I managed just one convulsive breath out before Tarlin was by my side, repeating the throw and reducing the distance between me and the barrack. Then again. And again. I didn't sustain any more damage – Health had frozen at "1", and didn't wish to decrease all the way to "0", which would strip me of the possibility to avoid competing in athletics competitions as a missile. In the nursery – for a training camp cannot be anything but – it is impossible to destroy a player.

"The exit's over there. Go and wave your attitude around in the open world!" With one more throwing motion, Tarlin hurled me all the way to a shimmering sphere, a one-and-a-half-meter ball of lightning, and the second I landed, electrical charges flickered over the surface of the portal. Next to it, frozen like an idol, stood a small demon. Its pathetic mug and total absence of wit indicated that all that was left of it was its skin. The Light ones had burned out its essence, leaving him one function – to manage the portal.

Reference information

Portals in Barliona

Static: Connect two points in space. Operated by subjugated demons. Not available for acquisition by players for personal use; located in large cities or key points in Barliona.

Breach: Have a static point of departure and a dynamic point of arrival. The static point is operated by subjugated demon, whose level must be at least five times higher than the level of the lock. The portal takes energy directly from the lock. A portal demon cannot be bought, it can only be subjugated, have its essence burned out, and be tethered to a portal.

Custom: Created by three Wizards. Enable transfer to any point on the continent. Cost of maintenance: 30 % Energy per minute; Energy potions may be used during maintenance.

Teleport scrolls

Created by wizards, both NPCs and players. Enable transfer from any point on the continent to a specific point indicated in the scroll. Cost of using scroll always set according to zone 5.

Scale of distance and cost

Barliona charges a fee for using all types of portal. Players may set a surcharge to make a profit, usually 10–20 % of cost of transfer.

· Zone 1. 0–50 km. Cost: 11 gold

· Zone 2. 51–100 km. Cost: 32 gold

· Zone 3. 101–200 km. Cost: 84 gold

· Zone 4. 201–300 km. Cost: 137 gold

· Zone 5. 301+ km. Cost: 210 gold

After creating a character, any player could leave the nursery without training if they considered they had the strength to bring all comers to heel. All abilities could easily be gained automatically, without instuctors. This was done for those impatient ones who thought the open world more attractive than the nursery. I was not one of them; I had plenty to do in the training camp.

Tarlin took my silent inaction as a sign of resignation and, readjusting his grip on my tail, dragged me back to my point of rebirth, clearly longing to see me run. A couple of times the interested faces of demon hunters flashed by, among whom I could make out a human, an orc, two elves, and not a single tiefling. The players grinned as they watched me go. Evidently it wasn't every day they got to observe the taming of a shrewish half-demon.

When we got back to the point, the instructor flipped me over onto my feet. Drums and flutes began to play in my head from the abrupt change of position, and I felt sick again. It seemed my vestibular apparatus was not yet adjusted to the new reality. Tarlin produced a flask, forced my mouth open, and poured the contents into me. I had to swallow, or else I risked choking. The nausea past immediately, and my Health level shot up to maximum.

"The barracks! Thirty seconds! At the double, march!" Tarlin rapped out, making no secret of his hostility.

This time I didn't argue. It isn't a sin for generals to run during hostilities. I shot off so fast my hooves sparked, but when I got to the designated point, I froze and considered how I felt. In the real world, any acceleration without warming up meant wheezing and giddiness; here I didn't so much as pant. I liked the feeling of having an agile, lissom, strong body. Tarlin stood next to me and didn't intervene. He waited patiently until I familiarized myself with my recently created character. I opened the characteristics window and became absorbed in reading.

Characteristics window for player Kvalen

Main parameters

Additional parameters

Experience

0

of

1000

Item

Unit

Quantity

Player level

1

Account balance

GP

18,000

Race

Tiefling

Physical attack

units

4

Class

Demon Hunter

Magic attack

units

4

Main speciality

-

Protection from physical attack

units

0

Learning speed

0

Protection from magic attack

units

0

Health

100

Chance of critical strike

%

0.15

Energy

100

Chance of avoidance

%

8%

Main characteristics

Fire resistance

%

50%

Characteristic

Scale

Limit

Base

Total

Stamina

0

of

1000

1

1

Strength

0

of

1000

1

1

Intellect

0

of

1000

1

1

Agility

3

of

1000

1

1

Additional characteristics

Characteristic

Scale

Limit

Base

Total

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Specialities

Specialization

Speciality

Scale

Limit

Base

Total

Specialization

Unit

Quantity

Not specified

Not specified

What first caught my eye was the absence of Liveliness. The very same headache which had made everyone more attentive to the game. You'd constantly had to remember how long you could run, jump, use your abilities, and carry out physical activities. Even I, a lowly level-ten player, had my fill of sorrow with Liveliness. One day I was whacking a hare in a clearing, but didn't notice my Liveliness level in time, and dropped to the ground like I'd been poleaxed. I couldn't stand, couldn't sit, couldn't move my arm. There was no one about to pour water into my mouth, so I simply lay there, enjoying the clouds and waiting for automatic recovery. But the fluffy beast didn't wait, and began to knaw at me like a carrot, forgetting it was a herbivore. Level one hare-mob gnaws level-five player! If Barliona had a Darwin Award for the stupidest death, I would definitely have won it. And more than once. Now there was no Liveliness and you could work out actively and not worry about getting tired. It's probably the only time when advocates and opponents of changes in Barliona were united – without Liveliness the game became more dynamic and easier to master.

I did a few squats, eyeing the table carefully. Nothing changed, but the "3" on the Agility scale showed that skills grew during the process of carrying out an action. The four turtles holding up the mechanism of Barliona were included in the Main Characteristics block, and were called Stamina, Strength, Intellect and Agility. All parameters depended on them, from Energy and Health, to Attack and Chance of Avoidance. Each characteristic had its own scale of growth. Squats didn't increase anything, but running at full speed had an impact on Agility. The people on the forums were right – now the scale filled up only as a result of real physical exertion. You couldn't boost Agility by sitting in a chair, dangling your feet and picking your nose. You had to run, swim or jump, balls to the wall. Then "mass" would grow too, just like in reality. When you gained a new level, your main characteristics automatically increased by a point and you earned two bonus points, which you could spend on either additional characteristics or a specialization. You couldn't boost the four turtles like that. If you hadn't assigned your bonus points within five minutes of levelling up, the game did it for you. If there was nowhere to assign them, they burned up. Not very nice, but very convenient for beginners. Especially those who didn't like spending time to "think," considering it a relic of the past.

There was nothing else of interest in the characteristics window. Attack and Protection had some formulae, but I wanted to deal with them with a calculator, and in reality. There was no reminder of the bonus for registration, which was disappointing. Everything else was pristine.