Chapter 4 : Everyone Else - Part 3

yO~ guys,

The last part of the chapter is below.

Have fun!!!

Chapter 4 : Everyone Else - Part 3

PART-3

" You have entered Eden. Your soul has started energising..."

"Soul has bound with your spirit and incarnation has started."

"Your soul has chosen to be born as Thor race."

Rocky was one of the first people to receive the CAPSULE because he directly went to the shipping company when the shipment tracking said they had received the package and sent an alert saying it would be delivered the next day. Rocky couldn't stand the a day long wait and just drove to the main office which was 20 miles away and got the package around late night.

He was a pro gamer and always strived to be the best in them. When it was announced on the first VRMMORPG to be released with the first full immersion VR console, The CAPSULE, he went sleepless checking the sites and online forums for updates or latest news.

On finally logging in, he was breath taken by the immersion VR, from the initial configuration to being a spirit floating on clouds, he was amazed and when he finally started the game, the lack of character creation or optimization did not falter him.

On seeing the notification regarding the race. He was hyped just by the name of the Race.

Thor!!! OMG, I wonder what kind of race it is. I always was hoping to be a berserker from the start.

Rocky was inside a white enclosing and everything was dark around him, but he felt different, he would sense a lot of things around him and it make him dizzy. He couldn't move as he wanted and was constrained on the movement, but after a few minutes he heard and felt something nudging at his encasing. Rocky didn't feel afraid and the feeling around him wasn't hostile and he could sense it.

Feeling the need to nudge open from the cramped enclosing, Rocky nudged back at the encasing and he felt a corresponding nudge from outside and after a couple of minutes the encasing begin to crack slowly and within a few hours he was outside from the encasing.

Rocky crawled out and he couldn't stand on his two legs. On all fours , he was able to understand that he wasn't human, but what amazed him was his sense of perception. He could map out things with his mind, but it was completely dark.

Outside the encasing, though it was completely dark , Rocky could sense what was around him and he could feel that he was deep inside the ground and covered by layers of non-living substances as a barrier from outside.

Rocky was tired within a few minutes and suddenly he felt a familiar presence moving towards him. He awaited and it pushed in closer crossing the barriers and entered deep inside the ground towards him.

"So, you're awake and finally out of your shell.

Come and drink, you must be famished.", said the familiar presence and laid down before him on its belly. Rocky now was greatly famished, but he was over taken by questions and diversion that he didn't take notice of his hunger until it was pointed out before him.

Rocky crawled towards the voice and closed in towards the hairy skin. He pushed forward but he was stopped by his mouth or rather a beak. He was astounded, the race said 'Thor' and he felt more like a duck, but which duck had four paws and a large tail. He pondered within when a liquid started to secrete from where he had touched with his beak. He drank and it tasted like milk, but very different kind of milk he had ever tasted and it was delicious.

After having taken a stomach full, even though he tried to stop himself, he drank till he was a few drops from bursting and a sudden onslaught of sleep took over him. He slept as soon as he reached the pile of soft padding made from dry leaves on the floor.

Four hours passed by and Rocky found himself more larger. His sense of the things around him were more distinct now, like an electrical map, but within the bodies of things with life he saw. He couldn't make out the ground, but the small living organisms were giving off a small electrical charge he could make out everything around him up to a certain limit. He checked his notifications and found that he had completed a few growth stages and his stats had increased by a bit.

He waited for the woman earlier to come towards him, but he couldn't sense anyone. He saw that he had more control over him body now, but still had to walk with four legs since they were quite small.

Rocky traced him path towards the exit, but he had to push away a huge number of layers of leaves and leaves which seems to be covering the exit with over 20 layers for over 50 meters along the pathway. As he cleared the layers by pushing and hitting them with his large tail which crushed the twigs in between, which made it easier to remove the complex structure of leaves and twigs.

After over three hours of clearing the pathway and resting in between, finally Rocky crawled out and lied down exhausted. Soon after the exhaustion had cleared, he felt an immense urge to eat and overcame with hunger. He got up and was able to sense the being around him and instinctly knew which to eat and not. What he felt before him suddenly was visible to him and saw that from the bank of the river he was on, a number of small fishes inside the water. Famished, he dropped into the water and caught a few after a numerous number of tries by understanding how he could sense their path before they moved.

He found many amazing things as his hunger subsided by eating the fishes near the banks of the river. He found that he couldn't breathe underwater, but he could hold his breath longer than normal i.e. over three minutes. Other thing was that he couldn't keep his eyes open in the water, but he could sense better inside the water, thus catching other delicacies which he couldn't by the river banks. He gained a few levels, since he felt stronger, but couldn't see the stats window and his skills which he was able to see were all passive skills like - Sense Life ( which increased range on level), Water resistance ( which levels quite a lot when he was swimming), Swimming( this was in Gold colour and no levels.) May be because I'm a better swimmer in real life, he thought. And a series of other skills were ????.

A few hours sped by and Rocky learned to control his new body, he left more alive in the water and his sense of life around him amazed his senses. He lay beside the bank from where he dug out of the ground and calmly looked at himself. He had a body of a racoon, while his head had a beak like a duck and he later found out that his beak was like an antennae which picked up the electrical signals from the living things around him, since when he turned his beak to a particular direction he could sense things clearly along that side. His legs were small for his body, but they were fast and they were webbed for swimming. His coat was waterproof and if he shook himself after getting out of the water, he was completely dry. The tail, that was something of a wonder, it was like a huge bat at his rear, but it was amazingly flexible up to a certain limit and it was quite strong. He didn't know what he was, for he had never seen such a creature in his life and he felt the race 'thor' was misleading.

After resting a few hours and roaming around the bank looking around at the detailed landscape, the plant and animal life around him was astonishing. How did a computer generate all these data, moreover no animal had the same pattern was what he observed from the creatures he could sense around him, they all seemed distinct in their pattern.

After arriving to the river bank on checking his surroundings, he was without any task to encounter and suddenly he sensed the familiar presence approaching him. It was the lady that took care of him when he entered the game.

"So you're finally out, I went to find you a place to live. So how do you feel?"

"I'm fine. Thank you. Place to live?? Can't I live here?"

"No you can't!! This is my place, but you can visit sometimes to see me, your mother."

Mother?? So...I was.... hatched.... I looked like a mammal, but from an egg... I think I read about that somewhere. I'll check that when I log out.

"Mother??!.."

"Yes, dear. Don't tell me you forgot your mother in your hunger. Don't forget to eat every few hours it will help you grow and I found you a place to live. Go up this river, for a few days and the river will split into two take the left path and move forward a few hours and you should be able to find an unoccupied river bank.

Careful not to attract attention from others like us, they will follow you and try to claim the place as their own. Also, if by the time you reach the river bank, someone took it over, you will have to fight him for it. So, off you go."

A quest generated suddenly and appeared before him.

Quest : Find a home.

Travel across the river to find the spot mentioned by Rivden. If you spot is already taken over by another, you will have to claim it over.

Rewards : A new base spot where it's free from predators.

Penalty : None.

"Uh.. um.. Ok...", Rocky didn't know what to say, she didn't even ask his name and was throwing him out.

"Can I stay here to rest for a while and then leave.."

The mother looked at her son for a while and replied sighing..

"Ok, you don't seem to be like the type to take over my bank. You can stay for a while and then leave."

"Take over your bank. That doesn't sound fair."

"Fair!! tell that to your elder brother and sisters. I kind of like you. What do you want to call yourself."

"Rocky, ma'am. I do not know your name yet."

"Rocky, good, good. You can call me Rivden or mama. Whichever you like."

"OK, Thank you."

Rocky was confused by the minimal details he got, he always thought animals had more parental instincts. He felt awkward near Rivden and moved away from her and towards another side of the bank and logged out.

Brock Romano aka Rocky among his friends got out of his ergonomic gaming chair and was indifferent with the game he just played, but what affected him more was the sense of presence he lost after logging out of the game. He felt vulnerable and a bit tense at not knowing what or who was around him. He sat down and began meditating to clear his mind, he had to do this often now, because he loved games, the adventure and it was better than the normal world around him. When playing the games and after logging out, he would go into a deep thought about why this life was boring and he was not meant to be born in this time. At least he should have been born in the dark ages, where people had to fight to show their dominance. He would tell him friends,

"I was not supposed to be born in this time. Whoever is up top, made a mistake!!."

His obsession with living an alternate life, made him into a pro gamer and he tried to be the best there is and was one of the best gamers in the industry. He was a pro game tester and was one of the people who tested out the MR gear during its initial days of testing. But his obsession left him wanting for more and blamed the society before him, they were lazy and always took the safer option. Avoiding conflict was the way of the future, if someone wanted to take over a country then give them trade benefits and open up better immigration policies.

Investment into another country such that they won't try to take over that country due to the amount of revenue they get was the booming strategy to avoid wars now. Rocky felt everyone was a coward, when he initially took to gaming as his career path, all his family shunned him and talked to him to think of his future. He told them.

"I don't want to live a boring life like you people. So, just leave me alone."

Rocky's obsession took to worse as his successive career reached different heights. He was more depressed at why his life was still boring with the risks he took. He was not content with what he had and he played game throughout the time without sleep. He was later taken to psychiatrist and told not to think too much and to meditate if he started to have a depression attack.

Rocky cleared his mind within a few minutes, since he learned how to control his thoughts. Once he meditated for over three hours and later slept for 24 hours straight. Since then, Rocky always meditated to keep himself in control and he only needed a few minutes to clear his mind.

Rocky went to prepare himself something to eat wearing the MR goggles and checked the internet for mammals which lay eggs and it instantly took him to an animal which he was for the past few hours and he read through them. There were a few documentaries and movies on this creature called the Platypus and found that the reason why he had never heard of such an animal was because they were extinct for the past ten years. He watched the videos as he had food and understood quite a bit from the videos, but the video kept referring to the Platypus were a mystery as they didn't know more about the creature.

After logging in Rocky bid his farewell to Rivden and left the her river bank promising to visit sometime to which she said "If you want...". Before he left she told him not to take long rests in between if he didn't want to run into trouble.

Rocky went upstream and it was difficult at first but with time he knew how to evade by using the rocks in the river which diverted and sometimes stopped the waves. On his way he ate some fishes on the way and also some snails along the way. Whenever he saw something he could instantly say which was edible and after a few tries he could eat them without any trouble.

After a few hours of travelling he started to get tired and climbed on a rock in the middle of the river and lay down for a while. A few minutes suddenly he felt something coming towards him from upstream and jumped onto the rock. It was another platypus towering over him as he was lying down.

"Get lost...", he squealed.

"Hi...", said Rocky

"I said, GET LOST...MOVE ALONG "

"Ok...", sighed Rocky and jumped off the rock and started going his way upstream. Along his way he came to understand that most Platypus were territorial much to as he read, but he didn't think they would be so antisocial. He read that when human tried to reach Platypus they were not afraid of them, he thought that they were social, but now he knew that they were not afraid. Why would they be afraid of something they can see from miles away and predict every movement.

Rocky stopped every few hours on different banks and was suddenly interrupted by the owner of the territory to which he had to set off leaving him more exhausted. Finally his exhaustion took over him and settled himself on a log which took him back since he was going upstream and it stopped on a group of rocks in between.

As usual within minutes a platypus was on him and threatened him to leave. He lay there motionless and tried hard to ignore him, but suddenly he jumped at him. Rocky rolled aside to dodge him and jumped up on his legs.

The platypus circled each other and the platypus before Rocky was seemingly larger than him and was a full adult of the species. He jumped swiftly and bit at the place where rocky's neck would be, but Rocky propelled his leg as a pivot and did a spin in place, hitting the platypus with his tail.

The platypus was sneering at him and jumped towards him. He bit and also used the tail sweeping Rocky off his feet in small swift movements.

Rocky was already out of breathe and stayed motionless on the rock.

"Let...*huff* ...me...* huff*.... rest!!", said Rocky.

"Sure, take your time. That was the most fun, I had in days. Ha ha ha", said the platypus and sat down on the rock near him.

After a few minutes Rocky regained his breathe and sat upright.

"You seem different, all the others just threatened me to leave."

"Did they now, heh!!!"

"Hey!! You know something let me know."

"Ok ok, The thing is everyone can find their own river bank if they just tried, but after finding one it just get boring."

"So..."

"They just want to fight. It's more fun that way. Moreover, fighting anything else is boring, very predictable. Only our kind is a match for us.

So you off to find yourself a home eh??"

"Um.. yeah."

"Well it was fun, stay as long as you want and if you want let's have a spar whenever you want. By the way I'm Rill. " , said the platypus and his eyes curved like a smile.

"Thanks Rill!! I'm Rocky.", said Rocky still laying down.

Rocky rested for a while and got up. Looking around he saw that Rill was not around, but he sensed him underwater a long way from where he rested. He waited for Rill to return and dipped into the river for a meal.

After having had a stomach full, he rested on the rock waiting for Rill and he was back.

"So, you're off eh?"

"Yup, thanks for allowing me to rest."

"No problem. You're welcome to visit and spar with me anytime."

"Sure, I will come often as soon as I find the spot."

Rocky bid his goodbye, but before he left he logged off and slept for a few hours. He later logged in and left upstream to find new land to call his home.

After a few hours he reached a split in the river and turned towards the left as Rivden had directed. The path across was difficult, there were too many stones in between and he couldn't move through them with ease. After resting on the rocks for a few minutes in regular intervals he finally reached a river bank, which seemed unoccupied.

Quest Updated:

Quest : Find a home - II

You have found the place mentioned by Rivden, but in order to claim it as your own. You need to created more than three lodging areas around this bank and also protect this area from others.

Rewards : Experience, Skills

Penalty : None

"Hmm.. Ok then...", he thought aloud and logged out to learn more about the Platypus.

*****************************

An ant was sitting on a cliff as the sun started to shine on the horizon, as the light started to display the ground around him it sparkled with the blood on the leaves and ground. There was nothing left except for a few hides and bones around in the puddles of blood on the ground.

Crimson was fighting more than 10 packs of wolves for over twelve hours and he was completely covered blood red by the blood of the wolves. He had reduced the population of the wolves in the area by 50%.

Wolves are boring now. I don't think I levelled up even once after reaching level 100.

He picked up the hides and returned back on his way to the hive. The wolves were hiding behind the trees and stayed away from his path whimpering with fear.

An announcement was made throughout the forest warning everyone not to face a blood coloured ant, else it would lead to their doom...