Valen travelled along the labyrinth of dark caverns. As he made his way following the trail that Destiny had provided, he saw all the intersections and branches in the tunnel network.

“Wow,” He thought, “It would be so easy to get lost in here. I wonder where all these tunnels take you?”

Valen continued on through the dark tunnels, his enhanced eyesight allowing him to see where other races could not. While he was following the trail he heard an odd noise. A scratching along the tunnel floor caught his attention, and he followed the noise down an intersection in the tunnel network. He glanced behind to see where his trail left off and found himself making a trail from where he had left off. If he didn’t have Destiny to mark the way he would have been totally lost.

Following the noise, Valen made his way further down the side tunnel. As he stalked along, he found equipment sprawled along the tunnel. A shield here, a sword there, he also found a staff. He stopped and picked up the sword. He figured the staff would amplify his magical power, but he had always wanted to wield a sword. It felt heavy in his hand, almost like he had to wield it with two hands even though it was just a basic steel longsword.

He swung a few times to get used to the feel of it before he heard a scream abruptly cut off farther down the tunnel.

“What the…” He muttered as he crept farther into the dark. Eventually he heard the sounds of a battle and soon after that, he peeked around a corner to find the den of giant hulking creature. Its eyes were large black orbs set into a massive green body with no neck at all, sporting two large arms and two legs bulging with muscle. It easily stood over twice Valens six foot frame. A mound of glowing mushrooms occupied the middle of the den, illuminating the monstrosity in cold blue light. The creature’s giant maw opened up to tear an arm off of a body in one of its huge arms with a mouth full of bladed teeth. The person that had lost his arm roared in defiance and then his body turned to ash. Two more people were attacking the creature. One was a Varnu man wearing plated mail, stabbing the creature from behind with a spear. The other was a Varnu girl with white hair tied into a long high ponytail. She wore a snug fit of leather armor and was pumping the creature full of arrows with her bow.

The creature picked up the skull of a beast, one of many lying around the den, and threw it at the archer. The skull, the size of a cart, smashed into her before she could roll away. She was thrown into the wall and Valen heard her bleep a curse word from where he was watching the battle. The man with the spear was suddenly swatted by one of the massive arms, flying across the room, and impaled on a tusked skull. He disappeared into a puff of ash with an astonished look upon his face.

The creature turned to the woman, just getting to her knees and obviously dazed. It loomed over her, globs of drool falling from its goofy grin. Then something stirred inside Valen. He was about to witness the third person defeated by this monster and still he hadn’t done anything, all he had done was watch. Was this the person he wanted to become in this game? The one to cower behind walls and watch stuff play out from a distance? That’s not why he spent his savings on this game.

Valen stepped out from behind the wall unsteadily, not really sure of what he was doing, but doing it anyway. He cast the shield spell over himself and his body glowed blue. The creature glanced his way and stopped its approach of the still dazed girl.

“Come at me you hulking piece of *****!” He found himself shouting. He didn’t know where it came from, but now that he had come out from behind that wall, he felt empowered. It was all or nothing he supposed.

The hulking beast roared at him, deafening the room with its low rumble. Suddenly it charged and Valen cast his flamethrower spell, dousing the creature’s face in flames. It stopped dead in its tracks and raked at its face to douse the flames. He kept it activated with an extended palm until Destiny informed him that he had run out of mana.

“Mana now level 3. Intelligence now level 5.” Destiny informed him as the flames died from his extended hand. The creature was still doused in flames, panicking and stumbling into the walls. It hit one wall hard and fell to the ground. Valen saw his chance and charged at it. It saw him coming and tried to swat him with an arm. Its arm swept across the ground, but the flames still crawled along its face. The behemoth misjudged the distance as fire licked its eyes and the arm swept past Valen before he was in range. Running as fast as he could, he dived through the opening and plunged his sword into the creatures eye.

“Critical hit,” Destiny’s voice rang out, “Strength now level 3. Cunning now level 4.”

The beast howled, vibrating Valen enough to feel it in his very bones. He fell back to see the creature vanish into a sea of ash.

“That was amazing!” Valen heard a voice from behind him. He looked back to see the archer jogging towards him, her white ponytail swinging behind her. “Thank you, I thought I was done for. My health was down to ten percent!” She gave him a big smile.

“No problem,” He said. “I heard the battle from the main tunnel and came to investigate.”

“Good thing,” She said walking toward the disappearing pile of ash. “You pick first.”

“Uh, sure.” He said in a tone that made it seem like he knew what she was talking about. She was quite beautiful and he didn’t want to seem like a complete Newbie. He followed her and watched as the ash slowly disappeared to reveal two glowing items.

“Let’s see what we’ve got.” She walked up to the items and picked them up. One was a vicious and crude looking sword, the other a staff intricately designed with a skull pattern ending at the top with a large pearl the size of Valen’s fist.

“Ekra, what are the stats of these weapons?” The girl said aloud. Nothing happened for a moment but the girl nodded. “They are both rare, with the sword amplifying damage by three and the staff amplifying damage by four. Which one do you want?”

“Huh,” Valen thought about which one he would like. To get a rare item right off the bat would be great for him, but he didn’t like the looks of them. “Can I take a look at them?”

“Ok,” The girl said hesitantly, “But please don’t take both. The rest of my guild won’t be too happy with you if you do.”

“I won’t,” Valen said, he didn’t even think about taking both, though he could if he wanted to. She was low health already, he could probably defeat her pretty easily if she attacked, especially with these new weapons. He took one in each hand. “Destiny, what are these weapons worth?”

“The rare sword is worth five hundred and twenty three gold. The rare staff is worth eight hundred and fifty six gold.” Destiny said.

“You’re not going to use them?” The girl asked, confused. “But its way better than that sword you have…” She noticed the sword. “Hey! That’s Toads sword!”

“Uh, yeah. I picked it up on the way.”

“Can you at least give that back? He lost it when he died. I’m going to gather all the weapons they dropped.”

“Well, if they’re dropped then they are free to anyone who picks them up,” Valen said defiantly.

“Yeah, but he can’t afford another one and my guild is getting fed up of giving him stuff every time he dies.” She argued. “The only reason you got a rare item is because we brought that things health down. Besides, you can afford a common weapon of any type with the money you get from selling your rare, plus some left over.”

Valen sighed, “Alright,” He handed over the basic longsword and the rare sword. “I’ll take the staff.”

“Thank you.” She said in a guarded tone. “Are you really going to sell that? My guild would pay very good money for a rare staff.”

“I don’t know yet. I don’t like the look of it. It looks morbid.”

“Yeah, but it has a multiplier of four! That’s pretty good.” She said.

“I suppose.” Valen said.

“You’re a Newbie aren’t you?” She said suspiciously.

“What makes you say that?”

“You weren’t going to use the rare? Anyone who had any experience playing this game would definitely use it if they only had a basic weapon.”

“Well I guess I am then.” Valen was getting annoyed. “I’m going to go. Take care.”

“Take care.” The girl said in a curious tone.

Valen turned to leave, but listened carefully behind him. He expected to hear her retrieving weapons off of the floor, but he heard nothing. Something urged him to turn around, maybe a sixth sense or paranoia. He turned and saw the flash of a blade arc toward him. He dove and rolled away as the girl swung the sword at him.

“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled at her.

“If I return to my guild with two rare items, they’ll give me a promotion for sure. Defeating a newbie like you will be easy.” She flung herself at him, diving with a quick thrust. With a swift use of his free hand, Valen cast a lightning bolt that hit the girl square in the chest. She flew back and turned to ash before she hit the ground. The rare sword clanked onto the floor of the cavern.

Valen sighed and stood up straight. The cavern was silent now, the cold blue light of the mushrooms matching the cold feel of what had happened here. Why did people have to be so greedy? Valen supposed he had been greedy when he had wanted to keep the basic longsword, but she had taken it to another level. He walked to the sword on the cavern floor and picked it up. Looking around, he saw the other weapons lying strewn about the cavern. One by one he picked them up until he had both arms full of weapons.

“Uh, Destiny?” Valen said stumbling a bit with the weight of the weapons.

“Yes Master?” Destiny asked.

“Is there any way I can store these weapons until I can sell them?”

“You have a virtual inventory, Master.” Destiny said. A large tile materialized on the floor in front of Valen. It looked like a window on a computer screen. Slots occupied the area inside the window, Valen counted ten slots. “You can store items in here by dropping them inside this window.”

“Huh, nice.” Valen walked up to the window and dropped the basic longsword over one of the slots. It slipped through the ground and appeared in the slot it dropped into. He then walked around the window, dropping the weapons into any available slots. When he was finished he only had two left open.

“I’d like to log out now, Destiny.”

“Yes, Master,” Destiny said. The world faded into darkness and then materialized again as Kevin’s Home Space. Destiny was in front of him, wearing her beautiful dress. The hot springs steamed and bubbled not far away.

“I’m going to return to… My world.” Kevin said, not knowing how to quite phrase it.

“Yes, Master,” Destiny bowed, “Have a good time in your world. See you again soon.”

Valen bowed and then felt the falling sensation hit him. Before he knew it he opened his eyes and he was in bed again. Taking his VRU off, Kevin hit the bathroom first and then started cooking some food. He knocked on his roommate’s door but nobody answered, so he figured he was in the game. Leaving Roman a text message informing him he had bought Soralya, he ate some pasta and grilled chicken. After he ate he did the homework he needed to finish before classes tomorrow, it was quite a bit and he regretted not doing it yesterday before working late. When Kevin had finished, it was almost midnight, so he brushed his teeth and called it a night.

The next day at University his mind kept drifting back to the VR. His classes seemed to go on forever and he found himself just waiting for the next time he could play. His last encounter was not very sociably heartening but he was looking forward to helping Derek out in the future, or at least pay him back with the money he would get from selling his new bounty of items.

At lunch, Kevin had just sat down with a delicious corned beef sandwich when someone tousled his hair and sat

down next to him. He glared at her, he hated his hair tousled and she knew it too. Karen had a big grin on her face.

“Hey buddy,” Karen always had a mischievous look on her face. She was a short and slim girl with brown hair that was always tied into a ponytail. She and Kevin had been friends since grade school, now they were in their first year of University together too.

“Hey, what’s new?” Kevin asked between bites.

“Well, I told my boyfriend to start putting laundry softeners in his shoes.” She said as she dove into a shepherd pie.

“Really?” Kevin smirked.

“Sort of, I might have just suggested it was a neat idea.” Karen shrugged, “A sheet a day, keeps the reaper at bay. What about you? What’s new?”

“I picked up a VR Unit.” Kevin said, “Also Soralya.”

“Finally!” She drawled, “Almost everyone has tried it by now. You’re late to jump on the bandwagon.”

“I’m not that late, theirs still lots of people who haven’t tried it.”

“Yeah, the people who say technology will end the world as we know it. Technophobes.” Karen rolled her eyes. “So, how did it go?”

“It went well. I met a guy who gave me some basic spell books. He asked me to help him later on. He wants to find some players who are plotting to kill the Varnu Matriarch.”

“Oh, your Varnu, huh?” Karen’s eyes lit up. “That’s cool. Yeah, Marker25 took out the Bresh Chieftain about two

months ago, he now uses the Bresh AI as his personal army. At least, those that will follow him. Some weren’t too happy with having one of us become chieftain.”

“It’s amazing how they incorporated AI into the system. I can’t believe it. They’re like actual people!”

“I know, it’s awesome!” Karen giggled. “I’ve got this one AI who follows me around everywhere, like he’s in love with

me. I pretty much use him like a pack mule, its funny.”

“Hey, come on. That’s not nice.” Kevin finished his sandwich in one huge bite.

“Hey, if he wants to follow me around, that’s his life choice. He’s getting stronger, which is what he wants.” Karen stared at a group of people that had just walked through the door. “Alright, if you’re going to be playing the game, you should probably get to know some of the guilds here in the school that play in Soralya.”

“They form guilds here too?”

“Well yeah, they form clichés and groups here and everywhere. There’s even a guild named after the University. They’re sitting over there.” She pointed to a table in the corner. About ten students were having lunch together. “They even talk about homework while they quest, it’s a little weird.”

Karen then pointed to a group that had walked through the door. “Those are the Valkyrie Knights. They are a mostly human guild who actually own a stronghold with AI servants in the Melesion Hills.”

“Really?” Kevin perked at that, “They can do that?” They had a regal and confident attitude about them as they walked through the cafeteria.

“Anything is possible in Soralya,” Karen smiled at him, “I’m a solo player and I pretty much have my own servant. It’s great.”

“Huh,” Kevin finished his lunch with Karen and they exchanged usernames so they could add each other as friends. They parted ways for separate classes but Karen insisted they meet up in Bresh territory later tonight. Kevin didn’t even know how he would get there, but Karen said there was something called a Magiportal that Kevin could jump into linking all the capitals.

Kevin finished his classes and went home to finish his homework. He finished early than expected, finding that the incentive to enter Soralya was a great motivator. He ate some dinner and was about to go online when Roman walked in the door to the apartment.

“Dude!” Roman greeted Kevin with a big smile. He must have just gotten off work. “How is it? You like it?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” Kevin smiled back, “I was just about to go on.”

“Alright, I’m gonna get something to eat and then join you.” Roman took off his work shirt and walked into the kitchen. “What’s your user name?”

“It’s Valen,” Kevin yelled to him, spelling it out for Roman.

“Alright, sounds good.” Roman stuck his hand out of the kitchen and made a thumbs up.

Kevin went into his room and started up the VRU. Destiny greeted him in his home realm.

“Hello Master. Welcome back.” She smiled at him and bowed. Kevin bowed back at her, feeling awkward about it, but he felt like he should show respect to her.

“Hey Destiny. How are you today?”

“I am well, Master. How are you?”

“I’m exhausted, but ready for some action.” Kevin went to the hot springs and threw off his clothes before sliding into the warmth of the water. He didn’t even question himself, he didn’t care today about being naked. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt powerful. He felt like he was becoming whole, like he was becoming something, and he had a feeling that this game had something to do with it.

Suddenly he heard a splash and looked around to find Destiny getting into the water, her dress pooled on the rocks next to her. Stunned at what he was looking at, he just sat there and watched her get into the pool and swim around a bit.

“Thank you for summoning this warm pool, Master. It is a very nice feature.” Destiny smiled and settled into a natural setting in the rocks nearby, comfortably sitting with her head just above the waterline.

“You’re welcome, thank you for helping me set this up.” He suddenly thought about Derek and his AI wife. Was it possible? Did it make a good relationship? Would it be better in a relationship with your VR AI rather than one in the game?

Kevin shook his head. It obeyed his command. That was no relationship. It would be a one sided relationship and he didn’t think that was very healthy. Though, how many other people were having relationships with their AI, or affairs. It was an interesting, but disturbing thought to him.

“Will you be entering Soralya today, Master?” Destiny asked.

“Yeah, I’m meeting some friends inside.”

“Oh, what are their names? I can add them right now.”

“Well, one is LadySwan34, and the other is IAmRock.”

“They are added to your friends list, Master. LadySwan34 is currently auctioning some items in the Bresh Capital Bazaar.”

“Oh, thank you Destiny.”

“You’re welcome, Master. I have been studying both AI and Player behaviour in Soralya while you were gone. The most talked about topics right now are the addition of a new AI force emerging from the mountains of Cloudspire, as well as the Bresh takeover of the Denmoors.”

“Huh, that Bresh chieftain player must be using the clan to conquer territory.”

“He is, but there is talk that a guild will be making a move against him soon. The Black Claw.”

“They are Bresh?”

“Yes Master, they are opposed to having a player as a Chieftain.”

“Are they led by a player?”

“Yes master.”

“Huh, good to know. Good job Destiny, thank you.”

“Of course Master. Just let me know when you would like to enter the world.”

“I might as well enter now,” Kevin said.

“Very well, Master. Have fun.” Destiny said, then the world went dark.

Valen appeared in the capital, upon a circular platform in the middle of the city. It was a very large platform, the size of a typical gymnasium. Other players spawned around him as well, appearing through puffs of darkness. He walked down the stairs leading away from the platform and onto the main street. Immediately on either side of the wide concourse leading through the city was two sets of stairs on his right and one on his left. They led up to platforms that were emitting light upon the signs that were above them. One said “Bresh Capital Magiportal.”

Valen jogged up the stairs and stopped at the top, amazed at what he saw. The platform wasn’t a platform at all, but a circular pool that swirled with a warm red light. It looked like water, but often it streamed upward in a red stream and disappeared in the air.

Someone passed him and immediately jumped into the pool, disappearing into a splash of red and gold light.

“Whoa,” Valen muttered and then prepared himself for the leap. He didn’t know what to expect on the other side, but like everything else in this game, he was prepared to be amazed. He jumped high into the air and fell into the warm light.

Falling, he closed his eyes and landed hard on something. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on a platform in the pouring rain. Amazed at the feeling of being virtually wet, he stood to get his bearings, breathing in the damp warm air. Plains stretched out for as far as he could see, except for the large mountain range behind him. Directly below him on the platform was a sea of tents made from animal hide. Weaving around them in the masses was the Bresh. They all looked like large cats that walked upright and had furry hands instead of paws.

Velan walked down into the throng and asked Destiny where the Bazaar was. She lit a trail he would follow and he made his way through the tent city. After a few minutes of walking he crossed a threshold where tents ended and a huge canvas covered a large market area. He followed the trail underneath the canvas to have it lead him to the middle of the market. There he found a Bresh highlighted in white light.

“Lady Swan?” He called. The highlighted person looked around and saw him waving as he approached. She didn’t look much like she did in person, but that was probably a given when you were turned into a cat. She was just a little shorter than him with black fur striped with white.

“Velan!” She cried and rushed to give him a big hug. She stopped glowing and Valen saw a larger cat person walk up behind her. He had an uncertain look upon his face which may or may not have been jealousy.

“Welcome to the Bresh,” She said as she let go of him. “What do you think?”

“Very cool,” He said smiling, he turned to the Bresh behind her, “You are?”

“I am Vendall,” The Bresh nodded.

“Nice to meet you Vendall.” Velan nodded back. Somehow he knew that this was the AI Karen had spoken of.

“Do you have anything to sell?” Swan asked Velan.

“Yeah, actually I do.”

“Alright, give it to that man there. They’ll auction it off and you’ll probably get a lot more for it than you would selling it in any store.” Swan pointed one clawed finger to a man taking items from another player.

“Alright.” Velan walked up and stood behind the person currently with the man. “Destiny, can you give me all the weapons in my inventory except for the rare staff?”

“Yes Master,” Destiny’s voice rang out. Suddenly sharp weapons rained all about him, sticking into the ground and eliciting gasps and growls from those nearby.

“Whoops,” Velan said as he started picking up his weapons with a red face. He gathered them all and gave them to the Bresh that was receiving auction items.

“Thank you, we will deposit the earnings from these into your account after we take our small ten percent fee.” The Bresh said, offering his hand to Velan.

“Thanks,” Velan took his hand and felt a small tingling sensation in his palm.

Velan and Swan, followed by Vendall, started walking out of the market.

“What would you like to do?” Velan said.

“Well, you’re new, so you probably haven’t found many checkpoints or villages. Once you do, you can teleport to them for fast travel around the world. It makes it much easier to travel because travelling from the east coast to the west coast, say on horseback, it could take weeks.”

“Wow,” Velan was amazed the game was that huge.

“Luckily you can take my hand and I can teleport you anywhere I’ve been! It’s great because once your there, you can travel there later on.”

“Great!”

“I heard there was a new AI that has emerged from the mountains, do you want to investigate?”

“Yeah, I heard that too. Sure let’s go.” Valen looked behind him, “What about you, Vendall? What do you think?”

“Uh, sure.” Vendall looked surprised that Valen had even talked to him.

“Great!” Valen smiled.

Swan offered her hands to them both and they grasped hands together. She told her VR AI to teleport them somewhere called Denhall. A falling sensation occurred and then Valen hit solid ground again.

Clamor and yelling emerged from all around them. Panic, the sound of steel on steel, and loud explosions elicited bleeps from the trio. Grabbing both Vendall and Swan, Valen pulled them behind a house and got a look at what was happening around them.

The town that they had spawned at was in flames and under attack. Ash lay everywhere and people ran here and there battling with humanoids that looked like devils. They had dark skin of various reds and yellows, sprouting long horns from their foreheads.

One such devil was walking casually through the street casting fire upon the buildings. A mixture of Human and Bresh people charged the mage but a hulking devil in large plate armor and a massive greatsword slaughtered groups of them to ash with each slash from the wicked serrated blade.

“Oh my god! What the hell?” Swan said as they took in the battle.

“Meet the new AI, I guess. They don’t particularly look friendly.” Valen said.

“We should go.” Swan said.

“We should not, they need our help.” Vendall spoke up.

“I don’t want to die, I don’t know about you!” Swan argued.

While they argued, a flash of light appeared in front of the mage devil. In the middle of the street appeared a Human that looked exactly like Roman, wearing heavy plate mail.

“Oh ****.” Valen bleeped. The mage devil smirked evilly and pointed a gnarled staff at IAmRock, Roman’s Username. Valen jumped up and ran forward while working his hands. He double cast lightning, blasting the mage off of his feet with a loud crack and a bright flash. Rock turned around in confusion, shouting a word to his AI. A longsword and shield appeared in his hands. Valen called to Destiny and his staff appeared in his own hands.

The hulking devil warrior looked from Rock to Valen, then charged at Valen. Rock tried to intercept but the devil warrior saw him coming and swung his greatsword hard at him. He blocked the strike with his shield but the force sent him off of his feet. The devil warrior came at Valen who was now glowing with his shield spell. The greatsword came up and slashed into the ground in a great vertical strike. Valen had rolled out of the way just in time and felt the earth tremble with the force of the impact on the ground.

Valen sprang up and cast fire onto the devil but the devil just pulled his sword from the dirt and laughed, dirt raining down upon them from the force that he had pulled it out of the ground. The fire seemed to do no damage at all to him. He strode confidently towards Valen. Valen looked to Rock, but Rock had engaged the devil mage. Taking fireballs to his shield as he tried to get past the mage’s fiery assault.

Suddenly, Vendall sprang at the devil warrior from behind and sunk his twin daggers into the neck of the warrior. The devil roared in pain and reached behind, grabbing Vendalls mane. Vendall was thrown up and over the devils head, into the air. The devil warrior swung his greatsword and sliced the falling Bresh into two before Valen’s eyes. Vendall turned into ash before he hit the ground.

“NOOOO!” came the cry of Swan, she was still behind the house. The Devil warrior looked at her, and Valen took that opportunity. He had never tried this, but he swung the staff in both hands the same way he would to summon lightning with his hands. He ended the casting by pointing the staff at the devil warrior. The energy of the spell shuddered through Velan and swelled at the tip in a large ball of light.

“BOOOOOM,” The air trembled and the blast sounded like a bomb. The lighting flashed with a blinding light and hit the devil, sending it flying into the wall of the town, blasting through and sending stone flying into the air. A pile of ash wisped into the wind outside the blasted wall.

“Holy ****,” Valen said before he fell to the ground. The world began to spin fast and he could barely think. Pain permeated his brain and he cried out in agony.

While Velan was down and Swan rushed to him, Rock bitterly fought the pesky mage. It threw everything it had at him, even a flock of large bats it had summoned. Rock just swatted them out of the air with lightning fast reflexes. He charged at the creature again and again, and finally the creature swayed with dizziness and Rock knew he was out of mana. He closed in and knocked a strike from the staff away with his shield. In he went and with a dozen strikes of his sword the mage turned to ash.

Running to Valen and Swan, he found Valen writhing on the ground and Swan trying to force a potion into his mouth. She finally managed it and he calmed a bit.

“Is he good?” Rock asked.

“It should help a bit, but it’ll take him a few minutes to recover.” Swan said through tears.

“We don’t have minutes.” Rock looked back to find a mass of devils stalking through the streets towards them. “Take my hand.”

Rock grabbed both their hands and told his AI to teleport them somewhere Valen didn’t know. He hardly cared as the world spun steadily around him. They then disappeared from the smoking ruin of the town.