Chapter 1.04 SHOT THROUGH THE HEART

Cradle of Creation

2nd Lightday of The Full Moon

As Kyle stepped through the door, he found himself in a large open hall constructed out of white and blue marble blocks. Kyle could see the far wall had a massive mirror against it. To either side of the red carpet between the mirror and himself were large statues. Each statue was created out of a shiny black stone material standing upon a white and blue marble base. Investigating, Kyle found each figure was of a different race, and some of the bases held the remains of a statue that had crumpled.

A calming voice began to echo in the hall around him as he took a step forward.

“Welcome to the Hall of Creation. Here, you will craft your avatar for The Games. Those statues around the hall that remain standing are of the races you may choose to create your avatar. Take your time and choose wisely, as once you leave this hall, the chances of you changing its form are rare. On the base of each statue, you will find a plaque with the race's name and their leveling potential. If you have any questions, please ask them freely.”

“Why are so many of the status broken?”

“The ‘Fallen’ races are no longer allowed to be used by those new to The Games,” the calming voice responded.

“Wait; what?! Why put species into the game's character creation if they can’t be used? I don’t understand that design choice. Do I have to pay some stupid microtransaction to play them?”

“You may not bribe even the gods to change the rules. This is how The Games always have, and will always be. For even the Gods can’t change The System.”

Shaking his head, Kyle wandered the hall looking for the race he knew he would play. It only took him five minutes to find the one Kyle was looking for. Reading the plaque below, the three-foot gnome held a bow and an animal to the Gnome’s side that looked like a cross between a wolf and lizard. Looking down at the plaque, Kyle began to read.

[Gnome]

Attribute Leveling

+20% Strength Cost

-10% Dexterity Cost

-10% Intelligence Cost

“What does the ‘Attribute Leveling’ mean?”

“The plus twenty percent means the normal base ten is twenty percent higher and requires a base twelve of Energy to level up the Strength attribute one point. Dexterity and Intelligence have a negative ten percent, making them require a base nine of Energy to level each. Gnomes take much longer to level their Strength stat, where they have an easier time leveling Dexterity and Intelligence. You can learn more about the leveling system as you play.”

Kyle touched the statue’s plaque and a blue prompt box popped into his view.

Would you like to select the

Gnome race for your Avatar?

[Yes] [No]

Pressing yes with his finger, a ‘tap’ came from behind him near the wall with the mirror. Glancing in its direction, he saw the Gnome’s statue now inside the mirror. Looking back at the marble base in front of him, Kyle found the figure gone. Looking back at the mirror, he could see the Gnome was no longer a statue and was looking back at him, waving comically.

Well, I guess the mirror is the next stop.

Walking up to the mirror, Kyle watched the Gnome keep poking the glass. Taking the hint, Kyle touched the mirror around the Gnome’s hair, and a grid of boxes displayed above the Gnome’s head, each with a different hairstyle. Finding a short mohawk, he liked and selecting it. A color pallet popped to the side, where Kyle chose a royal purple for its color. Tapping the Gnome’s beard, he decided a thin handlebar mustache with the same royal purple looked the best.

Kyle made his Gnome have comically large ears and change the Gnome’s height to the lowest possible. Taking a few more minutes to make a few small changes, Kyle took a step back from the mirror, causing a prompt to appear.

Complete avatar customization?

[Yes] [No]

Selecting yes, the mirror stopped reflecting his Gnome’s avatar, and another box prompt asking him to input the name of his avatar.

Please record your avatar’s name.

Name:

[Confirm]

Kyle knew what name he was going to use. It had been his name for the last three years in Phantasmal Realms. Kyle had chosen ‘Stabn Run,’ because of his love for rogue-based characters that his mother used to play. Kyle had become known for his jumping in, quick hits, and running away tactics during fights and had gained him the nickname ‘Flea,’ for his skilled acrobatic strikes and fleeing. When Realms offered the name change service, Kyle paid the price to have his name changed from Stabn Run, to Flea.

Entering Flea, Kyle pressed Confirm, and another prompt popped up.

Confirm Character Creation?

Warning! Once confirmed your

avatars race can’t be changed.

[Yes] [No]

Selecting yes, Kyle could feel himself shrink. Looking at the mirror, he watched himself change into the Gnome he had created. Finished with shrinking down to the three feet tall Gnome and becoming Flea, he heard a low grinding sound come from behind. Turning, Flea could see what he would describe as a portal with a water event horizon, opened at the center of the hall.

This game is pretty good at pushing you along without too many questions.

Walking halfway to the portal, he heard the same calming voice.

“Before you is the portal to Mea. Stepping through, you’ll be randomly teleported to one of the millions of islands around the world of Mea. These islands are what you may call starter zones. On these islands, you’ll find a small town with quests to help you learn about the rules of The Games. Speak to its inhabitants, complete your quests, and explore all you can. Make sure to learn as much as you can before continuing your journey off the island, as the major territories can be a harsh place for the uneducated.

“Step through the portal and begin your journey, Earthling. I look forward to watching your race compete in The Games. The inhabitants of Mea have been warned of humanity joining The Games, and some of them may look to you for help, while others will try and end yours and your race’s achievements.”

Skipping towards the portal happily, Flea jumped through.

Flea found himself next to a large purple Crystal in what looked like the center of a town square. Looking around, he could see a couple of people standing around talking and a few running around like a marathoner in a race.

Typical players, running around like madmen trying to find every quest for the noob area.

Taking in his surroundings, Flea could hear the toll of a bell in the distance. Looking in the direction he heard the sound came from, Flea could see a large clock tower some distance away. Taking a step forward, a prompt came into view.

Welcome to Mea, Flea!

To start your journey, please think about bringing up your journal.

Flea thought, journal. And a broad prompt displayed.

Quest Journal

Locate the Adventurers’ Guild, and register as an Adventurer to receive your identification tags.

I guess it’s time to join everyone else running around.

Walking around, he ran into what he assumed was a player as he turned a corner. The player was staring off into space. The player looked like a humanoid but with the head of a mantis. The rest of the body was covered in light green segmented chitin.

“Umm, hello?” Flea asked.

“Oh, sorry, I was having a conversation with my AI. I space out when I do that, still getting used to mentally speaking with her.”

“Your’s is Female?”

“You can change your AI’s gender, voice, and other traits in their settings.”

“Ah, thank you. I was so excited to play Fantasy. I didn’t bother looking at all of my implant’s settings. I just named him Bob and started my delve.”

“Oh god, that’s a brilliant name. You’re a Gnome, and his name is Bob. You don’t plan on creating a rotating underground city, do you? Or maybe having him play a game of live-action Dungeons & Dragons, with us players?”

“I don’t understand the jokes?”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. If you run into any of the gods of this world, ask them if they got a Bob within the ranks. They always have a god named Bob in the stories.”

The mantis head turned a hundred-eighty degrees to look behind him without turning his body, then turned back around at Flea’s horrified face.

“Sorry, still not used to the new body. I know it creeped out the other player who spawned with me. Sorry, but I need to get going to find those rabbits. Anything I can help you with before I leave?”

“Could you tell me where the Adventurers’ Guild is?”

“Ah, right, you just spawned in. Go back to the square and head down the street with the fountain. You can’t miss it. It has the large clock tower you can see from here, above it.”

“Thank you, names Flea.”

“Martina. Nice to meet you, Flea. I’ll see you around, bud.”

Martina then darted off towards the gates in the distance.

It looks like he was on his way out to town to kill monsters or some quests.

Flea walked back to the square and spotted the water fountain to his left. Rounding past it, he walked down the street towards the large clock tower in the distance. Looking at the clock face, he noticed it had sixteen numbers on it, not twelve.

“How does the time, weeks, and months work in Fantasy Bob?”

[I’m told by another AI, Mae’s days are 32 hours long, with nine days to a week, and five weeks per cycle. Cycles are the equivalent of a month on Earth and are named after the moons’ cycles. We are currently in the cycle of the Full Moon. The cycles start with New Moon and continue with; Young Moon, Waxing Crescent, Waxing Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Waning Quarter, Waning Crescent, and ends with Old Moon. There are 450 days in a year on Mea.]

“Thank you for the explanation, Bob.”

Why did developers go with something vastly different from Earth’s time and day structure? It’s going to be hard getting used to the changes. Realms mirrored the real world so it wouldn’t mess with people’s circadian rhythms.

Entering the Adventurers’ Guild, Flea found himself in a massive wide-open hall. A reception-style desk in front of him had two people sitting behind it. Looking closer, Fla could see they were an Elf and a Feline Beastkin who was talking with a couple of players. Off to his right, three large bulletin boards took up most of the wall. The boards had many blank paper stacks pinned to them except for the three at the bottom left. These had writing on them. To his left, tables with people sitting and talking to one another. Behind the table was a bar, its stools filled with people drinking.

Flea walked up to the available Elven recipients.

“Hello, I’m Flea, I’m new to the island, and my journal said to come to the Adventurers’ Guild. Could you help me out with the quest to register?”

“Welcome to the Noto branch of the Adventurers’ Guild. I’m Nueleth. I can help you with your quest, Flea. Your first quest is for you to learn how questing is handled here on Mea.

“Almost every town and city you’ll visit will have one or more branches of the Adventurers’ Guild that allow the citizens of Mea to come and submit quests for gathering, monster killing, and other forms of assistance.

“We then put these quests on the bulletin boards with a difficulty rating. When you complete the quest for the owner, you’ll receive your reward and a quest chit from them. These quest chits are turned into us afterward to keep track of your progress to rank up within the Guild. You may repeat the quest once a day until the quest giver cancels the quest.

“Quests are ranked Copper to Mithril, with each rank having a set of division levels. These ranks help the Adventurers’ Guild determine if the player can take on a quest by blocking their view of quests more difficult than their rank on the quest boards. Copper starts at the easiest level but will gradually get harder the higher the rank,” explained the Elf.

“I can also direct you towards basic skill trainers for any style of combat. As a Gnome, are you looking towards, future caster, damage dealer, or maybe a guardian?” Nuelelth chuckled when she said, guardian.

“I’ll be looking for a rogue trainer.”

“You will need to seek out Zelkan at the Bloody Boar Inn on the west side of town. He will be able to teach you your skills for a price. Before going to a trainer, I would look at the board and complete the quests available to you. You will need coin to pay for the training.”

She got up, moved around the receptionist’s desk, and pointed to a table on the other side of the room.

“Let's go take a seat and I’ll get you registered with the Adventurers' Guild and get you your Adventurer's Tags, starter weapons, rations, canteen, and finally a magic bag.”

Flea took a seat at an open table. Nuelelth asked him what type of weapons he would prefer before she left him. Coming back a few minutes later, she handed Flea a set of daggers, a handful of travel rations, a canteen, and a square looking bag that had two loops on the back of it, where a belt would pass through to keep it near the hip.

“This is your magic bag. You’ll be able to upgrade it and even customize its looks if you use your cores on it. It starts with twenty inventory slots, and each slot can hold one item unless it’s a stackable type of item. For example, a single sword and a hundred chunks of iron would take up two spaces within the bag. If you would please cut your palm with your dagger and place your palm onto the bag, this will soulbind it to you.”

Flea did as told and had to close his eyes at the small flash of light and was then prompted with a message.

You have unlocked Soulbinding.

Soulbound: 0/8

Nuelelth informed him the bag would always be with him, even though death as well as any item he would soulbind. Nuelelth then handed him a green metal disk attached to a thin chain and had him again touch it to the blood still on his palm. The disk flashed like the bag had done, and Flea could now see his name and rank of ‘Copper I’ on the green disk.

The Elf had him head over to the quest board and tear the top sheet of each visible quest off. The three sheets of paper disintegrated, and a notice with a ‘3’ flashed at the bottom of his vision. Activating the notice, his quest journal came into view.

Quest Journal

Krem, the Tanner, has requested thirty Horned Rabbit hides. Reward: 60 copper Blacksmith Grom has requested twenty-five iron ore. Reward: 1 silver, 25 copper The Silver Pestle has requested twenty bundles of Hollyhock. Reward: 60 copper

Oh man, now starts the journey of Flea the Nimble!

Flea left The Guild and headed towards the gate he saw Martina had used earlier. He decided to finish the quests as fast as possible to pay for skill training. Flea figured he would have to ask someone where he could get a pickaxe and maybe where he would mine the iron later. Walking up to the gate, the guard on duty, a tall Elven man, greeted him.

“You may want to go and register yourself at the Crystal before you head out. Your fellow players don’t seem to be handling themselves well down there.”

“How do I do that?” asked Flea.

“Go back to the town square and place your hand on the Crystal.”

“What will that do exactly?”

“It will allow you to respawn at the Crystal when you die.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Flea walked back to the square, placing his hand upon the Crystal. There was a small flash and a prompt in his vision.

You are now Registered with

Noto Town’s Crystal.

Flea ran back to the gate, thanked the guard again, and exited the town. The Gnome stopped halfway down the path and took in the view. The town had been built on a large plateau. He was on a packed dirt road leading down from the town and towards tall yellow grassy fields below. He could see a vast forest and a tall tower peeking out from the forest’s canopy some distance away off to the right. Off to the left sat a massive crystal-blue lake, with a single mountain towering behind it. Flea continued his descent down the path towards the first field. He stopped at the edge of the field and watched the many players fighting, running, and screaming.

Let's see where these rabbits and flowers are located.

Just as Flea began walking across the field, a large two-foot-tall rabbit with a very sharp horn protruding from his forehead jumped from its hiding spot in the grass and shot itself through the air and into his chest, right through the heart.

You have Died!

You may resurrect in 00:59:58.