character stats, but maybe it would appear once I got a few levels under my belt.
Decipher runes, or you’ll remain,
R G D T defines the frame.
That didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but this game clearly had a lot to do with runes. Maybe even runic magic, which would be exciting. I remember being fascinated by Anglo-Saxon runes a few years ago, and how a 20th century author had taken them and created his own language for the world he wrote in. Something to do with central earth, or middle earth, or something like that. Hopefully, I’ll find some books on runes and then it should be easy enough from there. Although, what it meant by a frame was still a bit unclear.
A potion drunk, no time to drain,
go through stone, reborn through flame.
It seemed like I was going to get to try my hand at Alchemy. Something I’d wanted to do as much as magic for as long as I’d been reading fantasy books. Fingers crossed it didn’t taste thoroughly disgusting though, I’d had enough horrible-tasting herbal potions from the estate’s doctor to last me a lifetime. The second line was more confusing. How could anyone go through stone? I didn’t like the sound of being reborn in a fire, either, since that meant I had to die, likely by being burnt to death, and there was no way I wanted to experience that.
A muted ‘ding’ caught my attention. With a thought, I pushed away the text in front of my vision so I could see how close I was to the red dots. Sure enough, I’d reached the area I was looking for. There, in front of me, was a patch of tiny, red flowers. I reached out and plucked one.
