“For the Hoooorde!”

A deep and enthusiastic warcry rang in Sirius’ ears as the portly man next to him charged forward.

‘What the fuck, man!’ Sirius cursed, gritting his teeth. His head was still spinning due to the weird suction-like sensation of the teleportation effect, and consequently, the man’s roar had felt like a knife piercing straight into his skull. The dizziness this time was much more severe than during his earlier synchronization. He blinked rapidly a few times to clear the fog from his eyes, turning left and right to get a hold of his bearings.

There wasn’t all that much to be seen nearby. Large braziers were planted in each corner of the platform that all the players had landed on; the flames residing within vaguely illuminated the eerie, vaulted cavern. The floor beneath their feet was composed of rough, hewn stone; and it seemed to stretch outwards without end — deep darkness looming all around them. Sirius only assumed that they were in a cave of some kind due to the lingering moisture in the air and the jagged form of the shadows clinging to the walls and ceiling. It was a gloomy place to be dumped for a tutorial. Although, he had chosen to follow the Khilaite Goddess of the Underworld, so maybe it was to be expected.

But while his mind slowly found clarity, Sirius didn’t yet have the wherewithal to explore his surroundings any further. His physical capacities had only marginally recovered, and many of the others around him were stuck in a similarly disoriented state, he quickly realized. Men and women alike were groaning loudly as they stumbled around, knocking into each other like a horde of zombies. It would forever remain a mystery to Sirius how that one man had managed to recover so quickly. His whereabouts similarly remained unknown, but it turned out that his heroic charge for the horde had managed to serve a purpose greater than simply aggravating everyone’s headaches.

Alerted by the previous noise and movement within the chamber, a group of robed Toth women had shuffled into the cavernous room, appearing from who knows where. Their own cries of surprise and elation soon echoed off the dark walls.

“Ah! So many—!”

“The Goddess has heard our prayers… There is still hope!”

“Sisters! Calm yourselves!” A magnetic voice suddenly cut through the noise, silencing the round of joyous exclamations. Sirius’ gaze quickly landed on the charming, willowy woman who had spoken, seemingly drawn there by its own accord.

She paused for a few moments, her presence swelling as she allowed everyone’s attention to gather, “Greetings, esteemed Heralds. I am High Priestess Necrah — a humble servant of the great Goddess, Kimala; and it is my honor to be the first to welcome you into our Realm. I am saddened that we must meet in such dark times—”

Necrah’s eloquent speech was promptly interrupted by a series of shouts from the crowd of players.

“Status!”

“Inventory…! Map…!”

Sirius wasn’t surprised that many of them couldn’t be bothered to stand still for more than a few seconds and further — had no qualms ruining the immersion of others. Though, he was greatly pleased to see that many of them didn’t seem to be met with any luck, and were now grumbling awkwardly to themselves.

Alas, it would not be an easy day for the proud Priestess. After realizing that verbal commands weren’t working, a few of the impatient players just took off at full tilt, storming around the cavern to look for an exit. One was followed by two, and two were followed by four. Soon enough, there was a veritable stampede of players charging past the dark-clothed priestesses — not paying any mind to their greeters as they practically trampled them. It only got worse as more players continued to phase into the area. Upon witnessing the commotion, the new arrivals joined the herd as soon as they were steady enough on their feet.

Sirius could only shake his head as a flurry of curses soon swept through the room, sounding oddly reminiscent of an angry sports crowd.

“What the hell! The exit is blocked!”

“Hey! You better watch where you’re going, man!”

“Why are we even running around? Did I miss something?”

Necrah cleared her throat as she dusted off her robe in a prim manner. “Heralds! Please heed my words!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “The Goddess has entrusted me with your care. But truthfully, it is I who am in desperate need of your assistance!”

‘There it is… a quest,’ Sirius smiled. Necrah got straight to the point this time, and those magic words immediately drew the full consideration of the players.

“Our home is under siege, Heralds,” Necrah continued, her volume abating as she re-captured everyone’s focus. “The invaders from afar have cut us off from the rest of our tribe and claimed this land as their own. They seek to enslave us and bury our long-cherished traditions beneath rubble and ash. We must not let them succeed!”

The priestess wore a satisfied smile as she received a rousing cheer from the ever-growing throng of players. She then proceeded to rattle off the invader’s various atrocities: kidnapping, torture, extortion, theft… her tone ebbed and flowed, laden with grief and hatred.

Suffice to say, the mob was thoroughly enthused — mostly just because they were restless.

“...Now, Heralds. I must ask you this: Will you join us to repel the invaders?”

*Ding!*

A satisfying ring sounded in Sirius’ mind and the cavern lapsed into silence as all the players hurried to check out their first notification.

New Quest!

Invasion of Blackhill Garden

High Priestess Necrah has asked you to assist her in fighting off the unknown invaders. Will you accept? Y/N

Hint: Actions speak louder than words. Your decision can be changed at any time.

(Hints will only be given out during the tutorial)

There was no reason not to accept at the moment, so Sirius reached out and pressed the YES option on the transparent screen that was hovering in front of him. The window disappeared in a flash, only to be swiftly replaced by a new one.

You have received your first quest! Please register a keyword or gesture to access your Quest Log. To proceed, use the phrase ‘Register Quest Log’ then repeat your keyword or gesture three times.

The new notification waited patiently for Sirius’ reply. After taking a moment to consider, he decided to go with a gesture. Maybe it was the introvert in him rearing its head, but he thought it would be pretty awkward to have to speak out loud whenever he wanted to access his menus.

“Register Quest Log!”

Another crisp *Ding* let him know the system was ready, so Sirius pat his left thigh twice in quick succession. After a short pause, the system beeped to spur him on, and after two more rounds of pats, he was done with the registration.

Quest Log successfully registered

Just to make sure everything had gone smoothly, Sirius gave his thigh two short taps, and sure enough, a quest window appeared in front of him.

“Hmm… this looks good,” he muttered under his breath as he started messing around with the Quest Log’s options. There was one feature he particularly liked that allowed the player to turn the log into a physical journal that could be carried around. Unfortunately, a brief inspection of his ragged starter gear revealed no pockets, and he didn’t have a bag or inventory yet, so he could only wait until later to make the change.

Similar scenes were occurring all around him as the other Toth players completed their registration. Of course, there had to be a few guys who snickered loudly as they chose some vulgar or perverted keywords, but overall, it didn’t seem like anyone was met with any issues.

Although... Necrah and the other priestesses looked understandably disturbed by a few of the Heralds.

“Ahem… Yes. Thank you, Heralds. Your assistance will be a great boon to our efforts. Currently, I don’t have any urgent tasks to assign you all, but I know that Foreman Orval down by the food repositories has been asking around for help. If you seek him out, I’m confident that he can set you up with a job. Additionally, Madam Lily…” Necrah flashed a radiant smile as she listed off various menial tasks that were in need of completion in the village. “...I understand that you all have arrived in this Realm with naught but the clothes on your back, but fear not, Heralds. The people of Blackhill Village will make sure you are rewarded properly for any work you take on. Alas, I have kept you long enough. Go forth! And may the Goddess guide your path!”

As soon as the last words parted with her lips, whatever barrier that had been blocking the exit disappeared and the players sprung into action. The vast majority of them hurried out of the room, clearly keen to get a head start; however, like Sirius, there were a few that stuck around.

Some of the stragglers meandered around the edges of the room, already searching for any secrets or treasures, whereas a few others approached Necrah and the other priestesses to engage them in dialogue.

Sirius simply wasn’t interested in jockeying for position with other players at crowded quest locations right away. He would make his way there sooner or later, but he wanted to take his time exploring the functions of the game and most importantly — focus on enjoying the experience.

Too frequently he only looked forward, always planning his next step without remembering to actually live in the moment as well. It was a trait of his that often caused a lot of friction with his friends. They complained that he was always the one who set up their plans, but when the time came to hang out, his mind was already elsewhere. People couldn’t change overnight, but Sirius was determined to at least put in some effort.

‘Plus… these AI are much more advanced than I expected,’ he mused as he watched a group of players chatting amiably with Necrah. Their conversation flowed naturally from one topic to the next, and there were even subtle changes in the High Priestess’ body language as she spoke: A strained smile when someone asked about the affairs of the temple, white knuckles as she gripped the hem of her dress when speaking about the recently captured members of the tribe, and overall, a lot of direct eye contact with each member of the conversation.

Sirius surmised that there was much to be gained by carefully interacting with the NPCs. Feeling out their personality and goals and subsequently working on gaining their favor would allow him to reap maximum benefits from the zone. Necrah was already a prime target on his list, but she looked like she would be occupied for a while, so he could only wait for another opportunity.

Instead, he decided to approach one of the younger priestesses who had been excluded from the discussion. She looked strikingly similar to Necrah, with silky midnight blue hair and refined, angular features. The girl started fiddling with a brooch on her unadorned black robe when she realized Sirius was heading straight over. Her nervousness only grew more pronounced as he stopped nearby and stared at her intently.

“...Y-Yes? Can I help you with anything, Herald?” the priestess muttered in a low voice, ducking her head to avoid eye contact.

‘Hmm, no pop-ups or indicators…’ Even after gazing at the girl for a few very long and awkward seconds, there was no name-plate or information window that appeared as there had been during the character creation process. So far, it didn’t seem like there was any surefire way to distinguish between the players and NPCs.

“Please, call me Sirius,” he finally responded, flashing what he hoped came across as a friendly smile. “May I have your name?”

“Oh, sorry! How rude of me... My name is Ameera,” she replied with a slight bow.

“It’s no problem at all, Ameera,” Sirius chuckled, speaking casually as they appeared around the same age. “But there was actually something I hoped to ask.”

Ameera raised her head, a determined glint flashing across her bright golden eyes. “Of course. I will do whatever I can to help!”

“It’s nothing that serious. I was just a little confused by the whole ‘Herald’ business. To be honest, I can’t seem to remember much apart from my name…” Sirius trailed off. He was curious about what background the developers had given the players. Furthermore, the answer would likely influence a lot of his future interactions.

Ameera hesitated, biting her lip as her eyes darted back and forth between Necrah and himself.

Seeing this, Sirius decided to give her a little nudge. He slouched his shoulders and exhaled a dejected sigh, “If its a topic you’re uncomfortable speaking about… I don’t want to put you in a difficult spot…”

“No, that's not it!” Ameera interjected, hurriedly. “Only… Lady Necrah knows much more about the situation than myself.”

“I understand. Still, whatever information you can provide would be much appreciated.”

“Very well… If my understanding is correct — all of you Heralds had previously existed as wandering souls in the Primordial Sea. Though, how you all became lost in the void beyond is still unclear to me…” Ameera paused, gathering herself before continuing on, “Anyway, Kimala witnessed our current plight, and therefore, made an effort to guide you all back into our realm. She then worked together with Deias the Creator to form suitable physical vessels for you to inhabit. And now — you have arrived. We call you the Heralds because your existence is a direct manifestation of divine power and a message that the Gods have heeded our prayers.”

Ameera clasped her hands in front of her chest as her gaze turned skyward.

“I see… Well, thank you, Ameera,” Sirius replied, reciprocating her polite bow from earlier. He could now understand her earlier trepidation. She had basically just told him that the Gods had hijacked their souls in order to rescue their followers. However, it wasn’t like the players were forced to act on their behalf, and being reborn into this world was certainly a fate better than floating aimlessly through the void or whatever.

Another interesting realization was that the player’s origins would likely differ depending on the race or deity that they chose. Sirius decided on the spot that it would be best to conceal his identity as a so called ‘Herald’ when venturing out beyond Blackhill Garden.

“You’re very welcome. But if there’s nothing else, then I must be going.”

“Oh, um… sure. Thanks again.” Sirius was caught off guard by her sudden withdrawal from the conversation. There was more he still wanted to ask, but she seemed to be in a hurry. ‘I guess I’ll have to refrain from zoning out when interacting with NPCs.’ They wouldn’t just stand there forever, patiently waiting for his reply like in other games.

Ameera was tugged along by her fellow priestesses as they left the area. Only Necrah remained behind to greet the steady stream of arriving players.

After watching them depart, Sirius inhaled a deep breath, psyching himself up to confront the challenges ahead. Then, with long and steady strides, he approached the exit.

Past the entryway of the Spawn Cave — as he decided to call it — was a broad corridor. Numerous heavy doors were interspersed evenly down its length, but a quick check of each one revealed them all to be locked tight. There were also a few murals carved into the walls; however, it was difficult to make out the scenes with only the faint glow of a few torches flickering between the doorways. At any rate, Sirius felt like he had already stalled his progress enough.

With that in mind, he moved swiftly towards the light at the end of the tunnel, a surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins. His hurried steps transitioned into a jog as he drew closer, eventually ending in a full-on sprint as he burst out of the corridor.

The harsh rays of the sun assaulted his exposed skin as the world suddenly laid itself bare before him. Sirius marveled at the sight; shielding his eyes while his breath came in short, ragged gasps. The wind swirled around the rocky outcropping he found himself standing on, and each time he sucked in, he caught a taste of the briny smell of the ocean and the subtle aromas of cooking.

Blackhill Village was a far cry from the dull and filthy late-medieval town Sirius had anticipated. Well, calling it a village was an understatement as well. It more closely resembled a small but vibrant city.

Everything was so bright and green. Thick, leafy foliage and trees dotted the sprawling island, blending in seamlessly with the village that extended from the dark mountain behind him towards the sea in descending layers. There were plenty of neat gardens, beautiful flowers, and wide, open markets. Even the motley cobblestone road that weaved its way through the clusters of tall clay buildings seemed to sparkle in the early afternoon light. The open, tropical aesthetic was only marred by an obtrusive wooden palisade that surrounded the port to the north and sectioned off the eastern portion of the island.

‘That must be the work of the invaders…’ Sirius concluded as he gazed upon the watchtowers and fortifications built into the charred and semi-intact buildings behind the walls. He couldn’t see much of their activities from afar, but he was already pissed-off that they dared to lay waste to such a peaceful and charming place.

“Welp… It’s time to get started.”