Aria offered to buy a few items for me from the auction house but I declined. As a level five novice, anything I could equip now would be wasted once I picked up my class. My [Fine Novice Blade] and fine novice armor set would suit me until then. I did let her buy me a potion collection: Minor Health Potion x 10, Minor Mana Potion x 5, Minor Stamina Potion x 5, Basic Antidote Potion x 2.

"If you can, try to make it back to the adventurer's guild and buy packs from the NPCs here. They're a fixed set but sometimes half the price of what you'd have to pay outside," Aria explained as we walked across the pavilion grounds to the exit. "Oh, I'll send you a link to my guild's website. You won't have access to the members’ only forum, but we have guides you can download and you can always ask questions in general. Whatever you do, ignore the fanwiki; I want to say it's about four patches out of date."

"You have your own guild?" I asked.

Aria chuckled and shook her head. "Never again. I was a guild master for two years in another game and it was hell. When we migrated, we joined with a few other guilds to form Sunless Alliance. I'm a guild officer and that's it."

The exit to the guild space was shared by everyone, even though it would take you to a host of different starting cities. We stopped before it. "I don't suppose there's an easy way for me to get from Brekinhiem to Mercadia?"

"Not at your level," she replied. "There are a few tricks but it's a long trip south through some high-level zones. If you want, we might be able to party again at around level thirty-five."

"I'd like that." Please Aria, be my meat shield.

We separated. As I walked through the archway, I could feel space bending around me for a moment. Then a door slammed shut behind me and I was back in the cold north of Brekinhiem. I pulled up my character sheet, inventory, and abilities simply to go over everything I had, and then set up the small map in the corner of my vision.

I might have been less than honest when I'd told Aria I didn't know what class I wanted. Given my race's bonus to Fitness and my character's less than savory background, I'd been aiming for a rogue-type class. I didn't know exactly what that might be yet. Every game had their own variations on a theme. I'd even played games where the best rogue-type class was a druid. It was good to know that the fan wiki was out of date as now that I had a Sneak skill and was halfway to picking my class, I'd have started doing more research.

It was getting late and the tall, ramshackle buildings cast long shadows across the city. Using my mini-map, I found a small alleyway off the busy street. The packed dirt was covered in fragrant slop tossed by nearby windows. I grimaced at the sight and scent. I probably should have picked a more pleasant starting zone for a race with a bonus to Perception.

Ignoring what was under my new boots, I activated the 'Sneak' skill on my ability bar.

Nothing happened.

I starred at the icon. Unlike First Aid, it was toggled on and off. It currently sparkled with a gold barrier. I pace back and forth with a frown. I didn't feel any more sneaky. Perhaps my footfalls were quieter, it was hard to tell.

Confused, I pulled up the skill card.

Sneak

PreReq: Novice 1

Cast Time: Instant; Cooldown: None; Cost: None

Enter stealth mode, making your movements difficult to detect but slowing movement speed to 85% of normal. Most hostile actions will end the effect prematurely. Cannot be used in combat.

Again, I walked back and forth. I didn't feel any slower. Then again, I wasn't walking that fast to begin with. I sprinted from the alley and stealth immediately toggled off. I flipped it on again and continued to walk back to Mon's house. If I walked too fast, stealth broke automatically, but I was able to maintain a casual pace with it on.

As I passed by a baker's shop, I slowed and then stepped inside. The man at the counter nodded in my direction and then went back to kneading dough. He was a big fellow and it was relaxing to see his strong, flour-covered hands at work. I idled closer, waiting for a reaction but he seemed focused on his job. He scooped out a bit of water from a bowl and slipped it on the dough and continued to kneed it. The closer I edged to him, the more sure I was that he ought to have reacted to my presence by now. Eventually, I reached out and touched his arm, breaking my stealth.

His head whipped up in alarm but then he smiled. "Sorry there. What can I do for you?"

"What do you have available?" I asked.

"Let me see: I've crown's bread, knight's bread, monk's bread, and peasant loaf. I'm sold out of squire bread and lady's bread, at the moment, but will have a fresh batch of easterlings soon." He pointed at the dome-shaped clay ovens behind him.

His labels were less than helpful. "How much for knight's bread?"

"Five cop a loaf or a half-silver for three."

I shoved my hand in my pouch as I glanced at my inventory display. I had 11 gold and 8 silver pieces. Could I do a half-silver? I concentrated on doing so and a warm coin slipped into my fingers as the display changed to 11 gold, 8 silver, and 7 copper. Pulling it out, I looked it over. This wasn't the same coin I'd been given at the adventurers’ guild. It seemed my inventory could exchange my currency into whatever I needed. Handy, though I was going to have a hell of a time recalling the value of each local coin.

Handing it over with a smile, I told him I wanted three knight's bread. The baker seemed surprised but didn't hesitate to fulfill my order, handing over three large, fluffy loaves of white bread. I slid them into my pouch and the baker didn't even blink as it stayed the same size. On the way home, I grabbed two bottles of wine.

I had to resist the urge to steal something simply to find out how hard or easy it was. I wanted to have some fun in this game but worried about how punishing it might be if I got caught. The things that caught my eye weren't even equipment upgrades. As I traveled along there were small stalls and shops loaded with all the random sundries a person might want in a pre-modern city. Copper pots here, a shoe marking shop there, a basket seller, someone hawking a collection of dried herbs in brown glass jars. If I were a game developer, I'd let players purloin random crap without worrying about consequences. Have guards or high level merchants oversee valuables and let people have fun with petty larceny.

By the time I returned to Mon's place, my head was swimming possibilities. I needed to pick up lockpicks somehow and learn how to use them.

"Very nice, very nice," Mon said approvingly as he held up the cheap red wine I bought. "What's the occasion?"

"I had a good day. Why not share my fortune?" I flicked a gold coin his way with my thumb. His hand was a blur as he snatched it from the air. Right, he was an ex-monk turned pit fighter. Probably had great reflexes.

Mon's eyes widened in pleasure when he saw the coin in his blue hand. He'd asked for 'a few silver' to help out and I'd brought him a fair bit more.

"I'd love to hear all about it," he said.

"Maybe later." I wasn't sure how to explain to a normal NPC that I'd been teleported to a player area and done a few quests. Given my character's disreputable background and underworld connections, Janus probably did odd jobs she had to keep silent about. "But I've been thinking that I'd like to get my own place. Start making my own mark on the world, you know?"

Mon was busy pulling the cork out of the wine bottle with his teeth and so only grunted in reply.

"You've been around a while," I continued, trying to prompt the AI into giving me a useful quest. "Have any idea how I might get more coin in my pocket?"

Did the NPCs know about classes? I wondered if I should simply return to my Sanctuary and look online for a guide. Even if the fan wiki was out of date 'how to go from Novice to Rogue' had to be common knowledge.

There was a pop as he yanked out the cork and then spit it into the corner. Yeah, I wanted my own place. "Thinkin' about becoming a pit fighter? There's good money in it."

"Not as such..." He was kind enough to pour me a mug of wine. I hadn't considered being a pit fighter; that Mon was one had simply been an interesting background detail I'd added. I didn't know if Pit Fighter was an actual class you could unlock and train in. "What sort of skills would I need for that?"

"Be the toughest, meanest, fastest bastard there is," Mon replied with a grin. "Embrace the pain—blood and broken bones are just part of a good night's work."

Class Quest: Into the Pit

Mon wants to train you in a variant of the monk class: pit fighter. This is a damage focused specialization that uses hand-to-hand combat and light armor.

I wondered if I'd unlocked a rare or special class. Just my luck that it didn't appeal to me in the slightest. I mentally hit the 'not interested' button and it disappeared.

"I don't want to embrace the pain. I want to help other people embrace theirs." Subtlety was getting me nowhere. "You must know some people who can help me out. I'm looking for training in more clandestine activities."

He rubbed at his greying stubble. "You used to run with the Rose Street Gang. Why not hook up with them again?"

"My ambitions are a bit higher than helping hoodlums in a street gang. I need someone who'll teach me how to pick a lock, not smash it open."

He made an 'ah' sound, sipped his wine, and burped. I tried some of it as well. Rough did not begin to describe it and my tongue squirmed in displeasure. I forced myself to swallow and was rewarded by warmth flooding my belly.

"I might be able to help," Mon finally said. "No promises, but I can arrange a meeting between you and some friends... well, not friends..."

"I get it."

His face hardened as he looked me straight in the eyes. "Are you sure this is what you want? You're right that the old gang was hoodlums. These people are professionals. They're serious and they don't have time for someone who wants to play around."

Perfect, this was exactly what I wanted. "Then it's a good thing I've never been one to play around."

"To a better future," Mon said as he raised his mug of wine.

I knocked mine against his with a smile. "To a better future."

That night, when Janus slept, I logged out of the main game and back to my Sanctuary. It had only been a day in-game so less than ten hours since I'd first sent out messages to the real world. Unsurprisingly, my mother had already responded. Knowing my mother, I'd have to send her a note at least every other real day to let her know I was alive and well.

I sent her a picture of Janus' model in her swanky novice gear and pink booties. I rambled on for a few minutes about the realism and how much fun I was having and how I hoped to unlock a normal class soon. In truth, mom had never cared for VR games. She'd been a competitive swimmer in college and had kept fit and active after having me. I was the only kid I knew who invited friends over for the weekend because my parents were out kayaking or snowboarding.

"Love you, mom," I said in a cheerful tone. "Say hello to dad for me!"

Familial responsibilities out of the way, I checked my medical progress. It was exactly the same as it had been before. It was possible they didn't even update the status report daily, let alone every few hours.

Next, I searched for information on unlocking classes in PO. The base classes were simple to unlock. As a level 10 novice, I could simply go to the adventuring guild and buy the class book. My song and dance with Mon hadn't been necessary. At least I'd saved myself a few coins and joining a thieves' guild could help me unlock future classes and specializations.

Penumbra Online's class system was tiered, you had your ten levels of Novice, at which point you unlocked one of ten base classes. Your base class continued to increase as you leveled and you could unlock specializations for it. Then there were tier two classes to unlock for each base class, as well as tier three classes available after you reached the level cap of 50 for your base class. This combined with the ability cards, the best of which were gotten through crafting, dungeon delving, or exploration, and could also be upgraded or modified.

The more I read complaints about classes and trying to unlock rare abilities, the more it seemed that this was a flaming dumpster fire in terms of game balance. According to the PvP forums, classes ranged from OP to trash tier. There were a number of long 'I'm leaving the game' rants from people who claimed they'd played a class for years and still not gotten the exact combination of equipment, abilities, and traits they wanted.

It all made me a touch uneasy, but I told myself that the people who come to forums are almost always those with grievances. PO was one of the most popular VRMMO games in the world and was already five years old. It was unlikely that simply going a rogue route would cripple my character. High-level content might be more demanding, but if I struggled with that, I could roll another character, and legacy items would help me level faster.

I'd been advised to avoid the fanwiki but figured there was no harm browsing the build listing. There was an interesting thief build with illusion powers that I took note of. The Scout secondary class had support abilities. I wondered how viable a rogue + healer type build might be in this game. It would let me engage in the sneaky, stabby play I enjoyed but give me something to make myself more appealing to groups. If Aria were going to focus on tanking, she might need a spot healer as well.

There was a Pit Fighter tier-three class and it seemed to be difficult to unlock. I felt a touch bad about my simply dismissing the idea, but the more I read about it, the more sure I was that it didn't appeal to me.

Later, I found myself absorbed in a list of elemental affinities and how they interacted. There was the typical fire, earth, wind, thunder, and water, as well as holy and shadow. There was also eldritch, chaos, poison, and neutral. Most abilities thieves used were shadow, poison, or neutral. Poison was strong against the typical elements but weak against most of the special ones. Shadow was strong against holy but weak against itself, chaos, and neutral. Neutral wasn't strong against anything but was weak against chaos.

If I rolled a thief class, I'd need to be aware of any chaos-type monsters I might encounter as my attacks would be crippled. I wondered if there was any class that had the right blend of affinities to be strong against any monster type. As I got ready to wade through the abilities of every class, I reminded myself that Janus was simply my first character and I was only a level five Novice. This wasn't a test I had to cram for. I'd pick up a great deal of information simply playing the game and paying attention.

A rapping sound came from the front door and my head jerked up. There was only one person I knew who could visit me in my Sanctum and she had no reason to do so. Unless other players could? I'd stuck Aria on my friend's list, maybe that gave her access.

Pushing away from my desk, I headed for the door and opened it. This time, my eyes immediately glanced down and I spotted Corvis shivering in the rain.

"Why are you here?" I blurted in sudden anger. The crow flinched and I immediately felt guilty. What was that about?

"Come in," I said, trying to sound polite after my outburst. Corvis flew inside and alighted on the bust of Athena above the fireplace again. Her presence here made me uneasy though I couldn't put my finger on why. I liked the program. Seeing her again should be a good thing. "Is there something wrong? I'm not making another character right now."

The three-eyed crow only tilted her head and sighed sorrowfully. Rather than answer, she shook the rain from her glossy black feathers and preened.

I stepped closer, wondering what was going on. Something shifted in my head.

"It's funny, I had a dream about you," I said. I tried to recall the details but they wouldn't come. Corvis had definitely been in it.

"We're all having dreams about one another," Corvis said, wings drooping. The large bird looked sad and I wanted to hold and comfort her. Instead, I laid a hand on her back. Those bright eyes scanned my face, taking me in.

"It's okay," I murmured. I didn't know what was troubling the bird but just wanted her to feel better.

She placed a foot on my arm, tiny talons digging into my skin. "I hope so," she replied. "There's something hidden in your house. I don't know if you want to find it. I didn't want to frighten but wanted to give you the choice."

"That makes no sense."

"While you were gone, I brought something here and hid it. If you want to find it, you can do so. If you want to ignore it, that's also fine."

"But what is it?" I asked.

"You already know."

My sympathy for the bird was rapidly drying up. She'd interrupted me for this? There must be a bug in her system. Or maybe the developers had a new patch coming up and had decided to hint at it in an annoying fashion. 'Have the character creator appear in your Sanctuary and spout bullshit' was probably some marketing intern's genius idea.

"If you're not going to tell me what it is, where to find it, or even why you hid it, then I'm not going to bother to look," I replied, pulling my hand away from her. "Listen, I'm busy right now looking at class builds. I hope you don't mind, but I'm not up to playing host."

I gave her a look and pointedly opened the door for her to leave. Corvis gave me an apologetic glance before departing.

After shutting the door and locking it tight, I returned to my node but my mind drifted back to whatever she'd hidden in the house. That she'd been in my Sanctum without my permission rubbed me the wrong way. Technically speaking, I was always attached to the system and it always had full access to my mind and vitals. It had to in order to constantly feed my brain the illusion of reality. Whether I was alone in my farmhouse or standing in a crowded street in Brekinhiem, the game had complete access to me, which meant that all its component parts did.

I scanned the interior of the house for anything that might be amiss. I'd only been here a short while, however, and hadn't committed details to memory. It looked exactly the same as before. With a sigh, I halfheartedly moved books around in the bookcase and then opened the cupboards in the kitchen. As a headed for some kitschy oil paintings on the wall, I felt a sharp pain in my temple. I winced, pressing my fingers against it, and they came away with a smear of blood on them.

In the bathroom, I washed the blood from my temple with a wet cloth. It reminded me of the thing I was here to forget about, the brain surgery they'd be performing sooner or later. I didn't want to die. Or worse, end up brain-damaged. It was a real possibility though and I had no control over it.

Disgusted, I tossed the wet cloth into the sink and left it there. I was here to have fun, not worry about my mortality. The last few hours I'd spent browsing game mechanics suddenly seemed a complete waste of time. What did it matter if I had the right bonuses against chaos creatures? Who cared about unlocking just the right combination of specializations and abilities?

It was a game, nothing more. I was here to have exciting adventures and forget about all the tedious shit of the real world. I switched off the node and prepared to log back into the game. It would be the middle of the night. Level 5 novice or not, there was all sorts of trouble I could get into.