The light spilling from the portal and assaulting Eric’s eyes instantly disappeared as he passed through. It was replaced by a dimly lit chamber. The area around him was overflowing with the sound of lively conversations echoing off the chamber’s high ceiling. Eric looked around excitedly at the scene before him and found he was in a grand hall filled with hundreds of people. He noticed the hall was constructed of large white granite blocks giving off the appearance of opulence and sturdy construction. He noticed a sturdy paladin wearing silver plate armor over thick muscles stood to his right side. The paladin grasped Eric’s arm in a firm grip without warning and pulled him forward into the surrounding chaos. The paladin’s grip made it impossible for Eric to prevent being pulled into the wall of bodies.

The large man glanced at Eric momentarily and shouted over the noisy crowds, “Move along, the celestial portals are already backed up, and we don’t need anyone else pushing and shoving in front of the exit.”

The paladin turned back to the portal without another word as a new person stepped out of the portal Eric had just exited. He followed the same procedure with the newcomer, quickly ushering the wide-eyed player out of the portal exit and into the crowd on the other side of the portal.

Eric shrugged and mumbled a quick apology, “Sorry, it is my first day around here.”

As soon as he turned to face the crowd, Eric immediately got bumped into from the side causing him to stumble further into the mass of players. He was soon completely surrounded by people. Eric noticed small groups talking amongst themselves while others moved decisively through the crowds. He took a moment to gather himself and locate the exit of the building.

While looking for the exit he was able to identify the building as a grand cathedral but he was unsure of its religious affiliation. He took a moment to examine some intricate carvings and statues depicting a figure clad in thick armor holding a large kite shield but was unfamiliar with the character. He made a mental note to look into more about the godly figure that stood watch over the cathedral. He knew it would be helpful to learn more about the deity that served the capital city of the kingdom.

Eric had limited success gathering information about the types of religious influence in Teurilia before his immersion, but he had discovered it played a major role across the political landscape of the continent, and many players sought quests from religious institutions and their associated deities. The promise of special quest rewards and fame attracted many players to take up arms for one deity or another. Eric had not decided if he would pursue a particular religious order, but he decided to gather more information about the pros and cons intending to make an informed decision.

Eric began making his way through the crowd towards the wide archway that served as the cathedral’s exit. He wanted to separate himself from the dozen or so portals popping open along the wall and disgorging more people into the packed space. He knew cathedrals and religious buildings typically housed the celestial portals used by players and NPCs. The portals served as a means of anchored transportation as well as a resurrection point for players who died while in Teurilia. The size of the cathedral spoke to the enormity of the city it had to support. It also seemed many new players had the same notion as him and decided to start their lives out near the frontier in the kingdom of Dorenth. There were plenty of plainly dressed players of all shapes and sizes wearing the same cloth outfit Eric found himself in, apparently indicating they were in beginner gear.

Eric eventually arrived at the exit after a couple minutes of navigating the crowd and crossed through the archway outside onto a bustling street. He stood motionless for several long moments, astounded at the scale of the city. With spires spiraling many stories tall all across the skyline and a massive castle that dominated the center of the city, it was quite a sight to behold. His eyes took in the new sights greedily, darting back and forth to maximize the input. He took a few steps away from the opening that served as the exit to the cathedral and found an empty space near one of the exterior walls of the structure.

Eric’s first priority after taking in the incredible view of the city was to take stock of his newly created avatar and adjust the icons he found displayed in the corner of his vision. He mentally selected the main menu icon sitting at the top of the list and a screen flickered into existence directly in front of his eyes. It was a familiar sight and operated in the same fashion as the display he witnessed during his time with Flendor’s map. He gently nudged the options, and they activated seamlessly.

“The developers had outdone themselves with the mental interactions,” he thought while smiling inwardly.

Eric was pleased with how simple it would be to quickly access menu actions even while in combat after a little practice. He tapped through the settings, quickly adjusting the size, shape, and transparency of the displays to prevent them from blocking his view.

He spent several minutes fiddling with the settings until he was comfortable with the layout. He set up quick action options for the menus he thought would be most commonly used. Eric nodded satisfactorily at the small icons lining the left side of his vision. It would take some getting used to seeing static icon pictures in his vision, but he felt reassured by the quick hide option available. He noted the communications menu tucked into the bottom corner. He had briefly checked the local chat, but the volume of chatter was overwhelming from all the players flooding around the cathedral, so he left it for another time. He decided it would be more useful once he made some personal contacts.

After finalizing his menu layouts, Eric mentally tapped the inventory option to take a closer look at his current items.

Inventory (2/50)Gold: 0Silver: 5Copper: 0Equipped - Cloth Shirt (1) - Defense: 0; Durability: 10/10; Grade: Common; Requirements: None; Effect: NoneEquipped - Cloth Pants (1) - Defense: 0; Durability: 10/10; Grade: Common; Requirements: None; Effect: NoneEquipped - Leather Shoes (1) - Defense 1; Durability: 5/5, Grade: Common; Requirements: None; Effect: NoneDried Boar Meat (10) – Grade: Common; Requirements: None; Effect: Increases Satiety by 100 when consumedBronze Dagger (1) - Damage: 1-2; Durability: 10/10; Grade: Common; Requirements: None; Effect: None

He was fairly underwhelmed with his meager possessions. He looked through each item listed in his inventory, confirming their non-existent stats. Eric also couldn’t help mentally sighing at his severe lack of funds. The measly five silver glaring back at him wouldn’t go far. He took some solace in the rations provided. It would ensure he wouldn’t starve for at least ten days if he timed his meals correctly and there was something to be said for keeping his satiety filled, considering it would prevent regeneration of health and mana once it reached zero.

Eric shook off the negative feeling, he was in a world full of opportunity and that fact alone was more than he could ever ask for. He would have plenty of time to gather better items and horde gold like a greedy dragon. He brushed away the inventory screen and navigated to his character sheet to check his current statistics. Eric knew they would be the lifeblood of his character and needed to be carefully monitored and managed as he gained levels, achievements, and bonuses.

CharacterName: Eric WilliamsRace: HumanSub-Race: SwiftswornLevel: 1Experience: 0/100Satiety: 99.5/100Fame: 0Leadership: 0Competence: StrengthHealth: 110/110 - Regeneration: 11/HourMana: 100/100 - Regeneration: 10/HourStamina: 105/105 - Regeneration 10.5/Hour

Attributes (40 Points Unallocated)Strength: 10 (1)Intellect: 10Agility: 10Vitality: 10 (1)Wisdom: 10Dexterity: 10 (.5)

ProficienciesNone

SkillsNone

Titles/AchievementsNone

Racial/CompetenceRacial (Swiftsworn): +5% Increase in Dexterity

75% Resistance to Poison and DiseaseCompetence (Strength): +10% Increase in Strength and Vitality.

+10% Increase in progression of skills and proficiencies aligned primarily with Strength

He found the expected bonuses from his primary competence, providing him an impressive ten percent lifetime bonus to both Strength and Vitality. The Strength bonus would provide him a needed boost to his physical attacks and each point in Vitality increased his health points by ten. There was no such thing as too many health points as far as Eric was concerned. His other attributes were unaffected by his primary competence, but Dexterity was given a five percent lifetime racial bonus. It would help ensure accurate attacks and improved spatial awareness. Overall, he was pleased with his starting attributes and felt confident he made the right decisions with his initial build out.

Eric took particular notice of his forty unallocated points as he scrolled through the presented information. He smiled as he immediately dropped all of them into Strength. It brought his total up to a staggering fifty-five, an imposing figure particularly for a level one noob. He decided the additional forty points were essentially freebies and stacking them straight into the Strength attribute was sure to increase his damage and would let him easily handle monsters far above his level in single strikes. The ability to match up with monsters far above his level would make gathering experience a far more pleasant experience. He knew the returns would slowly diminish as he gained more levels, but he was hoping to initially have a slight advantage compared to other level one players. He planned to get out of the novice stage quickly and found from his violent background the best defense was often a good offense.

As soon as Eric mentally confirmed the allocation of the attribute points, he immediately felt his muscles bulge under his light weight clothing. They became dense and slightly strained against the fabric. It was almost overwhelming how much stronger he instantly felt. It felt like he had just been filled to the brim with adrenaline and could toss a heavy rock clear over the imposing castle many hundreds of meters away.

He had to take a few minutes to calm his body after the strange surge of power. The feeling made him anxious to start leveling up to get more attribute points for assignment. He decided he would need to find out more information regarding the effects of each attribute when assigned by virtualized players. He suddenly became desperately curious how the Intellect and Wisdom attributes would impact his mental capacity after feeling the effects of Strength on his physical body.

After a few more minutes of letting his new-found power settle in and thinking through all the information he’d gleaned from the menus, Eric decided to explore the city a bit. He determined getting some general information about its amenities would be of substantial help for his journey ahead. He was especially interested in finding an affordable inn that could be used as a temporary base of operations until he located a more permanent residence. Being a fully immersed player offered some unique challenges considering he didn’t have the luxury of a logout button. The real-life players had the ability to pop in and out of Teurilia at will, their avatars magically vanishing. Eric would need to find a place to escape and rest. Unfortunately, even virtual player’s minds still required sleep to recharge.

At a minimum, it would be important for Eric to find basic shelter and a steady food supply. He knew from his research; all the capital cities came equipped with basic shops and inns affordable to even the most penniless players. They could pay by completing a few tasks for the owners, providing a lifeline to those unable to scrounge up the needed coin. The only players who would have trouble were those considered chaotic and aligned negatively for committing crimes against the kingdom. Eric had quickly decided he would never do anything to become chaotic with so much riding on having access to basic amenities.

Eric decided to make his way toward the large castle towering over the city. It appeared to be situated in the center of the city, and he was hopeful it would provide him with a useful frame of reference. He started a slow march toward the mammoth construction, taking in the sights and sounds of the city as he traveled. He discovered Flendor had been true to his word about the blended culture of Drail. He identified races hailing from all over the continent in the city’s streets. The residents and players alike had plenty of variety including elves, dwarfs, beast races, and even some of the less common goblin and troll species.

Eric took the opportunity to practice analyzing each passerby, he discovered mentally focusing on any person would pull up a small panel containing information about them. This usually included their level, and any guild or alliances they were associated with. He noticed several groups of guards dispersed throughout the streets and decided to take a closer look at one of their identification panels.

Dorenth City Guard Veteran

Level 72

Kingdom of Drail

Eric was reassured to see the guards were high enough of a level to handle themselves against any would be player killers or thieves that infiltrated the city. It would be bad news for any fully immersed players if a chaotic guild of players could easily kill off the guards and cause trouble inside of the city’s walls.

The day before his immersion Eric had pulled up the global leaderboards and found the highest level player was nearing one hundred, checking in at an impressive level eighty-seven. Considering the fairly short amount of time Teurilia had been open to players, this particular user had to of been non-stop grinding since its release to reach such a high level. The beginning levels offered easy gains, but progressively took more experience, making level progression at higher levels a slow crawl at best.

The group of guards moved on, and Eric continued his methodical walk through the crowded street toward his destination. He observed the closer he got to the city center, the more intricate and extravagant the buildings became. He found the gear displayed by shop owners was of a much higher caliber in the areas near the city center. He also noticed a larger number of high-level players present in the streets which had opened into a vast courtyard. The atmosphere had changed, becoming much more organized and professional. The local chat had an even more dramatic change, targeting high-level players with equipment offers and locations of high tier dungeons.

Eric decided to move on after discovering he was clearly out of his league in the upper-class district near the center of the city. He pulled up his navigation menu to display his compass and decided to head south toward what he hoped to be more affordable areas in the city. After a few minutes of walking, he ran into another set of guards standing idly on a street corner and decided it might be easier to get some local guidance on a good place to stay for the night.

Four guards made up the group and they all displayed a symbol of a snarling Black Bear on their armor and shields that were strapped to their hulking backs. Eric discovered the symbol represented the seal of Dorenth after finding it plastered on flags and other governmental buildings throughout the city. He stepped up to the group of guards un-intimated, knowing they couldn’t make aggressive action against any non-chaotic players without provocation.

“Good day, I was hoping to get some directions to an affordable local inn. Do you fellas happen to know of any good places nearby?” he asked politely.

The guard closest to Eric looked over at him for a moment before responding, “You must be a newcomer, seem to be getting a lot of you folks crowding the city over the last few months. You will probably have luck finding a room over at the Relic Inn. It doesn’t charge much and Ms.Sely, the innkeeper; is an excellent cook.”

After he had finished speaking, he placed his hand on his stomach and leaned back with a look of pleasure on his face, apparently daydreaming about a past meal from the inn in question.

“That sounds perfect. Do you know where I can find this establishment?” Eric asked, breaking the guard out of his trance.

“You can find it right outside the main shopping district in the south part of the city. I grew up right around the corner,” he said cheerfully as he straightened back out and returned his arms to his sides.

“Thank you, sir! I will be sure to order a large meal when I arrive,” Eric replied.

The guard nodded casually in response and turned back to his companions before they walked off together toward the city center having lost interest in the conversation. Eric was pleased his interactions with the local guards were simple and to the point. He would need to be careful managing his reputation with important NPCs around the city to ensure he could get access to the best quests and freebies and finding the ease of communication with the guard was reassuring.

Eric continued southward, following the directions provided by the guard. He started to see the city transform back into a more modest design, and the streets began to narrow into cramped efficiency. He didn’t see any more drastic changes until he entered the market district. The area opened into a broad plaza with a central mass of stalls and semi-permanent shops set up in all directions. The outside of the area featured permanent stores with more specific item categories. Eric took the time to explore the district more carefully than the residential streets he had previously traveled through.

He took advantage of the journal feature within his virtual interface to note shops and stalls of interest. He looked primarily at established stores with hard working craftsman in hopes of finding honest and well-constructed products. He had mixed results considering the volume of options and his lack of time to do more than look over each shop’s broad selection and floor layout for a minute or two, but he identified a few places of particular interest he planned to check out again once he had some coin to spend.

By the time Eric finished his tour of the shopping district, it was mid-afternoon. He decided with a little time left to spare before evening he would check out the training grounds. After a quick chat with another guard, Eric learned the grounds were only a few blocks away from the Relic Inn. He overheard several players talking amongst themselves about some of the training offered by the city’s instructors and his curiosity and excitement to start a path toward combat got the better of him.

Eric planned to seek basic training from the city’s instructors to pick up the One-Handed Sword proficiency. It was common knowledge that the city’s instructors offered free training to new players, allowing them to get beginner proficiencies in any number of weapons. Eric planned to focus on a single weapon class and invest all of his time and effort toward mastering it. He was confident spreading himself thinly across multiple weapon types would lead to wasted effort in the long term, and he was interested in becoming as deadly of a warrior as possible. He had previously decided to pursue a specialization in one-handed weapons, specifically swords. It seemed like a boring choice, but there were plenty of reasons so many warriors over the centuries preferred the weapon. It offered plenty of flexibility when paired with a shield and was extremely deadly in the right hands.

Eric quickly found himself at the entrance to the training grounds after a short walk from the shopping district. The area was unsurprisingly crowded. It seemed the migration program had been a little too successful and it was overwhelming the local trainers with an extraordinary number of recruits. Fortunately, Eric was expecting the crowds after seeing the volume of players flowing out of the cathedral earlier in the day, so he stepped through the entrance with a patient mindset. The entrance opened into an impressively sized courtyard. Short walls were surrounding the area, and a stonework structure stood at the far end of the yard.

Eric paced through the lines of players waiting their turn for an instructor’s guidance. He noticed a large variety of weapon proficiencies being taught including spears, bows, two-handed axes, battle hammers, and almost any kind of combat weapon imaginable. It was an extraordinary facility, and Eric could understand the need for such a large courtyard considering the number of instructors required to teach the variety of weapons offered. He carefully made his way to the One-Handed Sword training area and stepped into a long line stretching at least a couple dozen players. Fortunately, there were several instructors set up to teach the way of the sword so he was hopeful the line would move quickly.

While he waited, Eric took the opportunity to observe the recruits receiving instruction ahead of him. He listened to the guidance provided by the trainers, hoping to be able to more quickly pick up the proficiency. The rest of the afternoon quickly disappeared while Eric waited for his turn. It took more time than he expected for the players ahead of him to gain their combat proficiency and the process required patience from both the trainee and the instructor.

He observed having natural abilities seemed to improve training time as some recruits more quickly gained the proficiency than others, but it looked like after enough swings of a weapon and constant correction of stance by the hand of an instructor, anyone could pick up the proficiency regardless of talent. The variety of proficiencies was almost limitless once non-combat proficiencies were considered and it made Eric curious what his natural talents would help him with. He was hopeful swinging a sword would flow naturally for him like some of the other trainees he observed.

It seemed the primary competence combined with a player’s natural ability were the two biggest factors for achieving a new proficiency. Eric already knew proficiencies could be learned in a multitude of ways, but by far the easiest and most efficient was to train with an instructor. This was likely what led to the large lines piling up in the training grounds. A fresh newbie could slice a rabbit a few thousand times or spend an afternoon at the training grounds. For arcane arts self-study was a more practical solution, but it was reported learning directly from an advanced mage from one of the arcane guild halls would always prove to be the timeliest method.

Eric finally reached the front of the line as the sun dipped below the city walls. As he approached the trainer, who just finished with the recruit in front of him, a gong was struck. The deep sound reverberated across the training grounds, and Eric looked around in confusion for a moment. He turned toward the instructor standing before him and noticed the man had already begun cleaning up the scattered training weapons and tidying up the area assigned to him. Eric sighed realizing the gong must have signaled the end of training for the day. He couldn’t believe his rotten luck.

He quickly rushed up to the instructor and explained how long he had waited, but the instructor gave him no heed and brashly responded, “You will have to come back tomorrow, there is always another one in line, and if I take you I will have to take everyone still behind you.”

Eric sighed again and resigned his arguments knowing they would prove fruitless after remembering Teurilia’s NPCs were equivalent to real people when it came to sleep and food. They were programmed to need their rest just like any player. For all, he knew they had families waiting for them back in the city somewhere. It was going to take some adjustment to realize NPCs were more than simple skill or quest givers.

Eric sulked through the grounds after failing to get his sword proficiency. He had wasted a couple hours standing around, and it seemed he would have to return tomorrow to make any more progress. He decided to take a look at some of the other training areas in more detail before making his way to the inn. He began to get a better sight of everything as all the players and instructors started to filter out for the evening. He wandered around the courtyard aimlessly for a while, picking up a few of the training weapons to feel their weight. He tested a few swings with some of the polearms, two-handed swords, and even a couple of the battle hammers, but they all felt off to him.

He walked over to the One-Handed Sword station and grabbed a standard long sword and was disappointed to find it also wasn’t what he expected. Eric felt sure holding a sword would make him feel like a great warrior ready to race off into the unknown on heroic quests. He set the sword back on the rack after a few swings and found himself alone in the training yard.

He glanced around casually, and his eyes came to rest on something he hadn’t noticed earlier. He saw what appeared to be a small alley tucked away at the back of the courtyard that drew his interest. He curiously walked over to the alley and found it took a sharp turn after a few meters obstructing his view. With nothing to lose, Eric stepped into the alley and turned the corner to see it opened into a large archery range, much larger than the one set up in the main training yard. Sitting on the edge of the range were a handful of bows, but they were unlike any he had ever seen.

The bows appeared to be made of the same common wood used in most training weapons, but they were over twice the size of a standard bow in length and width. The shaft was almost thicker than Eric’s arm. He lifted the weapon up into his hands barely able to fit his hand around the entire grip. He found the weapon was extremely heavily weighted at what felt close to thirty pounds. He lifted it closer to his eyes and examined it for a minute under the torch lights that appeared throughout the grounds after the sun had fully set. It had a thick string, and the tension felt unreal when Eric tested it with a pull. He couldn’t explain it, but although the weapon wasn’t anything like what he had ever seen he was fascinated by it. He felt a prickle of curiosity and excitement spark at the back of his mind.

He stepped up to the range with the weapon in hand and found quivers of training arrows lined along the firing line. He pulled one arrow out revealing another anomaly. The arrow was unusually large. The shaft and arrowhead exceeded twice the size of the arrows Eric saw in the training yard he had just left. He titled his head for a moment to examine the arrow details but didn’t let the unusual nature of the weapon hold him back. He carefully nocked the arrow and looked downrange at the target dummies more than fifty meters out. It was an intimidating distance compared to the fifteen-meter range he had seen in the yard before. Eric didn’t waste any more time thinking and instead relied on his instincts. He pulled back on the bowstring feeling his muscles bulge under the massive tension. His full fifty-five points of points in Strength came to bare.

He stretched the bowstring to its limits and quickly aimed down range. Eric’s muscles started to shake under the enormous pressure as he lined up the shot. He released his breath and the drawn arrow at the same instant after he was unable to handle the strain any longer. He stood in shock as the arrow covered the distance in the blink of an eye and slammed deep into the target dummy downrange. The arrow hit just below the dummy’s midsection and a thud echoed from the impact. A visible crack appeared all the way through the wooden post holding the dummy in place and spread directly out from the impact site of the arrow. Eric was blown away by the power of the weapon.

“Impressive, I wouldn’t have guessed someone with such poor form could have actually made such an accurate shot,” a thick voice said from behind him.

Eric froze on hearing the unexpected stranger’s voice. He gradually turned and discovered a towering man leaning against the wall near the rack of training weapons; a quick check of his info panel revealed his level was a staggering one hundred forty-two.

“Thanks-s-s,” Eric stuttered in reply. “I was just umm, well I found this training range and this massive bow so I thought I’d give it a try,” he said while raising up the weapon in his hands and presenting it toward the man.

“We call it a Grand Bow around here,” the man replied with a smirk. “You must be one of the travelers that have been swarming the city over the last few months,” he said as he stepped forward.

Eric walked tentatively forward toward the rack of weapons and gently slipped the weapon back into its place before turning to face the man’s stare. “Yeah, I just arrived in the city today. I was looking for some training, but the training grounds are overrun with recruits,” he said cautiously.

The man chuckled and responded, “Those damn recruits are invading the whole city, I shouldn’t complain, they are brave enough and have been keeping the monster spawns at bay, giving the local guard their first reprieve in years. You are the first fresh recruit I’ve seen capable of wielding a Grand Bow. Most can hardly get an arrow halfway down the range with their puny Strength.”

Eric grinned, pleased by the comment and said, “I specialize in Strength. I believe it is critical to be a capable warrior.”

“Indeed it is,” the man responded.

“My name is Eric Williams,” Eric said, extending his hand out to the man. The man tilted his head slightly before grasping Eric’s outstretched hand with a bone-breaking grip. Eric realized the man’s Strength had to be incredibly high.

“Flynn Skyfire,” the man grunted in response as he released his grip.

Eric nodded politely while inconspicuously massaging his sore hand. “You wouldn't happen to have the time to show me the ropes with this Grand Bow?” Eric said as he motioned toward the one he set down on the rack next to him.

“I haven’t trained an apprentice in many years, but something about you reminds me of myself when I was your age,” Flynn said looking deep in thought. His face turned serious before continuing, “I take training extremely seriously, and you will need to prove yourself to learn the art of the Grand Bow. You should not take this opportunity lightly, the training will be challenging, but if you make it through you will be capable of wielding an extremely potent weapon. Come back tomorrow at first light, and we will find out if you have what it takes. I warn you, I have little patience for weakness and expect you to follow my guidance precisely.”

Eric nodded excitedly and replied confidently with a grin, “I won't disappoint you. Anything you have to throw at me I can handle.”

Flynn smirked and started to chuckle. He turned away from Eriic without saying another word and began to make his way back to the main grounds, continuing to chuckle to himself as he went. Eric could have sworn he heard the man mumble, “We’ll see about that.”

Eric was abruptly alone as Flynn’s shadow disappeared around the alleyway. He stood motionless for a moment unsure of what he had just gotten himself into. Then, suddenly; a gentle tone echoed in his mind, and a flashing icon appeared in his lower vision. He tapped the icon curiously, and a surprising message appeared in his visual interface.

Congratulations!

The trainer Flynn Skyfire has taken you on as an apprentice to learn the ways of the Grand Bow.

Achievement unlocked: Grand Bow Pioneer

Eric was astonished by the achievement notification. He quickly pulled up his character sheet and navigated to the personal achievements section to get the details of the achievement he had just been granted.

Achievements:

Grand Bow Pioneer – You are one of the first fifty players to gain an apprenticeship with a Grand Bow master. Apprenticeships are the only means to learning the Grand Bow proficiency.

Effect: All proficiency gains with a Grand Bow will be increased by 5%.

Eric started to feel excitement creep over him, and his feelings of uneasiness quickly washed away. He began to fill with immediate anticipation for what was to come. He had somehow managed to stumble onto a hidden proficiency, and he wasn’t going to pass up on the mega freebies it was sure to offer. He had never even heard of apprenticeships or proficiency training only provided to players based on finding a proper instructor through a series of random events. Based on the description of the achievement he was one of only a handful of players to stumble onto this secret so far which was something to be said with the millions of players streaming into the virtual world every month.

Eric tried to settle down a bit, appreciating he was still very ignorant of the exact potential of what he had discovered. He would still have to pass any number of tests and trials to get through the training. He realized the sun had long since disappeared beyond the high walls of the buildings surrounding the hidden range and he was still without a place to stay for the evening. Shaking off his giddiness, he headed toward the exit hoping to still get a room at the suggested inn nearby.

Fortunately, he had clear directions to the location of the inn and after crossing the designated street, easily located the inn’s sign hanging from the building. He approached the somewhat unimpressive building and noticed it matched the same worn wooden design and construction as the rest of the southern district. As he was approaching the entrance, Eric saw a fist-sized gemstone wedged deep in the woodwork high above the main doors. He looked up at the strange sight and focused on the unusual gem for a moment. He was almost instantly rewarded with an information panel.

Relic of the Wanderer – Grade: Unique, Requirements: Bound to Structure; Durability: 1000/1000, Effect: +5% Increase in Satiety when consuming food and +5% Increase in Stamina regeneration while resting

Eric was impressed by the power of the relic. It had to be a huge perk for the inn and was sure to help bring in guests. Eric was intrigued by the existence of such items and made a note to try and locate more information about how they were created and their value after he had settled in. He secretly hoped the place wasn’t too crowded so he could get an affordable room. He took a deep breath and casually entered the establishment.

He was pleased to see the lobby and first floor was only half full of guests. There were plenty of empty tables and seats as well as a few free stools at the long bar on the far wall. He meandered over to the bar without drawing any attention from the patrons and found a seat near a snoring man still holding a half full mug. He easily got the bar tender’s attention after sitting down and explained his need for a meal, specifically from Ms. Sely’s kitchen, and a bed for the evening. The barkeeper gave Eric a welcoming smile and offered a fresh plate for a single copper and the lodging for another three. Eric reluctantly slid the coin across the bar, much to the delight of the barkeep and waited for his meal.

A stout dwarf took a seat next to Eric after a few minutes and struck up a conversation with him. The dwarf explained most of the city’s guests headed to the larger inns and hostels clustered in their own district for evening lodgings. The accommodation district, was apparently located west of the shopping district and offered plenty of entertainment to fit anyone’s imagination according to the animated dwarf. The dwarf explained he found out about the Relic Inn from one of the NPC guards, similar to Eric and appreciated its proximity to the training grounds and lack of other players to cause trouble. The two patrons shared a short conversation while eating the meals they ordered. It stuck mostly to small talk and discussions about the city which was insightful for both of them.

After eating his fill and confirming his Satiety had been completely restored, Eric took his leave and settled into his rented room for the evening. It was a small accommodation but had homey touches that made it comfortable. Eric laid on the bed and felt weariness wash over him from the long day. His mind had just about run out of steam. He quickly set the alarm from his virtual interface to ensure he had plenty of time to meet Flynn the next morning and then drifted off to sleep.