by Shawn Wyatt
PERLA ONLINE
Book One: Toris
by Shawn Wyatt
Author's Note
Hello, and thanks for reading Perla Online! I hope you enjoy the adventure as much as I enjoyed creating it. When I first discovered LitRPG, it struck me as a dream come true: a combination of fantasy, science fiction, and video games. As an avid MMO player myself (and diehard fan of Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon?, and so many other LitRPG-style anime), the opportunity to create an enormous world and journey through it with Ren, Evey, Bastion, Wish, and of course, Boris has been incredible fun.
Before I get into the finer details, I want to acknowledge a few people that have been instrumental in the creation of this world. My girlfriend Maggie, who listened to far more hours of excited blabber than anyone should have to, but never stopped encouraging the story; my friend Sam, for helping me balance out character abilities and work out the minutia of the world; my mother and my aunt, for being my go-to editing team; and finally, countless friends and beta readers along the way that have encouraged me to keep writing, even when
no Cure spell would cleanse me of the Writer's Block debuff.
In the back of this book, you will find a list of character abilities up to level 20. You'll also find additional information about the world. Check it out, and let me know what you think! I am always happy to hear feedback from my readers.
If you would like to be a beta reader for my next title, just sign up for the mailing list or drop me a line at [email protected].
You can also find me on Facebook.
Don't be afraid to reach out and let me know what you think of the story. I'm always happy to hear from readers, and I'm always looking for people to play vidya with.
Cheers!
Shawn
Preview
I squeezed the trigger. The Blunderbuss roared and belched flame toward the monster. Blood bloomed where the bullet slammed into the creature's chest. The Elven girl muttered under her breath and the flamed tip of the arrow ignited, tracing an arc of fire through the air as it sank into the creature's side. Flame writhed around the monster and ignited its fur. The attack drew another angry screech.
It turned its gaze toward me, and I fought back a shiver. I could have sworn there was intelligence in that look.
CHAPTER ONE: PERLA ONLINE
"Full immersion virtual reality is the way of the future."
By 2049, technological advancement had proven those words true. What once was nothing more than a passing curiosity for those with a lot of money and processing power was an essential part of how society worked, even if it did come to pass a little different than everyone expected.
The back of my head itched. I felt a small, raised area where the CHIP--short for Cognitive enHancement Interface Protocol--had been surgically upgraded a few months ago. The new model felt like a laptop plugged into a too-powerful outlet; it buzzed with electrical energy that would cause an irritating, if harmless, itch.
The CHIP revolutionized the way people interacted with computers worldwide when first introduced in 2024. Gabris, Inc., a biotechnology company, had proposed the idea at an international tech conference. "The human brain is nothing more than a computer," the CEO said. "An incredibly powerful one unlike any system we have today. Why reinvent the wheel we can harness what's already there?"
Since then, the potential of a biological interface had grown in leaps and bounds. Moore's Law estimated that technology doubled in power every two years, but the CHIP had reduced that time to a matter of months.
Now we only needed to close our eyes and focus on cat videos, and we could mentally select what type of kitten danced across our subconscious pianos.
I joke, but the CHIP eliminated the need for widespread external interfaces. Smart phones fell by the wayside. Gaming became something else entirely, opening the door to experiences unlike any the human race had ever seen before.
MMOs surged in popularity, quickly becoming the most-played genre of game on the market. Hundreds maintained active servers, while more archaic types of games still operated on private servers with first-person mods.
A soft ping alerted me to a text message. I closed my eyes and shifted my focus to the mental "subfolder" for text messages. The CHIP processed the message instantly.
"Alert! Keywords detected on the forum: 'New MMO.'" The message included a link to a file titled POv1.exe.
Not the most trustworthy filename I'd ever seen, but other users had downloaded it without a problem. I scanned the forums for more information.
Whatever the game was, the few leaked resources focused on its immersion. Apparently the game took realism to a completely different level.
I selected the file for download. One of the benefits of being born after 2030 was the Internet speeds.
Lag was a thing of the past.
I "saw" the file name--the CHIP displayed images like a memory, as if you had just seen it and looked away--and chose it.
The slight electrical nag in the back of my head crackled briefly, and the world around me went black.
CHAPTER TWO: REN
My skull ached as though it had been cleaved by a Dwarven warhammer.
A world the size of Earth's moon floated in the void of space. Rivers traversed the surface of green-hued continents offset by splashes of blue. The world spun away, repelled by the appearance of another world of equal size.
Sandstorms ravaged the surface of the new world, its skin baked by an unforgiving sun.
A third world crested the desert world, carpeted in vibrant forests and scattered savannahs, before it too fell back to a world covered in oceans with islands smattered across its surface.
A fifth world drifted from below, its orbit opposite that of the ocean world. Mountain peaks circled by monstrous creatures touched the edge of space. The highest peaks looked close enough to touch.
The original world spun against the black, silent as the four others sped around it and their orbits increased in speed. Light trailed behind each world until the bands of light came together in the shape of a butterfly in flight against an azure sky.
The butterfly flapped its wings once. A gust blew away leaves and twigs to reveal two words: Perla Online.
Under the words, an input screen requested a name.
Okay, color me impressed. That was quite the intro screen.
Two weeks ago, I had forked over the money to upgrade my CHIP—the Cerebral Harness Interface Protocol—to improve the sensory experience within full-dive games. Maybe the sudden shift to virtual reality was just a bug.
The menu presented a single character slot, so this was a one-and-done deal. By curse or blessing, my real name had been torn straight from the pages of a fantasy novel. I entered it in: "Ren."
The server contemplated my choice for a split second before screen displayed a group of people silhouetted around a campfire.
No, not people--races.
A human stood beside a Dwarf. Elves, Gnomes, and Orcs became visible if I focused on their outline, but I did not recognize the other two silhouettes.
I moved my focus to the first of the two unfamiliar ones. A small humanoid form lit up and flitted to the center of the screen, held aloft by translucent wings. I stared into my own face.
I did a double take, or as much of one as possible in a virtual world. The creature--a Pixie, based on the name plate that floated over its head--looked exactly like me, if I had been scaled down to nine inches tall and less than five pounds.
The CHIP knew what I looked like. I knew that from when I had p
urchased clothes online and used its capabilities to dress myself up like a doll, but the sight of my own face on another body startled me.
Transparent text floated underneath the Pixie.
Pixies hail from the realm of Toris and make their homes in the rolling hills around the capital city of Grenay. "Small but mighty," many Pixies have a sense of honor that far exceeds their small size.
+1 INT
+4 WIS
+1 INT every 2 levels
Interesting. Not a bad choice, but the racial bonuses clearly favored caster-type classes over martial classes. Maybe casters in this game were more useful? I preferred to play characters with more HP than casters usually had.
What was the other race? The moment my thoughts strayed toward it, the silhouette appeared and filled with detail.
I was not prepared to see my face attached to a seven-foot tall, green-hued body. The Sylvan wore clothing made of vines and leaves, with fingers that looked like tendrils and a bark-like pattern across its skin.
I had never seen a race like it in an MMO before. The stats for it hung below, along with a brief description.
Where there are trees, there are Sylvans. If the leaves of a tree rustle when there is no wind, it is a Sylvan's home. These denizens of the groves are experts in nature magic.
+1 INT
+1 WIS
+1 CON
+10% Nature damage
The Sylvan would be a great choice for a druid-type class. Maybe another time.
I looked over the rest of the choices, but settled on the tried and true option: human, the original racial choice. Better to stick to what I knew.
The silhouette appeared, and the character looked identical to my real self, aside from a few minor changes. It carried another five pounds of muscle than I actually did. I didn't mind the cosmetic upgrade. What unsettled me was how close the character on screen looked to the ideal body type I had envisioned for myself.
I could not have made it more accurate if I had tried.
Looks can be deceiving, and no more so than in humans. Despite their seemingly fragile bodies, humans are a resilient race that live anywhere and adapt to any conditions. Jacks of all trades, masters of none.
+1 ALL STATS
+2 LUCK
The majority of MMOs all had the same basic stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom. I had never seen Luck as a controllable stat before. Maybe it had something to do with an RNG system? Oh well, it never hurt to be a little bit lucky.
I confirmed my racial selection. The campfire was replaced by an image of my avatar wielding a sword. I had been waiting for this: the class select screen.
The forums had buzzed with reports that classes varied from what I expected, so I was excited to find out for myself.
There were nine total options, but I immediately nixed a few. "Prophet" and "Oracle" both sounded like casters, something I wasn't fond of playing. The glass cannon concept never appealed overly much to me.
I selected the class called "Harmonist." Text appeared under the name.
No war is ever fought without a battle anthem to follow the warriors. Harmonists provide healing, support, and the uncanny ability to channel arcane magic through voice and instruments. Bandits often pass over well-dressed men walking alone in the forest for fear their lute may play more than just a tune.
At level 10, you choose the life-song you want to sing. Your choices are:
Swashbuckler Harmonist
Swashbucklers would rather be the heroes of their own story than sing the praises of others. Masters of two-weapon fighting, Swashbucklers carve a path of blood through their foes, humming to themselves as they go. Their voice can close wounds, purge poisons from the body, and sometimes even summon storms on command.
Harmonist Balladeer
A King once chose to forgo his guards in lieu of a single Balladeer. Before the assassins could strike, they found their feet bound to the floor, though the woman did nothing more than strum her harp. Balladeers are masters of music and magic. Though their offensive abilities are limited, Balladeers can improve morale before a fight, cause friends to forget about their injuries, and banish fear from the mind.
So the Harmonist was essentially a Bard. It made for an interesting class choice, but leveling would be a nightmare if all it excelled at was support. I would need to be in a party the entire time. No, thank you.
The other choice that jumped out was called a "Marauder."
At the thought, it became the focus. My character hovered in front of me with a pair of flintlock pistols in hand and a musket across his back. A bandolier draped across my chest with strange-looking bullets.
If a Marauder decides to place you in their crosshairs, you'll never know it. Marauders are hyper-specialized gun users that can fight from any distance. The whine of their bullet is the last sound many creatures remember.
At level 10 you choose the type of Marauder you want to be. Your choices are:
Marauder Duelist
The Duelist is a close-range gunslinger, preferring dual pistols or a single high-powered shotgun over a weapon with greater range. Capable of firing Caster Shots imbued with a variety of magic, Duelists move around the battlefield with a grace that belies their deadly nature.
Marauder Sharpshooter
If anyone can rival the assassination abilities of a Dervish Dancer, it is a Marauder Sharpshooter. These gunmen take aim from extreme distances and let fly a bullet that spells certain death for its target. Should the target survive and seek its shooter, the Sharpshooter will be long gone and ready to take another shot.
Most MMOs stuck to swords and magic. Firearms were a rare weapon choice, but these had a certain steampunk aesthetic to them. Why not?
I confirmed the class, and another screen appeared.
Is this your choice?
Name:
Ren
Race:
Human
Class:
Marauder
5 STR +1 Racial Bonus
60 lb. Carry Capacity
5 DEX + 1 Racial Bonus
+6% Accuracy
5 CON + 1 Racial Bonus
60 HP
5 INT + 1 Racial Bonus
60 Mana
0 WIS + 1 Racial Bonus
11.5% Mana Regen
0 LUCK + 2 Racial Bonus
Unknown
Once you make this choice you cannot go back and change your name or class. However it may be possible to change your race at some point in the future.
I glanced back over the stats. The character looked fine to me, and I didn't see any need to change anything. Time to dive in.
Congratulations and welcome to the world of Perla Online!
The campfire-like atmosphere around me faded, and I fell.
Wind roared in my ears. I crashed through a cloud, and its damp fingers left my skin clammy. Through the tears in my eyes I could make out the glint of light off the gold-tipped parapets of a castle.
I bit back a scream. This sequence was probably just part of the opening to the game. Probably. Virtual or not, the fall brought my heart to my throat. I flailed limbs and tried to slow my descent. I did not want my first death in this game to be due to gravity.
I squeezed my eyes shut. It did little to quiet the roar of the wind, but at least I wouldn't see the ground when it turned me to pulp.
Seconds before I should have had my own meet-cute with the ground, my momentum slowed and I came to an upright stop. I opened one eye, then the other, and looked around.
I hand landed in the center of a massive plaza, surrounded by dozens of other players. Most of them shared the same shell-shocked look I'm sure I wore. The parapets I had glimpsed on the way down towered around us, the majority concentrated within the walls of the castle that dominated the center of the city.
A man stood on an elevated dais in the center of the plaza. A heavy cassock complemented his inscrutable expression, and his staff, inlaid with precious jewels, hint
ed at a position of some power. The man rapped his staff against the dais three times, cleared his throat, and spoke.
"Welcome to Ilia, the beautiful capital city of the realm of Perla. I've summoned all of you here to address a threat that may bring all the realms to their knees." As he spoke, a shadow darkened the plaza.
Another world blocked out the sun, but its movement was visible across the sky. The glare of the sun washed out finer features, but no one could miss the huge swaths of green that wrapped around the equator of the world. As the planet rotated, one spot stood out in shadow, lit by an eerie purple glow.
"Look upward, young adventurers. The realm of Toris floats above us. The area you see illuminated by that evil light is but a symptom of further struggles. A necromancer by the name of Foscor has mustered an army and set his sights on Ilia. If Foscor succeeds in his schemes, all the realms will fall."
The man cleared his throat once more. "Of course, I don't expect you to believe me, having been summoned away from your own realms as you were. I will open a teleport gate to send you back. Once there, speak with your leaders. Listen to what they have to say. If you choose to help defeat this threat, they will give you instructions on how to proceed."
"Thank you, adventurers. Ilia and all the realms are in your debt."
When the man--an Oracle, I guessed, based on the class descriptions I had read--finished speaking, he rapped his staff once more and a cascade of portals opened in front of each avatar. A beam of light opened the air in front of me like a zipper, and I could glimpse a massive city in the midst of a desert. A wave of heat rolled from the portal.
