From the Beginning

by Benjamin Haynes

  From the Beginning

  Copyright 2018 Benjamin Haynes

  Published by Benjamin J. Haynes at Smashwords

  Smashwords Edition License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Skill Index

  Chapter One

  Eric huffed grumbling under his breath about the latest patch notes. Flipping the screen off in annoyance at the latest horrible choice of the devs while exclaiming “Fuck it! I’m done with this shit!” After having already spent way too much time and money on the game already he was finally fed up with waiting and hoping the devs would make better choices while thinking of the player base.

  When Kingdoms Reborn had first come out Eric had high hopes. It had classes that broke the mold in an attempt to deviate from the standard holy trinity of only DPS, Tank, and Healer with variations and self-reliance for almost every aspect of PvE content. Combining that with the huge open world, the only thing that could be considered was the vastly different and in his opinion the best action combat system he had ever found in any MMORPG to date. Having played many other MMORPG’s in the past this was saying a lot coming from him. It was a combat system that he felt gave a more natural feeling than any other, and when he was really fighting and getting into the game it almost felt like he was actually there and not just pushing buttons on the keyboard. It had been designed by a Korean company and of course released there long before it reached the shores of the US but even then he had been one of many who followed its development daily as it grew and expanded to other countries eventually ending up in his own.

  At the time of release the devs seemed to care and listen to the players and on many occasions even went so far as to alter not only classes but the game world as a whole to better cater to the player's desires while also staying true to the feeling and structure of the game. Always keeping a close eye on the community and quickly dealing with the toxic players who would pop up with vulgar conversations or harassing behavior swiftly and without a hint of favoritism towards one aspect of the player base or another.

  As one might expect the true intentions and ‘care’ of the developers quickly began to shine through as more and more people became interested and invested in the game. Almost overnight the game became flooded with cash grab pay to win items, reduced production of male characters while only releasing female characters that tended to be stronger than their predecessors all with the design to bolster cash shop sales while drawing in a particular crowd that flood the game with toxic players who seemed to overtake all the servers' en masse unabated and unstopped by the mods or devs of the game. With the trolls and deviants came lazy content and empty promises or teasers that were never actually planned to come to fruition but only posted once a month with the patch notes to hold players just a bit longer.

  Most of the original hopefuls started dropping out with each new half-hearted content release or female only gender locked class that came out. Through all of this though Eric stuck around long after all his gaming friends had already given up and walked away from the game knowing that they had already lost this once shining gem of a game. Now though having read the latest patch notes which had in bold lettering ‘New class: Knight Mage will be released as a single class with no counter gender class’ after the devs had been teasing to offer both genders it was all just too much for him. For him playing a scantily clad female character wearing little to no armor was not something he desired or wanted in any way because as someone who enjoyed all aspects of the game including RP, PvE, PvP, and even the otherwise boring life skills he could not bring himself to enjoy a class of another gender than the one he felt suited him inside and out. He cared not what anyone thought of it or even how others played only about how he himself wished to experience the various classes of the game without limits or restrictions being forced upon him when they are otherwise not necessary and the masses who walked away from the game seemed to echo these feelings as well. In the end though all this seemed mute because they had finally broken him and taken the class he had been waiting the longest for away before he even got a chance to truly give it a try.

  Quickly swapping over to the old guild messaging program still running in the background from the time his friends used to play Eric was already seeing the messages from the old guildies saying things such as ‘Feels bad man’, and ‘Told you so!’ all of which only fueled his annoyance as he quickly typed a heated response of “Just fucking done with this shit!” before closing everything and shutting the computer down.

  At this point in life Eric had jumped around jobs and moved around the country trying to find his place and the people that made him feel home. Only a few times in the past had he felt like he had come close, but nothing ever felt lasting or truly like home. He’d dated and was able to socialize with or without alcohol involved for the most part. Never getting to that storybook level of love of course. Most people even seemed to feel comfortable around him and hinted to him that he was at least likable if nothing else. Of all the places though that felt like home it was gaming that always drew him in and from one MMORPG to another he kept trying them until he had found this last one and in a strange way it had made him feel at home. Now though it seemed that last attempt to find his place in any world led to another dud, regardless of how close it might have felt or how long he stuck with what he felt was a sinking ship.

  Slightly kicking the chair back and walking over to the bed Eric plopped down face first on the bed still moping. Moments later he heard the door creak open along with a small jostle of the bed finally followed by the expected meow of his little black cat Nero that seemed to question his current mood while bonking Eric on the top of his head while rubbing up against it. Responding with mumbled words Eric was rewarded with a playful swat and repeated friendly head-butt from Nero as if he was asking Eric to speak clearly.

  Rolling over while scooping Nero up and letting him snuggle into the crook of his arm Eric offhandedly answered �
��I said that I feel like I lost something bigger than just a game tonight. If I could I would willingly live in that world. It’s so vast and full of magic with NPC’s who seem almost alive in their responses and actions.” Finishing up mumbled words about having too much time on his hands and nothing to do as he lay back being lulled to sleep by the cats purring.

  Eric woke the next morning to the beeping of his phones alarm and robotically got ready for work with a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast followed by a boiling hot shower. At one point he almost turned on the computer to set up his life-skill toon to afk fish on Kingdoms Reborn before he remembered the news from the night before. Seeing the time after a few minutes of sulking again Eric grabbed his coat and ran to the bus stop making it just in time to catch the 127 to downtown.

  Friendly hellos welcomed him and were returned in kind as he logged into his systems and set up his desk for the day to come with the flood of calls expected for a Friday. Telecommunications was his current field of work while customer service representative was the official title of the position. The Largo Company was a nationwide call center business with clients mostly involved in the medical fields such as health insurance and health savings groups. Summed up if you needed to call someone about Medicare there was a chance you might have spoken to Eric and hear his methodical but polite tone. This was not his favorite job as anyone who has worked customer service might expect. You could get anything from the normal customer with a few questions, a family member who recently lost someone, or the worst kind, the irate customer who thought everything was the fault of the person that was unlucky enough to answer the call. Only plus about the job was that it was some form of income which was always better than no income at all.

  Time passed quickly as routine kicked in and Eric assisted customers and redirected calls as needed while he reminisced the fun moments of the early stages of the game. Before he knew it his work day was done, and he had a whole weekend ahead of him with no game to occupy his time. Trying to think of a good healthy distraction Eric started going through his phones kindle app looking for some series of books he had not yet read. Distracted by his thoughts and relentless search through the lists he didn’t even realize how close he had just come to getting hit as he crossed the road staring at the phone in hand. Only looking up to flip off the car that had sped off honking at him for not crossing quickly enough. Shrugging his shoulders and getting back to the book list Eric meandered onward to his nearly empty home and the seemingly annoyed cat waiting just inside the door.

  Hours later Eric gave up looking for a book to read having already read all the suggested books on the list and finding nothing in the random sci-fi and fantasy lists either. Seemed that after searching the web and even pondering heading down to the bar which was just down the street to drink his boredom away Eric instead found himself laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling with a feeling of loss, confusion and no small amount of boredom. As expected Nero hopped up and snuggled into the crook of his arm purring as he began petting him habitually. Like last night Eric was quickly lulled to sleep though this was not his usual habit. The last thing he heard was an odd squeak from the cat as if she had been disturbed by something or someone accompanied by the sound of his bedroom door moving ever so slightly.

  Chapter Two

  Something sharp was digging into his back while it seemed Nero was sitting on his chest gently swatting at his nose. Opening his eyes Eric was assaulted with the bright shining and cloudless blue sky only interrupted in its clarity by the surrounding trees peaking up around him. Nero plodded off to a nearby rock as Eric sat up feeling not only confused but also a bit exposed as a warm breeze flowed over his obviously clothes body. This of course led to him standing quickly and becoming dizzy for his effort as one hand shot to his head to stop the world from spinning while the other went to his nether regions to cover them as he peeked through squinting eyes looking around for any sign of familiarity.

  “Bout time” a disembodied male voice said from the direction of the little black cat.

  Eric spun around causing another small dizzy spell to take hold of him a moment before he grunted and with an almost parched sounding voice asked “Who’s there, or better yet where am I? Also, where are my clothes for that matter?” Trying to process his muddy thoughts and think clearly as the panic started to set in.

  “Meow” small, innocent sounding, and fairly familiar drew his gaze towards the cat “There ya go” the cats mouth moved in a way that seemed rather unnatural to Eric almost seeming to form the words he had just heard spoken. As one might have expected this caused Eric to stutter and look around with eyes wide before they settled on the cat again who gave a curt nod “Now you’re catching on kiddo” the last bit coming out with a gentle chuckle.

  Staring at Nero incredulously Eric finally spoke up after the few moments he took to gather his thoughts “But… How, how are you talking?” saying this as he searched the surrounding trees and rocks for any hint of a camera or microphone to no avail.

  “Simply put, magic is the answer to that obvious question, but we won’t go into the exact details since time is fairly important at this moment” Nero answered matter-of-factly holding up a paw to stop Eric from speaking as he was about to continue to assault Nero with further questioning. “As I said we don’t have the time at this moment to go over that. The only hint I am authorized to offer is that the higher ups felt that I would be the best medium for communications and that speaking with me instead of some random or strange creature or person would be best during these crucial moments in this world. Now onto the where part of your question, you may wanna make sure you have yourself steeled for this answer” pausing a brief moment as if to actually allow Eric to prepare for the news “I am happy to inform you that you are officially in the world you knew as Kingdoms Reborn. Somewhere in the Knights Den Woods just outside of the beginning town of Aired. Also, I need to mention that we arrived about two hundred years after the events of the known game world and a lot has changed. Someone upstairs heard your plea from this side and brought you here feeling that you might be well suited to their needs.”

  Having held his breath while listening Eric finally takes a breath of air and interjected before Nero could continue “Where is the interface or character information. If this is the game it should pop up somewhere, shouldn’t it? Not saying I really believe you of course” still squinting at the nearby flora for any hint of technology hidden amongst the foliage.

  Shaking his head Nero continued “You can’t see it until we get your character creation phase out of the way.” Following this with a flick of his tail an almost shapeless human figure with floating text filled buttons and sliders all around it appeared in front of Eric causing him to squeak in a less than masculine way as he backed up.

  “But… How?” he repeated his earlier question.

  Again Nero just waved off his question and nodded to the sexless figure in front of him continuing “All that you need to do is use your hand to select your gender and alter the appearance to your desire and so on. Once done you’ll be offered some classes to choose from before we proceed.”

  Having decided that this all felt too real to be a dream and too fantastic to be the reality he had known Eric stepped forward with trepidation. Taking the hand not still covering his manhood he reached out and selected the button titled ‘Male’ from the selections. Semi solid would be the best description Eric could come up with for the texture of the buttons. Almost as if one combined jello and fog to form a new texture altogether different from either. When pressed the button lit up and then faded away with only the figures' alteration buttons and the formless figure still present along with the ‘Complete’ button in the bottom right corner. After that he selected the Elven race and upon doing so the form in front of him shifted to a rather tall and skinny but otherwise angular almost feminine male who was averagely endowed.

  It only took Eric a moment of thought before he slipped into his old ch
aracter creation habits, and he began to click buttons and slide the sliders to alter the elven man before him into a form more suiting to his usual gaming appearance. Toning the muscles, giving them more definition and bulk without making the beefcake look of some players he’d played alongside Eric went over every detail of the creation options until he was able to stand back pleased with what he saw. In front of him stood a male elf that was only slightly taller than his 5’9” height with more rugged and slightly rounded human features than the standard elves. He had broader shoulders then most elves, denoting hard physical labor and the muscles to match. Nimble hands of a detailed worker paired with shapely hips and a nice round yet firm rear end. The stunning and for him standard purple eyes paired well with the dark scuffle and framed by the raven black hair that was curly with a modern undercut style gave the face an almost dangerously handsome look. The cheeks were only slightly less prominent than the normal elven cheekbones and the chin had been broadened with a final touch on the ears leaving them with a noticeable point.

  There was one last slider Eric had seen that he avoided until now and that was the mature endowment slider. He looked down at himself a moment having been using both hands at this point in the creation of this character and nodded at a thought slipping the slider to make the character just slightly larger than himself before hitting the creation button. Light flashed before his eyes and the figure was gone along with the buttons and a moment later his whole body felt as if it were on fire. Acid seemed to have been poured on his body as his own flesh and bones melted away before reforming into the ones that had been standing in front of him. All of this lasting only a moment but in that moment it felt like it lasted an eternity. Last to reform were the tips of his ears as they still felt warmed by the transformation when everything finally settled.