Raven arrived at the combat-training area, an open field fenced out from the rest of town full of players hacking away at what looked like humanoids made of mud. (“Golems.”) Raven mused as he approached the fence entrance where a small hut of stone lay to one side.

Looking around Raven realized something…none of the players or Mentors he had seen at Oceangate were here. He hadn’t seen them in the streets albeit how bustling they were and neither here at the training area…(“They weren’t so far ahead…”)

He found this a bit odd but didn’t think much of it, it was a big city after all. He walked over to the small building beside the entrance, glancing inside he found a small store of sorts lay within. At the far end was the counter on a long wooden table while the rest was either shelves or stands with every kind of armor and weaponry you’d find in a fantasy world.

Dozens of kinds of shields, several more kinds of swords and so much more. It was a beginner’s armory.

“Yo, you new here?” Asked the shopkeeper, a male Elf with short blonde hair and crimson eyes.

{Cerberus} 1ns4n3 [Level 58] (Mentor)

“Yeah, just walked into town really.” Raven responded as he glanced over some less than common weaponry, bladed claws, scythes and shuriken among them.

“Ah, welcome welcome. Feel free to try out any weapon outback on the dummies. Break one no matter, but break two you pay. Aight?” the Mentor explained.

“Gotcha.” Raven mumbled out as he passed by a massive two-handed sword, before finding himself staring in confusing at a pair of bladed boots (“That can’t be practical…right?”)

“Amazing right?” Insane suddenly said seeing his expression of confusion.

“Yeah…How many mastery types are there?” Raven asked as he looked away from the strange weaponry.

“Type? Nah, Weapon mastery categories are set. It’s the crafting system that’s amazing.” Insane explained “Doesn’t matter if it’s practical or not, the system accepts it and categorizes it. If you create something new, you gain a blueprint that you can sell to others. It’s really a piece of art.”

Raven’s eyes widened “Seriously? Anything?”

“Yeup, for example.” He gestured at a gun rack “Rifles, pistols and such didn’t exist on launch. Five years ago a guy put together some resources with blacksmithing, chemistry and woodworking…And there you go.”

“I wonder how the system calculates damage values per weapon then…” Raven mumbled to himself while glancing over the different side-arms, there was even a gunblade!

“Who knows? Hell the devs do but they sure don’t tell us that shit.” Insane chuckled as he leaned over the desk “So looking for anything specific?”

“Not really…have suggestions?” Raven asked with a pleading smile.

“Hm…Well depends what your fighting style is, quick melee, silent melee, defensive melee, heavy ranged or quick ranged.” Insane thoughtfully responded.

“Fighting style…” Raven hadn’t thought that over yet, every time he had played an MMORPG he’d usually do it with a group of friends and picked depending on what they needed in the party…Now he was alone and was free to choose whichever. (“I did play shooters a lot more though…”) he thought while eyeing the gunblade.

He then noticed something while looking around “Where are the bows?” he asked, turning to the counter.

“Bows? Ah…” Insane gestured at the wall to his left, Raven had to step closer to the counter to even see them nailed to it “Nobody really uses bows anymore, sure they deal more damage per shot than a pistol and fire faster than a rifle but…They’re way too damn hard to use.”

“How exactly does a bow deal more damage than a pistol?” Raven asked in disbelief.

“Hm…Well we call them guns but honestly, they’re not that effective. The accuracy on them is…usable at best and the rifles take too long to reload. Most rangers use crossbows at higher level.” The Mentor admitted.

“What’s the difference between a bow and a crossbow?” Raven asked “Other than how they look of course.”

“Crossbow fires much faster due to the repeating mechanism, easy to use and aim too. The problem with them is that reloading them takes a while and leaves you completely open to attack, so they are only really used in sieges or boss fights.” Insane explained whilst pointing at a large crossbow behind him “They’re fairly heavy too. Bows on the other hand are much lighter, shorter reload and cheaper to upkeep ammunition or repair. Thing is this game has no aim-assist so aiming the damn thing is up to the player.”

(“Theory is good and all but…”) “Can I take them both out for a test drive?” he asked the Mentor.

“Sure…” Insane responded with a raised brow, turning around he grabbed the clunky looking crossbow and a leather pack then moved over to grab the bow and quiver. “Well here you go, try not to shoot anyone out there.” He told him with a smirk.

Raven took the bow and quiver first, putting them both over one shoulder then accepted the big crossbow and pack of bolts from him “I’ll…try not to.” (“He thinks I’m going to fail utterly.”) Raven noted from his expression. He heaved the crossbow with both hands, it was quite heavy as expected from the size. Turning around Raven walked out of the store, turning to the left he watched briefly the dozens of players hacking away at evasive golems of mud and earth.

“See, no bows or crossbows. Hell nobody’s using anything ranged really.” Insane chuckled, having followed him out of the small building.

“Hm.” Raven hummed thoughtfully before entering the field, it was large enough to hold three times the amount of players currently inside as several golems were going unused. Carefully he lay the bow and quiver on the ground, then strapped the leather pack of bolt-magazines to his belt.

Glancing around he noticed several players turning to watch him, seemingly interested in the only ranged wielding player around. Or more so waiting to watch him fail. (“Can’t be that bad right?...”) Raven inwardly hoped, as he took aim with the already loaded crossbow.

It only had a wooden sight so aiming it wasn’t going to be easy, he had to first know it’s firerate, projectile speed and projectile drop. So by just aiming in the general direction of a golem, he pressed the trigger back. Three bolts quickly fired out of the crossbow, the string being pulled back immediately after the first shot as a bolt was pulled upward and into position before firing again.

There was about a second and a half in between each shot. The first one missed completely but Raven immediately adjusted, the second one almost hitting if it wasn’t for the golem evading to the side. The third hit, sinking itself into the golem’s left bicep.

Insane whistled from behind him “Damn not bad. Not bad at all, took the last guy two pouches before he got a hit. Probably would take me two as well!” he seemed actually impressed.

But Raven was mostly ignoring him, focusing on the weapon at hand. This always happened to him, he got stuck on the details…fascinated by the mechanics behind the game. He took aim again, calmly pulled the trigger as three more bolts fired out in quick succession.

He missed the first, the second burst through what would have been the ear and the third embedded itself into the golem’s cheek. (“Acceptable fire-rate for the power it has behind it…accuracy can be dealt with.”) he mentally noted.

“Ah you’re out, might wanna switch box.” Insane pointed out while gesturing at the bolt-pack.

“Only 6 shots…” Raven mumbled to himself while turning the heavy crossbow over, he studied the box that held the six bolts closely. It was locked into place with what looked like wooden clips with a metal hook entering holes on the box’s sides. He had to pull back each of the four clips before he could pull out the box itself, throwing it aside he opened the pack on his side and pulled out a fresh one.

Raven pushed the box into place, then switched the clips back onto it. (“If I was being quick…four? Five seconds?”) he guessed the fastest amount of time that would take him to reload and re-acquire aim. He sighed, it was took long. Four seconds was too long during combat, with the speed he saw Ceres and Tiana teleport and the power behind Thane’s charge… (“No wonder they are only used during sieges, with someone to cover for them.”)

He put the crossbow down and picked up the bow then strapped the quiver to the back of his belt, at waist height. Raven studied the bow, it wasn’t anything special. Just a long bow, a long carved piece of durable, flexible bent wood with a string tied from tip to tip.

He pulled an arrow out from the quiver, it was mostly wooden unlike the iron crossbow-bolts. While having a thicker tip it was still probably lighter. Over all he barely felt the bow in his hands compared to the heavy crossbow.

Raven nocked the arrow, drew it back and took aim. The string was more resistant than he expected, but what surprised him more was that he was sure he was holding it correctly…(“The system?”) he guessed, having dealt with system interference on weapon management before.

It was slight, unnoticeable if you didn’t think about it. Most combat was system assisted, as nobody was actually trained to use this weaponry. But if one went with the flow of the system, they’d most certainly lose against someone willing their moves instead. Skill was still very much a factor.

Raven tried to calculate the arrow’s trajectory, then released the arrow. It shot forth, bending as it left the bow. He watched it fly forwards, shooting past the golem without it even needing to evade this time around. He had missed completely.

“Don’t feel bad mate, I’ve only ever seen one player land a shot and she worked the bow IRL so.” Insane tried to assure him “And she’s one of the top players in-game! I do think you should give the pistols a try though…Actually wait here.” He turned about and ran towards his store.

This went unnoticed by Raven, as he was too busy recalculating the projectile’s trajectory. Taking into account it’s strange flight pattern and angle of drop. He never knew an arrow moved like that while in-flight…

By the time Insane had stepped out of the building with a pistol, a rifle and a box of ammunition…Raven had nocked and re-drew his bow.

He took a deep breath, his heart-beat slowing down as he relaxed and focused. Raven released the arrow, and it flew true. Digging itself into the golem’s forehead.

“Oohh!! Shit!!” a crowd had gathered around him by then, new players and a couple well-geared ones. Watching him after some had seen him hit with the crossbow although having failed themselves, gathering around him right after to see more.

“Here give these-” Insane began to say when Raven landed his headshot. “Holy shit you actually…” he glanced between the golem and Raven “What are you?”.

Raven pulled out another arrow “Rusty.” He responded simply before chuckling, refocusing right after as he nocked then drew. Immediately Raven loosed the arrow, and sure enough it splattered mud while piercing the golem’s chest.

Raven smiled approvingly, months worth of military simulator playtime hadn’t gone forgotten.

“Fuck me, I couldn’t land that for a million credits!” Insane laughed with disbelief, as Raven put down the bow, quiver and bolt-pack. Turning around he took the rifle from the still dumbfounded Mentor, as he snapped out of his daze and handed him the ammunition pack “Ah! Right give these a try, should be better than that ancient thing!”

Raven studied the rifle, having played enough shooters to know exactly after which ancient gun it was designed. “m189…5? Winchester Lee huh, straight-pull?” saying he was a gun nut was an understatement.

“A what now?” Insane asked as he looked at the mumbling Raven as if he was insane.

“Ah…nothing. How the hell did they implement this into the game’s crafting?” Raven asked, changing the subject.

“The crafting is a highly advanced system, almost realistic honestly.” Began another player entirely from the small crowd, a female Dwarf with short dyed green hair “There is system crafting which takes you to a blueprint list and then to a loading screen once selected, or the less used manual crafting. Where you actually piece everything together yourself.”

{FORGE} Ethel [Level 43]

“In short.” Continued Insane “A lot of god damn work. The creator uploaded a video on his channel if you’re interested.”

“Hm, maybe later.” Almost automatically, Raven took aim and fired. What occurred, was exactly what he expected. He easily headshot the golem, the kick was there but manageable and the weapon’s accuracy was beautiful. The problem came around when he went to reload, somewhere the system did not assist.

Thankfully he knew how to reload the gun, pulling back the small handle to its right and emptying the chamber. He emptied the remaining four rounds…and as he feared the real problem arrived. He had to refill the gun’s ammunition, he quickly opened the pack of bullets that he had replaced the bolt-pack with and opened the gun through the top.

Raven as quickly as he could entered the bullets into the gun…because they didn’t come with a magazine attachment to hold them together as he knew the gun normally had. This took him…counting the time he messed up and dropped a bullet, 6 seconds.

(“4 if I didn’t mess up…”) He sighed, it had less magazine size than a repeater crossbow but much stronger firepower. Almost the same reload time though. It was lighter for sure but he also had to take into account the kick behind it which would throw off his aim somewhat after each shot decreasing the fire rate alongside it.

“Damn, you hit every shot. What did you do before COTD?” Insane asked as he eyed the now arrow and hole ridden golem.

“Arma VR Reborn. A world war two military simulator.” Raven replied as he put down the rifle and took the pistol from Insane’s now still hand, the Mentor handing him a new pack of ammunition with the weapon.

He unstrapped the rifle’s ammo pack and replaced it with the pistol’s, he then fully absorbed the strange weapon he was now handling. It took him a moment of looking it over before he recognized it’s design “Colt Python, .357 magnum?” A 7-shooter revolver he noted while carefully handling the handgun with both hands.

Raven took aim two handed, immediately after beginning to pull the trigger. One after the other he fired all seven shots, and all seven hit their mark…on the golem behind the one he was using before. (“Hah…works like a charm.”) He thought, the weapon was simply so well made.

Then he got to the reloading…easier than the rifle but with two more bullets to load into the gun before closing it up and being ready to shoot once more. “Is there a skill or something to reload faster?...Like does cast time effect?” Raven hopefully asked.

“Nope, what you see is what you got. I see what you mean though, it’s why most players don’t go physical ranged outside of co-ordinated battles.” answered Insane.

Raven sighed once more, he really liked the Python but from what he saw on the golem the crossbow bolts and arrows pierced just as well with less reload time. And with his dexterity with ranged weaponry, accuracy was the last factor he needed to account for.

“That’s what happens when something is created inside a game that it wasn’t meant for, hell you should have seen the shuriken physics the first time someone tried them after they were player-created…” Ethel joked.

(“Right…rifles and pistols where never intended to be part of the game. Attack speed on Agility will probably affect bow and crossbow but something like a Colt Python?”) He handed the handgun back to Insane, picked up the bow and then restrapped the quiver.

“You actually going for the bow?” the Mentor asked in surprise, but Raven was busy focusing.

He glanced around, mentally marking the position of five untouched targets as he pulled an arrow out in between each of his right hand’s fingers. He nocked the first one, drew and quickly took aim. Raven released, nocked, drew and took aim four times in quick succession before pulling out the last arrow and doing the same with that. Within the time it would have taken him to reload any of the other three weapons he let loose five arrows and hit his mark with each one.

(“If I hadn’t run out of arrows…”) He thought while fingering the empty quiver behind his waistline, glancing around he noticed the small crowd around him had begun clapping in amusement. Entertained by the show.

“Okay yeah, you should definitely go for the bow.” Insane added, as he shook his head in disbelief.

“You said the only other ranger you know that uses a bow is a top player, right?” Raven suddenly asked, ignoring the crowd around him.

“Y-yeah, she’s very obvious about it too. Her IGN’s BowlassJade.” Insane responded, awkwarded out by his calm and solemn tone.

“Ah don’t even think about it newbie, she’s part of the top Elven only guild Alfheim. They ain’t letting you in.” said Ethel.

Raven smiled “And I’m not looking to join.” He handed Insane the bow and quiver, followed by the rest of the weapons and ammunition packs. Loading up the poor Elf. “It’s just good to know the competition.” Raven added before walking off much to everyone’s dismay.

Raven stepped out of the combat-training field, his mind made up on the bow as he made his way through the city’s streets and towards the looming castle. As midnight hit around him, the full moon laying large and bright above (“Now…for the main quest line.”).

Two shadows stalked the city’s rooftops, watching the new player ace every shot with his bow.

“Keep an eye on him.” Said one shadow.

“He’s good with the bow, what about it? He’s still new.” Said the second shadow.

“Her orders...and I’ve got a feeling about him now too.“ responded the first shadow, before silence fell between them. As they watched Raven leave the training field.