The Birth

by Paul Kite

  “Yeah... Thank you very much.” I glanced at the tall, portly man in a blacksmith's apron, who was a head taller than me. He nodded and then went on his way.

  “Where am I... I… have no clue.”

  In front of me, there was a narrow stone pavement, passing between wooden two-story houses. I walked up to and stood near one of them. Somewhere in the distance, I could see the spire of a tall, cylindrical tower-like building. About a dozen steps to the left, there was a signboard with a painted hammer and anvil on it. The blacksmith who had rescued me went in that direction.

  ‘And now,’ my mind began to assess my surroundings, and get its bearings, ‘what do we have on the global map?’ I mentally asked Noria’s system.

  Nothing! There was fog in all directions from the one lonely point on the map—my character. I zoomed in. ‘Hmmm, useless!’ I could only make out a schematically sketched street and houses along the edges. So, it only showed the road and the two houses I had just seen.

  I entered the full game interface. ‘Where is the ‘Help’ tab? I mean, communication with the administration or something.’

  “Hmmm…” I was surprised at the system’s message I got in reply.

  ‘Help’—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

  “Maybe, this one?!”

  ‘Forum’—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

  ‘Mail’—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

  “Damn! What a limited interface this is! What about this one…”

  ‘Exit’—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

  ’Damn…’

  Slipping into the pit of despair and struggling to hold back my tears, I grabbed my head in fear and panic to think about what I knew about the game and how I could use it in my current situation.

  ‘Should I just throw myself under the hooves of horses and under cart wheels again? It won't help, I'll just resurrect at the nearest rebirth point. And the feeling of death won't be the most pleasant thing I could experience, that’s for sure. It's possible that the person who put me in here acted with the noblest of intentions, but it's not any easier than death would have been.’

  ‘So, the first critical question is: what’s happened to me in real life that I was shoved into virtual reality like this? The second is: what should I do now?’

  ‘The fact that I'm not dead, and everything around me is not a figment of my imagination, is confirmed immediately, due to my ability to think clearly, and the system’s interface.’

  ‘Moreover, even if I have never played ‘Noria’, I’m still well aware of all its nuances and rules. I also know the history of the world, lands, and races, and much more besides, including the characteristics and capabilities of the current generation of capsules. And all that because my father is the Director of the Technical Department of Life Corporation.’

  ‘‘The world of Noria’ is a virtual reality game with total immersion, that much I know for certain. There are about 100 million players at the moment. There are about 500 million intelligent NPCs of all races. The size of the world is just under 8 million square miles (mainland and islands combined).’

  ‘Controlling the game is a pyramid type interface of many different artificial intelligences, with a variety of ranks. The higher the position of the player within the pyramid, the higher their rank is, as well as the rights and opportunities of their AI activity. Accordingly, the topmost AI is the main brain of ‘Noria,’ which...or whom, even, is capable of global map changes.’

  ‘Despite the fact that the territorial distribution of players and NPCs based on race is absent, the creators decided to follow in the footsteps of the ancestral history of the world and split ‘Noria’ into seven States. Therefore, after selecting any of the available races in the game, and there are about fifty, you pick the starting location of your choice, but, of course, the penalties associated with the class that you’ve chosen are taken into account. There are human or elven lands, the orcs' wastelands, the dwarves' kingdom or even free lands, where, it is clear by the name, everyone is absolutely equal and where there is almost complete anarchy.

  Character classes for every taste and preference possible are offered to the player. The only minor limitations, which could complicate your life, more or less, are fines.’

  ‘For example, while being a light elf, you can become a necromancer or a demonologist, but the reputation with the same light elves will immediately go into the negative, up to ‘Hated,’ but you'll gain the respect of orcs and drow.’

  ‘There are still some more nuances. If a man chooses the hunter class, with the same levels and characteristics—elves will still be faster, better and more accurate due to their racial bonuses.’

  ‘But it is not enough to merely choose a class! You still have to find someone who will give you the first task in a fairly long class quest chain. A thief or a murderer should only find himself in poor neighborhoods or slums, and communicate with different shady characters, as he is sure to hear a few suggestions—of who to kill, to rob and what to steal. You can still try to steal something somewhere or kill a drunkard on your own. In that case, wait for the appearance of unknown persons with certain proposals.’

  But to become a magician, you will have to work hard—you will need to become a student in the Guild, learn, read books, pass tests and then choose what you want—throw ice attacks and fireballs or treat wounds and help others. You can also choose to not enter the Guild, and try to acquire the same knowledge and opportunities through trial and error, practicing with books on magic. The only problem is, this way is much longer and more difficult, and some class features will not be available to you. So then you have to go to the Guild and take a special test, confirming your choice.’

  The memories calmed me a little...

  ‘OK! I'm done reflecting on all this, it's time to get ready for total immersion!’

  Well, the question of “what happened to me and why am I here” was postponed indefinitely. And the question "what to do now and how to live" was quite difficult to answer as well. Since I had no idea how much time I had to spend in the game, my first thought was that I had to pick out something interesting and rare to give myself an advantage. I wanted it to have at least a neutral reputation, but still give the best bonuses to the race of men. I only wished I could see a complete list of all the classes I didn't remember.

  ‘I can choose the Witcher. The reputation with all the races is positive, the job is hunting monsters, and it is needed among all the races, I will also be able to perform mutations, which enhance my characteristics, and use mutagens, which are able to give buffs at different times, both in and out of battle.’

  ‘There's also a Teleporter, or Jumper. The only class which, as the name implies, is capable of jumping freely between the mainland and Islands. It's cool, interesting, but very dreary. It is impossible to level up such a character without a clan, which I'm not eager to join for obvious reasons.’

  ‘Why would I want to work without a clan? Well, first of all, how can I explain why I spend one hundred percent of my time in the game? Why I can’t use the forum and help? No way! It’s better for no one to know what's wrong with me and who I am. It is better for me…’

  There are, of course, a few more classes I had in mind, but I will decide on that later. Now I have to figure out which of the cities of the Kingdom of Nazhar I am in at the moment. I can ask any local resident, if he has a neutral and higher attitude toward the faction. Where did the blacksmith who saved me go?’

  I came up to the ‘Blacksmith’ sign and looked through one of the windows into a small room. There was a counter opposite the entrance, behind which there was a door. There were a lot of weapons and armor on the walls. There were three naked dummies in the center, I had no idea why they were there.
I could not see the man, but I hoped he was still here.

  The door was not locked so I went inside.

  “Hey, is anybody here?” I called out.

  The door behind the counter suddenly opened as if it had been kicked, and the disgruntled blacksmith appeared, “Who's shouting in here? I’ll... Ah, it's you, sir,” when he saw me, he immediately changed his tone.

  ’Sir... sir. I do not understand. Do I look like someone else? I urgently need a mirror.’

  “Do you want to order anything?” The man asked.

  Hm, so it seems he had something like a shop, but things were made to order. Therefore, the sign was the same as with a general blacksmith.

  “No, thank you,” I answered. “Can you tell me, what is the correct name of this city?”

  ‘In general, it is always better to communicate respectfully and extremely honestly with neutral NPCs. Firstly, that is what the culture is like, and secondly, the AI can give you a task, if a local likes you.’

  “I didn’t seem to push you too hard,” the blacksmith was frankly surprised, "and you didn’t hit your head. How could you forget the glorious name of our city?”

  ‘Are you mocking me,’ I gritted my teeth mentally, but said, “I'm sorry for the stupid question, but it just happened.”

  "Ah," he sighed heavily. “Saradan. That was the name of the first king of our kingdom. It's bad not to know and forget our history.”

  I just nodded, remembering where this city was situated in relation to the other States. As far as I remembered, it was in the eastern part of the country, next to the mouth of the Valand River, along which there was a border with the Black Forest of the dark elves- the Drow.

  It was a very large and developed city, with many craftsmen and merchants, as it had another industrious country nearby. Which meant there were enough different NPCs here to provide a lot of options. For those who wanted to study crafts and skills, it was a great place.

  Alas, it was good, but not for me. There was really nothing to do here, unless you were looking for tasks to gain a few levels and earn some local money—iren, a single currency for the whole world of Noria.

  I needed the money anyway. Walking was too slow and portals, horses or a place in a caravan would cost a lot.

  "Thank you," I said. “Maybe I can help you with something?” I decided not to waste time and tried to get any quest I could right away.

  “A-ah,”—the man zoned out. “No, sir, why!?” He had been thinking for about thirty seconds before he answered. ‘That’s strange,’ I thought. “I deal with everything myself,” he finally managed.

  Well, I guess I’d have to walk around the city. Someone among all these NPCs would surely ask for help. ‘Isn't it a game?!’. "Thank you," I said. “I appreciate the information and your time sir.”

  I left the shop and went wherever my feet took me. I had no map, no money for it, and the city was not small. It was kind of hardcore. I didn’t even know what I looked like yet and hadn’t even distributed my points!

  Exactly!

  Remembering this, I stopped and made a mental request to the game system.

  First name: Kraven

  Level: 1

  Race: human

  Class: none

  Clan: none

  Guild: none

  Character Characteristics:

  Basic:

  Strength - 1

  Agility - 1

  Intelligence - 1

  Secondary:

  Life - 3/10

  Endurance - 10

  Mana - 10

  Free points for distribution: 6

  Skills: none

  Class skills: none

  Specialties: none

  Achievements: none

  Sensitivity: 70%

  ‘Life is not as full as it used to be... It’s really low! I wish I could recover it somehow! After increasing the characteristics, those seven points, which were lost because of my receiving physical damage, will not be gained back without treatment. Even if a new level was reached, it wouldn’t help either.

  Should I distribute everything equally? Or should I put all the points into strength, then the life bar will increase a little bit? If I take one more hit, I will surely die!

  But I immediately rejected the last idea. It's okay if I end up at the rebirth point from the next damage I take. I can bear it.

  So, I needed to think about what I wanted in the future. ‘Also, sensitivity, which affects all sensations, including pain, must likewise be taken into account. It is too high. With it at seventy percent, however, I will feel all the charms of the world in almost all of their glory.’

  ‘Well, magic, where intelligence is primary, is not for me. It needs far too complicated training, from the initial level to the hundredth one. And even then, it does not become any easier. I’d need a team! Players, who would help clear dungeons, get the right ingredients or do raids on epic and legendary monsters with me. That’s why many magicians try to join a clan as soon as possible. It means there is only one suitable class of magicians for me—a pet owner. But, alas, to have pets, you need either stones of souls or cards. They can be bought as well as dropped from mobs after you kill them. Up to the fiftieth level, this class will cost me so much blood and stress! Of course, then, having a variety of my own pets, I'll be a kind of walking zoo— with my own tanks and damage dealers. So, magic is not for me, but I will put it aside, in case of an emergency.

  I categorically did not want to become a tank! The main reason was over-sensitivity. Seventy percent was way too much. I would not die of shock from the pain, but it would still be very intense.

  ‘The interesting thing... is this sensitivity setting. The player wants to feel the taste of food, a breath of wind on their skin, breathe deeply the fresh, frosty air, all the delights of virtual sex and... pain, does he want to feel other things that are not very pleasant? The “sensitivity” parameter was created for this purpose, the user selects it when loading the capsule. Most players set it between ten and thirty percent, and only when visiting pleasure houses change it to the maximum. The capsule automatically removes this parameter for persons under the age of eighteen. By the way, playing in the world the Noria is allowed from the age of sixteen under the current legislation, and there are quite a lot of restrictions for minors. I've never heard of idiots that put it at one hundred percent for everyday play. Well, except for those serving time in virtual prisons, but there are special reasons for that.’

  ‘The characteristics you level depend on the sensitivity, too. The higher it is, the more chances the player has to raise this or that parameter by one or two points. For example, if you are constantly training your character by running to exhaustion and falling due to low endurance, do not be surprised at the fact that at some point the system will increase your agility. I will, of course, take into account all these features in my further development.’

  ‘A damage dealer is a character that can inflict high damage to NPCs, mobs, and players. They are divided into melee damage dealers which cause damage near the target and range damage dealers that strike from a distance. The first are soldiers, robbers, assassins, witchers and so on. The second are archers and, of course, fighting mages, but as I've already said, magic isn't for me, and I just hate archers. So, I choose melee and will stick to this path of development. I also have just the right classes in mind.’

  ‘It's decided! I'll put a lot of points into dexterity, as this is the main characteristic I need for my plan, then I will add points to strength, but I'm going to leave intelligence unchanged, I won't need it anytime soon. Then I can make up for the lack of mana later on.’

  Name: Kraven

  Level: 1

  Race: man

  Class: none

  Clan: none

  Guild: absent

  The characteristics of the character:

  Basic:

  Power-3

  Dexterity–5

  Intelligence–1

  Secondary: />
  Life–2330

  Endurance-50

  Mana-10

  Free points for distribution: 0

  Skills: none

  Class skills: none

  Specialties: none

  Achievements: none

  Sensitivity: 70%

  ‘That's it!’

  ‘Well, I'm going on a quest. Beware, NPCs! I won't give up!’

  Chapter 2

  A t first, I decided to go towards the tower that had a spire. I had to focus on something to get me moving forward. It was especially noticeable, from anywhere in the city.

  Other NPCs and players were walking leisurely along or alternatively were running past me. But none of them cared about me. As it should be. ‘A man is going his way and isn’t interfering with anyone, so don’t get in his way.’

  Walking hurriedly, I passed an old man wearing a patched shirt and dark pants. He had been working hard, dragging luggage on a small trolley, but at that very moment, he stopped to rest.

  “Where are you going? You're gonna crush my legs!” The tone was angry and scolding, coming from behind me, which made me turn around.

  A player or an NPC? He's more like a player, I looked at the massive character and the system obediently brought up all of his available information.

  Player – Solnar (Powerful)

  Level – 12

  Yeah! I thought. His nickname is completely in line with his looks! Only a very self-confident and narcissistic personality could choose such a “cool” name for the game’s character and choose so bright an appearance.

  It was a six-foot-tall bodybuilder with broad shoulders, blond hair, and blue eyes.

  Well, the old man was apparently pulling his cart, but, as he was old and weak and his load was heavy, he had been hunched, making it uncomfortable for him to look backward. So he did not give way to the guy behind him, because the old man just hadn’t seen him. So, the guy was upset by such a show of disrespect and decided to dispose of all his accumulated anger for the day on the poor NPC.