"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

-Lao Tsu

****

God's Nature, Augustus had heard a lot about the game, especially from his sisters. If you were to listen to them talk about it, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Though they tried not to talk about it in front of him, he could often hear them discussing it among themselves.

In fact, it was hard not to overhear them because they got so animated and into the discussion that often he could see them gesticulating wildly, curiosity would naturally lead him to try and see what they were talking about so energetically. From what he had gathered, they thought the game was fantastic and enjoyable that if they could, they would spend the rest of their lives only playing it.

Apparently, the game was an entirely new world with fantastic sites, dangerous adventures, and amazing experiences. So when logged into God's Nature, he was a bit underwhelmed. The transition from the darkness of the helmet he was wearing while lying in his hospital bed to the room in which he now stood was instantaneous. He had barely had time to say the voice activation command when the curious sensation of weightlessness enveloped him before gravity immediately returned.

The room was dull, excessively so, only three by three meters, flat brown floors and walls, no windows or doors, in fact, the only thing in the room apart from himself was a brown chair. Walking towards the seat, detecting that something felt off with this body, it wasn't responding as usual to the commands, and the sense of balance seemed slightly off. Augustus noticed right away what was wrong: it wasn't the natural state of his body!

Usually, when people play God's Nature, they use full-bodied capsules. The capsules scan their body to an exact degree, categorizing everything from their muscles, to their eyes, even the length of their fingers. This was all done for their virtual avatar's body to be the exact same as their real one. Just the difference in the height of only an inch or a slight change in the length of a person's arm could create problems with balance that would cripple a player in a game where movement is essential.

His problem lay in the fact that because he was hospitalized, and couldn't move, let alone get into a capsule, he was currently using a specialized helmet instead. That meant, that while his face was his own, his body wasn't. The height was right, but the legs were a little too short and the arms a bit too long, it wasn't anything debilitating, but it was definitely noticeable. There is also the fact that it was like a puppet's body, smooth and without any musculature.

Deciding to ignore the problem, for now, he took his seat in the chair. Almost immediately, tinkling bells could be heard.

Welcome to God's Nature, this is the character creation section. Here you will decide your character's name, your character's Nature, and its starting location. All these decisions will have permanent effects on your journey throughout the game, so please choose wisely and take the time to consider every option. If you have any questions, please ask them before we begin.

The voice was disembodied, with no particular point of origin and it reverberated around the room. It was also genderless; Augustus was unable to tell whether it was male or female. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, he didn't hesitate to ask all the questions he had.

"Who are you?"

You may call me the overseer, I am here to observe and maintain God's Nature.

"What does "characters nature," mean exactly?"

The characters' Nature is as it sounds. The Nature of the character!

"What does that mean?"

When creating your avatar, you will first be asked to create a name for your nature. It can be anything, be it warrior, soldier, God, worm or even an object such as table or cloud, it could be a concept or color such as purple or life. There is really no limit to what you can name your nature. After choosing a name, you will be asked to give a description of your Nature. Please be advised that the description of your Nature is what is really important. You can have two people with the same soldier Nature but with wildly different stories that affect the gameplay. The description of Natures affects your character progression, the options available, your fundamental Skills, even the way you level up. For this reason, the description of your Nature is the single most crucial part of creating your avatar. When creating the description of your Nature, please think carefully about what you intend to do in the game and how you want to play. If you have Nature named soldier for example but want to use swords while playing rather than spears, you will naturally mention swords in your description rather than any other weapon. If you did so that wouldn't mean you can only use swords, it would merely say that it would be easier to use swords and to advance sword skills. You could still use a spear if you wanted to but you wouldn't progress as well as if you are using a sword. Please take note that all avatars can theoretically learn every skill, but a person's nature affects how quickly you can progress individual Skills and whether you can get the most out of them.

That was undoubtedly a substantial chunk of information, but it was still imperative. The fact the Natures were so crucial to the game and that Augustus had no idea what Nature he wanted to pick, leave alone the description, worried him slightly. Deciding to ignore it, for now, asked the few remaining questions he had.

"I am currently using the helmet model, so this body isn't my own. Is there any way for me to use my own body?"

Without using the capsule to scan the body, there is no way to import it into the game. However, this pre-rendered body will develop as you use it in the game, if you overeat without exercising it will become obese, but if you exercise regularly with it, it will strengthen muscles. In God's Nature, there are unlimited opportunities, some will allow you to change your body as you please, even the option to become another race. Because your initial avatar will be the exact same as the real body, even if you change height, width or girth, there will be no discomfort when returning to your body in real life.

"Are there any character customization options available?"

A character can only be changed while playing the game. Opportunities for genetic and cosmetic changes are all available in God's Nature but must first be discovered.

Well, that was one less problem to worry about though there should be some initial discomfort using this pre-rendered body at first it probably wouldn't be an issue in the long-term.

Are there any more questions?

"Yes, what initial spawning locations are available?"

The original starting position when the game launched was Selwe Castle. Since the game has started it is still in the Pioneer age, only major cities, keeps, and castles are safe enough to be chosen as initial spawn locations. Apart from Selwe Castle on the East Coast, there is also Minas Cassu, also on the East Coast. On the West Coast, there is only Sarra Keep. These are the only three initial spawn locations available at the moment, as more and more areas are discovered, and the frontier expands smaller towns will become available as well as new cities.

"Can two people have the same name for their avatars?"

Yes, two people can have the same name, but to avoid complications if you want to register someone as your contact using the game system, you must be face to face when registering.

So that meant that even if he knew his sisters' avatar's names, he wouldn't be able to contact them until they met him face-to-face in the game. That was a bit of a complication, from what he had heard from his sisters the game was massive, and the chance of meeting them randomly was small. If only he knew where they were in the game and how close they were to the starting locations, he would know which one to choose.

He guessed that they were pretty highly leveled and advanced in the game because they had been playing it since it a few days after its launch. That meant that they were probably pretty far from their initial spawn location. That ruled out Selwe Castle, Minas Cassu was also on the East Coast, which said it was perhaps the first major city to be discovered rather than Sarra Keep, which was on the West Coast and was probably further away. So, if he wanted that the best chance of meeting his sisters in the game, his best bet would probably be to choose Sarra Keep.

His initial spawn location having been selected, even if he didn't mention it to the disembodied voice, all that was left to do was to choose his character's name and nature. The name could be anything, so he wasn't worried about that. The problem was that he was facing a significant dilemma when choosing his Nature.

It was simple fact that he had initially not intended to play this game until his sisters had graduated from a university if he ever decided to play it at all. Between working two jobs, one of which went on for far longer than the average position, helping his sisters with their homework and cooking for them, he had very little time to play games. Most of his leisure time was spent reading and studying for his equivalency exams.

He didn't regret any of it; in fact, he rather enjoyed the way his life was progressing. Any difficulties he had now were outweighed by the fact that he was helping his sisters and that with humans' natural lifespan being what it is these days, a couple years of demanding work meant nothing compared to the future he was providing for his remaining family.

That still left him with a problem; the accident had taken him by surprise, the opportunity to play the game even more so, meaning he had no actual plans. If he knew this was going to happen, or if he knew anything about the game in general before he played, Augustus would have asked about which Nature and description he should choose. As it stood, he would just have to wing it.

Because Natures were so essential to gameplay, he had to think about what he wanted out of the game. Because he never actually played games before he didn't really know what play style he would enjoy. So he would have to choose a nature with a broad description rather than a specified one. What if he picked a warrior character and eventually decided that he liked magic instead?

"If I don't like my avatar, can I restart and create a new one?" He asked.

You may only create a new character once three months in real life have passed since you created your last character. You may only have one avatar at any given time.

That ruled out a vast majority of options, it at least meant he shouldn't choose a specialized one, helping him a little. That still left him bereft of an idea on what would allow him the highest degree of freedom later down the line. What he really needed was a nature that would enable evolution into whichever path he felt most comfortable with after he had a little more experience with the game.

…Evolution?

An idea struck him at that moment, an insane one to be sure, but his gut was telling him it might work out really well. The problem was that he often ignored his instinctual inclination in favor of a more logical course of action and only when the two coincided would he listen to the former.

Still, his rational mind wasn't pointing out any problems with the idea, and besides, maybe he was thinking a bit too hard about it; it was a game after all. Nodding to himself, he decided to follow his gut for once, but how to word it?

Are you ready to create your character or are there any more questions?

"I am ready."

Please name your Nature.

He thought for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders slightly and choosing the first one that popped into his head that he felt was appropriate.

"The Beast!"

Please provide a description of your Nature.

"Technology has advanced to an unprecedented degree." He began slowly, a bit unsure, but the words eventually flowed from his mouth easily as he got more into it. "Even space, the final frontier, slowly but steadily fell before the unstoppable advance of humanity's creations. But humanity itself has forgotten its origins, that of beasts. It is the nature of animals to evolve and adapt to face life's tribulations, but humanity has decided to modify the environment rather than themselves. Thus they do not grow! The Nature of The Beast is one that continues to grow in every situation, to evolve as one faces insurmountable odds."

A small keyboard appeared in front of him as he sat on the chair; it was see-through and hovered in front of him at an easily accessible angle.

Please write your character's name.

Deciding to go with the theme he had set, he paused in thought, then typed: ‘Nrvn Qsr.'

How do you wish your name to be pronounced?

"Nero Kaesar!"

Ding! Nrvn Qsr The Beast Technology has advanced to an unprecedented degree. Even space, the final frontier, slowly but steadily fell before the unstoppable advance of humanity's creations. But humanity itself has forgotten its origins, that of beasts. It is the nature of animals to evolve and adapt to face life's tribulations, but humanity has decided to modify the environment rather than themselves. Thus they do not grow! The Nature of The Beast is one that continues to grow in every situation, to evolve as one faces insurmountable odds. Would you like to create this avatar? Yes/No

Taking a moment to look at the description, making sure everything was in place he nodded to himself in satisfaction.

"Yes."

Your avatar, Nrvn Qsr, has been created. Please choose a starting location: Selwe Castle, Minas Cassu or Sarra Keep.

"Sarra keep."

Welcome to the world without limits!

With those final words, Nero felt a brief sensation of dislocation and then he was gone from the room.

******

Theoretically, he knew that the body he was using was false, merely a construct of data created to form an avatar resembling a human. This meant that a lot could be done with it that would usually be impossible for a real life, physical body.

Though he knew it intellectually, that didn't mean that when he went from sitting in an enclosed brown room to standing in a plaza of a rather large town, it wasn't discombobulating.

Taking a moment to reorient himself, he looked around to ascertain in what situation he found himself. The environment was something he had expected to some degree: the typical medieval town. Wood buildings surrounded the plaza, none taller than two stories, most having only one floor. The exception being a rather large cathedral made of stone that overlooked the area.

He was standing in some sort of plaza, people coming and going, merchants hawking their wares and groups of people, he guessed to be fellow players, milling about and getting ready before heading down a far lane. There were also armored figures, which he imagined to be some sort of guard, here and there keeping a lookout for trouble. A constant noise surrounded the area, the low hum that was always present in populated areas.

The ground was surprisingly well paved, even the alleyways he caught glimpses of. If anyone knew anything about medieval times, they would know that more often than not, roads were horrible even in the most prominent capitals, with a few exceptions. Contrary to what he had been expecting when he heard that this game was set in a medieval fantasy, things were much better than the image he had in his mind.

As a somewhat minor amateur historian himself, mainly before modern time, Nero knew that the somewhat romanticized view that most people had about medieval Europe was false. Before indoor plumbing, people couldn't and didn't actually bathe regularly, except for the highest of classes, and would leave their garbage and refuse on the street, making every village and city smell incredibly horrible to the modern man who wasn't used to it.

The people themselves would also be horribly unattractive to the modern eye, never having brushed teeth meant that most would be without a full set and those that were present would be yellow and ugly. Their clothing, except for the wealthy, was often little more than sacks and the occasional leather that was poorly treated.

None of that was present here.

There was no garbage, no bad smell, the clothing was, while simple, well maintained and somewhat stylized. The pedestrians were clearly hygienic, and the people who appeared to be players displayed no sense of culture shock that would typically arise from being in a society completely different from their own. All this created a slight touch of surrealism for the new player, his expectations being entirely different from what he was seeing.

As Nero stood there, two short sparkles of light appeared in the corner of his eye. Turning to see what it was, Nero noticed two men by his side that weren't there a minute ago. They both wore the same brown shirt, pants, and boots, the same clothes he was wearing, now that he noticed, and were looking around the plaza as he had done before.

Fellow starters, Kaesar deduced. He also noticed that their appearance barely attracted a glance from the people around, much like his own. He guessed that new players started all the time and their presence was so characteristic that they didn't attract any attention.

Unlike Kaesar however, they didn't take the time to look around. Instead, they seemed to each other, said something he couldn't hear and started moving through the crowd, not sparing a single glance to him as they walked with purpose.

He guessed that it was possible these two had played before and had created new characters, so nothing would be unique to them. That was somewhat unlikely however as a person could only have one aspect at a time and could just delete their current one after three months in real life, which was equivalent to fifteen months in the game. That was a lot of time wasted.

More likely was they had been told more about the game, maybe they had watched videos of people playing it or had friends tell them what to expect.

Shaking his head lightly, having gotten lost in his thoughts, Kaesar decided to get a look around, he was probably going to spend a decent amount of time in Gods' Nature as he fully healed, so it was best to get used to it quickly.

He started ambling down one of the different roads that connected to the plaza, both to take in the scenery and because he wasn't yet used to the avatar's body. Having no real destination in mind, he wandered aimlessly for a few minutes, taking random turns through the occasional alley or street to take note of the places around him. He absentmindedly avoided running into anyone in the bustling city, not actually giving anything his full attention as pondered what he had already noticed.

Much like the plaza he had appeared in every street was well paved, almost alarmingly so, even the small back alleys between building had a smooth layer of cobblestone. Maybe it had merely been programmed that way, but a part of him couldn't help but criticize the game in his mind.

One of the few things he had heard about Gods' Nature from his sisters was the overwhelming sense of realism the game featured. While it certainly felt like he was in a place in the real world, his body detected no differences at all, these cobblestone streets were destroying his sense of realism!

Kaesar paused in thought for a moment as a thought flittered through his mind.

Was he weird?

Was he getting too hung up on the inconsistencies that he was missing the point?

The other two new players he had seen hadn't given the scenery a second glance except for that first wondrous sight. Instead, they had dived right into the world with no thought on how accurate it was in comparison to reality.

Was he going to this all wrong?

Granted, he had never planned on playing Gods' Nature, at least not for another few years at least and he didn't have any real experience when it came to gaming in general, so it wasn't really his fault that he was a bit discombobulated when he first started.

Deciding that he would stop overthinking things for now and only try to enjoy the time he had with the game, he started walking again.

His decision lasted for all of one minute before another thought crossed his mind.

Kaesar knew there would be magic in the game, one of the few things he had picked up from overhearing conversations. So, was it possible that magic was responsible for the discrepancies he had noticed between the game and real life medieval times?

What was the effect that magic would have on the development of society?

Was there magic to pave roads, or at least make the process easier?

Was there magic or magic items that could duplicate indoor plumbing? If so, that would solve the hygiene issue that the commoners usually faced in medieval times.

Could magic aid in raising crops and animals? Out of all uses for magic, apart from warfare, this was the most likely to exist. The first thing people focused on was their necessities, so having magical aid with food, water and shelter were very possible.

But all this would mean that everybody would have to be able to use magic for it to be widespread. Could everybody in this game use magic? If so or if not, what would be the ramifications on a society that contained magic?

Would magicians be despised? Or would they be venerated?

Just as Kaesar was thinking about the potential social ramifications of a society based on magic and its possible alterations to a given culture, he noticed that he had wandered out into another wide-open area.

Much like the plaza in which he had initially appeared, this one was also very busy, although for different reasons. It was wide open with no significant buildings around to block the view of the surrounding city.

Only now did Kaesar noticed that the town he was in was centered around a large hill, almost a small mountain, with his current location being about halfway up the hill on a sort of platform like structure that kept the plaza flat. A broad road paved the way straight through the area, from the crest of the hill all the way down to the bottom, where the city ended with another massive wall that surrounded the city.

Up on top of the hill, he could make out the stone ramparts of a fort, looking like the walls of a castle in medieval Europe. With an uninterrupted view he also briefly noticed that every building, from the bottom of the hill to its top, had slanted roofs with two platforms on them as places to stand that sometimes contained chairs or other such places to sit.

The city was built in such a way that from the lowest house to the keep at the top of the hill had an uninterrupted view from the roof of the houses below them and that from the castle on the mountain, one could look out in a perfect three-hundred-and-sixty-degree angle to see everything in the city.

All this was briefly noted and discarded by Kaesar as he took in the image around him.

Since he had started playing, there had been no real sense that he was playing a game at all. Indeed, the buildings were different from the glass and steel ones he saw regularly, and the people's fashion and clothes were different as well, but there had been nothing that had given him a sense that he was in a game world. There had been nothing that seemed too odd that he couldn't merely picture it happening at a convention or fair that occasionally took place in cities in real life. The closest thing to the fantastic he had seen so far was his teleportation from his room to the starting location and that had been barely noticeable at all.

But this?

This image screamed ‘FANTASY'!

"Become a Halfling, boosts to sneaking and dexterity! Thieves and Assassins welcome! Eventual possibilities to advance to dwarf races and other races. Perfect for craft classes and merchants!"

A short humanoid and bearded man yelled across the square from his position behind a large booth. A line of people stood in front of it before they would eventually talk to one of the other people manning the booth.

"Be reborn as a Half-Elf! Racial bonuses to dexterity and spirit as well as many elven racial advancement opportunities! High-Elves, Dark-Elves, Wood-Elves, you name them, and you will eventually be able to become one!"

A beautiful and statuesque woman stood on a podium in another part of the plaza, a large number of people milling around her as they waited for their turn to sign up. Her most striking features included golden blond hair, emerald green eyes, and long delicate, pointed ears.

"Please become a Beast-Man! Perfect for all classes! Want to be a part cat? Dog? Tiger? Crocodile? All possible if you join us!"

Another voice was heard, though not as loud as the first two, it still managed to reach Kaeser's ears. The voice came from a small black-haired pair. The young man and woman were both standing on a dais so they could be seen through throngs of people that surrounded them. Both had animal traits, the boy having canine ears and a bushy tail while the female had cat ears as well as a cat-like tail that moved behind her. For some inexplicable reason, she was also wearing a maid outfit.

"Fight as an Orc! Fast growth, high strength! The Horde needs more soldiers!"

Grunts came from a giant green muscular humanoid that didn't need a platform to stand on to be noticeable. Clad in heavy armor and standing at over ten and a half feet tall, it was easy to make out the rough appearance. With giant teeth that jutted out from the orcs lips and scars covering its face, the humanoid looked quite intimidating.

Feeling a brief sense of dissociation, Kaesar thought that he might be experiencing culture shock. He had, of course, read Tolkien's works and seen the movies, the good ones from the early two-thousands, not the worse remakes since. He had also read more than his fair share of fantasy novels and seen quite a few movies, though none recently, so he could put names to the races he saw. But seeing them in a movie or reading about them was completely different than seeing them in front of his face.

It must have been evident on his face as well because he heard a voice on his approaching him from behind.

"Yo! Newbie!" Turning his head to see a man looking at him and walking his way. Kaesar pointed to himself in a silent question. "Yeah, you. This your first time playing?"

Kaesar nodded silently, turning back to the surrounding area.

"You know what they're doing?" Asked the man as he walked up to stand next to our main character.

"Recruiting," Kaesar answered after a moment's pause.

"Yep," He replied readily. "You noticed that there was no character creation system in the intro?" It was more of a statement than a question, so Kaesar didn't respond.

"Initially that was a major factor in Gods' Nature to not have customization options available." Nero's new companion continued after a moment. "Many hardcore RPG fans almost went insane when they heard. It wasn't until about a month into the game that people discovered how the system works. You see, instead of choosing a race when you create your character, like almost everything in Gods' Nature race and appearance is decided by the choices and opportunities you find in the game itself.

There are ways to turn into individual races and gain their skills. For example, the elves have unique springs that they guard jealously that allow humans to transform into half-elves and further from there. To turn into an orc, you must kill a powerful monster and use its blood for a ritual. Beastmen and women have it easy, they just should pray to the beast Goddess and then choose a creature that is available.

There are benefits to changing races, you get unique skills and particular Stats get bonuses and grow more comfortable. Further evolution is always possible as well, the beast-men have a lot of flexibility in this area because there are so many variants of beasts they can become.

There are demerits too, your character starts to specialize with what your race does, and you lose a bit of flexibility there, so many people prefer to remain human because of their versatility. Also, unless it is a further evolution on the same path or unusual circumstances, there might be penalties if you trade races too frequently."

Here his companion paused for a second to make sure that Kaesar was still paying attention. He was, but Nero saw no point in interrupting somebody who was answering a variety of his questions.

"They are recruiting more people for their race because it will allow their race to become more powerful and if they contribute a lot to the group, they can get various rewards such as titles and possibly even an opportunity for evolution. You follow me?"

"I do, but why is that girl wearing a maid outfit." It had been bugging Nero for a while.

"It's a classic! Neko Maids are big no matter what age, so they play to the beast-men's favor to attract attention." He looked a bit put out having to explain something he saw as blatant.

"Neko? That's … Japanese, I think? So, is it like a cliché, something people come to expect with beast-men?" He had heard his sisters use the term once, but he didn't know what it meant.

"Yeah, it is the Japanese word for cat. The word for cliché, in this case, is a trope, some motif repeatedly used that it becomes common in media. We have Neko Maids here as well as the big breasted Onee-sama elf over there, the bearded dwarf and the Ugly Warrior Orc. All common to games and anime!" He was starting to look a little nonplussed at Nero's ignorance now.

"Onee-sama means older sister, right?" Far from being ashamed of his ignorance Kaesar only asked more questions.

"You don't play games a lot, do you?" At Kaesar's shake of the head, his companion sighed and seemed to deflate slightly. "Yeah, it means older sister but is often used as a term for a more matured beauty. Any other questions?"

"You mentioned statistics earlier, what are those?"

"Statistics? Oh, you mean Stats!" Sometimes ignorance can be even more confusing than excessive advanced knowledge. "Say Stats or Stat menu, and a blue screen should pop up."

Shrugging his shoulders at the odd command Kaesar did as he was told.

"Stats!"

Name Nrvn Qsr Level 1 Nature The Beast Alignment Neutral HP 100 MP 100 Str. 10 Dex. 10 Spirit 10 Skills -

The blue screen that appeared was small and see-through, not blocking the user's vision while still being readable.

As Nero looked it over, he could guess what a good part of it meant. EXP probably represented experience or experience points, and HP suggested health points or hit points. So much he had gathered from overhearing conversations. Similarly, MP likely expressed magic points or mana points, he had heard his sisters use either term a few times.

"What do S.T.R., Spirit, and D.E.X. mean?" He asked, he could guess, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Looking fairly resigned his companion answered; "Str. and Dex. stand for strength and dexterity. Strength governs how much power your avatar has, how much force you can exert when you punch and kick, how much you can lift, that kind of thing. Dexterity is basically how good your avatar can control its movements and its nimbleness. It allows people to be good at crafts, wield items, tools and such.

Spirit is basically your magic. Different from other games that had intelligence and wisdom as stats that controlled how much mana you could use, Gods' Nature only has the spirit stat. It is kind of interesting from a lore perspective, but that is neither here nor there right now. Are those the only stats you have right now?"

"Those, HP, MP, and Nature are the only ones on the screen. What does it mean by alignment?"

"That is probably one of the oldest systems in RPGs," He answered, looking a bit nostalgic as he did so. "The alignment system started in the old Dungeons and Dragons tabletop games. Think of alignment like a circle with a cross in the middle. The center is True Neutral. As you go up your alignment shifts from Neutral to Good and as it goes down it changes to Evil. On the left and right is Lawful and Chaotic respectively. You can have combinations of Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil and Neutral Good."

"What is your alignment?" Kaesar asked, feeling curious.

"Oh, sorry! I haven't introduced myself yet! I'm called Ludendorff, and I am a level 146 General." He thumped a fist to his chest, looking very proud.

"Is that good?" Unfortunately, his pride was wasted on this total newbie.

Ludendorff deflated, looking put out.

"Yes!" He almost shouted. "The highest level players are barely level 200. That makes me in the top fifteen percent of players. Hah, nevermind, you will only understand how hard it is to get to this level when you try to level up yourself."

Seeing his companion looking slightly defeated Kaesar decided to change the subject.

"What did you mean when you said you were a General?"

"That's my Nature, I specialize in leading people and in warfare. I get bonuses for charisma and leadership Stats when I am in control of a unit. I also get skills related to fighting on the frontline and commanding units."

Nero could see that. He seemed like a nice enough guy, not imposing and easy going but he was personable, and he appeared to be the type of guy who could get along with anybody. He wasn't awe-inspiring general, he seemed to be somebody who fought and bled with his troops as an example for them to live up to. Which led to his next question.

"So what is a high-level general doing recruiting new players?"

Ludendorff looked surprised for a moment before he looked Kaesar over once more. ‘He might be a total newbie, but this guy is sharp.' The player re-evaluated his opinion on his new companion.

"Caught on to that did you?" The question was rhetorical, so Kaesar saw no reason to answer. "What gave it away."

Shrugging in response, Nero answered; "The area is close to the spawn location and factions obviously get a boost from bringing in new blood. Other than that, you approached me rather quickly when I looked even the slightest bit confused."

"You're good! What's your name?"

"Nero," he decided to go with the most straightforward name.

"Normally I'm not part of the recruiting force," Ludendorff started to explain. "But I was in town to stock up for my unit. The boss likes to have high-level players help with getting customers or recruits. Makes ‘em feel important you see."

It made sense, people liked to feel at and sparing a few people for a few days likely wouldn't have too much of an impact. The returns that they would get would probably make up for the time spent as higher level players would probably know what to look for better than lower ones. This all depended on the fact that the group didn't have a dedicated recruiting force, however.

"So, who are you with?"

"I'm part of The Bank!" There was that pride again, though this time it was tempered by the knowledge that his companion likely didn't know what he was talking about.

"A bank?" Case in point. "What does a bank need a general for, unless you are part of security?"

"Not a bank, The Bank! The only bank, or at least the only bank that matters."

"So it is a faction then? Or a business?"

"A bit of both really," the General shrugged. "It has to make money of course, and it provides services to its customers, but it also has a dedicated force."

"What kind of services?"

"Like a regular bank, we hold items and money for people for a small fee. Customers also get access to purchase the creations of the boss, those are some handy things, they also get to auction off their own goods to other clients of The Bank. Apart from that, all the customers have to do is sign a contract saying that if they want to auction stuff they have to do it through The Bank. As long as they do that, then they can deposit and withdraw their items and money from any the major branches we have in the starting cities. They can also remove a certain amount of minor offices we have built-in smaller frontier towns."

"Sounds handy," though not too useful for Kaesar at the moment.

"It really is, you have no idea the size of this game, so the ability to move items and money to far distances is beneficial. So you interested in becoming a customer?"

"Not at the moment, thank you." The simple fact was the Nero had no money or items. He also wasn't planning on leaving the city until he met his sisters.

"You sure? There is a reason The Bank is the second largest player faction at the moment, we also estimate that at least three-quarters of all players are customers. It is just too useful not to use."

"I'm good, maybe some other time."

"Tell you what, The Bank has a beginner program. It basically walks you through the early stages of the game, telling you about the world, how to survive and level up. It very useful for people who don't know much about gaming."

"No thank you, though I might change my mind later." The simple fact was that Kaesar didn't know Ludendorff very well, he didn't recognize The Bank or its reputation. For all he knew, The Bank could be a front used to exploit players with no experience. After all, his information came from a source that was obviously biased in its favor. He might become a client later after he heard from his sisters but for now, Nero wasn't going to do something impulsive when he had no information.

"Alright, but if you change your mind contact me and I should be able to get you in touch with some people." At the end of the day, Nero was a total newbie, sharp but still woefully underequipped to deal with Gods' Nature. If he had been a high-rank player, then Ludendorff might have made more effort, but such a beginner was just not worth his time.

Player Ludendorff wants to be friends Yes/No

Clicking yes, Nero turned to his partner and asked his companion one final question.

"So how do I use these menu things?"

The General's palm meeting forehead was oddly satisfying.

******

He was now seated on a bench in a park.

This area of the hill on which the city was based was relatively flat, which was likely the reason for making a recreational space out of it. Though it seemed kind of deserted, in the twenty or so minutes of sitting down, not one person had passed this way.

Nero was toying with the menu, trying to get a feel for it and how it worked.

Status Skills Options Network Logout

From what Kaesar learned from Ludendorff, clicking or saying status would bring home to his stat page once more. Clicking on skills would bring out a different menu, one that was blank at the moment but would eventually show all the skills that he would learn.

That had prompted Kaesar to ask what skills were. The suffering sigh that escaped the General's mouth was delicious.

Skills were essentially the techniques that could be learned divided into passive and active Skills. An active ability was like learning to cast a spell, it had to be consciously activated, and its level increased with practice. Passive Skills, on the other hand, are always active, unless they are deliberately turned off, something like learning the swordsmanship skill. Rather than providing visible effects, they enhanced necessary abilities or provided benefits that went unseen.

The Options button led to a new menu where the player could set their preferences on how they would like to adjust the game settings. They could change things like their senses, smell, touch and on, as well as how much pain they wanted to feel. The minimum pain setting was 5% which was the default, and it could go all the way up to 75%.

Players could also adjust their image of the game, this meant that they could change how they perceived the world around themselves. There were four settings, all purely cosmetic, horrific, realistic, animated and cartoonish. By default, all players start with the of image configuration. Children, on the other hand, are locked onto the cartoonish setting till they are fourteen. They can use the animated environment at that age and then the realistic setting at sixteen. A person can only go into the horrific background once they are at least eighteen because it is exceptionally visceral and the smell in combat can be horrible.

The Options menu was also where players can adjust their privacy setting and message friends.

The Network option was everything that connected to the internet outside of the game. Players could go to any website, use social media and email their friends.

Deciding that he understood enough, Nero clicked the network button, traveled to the site he needed and made the calls that should have been done when he first connected.

Two windows opened in front of his face, both gray for a moment before they were picked up at once.

""GUS!"

He winced a little at the volume. It was to be expected, however, the last time they had seen him, Nero had been laying down, paralyzed, in a hospital bed. Unable to move, let alone play a game.

"Hey girls, it's good to be able to talk to you again." And it was, he could see them every day, but Augustus was unable to speak with them, unable to ask them about their day or help them with their homework. It had been weeks since they had last sat down to dinner and just talked like they were used to.

"You're playing Gods' Nature?" Nico asked she was always the more perspective of the two.

"Yes, I just created my character." No need to tell them that he had created it a few hours ago.

"Is that alright? Can you even use the capsules?" His other sister Maude asked in turn.

"It's fine, I'm using a specialized helmet that allows me to play without problems." He tried to wave off their worries.

"How did the hospital have something like that laying around?" Augustus grimaced, he had been hoping that Nico wouldn't pick up on that.

"They didn't! Turns out that the creator of Gods' Nature is Sophia's uncle." As he expected as soon as they heard the name his sisters grimaced, their faces darkening. "He came to see me and told me he felt thankful for what I had done and decided to let me use one of their prototypes to play."

"But still, if it hadn't been for that woman in the first place you wouldn't have needed the helmet in the first instance." It was quite rare for him to see Maude so contrary, she usually was the gentlest of souls.

"You both know it wasn't her fault. We both did what we thought was best considering the circumstances it could be far worse.

"But-"

"No buts, Sophia has helped us a lot over the years, and the current situation was simply a case of wrong place and the wrong time. I do not want to hear about you two giving her a hard time at school, is that clear."

""Fine."" Though they looked none too happy about it, they reluctantly agreed.

"Good!" He hated being rough with them, but he would hate it even more if his only family started fighting with his only friend. "So what are the two of you doing now?"

"Just doing some small quests, nothing to worry about." Maude waved her brother's concerns away indifferently. "Where did you start at?"

"Sarra Keep, I figured that you two would be closer to here than Selwe Castle or Minas Cassu."

"Good, we need to go there anyway so we will meet you there as soon as we finish here. It will be a few weeks till we are done and then a few months before we can get there, however."

"Should I go to where you two are at? We can meet halfway."

""NO!"" They both shouted in unison before Nico continued. "What we mean is that the area is pretty high level and we can travel faster than you. Our best bet is to meet up at the keep. This game is so large that if you were to come in our direction, we would likely pass each other without even noticing."

"Alright, I'll wait here. What are your names?"

"We figured we would keep with the whole Roman name tradition of the family, so I chose Claudia." Answered Maude.

"And I'm Octavia."

While it was true that his name was Augustus and his father was called Seneca before he passed away, so the family did have a bit of a convention for Latin names. Because these two had been adopted after they were a few years old, they hadn't actually followed that tradition, but Kaesar really wished they had chosen two different Latin names.

"I chose Nero Kaesar." It took a moment, but after a second they realized the coincidence and blushed. They had chosen the names of the Emperor Nero's sister, who he had married.

"Anyway, we'll keep in contact but try and have some fun alright, treat this like a vacation or something. We'll come visit you tomorrow." Without a goodbye, Nico cut the connection.

"Bye, try and have some fun." And with that, the second sister cut her connection as well.

"Your faces were completely red." He chuckled to himself a little at their embarrassed expressions. "A vacation huh?" He murmured to himself as he got up from his bench to continue to explore the city.

*******

"A total coincidence, nothing more. Defiantly not fate or anything like that. No siree, hehe." Claudia lost herself in a bit of a daydream.

"Snap out of it Bitch, we're in the middle of something here, you can masturbate later you damn Bro-con!"

"What did you call me you Slut! Want to fight!"

"Later, right now we need to finish this fucking quest. If you mess us up, then I'm going spank you right here."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I would! Older sister privileges!"

"You're only older by less than an hour, you have no privileges!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do too!"

"Hah!" Octavia exclaimed triumphantly. "You agreed! As if I would fall for that."

"Damn, why do cartoons lie to me?"

"Uh, Ma'am?" A hesitant voice piped up beside the two siblings.

""WHAT!"" They rounded on the poor unfortunate player.

"Uh, well, um, monsters, you see, uh, the next wave is here Ma'am." The player barely managed to stutter out in the face of the two angry women.

"Ugh, fine I'll be right there." Turning with a look towards her sister with a look that said "This isn't over" Claudia waded into the battle, her massive scythe already turning a monster into minced meat.

"Whatever, hurry up, I want to hit level 220 by the end of the week." As she started to resume command of her automatons, Octavia received her response in the form of a fist with its middle finger raised in her directions.

If Nero were here, he would have been shocked to find his sisters, his darling, mild-mannered sisters, fighting like demons as they tore through their enemies with visceral joy. He would also be shocked to know that they enjoyed such a slaughter with the gameplay set to horrific.

As expected of a setting named after the horror genre, their faces remained red for the rest of the day, though their blushes had long since faded.

*****

And they worshiped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?

-King James Bible "Authorized Version," Cambridge Edition, Book of Revelation, 13:4