World Seed_Game Start

by Justin Miller

  I nodded my head, and extended one hand in front of me. Only now did I notice a blinking icon in the corner of my vision, and had to wonder how long it had been there. Once I focused on it, it enlarged into a notification.

  You have formed an Animal Companion bond with two Lovebirds

  Please name your two new companions.

  I blinked a bit, but this wasn’t surprising. I couldn’t really expect the birds to come with names. Though, looking at them, I couldn’t really tell the two apart. I ended up choosing at random, naming the one on my left shoulder Yin, and the other Yang.

  “Don’t worry, I can tell the differences.” Celeste spoke up from my wrist again, and I looked down to see that holographic face smirking slightly.

  Congratulations! You qualify for a druid Sub-Class!

  Beastmaster

  Often seen with a horde of following companions, the beastmasters are a feared foe. Though only as powerful as their army of animals, such a force should not be taken likely.

  Advanced Class path: Colony Druid, able to store the bodies and minds of beasts within themselves, and call upon them to fight in times of need.

  Do you wish to accept? Y/N

  That didn’t take much thought, so I immediately declined the option. I knew what I wanted, and it wasn’t to have a bunch of animals living inside of me. Extending my hand out, I urged Yin mentally to perch on it. She looked carefully at me, before squawking her acceptance and moving to my hand. Yang, seeming to think this meant that she was getting special attention, prodded the side of my head with her curved beak, which was particularly annoying. I could only try to assure her that she’d get the same treatment when I was done.

  Once Yin was on my hand, I began circulating my mana through her body. The first things I wanted to analyze were her feathers, so that I could quickly learn the ability to disguise myself. Yin twitched a bit, and I could feel an uncomfortable sensation coming from her, but she endured. As if somewhat understanding what I wanted, her feathers began to change color, from deep red to black.

  The pulse of mana throughout her feathers was almost too fast for me to notice. However, she quickly reverted back to her original coloring. The second time she changed, I was much more accurately able to feel the disturbances in one of her feathers I was focusing on. Seeing that I was pleased, she began flaunting her ability, changing her colors like a rainbow.

  Given how eagerly she was demonstrating helped me to understand the changes in the mana signature of the feather. It was like there were two different signatures, the outer one and inner one. The outer signature changed every time she shifted colors, and seemed to correspond with the color she took, while the inner one was the true signature. Still, all I needed was the outer one, and information on how it was done. Following the mana pathways, I found that in the shaft of the feather was a mirror-like tube, carrying the color along through the feather and spreading it out.

  Going further, I found that on Yin’s skin was where the actual pigmentation shifted. The feathers merely reflected the color of wherever they were embedded. Again, I spent some time analyzing this while Yin happily showed off, noting each time I showed a pleased reaction. Yang again began prodding me for equal attention, but I was almost done with this step.

  Next, I had Yin get back on my shoulder, and had to stop Yang from suddenly jumping into my hands for her turn. These birds were already turning into a real handful. Next, I closed my eyes and did my best to focus, trying to ignore the birds cuddling against me. I had spent over an hour simply memorizing the subtle shifts in Yin’s mana whenever she changed colors, and was confident in being able to replicate it.

  Unfortunately, it’s never really that easy. The slight shifts in Yin’s mana required a very fine control that I wasn’t sure I was capable of, even though I knew it inside and out. It was like watching someone draw the number 9 on a piece of paper for an hour, and then try to do the same only to realize, you don’t have fingers. At least my practice in mana signatures managed to pay off, but it took me over twice as long to change colors for the first time than it took to memorize the patterns.

  New Spell Developed!

  Camouflage – Nature Magic – ★★

  By compying the mana signatures of an animal capable of disguising itself, you too can hold this gift for the low low price of a small headache!

  Mana Cost: 30/Minute

  I smiled slightly as the prompt appeared, and began working to shift colors again. Even if this was exhausting, I had managed to grind 3 points of Wisdom by trying to control my mana like this for my first shift. Sadly, my mana was being spent faster than it was coming back, so I had to take a break after 40 minutes, during which time I reluctantly pet the two birds.

  Once my break was over, and my mana returned, I got back to work. This time, I managed to turn my arm green before the 40 minutes had passed, which I considered a great success. Another break, another attempt, this time it took 20 minutes to turn my other arm red. This continued for a while, and by the time I was able to change colors at a whim, the sun had long since set.

  One thing I was happy to discover was that the 30 mana per minute cost only applied if I covered my whole body. Just doing a smaller part cost less, though I didn’t have enough control to do complex patterns or anything like that. Still, being able to copy the ability to change my color after a few hours of practice made me happy.

  Tomorrow.. I can try to grow wings, I guess… I thought to myself as I leaned back and drifted off to sleep, a small weight pressing on either of my arms from my new companions.

  Chapter 14: Let’s Go Fly an Elf

  You know, even without the game being as realistic as they are, the Seeds would still be a popular investment. If for no other reason than you can sleep in them, and only require a fifth of the sleep. Other games with a time dilation, you either sleep for the equivalent of eight real hours, or you can’t sleep in game at all.

  When I woke up in the morning, I was feeling particularly refreshed, feeling a slight weight pinning down either of my arms. I’d like to say that I looked over to my sides and found beautiful women lying naked again me, but really it was just two annoying birds that refuse to leave me alone. Part of me had held some sliver of hope that they got bored of me and left in the night, but nope, still there.

  Either way, they woke up as soon as I started sitting up. I didn’t bother to log out for breakfast this time, choosing just to satisfy myself with some stale bread. I was saving my home cooked meal today for lunch, which should occur around dinner time? It’s all wibbly wobbly, timey wimey. Anyways, back to my magic training, woohoo…

  I can’t help but feel like I got ripped off again. While I’ve been here spending days cultivating earth mana, or learning how to change my skin tone, both my father and Jacobs have already passed me in levels again. My father had apparently decided to take up life as a rogue, to best use his psychic talents, well Jacobs naturally went for a mage. My mom also managed to get a class somehow, as a Shadow Stalker. Not sure if that meant she found civilization or just that she managed to train the skills on her own.

  Now, since I gave Yin so much ‘attention’ yesterday with training, today I had promised to do so with Yang…

  “Celeste… which one is Yang?” At my question, both birds perked up and squawked their usual declaration, while Celeste simply giggled, making an arrow to point to the one on my right shoulder. The one on my left shoulder, apparently Yin, looked down dejectedly at that while Yang happily jumped into my hand. Using her tail feathers to wrap around my arm, she ensured, much to my dismay, that she was not going anywhere.

  Now, today I wanted to learn how to make wings, so first thing I did was place my other hand on Yang’s back, which she seemed to like a little too well. Then, using the age-old mana circuit technique, I began searching through her mana signature, focusing on her wings. Unlike ‘
normal’ birds, lovebirds possess four wings of equal size. Two wings in the front and two in the back. As I discovered when I ‘found’ these two earlier, the front wings can be folded forward to hide the face as well as aid in flight.

  Now, this was not the same at all as simply memorizing the mana fluctuations when an ability was used. It was closer to analyzing the mana signature of an herb, just on a far more complicated level. I could feel every organ, bone, and blood vessel as I attempted to focus my senses on her wings. Unlike Yin, she seemed all too pleased by the feeling of mana coursing through her, and relaxed into my hands.

  After a while, I managed to isolate the mana pattern for her wings. Now the trouble was memorizing it. I mean, this was like memorizing a nerve map. If I got it wrong, then at best the wings would not work. At worst, the nerves might attach wrong and bring immense pain. I don’t like immense pain, I find I am allergic to it.

  It would help if there was a noticeable pattern to the mana channels, so that I could simply memorize that, but unfortunately it was not the case. So, I spent nearly three hours just going over every detail of Yang’s wings before I was satisfied enough to try it on my own. Naturally, the first thing I did was remove my shirt, so that the wings would not rip through it. The two birds let out whistles after that, which I promptly ignored.

  Closing my eyes, I kept the feeling I learned from Yang’s wings in my mind, and focused on my own back. Trying to match the placement, I then began emitting my mana out behind me in an attempt to match what I felt from her. There was an extremely uncomfortable feeling as bones grew out of my back, but I could slowly feel that it was working. Finally, something going right on the first try!

  …

  Yeah, right. Once I was done, I turned my head to look, and found that I could not see my supposed wings. Then I looked further down, and discovered that I did indeed have wings… I just hadn’t scaled them up to be my size. Sighing, I dismissed the change in my mana, letting it return to its normal flow, before I tried again.

  This time, my goal was to copy the feeling, but make it BIGGER. Of course, bigger meant a much greater sense of discomfort, and I was prepared for that! I hope… Either way, after a few minutes of nervous procrastination, I got to work. Yup.. there’s the pain..

  Unlike the minor uncomfortable feeling from before, this was full on nerve-wracking pain. I’d like to say I muscled through it and achieved perfect results like some online protagonist, but let’s be honest? Pain hurts! It is one of the best things in the world to break focus, and break it did. I had not managed to make my wings grow out by more than two inches before the pain was too much and I lost control of it, making the new wings vanish.

  My third try, I managed to hold on until I was out four inches. Then, nine inches. On my fifth try, I got all the way to the halfway mark before the pain kicked in. Each time, I was able to better integrate it with my own mana signature to cause as little backlash as possible, until finally on my tenth try, I reached the end of the wings. For some reason, once I did so, I didn’t feel like I had to maintain it, rather I just needed to remember to undo it when I was ready.

  New Spell Unlocked!

  Aspect of the Bird – Nature Magic – ★☆

  By copying the mana patterns of a bird’s wings, you have learned to graft that body part onto yourself.

  Mana Cost: 100

  Nature Magic has increased to Basic!

  Mana Manipulation has increased to Basic!

  The mana cost for this new spell scared me a bit, but then I remembered what I had just discovered. This was basically a passive spell, and I didn’t have to pay a mana upkeep for it. I just had to pay the initial cost to shift, and then I’d be done. Looking back, I was somewhat surprised to see that my wings were pure white, rather than red like Yin and Yang’s standard colors. In a way, they gave me the appearance of a four-winged angel.

  I was a bit surprised by the other two messages as well, since this was the first skill I had trained up past the beginner levels. Maybe doing something difficult like this was needed to push it through. So far, I knew that skill levels were arranged into Beginner, Basic, Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Nobody had acquired a higher skill level than that yet. Even a top surgeon in the net community only had an Advanced in First Aid, according to what was online.

  In a moment of unrestrained recklessness, I quickly stood up to try and fly with these new limbs. I could clearly feel and move each one independently, so it should be easy right? With a beat of my wings, I found myself launched about five feet into the air… and falling back down on my face before I could give a second flap.

  Gravity beats idiot

  -10 HP

  Thankfully, the two birds noticed what was happening, and flew off of me before I kissed the ground. Slowly standing myself back up, I noticed how they were hovering effortlessly in the air. Their lower wings were fully extended to stabilize themselves, while their upper wings were doing the work of keeping them airborne. Naturally, that was my next attempt.

  Well, on the bright side, my face did not hit the ground this time. I managed to float up into the air about three feet, and was flapping my wings like crazy to stay there, before they quickly wore out and I floated back to the ground. I was somewhat pleased to discover a pair of messages waiting for me when I landed.

  New Skill Acquired!

  Flight – Beginner Level 1: 0%

  When you send it flying up there, all at once you’re lighter than air. You can dance on the breeze, over houses and trees, with your wings you have flight, so flap with your might.

  Higher levels increase control and reduce stamina loss.

  1 Vitality, +1 Dexterity

  I couldn’t help but think that someone watched too many children’s movies when they wrote the text for that skill, but quickly shrugged it off. I had a skill to practice, and practice I shall! After my wings felt less sore, I flapped them again and brought myself into the air, my two animal companions dancing around me with far less effort than I was using.

  Again controlling my lower wings to stabilize myself, I angled them forward slightly and gave only a minor flap, carrying me forward a few feet before I glided to the ground again. Suddenly, I heard a series of clapping from behind me. Turning around, I was a bit surprised to see Jarl was back. I can never keep track of when he’s here and not… mostly because I don’t pay attention to it.

  “Learning how to fly, are you?” He asked with a smirk, to which I nodded. “Alright, since it looks like you’ve copied most of their aspects already, I can tell you the next step to gain the powers of a Xeno-Shifter.”

  That had certainly gotten my attention, but what he said next mortified me. “Since you have learned to copy basic aspects, the next step is to fully copy your animal companion.” If my companion were a wolf… or hell even a turtle, I wouldn’t be so scared. But two lovebirds… I looked over, and did not at all like the looks they were giving me, as if they had understood what he was saying.

  “Okay! That settles it, next up is Wind Affinity training.” I said with a decisive nod as I dismissed the wings, and put my shirt on just as fast as elvishly possible. The two birds seemed to pout at that, before perching themselves on my shoulders again. Jarl, meanwhile, gave a loud laugh as he walked off again to who knows where doing who knows what. Wind Affinity, yeah!

  I sent my mana out in front off me just a half inch, and began sensing the wind. It was pretty easy, since the air was everywhere, and yet difficult at the same time. Wind has a barely noticeable mana signature, and can be missed very easily. Like looking for dust in sunbeams. Sometimes you find it, sometimes you don’t. After about ten minutes, I had managed to find it, and began the process of setting up a link between myself and the mana. Naturally, I tried the same trick I did with earth mana, and pushed a bunch of mana in to start it.

  Sadly, earth and
wind are two very different elements, so that did not work at all. Instead, I managed to push away all of the wind mana from where I was attempting to set the link, and had to find it again. This time, I decided to be gentler with it. But still, no luck. Trying again and again, each time more gentle than the last. Finally, what I ended up doing was creating a sort of mana funnel, with the mana in it as closely matching the wind signature as I could make it. Thankfully, this had the effect of ‘inviting’ the wind mana into me, which the wind accepted gradually.

  There was another ding from a notification panel popping up, but I didn’t pay much attention to it yet, because I was still in the stage where I had to be very delicate with the wind mana, or else I would lose it. I figured at least that part was the same as before, so I simply held onto it for as long as I could. Once I had run out of mana, and thus lost the connection, I opened my eyes to see a rather confusing message.

  Synchronization rate at 100%. Manifest Industries apologizes for any inconvenience you may have experienced during gameplay thus far.

  Synchronization 100%? You mean they didn’t consider it total realism before? I quickly contacted Jacobs and my parents, but none of them received the message. Maybe it was just the Seed adjusting, then? I dismissed it for now, and laid back to rest. I only had one piece of bread left, and then I would need to either start hunting for my meals or eat in the real world all the time. While the latter sounded more possible, it would make me quickly run out of groceries. I mean, eating five times the meals a day? That’d just cost way too much money.