Swamy looked at the rising sun and stretched. He had a lot of time in the holidays so he decided to get some exercise. He did little jumps and then started jogging slowly.

Bangluru was a nice city. If you could manage to avoid the traffic which was mindbogglingly annoying and loud, you would find that the weather never goes too cold or too hot. Early in the morning, when there are few people on the streets and the gentle breeze is flowing, was considered the best time to enjoy this city.

Swamy enjoyed the cool air as he jogged past constructs of man and nature. Buildings, houses, bus stops, parks. There were gentle stirrings as a few people did their surya-namaskar (rising sun prayer). Some brushing sounds as people used their brooms to clean in front of their shops. It was considered auspicious to do this before opening. Something to do with brushing away the filth and bringing in good fortune.

Swamy wasn't much of a religious person even though he had been taught how to pray. He liked to keep his house clean but that had nothing to do with good fortune. Not like he would refuse good fortune if it did come.

Back home, he cleaned his place and showered. He switched on the tv and watched the news.

"Yesterday night, a person was found murdered in the London suburbs. The police think that it may be a grudge related crime. The police has also said that it could be related to the vr game he or she was playing. No details have been issued as to what game the person played and all details regarding his/her identity is being kept classified. Though there are unconfirmed reports that the dead person is supposedly male. This is yet another report of players taking their aggression outside of the games..."

Virtual reality games were supposed to bring about an era of peace. Giving a chance for directing aggression to useful things. Kill as many goblins as you like, lawmakers would be very happy. Even PK or player killing was ok as long as you kill in the game only. Supposedly.

Some people, however, couldn't become happy even with that. It was rare but there were still instances of people killed due to grudges or as part of revenge because of their actions in some game. It was a shuddering thought.

Swamy checked the game forums. Things had heated up since the currency exchange system. Oh and he was at the top of the Hall of Fame. Also, someone had found the procedure for establishing a guild. The basic procedure was the same in the four islands with some differences. Mainly, it required buying/renting an office or registering a ship to make a guild. Furthermore there was a registering charge. And then an annual fee. For Ilmentia the registering charge was 300 gold. And the yearly fee was 50 gold. The cheapest was Dalmund with a charge of 250 gold and yearly fee of 45 gold.

'Making and maintaining a guild will be expensive in the beginning. But players will be able to exchange money. It would still be a little difficult for smaller size guilds.' Not by that much though. Once you started sailing, even measly jobs paid a lot. Ofcourse, buying a ship was still expensive requiring thousands of gold. Renting an office was cheaper but it required you to have a steady income. Buying an office space was the most feasible choice, but space was limited. There would be too much competition for a few measly spaces.

'Enough to guarantee PK.' As he had recently realized, there were no safe areas in Long Island. NPCs had the right to designate safe areas, so their homes, work places and even ships could be considered safe. But the rest was not a safe area. There might be penalties and guards might punish you if you turn a player killer inside a village or city, but the killing itself was not prohibited. Also npc's could change their safe zones to unsafe zones.

In the duel against Von Gult, it was only the interference of Lady Altia which had prevented death. 'Will the penalties apply if you die like this? Could players also dictate safe zones in their owned buildings or ships or areas?' Theoretically, it seemed like it could allow a lot of abuse. 'Wonder how the game system would act against such kind of abuse or rather would it?'

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Not that Raka had a right to complain. He was also testing the system limits. If he ever got caught he could not imagine what would happen to him. 'Let's just assume it's part of the 18+ gaming experience..' Atleast he would not be around when that happened, if that happened. And as long as he kept a tight lip, it would never happen.

Ever felt guilty about eating that extra cookie?

"Character Window"

Character NameRakaRaceHumanAlignmentIlmentia Island: GoodFame50Age15Life150Mana75Strength29(+5)Agility19(+6)Vitality10(+5)Intelligence35Focus20(+5)Perception6(+5)Endurance75Stamina55(+3)Sensitivity1

[p=center]Titles[/p]

Graduate of Magic Lvl 1 : Focus +5, Perception +5, Agility +3

Spirit of Warrior Lvl 1 : Strength +5, Vitality +5, Stamina +3

Shipwright Commission - Basic

[p=center]Equipment effects[/p]

+10% movement speed, +3 Agility

[p=center]Skills[/p]

Accounting - Beginner Lvl 9 - 75%

Bonding - Beginner Lvl 7 - 62%

Cooking - Beginner Lvl 8 - 2%

Dance of the Fighter - Beginner Lvl 5 - 35%

Estimation - Beginner Lvl 4 - 92%

Flute Music - Beginner Lvl 5 - 15%

Format - Beginner Lvl 6 - 34%

Formula - Beginner Lvl 5 - 2%

Identification - Beginner Lvl 5 - 6%

Magic - Beginner Lvl 11 - 9%

Mapping - Beginner Lvl 1 - 1%

Map Reading - Beginner Lvl 1 - 1%

Massage - Beginner Lvl 9 - 45%

Peek - Beginner Lvl 2 - 23%

Spell Writing - Beginner Lvl 8 - 12%

Woodworking - Beginner Lvl 3 - 42%

*Tables are tentative and subject to change in the future.

Fellon village was only about a day's walk from Thelmova. But Raka was in no hurry. The weather was pretty good in the game too. And for a change he was travelling with companions. He stared at the monkey and parrot who were screeching and yelling.

"Quiet down you two. You wanted to come along with me, so don't make a fuss now."

"Sir Raka, this addlebrained creature does not realize how difficult a journey I have undergone. He complains that his journey was much worse but I don't see how. All he did was mutiny against the captain and get marooned. The island was even lush green and full of food. But I got lost over the sea. I flapped my wings with all my might, full of hunger and thirst. And nowhere to take a break. Finally, I found a ship but the people captured me. Ah I still remember the pain...my soul shudders..." The parrot said.

"Don't sing. Guess it's time for lunch. Let's go catch some food."

The parrot and the monkey immediately ran off towards the woods.

'Guess I should catch my own food. It's been a while..'

Raka entered deep into the forest. Here and there were a couple of rabbits but Raka was not interested in them. He stealthily made his way deeper. Much deeper.

Among the animals and bugs found in the forest were Stags. Highly elusive creatures, they were really fast and very deadly. Some one had said that the probability of coming across a Stag was 1%. To actually kill it was like 0.01%. But the meat......ooh was a dish from the dreams. It became big news when a player sold off the Stag's meat for a few gold per stone in Gurrow. In fact, a visiting noble had bought the rest of the meat at an exorbitant price and then invited the player to dinner.

'Would there be a better way to impress Guran!' It was said that a person from the island was considered lucky if he ever got a chance to eat such meat even once in his life. Alas you did not encounter it just by wishing for it. You had to endure, be patient and most of all be silent. Qualities which Raka lacked at the moment.

After searching for a long time and really deep in the forest, he finally found a Toughnut Boar. The next best thing after a Stag. Boars had really thick skin. Armor like skin which could even stop an axe.

Raka looked, peering between the leaves, as he watched the boar move. He had to be careful. The slightest mistake now would result in his death. Or worse, the boar running away.

He silently pulled out a stone from his bag and launched it.

"Switch," he whispered, and the stone turned sharply and hit the boar from the behind.

'Ooh it sure looks pissed now.' He pulled out another stone and hit the boar again from behind.

The boar started fidgeting now. It must have felt like a fly sting but atleast it was annoyed enough and turned around.

'One more...' And another stone hit, this time on it's head. The boar charged towards the unseen enemy.

Smash! It hit a tree head on, shaking everything and blowing leaves all around. Raka hit it again but from a different direction. The boar charged again and smashed into another tree. It felt like an earthquake. The boar shook it's head.

'Yes...it is stunned.' Raka ran full speed and attacked. He put his staff underneath it and released his air magic. The boar was lifted upwards and thrown sideways. It landed on it's back with it's feet still in the air.

"Fireball! Fireball!" Two spell scrolls immediately targetted the boar's now exposed underside. Two windows surged up with damage numbers but Raka was too busy running away to look at them. He ran straight towards a tree. The boar stood up and angrily followed.

Just before the boar reached, Raka launched himself up and the boar went smashing straight into the tree.

'Again...' Raka landed and went into action. Upturn the boar and fire as many fireball scrolls he could manage at the exposed underside.

'Shit! How much Life does it have?' Raka ran again as the boar charged.

"Earth shock" he yelled jumping aside. The sudden shaking interfered with the boar's charge and it smashed into the tree again. Raka slipped his hands under it and "Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!...." He kept pulling out scrolls but the boar still didn't show signs of dying. Raka ran again. 'I could have barbecued it in so much fire!'

The cat and mouse game continued for the next 5 minutes but finally the boar collapsed. Raka feared looking at it's underside. It was charred as charcoal. Raka quickly closed his eyes and started embedding his staff again.

Earth magic has been embedded. Damage increases by 18. Durability increases by 100.

This was still a forest. And although he had managed to not draw blood, it did not mean other animals won't be attracted to the smell of smoked meat.

Soon enough a pack of wolves appeared. 'Come on!' Raka smiled.

Raka stood huffing and puffing as he held on to his staff for support. This was way worse than before. Maybe he was deeper into the forest but he had managed to attract far more animals. Rabbits, wolves even armadillos. But the worst were the bugs. Bee like bugs with stings as large as a man's finger. He had never encountered these bugs before and each sting cost him 5 to 10 Life.

'Is it due to the area?'

Thankfully, it was not like an entire hive attack and he had lots of air and fire scrolls but it was still difficult. The moment he got distracted, one of the animals would take a piece of him. What probably helped him was his increased damage. His magic skill had reached Beginner level 11. In other games, that would have reached an Intermediate level.

After catching his breath, Raka started dismantling the animals. The armadillos and bugs he kept as it is in his bag. But the problem was the boar. With a size larger than Raka himself, it weighed a ton. When Raka tried to put it in,

Item will exceed Bag weight limit. It cannot be put in.

Raka sighed. Another thing which had never happened before. Atleast this was expected. He did not even try to dismantle the boar. With it's tough hide, he doubted his weak hunting knife would cut it. 'Why did I want to kill this boar again?'

Raka cut down some thin branches and found some vines to tie them together. Then he dragged the boar on them. 'Dragging it through the forest will be a pain!' And in more ways than one. Now he couldn't avoid other animals. He pulled but it didn't move. "Come on....aaaahhh! Move!"

Your actions increase your strength. Strength increases by 1.

It took almost a couple of hours to get back on the road. Dragging a one ton animal through the rough forest floor is no joke. Especially if you get stopped by animals intending to kill you. Raka did not even care pulling out his staff. Burn them to death had become his new motto.

"Huff huff huff...hah haah..." Raka slammed the road as soon as he reached it.

"Ooh As expected from Sir Raka. You brought such a magnificent animal for food. Let's cook it!" squaked the parrot.

"Nobby, shut your mouth or I will never cook for you again."

So a journey which should have taken one day...well, it ended sometime. Let's just leave it at that.

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Fellon was a really small village. Raka counted like 10 houses in total. There were no guard posts either.

Raka dragged his wild beast into the middle of the village. People came out of their houses looking at this strange sight.

"Hello, my name is Raka!" Raka shouted. "I brought this fine beast as a gift to Guran and the people of the village. Could someone direct me to Guran please?"

Immediately a flurry of activity broke as people approached looking at the massive boar. It would be a feast tonight. But first,

"Hello stranger. My name is Guran. What's your business with this old man?" A man stepped forward. He had long white hair on his head and many wrinkles on his skin indicative of his long years. His tanned skin stood as proof to his long years in the sun. Even then his muscles were taut and his build was strong. His eyes still carried the sharpness and his hands the steadiness of youth.

"Greetings. My name is Raka. I was referred to you by the Queen. She asked me to contact you to take the test for fisherman. Um I think she gave me a letter....here."

"Hmmm...I see." The man read the letter and nodded.

Talk to Guran complete.

"And that is supposed to be an offering is it?" He pointed to the beast.

"Um...she said I can only take the test if you like me. So...yeah." Raka smiled sheepishly.

"Hey Guran, is it really for the village?" Someone asked. He was younger but had the same taut muscles and tan.

"Seems so. I guess you better get someone to clean it and cook it." Guran replied.

"Um...I can cook a little bit. I can help." Raka offered.

"Hahahaha...that's nice. Atleast you got spunk boy. No one ever bought a boar to become a fisherman before." the someone answered. "Alright I am Farun. This is my wife Fawna. Hey you people, help us out, will ya!"

That night was a revelry. Even Raka played some music on his flute. It was not very good but atleast no one complained. Some people brought out some kind of drink. It tasted like coconut milk but a little sweeter. The party lasted all night. By the end people had fallen asleep where they sat. Some time in the night Guran had disappeared. Raka logged out.

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The next time he logged in, it was around midday in the village. He looked around but couldn't see anyone. He knocked on a door. A woman opened.

"Hi, could you point me to Guran's place?" He asked. The woman remembered him from last night and pointed him to a house.

Raka knocked.

"Ah you are here. Come in..sit down. So tell me why do you want to become a fisherman?"

"Sir, it is a necessary skill for a man to survive in the sea. Also, I heard that fishermen get support to build or buy their own ship. I want to eventually go travelling in my own ship." Raka replied.

"Seems like you have thought it through. Did someone tell you that becoming a fisherman is not that easy?"

"Yes sir. The Queen warned me that I can only become one if the Sea Gods like me."

"And I suppose you know about them?" Guran asked.

"No sir."

"Thought so. Well there is no point in my explaining about them. Let's just get you to meet one." And Guran stood up. He picked up some stuff and headed to the door. "Come with me."

A few minutes from the Fellon village was a wide beach. Boats were parked in a place before the sand began, far from the water line. Raka saw small ships being tied to a smallish jetty which extended out to sea. The beach itself was part of a cove. With a rock outcropping allowing only a small access to open sea, it acted as a natural barrier to storms and high waves.

They headed to a small ship, probably designed to take 5 people at the utmost, Raka guessed.

"Can you sail?" Guran asked.

"Um..no." Raka replied sheepishly.

"Alright then, follow my commands to a 't' when you are aboard. Understood."

"Yes sir!"

"Good then. Take the paddle and row."

Raka and Guran rowed their ship out of the cove. Once they were clear, Guran opened the sails and it caught the wind and lurched ahead. He manipulated the sails a little and the ship relaxed back onto the water. Now it sailed true.

"Do you know how our ancestors came upon magic?" Guran suddenly asked.

"Um...I guess they just discovered it one day?"

"No. They discovered it because they saw magic being used. Long before our ancestors discovered magic, creatures of this world used it. Even before our ancestors, magic was there." Guran paused. Raka waited for him to continue but he stayed silent. It wasn't something Raka didn't know though.

They sailed for quite a while. The land had started shrinking. Raka could not distinguish the cove anymore. Some more and he would not see the land on the horizon anymore. Just then they stopped. Guran pulled down the sails.

He got some equipment out from the hold.

"Here, this is a dive helmet. I will pump in air from the ship through this connected pipe so you will be able to breathe underwater." Guran said.

"Ok. So we will be going underwater then?"

"No, only you are. And there you will meet the Sea God. After that you are on you own."

"Ookayy. So much for instructions. What do I do when I meet this God?" Raka asked.

"You can do whatever you want. If you live, come back up. If you die well, I guess Goddess's children don't really die. In that case make your own way to wherever you want. If the Sea God doesn't like you, there is no chance for you to become a fisherman." Saying which Guran put the helmet on Raka's head.

Dive helmets are kinda constricting. 'Guess they have to be.' Guran started pumping air and then signalled for him to go.

'Alright, here goes nothing!'