Chapter 2 Strength Of A Mouse

Axel opened his eyes. A bright sky was above him, and luscious green grass beneath. He wiggled his bare toes as he took in the surrounding landscape. He was on an island in the middle of the sea. There were three moons on the horizon, one glowed red, another yellow, and the last one green. There were dimmed from the sun, but that didn’t take away from their beauty of them. He nodded his head in approval of the beautiful scenery.

“Welcome, traveller, to Islands of Elysium,” a female voice said behind him. It sounded majestic and happy, contrasting the angry man with sunken eyes.

He spun around quickly, seeing a beautiful fairy hovering off the ground. She was only three feet tall and wearing a white dress. Sparkes was coming off her.

“Hi, can I get into the game?” he asked. He didn’t care about character selection.

“Hold on there, hasty traveller, hehehe.”

Axel rolled his eyes. He forgot how many people loved this cute sort of stuff. He did too back in the day, but he just wanted to punch the stupid little fairy in the face. He was on a time limit, and he was not going to gawk at the cute fairy.

“What do I need to do?”

“You must select a race first, traveller,” the fairy said. “Hehehe.”

Axel clenched his jaw and took in a deep breath. “And breath,” he told himself.

“Would you like to see the array of races, traveller ... Hehe—”

“Stop giggling!” Axel shouted, close to ripping his hair out. “Just show me the races, woman.”

The fairy suddenly stopped smiling. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms like a disgruntled housewife. “Fine.”

Just in front of him, different races showed up. They were all in a giant circle, extending out over the sea. He kept swiping left; he went past orcs, goblins, cat people, elves, dwarves— there were so many, and it would take him ages to find the right class to make money in the game.

“Fairy woman,” he said, turning to her. “Show me the races fit for business.”

She huffed. White sparkles exploded around her. All of the races suddenly turned to mist, and a dozen other races appeared in a smaller circle. Axel couldn’t believe they gave the AI actual feelings, especially in the character selection. He found it quite comical.

Axel started to flick through them. “Woodland Gnome ... Gnome ... Fire Gnome?” Disgruntled, he turned back to the fairy and said, “Show me the classes that are only fit for business; mainly for making money.”

“Someone’s in a hurry,” she sassed, clicking her fingers.

Axel shrunk his head back. “Why have you got a stick up your arse for?”

“Because you’re so rude,” the fairy remarked, sticking her tongue out at him. “You could at least show some courtesy. Do you know how hard it is—”

“Listen,” Axel said, clearing his throat. “I don’t want your zeros and one’s life story, fairy. Just do what I say.”

She opened her mouth in protest.

“Now.”

She closed it suddenly, and with another wave of her hand, races disappeared and then appeared. Axel sighed as he turned back to the character selection screen. Now there were three choices available to him. One was human, another a gnome, and the last one a strange-looking goblin.

He didn’t even bother checking the human one. He wouldn’t even want to play as a human when he was younger. He understood roleplaying, but a human was just so boring to him. He swiped on the human, and a burly looking gnome popped up. It had giant rosy cheeks and puffy chest hair. He pouted as he considered the look.

“Stop it, Axel. Focus on the money,” he reminded himself. He hadn’t played any games since he sold all his stuff; the accountant job took up almost all of his free time. In truth, he had missed them. The endless dungeons and constant crafting. He loved all that Onwards had made— except for the fairy. But as of right now, he needed to concentrate on making money.

He clicked on the gnome, and an interface showed up.

Race: Gnome

Description: A general Gnome. Gnomes are notorious for being the traders between the Islands of Elysium. Their natural gift for Charisma allows them to excel in any form of trade. (Any Charisma above Attribute 10 causes all average NPCs to instantly like you) The Gnome can also cast almost every type of magic. The only exception is Dark magic. Gnomes do not have many physical skills, but their business and magical skills can easily cover them.

Status:

Attribute Points:

Health:

50

Constitution:

6

Charisma

15(+5)

Mana:

120

Intelligence:

12

Luck:

8

Stamina:

40

Endurance:

4

Piety:

5

Race Pros:

Deal 15% extra damage with Nature magic.

Charisma Attribute is multiplied by 1.5.

Able to access the Gnome subcategory in Skills.

Race Cons:

Take 15% increased damage from Dark magic.

Take 10% increased damage from poisons.

He knew it wasn’t bad, but having increased Charisma wasn’t exactly enough. It was also more magical heavy than he had imagined.

“Is this really the only business race? Most of it is just magic,” Axel told, turning around.

“You just want to do business?” she questioned. “Do you not want to slay monsters?”

Axel sighed; he would love to kill monsters. “I mean, just business.”

The fairy blinked her small eyes a few times. “The only other business race is the ugly goblin.”

Axel kissed his teeth. He spun around and clicked off the gnome. He brought forward the ugly goblin and expanded the character sheet.

Race: Loot Goblin

Description: The Loot Goblin only cares about one thing: coin. They usually hide in dark places as the sun weakens them. Additionally, the Loot Goblin has its Piety Attribute replaced with a unique attribute called Greed(See more below). The Loot Goblin is a hoarder at heart, therefore, all the coin they receive from designated sources is increased by their Greed Attribute. Additionally, their Intelligence Attribute is increased by how many coins they have on them (Warning, having your name reach maximum threat may cause you to lose items/coin. Banks are available for deposit). However, adding it to their bank will cause a flat 99% reduction.

Status:

Attribute Points:

Greed Explanation:

Greed level=x. Designated sources of the coin are multiplied by 1. x.

1000 Gold on player= 1 Intelligence.

10000 Gold in bank= 1 Intelligence.

Health:

30

Constitution:

3

Charisma:

3(-1)

Mana:

100

Intelligence:

10

Luck:

10

Stamina:

20

Endurance:

2

Greed:

10

Race Pros:

Able to access the Loot Goblin subcategory in Skills.

All coin from designated sources is increased by 1. x, x being your greed level.

Race Cons:

-20% Physical Status Reduction (FATIGUE) of all physical stats in direct sunlight.

-25% Charisma reduction (UGLY)

It was interesting, and definitely what he was after. However, it all depended on how often he could get attribute points. Moreover, he wasn’t sure what the designated sources were. It interested him, to say the least. There was one thing that bugged him.

“Why is it so ugly?” he questioned with furrowed brows.

The fairy just shrugged in response.

“Hm, and I doubt there’d be any info online since the game just released.” Axel desperately wanted to know the ins and outs of the race, but there was no time to wait. He wanted to get earning as soon as possible.

He sighed. He liked the race stats, just not the race itself; the loot goblin was so ugly. The gnome was not a looker either with its big rosy cheeks. With much hesitation, he selected the loot goblin.

“You know, you’re only allowed one character,” the fairy explained.

“Yes. Just get on with it.”

“Ok. First, let’s see you inside the body ... Hehehe—sorry.”

A mirror appeared in front of him. He wasn’t the loot goblin yet, so his disgruntled reflection was staring back at him. He looked to the floor in embarrassment. His sunken eyes only looked worse with one of them black. His face had aged faster with stress. Even his bright blonde hair looked glum. Axel never looked after himself, and he was disappointed. He didn’t want to blame it on the job or debt, he had let himself go, and that he was sure of. He barely ate, and his body paid the price. His cheekbones were protruding from his face, and he could see all his ribs.

His mouth twitched as he held in the tears. ‘I don’t care what I look like,’ he thought. ‘I’ll work ‘till my mother and sister are safe.’

“You look like you’re going through something. I can leave—"

“No,” he grumbled. “Show me as the ugly goblin vampire.”

“Sure,” she chirped.

His face slowly turned into that of the goblins. His height had shrunk to five feet and six inches. His skin now had splotches of black and grey. His ears felt pointy. However, that wasn’t the worst thing; his teeth were sharp, and he felt as if he could gnaw through anything. His head was a little larger and rounder, but his facial features were the same.

“You can still change—"

“No!” Axel yelled. “I’m ready.”

“Ok,” she said. “Everyone starts with the same starter clothing by the way, but you do get to choose your weapon.”

“I’ll have whatever shit sword is there.”

“Can you stop being so ru—”

“Give me the fucking sword, and put me in the bloody game.”

“Near what city?”

“Whatever has the highest population.”

Without a moment of hesitation more from the fairy, she whisked her hand in the air and white sparkles flew out above. They then multiplied and fell back down, covering Axel’s vision. Soon, the white flashing sparkles disappeared, and he found himself sitting on dusty ground. He was in a small village with wooden buildings. All around him, he noticed players in the same started gear as himself. He got to his feet, noticing a sword hook on his waist.

Along with that, his HUD was now up. It showed consumable slots, his status in percentages, and most importantly, how many coins he had. It said three silver, but Axel had no clue of the value of it. He thought of settings, and a menu popped up. He found the google extension and typed in coin value for IOE.

‘Cannot sell coin as of now. The buy rate is 1 copper for $0.1. 10 coppers=1 silver. 10 silver=1 gold. We do not know what comes after gold.

The estimated time that the company unlocks selling of coin: 1 day.’

Axel winced. He knew he couldn’t make £60,000 in only a day, but it was still troubling. The three silvers he had was worth $3. So that meant he had to make roughly 7,000-8,000 gold in the coming days.

The next thing he did was check his map in the top right corner of his HUD. He concentrated on it, and it was brought down. All it showed was a small village surrounded by blackness. He had hoped to get to the city as fast as possible, learn the layout, and earn some money. There was always money to be made in cities, and Axel knew it well.

“Shit,” he mumbled to himself as he looked around for an exit.

“Ew,” a female player said, looking at him. “What. The. Fuck, is that?” She had chosen one of the elven classes.

“I’m a loot goblin,” Axel replied calmly, holding his temper.

She started laughing at him. “Why are so ugly?”

He breathed in deep again. His buttons were constantly being pushed. He went to turn around, but with a spur of confidence, he decided to let off some steam. “You’re still fuck ugly even though chose an elf. It’s too bad a game can’t hide that giant forehead. I could land a Boeing 747 on that thing.”

The player opened her mouth in protest, but couldn’t think of anything to say. She was gobsmacked. Axel had learned to trash talk online from a very early age. Plus, growing up in London, he had always had a witty comeback. The thing was, she was pretty, but Axel could care less. He was on a mission.

With the player still standing there shocked, he took off through the village. Already, there were teams of people grouping up. He missed those days of starting the new game. As he jogged through, he noticed that there was only the tag of ‘PLAYER’ above their heads; the NPCs had just ‘NPC’. It was fairly minimalist, which Axel liked. It meant anonymity was a big deal in the game, and he was going to exploit every inch of it.

The village was cute. It was a standard starter village. The style was a mediaeval fantasy that grabbed a wider audience. He ran past a beautiful fountain in the centre of the village and eventually discovered it upon the exit. He grinned and ran for it. Just as he was about to exit the village, his head collided with an invisible barrier.

{You must accept the quest from Trainer Barry before leaving the Village Merth}

“Ah, fuck that hurt,” he spat. A few players were laughing at him, but Axel didn’t care. He rubbed his temples furiously. The pain tolerance seemed about half, which was standard for VR games. He got up and started to look for Trainer Barry. There was a training yard a dozen metres away, and there was a giant exclamation point above an NPC’s head.

He hurried over to where other players were. There were multiple trainers there so thankfully there wasn’t a crowd.

“Hello there, traveller,” the NPC said. “Have you come looking to start your adventure with a bit of training?”

“Just give me the quest,” Axel demanded.

“Now now, there traveller, let us not be hasty. You must first learn to—”

“It says I just need to accept it,” Axel told.

“Fine, if you must interrupt me.”

{Your reputation rank with Trainer Barry is now Unfriendly}

{Trainer Barry looks upon you unfavourably}

{You have received a quest from Trainer Barry}

{Quest: Swing your sword 100 times}

{Automatic rewards on completion}

{Rewards}

2 Silver

20 Experience

Axel took off back to the exit while laughing. As he was older now, he found it funny to treat the NPCs terribly. Back when he was younger, he used to try and gain maximum reputation rank with every important NPC. He used to treat them like real people. Now his soul was tainted with cruelty, passed down from others.

He headed outside of the village but stopped in his tracks when a notification flashed.

{You are now vulnerable to damage and status effects}

{You are now fatigued due to sunlight}

Immediately, he felt sluggish, like he was wearing a weighted vest. It was discomforting. Nevertheless, he started running. He picked up the pace but found his stamina was going down extremely quickly. Not only were his movements restricted, but his stamina was cut down by a quarter.

He started wheezing a dozen metres later. He heaved as his hands found his knees. A few people jogged by him, laughing as they did so.

“This race sucks,” he commented with ragged breath.

Once his stamina was back, he broke off in a lighter jog. It wasn’t sustainable, but at least he could travel further. He was so focused on the task at hand that nothing else bothered him.

Eventually, he started to see signs that directed him to the city. The scenery got even more beautiful the further he travelled. There were animals grazing on plentiful meadows and colourful flowers dotted oddly. If Axel was his younger self, he would be taking snapshots constantly. But the current Axel was trying to not die. He was grumbling, cursing to himself. “Stupid f-f-f-fucking game. Stupid fucking ga—” he gasped loudly for air.

He walked like a zombie for a good few miles. It was painful, but Axel had taken beatings till he was black and blue. He was a hardened soldier of London.

The shambling stopped once passed a large oak tree on the side. He fell against it while gazing at the city ahead.

{You have discovered the city of Tresluna}

{Rewards}

2 Silver

+20 Experience