The road out of Gurrow village leads to the capital of Ilmentia Island nation, Thelmova. The road passes through several hills on the way. These hills are quite high, just not high enough to have snow on them all the time. The peaks have withered away due to long years of facing the wind and here and there you could find almost flat patches of ground on top of them. Sometimes a lake formed near the top, filled with the water from the rain, with streams running down the mountain quenching the thirst of weary travelers.

Merchants and travelers used the road frequently bringing necessities, luxuries and the latest news for the people of the village. They did not fear the ferocious animals which habit the forests on both sides of the road and on the hills. They had grown up on this island and hunted the animals to become strong. They knew there was nothing that could hurt them in these forests, not unless they were incredibly stupid.

In recent days, however, they were scared. Every merchant, every traveller coming in was speaking of a strange beast with the most wild and painful cry residing within those hills. They confessed that they didn't actually see the beast itself, but its scream was so scary, that they ran away as fast as they could. They wondered where such a beast had come from, and thought maybe it was one of those legendary birds, the size of a house, which could carry away people and animals alike. Rumors started and spread high and low about this vicious beast and where it had come from.

Today as well the wild beast's scream could be heard down on the road....

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"SSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

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Raka was still standing after Lady Verina left, unsure of what to do. He was happy to have been accepted as Lady Altia's student, except he did not know how the training will begin or proceed for that matter. He looked at Lady Altia who seemed to be discussing some things with Nathan and the rest of instructors with quiet voices.

Raka tried to hear, but Nathan realizing this, instructed him to wait here for a bit as they had somethings to discuss with Lady Altia. Raka sat down, while the instructors moved out to the field to continue their discussion. Having nothing to do, Raka started noticing things within the hall. He initially thought that the walls were made of wood but he realized that the wood panels covered only the interior while the exterior was stone.

'Probably for hammering nails in, I guess.' Also the armors were made of metal with flaps of leather inside for extra padding and protection. All the armors had numbers painted on them surrounded by a ring of small leaves. It seemed different than the ones Nathan and the other

instructors were wearing. Now that he looked at it there were several pieces of armor. There was chest armor, then there was a armor skirt, thigh armor, greaves for lower leg and boots made of metal and leather for covering the lower legs. There were also gauntlets and some kind of armor for shoulders and upper arm. And finally helmets with their faces open.

Added with the chairs and desk, the hall seemed quite plain.

After a while, the instructors came back and Lady Altia spoke.

"Alright lil eggplant, seems the rest of the instructors think that learning from me could be quite taxing for a new student. So in order to test your resolve, I should give you a test. I believe you will be able to overcome my test, what do you say?"

"I will try my best, Lady Altia, um....master!"

"Ah! That does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it! Anyways, report back here tomorrow morning at 8. We will set off for the test. That is all!"

"Yes master!"

Raka bowed and left.

Raka stood on the street thinking. Lady Altia had said they would be setting off for the test but he he did not know where. It couldn't be outside the village as there was an age restriction but he hadn't checked whether it was still there. Maybe 5 years old was old enough here.

Raka walked to the east gate and encountered that same invisible wall as before.

"You are not allowed to leave the village. You are not old

enough!"

'It will be somewhere in the village then.' Not sure of how to prepare for the test or what it would involve, Raka simply thought of stocking up on some food for tomorrow.

Raka entered Neona's store. Neona saw him and flashed a smile and then resumed attending to her customers. There were quite a few people in there so Raka simply stood outside. Thinking what he should do now, he sat down in front of the shop and started eating his last apple. After some time, while he watched the comings and goings of several customers, Neona came outside and invited him in. She gave a warm smile and offered Raka some juice, made of a fruit local to the island. And they started talking.

Neona asked Raka about the school, and Raka started telling her everything, from the spar he witnessed to his request for being taught by Lady Altia and Verina, to the test to be conducted tomorrow morning. Neona listened patiently while Raka rambled about what he saw and felt.

"Hmm, lots happened and lots are waiting to happen as well. But you should always keep hope. I will pray that you succeed." Neona said with a warm smile after he finished his ramblings.

Thinking she was the gentlest person he ever met, he thanked her for her prayers.

He asked her for some food to help him in his training. She gave him several apples and other fruits and some of her delicious pie.

"Thank you for being so kind and always taking care of me. It seems like I always trouble you! Is there something I can repay you with, though I do not have any money."

"That's no good. What's up with being poor?!" Neona said.

"Um......." Raka fidgeted, not sure how to answer that.

But then Neona laughed,

"Hahahaha, sorry I was just kidding. You don't have to pay me any money. I do it because you seem like a good person. Well if you want to repay me anyway, I would like you to listen to my story for a bit."

Raka nodded happily. "Ofcourse. Anything for you."

Hearing that, Neona blushed a little. But nodded her head and then cleared her throat.

"Um...this is a story of before my father died. I used to dream of becoming one of those adventurers who travelled far and wide and came home to tell stories of far away lands. My father, who was in the army, used to travel far and wide on the nation's business. When he came home, he always used to tell me the wildest stories.

He told of islands which could move from one place to another and fish bigger than 2 ships. He spoke of legendary creatures the unicorns, the fairies and the dragons and strange food which was eaten on some far away islands. Hearing these stories I always wanted to sail out to the sea and see them for myself. But my father died in the war defending his nation as my mother told me. After that my mother became sick, so I had to stay to take care of her. Then she died and left me this shop."

Neona's eyes filled with tears as she remembered her painful past. Raka wanted to say something but couldn't think of the right words so he remained quiet. Neona wiped her tears on her apron and continued.

"Well, I like this shop so I do not mind. My aunt came over to help me run this shop but she is old herself. I love her and I would take care of her. But I still want to hear more of those stories.

Would you tell me stories of your adventures?"

Neona's request

[p=left]Neona misses her father and his stories of adventure. Due to circumstances she could not leave the village. Now she cannot leave the village as she has to take care of her aunt but wants to, once again, hear the stories. Big or small, she likes to hear of everything. She requests that you tell her of your adventures.

Difficulty level: F

Reward: Intimacy increases with Neona

This is a continuing quest. The more stories you tell, the more intimacy increases. You need to come back to Gurrow village to tell the stories.[/p]

'Ah a quest!' Well even if it hadn't been a quest, Raka would have accepted her request but he got his first quest.

"Yes, I will tell you of all my adventures."

You have accepted the quest.

Saying goodbye to her, Raka left the shop. He still had quite some time before tomorrow morning. He decided to log out.

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Swamy came out of the capsule and looked at the clock. It was almost 3 am now. Fortunately for him, tomorrow or to say today was Saturday. He did not have to go to college. He still had his part-time job but he thought of getting a leave for today. After all he had worked hard all of last month and he could use a break. Also he did not want to be late for Altia's test.

Swamy tried choosing between sending an email or calling his part-time employers in the morning. He thought calling them would be better but he did not know how long he would have to stay in the game to complete the test. So he decided to simply email them instead.

Swamy opened his laptop and wrote a quick email. He sent it. He opened Long Island's forums to see the latest developments. Sure enough, word on how to start learning the language had spread fast. In every starting city, people were rushing to the library. Some people had quickly realized and posted that the learning experience was slowing down. Some others had also realized that they would run out of picture books before they fully learned the language.

'Hmmm, still no information on whether anyone has found other means of learning the language. But there will be soon.'

In order to prepare for the test, Swamy decided that he would sleep for a bit.

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Raka reported on time at the Battle school. Lady Altia was already there, however, and seemed to be waiting for him.

"Good morning, Lady Altia! Sorry if I made you wait."

"No problem! I arrived early. I was too excited to begin" and she smiled.

Raka thought that her smile looked bewitching. Raka also thought that her smile looked like he was going to be in hell.

"Follow me" said Lady Altia, and Raka followed her.

Lady Altia seemed to be heading towards the east gate. Raka was trying to remember what buildings were near the east gate trying to figure out the location of the test. He had asked her, but she replied that he would find out eventually. After which Raka quietly followed her looking around at the still closed and the still opening shops and the few people who were on the streets. A cool wind was blowing and the sun was not quite hot yet. The weather seemed nice with no clouds which could bring rain. Looking up, he could see a few birds floating high up.

They reached the east gate. However Lady Altia still kept walking towards it.

'Was their destination the gate itself?' The only place he had been was in the guard room built in the walls close to the gate.

Lady Altia reached the gate and kept walking straight through.

"Excuse me Lady Altia, but I cannot go outside."

"Hmmm yeah. Usually you won't be able to. But you should be able to get out now."

'Eh!' What was she talking about. Raka tried moving forward fully expecting to encounter the invisible wall any moment, but he kept walking through.

Raka had just walked out of the city. He was dumbfounded.

'What in the world was going on?'

"Well don't just stand there all gaping, a fly will enter your mouth, so shut it and move along." said Lady Altia.

Raka closed his mouth, he hadn't even realized he was so shocked, and followed Lady Altia. They walked for a little while when she stopped. Raka stopped besides her. She pointed,

"Do you see those hills on the distance? Yes? Actually, this road travels all the way to the base of those hills. Now you see the third hill from the left? No, not that one, the third, yeah that one. With the green on its side."

Raka pointed to the correct hill. After being satisfied that they both are looking at the same hill, Lady Altia said,

"Well that is the destination. You have to reach the base of that hill in two hours. Do not worry, nothing will harm you on the road."

Lady Altia's test

[p=left]Reach the base of the hill selected by Lady Altia in 2 hours.

Difficulty level: E

Reward: Lady Altia will train you.

The timer starts when Lady Altia says to begin. No harm will come to you if you stick to the road.[/p]

"Alright then. Begin!"

A timer counting down from 2 hours appeared before Raka's eyes and then moved to a corner so as not to obstruct his view. Raka started running on the road.

'Shit that looks far away.' By his estimate the specific hill was atleast 10 kms away as the bird flies. He knew he would have to go further than that as he was following the road which would twist and turn near the hills. Infact he could not even see the road close to the hills from this far away.

'If they are this tall when i am looking at them from this far away, how tall would they be!!' Raka wondered while running.

He had started at a brisk pace knowing that it would allow him to cover more distance than running flat out. But he was still worried. In real life, he had never run 10 kms. He wasn't required to run so far, neither as part of school nor to stay fit. The most he had run was 5 kms and that too when he was at the peak of his physical ability. Since entering high school, he only jogged as part of daily exercise and that too around 3kms.

In short, his real life physical abilities to do this particular task, were limited at best. Even then Raka kept running. He did not even think of attempting to make a shortcut through the forest. Not knowing what dangers lay there, it would be suicide to attempt it right now.

After about 45 mins of constant running, he started getting tired. He soldiered on huffing the air in and out. After another 10 mins he was having trouble breathing. After a few mins more he was taking in short breaths just to keep his control. After an hour of constant running, his lungs felt like they had caved in, his throat felt dry like they haven't had a sip of water since whenever and his legs were wobbling.

Raka decided to stop for a bit. He took a quick sip from the water canteen to sooth his throat and took deep breaths to calm his breathing. He could feel his legs shivering time and again underneath but he dared not look down. He felt that if he looked down now he would probably want to give up. Even then he couldn't sit down to rest. He had no confidence he would be able to stand back up.

He looked again at the hill. It seemed closer than before, but still far away. Raka started running again thinking of everything he liked, to move forward.

"Apples, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, paneer, chicken, legs, breasts........" so on and so forth.

In order to forget the pain his legs were in, he had begun fantasizing.

'Ah Neona, what a lovely smile. Altia, your smile is nice too. Your body is definitely better. Verina, you are the best, oooooh....I am definitely gonna survive. Ah feed me those apples....' went Raka but his pain was getting worse and worse.

Soon he wasn't in any condition to fantasize, every step felt like he was stepping on pine needles. His breathing was becoming haggard. He didn't know whether he was breathing in or out. His arms were hung by his side, he couldn't lift them anymore. He was swaying and his legs kept going left and right on their own accord.

But Raka still kept running. He didn't know where his stubbornness originated from. He wasn't in any situation to think clearly. He just knew that he did not want to fail. He kept slowing down automatically, as his body refused to listen but he still moved forward.

Raka did not know how much distance had passed. He had run around the base of a hill, was it the first or second, he couldn't remember. He tried looking at the corner where the timer was still going. Just 5 mins left. He focused his last bit of energy in his legs. He did not have the energy to think anymore. The legs hurt so badly that he did not even realize whether he was hungry or thirsty.

Raka thought he saw a faint outline up ahead. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or there really was a person up ahead. Making that person his goal somehow seemed natural. He pressed on willing his tired painful legs for one last spurt. Taking short breaths, he endured. The timer was on its last minute. He looked as the seconds seemed to flow faster. He put every bit of energy he could find and reached that person.

And then he collapsed. He did not have any energy left to spend anymore.

"You passed", said Lady Altia and smiled.

Raka lay down on the ground face forward and tried to catch his breath when,

You have passed Lady Altia's test. Now she will train you.

[p=left]Stamina stat has been created. Only when you reach your limit can it be said that you truly realize the extent of your stamina.

Based on your efforts you receive 5 points to Stamina. The stat increases based on your actions.[/p]

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Raka lay flat on the ground for about 5 mins. Then he sat up once again and looked at Lady Altia. She was standing by his side, waiting for him to get up. Raka rubbed his legs to get some feeling back into them.

'Aaah! The pain!' Raka winced as the forgotten pain now came back to haunt him full time. He was wide awake now.

Satiety has fallen to 5. You are extremely hungry. If you do not eat something immediately you are in danger of passing out.

Till satiety is recovered -5 to all stats, movement speed drops by 20%.

You are tired. Movement speed drops by 50%.

Raka took out a pie and started eating it.

Satiety increases by 35. Negative status is removed.

He took out and had 2 more.

Satiety is 100. You are full.

When he had eaten and the pain had lessened enough, he got up and moved to stand in front of Lady Altia.

"Master, how did you get here before me? I did not see you pass through."

"He He He! How else, I came through the forest. Honestly its much shorter you know. You could have tried that" she said while smiling.

'Does she have a S type personality!!'

"How could I master! As you said, I am weak so I am sure I will not be able to survive in there!"

"He He He, well I said you could have tried. Never said you would have succeeded."

'Isn't that the same thing!!!!' Raka screamed in his head.

"Well now that you are up, and I promised to train you, lets begin with phase 1."

"Master! What do I have to do in phase 1?"

"Well its simple really, you just have to climb this hill!"

Raka looked at the hill in question. The base of the hill was a gentle slope with a lot of trees growing out of its sides. There seemed to be enough grasses to hold on to and climb. However the further up you went the slope started getting steeper. Less grasses were growing there and he would have to rely on the branches of the few trees which had still managed to grow there. The climb would be difficult but he presumed not impossible.

"Alright Lady Altia, I will begin climbing." Saying which he started moving towards the base. And Lady Altia followed.

"Um.. Master, would you be climbing as well?"

"Ofcourse it wouldn't be fun if only you get to enjoy it. Well how about we make it a little game. You go first and I will try to catch you!"

Having a bad premonition, Raka asked,

"What happens when you catch me, Master?"

"Well what do you think happens." She walked toward the hill and found a suitable stick. Waving it around she said,

"This will do just fine!"

And WHACK!

Virtual reality games had become a bone of contention with law makers and public activists, on the realism of its sensations. People were worried that the pain induced within the game could cause irreparable mental damage to the players, so it was always a challenge to provide realism of sensations but still limiting the pain produced. Ofcourse research had found that humans have a pretty big pain limit, and everyday pain like slipping over a puddle of water or accidentally hitting your toe on the door frame, would not cause mental damage. So the programmers had left that level of pain as is and simply diluted the extreme ones, such as losing a limb or getting killed, etc.

Unfortunately getting hit by a stick, waved by a monster woman, on his butt still counted as everyday pain!

And since that day the screams of the wild, savage beast resounded on those hills.