The Road to Red Thorn

by Blaine Hicks

  CH. 3 Into the Darkness

  “You have chosen the path of darkness, and I applaud your bravery, now you may choose a race.” Corwin reached into the display case and withdrew eight figures, setting each down as he named them. “Human, Shadow Elf, Grey Dwarf, Swamp Troll, Orc, Naga, Minotaur, or Gargoyle. Choose carefully, for your destiny depends on what you decide at this moment.” Radley ignored the ominous prophecy and focused on his options. He was less concerned with his character's race, and more concerned with his character’s class. He had to play a caster. Magic had been his dream ever since reading his first fantasy story as a child. He looked through the action figures carefully and asked, “What’s the best choice for a caster?”

  Corwin smiled knowingly as if this was a common first question, “For a mage or priest, intelligence and wisdom are often preferred. These attributes affect the cost to learn spells and their resulting effect when cast. Dark elves or Humans are recommended but naga and grey dwarves can also wield magic proficiently. Grey dwarves are especially talented at enchanting, but their thick tongues are slow, and their spells have longer casting times compared to other races which makes magic difficult in battle.” Radley evaluated the four caster races and considered his preferences aloud. “I'm not a big fan of playing as a human, the whole point of role playing is the fantasy of it. I also definitely want to use magic in battle so it’s probably a ‘no’ for the dwarves.”

  Then he asked, “Can you tell me about the shadow elves?”

  “Shadow elves are similar to sun and moon elves. They are tall with slight builds and very agile. As with all elves, they are intelligent and cunning. They do well as either fighters or magic users and can offer cheaper spells and shorter cast times compared to other races. Dark elves are the only elven race that eat meat. As creatures of darkness, they have two innate skills: dark vision and shadow.” The elves sounded really cool to Radley, so he asked about the innate skills. The “dark vision” was like night vision., and “Shadow” allowed them to stalk or follow someone with a limited chance of detection. Shadow elves were definitely a contender, but Radley wasn’t ready to make a decision.

  “What about the naga?” Radley asked.

  Corwin explained, “Naga are a race of reptiles, often called ‘snakes’, even though they have arms. They are primitive, egocentric and hostile to most other races. Among their own, they are industrious, clever, and loyal. Naga are carnivorous, preferring a diet of rodents, eggs, and birds...and they typically eat only one meal every few days. Naga are weaker than humans but agile and very intelligent. They also have a psionic capacity. This is an attribute that is only found in one other playable race in AFR and offers some interesting benefits. Naga make good fighters or casters.”

  The big yeti paused the explanation to check if Radley was still interested. He nodded, so the yeti continued. “There are two playable versions of naga available in the realm: naga-hass and naga-tao. The naga-hass are larger snake-like creatures. Their torso is humanoid, connecting a snake head and a long snake body below the waist.”

  “Like a snake-mermaid?” Radley asked.

  Corwin ignored him and continued the explanation. “Naga-tao are more like reptile-men; more humanoid than the hass. They have legs and no tail but they still have a snakelike head. Both types of naga are granted heat-vision which does exactly what it sounds like.”

  “They shoot lasers from their eyes?” Radley asked.

  Corwin sighed. “No. They can see the thermal gradient of the world around them.”

  “I don't think that is as obvious as you made it out to be.” Radley countered.

  Corwin continued, “Naga-tao are also given serpent tongue, which allows them to speak with reptiles. Naga-hass receive entrance serpent, that allows them to control lower leveled reptiles.” Radley kept examining the figurines in front of him and wished he could play them all but the game only permitted one account per player.

  Radley suddenly doubted choosing a mage classes and was drawn to another figurine that looked really cool. “Tell me about the swamp trolls.”

  Corwin answered patiently, “Swamp trolls are physically impressive. They have slower attack and movement speeds compared to humans, but have very high strength, hit points, and stamina. They are considered the endurance champions in the realms. Swamp trolls are also the ugliest race in the realms having very low charisma. They heal at four times the standard rate but are very weak against fire. They also receive several attribute impairments when exposed to direct sunlight. Their innate skills are night vision and bush stalk. Swamp trolls are generally not recommended as casters but make very powerful melee fighters.”

  Radley spent the next half hour asking more questions. He discovered that all the races had pros and cons, but none were a perfect homerun, almost like that was the point. Humans were available as both creatures of light and darkness but they only had an innate skill called “infiltration” when played as a dark character. They were also the only race that could start the game as neutral. Humans could choose to become any class except two that were race-specific. The appeal to being human was in their diversity; grouping in human cities would be effortless. Gargoyles were strong fighters. They were taller than humans with lots of hit points. They could eventually fly, and they started the game with innate stone skin. Corwin said that because of this spell, gargoyles were the quickest dark race to level up. They were typically played as front-line meat shields in group battles. Minotaurs also were strong fighters. They took more damage than gargoyles since they lacked stone skin but made up for it with higher attack damage. These powerful beasts were strong group fighters but relied on allies for buffs. They often wielded dual weapons and would generally wear heavy plate armor. They met trouble head on. Their innate skill was “berserk” which boosted their offensive speed and strength.

  Radley went through his options several times but kept returning to the four magical races. He agreed that humans, shadow elves, grey dwarfs, and the naga were best for casting. He dismissed humans for their lack of RP value and dwarves because he didn’t want to spend his game time enchanting gear for other players. The shadow elves were still the obvious choice, but Radley felt himself leaning toward the naga. He told himself it was the better choice for his playing style and that the natural attributes of the reptile race were aptly suited for casting, which wasn’t a lie. The real truth was, he just liked them.

  He chose the tao version over the hass because the “entrance serpent” skill wasn't worth the awkward armor requirements of a snake’s body below the waist. Also, not having legs would probably feel really weird. The yeti congratulated him on his selection and began to put the figures away. “As a chosen beta tester, you also have a one-time opportunity to roll a unique skill. This will be imprinted onto your mental signature. Terminating events such as rerolling your character, system crashes/reboots or player wipes will not affect this gift. Consider it a ‘thank you’ for your support.” The yeti closed the case and set two blue dice onto the glass surface.

  “You must roll to determine your gift.” Corwin winked as if this offer were a secret they were sharing.

  Radley glanced down at the dice. They were ten-sided gaming dice. One was covered in strange symbols, the other had numbers. Radley lifted both and let them roll from his hand back to the glass top of the display case where they landed and settled with a loud clattering. They came to a stop showing a strange symbol that looked a little like an octagon with four triangles inside it facing inward and the number 7.

  “Ah,” Corwin said, “you have been granted appraisal.”

  “What is that?” Radley asked.

  The yeti waved away the question with its furry hand. “Appraisal is a skill of insight. It can be learned by traders, but theirs isn’t as good as the beta gift until mastered.”

  “Is it a good skill?” Radley asked with obvious insecurity. He’d always had a driving need for confirmation that his choices were right in every situation. This doubt m
eant every decision took too long and was always second guessed later. It was probably why he had perfect grades but struggled to achieve the minimum social scores required by his top colleges. People felt he was trying too hard.

  The white beast looked impatient for the first time since they had started. “It will be quite useful.” There was no option to try again, so Corwin stepped to the side and reached for the curtain. Slowly, a stone arch was revealed. Held within the arch was a reflective surface that slowly rippled like a flag in a gentle breeze.

  ”Are you ready to begin?” the yeti asked. The character selection had been exhausting even though Radley hadn’t done much. He approached the archway and nodded truthfully. “I am.” He stepped close to the portal and realized he could see a warped reflection of the whole shop in the molten quicksilver surface; he could see everything except himself. He felt corporeal but actually still had no body in this world; he was just thought without form. Corwin spoke a word of parting from behind him, but Radley’s attention stayed fixed on the flickering surface of the portal. “Your game progress has been saved with your choices. Use the interface to select your preferences and track your progress. Access it by tapping your chest. Now, please step through the portal when you’re ready.” Radley passed through the shimmering curtain of light and appeared in a new place. When his senses cleared, he realized his body was back, but it was no longer human.

  CH. 4 Reality Check

  It was dark, but even in the dim light, Radley could tell that his arms were green and covered in scales. He was slender and slightly shorter than his human body had been. His arms and legs were thin but muscular. When he moved, he felt light and quick. He was inside another wooden room but this one was very different than the spawning room with the mountain view. That had been old timey decor but well built. This room was neither. Instead, every surface was smooth stone, but he could see no grooves as if the room had been carved-out instead of built. Behind him was a flat stone slab meant to be a bed which connected to the floor like it was carved too. The hard surface would make sleeping brutally uncomfortable if he really had to use it. There were no windows, but the wooden door didn’t perfectly fit the stone frame, and he could see that night had recently fallen outside. The only light came from a glowing box of moss beside the bed. The only other furniture was a small trunk at the foot of the bed.

  Radley was wearing thin white boxer shorts but nothing else. Several status bars hugged the corner of his vision with blinking icons like a HUD (heads-up display). He had full HP (Health Points), STM (Stamina), MNA (Mana) and whatever PP was. He found that nearly every item in the HUD could be selected to open a description of the feature or some other menu. He mentally chose PP and was informed the gauge represented his psionic points. He remembered that Corwin had mentioned naga being psionic but he had forgotten to ask what that did. His status bars were all full. The health maxed out at 37 HP, which didn't seem like much. Radley realized he had focused so much on casting attributes he had ignored some of the RPG fundamentals. Radley had chosen naga simply for intelligence and agility. He decided to see what he was working with and tapped his chest to open the user interface. A visual menu opened in front of him and moved with when he sat down on the bed. It had a series of tabs that ran vertically along its left side. The tabs determined the content of the main window. The open tab was his ‘Character Profile’:

  Name: Rad Fabulous

  Age: 111

  Race: Naga-Tao

  Alignment: Dark

  Size: Medium

  Class: None

  Rank: None

  Profession: None

  Level: 1 (0% to level 2 - 0/900 XP)

  Description: You are an average looking Naga-tao.

  This wasn’t the tab he needed. He selected the next tab titled ‘Vital statistics’:

  Health 37/37

  Stamina 36/36

  Mana 68/68

  Psionic Points 55/55

  Hit Roll 7

  Damage Roll 5

  Armor Roll: 4

  Magic Resistance: 0

  Dodge Roll: 6

  Luck: 11

  This tab was probably really important, but he had no idea what any of the rolls did or if the values were good or bad. Of course, he had played RPGs before, but they all behaved a little differently and it would probably take some time to understand this. He moved on to select the third tab labeled ‘Attributes’:

  Strength: 9

  Dexterity: 13

  Agility: 12

  Constitution: 9

  Willpower: 6

  Intelligence: 13

  Wisdom:8

  Charisma: 7

  Unspent Attribute Points: 0

  This information was more like what he was used to. It gave him an apple to apple comparison of each characteristic. As expected, the naga seemed smart and fast but not overly determined, strong, or pretty. His caster build would need to capitalize on the strengths. He hoped to choose a mage class that dished out some serious damage. High damage was always a crowd pleaser and his choice as a naga, hopefully, gave him the intelligence to achieve that. His real life was far removed from the spotlight. His social media ranking constantly reminded him of his mediocrity. His social score wasn’t awful, but it was too low for top colleges. He wished again that being smart was enough to succeed in the real world, but that was probably just a quaint idea from history if it had ever existed.

  Radley ignored the rest of the menu tabs and dismissed the interface. He would have plenty of time to explore everything later, but he still had several pulsing icons at the edge of his HUD begging to be reviewed. These included an exclamation point, an eye symbol, and a house icon. He started selecting them with a mental effort to see what they did. The exclamation point expanded a pending notification:

  Welcome Adventurer

  You are embarking on a journey of the grandest scale. Fulfill your destiny and become a powerful force for good or evil. Level yourself and your skills, make friends, battle fantastic monsters and don't forget to have fun! As a beta-tester we value your feedback. Please remember to report bugs and your opinions through the system’s feedback portal.

  Radley dismissed the prompt and continued through the other icons, mentally selecting each to see their descriptions. The house icon designated the room as his spawning point. When he selected the eye symbol, no description appeared. Instead, the dimly lit world around him changed into a vivid scene of black and white. His body blazed perfectly white and contrasted distinctly against the dimmer grey room. He lifted his hand and stared at it. Radley realized this was his heat vision. His hand was white because it was warm. He touched a nearby stone and transferred the white light to the wall. When he pulled his hand away, it slowly faded again to grey. He flicked the heat vision back off, preferring the higher detail available in the dim light of the moss to the high contrast white and black of the thermal vision. Before he could do anything else, a flashing red icon appeared that looked like a biohazard symbol. It seemed urgent so he mentally selected it and received the prompt: Please logout and tend to your biological needs.

  Radley wanted to set out and begin the adventure, but he hadn’t eaten since his lunch break at school and guessed he was probably getting hungry. It was weird that he didn’t feel anything. In fact, he couldn’t feel any natural urges while playing the game. The dampening effect of the neural gear removed all his body’s feedback to the brain except what the program wanted him to feel. This included hunger, but he probably had a few other biological needs to attend to as well. He lay back on the hard-stone slab and glanced around the room one final time. I'll be back, he thought, then returned his attention to the interface and pressed the logout key.

  Real life returned slowly. Radley felt strangely heavy under the weight of his human body as he sat up. Both worlds seemed to make sense on their own but the transition between them was not as sharp as he had expected. He stretched his stiff arms and groaned with pleasure as the stretch became a yawn. His fir
st stop was the bathroom which turned out to be the immediate biological need. Once properly relieved, he headed downstairs to resolve his hunger.

  His mom was in the living room folding laundry and watching the holotube. “You missed dinner Radley Gerrard” she said looking over at him as he walked past the couch towards the kitchen. The fact that she hadn’t used his full name meant that she wasn’t really mad, but his middle name meant she was trying to fake it. He slowed his pace long enough to apologize with the same false sincerity “Sorry mom!” He stepped past the high cement countertop that separated their living room and kitchen. She had made up a dinner plate which was left for him on the table and saved him the trouble of making something. It was just a soy protein mash, but it made him smile because the flavor was savory greens, his favorite. He pressed the LCD on the plate, so the panel lit up and dragged the temperature slider from cold to warm before grabbing a fork and heading back to the living room. His mom flicked two fingers forward in the air to pause her show and asked, “So, how was it?!”

  “Good Mom,” Radley said, “it was sooo good. You're gonna have to try it.”

  She smiled but shook her head. “I don't think so. I hate those games. VR always makes me motion sick”

  “No, this one's different.” Radley countered, “I think you could do it. It's not like anything I've played before.”

  His plate chirped, letting him know the food was ready and his attention turned to eating. His mom went back to folding clothes, still shaking her head at the idea of trying the game.

  “What are you watching?” Radley finally asked with a mouthful of the protein. He didn't recognize the female vlogger who was paused above the holotube in the center of the room.

  “Oh!” his mom said suddenly more excited, “You haven’t seen inkmebaby?” She grinned as if their conversation had just gotten interesting, “You'd love this one. She’s a hairbrain from Minnesota. She has this channel where people pay to tattoo anything they want on her. I’ve been binge watching this since yesterday and just started season four. She went viral in season three, so this season is mostly company logos, but season one had a lot of retro graffiti and one guy proposed to his girlfriend with a four by three on her shoulder.