by Alex Mulder
Compared to how faithfully Luke had stuck to his real life appearance when he’d designed his character, Ben had taken a more liberal approach. He had created his face without his acne scars, knobby nose, or slumping jaw line. All the features of his real face were gone, replaced by the chiseled characteristics of an A-list actor.
Along with it, Ben had added long, silver-colored hair that reached down to his shoulders. His eyes were the same color, a combination that made him look eerily inhuman.
“Silverstrike, huh?” Luke smiled. “Well, I guess it fits.”
He waited for Silverstrike to make it over to the fence he was leaning against and had a sudden realization. His voice didn’t sound the same as it did in the outside world, either.
“Hey, why is it that the voice chat sounds off?” he asked his friend. “Is it distortion or something?”
Silverstrike shook his head.
“It’s not true voice chat,” he said. “In a sense, it’s better than that. The VR headset has a natural language processor that ‘hears’ what you’re saying, and then uses a close approximation of your voice to speak the words in-game. It allows them to add a configurable filter for swear words like… and…”
Luke saw his friend’s mouth move during the blank pauses and understood what he was getting at.
“I’ll have to remember to turn that off the next time I log in,” he said. “Really though, I’m not sure why they’d be worried about keeping things family friendly after that insanely bloody intro sequence.”
“Yeah, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting that,” said Silverstrike. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s designed to weed out people who might have an adverse reaction to this kind of game, immediately.”
The wind blew a bit of dust off the wall in front of them, and Luke had to remind himself that he wasn’t really there, and he couldn’t really feel it. He looked down at his body and carefully examined his outfit, the basic cotton shirt and trousers and the simple sword hanging in its scabbard on his belt loop.
“You’re still in your starting gear,” said Silverstrike. “Come on, we can get you some stuff in Stark Town to use for now.”
Luke followed his friend back toward the center of Kantor. There were more players mingling about now, each of them with their own unique avatar. A cloud drifted in front of the sun up above them, and everything became a shade darker.
Silverstrike stopped when the two of them reached a strange, runic circle near the temple that Luke had started out in. He nodded to Luke and walked into the center of it.
“I’ll meet you down below, buddy.” Silverstrike’s body disappeared in a flash of white light as he spoke. Luke scratched his head, and then slowly followed after him, standing in the same spot and waiting.
He didn’t have to wait for long. White light filled his vision and then faded. Luke didn’t feel any different, but his surroundings had changed. He glanced up and saw the city he had just been in, now floating above him. Kantor looked like a fantastic, magic-powered, low-hovering spacecraft.
“Alright, so this is Stark Town,” said Silverstrike. “It’s a lot smaller than Kantor, but right now, it’s the only other settlement on the continent.”
STARK TOWN: The first outpost to become fully self-sufficient on the surface of Yvvaros in the aftermath of the Severance Onslaught. Its existence is a testament to the strength of the human settlers and the blessing of the Universal Truth.
Luke scratched his head.
“It’s the only other town? Really?” He felt like even the most barebones MMORPGs had more than that.
“Haven’t you read the books, or watched the show?” asked Silverstrike. “The entire continent has been destroyed by the Tymians and other monsters. All that’s left beyond this are a couple of ruins and undeveloped expanses of wilderness.”
Luke nodded and looked around. Stark Town was nothing more than a basic collection of drab, brown and grey buildings, much more practical and much less breathtaking than Kantor.
“This is where we players come in,” said Silverstrike. “Forming guilds, building houses, farming, and eventually having entirely player run towns is the end game. Yvvaros is a sandbox MMORPG. It’s a little more freeform than the ones that we cut our teeth on back in the day.”
Luke smiled back at him.
“Sounds good,” he said. “Let’s get started!”
The first thing that the two of them did was head to one of the larger buildings in Stark Town, the local militia’s garrison. Luke was taken aback to find that the heavyset NPC soldier who’d led the introductory battle he’d been a part of was at the center of the room.
“You’re alive, soldier,” said the NPC. “That’s good to see.”
Luke felt a strange mixture of emotions as he looked at the man, his memories of the fight still raw and surprisingly vivid.
“We lost the battle, but we haven’t lost the war,” said the NPC. “Here, take some new equipment from the chest over there and get yourself prepared. I’m going to put you on guard duty for now against some of the wolf creatures that have been threatening the town. Come back to me with five of their pelts as proof, and I’ll give you your pay.”
QUEST ACCEPTED: Wolf Pelts for Militia (Level 1)
Luke smiled.
Some things never change.
The gear he found in the chest consisted of a simple set of leather armor, a sword, and a shield. Luke held the leather breastplate in his hand for a moment, and then made an attempt at lifting it up and pulling it over his head. It stretched to accommodate his body and slipped on easily, as did the rest of the armor.
He left the wooden shield with the commander and took only the sword, feeling that it was a better fit. It felt more natural to have one hand free during battle, at least to him.
“You’re a Sword Saint, right?” asked Silverstrike. “Strange… there wasn’t much hype surrounding that subclass prerelease. In fact, you’re the only one I’ve seen in-game so far.”
How is that strange? The description jumped out at me, that’s all…
“What class are you, anyway?” asked Luke. Silverstrike set his hands on his waist and puffed out his chest.
“I’m an Agent,” said Silverstrike. “It’s a Rogue subclass, with a mixture of combat and speechcraft skills.”
“What use is speechcraft in a game like this?” asked Luke. “It relies on a player driven economy, doesn’t it?”
Silverstrike smiled and waved his hand.
“Indeed it does, my friend.” His voice sounded different, deeper, and somehow more trustworthy. “But the speechcraft skills in this game actually affect the way words are processed and heard, so it makes no difference in the end whether I’m using them on a human or an NPC.”
Luke raised an eyebrow and said nothing else. He felt overwhelmed by the depth of the world and excited by the way it was drawing him in.
“Come on, let’s go kill some wolves.” He nodded to Silverstrike and then started off.
The area around Stark Town was known as the Inner Plains. They were grasslands, and mostly clear of trees and forest, with several low, rolling hills mixed into the landscape. Luke and Silverstrike jogged out to the north, noticing a couple of other players out and about, most likely on the same quest they were on.
“It doesn’t seem like there are all that many people venturing outside of the towns,” said Luke.
“Yeah, I think it’s taking most players a little bit more time to get comfortable,” said Silverstrike. “This game is… well, you went through the tutorial. The stakes feel a lot higher when the combat is so realistic.”
The environment was simple, but the details were impeccable. The grass underneath Luke’s feet shifted in the wind. A variety of different plants and flowers grew in clumps across the plains, waiting to be harvested. A group of tiny rabbit-like animals scurried about in a patch of vegetation, moving realistically, but with a bit less fear of humans than their real life counterparts.
It di
dn’t take the two of them very long to find what they were looking for. As they reached the top of a small hill, they could see a pack of three wolf creatures down below. The lead wolf in the group noticed them immediately and let out a shrill, alien sounding growl.
“Be careful,” said Silverstrike. “I saw somebody fight one of these things earlier. They can spit venom.”
The creatures were dark gray, almost black in appearance, with strange-looking purple eyes. The leader began to slink slowly up the hill showing its jagged, ugly teeth.
YVVA WOLF: One of the many corrupted creatures birthed during the Severance Onslaught. In addition to razor sharp claws and teeth, they have acidic saliva strong enough to dissolve human flesh.
Luke didn’t waste any time. He made sure his grip on his sword was solid and then lunged forward. The weapon felt as though it had weight, and as it cut into the flesh of the lead wolf, he was almost sure that he could feel the recoil.
“Look out!” Silverstrike yelled just in time for Luke to realize that another one of the monsters was headed his way. He dove forward over the first beast and fell into a combat roll down the hill. Behind him, the grass dissolved into green mush as the acid from one of the creature’s mouths landed on it.
Silverstrike hurled himself onto the same wolf that Luke had already wounded. He was wielding duel daggers and stabbed into the beast several times before backing away. It fell to the ground, and when Luke trained his vision on it, the health bar above it was empty.
“There’s one left for each of us,” said Luke. He tapped his sword against a rock and drew the attention of the larger of the two remaining wolves. It took a step back and then charged toward him.
Luke’s first swing cut into the creature’s snout. Unfazed, it pressed on, its claws angling toward him with deadly intent. Luke whirled, continuing forward with his momentum, and struck it again with his blade against its flank.
It let out a demonic howl and turned to face him. Luke moved quickly and finished it off, each strike feeling more natural and effortless than the last. The fighting style of the Sword Saint class matched his natural approach perfectly, and he couldn’t help but smile at how much fun it was.
10 XP GAINED
“Alright, that should do it,” said Silverstrike. “Here, you can have two of the pelts, and I’ll take the third. I almost have enough for the quest, anyway.”
Luke nodded and dropped down to begin skinning the beasts. He had never skinned an animal before in real life, but the process of doing it in the virtual world felt natural and straight forward, much easier than he’d thought it would be.
They stored the pelts away in the small satchels hanging from each of their belts, which also served as their in-game inventories. The bags were much roomier than their diminutive size suggested, but there was a weight limit to what they could hold.
After he’d finished, Luke wiped purple blood off his sword on the grass and then scanned the horizon.
“It looks like there’s a couple more off to the east of here,” he said. “Are you up for it, buddy?”
Silverstrike nodded.
“Oh yeah! Let’s do it.”
The group that Luke had spotted turned out to be bigger than the first one. There were four wolves in total, and as Luke and Silverstrike approached, three more came out from behind a nearby hill.
“Uh oh,” said Silverstrike. “This might get a little tricky.”
Luke nodded and felt his heart begin to race. This was reminiscent of the tutorial battle, and he clutched his sword tightly as the lead wolf began to move toward them.
“Just keep moving and fight defensively,” said Luke. “I’m sure we can take them if we just-”
The lead wolf let out a growl and the entire group charged forward at once. There wasn’t any time for Luke to do anything other than dodge and roll out of the reach of their jaws. He swung his sword wildly, hoping to strike vital locations, but only managing to push them back slightly.
Silverstrike was faring worse than he was. His daggers were extremely limited in range, and even though he was up against fewer of the creatures than Luke was, it was impossible for him to effectively play defense. One of the beasts nipped at the back of his calf and he let out a cry of pain that sounded a little too realistic.
“Just hold on!” yelled Luke. “I’m going to make my way over.”
Unfortunately, he had problems of his own to deal with. The wolves were using swarm tactics, approaching from every direction at the same time. Luke began to spin and swing in a circular pattern to push them back. It worked, but each time they moved forward they would gain a little bit of ground on him.
“Nooooo!” Silverstrike fell to one knee as one of the creatures took another bite out of his leg. Luke could only watch as two of the wolves pounced on him, followed by another from the group that had just been attacking him. He took advantage of the distraction and killed one and wounded another before rushing over to his friend.
“Silverstrike!” he yelled. “Ben!”
The creatures were tearing him apart, pulling off big chunks of flesh with each bite. It was a gruesome scene, rivaling the opening sequence. This time though it was happening to an actual player and his best friend, not an NPC.
Luke hacked away at the creatures, moving faster than he had thought that he could. The opening he’d been given by his friend’s fall was enough for him to turn the tide of the battle. Unfortunately, it was too late. He finished off a fourth wolf creature from the group and watched as the rest fled into the hills. His friend’s avatar lay still on the grass.
40 XP GAINED
“Oh man,” said Luke. “How do you revive people, anyway?”
He knew that if he could make it back with the right potion or spell within a couple of minutes, Silverstrike would still stand a chance, even with an empty health bar. But new to the game as he was, Luke was unsure of where to even start looking.
He glanced around one last time to make sure there weren’t any wolf creatures nearby and then began sprinting back toward Stark Town. His stamina bar was down to about half of its normal length and dropping fast, but he didn’t care.
There was one building that Luke had seen that looked as though it was some type of shop. He figured that even if they didn’t have any potions for sale, it was as good of a place to start looking as any. He rushed toward the door, faster than he should have been going. Fast enough that he couldn’t stop when it opened and somebody came out of it.
“Oof!” Luke tried to pull back at the last instant but still ended up in a collision that sent him tumbling to the ground. He slowly stood up and turned around, ready to apologize.
“Are you okay?” The voice he heard was soft and feminine. Luke stared for a moment at the girl that he had collided with.
“Uh, yeah, I'm all right,” said Luke. The girl was shorter than him, with a soft face, warm eyes and a sweet smile. She was smiling at him, and stepped in a little closer and held out her hand.
“I’m sorry, I guess I wasn’t really looking where I was going,” said the girl. “My name’s Tess. I’m just starting out in the game.”
“Same here. My name is uh, Kato.” Luke smiled and found that he was at a loss for words. He remembered Silverstrike and the wolves, and his sense of urgency returned.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go!” He moved past her with an apologetic nod. “If you’re new, be careful of the wolf creatures around the town. They’re a bit more dangerous than they look.”
The girl watched him with curious eyes as he hurried into the store.
The NPC behind the counter was an older looking man with glasses and white hair. He had an empty potion bottle in one hand and a rag in the other that he was using to polish a sheen into the outside of it.
“Hi there,” said the man. “What can I-”
“I need a revival potion or a spell!” Luke spoke in a loud, fast voice, and nervously tapped his hand on the counter. “Quickly!”
The man
nodded and reached for something under the counter.
“Alright, that will be 50 gold even.”
Luke scratched his head. He wasn’t entirely certain, as he hadn’t checked at all since starting the game, but he was pretty sure that he didn’t have any money.
“Can I just have it put on my tab?” he asked. “Or maybe work out some kind of payment plan?”
The NPC shook his head. He opened his mouth, looking as though he was prepared to let Luke down gently when a familiar voice spoke up in the background.
“I can lend you the money if you want.” The girl from before, Tess, was peaking in through the crack of the door. She had a guilty look on her face, as though she was a little embarrassed about listening in.
“Wait, how do you have 50 gold if you’re just starting out?” asked Luke. Tess smiled at him and then shrugged her shoulders.
“I got the preorder bonus,” she said, “500 gold to start out with, along with a couple of other extras, including this nifty cloak.”
Tess grabbed one of the edges of her cloak and spun around, flourishing it as she did. Luke stared at her for a moment, smiling despite his urgency.
Is everyone in this game incredibly generous, or am I just lucky?
“Anyway, here.” She reached her hand out and dropped a small bag of gold coins into his hand. “Just be sure to pay me back, okay?”
Luke nodded.
“Of course,” he said. “Thank you such much.”
Tess reached into her satchel again and pulled out a small piece of parchment and a quill. She smiled and passed it to Luke.
FRIEND REQUEST FROM TESS: Sign to accept.
“Friend… request?” He looked at her dumbly.
“So we can find each other easier in-game,” said Tess. “This way, I can make sure that you pay me back.”
Luke’s smiled broadened, and he signed the paper.
“If you’re trying to revive somebody right now, you should hurry,” said Tess. “The potions only work for up to five minutes after death.”
Luke nodded and tossed the coins to the NPC. He took the potion and then hurried out of the store.
