Chapter 1: Scent of Vanilla 1/2

After the flash of light Sebastian or rather Durabo found himself in a new world. Yet the only thing different about it was the people and their clothes. The warmth of sunlight on his face, the smell of flowers on the gentle breeze all of it felt as real as back home. Honestly it felt better than real, it felt right.

For a moment he stopped and his world stood still.

Then he heard what was obviously a player say something and laughing loudly. Just like that the moment was gone and Durabo opened his eyes again. Looking around his eyes quickly found what he was looking for, the trusty guard there to tell newbies what they need to know and where to find it.

Walking over to the guard, noting the fact he carried a spear and not a sword. Durabo sketched a shallow bow to what was clearly his elder and asked politely:

“Excuse me sir, you wouldn't happen to know where i can find the Mage Guild?”

The guard looked him over and the hardness in his eyes seemed to soften a bit.

“Well since you asked so politely I’ll tell you young one, you see that tall tower over there?” the guard asked pointing towards a massive tower in the middle of the city.

“That is the Tower, where the Arch Mages keep their council. At the root of that tower is a large building, really rather hard to miss, that is where young ones like you sign up to be a mage, that is if they’ll have you.” The guard said with a grin.

“Thank you sir, if they won't have me, i’ll just have to study until they will.” Durabo said nodding to the guard.

Turning around and heading towards the tower he heard a snicker behind him. Even in a city ruled by mages players take flag from others if they want to be one. Ignoring it Durabo kept walking with the same confident stride he always walked with, looking forward to the day he proved to them all just how stupid they are for underestimating mages.

Ten minutes later he walked out of the main street and saw the magician’s plaza for the first time. A giant circle of cobblestones surrounded the tower maybe five hundred meters across. He stopped for a moment stunned, just a tiny bit intimidated by its size. Shaking himself out of his stupor he noticed the red tiled building at the base of the tower.

‘No shit you can’t miss the building, there’s nothing else but the tower and that building in this giant square.’ Durabo thought to himself seeing the joke in what the guard said. Still chuckling to himself he headed towards the building.

When he got there he noticed a small sign hanging by the door, well it was more like a plaque since it was made of some sort of metal, stating that this was indeed the Mage Guild and all travelers are most welcome. Whyever they would feel a need to write that he didn’t know but hey good news for him right?

Inside there was a hallway leading to a small reception room with a desk and a bored looking elder elf sitting behind it scribbling on a piece of paper. He walked directly to the desk since no one was in the waiting area and calmly waited for the elf to finish whatever he was writing. Five minutes later he cleared his throat, his patience wearing thin. The elf looked up with a mildly surprised look on his face.

“Oh. I didn't realize you were there, anything I can do for you?”

Durabo squashed his irritation before replying.

“Yes sir, I would like to join the mage guild.”

A spark of interest kindled in the elf’s eyes.

“Hmm you would? Well are you qualified?”

“Qualified? I’m not certain it’s my first day in your realm so probably not. What do I need to do to get qualified?”

“You need to have a high enough affinity with two of the elemental powers before you can be accepted as a junior mage, and judging from your reply you don’t even have one. Well you look like a good kid and few of you travelers are willing to walk the paths of the arcane so I will tell you how you can get the affinities. Like with all other things everything you need to know, can be found in the pages of books. The library is just across the plaza.”

Having said his piece the elf gave him a gentle smile then started scribbling again, clearly the conversation was over so he left.

He wasn't mad that he couldn't join the mages immediately, for now he had a reason to spend time reading books like the ones grandpa Frost has in his study.

It didn't take much time to locate the library, since it was directly across from the Mage Guild in a small tower like building with the usual red tiled roof of the city. Well the building was small in comparison to the Tower, compared to all other buildings it was huge.

Walking up the small steps Durabo opened the door, and was once again swept away by his senses. This time it was the smell of old books, the smell of dust with a subtle hint of something else hidden underneath something sweet. Frozen in the doorway he tried to place the smell until it hit him what it was. It was the scent of vanilla. A slight cough brought him back to the present. Looking around for the origin of the sound he saw a young and rather cute female elf looking at him from the front desk of the library.

“Oh sorry about that, its been awhile since I was last in a library and I was just enjoying the familiar smell.” He said while giving the girl his best smile.

“Well if you could just step in and away from the door you are welcome to daydream all you want.” She replied, her voice low and clear like a bell.

Durabo noticed this even though it was hidden under a thick layer of irritation and sarcasm.

“Why do I get the feeling you didn't quite believe my excuse miss?” He asked while asking himself where all these sirs and misses were coming from, since he never had much use for those words before.

“Clever one aren't you traveler? Let me tell you why, because a grand total of ten travelers have come here in earnest, the rest just came to see this, I believe the term they used were archaic, place and make fun of it. At first it didn't irk me as much but now with this place falling apart around me, my patience is gone and I just want your kind gone!” At the end of her speech she looked positively pissed.

Instead of getting angry at being talked to or at that way he walked closer to her desk looking directly into her storming blue eyes and asked:

“Anything I can do to help?”

All thoughts of his purpose forgotten as he saw the state of the library around him. There was dust everywhere even though attempts had been made to keep it clean it clearly wasn't enough.

The tension hang thick in the air and while the silence grew longer those piercing blue eyes of hers just stared right back at his.

Just before he decided to say something, anything to break the silence her lips parted and she spoke.

“Yes there is, there is a lot you can do to help traveler, yet I have nothing to reward you with since others of your kind have already taken their due for jobs not well done.“ This delivered without the same biting sarcasm, yet the anger in her voice when she said the word traveler was hot enough to burn stone.

From that statement alone he figured out what had probably happened here. Other players treating the NPCs like well NPCs had come in, gotten jobs taken the money and bailed, not a care in the world for the consequences.

“Who said anything about reward? I just want to help, and maybe become friends since no matter what, I’m going to spend a long time in this place looking for dusty old books, and I’m sure that would be more pleasant if the librarian isn’t trying to bite my head of every time I speak to her” Durabo said answering her unnerving stare with one of his own, since he figured that the best way to gain her trust was being straightforward with her.

Besides those eyes of hers looked nice and he was halfway tempted to try and drown in them.

Once again the silence stretched and the tension grew, and then wonder of wonders she smiled.

A cute little crooked smile that sent his heart racing.

“I can see how that would be troublesome. Tell you what, if you help me out after hours, I’ll give you room and board, and help you find whatever you need during hours. How does that sound?” She said, the smile never leaving her eyes.

He was stunned, this was the perfect solution to the two problems he hadn’t found a solution for yet, where to leave his body when he logged off and what to eat after the starter food was gone.

And from the look in her eyes she knew he wouldn't refuse her. Clever girl.

“I’ll take that deal gladly, as you knew I would. Oh and by the way my name is Durabo. “ He said showing her his best smile.

“Very good I’ll come get you when we close up and I’ll set you to work, until then anything you need Durabo?” she said that smile still in her thrice damned eyes.

“Well I could use some directions to the sections containing books relating to elemental affinities and the basics of magic. Oh and don’t think I didn’t notice miss secretive.”

That smile reappeared even more crooked than before.

“Hmm books on the elements is on first floor section B I believe, that section contains everything pertaining to basic magecraft. The stairs are on your right, and I’ll see you tonight Durabo.”

Shaking his head he flashed her another smile then headed for the stairs, since she obviously wouldn’t give him her name just yet.

Well it's rather understandable considering how the other players have treated her. On his way up the stairs his thoughts calmed and a window appeared before him with a bell like sound.

Due to your actions you have earned a skill and stat points+5 Charisma

Skill gained: Charm (Passive)

Durabo reading the message concluded that it was probably a good skill. Skills were always good to have and passives even better. The skill seemed self explanatory and he didn't bother with reading the description. Instead he headed up the stairs.

When he got up the stairs he looked around the first floor and found each area clearly marked with signs. How nice and organised so she wasn't just trolling him.

In area B he saw to his great relief that most of the writing on the books spines were readable. Thinking it over he decided on a reading and research order.

First he would read about the requirements to become a mage and the different types of magic users, he suspected that he would get a basic understanding of magic while doing this, in case he didn't he would read up on both mana and affinities next so as to enable him to make the best decisions in regards to what affinities to pursue first.

Durabo started looking for books to read and it didn't take him long to find a couple of books that sounded like they might contain what he needed. After that he looked around and to his own surprise found a comfortable looking reading nook, with a comfy chair and everything. Settling himself in the chair with the first book of many he started reading.

Lost in the books and their words he only came back to reality when his stomach growled with a sound not unlike the sound of a wounded beast. Irritated by the interruption he opened his inventory summoned one of the twenty beginner apples inside, ate it without his gaze even leaving the pages of his current book. After the apple was gone and his stomach appeased, he summoned a canteen drank some of it contents on the off chance it would demand some soon and got back to the reading.

The next time Durabo found his way back to reality it was by the hand of the raven haired librarian. He looked up to find her studying the pile of books and a nearby piece of parchment with mild interest. He himself hadn't even noticed the parchment nor the quill in his hand and ink on the table before him it definitely wasn't something he himself had gotten. As if to answer his unspoken question the librarian spoke:

“I’m the one that got you the quill and ink, your hands seemed unable to stay idle, so I thought they might like something to do. Apparently I was right. “ She said with a knowing smile.

He didn't know how to react or what to say so in an attempt to gain some time he read what was on the parchment expecting to find gibberish and doodles, to his surprise that wasn't what was written on the parchment:

ParchmentBasic caster classes able to use magic:

Wizard :

Uses spell circles to cast spells.

Sorcerer:

Use will and imagination to cast magic, need to be trained but can’t be learned.

Mage:

Uses Sigils, specific hand signs, and Chants to cast magic.

Specifics of chants:

Chants are chosen by the mage when first casting a spell, after that it’s the only sequence of words that enables the mage to use the spell. The number of words is determined by the spells circle the higher the circle the more words needed.

Other casters:

There are others that use magic but it’s either holy or nature based and are therefore not relevant. Nature might be in the future

Mana and Manifestation:

Mana is the will and imagination of the caster and it is the energy used to fuel spells this is done through a skill called manifestation.

The only form of magic almost anyone can do. It simply converts mana into a given elemental energy and makes it enter this dimension. It still requires a basic understanding of the element and therefore it requires you to have an affinity at five percent with the given element.

Affinities:

Affinity is a stat that combines two things or concepts, it represent how well you understand the element and how well the element likes you. This indicates that elements might have sentience, something to check up on when given the chance

The stat does different things for different classes in the case of mages it determines what spells you can learn and at set points gives you some immunity to the element.

Affinity can be gained in many ways, through research and trials, or through other affinities. Ice can for example be gained when Water and Fire both reach twenty five percent, might be the best element to aim for first. Ice and Frost were always a good solo element, Lightning can be gained when Earth and Air reach the same percentage.

To become a High Elf mage requires you to have two affinities at ten percent and have the manifestation skill for them.

Durabo was more than a little pleased by the note, it was thorough and concise. It even included some of his thoughts on the subjects somehow. Like his conclusion that the description of affinities implies that they are sentient. After having calmed down and collected his thoughts while reading the note he heard the familiar sound of a system message.

Due to your actions you have earned skills and gained stats and stat points+3 Intelligence

+3 Wisdom

Stat gained: Concentration

Skill gained: Writing (Passive)

Skill gained: Subconscious Note-taking(Passive) (Author note: yeah its unlikely but what the hell it’s a good way to give ya info so be happy )

Durabo was stunned, to think that the game would actually make his restless hands useful. ‘But what does the skills do? well writing seems self explanatory and I have seen the effect of the other but I better check it.' Before the thought was thought through a window opened:

Subconscious Note-taking (Passive)Rarity:RareRank:MaxLevel:MaxDescription:Effects:You are able to use your hand to write down information while reading.Writes down all relevant information.

Writes down thoughts or musings.

No control of what's written.

Satisfied with the fruits of the days labor he looked up at the young elf and said.

“Well it seems you were right. I presume you are here because it’s time to work. Give me a second and I’ll just put the books back in their places before we leave.”

While talking he got up and started to place the books at their proper place, which was determined alphabetically according to title and section. When done he turned around to find her looking at him with that cursed smile on her rose colored lips.

“You seem to know what you are doing Durabo why don’t you continue with the books that have been returned. You can find them behind the desk at the entrance, they are already sorted by floor and section.”

“Alright, what would you like me to do when that’s done?” He asked.

“Well I’m sure I can think of something when you are done. By the way I’ll send a sprite to get you when it’s time for dinner.” Apparently done she turned around and headed up the stairs. Shaking his head at the elf he himself got going while contemplating the weird girl and why she was smiling like that over a couple of books.

When he got downstairs and saw the books waiting to be returned, he got it, that women must be the devils own spawn to find glee in this. There was at least a couple thousand books behind the desk. Apparently elves don’t read at the library, they just order their servants to get the relevant books, judging by the amount waiting to be placed back on the shelves.

‘Well no choice but to get to it I guess’ Durabo thought to himself rolling up the sleeves of his off white starter tunic.

The job wasn't hard per se, just time consuming, and having realized that he couldn't complete the task today he decided to do it in an order so he wouldn't end up with a stack of books lying around somewhere other than behind the desk. Therefore he started with the books that needed to get to the top floor so that the more work he got done the easier it would be to do the rest. Thankfully there were only thirty-five books that need to go to the tenth floor, but he filled his inventory with as many books as possible anyway since he would be the only one to return them.

Durabo jogged up the steps which was only possible because the books was in his inventory instead of his hands thereby not messing up his balance. Although they still exerted their weight on his body, it was now perfectly distributed across his body so as to not mess with anything.

Now the reason he was jogging was actually pretty simple, like all other VRMMOs the game seemed to reward a player with stats associated with a given activity and in other games the rewards were always proportional to the effort put into the task.

Getting to the tenth floor after five minutes of strenuous activity Durabo stopped and tried to catch breath, which wasn’t easy the more than hundred books being quite heavy and he was exhausted. He sat down at the table in the middle of the floor and took a drink of water from his starter canteen while his labored breath slowed down.

‘Man this was harder than it should have been, it will take some time getting used to being a frail elf.’ Durabo thought to himself while the familiar sound of system message rang in his ears stopping him from lamenting his weak body any longer.

Due to your actions you have earned stat points+1 Vitality

+1 Strength

+3 Agility

Reading the message Durabo was pleasantly surprised, seems that he wouldn't have to be a weak bodied elf for long if he kept doing things like this.

Now that his stamina had recovered enough for him to start moving again after having almost drained it, he took out the thirty-five books meant for this floor and sorted them by section and alphabetically on the table, then got to work. When done on the tenth floor he ran down to the ninth and did the same, after that he ran down got a new load of books and ran up again, as he did so he noticed he didn't get quite as winded on the way up. It didn't take as long to catch his breath after either.

As always Durabo lost himself in his work only coming to when a small light kept getting in his eyes. He dragged his sweat soaked sleeve across his forehead and looked closer at the light. It took him a second to realize that the little light was in fact a sprite, a little fairy like creature floating in front of his face looking decidedly irked by him ignoring her, and she was definitely a she. Clad in a frilly sun dress and glowing light she looked a lot like other elves just smaller her features just as delicate.

‘Better take the bull by the horns and get this over with, if I know one thing it’s that pretty girls don’t take kindly to getting ignored no matter the size.’

“I’m truly sorry I didn't see you miss. I was entirely too absorbed in my work. “ Durabo said smiling in an attempt to appease her.

Her small serious eyes looked at him for a moment and then nodded. It seems it worked for the glaring light that clothed her seemed to dim a bit becoming a soft glow instead of a glaring light. Obviously done with the conversation the sprite headed for the stairs and went up, not caring whether he followed or not. Well she probably knew he wouldn't dare not to. So follow he did, and to his surprise at the top floor she led him to a small door leading to another floor, apparently the top floor was only the top floor for the public.

At the top of the stairs he was greeted by the sight of a small room with a kitchenette, a small table big enough for two, three doors and two windows. The room was bathed in light from what looked like oil lamps placed around the room in sconces.

“Ohh there you are Durabo, I already started since it seemed like you didn't want to join me.” The librarian said, looking up from the table, a small piece of bread in her slender hand.

“Sorry, I was too caught up in the work and inadvertently ignored your sprite. “ Durabo said crossing the floor and sitting down in the chair across from her.

“She is not my sprite, Sylphie’s probably smarter than you so treat her with some respect.” She said with the bread in her hand pointed at him like it was some sort of weapon. All the while Sylphie was sitting on her shoulder looking smug.

‘Dammit, should’ve known that wasn’t the end of it. Now how to get out of this mess without getting her even more riled up.’ Durabo was racking his brain trying trying to find something when it hit him, the whole reason she got upset was because he treated Sylphie like some sort of pet therefore the way to resolve this must be to treat her like every other intelligent being and hope for the best.

Turning his head slightly he looked Sylphie in the eye:

“I’m once again sorry Sylphie, may I call you that? I should’ve known better than to treat you like a pet.” This delivered with a face begging for forgiveness.

Sylphies smug smile didn’t disappear, no she just looked at him for a moment, clearly enjoying his predicament. Then she opened her mouth and a tiny voice sweet as sugar came out:

“Well you seem to have realized your mistake so I forgive you” while the words seemed conciliatory her smile said something else entirely.

“Now that that is out of the way please eat, before the food gets too cold.” The librarian said, after which she followed her own advice.

Durabo looked around a bit for a fork and knife but didn't seem to find any. He studied the librarian eating and quickly realized his mistake. She was scooping up the soup with the coarse bread and fishing out the pieces of meat with her slender fingers.

‘So elves eat with their fingers, I should have guessed since they are closer to nature and all, oh well seems like it can be done without too big of a mess if you do it right.’

Taking a piece of bread from the basket at the table he dipped it in the soup in front of him and then took a bite. The soup seemed like a typical beef stew/soup at first glance, and it smelled like it too, yet when the flavor hit his tongue it was not as he expected. It tasted sweet with a hint of something not unlike peppermint, it tasted great. His stomach growled and he tore into the food with a vengeance reminded of his hunger by the taste and smell of food.

Five minutes later he looked up from an empty bowl of soup with a little stew on his fingers to find the elf watching him with mirth in her eyes.

“I take it, you are not one for conversations around dinner time? Or is it just the company?” The last bit delivered with the fast becoming familiar smirk and a teasing tone.

Durabo took a couple of seconds to collect his thoughts, luckily she didn’t seem to mind.

“Well to be honest, your food was just too good to not give it the attention it deserves.” He answered and added with a mischievous smile. “Besides I don’t even know your name yet.“

The sound of her silvery laughter at his remark took him by surprise and quickened his heartbeat.

“Well we ca not have that now can we Durabo,” the laughter barely contained in her voice as she spoke, “So I might just have to tell you my name.”

As she said the last part she got up and walked around the table looking him straight in the eyes she leaned forward and put her lips near his ear as she whispered:

“My names Silendra” and she walked away leaving him quite flabbergasted. (A/N I was sorely tempted to stop here.)

After dinner he had promised himself to read books he found interesting and not only read books he needed to read, not that the books about magic weren’t interesting because they were.

So he put in a few more hours of work and then went into his new room to read, to his luck it had a reading nook with an oil lamp.

Here he read about the creation of Nexus by the celestial serpents, the origin of species and the gods of the world. To his surprise he also discovered something relevant, he discovered the spoken form of the magical runes and as it apparently was necessary for mages to use chants he thought it would be a nice thing to learn as a gimmick.

Now you might think that it would all be set and Durabo just needed to run out the clock to get his two affinities and learn the language of runes. You wouldn’t be wrong to think that, except every day of the three weeks ingame he spent getting them he was tormented, or as she probably would say teased, by Sylphie to the point of exasperation.

Now the reading she let him do, Silendra would never condone the hindrance of people trying to acquire knowledge. No it was during working hours after the library closed that Sylphie would come out of the woodwork to haunt him. Whatever could a little sprite like her do to a big guy like Durabo you might ask. Well here’s a little hint, sprites have nothing to with fairies in Nexus. They are instead the personification of an aspect of the light element. That of mirages.

While he in the day read up on Fire and Water to get their affinities he spent a week doing what he did the first day. Placing books back in their right places, well he also retrieved them from elves that hadn’t seen any reason to return books after lending them. During this time Sylphie used her mirages to make him take wrong turns or to make him place books on the wrong shelves always using big expansive mirages too fool him. Now that wasn’t too bad, he didn’t get hurt at least, he just wasted time that could’ve been used more productively.

The next five days he spent cleaning up the library, you know the usual stuff you don’t want to do when at home. This time the mirages were minor. A spot of dust that just wouldn’t disappear or a spider web just of reach so he ended up stretching too far and falling. Small mirages just big enough to trip him up or make him waste time, easy enough to spot when you've got the knack.

After that he spent three days hunting spiders and other pests in the attic of the library. They didn’t give that much experience since they were after all only small critters. Their bites hurt a lot though, and when he needed to spend half his focus on just figuring out whether or not the pest are real a few bites were inevitable.

The last six days he spent restoring books, now that was actually both a reward and a sign of trust from Silendra, The reward was that Sylphie wouldn’t dare interfere with the written word held so sacred by Silendra, and the trust was apparent in the fact that she would even let him handle works centuries old.

Now it wasn’t all bad, Silendra was just as alluring as the first day, and the teasing of Sylphie made him oddly fond of her, besides he got light affinity and other stats out of it. As a character he was quite different by the end of this time period. Even the work had done wonders for him and he derived a certain amount of satisfaction from this.

Status WindowName:DuraboGender:MaleLevel:1Experience:14%Job:NoneRace:High ElfCombat Class:NoneSupport Class:NoneTitles:NoneExpendable Stats:HP:350HP/s:1,75MP:550MP/s:2,45Stamina:350STM/s:3,5Satiety:30kSAT/s:-1Basic StatsStatBaseBonusTotalAgility:31031Charisma:25025Intelligence:55055Strength:18018Vitality:35035Wisdom:49049Advanced Stats:Concentration:73Affinities:Fire:11%Light:7,5%Water:10%

Skill ListCombat Skills:Skill nameSkill RankSkill LvlSkill EXPIntuition (Passive):Novice613%Mana Feed (Passive):Novice110%Manifestation: Fire (Active):Novice11%Manifestation: Light (Active):Novice18%Manifestation: Water (Active):Novice151%Running (Passive):Novice52%Support Skills:Skill nameSkill RankSkill LvlSkill EXPCharm (Passive):Novice322%Language: Rune Tongue (Passive):Novice438%Subconscious Note-taking (Passive):N/AN/AN/AWriting (Passive):Novice125%

Hi there fellow penguins :D I got inspired and decided to put this up ahead of time.

I must admit that I suddenly get when people say they don't get the tables or that they are a lot of work for they are. yet i find them kinda fun.

I used a lot of time skips in the end of this chapter that is primarily due to me thinking i need to get on with it and get some action in, if people feel cheated I will write up some short stories describing what happened during them in depth just let me know in the comments or in the tavern.

As always enjoy and comment if you like.