Leonard was getting ready. He close various game forum pages from his laptop, put it in his bag and walked to the front door. He took a final glance at his one bedroom apartment, cleaned out and empty for the most parts. A feeling of sadness and longing crossed his mind. This had been his home for four years now. Leo brushed the feeling off and walked out the door, slipping the key back inside before closing and locking the apartment for good. His now former landlord had a spare and they had agreed on this method. Crossing the hallways Leo thought about his actions of past couple weeks. He had sold most of his furniture, storing only few valuable trophies with his parents. He wouldn't need them in over a year. He also had taken a huge chunk of money from his savings and had gotten a new mortgage in order to fund his future exploits. See, Leo had secured a place in Eternium. New VRMMORPG that the company he worked in released couple weeks ago. Today he would start his new life in a long term DIVE pod that would transfer his mind into the game, allowing him to live in the game with the help of revolutionary mind transfer technology. Leo walked outside, greeting his ÿber driver. He took a back seat and pulled out his laptop again.

For the past month, ever since he had confirmed his place in a pod, he had been frequenting in forums, checking out trailers and theorising with people around the world about this new game. Mostly Leo had just read through their expectations and hopes from it, having a significant advantage himself that he wouldn't share with anyone. He had been working on the game. Now, working was an odd choice of word. The world is controlled by an AI that called itself Certified Altruistic Lexicon, so there was no coding or graphics design needed to be done. Most of his coworkers were medical personnel, engineers and other hardware specialists, all experts in their fields, but not Leo. He worked with the AI along with few more people.

Their boss, President Musk, if you can believe it, had thought that it would be beneficial to have a team of hardcore gamers feeding their ideas to the AI. Noted, it didn't need many ideas, being crazy smart by itself, but every now and then an idea struck a member of His team that the AI seemed to like or wanted to develop further. Leo's contribution was mostly class ideas, skills and other things like that. For example, he had found an interesting build that had been somewhat popular in past D&D editions, called 'Jumplomancer'. The AI liked that very much, or so it seemed by it's response ”Jumplomancer.. a mage of jumping? Now that is an idea not many would've thought of. Are you sure that you came up with it? Judging by your past suggestions, i would guess, no. Hmm. It's added now. More of those please. If i hear 'Meme-master' one more time i may seriously break something”

The level of intelligence AI showed really spooked Leo and his coworkers. Many conspiracy theories were discussed during group outings about how Elon actually had managed to create one. Their favourite so far was Certified Altruistic Lexicon being an alien being, trapped inside some sort of device. But then again Elon was genius, so.. anything really could be possible. One thing was certain. It was far beyond His understanding.

His drive to the office went smoothly. Nothing new had really popped up in the forums, so Leo shut his computer down for good and sat in silence for the rest of the two hour drive. At their destination a familiar face greeted Leo: ”Leo! Good timing! Just finished with the other one. Are you ready?” Tim Ramen said as Leo pulled himself from the car, shaking hands with coworker. Tim was ex military medic. Even if they didn't work at the same office, they had gotten to know each other relatively well during their time in under President Musk's employ. ”All ready here.” Leo grinned as Tim walked him through the building. Tim had a sad face, and when Leo asked about it, he had only explained him saying a last goodbye for his old army buddy. Leo didn't push it any further.

Finally they reached a clean room, packed full of nurses and higher ranking doctors. Leo stripped down to his underwear as the medical workers did their final round of tests. After given all clear, Leo turned to face the pod. A sleek, white design reminded Leo of an egg. A lid opened and He climbed in, slotting his arms and legs to their designated slots and after nodding to the doctor overseeing the process, he pressed a button outside the pod, closing the lid with a hiss. Leo looked up and saw a shining, diamond like gem lowering on his head. It touched gently his lower forehead and a line of text appeared in his vision:

Do you want power*? Yes. No.

”Yup” Leo thought without a second guess and selected 'yes'

Do you know what is about to happen?

Have you read the terms and conditions*?

Leo hadn't read them, but like a typical gamer, he selected 'yes' anyway.

Really? You didn't even open them. Well okay then. Prepare for pain. Also fun. Probably. Hopefully? We'll see, I guess. Yes. Yes.

Well that was super ominous, but since there were no option to decline, he selected the second 'yes' button in attempt to be sassy.

He gasped as cold liquid begun to pour on his face. Instantly Leo shut his mouth, holding his breath as he started to bang the lid. It stayed shut, no help came and he was starting to feel dizzy. Soon his lungs gave out and he involuntarily opened his mouth, trying to get some air, but only viscous honey like liquid was available. It filled his lungs and he.. he breath air. Right. This must be perfluorocarbon, or PFC liquid, used as alternative form of oxygen intake in space travel and high end floating chambers.

Leo blinked few times and noticed that the pod was gone. He was standing in a blank, white room. Only a row of text was hanging in the air in front of him:

Welcome to Eternium. There is no saved data for your profile. Would you like to make a new character? Yes. No.

Leo selected 'yes'. That's what he was here to do after all.

Great! You will only be able to have a single character profile at any given time while in Eternium. No alternates, sorry about that. So choose wisely! If you start a new character at a later time, all progress with the current character will be lost forever, including skills, items, and any gold which is on your character, though gold can be transferred through a secure, in-world banking account!

Would you like to select an available starting class or undergo tests and trials to see what the right choice is for you? There tests may unlock different or even unique classes based on your ability. But be warned! Taking the tests and showing low aptitudes may reduce the number of available classes! You can exit there tests at any time! Start game. Take tests.

Leo looked the hanging wall of information. Obviously he was going in for the tests. Having a rare starting class would only prove to be beneficial in the long run. He selected 'take tests' option and the world changed around him.

He found himself in a long hallway, with another line of prompts nagging for his attention:

”So. You are the guy who suggested million different ideas to me? Do you know how hard it was to sort genuine ideas apart from the jokes? Do you know how many times i wanted to slap you? Around 3000. And now you've came to my world. I may finally get my shot at it after all” - 2 wisdom. Leo wanted to protest but the AI continued: ”Even so. You did offer me some interesting concepts. I will grant you fifty gold for each idea that I implemented. Have fun in this.. 'game'”

The hallway suddenly lit up. A line of text materialised itself in front of him, simply stating ”run” and Leo had no longer time to think of the odd encounter. The trials had begun.

Leo spent next few.. hours? Days? In the trials, completing different tasks with varied success. During those tests, Leo thought hard for what He wanted to be, what He wanted to do in this game. Obviously He wanted to use magic. What is the point of going to a fantasy world if not to wield powerful spells. But that wasn't all of it. Leo had spent most of his late teens larping, going through various renaissance faires and playing tons of MMO games. Some of his favourites were 'Land of Warcraft' and 'White desert online'. In them, Leo rarely enjoyed the spellcasting classes. Most of them were too weak to solo the game with, or needed more combo memorising than Leo cared for. So, during a martial combat test against a golem of some sort, it hit Him. He would try to get some kind of magical swordsman. An Eldritch knight of sorts. That was a good place to start, since as he understood, he could swap or even combine classes.

Leo had learned this fact in one of His late nights when he talked to the AI of Eternium. It liked to tease the employees with different concepts. Never anything that could be exploited, but useful all the same. Every people that had worked on the project had to sign a very strict non disclosure agreement that forbid them from sharing any information in or outside the game. But they were free to use it themselves.

The trials went on and on, testing every aspect of Leo. His morales, personality, strengths and weaknesses and general knowledge. With every new test, it became harder and harder to find the will to complete it. Leo hoped against hope, that he was near completion, but when he stared the blank answer page in a test of nuclear science, He had to call it a day. ”Leave trials” Leo said, exhaustion rich in his voice. ”Are you sure to exit trials? You won't be able to re-enter if you choose to quit. Yes. No.”

Leo chose ”yes” and the classroom he was in melted away, leaving leo in a large room with dozens of copies of Himself. Before he could move, another prompt appeared in front of him:

Well, you didn't finish all the trials. Too bad. Your available starting classes have been updated.

He took a step and watched how all of him took a step at the same time. ”These must be all the available classes I unlocked..” Leo thought. ”Let's see now..” He walked between the class options, dismissing the most basic stereotypes. Few classes in particular caught his eye; One showed Him riding a massive bear, wielding a spear. Second option was pulling tiny elementals from the ground, the third stood tall in oriental samurai armor with a way-too-big-to-be-useful katana. And Finally the fourth option. It was less stylish than the others, showing Leo conjuring and banishing weapons in his hands, but it was closest on what he was looking for:

The Bladecaller.

Artificially rare class that specialises in summoning weapons and boosting their own fighting abilities with magic. Bladecallers are usually able to match any other fighter class of the same level, due to their magical enhancements.

Unlike fighters, Bladecallers have penalties when using normal weapons made from steel or other varied metals, but rather are dependant of their ability to conjure their arms. And unlike mages and other spellcasters, Bladecallers have serious penalties in forms of magic that do not offer boosts in fighting prowess.

This class gains 3 free skill points and 2 free characteristic points to spend every three levels, and a point of strength, intelligence and constitution every even level.

Bladecallers are able to master their fighting related skills twice the regular speed.

Recommended characteristics for this class are Strength, Constitution and Intelligence.

Leo hesitated only a moment, but accepted the class. Even with heavy penalties to ”normal” magic and normal weapon usage, This was still a powerful class to start out with.

”You have chosen 'Bladecaller' as your main class. Your characteristic points have been updated according to the results from Trials. You have four free characteristic points to distribute as you choose. Distribute characteristic points now? Yes. No.” Leo selected yes, putting two points to wisdom, evening out his earlier loss, and two to strength. When He confirmed his choices, the image of Bladecaller stepped into him and a new line of text appeared:

Please choose your character name.

Leo typed 'Leo' and oddly, the name was accepted. The world vanished from around him and within a blink of an eye, he found himself standing in front of a huge fountain

The game had begun.

Name: Leo

Class: Bladecaller (artificially rare)

Profession: (locked)

Level: 1

Hit points: 180/180

Mana: 137/137 (12.5 per point of intelligence)

Mana regen: 2,5 (0.25 per point of wisdom)

Stamina: 175/175

Characteristic: Raw score (modifier)

Strength: 12 (1.12)

Dexterity: 16(1.16)

Constitution: 13 (1.13)

Intelligence: 11 (1.11)

Wisdom: 10 (1)

Charisma: 10 (1)

Perception: 12 (1.12)

Luck: 8 (0.08)

Karmic Luck: 0

Class skills

Sword mastery – Novice 1

Increases base damage of swords by 1n% *

Battle instincts – Novice 1

Keeping your head in the battle is a good thing for anyone. This skill aids in your other combat related skills by giving an additional 1n% to successfully perform an action in combat

Class spells

Conjure weapon (Sword) – Novice 1

Conjure magical weapon for you to wield. This spell always conjures a sword. There are similar spell available to other weapon types

Manacost: 10n mana

Duration: 5 + 1n minutes

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Weapon base damage 4n + 4x (where n = skill level and x = sword mastery skill level)

”Welcome to Ardania, capital city of 'newly returned to the world' human kingdom! It's actually been about two hundred years, so i don't know why that is still part of the greeting. Hmm. Maybe it is because you travelers don't know our history?” An overly talkative lady greeted Leo outside.

He looked around. The city seemed nice enough. It was pretty on par with what He expected from medieval style fantasy city. A group of guards, dressed up in chainmail and armed with polearms marched across the city square He had spawned in. Smell of some food stands and chatter of players filled His senses.

The lady tried to get His attention, something about telling his class so she could point him towards a class trainer, but Leo had other plans. ”Thanks, but I'll be just fine” he said offhandedly as He chose a street leading out of the city.

The graphics were really something else. This whole game felt more real than real world ever did. Leo chuckled at the nonsensical joke and headed towards the outer gates. Eternium had been a passion for Him. He had devoted a good chunk of His mid twenties and His sanity in helping Musk to get the class system balanced. And now he felt at peace, finally getting into the game.

Leo walked past a training area, where a man in pain brown robes was chucking balls of dark water at the guards. He ignored the scene, figuring that a player was some form of healer training his skills.

It took a good long while to walk from the spawn fountain to edge of the city. During his lazy walk he went through is progression options. He didn't want to rush things. Power leveling was an option, but not for Leo. His plan was to grind out his own way in the game. He already knew that his friends would start at same level, so taking things carefully would almost 100% be better in the long run. He could try to do ”no-death-run”, just to see how far he could go with a single life. Also there was his class. Leo didn't know what 'Artificially rare' meant, but from what he took from the info he had been given, Bladecaller would be a cross between fighter and mage. So He would seek out training in those two areas. For the early game, Leo figured that he should stick to the melee portion of his class. Quests given by mages would undoubtedly be too difficult for him to complete at his current level. And from what he had gathered, Magic was supposed to be rare in the game, so he would try to keep his magical abilities as a secret for now. A hidden weapon, so to speak.

Finally arriving at the outer walls of the city Leo set out to wait. He and his friends joined the game roughly at the same time and had decided to group up together as soon as they logged in. Tim Ramen had also asked for him to join His guild, but for now, Leo was looking forward to spending time only with his chosen friends.

This place was set to be their meeting place; closes gate out of the safe zone, but judging how His trials had taken time, it was possible that His friends either joined the actual game before Him, or that He would be up to a long wait.

Few hours passed before a first familiar face popped up from the crowd. ”Leo!” a huge man shouted, waving his hand. ”Nick” Leo waved back and walked to the guy. ”So good to see you! What class did you get? Were the trials tough on you?”

”Couldn't get very far. Also it's Stonks, from now on, if you don't mind!” Ni.. Stonks said ”There was this crazy scene about one of our bar nights. Must've passed out at some point and apparently, hangovers are a thing in trials. So i couldn't continue far past that point. But i think because of that episode i got a cool starting class. I'm a brawler” A wide grin stretched to Stonks' face ”I get crazy bonuses to attack strength when i'm under influence. I got higher tolerance to poisons and other substances and a skill called ”improvised weaponry” which lets me to grab bar stools and other such nonsense to use as weapons.”

”That's.. something i guess?” Leo answered, grinning as well ”We should really find a way to cure you from your future hangovers. I wish one of us chooses a cleric or other healer class. What about your stats? HighsNlows?”

”Well strength and con, obviously are my go to stats. I got huge int and wisdom penalties normally, and wisdom lowers even further when i drink. So i think i should focus on getting those two above ten pretty soon.” Stonks scratched His neck ”But overall, I’m happy with my choices. Where are the others?” ”No clue”

Leo continued to chat with his friend while they waited. He had a strange feeling nagging on him. Back in the real world, Nick was.. Well he was a bit of a doof, but now He was.. Almost an idiot. He had no trouble talking about his stats normally, but every other topic just seemed to fly over his head. On multiple occasions Stonks asked Leo to repeat His words in simpler terms. Soon the conversation turned into what they were looking forward the most in game. It took another hour for third member of their premade group to join them, and fifteen minutes after that for their final member to arrive.

Marcus, a tall man with long ponytail and well groomed facial hair got a role of a rogue in their party. He was a chef back in real world, so he looked forward on exploring his skill set with new and unique materials. Marcus, or Mark as his gamertag said, had finished the trials sooner than any of them, and already went shopping with the money he brought into the game with him. He proudly showcased his new chef's knives and other cooking utensils.

Jeremy, Jehmaan, had taken a more interesting route in his class selection. Like Leo, he had a magical melee combat class called ”mirage lancer”. From what Jehmaan told the group, his skills had a random chance to proc and spawn an illusion of him that lasted for 10 seconds or until hit. At later levels he could have an army of illusions, poking the enemy and he could switch his position with the illusions.

Seemingly ready, the group decided to take advantage of late afternoon daylight and go outside the city gates and familiarise themselves with their new bodies and working as a team.

Outside the gates other groups were fighting swarms of bouncing rabbits. Stonks grabbed a stick from the ground, explaining that it worked as improvised weapon, and headed towards a grassy patch were some furry beasts were nibbling grass.

They circled around the patch, looking how the animals would react. When the group got close enough that the rabbits started to aggro, Stonks shouted ”LEEROOY” and charged to combat, waving his stick like a madman. Mark took one of his kitchen knives out and tried to go behind the mob group. Jehmaan rushed in behind Stonks, lance held ready and Leo activated his weapon conjuring spell. A transparent, one bladed falchion materialised itself to Leo's hand. While waiting for the group, Leo had tested how the skill would work, so it wouldn't cause issues when fighting. The weapon was well balanced and sharp enough to shave his arm hair, so Leo took a fighting stance and joined in.

The rabbits prove to be harder opponents than any of them had thought. When the first one bounced and rammed its horned head against Stonks, Leo could hear a meaty crunch coming from His teammate's ribs. Stonks almost doubled over from the hit, but instead chose to bring his stick down at the rabbit's head. The hit connected, but another rabbit was already flying through the air, targeting Stonks' head. A tip of the lance pierced the airborne rabbit as Jehmaan struck the beast. Leo glanced to the side, seeing Mark dodging jumps and slashing at two horned rabbits. He noticed a third one looking at Mark, so He ran towards it, swinging his weapon. The rabbit dodged the novice attack and bounced towards Him. Leo sidestepped and countered with a jab. A red ”3” popped to his vision as his falchion wounded the bunny's leg. It stumbled when it got to the ground and was limped towards Leo, bouncing again when it had lined its body up properly. Leo had more than enough time to draw his hand up and simply hold the falchion on the bouncing rabbit's trajectory. The sword skewered the tiny creature and a critical hit notification accompanied the rabbit's death.

Leo didn't have time to celebrate his small victory, but rushed to aid Mark with His.. marks. Together they made a short work of killing the rest of the rabbit group. Slashing, stabbing and smashing their way through them. Leo noticed that Stonks had abandoned his trusty stick, instead he swang a dead rabbit around, like the world's nastiest nunchaku, connecting the hardened horn on the rabbit's head to remaining living critters.

To their credit, no one had died, but they've all taken pretty serious hits during the short lived skirmish. Leo laid on the ground, panting heavily. His palms were sweaty, knees weak and arms felt heavy. He took a peek at his character sheet.

Name: Leo

Class: Bladecaller (artificially rare)

Profession: (locked)

Level: 1

Experience: 54

Experience to the next level: 946

Hit points: 82/180

Mana: 137/137 (12.5 per point of intelligence)

Mana regen: 2,5 (0.25 per point of wisdom)

Stamina: 11/175

He had taken just over half of his health as damage?! And His stamina had drained near to empty during the battle. They were not ready for combat yet. Stonks looked worst of them all. Bruises covered his body, some blood trickled down his broken nose as stood on all fours, breathing heavy.

A notification popped to Leo's vision.

Xp gained 54. (Angry rabbit * 9 . (4xp * 9 angry rabbits * 1.5 difficulty)

”We only got 54 experience from that fight?!” Leo gasped in frustration. This was so inefficient.

”I got a title” Stonks wheezed ”It is ”I'm a giraffe”. Bruises last 20% longer, but i get 10% reduction to bludgeoning damage” That got a chuckle out of the group.

”So. Want to go for another rabbit slaying mission, or should we head back to the city and figure out a strategy?” Leo asked the group. They all voted unanimously to go back.

The walk back to the city was a gloomy one. They all carried couple rabbit corpses, Mark wanting to try out a recipe he studied before logging in. The group talked about what went wrong, how they could improve and how they should do their group formation. The reality, that they all got their asses handed to them by rabbits, was a depressing one.

Leo visited the bank and withdrew hundred gold worth of bank notes and some change. That withdrawal left Him with 1,138 gold and 70 silver.

They rented out a room from a tavern called ”the golden ball”. The place had a nice common area with long firepit at the central area. Cozy booths covered the walls and waxy smoke from lit candles and firepit lingered on ceiling.

Mark talked himself into using tavern's kitchen and soon a smell of roasting game mixed into the scent of the room. Group claimed a corner booth and ordered ale while they waited Mark to finish His dishes. Soon a whoop bellowed from kitchen, followed by beaming Mark, carrying trays filled with smoking meat and from the looks of it, mashed potatoes. ”Guys! You never know what just happened!” He asked enthusiastically. ”I gained cooking skill and it jumped straight to journeyman 9! I'm so making a profession out of this! According to head chef of the kitchen, i need one more rank and 'Chef' profession to at least fourth rank for my food to be good enough to start giving out boosts!” The group was ecstatic. Even more so when they tasted the rabbit. Nothing really tasted better than food you worked hard for. Mark explained how he had skinned the bunnies, tested different parts of the meat and finally settling on loin. He had seared the meat on a pan with bacon grease with dried herbs and garlic cloves before adding it to thick red sauce. Mark went on with mind numbingly boring details for almost twenty minutes, before Jehmaan interrupted him ”Man! It's great that you are passionate about your skill, but honestly, you lost me at thick red sauce.” Stonks was nodding next to Jehmaan, the whole explanation seemed to go right over his head. Mark grumbled good naturedly, but sat down and pulled his plate closer.

The evening flew by with good food and drinks. It had been hard first day for them, but by the end of it they all went to bed with good spirit.

Morning came far too soon and Leo almost had a panic attack, due to the unfamiliar room he woke up in. ”right. I'm not in Kansas anymore, am i..” He thought as he dressed up in his starting gear and headed downstairs for breakfast.

His friends soon joined him and Mark headed straight to kitchen. Apparently He made a good impression with the owner and had been offered a part time job. He could cook for His team without a charge, if He helped around the kitchen as well. Soon he appeared from the backroom with bowls of porridge. ”nothing too fancy at this time. But it keeps the hunger away.” They all ate in relative silence and as previously agreed, went off seperate ways to train on their own. Well.. separate ways was not correct. Three out of four members of their party were front line fighters, so they bid farewell to Mark and headed to Guard's training grounds. Even if it was early, the sandy patch was filled with new players getting beaten by off duty guardsmen. The armored men taught battle formations, proper weapon usage and how to handle abusive comments. Leo had never joined an army, but this is what he always imagined it would be like. Well.. if you replace swords and polearms with modern weaponry. Leo walked closer to the shouting man ”Hello there!” The man turned his head to meet Leo's eyes. ”Well what do we have here? New recruits?”

”Essentially.” Leo answered, smiling. ”Me and my two friends here..” Leo pointed at Stonks and Jehmaan ”.. would like to learn the basics of combat, if you don't mind”

”That's what I'm here for” The guard nodded and waved at the group to come closer ”Judging by your bruises, i assume you already tried to go outside. Well. It's wise of you to come here. Get some combat experience before trying your steel outside. Now grab a sparring weapon from the rack and we will make a warrior out of you”

To be fair, the guard was an excellent teacher. He walked the trio through basic footwork and general combat formation. Stonks was put in the front while Jehmaan and Leo covered his sides. He taught how to hold their weapons of choice properly, how to deflect attacks and when to dodge. But his teaching was harsh. He happily beat Leo and his team to an inch of their lives, and only after the brutal beating he walked them through the moves. Something about seeing the moves in action before attempting to do them.

It was way past midday before the guard let them go, judging that they were beat enough so continuing would be only harmful.

A notification icon was blinking in the corner of Leo's vision, so he opened the tab with mental command and a list of information filled his field of vision.

Skill gained: Parry (Novice VI) Deflect an incoming attack with your weapon. 1.5n% chance to parry an incoming attack while no other action is performed.

Cost: (max potential damage -0.5n stamina (where n= skill level))

Skill gained: Dodge (Novice IV) Dodge incoming attack(s)

Cost: 50 -0.1n stamina (where n= skill level) This skill has 1n% chance to activate automatically without stamina cost when you see the incoming attack.

Skill Increased: Sword Mastery (Novice VII) Increases base damage of swords by 1n% (where n= skill level)

Skill Increased: Battle instincts (Novice V) Keep your head in the battle. 1n% chance to successfully parry, dodge or counterattack when you are engaged with an enemy. (Where n= skill level)

Quest completed: Baby steps 1. You sought training in your class after all. Good job!

Reward: 100 exp.

Quest completed: Baby steps 2. You continue your training far past what other people would. Getting beat up by rabbits is a good motivator.

Reward: 150 exp. +1 Constitution. +1 Strength.

Leo went through his skill gains carefully. Parry seemed to be all around better option out of the two defensive skills. It had smaller stamina cost and when the skill reached early Master ranks, he could parry every incoming attack if he had the stamina to do so. But like with every game that had ever existed, dodging heavier blows was more cost efficient. Apparently his boosted experience gain in combat related skills had kicked in, boosting his gains far higher than Jehmaan's or Stonks'.

He was pleased with that, even if they were just the earliest of skill levels. They walked to the watering station and gulped down life saving liquid to rid themselves from dehydration.

After a while of heavy breathing Jehmaan opened his mouth: ”How about we skip the mob killing for today?” He panted. ”I don't think i have the energy to go out and have another fight like yesterday.”

”Don't be stupid Jeh!” Stonks protested. ”I didn't come here to get beat for nothing. I'm going”

”I kinda agree with Stonks.” Leo thought out loud. ”Why get training, if you don't go out and test your skills. We should at least go and kill couple rabbits, just to get ourselves a free meal this evening” He stopped talking for a moment. ”Also, we are still in our starting gear. How about we find some proper armor and other equipment so we at least have some form of protection going on.” The others agreed on that and they left the training area to find an adventuring shop.

It took some time and asking for recommendations, but finally Leo stood in front of a small building, crammed between two huge storefronts. The windows were clean and showcased Light and medium armors of various designs. A sign hanging above the door read ”Adventurer's potential”. According to local NPCs, this was supposed to be a good place to start. The goods were not too expensive and and relatively good quality. He opened the door and a bell rung above his head. Soon a middle aged, balding man appeared from the backroom. ”Greetings there! My name is Arthur. Now what can i do for you, young master?” He asked. His voice was dusty, like he had breathed in too much dust over the years, but his tone was polite. ”Hello! I was told that this is the place to go if you want to get your money's worth in low level gear.” Leo walked closer to the counter and put on a pleasant smile He had grown custom to using, when dealing with shopkeepers or anyone working in customer service.

”Oh yes indeed!” Arthur smiled back at Leo. ”Not many stores are willing to focus on, pardon me, weaker adventurers and their needs. Not enough profit in it, they say.” He walked past the counter and started going through various armour sets while speaking. ”But in my mind, to get strong, you need to start humble. And to start, you usually need people helping you. That's what i am here for. Now, are you looking for leather, cloth or metal armour? I have all three kinds in different qualities.”

Leo thought only for a moment. His past experience with larping had taught him, that Cloth and metal were best options. Cloth armor was surprisingly durable and easy to repair, while metal over it offered some sturdiness.

”Cloth for padding, and perhaps metal breastplate? My strength is only at..” Leo glanced at his character sheet ”..13, so i don't think i can put on too much weight if i want to move at all in battle. If you have any, I could take vambraces as well. I think i can manage those.”

”You know your armor” The shopkeep stated, approval in his voice. ”I do have all those. You want a set- armor, i assume?

”Yes?” Leo said tentatively. ”What are they?”

”Set armor is, as you may guess, a set of armor, made to work together. They may offer additional bonuses when worn together.” Shopkeeper explained helpfully. ”You may wear multiple sets at the same time, for example, a pair of gloves or socks are almost always a set items. The bonuses you get from wearing them stack with each other, if not stated otherwise.”

”Definitely set armor then” Leo decided, wincing at the thought of additional price that proper armor set would bring on.

”So light metal breastplate and vambraces, with padding. Ah yes. I know exactly what to get” Arthur hummed while he pulled a dust covered chest out from under a shelf. It was made from dark stained wood and after the shopkeep wiped the surface with a ragged piece of cloth, Leo was able to see an ornate symbol carved on the top.

The hinges squeaked when the old man opened the lid, revealing bright steel chestplate that had pauldrons attached in it with rivets and leather straps. Next to the beautiful armor laid wrist guards and metal tassets, that would cover his upper thighs and groin area. Underneath the plate, a set of two greaves laid side by side on top of a dark blue gambeson vest.

”This is the very best i can offer, young sir. It was originally made for some noble kid, but he abandoned the armor after joining the mage's college. It is from the more expensive end of my goods, but offers you great protection” He glanced at Leo's various bruises ”And you seem to be in need of some good steel covering you.”

”What's the price on it?” Leo asked, admiring the metalwork. He already knew that he would be buying it. The armor looked absolutely gorgeous. It had no visible hammer blows or any other scratches or blemishes. Actually, it seemed to be in near mint condition. As Leo lifted the breastplate, it even was light enough so he could comfortably wear it without too heavy penalties to his stamina.

”Fifty eight gold.” Arthur said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. ”I understand if you want to look at something cheaper, but..” ”I take it.” Leo said instantly. Even if it was a blow to his bank balance, it seemed like a good investment at this point of the game. And how hard gold would be to come by? It was a game after all.

”I need to visit the bank to withdraw few more notes, but I brought some gold from.. my home land to this place.” It was true. Every member that worked on Eternium, that joined the game at least, gained one hundred gold pieces to their in game bank. Additionally, Leo had taken a cut of his savings, investing nine more thousand dollars to his account, so he started the game with a thousand gold. He had gained few gold pieces from bank interest, and the world AI had added two hundred gold as payment for his totally not plagiarized ideas.

Arthur agreed to hold the gear while Leo visited the bank and soon after He walked out of Adventurer's Potential with shining set of armor.

Item gained: Castle forged armor (medium) (uncommon) (set)

+20 Armor class

Offers 10% damage reduction from non magical sources.

+15% stamina consumption while wearing the item

Set bonus: 8% numbing. Stamina consumption halved. +1 Charisma, while wearing the armor.

(Warning! You don't have skill ”Medium armor mastery”. Stamina consumption increased by 10%)

Leo ignored the warning. He would gain the skill, eventually. And to do so, he would need to wear the gear. Feeling a bit heavier, but happy with his purchase, Leo walked across the streets of Ardania, taking in all the smells and sounds of this medieval setting. Now dressed to fit the scene, Leo finally felt like he was actually a part of this world. There was no off-game dialogue between the NPCs, no modern tools like cell phones or cameras to ruin the immersion. He was a warrior. Undying traveller from another world, set to complete quests and become a hero.