Chapter Four

Character Status

Name:

Chris

Gender:

Male

Level:

1

Class:

-

Race:

Human

Alignment:

Neutral Good

Fame:

0

Infamy:

0

Health:

100

H/Sec:

0.30

Mana:

140

M/Sec:

1.45

Stamina:

110

S/Sec:

1.10

Str:

13

Dex:

10

Vit:

10

End:

12

Int:

11

Will:

15

Chris took aim at the slightly glowing green slime and let loose a blast of water shaped like a spear. It erupted from his fingers and pierced through the blob, splattering green ooze across the grass. He had been murdering whatever low-level monsters he could find in the forest around his starting village of White Promise for the last few hours, getting used to his spells and abilities. These slimes were a part of his orientation quest, but they'd proven difficult to spot as they could blend in with the greenery of the forest.

The new player orientation quest had first sent him to meet up with anNPC named Samantha, a weapons trainer in the center of the village marketplace, and pick out a variety of basic weapons. Essentially choosing what his combat style would be. He told the trainer right away that he didn’t want to use weapons, but would like to be a group healer instead. She had tried to convince him to take a staff or dagger anyway, for defense, but Chris refused. He knew that in games like this, players who focused exclusively on healing would be in huge demand during dungeon crawls, and he intended to meet that demand. Dungeons were the best way to get rare loot, which he'd l then be able to sell for real money on RogueNet.

Chris had rushed through the initial training quest with a group of other players, but each time they had stopped to marvel at a new skill or show each other some exciting new spell effect, he pressed on by them to the next checkpoint. His sole offensive spell was a fast casting water spear with low damage. But the MP cost was very low, and he could cast it over again very quickly, making it efficient for his soloing purposes. Besides, he wasn’t expecting to use it very often, since most of his time would be spent in groups using his support spells.

The exploded remnants of the slime melted into the soil, and a system prompt blinked into existence in the air in front of him.

Quest Update

Tutorial Chain 4 of 5 - Slimes for Samantha

Samantha the weapon trainer has sent you out into the big scary forest to track down and murder 5 green slimes. Why? You never asked!

Difficulty: D

Success: Find and kill 5 green slimes.

Failure: Get killed by a slime. That would be really embarrassing.

Chain Reward: Tutorial Completion

Current Progress: 3 of 5 Green Slimes killed.

Chris sighed at the sassy tone of the in-game prompt and pushed forward. “Two more slimes to go. At least it’s not an escort quest.”

----

A few hours and a couple slimes later, Chris was running at full speed through the forest, leaves flying up in the wake of wind behind him. With a soft ding another notification popped up in the corner of his vision. He’d moved the popups away from the center of his eyesight so they would be less distracting.

X1 Skill Rank Up: Sprint

Skill Level: Beginner Level 4

Effect: 8% increased movement speed

Cost: 5 stamina / second

His sprint skill had increased very quickly. As a magic-user, he didn’t have any need to conserve his stamina, so he was sprinting pretty much everywhere. No time to be walking about! Suddenly the treeline broke and he was just outside the village gates. He slowed down to a walk as he entered the village. Just inside the front gates was the marketplace, and even though it was just a game it still felt rude to run at full speed through a busy village. The market square was bustling with new players, some just beginning their adventure late and others returning from adventures around the village. Chris marveled for a moment at just how many people were around him. It was so lively, with the NPCs and players laughing and cheering. It was just like a real living marketplace.

Chris was walking towards the weapons training area where he had left Samantha, when his eyes caught on one player running through the middle of the square at full speed. “Really?” Chris said quietly under his breath. He shook his head and tried to ignore the player barrelling toward the gate, but as she ran by him he looked up and realized it was her. The delivery girl. With a massive double-bladed axe on her back and her eyes locked on the opening in the village gate, she didn’t notice him or even anything that wasn’t directly in her path. Her mouth was a tight line, focused in concentration.

Before he could react she was outside the gates and gone. Chris’s mouth opened in surprise and his foot caught on a root, faltering in his steps. He caught himself and paused against the side of a building. What sort of coincidence is it that out of all the millions of players, and hundreds of starting locations, they would both happen to start in the same village? He shrugged and continued walking. No time for conversation right now anyway, there’s too much to do.

-----

”Five green slimes!” Samantha grinned at Chris. “I can feel that the energy of the forest has shifted! You’re doing great work out there, Traveller.”

“Yeah. Killing slimes is great work,” Chris said. He still couldn’t get over how realistic these NPCs were. They spoke and reacted just like real people. If he didn’t actually know better, they’d be nearly indistinguishable from the live players. “That’s the end of the quest right? Is the tutorial over?”

“Ah! No, no. There’s one last thing I need you to do.” Samantha glanced up at the heavens for a moment, stroking her chin, before she leaned in close to Chris, “There’s a place nearby which the locals call the Deciduous Dungeon. None who have ventured inside have ever come back alive.”

Chris perked up at the mention of a dungeon. “A dungeon? Finally. I’m in. Which way is it?”

Samantha leaned back and laughed. “I’ve marked the location on your map,” she said with a wave of her hand in the air. “Be careful in there,” she said with a sly wink. “You may want to bring a friend.”

Chris hurried back to the village gate, excitement pumping through his veins. He was practically salivating at the thought of the loot he’d be able to find in a proper dungeon. He checked his map for the dungeon entrance as he left the village, then stepped up into a full sprint once he was oriented in the correct direction.

While he ran, he thought back to his conversation with Samantha. Realizing that he forgot to update his quest log while he was with her. He cursed out loud, then was immediately interrupted with a flashing system notice.

Quest Update

Tutorial Chain 5 of 5 - The Deviant Deciduous

Samantha the weapon trainer has asked you to dive deep into the nearby Deciduous Dungeon and bring back… what, exactly? You forgot to ask again. It’ll probably work out in the end anyway though. Right?

Difficulty: B

Success: ???

Failure: ???

Chain Reward: Tutorial Completion