"We grind and grind. We die over and over again. We are both aware and unaware of the fact that we do this for essentially the same reason every time, no matter the seemingly differing circumstances. Yet we continue undeterred. This world is different. Something comes back with us." -A Player

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Prepare for Launch...

White. All around was a pure milky white. Streaks of light shot in a multitude of directions with glittering specks circumventing. Streams of numbers, letters, and symbols flowed within, shifting colors according to the light's refractions. It was impossible to tell where was up or down or if he was floating or falling.

Ray's eyes adjusted to the blinding beams, and he realized that some of the data flowed through his body. They traveled through his hands, legs, feet, everywhere. It was accompanied by a brief tingling sensation as if his limbs fell asleep.

A mechanical female voice intruded on the silence, “Welcome, Player. Please stand-by as final configurations are implemented.”

Ray felt his limbs tighten. The stiffness was not painful, but the lack of control almost threw him into a panic. One of the streams began to bend and focused its attention on Ray. The flow of data passed into him.

“Downloading intrinsic settings. Adding framework updates. Applying intrinsic settings in 3,2,1...Brace for pulse.”

Ray's body jerked upwards as if he had been applied a shock from an AED. His back arched and fingers flexed against his will. It felt as if his muscles were being stretched taught and joints extended. After a few seconds, his body relaxed. There had been no pain throughout the entire process.

“Intrinsic settings applied. Initiating neural safety protocols 1-37. Connecting manual fail-safe links 1-7...success. No complications with connection.”

The white area melted away and was replaced by glowing, lime-green grids encompassing a pitch blackness. The data faded to nothingness, and Ray now found himself standing. He tapped his foot on the unseen surface a few times to be sure. Below the invisible surface he observed more grids that pulsated with lines of some unknown energy.

“Please stand on the white grid, Player.”

One of the black grids with the green edges began to glow white and Ray did as instructed. The light rose above him and consumed his form. On his arms he saw black metal wrist guards appear and his hands enveloped in dark leather gloves. His chest and back were now covered by a thin cuirass with two layers of overlapping steel near the waist. Ebony shin guards and flexible, splinted leather cuisses appeared. To finish the outfit off, he slipped his arms into a basic, and surprisingly light cotton cloak that concealed his upper armor.

When the light faded, Ray gave his body another look and grinned like an excited child. He flicked a finger on the armor and it responded with a ring of metal.

Oh my god, this is so badass.

“Please make three gear selections.”

As soon as the female voice finished, portions of the grids slid open to reveal dozens of rising weapon racks. They locked into place with a soft click, and Ray could see hundreds upon hundreds of weapons and shields on display.

Okay, this is pretty cool too, Ray thought.

He lifted a short sword and tested its weight in his hands. He twisted his grip to feel the roughness of its leather handle. It was incredible. It felt so real. He even felt the coolness seep into his hands from running them over the blade. He tried some other weapons: axes, halberds, pikes, scimitars, spears, broadswords, maces, shields and bows (he even threw around some shuriken). Each one had its own balance of weight, grip and size for any range of individuals.

Ray stopped as he happened upon a rack of katanas. One of the swords caught his eye and he gently lifted it, one hand on the handle and the other settled on the flat of the blade with his fingertips. He estimated that the blade must have been a little over two feet in length. A pretty typical size. Ray extended his right arm and held the sword parallel to the ground. He nodded as his arm began to strain, but did not tremble. A fine weight indeed. Nice balance.

The sword danced through his fingertips and the blade made majestic, whirling arcs cutting smooth through the air.

Satisfied, Ray retrieved the blade's scabbard. He slid it home and slung the weapon over his shoulder.

The next few racks he ignored. He didn't want another primary weapon. Instead, he searched for a shorter, lighter weapon for his secondary.

As he scoured the remaining displays, he happened upon a strange gadget comprised of black leather that attached to the wrist. He also noticed upon closer inspection a web of leather straps interconnecting at a small switch with a wire that extended to the bulk of the leather. A metal compartment was attached to the underside with another small lever. A groove led behind it to be pulled back.

He decided to try on the device and slid his hand through it. He noticed that the web of thin leather straps fit between his fingers, and the switch was just within reach of his thumb. He pulled the buckle so it fit tightly on his wrist. Flexing his fingers was rather easy with no obstructions.

Ray drew his thumb back, flicked the switch and to his surprise a narrow blade appeared from the metal compartment on the underside of his wrist.

Ray let out a laugh.

“A hidden blade,” he said between chuckles. “This is some assassin stuff right here.”

There was no question about it; he was definitely going to keep this. It would take some practice to make it viable, but he figured it might pay off in the long run.

His final weapon was a simple choice, a short scimitar that he attached to his waist for quick access. The handle was about the length of his hand. A rather simple, one-handed weapon.

He returned to the glowing circle and the female voice resounded through the grid space once again.

“Please wait. Your Puzzle and Dragons Personal Database is being submitted.”

Ray's wrist began to glow. Lines of light shifted over various places and etched the database like an artist might sketch a drawing. When the glow took a specific shape, it exploded in a puff of dust.

Attached to Ray's wrist was a teal, banded device with three slots on its underside. A few faded buttons ran along its surface. It reached halfway to his elbow and it appeared to be embedded in his skin.

“Your personal database has completed updates and transferred. Access your device to view inventory, analyze the world map, organize your monster box, manage your team, and more. Prepare for transfer to: Tower of Departure.”

Ray felt his body ease above the invisible platform. A pillar of violet light washed over him and he connected to the data stream.

Tower of Departure

Pirugan Continent

Ray stood upon a flat, stone surface shrouded by a thick fog. The area was devoid of wind and a slight chill settled in the air.

The newly awakened warrior analyzed his surroundings. He listened for any potential sounds within the fog.

Silence. He relaxed himself when nothing hostile seemed in his midst.

He strode forward and came upon a square hole in the stone with a staircase leading into the darkness below. He advanced past this a few yards to scan for anything that laid beyond but found himself standing at the edge of the stone, gazing down through empty air. He could not discern how far down the distance was due to the fog. He decided that nothing else was to be found, so he backtracked and descended into the dark.

Ray ran his hands over the wall as he progressed down the spiral staircase. Lines of light crawled through the cracks and dimly illuminated the narrow expanse.

He proceeded with a quickened pace, taking two steps at a time and found himself in a massive room with a ceiling comprised of squares with similar fluorescent light from some unknown source. The walls consisted of stacked stone panels. They stuck outwards on different sides and angled awkwardly. The construction of the walls appeared to be unstable, but perhaps the thickness contributed to support the unyielding weight of the ceiling above.

Ray padded lightly in his leather boots to prevent his footfalls from echoing throughout the empty room. He was impressed by how sound carried with each change in step. He carefully drew his katana from the scabbard on his back.

Something didn't feel normal. Open spaces were typically a source for conflict, providing area for the Player to maneuver and for the insertion of multiple enemies large and small. Especially large.

As he crept forward, a dark oval shape began to form from the darkness where the boxes of light on the ceiling ended.

Ray raised his sword. His elbows evened out as the shape drew closer.

Just as he was about to shift his feet, a small white creature in half an egg shell floated in front of him.

It had small wings on its back that kept it afloat and two small paw-like hands resting over an egg shell that concealed its belly. The white monster looked like a children's plush toy. A bright yellow star was etched into the front of the shell. It couldn't have been much larger than the size of a basketball.

“A tamadra,” Ray breathed.

The monster gave Ray a cute, tiny smile and hovered near his face. Ray reached out with a bit of hesitation, but the tamadra made no signs of moving. He rested his hand on the monster's head and it snuggled against his palm happily and made a soft purring sound like a cat.

I'm patting a tamadra. I'm petting a monster! Ray thought with wonder.

Ray was so entranced by this wonderful moment that he failed to notice a hulking figure approaching his blind side. The tamadra spotted it first. Its eyes widened and it grabbed Ray's arm, urging him to follow.

He glanced over his shoulder to see a massive blood-red figure dragging its massive feet along the stone. A wooden club scraped along the floor behind it, held by a meaty hand riddled with spikes on the knuckles. One of its arms was encased in sharp-edged armor with a curved blade protruding at the elbow. Its lower jaw overlapped its upper lip and two long fangs snaked along its mouth. The eyes were a darkened yellow, but Ray could tell exactly where it was looking as a cloudy outer membrane shifted in direction.

The creature straightened itself and heaved its shoulders back. It let out a terrifying roar that echoed throughout the dungeon and showered the floor with putrid saliva.

A voice emanated from the walls. It was the same mechanical female voice from before.

“This is a final message for Player, Ray Andylon. Welcome to the Tower of Departure. The battle tutorial will now commence. As a reminder, please note that death will result in the loss of experience as compensation for respawn. Upon completion of the battle tutorial, you will have access to the Pirugan Continent. I wish you luck on your journey.”

Ray froze. Wait, did she just-Hold on! I lose experience if I die?

The end of the message was the monster's cue to charge forward. It did so recklessly, and waved the club over its head with no attempt at control. It brought the club down hard, but Ray anticipated the monster's strike. Its attacks were slow and exaggerated, but they definitely packed a heavy punch as attested by the cracked stone floor.

Ray ran for his life. He wanted to get as much distance as possible between himself and the monster so he could analyze it with the personal database.

When the gap felt sufficient he activated the database and a menu appeared. He found a holographic symbol on the bottom left of the menu consisting of a circle and bending lines. A giant A was also at its center. He ran his hand over the symbol and the circle discarded the lines and enlarged itself, taking over the menu. A segment extended outwards and wrapped around the epicenter like some sort of radar. After a few seconds, an analysis report appeared.

Ray didn't get a chance to read it. He reacted just in time to avoid the ogre's next heavy attack. Its speed took Ray by surprise as he was so focused on the analysis. He jumped into a shoulder roll and came up into his stance with his katana at the ready.

As the ogre approached, Ray's tamadra partner floated down. Its face was puffed up in a frown with tiny paws raised. Ray could see that the poor monster was trembling, and the paws were bundled up into something akin to a clenched fist.

“You're going to help me fight?” Ray asked.

The tamadra turned to him and nodded.

Ray narrowed his eyes at the ogre that stared down at them. Its mouth was contorted into what Ray took for a sneer.

Doesn't seem like a very fair tutorial, but screw it, Ray thought. He rested his hand over the slots on the underside of the database on his wrist.

A barrier enshrouded Ray in a generously sized semicircle. Layers of faded blue light emitted from its surface, making it just barely visible. As the barrier formed, a holographic board appeared from nowhere and presented Ray with an array of scattered orbs of varying colors. He eyed the orbs: light, dark, wood, water, and fire. Next to the board of orbs was a picture of the tamadra with all its stats, attributes, and skills listed. Most interesting about the tamadra's attributes was that it encompassed all of them. On the opposite side of the board were Ray's stats: health, defense, agility, level (1), etc.

Well, at least right now I don't have to worry about losing levels if I die, Ray thought.

Still, he preferred not to.

Ray was surprised to see that he actually had an attribute. Even more puzzling was the purple crescent moon symbol that appeared next to his name.

He dismissed his curiosity and focused attention back to the board and threw together some quick three-match combinations of dark, light, and fire orbs to see what kind of effect it would have on the attack. Monsters typically had a primary attribute (and a sub-attribute if they reached a high enough form). It was incredible to think that some monsters could possibly have up to five. Perhaps it was just for the sake of the tutorial, but it was worthy of consideration nevertheless.

The tamadra dodged the ogre's clumsy attack and positioned itself next to the monster's face. It squeezed its eyes shut as Ray completed the combinations and issued the power. The monster's tiny paws conjured a glass sphere with three smaller orbs swirling around inside. The three orbs contained a flame symbol, a sun symbol, and the symbol of a crescent moon. They were red, yellow, and purple respectively, the same ones that Ray completed with his combinations.

The tamadra readied the glass orb and flung it at the ogre's face. It shattered and emitted purple, golden and crimson beams of energy that drove in all directions, embedding themselves in the enemy's arms, legs and any other limbs within their path. One beam even shattered the ogre's club, incinerating it in a fine explosion of splinters.

“Tama!” the tamadra shouted triumphantly in its high-pitched voice.

It backed away as the ogre grasped at it blindly.

An image appeared next to the tamadra on Ray's holographic screen, and the ogre's health bar appeared briefly. The bar lowered and the number changed from one thousand to seven hundred. Tamadra's attack was only a hundred. Ray reasoned that there was such a thing as critical hits in this world as well. Hitting the ogre in the face, along with the three combinations of orbs allowed for extra damage. He didn't know exactly how the damage system worked, but so far it was pretty darn cool.

More orbs had dropped down on his board and he decided to switch it up a bit and see how some other combinations worked with the tamadra.

As he was about to select an orb a giant red X appeared over the screen and faded to gray.

What the hell?

Ray gasped as the wounded ogre rose and raised its fist. It didn't bring its arm down as expected. A red circle appeared on the ceiling.

“Watch out!” Ray shouted. The barrier that surrounded him disengaged.

The tamadra didn't register his warning in time and took a glancing blow from a blast of crimson energy. It did manage to move instinctively out of the way in a random direction. The little monster tumbled along the floor and came to rest on its back. It forced itself to roll over and free its wings to take flight. The ogre was already upon it and lifted its foot in the air to crush the tiny creature.

As the ogre was about to bring its massive foot down Ray leaped in and sliced at the beast's achilles heel. He also took the opportunity to whirl about and stab the top of the monster's foot.

The ogre howled in pain and fell on its rear end grasping its foot.

Ray rushed over to the tamadra and knelt beside it.

“You okay, pal?” Ray asked.

He noticed that the star on the tamadra's shell was scuffed with a gray line cutting across it.

Ray shook his head. “I'm sorry. I forgot that the board locks up at intervals.”

The tamadra righted itself and tested its wings before taking flight. It rested on Ray's shoulder and patted him on the head.

Ray was about to respond, but stopped himself as a thought dawned on him. He was communicating with a monster in this virtual world. The creature understood him and responded just like any other individual in the real world might. If this little tamadra creature had this ability, then what would it be like when he met the other monsters? Especially the ones that assumed a humanoid form. It was almost frightening to consider.

He shook himself from the thought. “Well pal, looks like its time to double-team this bastard.”

The tamadra narrowed its eyes at the ogre and beat its paws against each other like a pumped up boxer.

Ray's personal database beeped and he glanced down to see that the board was ready. He matched some orbs and the tamadra conjured another glass ball with the swirling symbols.

He silenced the database and nodded to the tamadra. “Ready, pal?”

The tamadra beamed with renewed vigor upon seeing that Ray had opted to stand alongside it in the engagement.

“Let's do this!” Ray shouted.

They charged at the wounded ogre and brought their weapons to bear.

The remaining trials of the Tower of Departure proved to be far more manageable than the introductory battle with the dark ogre. Ray and his new companion took their time testing different abilities, combinations of orbs and with their coordination. A nice skyfall of orbs had provided combinations of all five attributes, and the glass ball that resulted converged with the tamadra, giving it the ability to phase through enemy attacks for a short time. With the help of Players, monsters could unlock their true potential.

The duo exited the tower with high spirits.

Ray shielded his eyes from the blazing sun that pierced through the clouds. The fog had lifted, and the chill was replaced by a comfortable breeze.

A mountain pass lay before them and winded downwards with rocks strewn along the dirt path.

Ray began his descent, but stopped when he noticed that his companion did not follow. The tamadra simply floated there still smiling.

“What's the matter?” Ray approached the tamadra.

His question was answered by a small spray of data particles that floated from the base of the monster's shell.

“Wait, no-” Ray started.

The tamadra flew next to Ray and patted him on the head. The monster didn't seem concerned, which put Ray a bit more at ease. But they had bonded in the tower together, and Ray was reluctant to let the little guy go.

Ray smiled and pet the tamadra in return.

The little monster bobbed its head and waved one of its paws in farewell. “Tama!”

His hand didn't leave the small creature's head until it completely disappeared. Its data particles drifted away on the wind.

For some reason, he knew that the tamadra wasn't gone from the world.

Sure hope I see you again, pal.

Ray lingered there for a short while before starting down the path. It wasn't long before the pass opened up to flat land that extended to a cliff on all sides. He could see for miles around. To his left was an expanse of forest that extended as far as the eye could see. To his right, the mountain range continued and lowered its jagged body into a lake.

Ray's focus was then held by the individual near the cliff.

A young woman sat upon an outcropping of rock, her arms crossed and resting on the pole of a magnificent weapon with a double-edged axe and thick scimitar blade. Her elegant red and gold combat dress and long, pony-tailed amber hair blew in the breeze. Her rainbow wings were folded behind her, their armor shining under the sun.

The sight of her near the edge of the cliff with the blue sky behind her was mesmerizing. Ray found himself lost for words.

“L-Leilan,” Ray breathed. He stopped a few yards from her as his legs froze.

The female monster rose from the rock and rested her weapon on a shoulder.

Leilan smiled. “And you must be Ray. It's nice to finally meet you.”