Hey guys, Falcon here with the author section:

1. I will need to create some spoiler sections and polls in future chapter. If anyone could teach me how, I'd much appreciate it.

2. I appreciate all the constructive criticism thrown at me, so keep it up so I can improve :)

3. 39 Followers with 5 chapters is a great! my first book had 51 at 25, so I'm pretty pleased.

4. Some weird shifting thing happened at the end of chapter 4, so now the bottom of my posts are skewed to the left- no idea why.

Enjoy the story---Plat=Steel

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Reading the title gave Steel mixed emotions. On the one hand, gaining any title was a large boost to his character. On the other hand, listening required a lot of time, and the consequences his title spoke of gave some a chill feeling down his back.

"Well, might as well use what was given to me." He shrugged.

Equipping the title, Steel made his way toward the mage tower next. It stood tall and proud near the castle, rather manor house than castle actually. The mage tower held the archmage of the city and the magic laboratories where experiments took place. It also served as the location where new mages could practice their craft without hurting innocent bystanders/people who pissed them off.

Reaching the tower, Steel took in the large oak doors that stood open to the world. Above the door, an inscription read:

Enter ye who seek knowledge. Enter ye who seek power. Know that answers beyond the call of man await. Know that ye tempt death's accursed fate. Puzzling at the message, Steel followed the throng of players who rushed to enter the tower, eager to learn magic and wield it for themselves.

Inside, a receptionist desk stood to the wall on the left, stairs that winded upwards stood in the middle, and another pair of large oak doors stood to the right. Words floated in the air, changing colors but never the content: Magic demonstration by the archmage in the auditorium to your right. Ignoring the players that swarmed the oak doors, Steel approached the receptionist desk. A pretty young lady looked up from her book with an irritated expression.

"No, I am not looking for a boyfriend. No, I will not teach you magic personally. Finally, no, I am not the person to talk to about learning magic. The archmage will speak to all who are interested over there." She pointed at the oak doors the students were swarming to get into."

Obviously, she was having a bad day with all the new players, Steel felt for her.

"I apologize Miss on behalf of the other players who are to arrogant to amend their ways." He bowed low to her, his right arm across his torso,"I merely wished to learn of the different mage professions so I can become strong enough to leave the city."

The receptionist considered him, her eyes going up and down his form. Her face softened a bit at his words, reminding her that the young man in front of her hadn't done anything, yet, to incur her ire.

"You speak well and with respect, more then I've seen so far from other travelers. I also feel that you will listen to me honestly. Very well, follow me and I will explain the wonders of magic to you."

The receptionist stood and and walked through the table, startling Steel. She giggled at his expression, and motioned for him to follow her. A new receptionist appeared out of nowhere, replacing the one Steel was following. She led Steel down to a room near the stairs and brought him in.

Taking a seat, Steel listened as the receptionist, who introduced herself as Mary, began explaining magic and mage classes.

Magic was a force of nature found within all living things in the form of mana. Mana served with stamina as the two driving forces that gave the energy to live to all living things. Mana was used primarily to power and create spells used by mages, while stamina was used by warriors for their strength and battle prowess. While all living things were born with both mana and stamina, no one was born with a balance between the two. Most had more stamina than mana, so warriors were more common than mages. When a person focused on the half that they favored, they would be unable to access the other half effectively. This led to most warriors having average minds, and most mages having average bodies.

In summary:

mana+stamina=life

life-stamina=mana

life-mana=stamina

It was fairly simple a concept to grasp.

"Now" Mary continued, "Some talented people are born who can train a little of their secondary half with their primary, thus they can utilize more power than a normal person. On the other hand, they use up both halves faster, so they typically have shorter life spans than regular people."

"Does that mean if used up all my mana and stamina I would die?" Steel asked worriedly.

Mary shock her head, "That's impossible unless you are extremely old. If you do that now, you would begin losing health until you reach 1 health left, then you would fall unconscious for a time until you fully recovered. Don't worry though, as a traveler, if you die you will merely reappear in the temple, losing some of your power when you revive."

Mary then explained how the mage profession tree worked:

if a player wanted to become a mage, they would be granted a mage apprentice job. The job served as a pre-basic class that granted spells and the ability to use mage equipment. They would train until they gained enough experience to become level 5, then they would automatically class up to the regular mage class. From there, the player was free to do whatever they wanted.

Mages could learn new spells three ways: being taught, reading a book, or discovering/creating a spell themselves. Finding a teacher was hard as a teacher could only teach one student at a time and the training was to die for and during, but the reward was the fame of being the teacher's student. Reading a tome would grant the ability to use a spell immediately, but the spell strength would suffer until sufficient practice was undertaken. Discovering/creating a spell was the easiest, but magical experimentation was dangerous and had a 80% chance of causing an explosion or magical disaster. The offending mage would be charged full price of any damages and be expected to work his debt off to the crown or be imprisoned.

There were many different types of mages in the world of Everlife, and to become one a player had to be the mage class and satisfy the requirements to become one. For instance, a mage that practices a lot of fire magic would be given the option of becoming a pyromancer or an explosive mage. Some mage classes were unique and secret, and the requirements were hidden.

Besides explaining the mage profession tree, Mary also began to complain about various problems in her life to Steel. He started to get a little bored listening to her talk, but when his eyes began to drift he felt a chill down his spine.

Skill activated: InstinctYour luck has activated your Instinct skill. You realize that the women in front of you would be dangerously displeased if she thought you weren't listening to her. Better shape up or figure out a way to escape.

'This message system is pretty snarky huh' he thought to himself, 'Now what to do?'

He had another devious thought. Years of escaping harassment had taught him well how to handle bad situations.

Steel stared straight into her eyes as he got up and walked toward her. He made his steps long and purposeful, showing only confidence as he made his way to Mary.

She backed up slowly with a confused and worried face. "Sir, is there something wrong?"

He kept walking, reaching her and leaning in close to her.

Her face started to creep turn panic and fury at his approach, her hands giving off an imperceptible glow of magic.

He leaned in toward her, her mind already beginning to chant magic to defend herself, and squashed a mosquito that had been buzzing around her head.

Extremely confused now, Mary looked into Steel's eyes with a questioning look. He smiled at her, leaned past her head to her ear, and said, "Beauty should be protected at all cost."

With that, he quickly strolled out of the room and closed the door, Once closed, he ran out of the tower as fast as his legs could carry him. Flattery usually ended in either violence or embarrassment, which then led to accidental violence in his experience. Feeling a slight tremor in the ground, he knew he had made the right decision as he continued running toward his next destination, the library. He ignored the notification that popped up in front of him.

Status UpdateYou have successfully charmed a women, +5 charm. Warning, you have pissed off a member of the mage faction with your actions. If she spreads this, your relationship with the Mage faction with deteriorate.

-Meanwhile-

Mary stood in a small crater that had been the front of the classroom. Her clothes were smoldering at the edges and her face was bright red from emotion. How dare that man! Never had she been so humiliated (and maybe a little aroused?) by anyone in her life!

As she canceled her magic, her body changed until instead of a cute receptionist there stood a young women who was so much more than cute. Tall, with a body with curves that would make models jealous, and long reddish,blond hair that stretched down to a perfect ass. The only thing marring her beauty were her narrowed eyes that glowed red and black.

Mary Highwater, daughter of the archmage, vowed she would pay the young man back no matter what happened. Of course, once she realized he hadn't old her his name, she had another mini tantrum that destroyed the whole classroom this time.

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Steel trudged down the town path depressed. He had found the library easy enough, but it had done nothing to help him consider a job. He had learned a little history about Rostwood, but the library was actually low on books because the city was still young. The book keeper explained to him how expensive books were, and that he would have better luck in the other cities in the human lands. Still, the quest had moved on even if the library had been a waste of time.

Quest updatedNew town Part 5You need experience, knowledge, and a job class to safely leave Rostwood. Travel to the Temple to learn about job possibilities.

While at the library, the bookkeeper had told Steel to visit the temple to replace the library. Steel had agreed, the temple was next to the training hall so he would not waste to much time traveling to it.

When Steel had arrived at the training hall, he had found it backed to overflowing with players. As many old books had explained to value of training halls, it had become the most populated hideout for players. He didn't even get a lengthy explanation from any of the trainers there, they just told him to pick a practice weapon and he would be given a corresponding class.

Most of the practice weapons were gone, taken for use by the other players. Steel had been left with few choices, but he did have the luck to spot a tower shield in the pile. He had liked his centurion shield in the tutorial, and the feel of the tower shield had felt right somehow to him. Of course, taking the shield had resulted him getting laughed out of the training hall.

This led up to his current state: depressed with a tower shield on his back heading up the road to the temple.

The temple was actually quite beautiful, the steps and columns were of a white stone that glittered in the sunset. The architecture reminded Steel of a mix of Roman and Greek buildings he had seen on the Holo-deck. The temple had white doors adorned with many patterns that gave him a feelings of serenity. Upon entering, he noticed a group of players who were in the middle of worship in a flowered courtyard. In the main room, instead of a receptionist desk, 6 statues lined the wall in a semi-circular form.

"Do you need assistance young traveler?" A voice came from Steel's left. He turned to find a robed priest beside him, waiting for a response.

"Yes good priest, your help would be invaluable to me. I seek knowledge on the different jobs, and I was advised to come here to finish my learning."

The priest smiled at him, "Of course young one, I would be happy to explain to you the faith profession. Walk with me to the god statues."

Steel and the priest walked over to the statues. The priest indicated each statue.

"These are the 6 high gods that rule these lands. They are universal to all races, but each has a favored race that they show more favor to."

He gestured to the first statue, "This is Gildred, the god of adventure and patron of the human race. His followers are encouraged to seek fame and fortune in the land and spread healing where ever it is needed."

The second statue, "This is Fileiya, the goddess of knowledge and patron of the elf race. Her followers spend many hours learning as much as they can. While not battle worthy, they are some of the best pure healers in the world."

"This is the statue of Dirgamir, god of the mountains and patron of the dwarves. His followers fight with heaven-blessed fists and kicks and are always ready for a noble brawl."

"Over here is Girramir, goddess of the harvest and patron of the beastmen. She encourages her priests to heal the land, eliminating famine and striking down undead."

"Finally, we have Shelog, god of strength and the orc's patron. His battle priests fight with holy staves and morningstars and spread his word blow by blow."

Steel looked at the sixth statue in the middle, "What about her?"

The priest smiled at the statue, "She is Milna, goddess of nature. She has no race, but gives her love to any who love and fight for nature. She is also the shyest of the gods, very little is known about her outside of her followers. It is sometimes said she is the patron of the beasts that walk the lands."

"Would that not make her an enemy of all people?"

"No, it means she helps to keep them in check so we can have our meat." he said evenly. Privately doubting that last bit of information, Steel dutifully listened to the priest as he continued.

"The priest profession is run on one's faith. Beginners are given the class "acolyte", which grants them basic healing abilities and the ability to use priest equipment. At level 5, they choose a god or goddess to follower and become a full priest in their god's flock. From there, they can become different types of priest depending on the amount of faith they have and the abilities they unlock. Faith is gained through works that reflect the god worshiped, acts of goodness will grant faith."

Quest completeNew townYou have completed your quest. Congratulations, you are the first player to complete this quest, a bonus has been applied. Double exp, +200 exp

Quest AddedNew JobHead to the adventurer's guild for a job recommendation.

Smiling, Plat watched the exp increase on his status screen. He had finished his first day in Everlife without too many problems. Unfortunately, he had to sleep now for school tomorrow. He took the time to look at his status screen before logging off:

Status WindowName:SteelAlignment:NeutralLevel:1Class:N/ARace:HumanGender:Male

TitlesThe ListenerFame:0Infamy:0Experience:200/1000

Health:100 / 100Health Regen:2/ SecMana:150 / 50Mana Regen:1/ SecStamina:50 / 50Stamina Regen:1/ Sec

Vitality:10Agility:10Intelligence:10Wisdom:10Strength:10Endurance:10Leadership:0Luck:11Charm:5Faith:0

Elemental ResistancesFire:0Water:0Wind:0Earth:0Light:0Darkness:0

Smiling, he logged out and went to sleep.