Login Accepted: Incipere Online Book One

by R J Triveri

  Athos nodded. “Well, thanks. I’ll be sure to ask for help when I need it.”

  “If you decide on a combat class, I’m sure I could make you something to compliment an alchemist.”

  “Combat class?”

  “Well, yeah. You’re an alchemist, right? No real weapons to speak of, no defenses, and potions aren’t really the best or fastest way to do anything dangerous. You’re a support class like most people, Athos.”

  The idea lined up with how it was described to him earlier and brought a shadow over his plans to settle. “How do I get a combat class?” Before she could make the kind of comment he had become so accustomed, Athos interjected, “Skip the newbie comment, please. I’ve heard it more than enough today.”

  She nodded. “When you rank up, you can either become a rank two alchemist or become a rank one alchemist, rank one… whatever. Your title and ranks will combine into a new class.” Under her breath, Athos could have sworn that she said newbie. “When you break it down, my two classes are mechanic and engineer.”

  “But to rank up, I need to get experience.” He did know that much.

  “Then do what you need to do. Be a better alchemist.” The tone was starting to get to him, but again, it made sense.

  He wanted to argue, but there was nothing to argue with. “I’ll try.”

  Before she could make another comment, a customer interrupted her, and Walter set her to work before motioning to Athos to follow him behind the stall. Despite their last meeting, Walter didn’t seem too bothered. At least, that he showed anyways.

  He seemed rather relaxed despite the heated argument his daughter was having with the customer as the door to the back opened and closed. His voice was a little more suppressed, but it lacked none of its usual, bubbly tone. “Did you find a place to stay at the guild house?”

  Athos shook his head. “Guildkeeper wouldn’t let me join one, so I found the delivery board to earn a little more money.”

  “Wouldn’t let you join?”

  He shifted a bit. “Not in so many words, and it wasn’t really him that wouldn’t let me,” Athos relented. “It’s just easier to blame him, I guess. No one wants an experience leech.”

  His hand stroked his beard again as he thought out loud for a moment. “No one wanting an alchemist is news to me, but I get it. Too much history with them.” He saw the look in Athos’s eyes and quickly changed the subject. “Well, how much did you earn?”

  Checking his screen, Athos let the question go and smiled at the quadruple-digit number. “Just over a thousand bytes.”

  Walter’s grin grew in approval again from ear to ear. “That could buy you at least a month at the inn and plenty of supplies to practice with.”

  “The one with the green roof, right?”

  He nodded. “Right, the first floor is also a general store, so you can get some more bottles and other basic things.”

  A general store, too? “This world really is based off a game world, isn’t it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Athos shrugged. Wasn’t it obvious? “The inn being a general store too?”

  “You really never studied history did you, Athos?”

  Before he could answer, a voice yelled from behind the pair. “Dad!”

  Looking over his shoulder, Walter sighed, “An inn has always been a general store too, Athos.”

  Before the older man could get another word in edgewise, the demanding voice of his daughter broke the breath of silence. “Dad, I need you here!”

  A sigh escaped from Walter’s lips and his look went from concentrated to defeated. “Look, I need to get back to work. Send me a message when you get settled, and then I’ll tell you what I promised.”

  So, Walter didn’t forget. Athos nodded offering the other his hand, which Walter took with a smile. “Thanks for all the help.”

  “Anytime.” Looking over his shoulder for a moment, he leaned closer. “Just don’t get yourself killed.”

  Established

  Don’t get yourself killed.

  Don’t die.

  Those were two phrases that Athos didn’t think he’d ever hear enough to become sick of them before he arrived in Incipere. Again and again, it seemed to be the best advice people had to offer him. Did they really think that he wanted to die? Was he that stupid? If he fit either description, wouldn’t he have just given up back in the real world?

  He almost laughed to himself as he crossed back over the bridges into Oenus proper. The real world; what a concept that was now. Earth was just as real as Incipere. The wind was the same, the grass felt the same, and Hell, chemicals even reacted the same as on Earth. Well, that was the theory of his profession anyway. The idea was just taken to the tenth degree in Incipere. A salve that could help heal wounds on earth would restore life here.

  In all honesty, the only real thing missing seemed to be hunger and fatigue. No one really seemed to want for anything serious here. Well, minus his own want for his own private space, but at the rate he was earning money, he expected that it wouldn’t be an issue for too much longer.

  Pulling his fingers down in front of him, he checked his inventory again. He had gotten quite the strange assortment of trinkets over his adventure today. A gun, a work ticket, and a nice chunk of bytes according to Walt. Maybe it was time to check out the general store and set himself up a little better.

  Switching to the map once he was sure of his footing, he found the inn and marked it with a tap of his finger to make a waypoint appear in his vision. Even if he had seen the inn before, he wasn’t going to take any chances getting lost now that the sun was starting to set. Things always got worse in a game world at night, and with Incipere being based on one, he put two and two together. Even if all the books said that the cities were safe, there were always things worse than monsters that lurked in the dark corners of a city.

  Thankfully, the sun was still setting as he ended his hike through the city. The cliché bed with the word inn painted on it was not exactly what he expected, but he smiled all the same as a feeling of safety started to try and settle in. He shook it loose though and walked inside.

  The door gave way rather easily, as most doors did here, and revealed a rather spacious, but simple, store interior. A few sets of armor were set up on one side, a few boxes of fruit, or what passed for fruit here, were set up on the opposite wall, and various weapons and books with letters he couldn’t quite comprehend were set on tables in the center of the room. All of this was watched by a woman standing behind the counter whose eyes were on him the moment he entered.

  “Hey there, newbie! Welcome to The Sunset’s Rest, the premier, and only, inn on the frontier.”

  Not three words. Not three flipping words did she get in before she called him a newbie. Maybe she said that to everyone? Athos doubted it though, but what gave him away this time? Maybe she was one of those people that knew everyone? She was the innkeeper and that’s what they were known for, right?

  “Thank you,” he managed after a few moments. It wasn’t like she was wrong, so why correct her. It didn’t sound like she meant it rudely. “I need some supplies and a room.”

  “Rooms are 25 bytes a night, so that isn’t too hard. If you’re looking for something a little more exotic, you won’t find it here,” Her voice was friendly, but it seemed so practiced. Another Inciperian unhappy with their job? He shrugged as the thought wandered to the back of his mind. “As for your supplies, we’re only a rank one general store, so we’ve only got the basics.”

  Thinking back to his inventory, he only knew one or two things he could use. “What can you recommend for an alchemist?”

  Her eyes widened, but the woman didn’t miss a beat. “Haven’t had one of those come through in a while,” came the comment as she opened an inventory window and turned it around. The layout was like when he received a payment for one of his deliveries but had a third screen between the two. Her finger moved to each item as she described the images. “We’ve got s
ome bottles, basic reagents bags, and distilled water.”

  With only five of the formers and ten of the latter, Athos bought them all without a second thought. “And the room please.”

  She nodded, adding a small key to the trade window with a red outline, “As long as you’re carrying the key, it will deduct the twenty-five bytes at sundown each day.”

  That was fine with him. With 300 of his hard-earned bytes gone and a room secured, it felt as though a weight had been lifted once again from his shoulders. “Thanks. How do I get to the room?”

  She pointed to a door off to one side that he swore hadn’t been there before. “Use the key on that door to access the staircase. Use it again at the top of the stairway on one of the unoccupied rooms and it will register to the key.”

  Opening his inventory, he materialized the key. It didn’t seem very special, but then again, code here was king. Looks, as he was learning, meant so little. “Thanks.”

  “Come again, Alchemist.”

  He nodded, approached the door, and let himself in. To his surprise, the door didn’t open, but instead simply vanished until his body made its way through the space it used to occupy. He sighed a bit to himself as he began his trek up the stairs into what seemed to be an endless hallway of doors, signs, and softly glowing lights. It was slightly unnerving the way the hallway just seemed to fade into the distance for what seemed like a pair of football fields until it turned at a ninety-degree angle.

  Thankfully, he didn’t have to go far to find a room with a window saying that beautiful word unoccupied. Not that he expected many people to be there. It seemed that everyone he saw had their own houses or farms around here and that the inn didn’t get many travelers.

  As his key touched the door, forcing it out of existence, it got his mind thinking. Maybe they knew he was new because they had never seen him before. It seemed like a close-knit kind of place - or at least it did to him. Then again, coming from a city of over eighty thousand, any place that knew their neighbors seemed close-knit to him.

  The room wasn’t anything impressive as he stepped inside. A bed, dresser, lamp, and small table were all that stuck out from the four wood and plaster walls. Not that he needed anything but the lamp and the bed, but it was still a comfort to have enough room to spread out.

  As he sat on the chair next to the small table, he opened his window, clicked into an empty inbox, and sighed. It looked like Ioh was a bit busy to respond. Going back to his inventory, he clicked on the book from before, Splendor Solis: The Book of the Sacred Magic.

  Once it materialized into his hands, he moved towards the bed, sat down, and began reading from the beginning.

  Greetings, Young Alchemist.

  Your first steps into the world may have been reagents and potions, but your potential is so, so much more. When you are ready, the world will bend to your will as much as any mage or wizard.

  Your quest for the Stone of Souls begins now.

  The book wasn’t as long as it seemed, only a few pages held information of any kind, and what was there was full of strange symbols, directions, and reagents. Potions recipes, directions on how to experiment, and pacts with the potential to summon beasts to his aide filled the pages and his imagination with possibilities, so Athos devoured it in a way he had never been able to do with books before. Whether it was the new world’s mechanics or the interesting nature of the book itself, the spellcraft, methods, and purposes began to worm their way into his memory, ready for use at a moment’s notice.

  Hours passed before Athos finally looked towards the clock in his inventory and relented to his better judgment. Putting the book away, the young alchemist only spent a few more moments lying in bed before his mind wandered and sleep overtook him.

  ***

  Within the code that made up the world, eyes that had no form watched over its charge. The heart of the world knew everything and everyone down to the last digit that made up their compressed code. Each action they took fell within the accepted parameters and required nothing more than observation.

  “Unum?” Ferris Auxi had no reason to speak, but she did all the same. It unnerved humans when she didn’t, and it would be bad form to fall out of practice.

  Despite its seeming lack of attention, Ferris Auxi knew the Unum was listening. It’s infinite attention never changed. It never left a single thing unattended, but she always felt that Unum’s attention focused more when she was within its presence.

  Yes, Auxi. I am listening.

  She honestly wished that the Unum would acknowledge the name she picked, but it didn’t really matter. “Athos Aramis…”

  Athos Aramis, the rank one alchemist who holds the perk of Forest Child. He is currently a resident of Oenus, City on the Water in sleep mode at 100% integrity.

  “Yes.”

  No.

  “No?”

  He has not met the criteria you set via Gama.

  “I see.”

  Give him more time. Humans are difficult and unique. They must find their own places before we interfere. Athos is not one of us yet. His core is still torn between the two worlds. Give him more time.

  “Yes, Unum.” She relented her questions answered before they could be asked. Of course, Unum knew what she would ask. It always knew what its children needed or wanted even if it would never act on its own to fulfill that need. Unum had studied the religions of the world, it knew better than for them to become reliant on it.

  Have faith in him.

  She nodded. Turning from his chamber, she began to prepare herself for the return trip. There was nothing more to ask or to be gained from him. Despite the devotion she had to her job, her vacation started today. She could almost hear Unum’s disapproval, but the human idea of a vacation was a wonderful one.

  With a flick of her wrist, a gateway between Unum’s realm and Incipere opened.

  Everything was arranged. Her charges were under Gama’s watch, and if someone was watching over them, she didn’t mind letting her code wander into the world she loved so much. With each step she took towards the gate, her clothing seemed to blend and melt from the strict business attire into something more rustic while her hair and eyes faded from their brilliant azure and crimson into duller earthen tones.

  Maybe she’d visit Bru’Dea this time. She had heard great things about the weather and beaches there. A few moments later, the gate and Ferris vanished back into Incipere.

  Alone once again, The Unum began to examine a curiosity. A curiosity that for the first time in a long time, perplexed it and its infinite processing ability.

  A curiosity that began to usurp the code one line at a time.

  Part Two: Adventure Awaits

  Thing’s really aren’t that different here. Well, unless you count the dryads, lizard things, and whatever those things were that the two gunners were shooting yesterday.

  Still, it’s not really all that bad.

  -Athos Aramis, Alchemist of Incipere

  Quest: Start!

  Time passed rather quickly for Athos as he became more accustomed to the world around him. Before he even realized it, the real world faded from a sharp, throbbing pain into a dull ache of a memory. Each day seemed to fade into the next as he got into a routine. The day would begin with painstaking hours running errands or gathering reagents and give way to not-so-long nights at The Sunset’s Rest. For him, it gave the old saying of same shit, different day a whole new meaning.

  Today held the same feeling as the last, but the task was a little different. Instead of working for someone else, today was a day for him. With so much of his time spent in the city, his supplies had become rather low even with the reinforcements from the innkeeper, Sammi, who, as it turned out, was just bored with her job.

  In fact, it was her advice that drove him towards his adventure today.

  “Do you ever leave the city?” She began almost out of the blue as he came down from his room. Athos simply shrugged. Of course, he hadn’t. Why should he? “You
know you won’t get anywhere with your rank just making the same potions over and over again, right?”

  That came as news to him. Wasn’t grinding essential to crafting? However, the more he thought about it though… “It has been a little slow going…”

  Despite the fact he had spent the last three days brewing potions and practicing his craft, he had noticed that his rank growth had slowed greatly at about the half-way point. However, he did have an inventory full of at least 30 of each of Sol Arum, Obscurus Arum, and Pyrothium to show for it.

  “Ranks from crafting slow to a crawl unless you do different or harder things. If you’re looking to rank up, your ticket would be a few new recipes.”

  And essence, he added mentally. According to the blank pages in the book of his, the only way he could continue to advance was to gather essence to infuse into the pages. Not that it told him how to do it. Both notes he added to the many about all the things he had not been told before his arrival. “You don’t carry any though.”

  “And our old Inciperian alchemist moved to the big city with his supplies. Good riddance to the bastard too,” Sammi added before taking another breath to add, “but when you add in the fact alchemists are in short supply out here in the wilderness and that spare recipes are even rarer...”

  It wasn’t that hard for him to connect the dots on that one. “There’s no one that’s going to waste their bytes to buy and carry them. Just brilliant.”

  “You know,” she said, dismissing the newest customer as he browsed the shelves, “you could go to the dungeon and hunt for one. The loot drops in the chests and off the monsters are customized per entrant. You might find something good, and you can get yourself a second class in the process.”

  His curiosity was peaked, despite an eyebrow that raised itself in slight disbelief. “Isn’t it dangerous for me to go alone?”