by Grey Arney
Although the wall of trees did not look perfectly natural, it might escape the notice of a construct with low intelligence—or even a player, if they weren’t paying attention.
It was when Arcturus was finishing up with his wall of thorns, on the fifth day, that he finally leveled up again in Earth Magic. He hadn’t leveled up since the previous day.
You have improved Earth Magic (Level 20)
Your Earth Magic is now stronger.
He was startled by another notification.
NEW QUEST: THE PATH OF THE DRUID
Requirements: Earth Magic level 20, Shapeshifting, Beast-Blooded
Druids are able to shape the earth, direct the growing of plants, and call nature’s creations to their aid. Druids can also transform into animals.
Bonuses:
- Class-specific bonuses to Shapeshifting
- New ability: charm animals
- + 10 intelligence
- + 10 endurance
- + 10 wisdom
- + 30 to Shapeshifting
- + 10 to Earth Magic
- + 10 to Alchemy
- Resistance to poison and disease
- Level cap removed for Alchemy, Earth Magic, Shapeshifting
Do you accept the Path of the Druid? Warning: Druids are completely neutral, and becoming a Druid will prevent you from committing to paths of pure goodness or of pure evil. Angels and demons alike may regard you with indifference or hostility because of your neutrality. (Yes/No)
Arcturus chose “Yes,” and immediately saw another prompt.
Quest Update: The Path of the Druid
Now that you meet the requirements, your next step is to undertake a journey of the spirit. Gather the following ingredients:
- Hopping Toad Venom
- Clutching Vine Leaf (Obtained)
- (Optional) Pygmy Flowers
There was no shortage of Clutching Vine Leaves in his camp, since he had surrounded himself with a wall of them. Since there didn’t seem to be any time limit, Arcturus decided to search for the other ingredients later. He still had plenty of other things to do.
The next day, Arcturus took a tour of his new campsite. The inside was completely sheltered from prying eyes due to the braided wall of trees and the curtain of vines. Outside of that wall were thorny bushes, discouraging travelers from investigating closely. Inside the camp was the boulder that sheltered his farm of Purple Toadstools. In front of that was an oak tree with many flat rocks surrounding it, where he slept with Lyle each night. Further south was the small streamlet where he got his freshwater, and next to that was a patch of Soothing Chokeberry bushes. He had expanded upon these and now had a large supply. The campsite extended further south through untamed forest. The new wolves den was at the southern edge, burrowed underground.
There were two small entrances to the campsite. One was along the wall of the boulder, and the other was to the south past the wolves den. Both were concealed with crawling ivy. Even if his campfire attracted attention at night, goblins might wander around in circles for an hour without having any idea where his location was. And if he were attacked by them, it could easily take them another hour to find an entrance. That would give him the time he needed to prepare, or to escape.
On the sixth night, his fortified camp received its first visitor.
***
He had spent the last several evenings experimenting with his new Hex spell and the Sacrificial Dagger. He had tried killing bugs with the dagger, but none of them resurrected as undead servants. Because he didn’t want to kill any sentient beings, especially without cause, he was limited to experimenting with animals. But it was not easy to catch them, which is why he had begun to use Hex to slow them down. The curse had a profound effect on the weak creatures, and Lyle was able to retrieve them easily once they were hexed, bringing them back alive. His Death Magic skill had already reached Level 5 from doing this.
You have improved Death Magic (Level 5)
Your Death Magic is now stronger.
Now he held a live field mouse in his hands. It squirmed around and bit him whenever it was able to, but the hit point loss was negligible and the pain even more so.
Holding the struggling mouse firmly in his hands, he drew the sacrificial dagger across its neck, which caused a surprising amount of its ichor to pool in his palm. The creature’s struggles ceased and it lay still. The dagger description did not mention any other steps for activating the spell. He waited, holding the dead mouse in his hands. After a long time, the mouse began to stiffen and grow cold. Disappointed, he walked over and discarded it on a waste pile far from the center of the camp.
After washing his hands in the river, he returned to the tree to work on his Shapeshifting. When he got there, he nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of a pale-skinned woman staring at him from under the tree.
“Hello, doggy.” she said.
“Welcome back. I’ve made a few improvements.”
“Yes, I can see that you’ve been busy. Although there still isn’t anywhere for you to take a bath here. You smell like a wet dog.”
Arcturus smiled meekly. “I’ve been splashing myself off in the streamlet, but a little soap would be nice. What brings you back to my woods?” he asked.
“Call it a familiar feeling. I haven’t met many other players like you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The way you talk. It reminds me of people I knew back on Earth.”
“On Earth?”
“Tell me, how much do you know about the history of Lydia?” she asked.
Arcturus knew very little. “I know that most players are not corporeal, but that some once were, meaning that they came from another world.”
“Yes. Like me.”
This got Arcturus’ attention. “What was the other world like?” he asked.
“It was a lot like this one, except that when you died there, you’d never come back. That is why this world was created to begin with. I came from a place called Earth. And Lydia is inside of it. Lydia began as a game for people on Earth, but it has become a world all of its own.”
Earth. Arcturus knew what that was. He knew it was a spherical, blue and beautiful place. And that he wasn’t there anymore.
“But what was Earth like?”
“There was no magic, although there was technology. Technology is how Lydia was created.
“There was a time when people were excited for the future of technology. To be able to travel instantly, or live forever. But some technologies did not develop as quickly as people thought they would, while others, like the technology that created Lydia, became much bigger than anybody ever expected.”
“But technology created this entire world. Isn’t that more powerful than any magic?”
“Back then, people didn’t think so. They didn’t see this world as real. They thought of it as a game. Once they left it, they went back to their lives. They spent most of their time working to earn money and spent most of their money trying to forget about work, by coming to places like Lydia.”
“So where is Earth now? Can I go back there?”
“It’s possible. But as far as I know, nobody in Lydia has a corporeal body anymore. You would need one to travel back to Earth. It also used to be possible for travelers to come here from Earth. People would visit, and then leave the next day. But I haven’t heard of that happening in a long while.”
“So you used to live on Earth? What happened to your body?”
“It died. Like everybody with a soul cube, I had instructions as to where I wanted to be sent for my afterlife. Of the many virtual worlds, I chose Lydia because I had spent so much time playing here. It was like a second home to me.”
Arcturus felt that a heavy weight had pulled his heart deep into his stomach. All at once, he had learned of his mortality and also that it had already been extinguished. The finality of being in this place, cut off forever from life, hit him as he relived the discovery of his own death that all ch
ildren must face someday.
“You mean there are other worlds? How many?” Arcturus asked.
“I don’t know about now, but there were many. Hundreds. And that’s exactly what they’re called: otherworlds.”
“And are these worlds like Lydia?”
“Not at all. Lydia is unique. At that time, most people chose to go to a realistic virtual world after their death, one that looked just like Earth. In this kind of world, you can still see your friends. The dead ones, of course, but the living ones can also visit. You can even get a job there and earn money and buy a nicer house. In fact, most people had to because unless you died rich, you wouldn’t have enough money to pay for the membership fee forever. If your membership ran out, you’d be gone for good—unless someone decided to pay the fee to bring you back.”
“Does Lydia have a membership fee?” asked Arcturus.
“At that time, memberships were sold as unlimited passes only, no subscription fees. The visitation fees are huge, so people from different otherworlds rarely ever visited here.”
Arcturus was starting to understand. “So we can’t go back to Earth without a corporeal body. But what about the other virtual worlds? Can we go there?”
“Yes, it is possible. It would be much easier than going back to Earth. But few people on Lydia remember how to visit other virtual worlds, and none of them would ever do it.”
“Why not?”
“For us, Lydia is the world. If we leave, our player will be gone, never to return. If we can find a way to come back, we will have to respawn as a Level 1 player, and that will be over a hundred years in the future. Dying for a hundred years is almost as scary as dying forever."
“You said that Lydia was unique. How is it different from the other virtual worlds?”
“There are other fantasy worlds like Lydia. But even among those, Lydia is special.
“Fantasy worlds are entertaining, but Lydia wouldn’t be the same if people were always talking about life back on Earth. If people were always coming and going, it would be a game, and nothing more. The designers wanted Lydia to be a place that was more than Earth. A place where people could make new friends, discover secrets, and find joy in their new life, without longing for their old one. If it was treated like a game that people could quit any time, that would be impossible.
“For that reason, Lydia has a penalty for dying. Lydia has a population limit. It used to be that dead players would be reborn immediately, and have all of their skills and items returned. But because of the population limit, dead players now have to wait for an opening in order to be given rebirth. And due to the large number of players here, the wait time is now longer than a hundred years.
“Also, most people in Lydia today never had corporeal bodies like I did. Their lives began here. For them, stories of Earth are just legends. Those of us who once had bodies continue to have our memories of Earth, but we’ve been living here for a long time now. Lydia is our world now.”
“How long exactly have you lived here?”
“Lily, my current character, is over five hundred years old. That makes me one of the oldest players in Lydia. In fact, I believe I may be the oldest one there is. Now you know why I’ve chosen the life of a vampire. Humans and elves grow old, but vampires live forever.”
Now it was Arcturus’ turn to shock and awe.
“Actually, my Character Display says that I’m the oldest sentient in Lydia. And that I’m an Original.”
Lily was silent for many long moments. Two pieces of a puzzle that she had been turning in her mind suddenly clicked into place.
“Can you show me your Character Display?”
Reveal Character Display
Lily has asked to see your Character Display. Whether you reveal it to her is up to you. Show Lily your Character Display? (Yes/No)
Arcturus chose "Yes."
Character Display
Name: Arcturus
Level: 11
Race: Human
Hit Points: 100/100
Mana: 100/100
Vital Stats (30 available)
Strength: 15
Perception: 19
Endurance: 15
Agility: 20
Dexterity: 15
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 15
Luck: 11
Abilities
Stealth (Level 11)
Archery (Level 10)
Short Blades (Level 1)
Alchemy (Level 7)
Crafting (Level 1)
Fire Magic (Level 8)
Earth Magic (Level 20)
Shapeshifting (Level 5)
Death Magic (Level 5)
Traits (3/4)
- Original. As the oldest sentient being in Lydia, you have the privilege of access to powers that were banished from the land long ago.
- Wolf-Blooded. Canines are friendly unless attacked. Nightvision. +5 to agility.
- Blessing of the Vampire Queen: +10 to strength, endurance, agility, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom. -9 perception in direct daylight. +15% to movement speed. Undead are less likely to be hostile. Stealth bonus against undead.
Lily studied him for a long time, processing this new information.
“But if you’re older than me, that must mean you came from Earth, too. How come you don’t remember anything about your life on Earth?”
Arcturus told her about waking up in the alcove, and the mysterious note.
“Don’t you understand what this means?” she asked. “This could change everything!” For the first time, Arcturus saw genuine excitement in her face. But he didn’t understand what was so fascinating.
“Why? How does this change anything?” he asked.
“A player who entered Lydia before it was launched was called an Original. Back then, those players had access to all kinds of powers that have since been banished from Lydia. For example, Originals could reshape the world, build cities, create or destroy entire races. And when an Original died, they would come back, just the same as before they died. Back then, respawn time was instant. If you’re an Original, it means you could be the only player in Lydia who has the power to reshape it, to change its rules. To improve upon it.”
“Something’s not right, though. If I respawn instantly, and if I can keep all of my skills when I die, how come I arrived here as a Level 1 player?”
“That I don’t know. I’d suggest that you don’t die until you figure that one out. Why don’t we go visit the place where you spawned? Maybe we can learn more.”
“It’s already dark. I was going to get some sleep,” said Arcturus. The vampiress was already starting to form the habit of messing with his circadian rhythm.
“Then why don’t we rest here for a while, first? I can leave any time, but it’s better if I am somewhere dark come dawn.”
Based on the last time they had slept together, Arcturus didn’t expect to get much rest, at least not right away. And he was right about that. But this time, it was a little bit different. Now Lily was sharing the company of someone who, like her, was from Earth. Their time together was quenching the lonely thirst that she had long forgotten—the need to be understood. They talked for a long time afterwards, about Earth and life before Lydia. Arcturus still didn’t remember his own life, but he found that he remembered much about Earth. As Lily told him stories, small fragments of his memory were reactivated. After they fell asleep, Lyle approached and sat beside them, keeping watch.
***
Arcturus woke yet again to the annoying feeling of a wet nose rubbing him. Once dogs had been invented, alarm clocks had become obsolete. He opened his eyes and saw the dog who had awakened him, but he did not see any reason for him to be awake. The normally nocturnal vampiress had fallen asleep by his side, and dawn had not yet broken.
“What do you want?” he asked Lyle, not bothering to sit up.
Lyle turned around in a few circles, and then laid down, resting his head on his paws and looking straight ahead, behind his
master.
Arcturus rolled onto his other side, and saw why Lyle had woken him up.
About three inches from his face, so close as to be out of focus, was a tiny mouse. It was sitting there staring at him with eyes completely devoid of any sensation. There was a dark red gash across its throat. A dead mouse. A dead zombie mouse.
When Arcturus realized what he was looking at, he screamed involuntarily. His voice carried for miles. He didn’t see it, but several of the wolves peeked out of their den to see what had happened. Lily sat up. When she saw the source of his distress, she slapped him.
Lily slaps you! You lose 1 hit point.
Realizing that this mouse was his own servant, he pointed at the tree and asked it to go to the other side. It did.
“I see you’ve been playing with Death Magic,” said Lily. Arcturus explained that he had used the Sacrificial Dagger.
“Well, it seems to have worked. Congratulations! Now you command a platoon of puppies and one dead rat. The Queen of Vampires is awed to behold your glorious works.”
“Hey, it’s a start! And don’t forget who grew all of these trees.”
“Oh, yes, tree magic! Well, it’s not getting any darker outside. Shall we go to the alcove?” she asked.
Arcturus agreed. He considered asking Lyle to stay, but then decided he would never leave his dog behind again if it could be avoided.
As the three hiked, Lily asked Arcturus about his plans. He told her about his quest to earn the Druid class.
“A Druid, then? Interesting. It’s a fairly unusual class because few players meet the requirements. You seem to have stumbled upon them, though.”
“Should I do it? Is it a good choice? Are there better classes?”
“All classes result in some very big bonuses. Most players are able to get one or two skills to level 50 shortly after receiving the class bonus, so many players are in a rush to get one, and they often choose a typical class like fighter or thief because they don’t want to wait until they meet the requirements for more unique options. For those basic classes, it’s easy to assign attribute points. Fighters need strength, and thieves need dexterity. But when you get to more uncommon classes, character building gets more interesting. I would be careful about spending your attribute points until you choose a class. I saw that you have 30 to spend right now. It’s wise to save them for later.”
