Author's corner:

Hey guys, some news and comments of comments.

1. Almost 100 followers, so excited.

2. I'm getting some good suggestions from people, really appreciate it guys!

3. Eh, I didn't even think about it, but someone pointed out the similarities to "Divergent". Guess this mostly comes from the word "faction" I use a lot, I'll change that in the official version, not planned at all.

Enjoy the story :)

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Steel logged on and appeared at the gate, his last log-out point. He looked around, finding the wall had grown some more, but slower than the first day. The player mason workers must have had to devote must of their time to school during the week, same as all the other students.

Steel chuckled, "I guess I won't have that issue anymore, just gaming for here on out." He took a step, and a blue box appeared in front of him.

GreetingsDear participant, thank you for volunteering in our experimental FIVRR, Full Immersion Virtual Reality Rig. Once again, out company take not fault for anything leading to or coming close to death. As your age shows academic residency, you will be required to spend some hours learning from an A.I. tutor. Do not fear, time will be faster, so only two game hours, or 30 real world minutes, will have passed. We will be sending you quests at some point if we require your expertise in the game world. Enjoy your game.[tr]Everlife & VR Company[tr]

"Frackin hell." Steel muttered angrily, "Should have know it was too simple a thing." He sighed, nothing he could do now.

Steel leaned against the gate, thinking to himself what he should do next. First thing though, he bent down and offered a quick prayer to the nameless god who had blessed (cursed) him. Feeling a little foolish, he also silently mentioned that he was punished for his love- just in case the god was noisy. Thankfully, no blue box popped up this time, so he wiped his sweat away from his brow.

Now, He came up with a mental list of what he needed to do:

1. Figure out his "blessing"

2. Get stronger

a. Train

b. Get a better weapon

c. Win battles

3. Gain influence

a. Local relations

b. Military connections

c. Noble allies

4. Kick Hank's ass

5. Spank Reva's ass, preferably with a paddle.

He nodded to himself, it sounded like a great, simple plan. One that he had no idea on how to start. First thing though, he had to figure out the blessing. The benefits are demerits it caused had to be learned before he did anything else, otherwise he was a ticking time bomb.

He thought about asking a priest, but from what he understood they would only be able to tell him about the human patron god, Gildred. He had a strong feeling that god had no care for listening to love life, so the temple was off. Judging by the way the rabbits acted last time, he suspected one of the female goddess was listening in. Still, all three of them had something to do with nature, so beyond that he was stumped.

While he was thinking, he heard a someone calling his name. He looked over to find the guard captain walking toward him, a friendly smile on his face.

"Hail young traveler, it is good to see you alive and well."

"Likewise sir captain."

The old guard rolled his eyes and slapped Steel on the back, "Oh none of that young one, you don't work for me and I consider you a friend for listening to my story. How did your adventure go, did Missy tell you what you should be?"

"Missy?" Steel said confused. The captain blushed and cleared his throat.

"Uh, I said Madam Mistress, you didn't here nothing else."

"Right......"

"Anyway, what did she recommend for you?" He asked with an inquisitive face.

Steel sighed, "She wasn't sure."

"What! No, shes never had that happen before." The captain looked downright confounded by the information.

"It's this blessing some goddess gave me, I don't know what it does and she can't tell me because of it." Steel said mournfully, "The best she could do was recommend I work for the guard, but I'm stuck using this old shield and can't attack."

He displayed the shield to the captain, who narrowed his eyes as he inspected the piece.

"Hm, that's a good shield son, best take care of it." He nodded to himself.

"What good is a shield when I can't attack?" Steel said angrily, "I need to be able to hurt someone and can't do it with this bloody thing."

Steel didn't see the punch fly at him, but he felt it as he hit the ground. He looked up to see the guard captain scowling down at him.

"Kid, best rethink those words." He growled down, "I don't like hearing what's coming out of your mouth."

Steel was so shocked by the display, he couldn't hold in the tears of anguish and self-loathing. He buried his face in his hands and wept.

He heard a clunk beside him, and felt a strong arm embrace him from the side.

"That's a good lad, let it out, come on." The captain whispered to him. Steel obliged him, his tears soon running out and the hiccups beginning. The captain slapped his back hard enough to knock the wind out of him, curing the hiccups.

"Now then, explain to this old soldier what was so terrible to change a bright-eyed lad like yourself into a blood hungry orphan."

Steel began explaining to the captain what had happened to him, leaving out the real world things and down playing his injuries so as to make sense to the captain. He nodded, rubbing his chin.

"I see, you loved a girl outside your station, and they punished you and your friend for it. And the one's in charge let it happen and won't do anything about it, is that right?"

Steel nodded, "Weakness is not tolerated in society. Purging it is everyone's responsibility, whether they want to or not. Still, beating my friend was more than they should have done, and fighting s a horde was not honorable. So while they did their duty, if evidence came up they would be suitably punished for going to far. Weakness is regarded not as a cancer, but as a small cog in a time piece that has it's own place. Sometimes, the cog tries to fit in where it doesn't belong, so it has to mashed back into it's place."

The captain nodded, "Aye, I understand the idea. It makes sense, everyone has something they are good at and things that they are not good at. That's why people band together in places like this." He threw his arm around, gesturing toward the entire city, "We work together to survive, and experience life together as a whole."

"Still though, sir, I want revenge against them."

"I don't fault you lad, in fact I encourage it. A goal gives your purpose in your pursuit of strength. What I don't approve is the way you approached it." The captain explained, "You thought a weapon as a tool for torment. It is not, it is a tool of war, protection, and honor. You don't understand that yet."

The captain got up and offered his hand to Steel, who grabbed it and was hoisted up. "I advise you stick to your shield lad, learn how to protect your friends, both old and new." He smiled and clasped Steel's hand, "Here, take this note to the receptionist in the guard house. I'm willing to employ you as a scout in the town guard, at least until you figure out your blessing and what you want to do besides revenge."

He walked off and waved back, "Goof luck to you boy, rather young Steel. Don't fail me, otherwise I'll have to kill you." He winked, and the wily old captain disappeared into the crowd.

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Thinking about what the captain had said, Steel decided it was as good a place to start as any. The receptionist was kind to him, and accepted the note without delay. She explained to him that as a scout in the guard, it was his job to explore outside the wall and report back anything suspicious or unusual that might have an affect on the city. Beyond that, he could do what ever he wanted, as long as he patrolled during his normal times.

Steel was delighted, not only did he have an excuse to fight creatures, he could spend his free time training his body and skills. His mood fell when he found the training hall packed to the brim with people again. Apparently, it would always be filled when the other players were on. The only thing he could do was wait until next Monday for them to leave for school.

He had no desire to return to the mage tower to practice magic, he had a a bad feeling about visiting the place. Nor was he interested in the empty library or solemn temple. Especially the temple, Steel had a different kind of fear to visit there.

Running out of options, Steel decided to practice with the rabbits. After all, they didn't seem to want to kill him, and they certainly were quite fast.

Upon leaving the gate, he found the fields where he had found the rabbits. Unfortunately, he also found players stalking the area, searching for easy exp. The 3 days of inactivity had allowed others to invade his area.

Feeling sad for the loss of his training mates, he noticed a group of 6 players chasing a rabbit through the fields.

"Get it!"

"Don't let it escape!"

They called out as they began trapping the bunny. More players joined them and soon the bunny was surrounded. Feeling a pang in his heart, Steel approached the group.

"Hey, whats going on?" He asked one of the players in the circle.

The player didn't look at him, just kept his eyes on the rabbit, "Man, this is one of those rare freaky bunnies. There's a huge bounty on their heads, and they are so high difficulty for us that we'll level up for sure!"

Steel looked over at the bunny. It had begun hissing at the players with it's huge teeth, getting ready to fight.

"Ha ha, stupid bunny! Just die already for us!" One of the players shouted at it.

Steel looked at the bunny, then at the crowd of greedy players. He felt his rage begin to grow, how dare they gang up on this bunny! There was no honor in this kill, and he would be damned to see them succeed!

Steel rushed toward the bunny as the first players started running. With just moment to spare, he threw his shield out between the rabbit and the player's weapon.

"Clang!"

The sound of the sword bouncing of the tower shield was audible for everyone.

"Hey! What are you doing?" One of the players asked angrily

Steel stared him down, "I don't like bullying." He stated.

The players snorted in laughter, "It's just a stupid rabbit man, it'll come back after awhile. Not like it's human you know."

"It's alive and that's what counts." Steel declared, "I won't let you guys harm him for your sick pleasure."

The crowd grew angry and restless. "Oh yeah, lets see you stop all of us, stupid bastard!"

The horde of players launched themselves at Steel. Being noobs, their sword were simple bronze weapons: swords, spears, and a few others. Steel whirled his shield around, blocking strike after strike and taking no damage. A few made it through his guard, he was not perfect and had no form, and he began to feel the weariness of fatigue. He glances at his meter, his stamina was running out quickly!

Thinking quickly, he panted himself directly over the rabbit, moving the shield to cover the both of them. The blows continued to reign, and the shield began to buckle a bit. Fearing the worst, he looked down at the Hungry Bunny he was protecting.

"Sorry little guy, you should run while their attention is on me." The bunny looked up at him, showing...affection? It shot out from under the shield and sped away into the grassland.

"CRAP, it bolted guys!"

Most of the players charged after it, in a desperate attempt to kill it, but it had gone too far to catch. The rest of the players decided to teach Steel a lesson, and were stabbing him under his shield until he bled out.

"Ah crap." He thought as he felt death start to take him, "Well, I may have been beaten again, but at least the bunny escaped."

He closed his eyes, and embraced the silence of death once again.

----I got this out 17 minutes before midnight, so I kept my promise of a second chapter :p