Please Note: Statements between % something in italics % are game system messages.

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The Night Life. A term Swamy heard long ago and understood much later.

Swamy was thinking hard on all the experiences he had so far as he wrote another paper due in class. And he was astounded by the behaviour of the npcs (non player characters) in the game. Not that he did not like it or enjoy it, but he came to realize that there was something else at play here.

After all, when Cassian showed his Peek skill he did not need to show Neona's bath. For Swamy, the experience was amazing but the thing was, it was not required. He could have easily shown the next room to display its workings. Why then the particular experience. And what about the kisses he got from Lady Verina and Lady Altia. He could understand how intimacy worked and maybe he had gotten close enough to them. It could also be possible that their personalities came into effect. But if you think about it rationally, the experience, while enjoyable to some, could be treated as harassment by others. It could cause innumerable legal complications and should not generally be allowed. What if a female child is playing the game, such behaviour could be considered rape.

However nothing of that sort had come up so far. Even after players started getting blessings. A male npc just swooping to kiss a female player, kid or adult, would probably put a million dollar or rupee harassment case in any court in the world. Not to mention the male players could feel the same way as well.

So what was it? While thinking hard, Swamy remembered a term he had heard long ago. The night life. Ofcourse he was too small to understand what it meant at that time. After growing older, he finally figured out what it was. The night life was becoming a part and parcel of many virtual reality games. Exclusive content or facilities to be enjoyed by adults or 18+ people. A room which allowed two players to sleep together or a hot water spring which allowed bathing together or even simply taking off your clothes in private, was possible due to this. However, those were the extremes. It could simply be consumption of alcohol or smoking. All of which would form the experience for adult players.

'It could be this night life which is affecting some of the behaviour of npcs towards players. The Peek skill too, I am sure, will have limitations if one were to peek on underage npcs. It might not even work on the player houses or there might be some system setting for that. That doesn't explain everything though.'

It was the concept of choice and permission. The system may have a lot of different attributes to determine the compatibility between two people, be they npcs or players. But at the end, what really matters is choice. That is an incalculable factor. You could try guessing it based on as many factors as you want, but there will always be the slight probability of being wrong. Wherein comes the permission. When initiating such activities, people could always ask permission which would permit the system to allow such behaviour.

Some of the things which happened to Swamy in the game, could be attributed to him being 18 years old. The other thing about choice and permission was still worrying him though. In the end he decided that probably the reaction from the other party, in this case himself, when such an action was initiated could be an indication of whether it was permitted. It could also be a result of many factors but in case the system is confused on the reaction, it could either stop the action or simply ask permission. It should work both ways in that case.

'Well its just how I would do this, but there could be something different at play here achieving the same results.'

However, there were too many probabilities in these thoughts to put in a paper due in class. In the end Swamy wrote on the properties of magic in the game.

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Caterpy and Diggeron were two players who were eagerly waiting to get out of the gate at Gurrow village. They had been excited to finally reach Age 14 and start their own adventures. And just as they thought of leaving, the event quest had started. To capture the beastmen.

Caterpy was wearing the gear loaned to her by the guards while Diggeron, being a battle school graduate, got his own gear. A chest guard, gloves and boots. Each plain and sturdy though Diggeron's gear had some options. Both of them received the weapon of their choice from the guards though. Diggeron chose a sword. Caterpy a bow. The two of them were experienced virtual reality gamers having played other games. They knew how to handle and use the weapons in their hands.

"So when do you think we will start Manish?"

"I don't know but it should be soon enough. I guess they are just waiting for Lady Altia to arrive. And do call me Diggeron in the game. Its no fun choosing a name if I am going to be called by my real name regardless."

"Yeah yeah...but why did you choose Diggeron again. Its not easy to say is it?"

"What's difficult about it...its digger~digger~diggeron! See it even sounds musical!"

Caterpy sighed. Diggeron or Manish had this weird habit of getting into character in any virtual game he played. A warrior, sage, knight...or what else. Caterpy or Himali liked that side of him. In reality he was a cool guy, a bit dreamy or aloof from the world. But nevertheless a good guy. On the other hand in the games, he lived his dreams of being the characters, he dreamed of in the real world. This time his character was a bit weird though. Not having a class in the game he had decided his own class and acted accordingly, which was slowly causing an ache in Caterpy's head. Diggeron was a digger of unknown treasures yet to be found. Or atleast that's how he explained it to Caterpy. All she wished though, was to have a digger-off switch sometimes.

"Ah there is Lady Altia now. And Lady Verina is with her too. Will she be coming with us as well?"

"Dunno. But she isn't wearing armor or anything to fight."

"But its surprising that there are so many people here, isn't it! Never thought so many players reached the Age of 14. I recognize some who I have seen going out the gate as well."

"Yeah it seems they stuck around instead of going to the capital."

They were standing near the gate towards the road to Thelmova along with a lot of other players.

"Alright all those who chose to join, if you have not got your equipment proceed to the guard office on the side and meet us outside the gate. Everyone else step out and follow Lady Altia outside."

The group of people followed Lady Altia outside the gate. There were scores and scores of tents pitched outside. And then they saw the hundreds of fully equipped soldiers standing in military parade formation as if waiting for an inspection. Two soldiers who looked like they were in command approached Lady Altia and Lady Verina.

"Well are we ready to move out?" one of them asked.

"In a moment Emilius. Any new reports?" answered Lady Verina.

"None Lady Verina. I expect the beastmen to be heading in the same direction or the scouts would have notified us."

"Alright. Thank you Emilius."

"Well we better get the Goddess children sorted into rank and file. Come on Emilius, Maltus........"

"Alright you lot! Fighters follow me, Archers with Captain Emilius here. Staff users, you will have to exchange your staff for spears so follow Captain Maltus here!" Lady Altia spoke loudly in a commanding tone.

Caterpy and Diggeron separated as one followed Emilius and the other followed Lady Altia. There were only a few staff users, probably magic school graduates. They followed Maltus. Quickly they were sorted into various companies under different sergeants and they joined the parade formation as it steadily grew larger.

"Alright hear me and hear me well!" Lady Altia's strong clear voice quieted down all the commotion going on. Every soldier, npc or player was listening to her speak.

"A lot of you have heard of why we are here. Beastmen have infiltrated our island for some unknown reason. But that is not why we are after them today. They attacked people who were travelling the road killing all without cause. This is why we are after them today."

There was silence as Lady Altia looked around.

"Some of you are experienced in fighting, while some of you are not. But trust me on this. No one should underestimate the beastmen. They number 6 and we are about 300. But do not think we will win easily. They hide in the forest. The forest is their playground and our disadvantage. For those who do not know, beastmen are strong. They are fast. They have an animal's sense of sight, smell and hearing. And only the most skilled or the most foolish ever confront them in the forest irrespective of the number."

More silence but this time some people were definitely fidgeting. Caterpy, on the other hand, was excited. She knew Diggeron would be excited as well. Ofcourse if you died, the quest would end for you. But otherwise it would be their first fight in the game. Success or failure didn't matter at this point, all they wanted was to go wild. Release all the frustrations built up in more than 2 months of playing but not being able to leave the village. She simply wished that it would begin. A lot of other players might be wishing the same.

"Fighting in the forest is difficult, specially because the trees, bushes, shrubs make good hiding places. Also they restrict your view ahead so it makes it difficult to avoid traps. Most of all, you cannot march side by side as you have been taught."

Atleast the npc soldiers were definitely fidgeting by now.

"But I will still ask you to face them with me. They are the enemy. They are the threat to anyone who plies this road. They are the threat to every being living in the village, your family, your friends, your countrymen! A soldier signs up to protect and we will protect the peace and the innocent lives of this island till our last breath, till the last man or woman capable of still holding a sword. But I do not ask you to die. I ask you to kill these filthy beastmen so they cannot threaten us anymore!"

Lady Altia's voice was not loud this time. But still everyone heard it clearly.

The captains took out their swords and raised it above their heads. Slowly other soldiers started doing the same. When almost every weapon was in the air,

"Lets kill those bastards! HUA!" The captains shouted together.

"HUA! HUA! HUA! HUA! HUA!........" and the soldiers repeated raising their voices sky high. The players joined in the excitement.

"HUA HUA HUA...." went Caterpy with her bow raised. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Diggeron raising his sword and shouting loudly as well.

The commotion died down abruptly as Lady Altia raised her hand.

"Now we will divide into 3 groups of 100 people each. Group 1 will follow the commands of Lady Verina and will guard the village. Group 2 will be the main force consisting of me, Emilius and Maltus. Group 3 is our back up and will start 1 hour after us."

"For fighting in the forest, we will split into teams of 10 each. You will make into the forest in waves, each team following the other closely behind. There will be no formation other than that. Every 2 hours you will take a break. The enemy is moving so expect to wade through the forest for some hours. Prepare accordingly. The rest will be explained by the captains."

Emilius moved front and shouted.

"We cannot use horses so travelling will be slow. Also the deeper you go the thicker the forest will be. The first team will be led by me. Maltus's team will be covering the rear. In case fighting breaks out, find the nearest team and band together. Sergeants in charge will act according to situation so the new recruits, listen carefully." And Emilius looked at all the Goddess's children.

"We do not know how the enemy will move once they realize that we are after them. So always be ready for an ambush. And be careful of any traps. Once a team makes contact with the enemy, the teams leading and following behind will attack from the sides. The rest will then fill in covering the rear as well. Our best bet is to trap them in a box formation. Each side will have multiple teams in support so that they can be used in rotation. If one falls, immediately take his place." Emilius explained the strategy they will be using. But mostly it will be the sergeants who would be applying the strategy, the rest would simply follow orders.

"That's it then. Pack up the tents and leave them here. You won't need them in the forest. We leave in 20 minutes. Get moving!"

Some time later, they were divided into teams and headed to the forest. Caterpy was in the 5th team while Diggeron was in the 3rd, both in group 2.

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Raka was still trying to create water magic. It sounded exciting knowing he could learn to communicate using mirrors and also the Peek skill. But the basis of both pieces of magic...was water. Without it, he couldn't do a thing about them.

Raka wondered why was it so difficult. Magic was complicated in the sense that following certain rules, it depended on the imagination of the magician to take effect. So the problem was Raka's imagination. After all he was transforming energy as he was used to. He could easily imagine air and earth. Even fire, though a bit whimsical, worked. It was not that the elements were easy but he could imagine them as separate, being able to move or act on their own. Just like you can imagine a rock or wind. Even fire, because he could imagine his staff or paper catching fire. It didn't matter one of them being made of metal, even metals could burn. Being able to burn would depend on how hot it is and availability of air. But how does water act independently. You can have it in a bowl or in some shape in a container. You can shoot it out from a pipe, the pressure increasing its speed. You could even think that water can become ice which would be kindof independent of the other elements. Water can become steam, which is lighter than air so you can imagine it flying in the air or other stuff. But what do you do with plain water. He couldn't simply imagine energy stored in a bowl. He tried perceiving that but the bowl and the inside looked the same. It was more like water being stored in something made of water.

Raka sighed.

In short, Raka was affected by the real world logic. Magic may be a completely imaginary thing, but you still have to imagine the way it takes shape. And that imagination is based on your experiences. For example a Fireball. Ofcourse no one imagines it as round like a ball. But rather like a piece of round wood or cloth which caught fire and you throw it. People who frequently play virtual reality games might not have this problem. In other games, the skills would automatically create a fireball and they could look at it. So imagining a fireball would be no trouble. This acted like a two edged weapon though. Once you see something acting in a particular way, it shapes your mind. When you mention Fireball next, everyone will think of the thing they saw.

In this game however, the name was irrelevant. Just a tool to aid your focus or imagination. Raka could name his magic Dragonball and it would still shoot out a fireball if he imagined it right.

And so he stared at the bowl full of water, trying to imagine....water! The only water magic he had seen so far; Sambal wearing it like a glove and then putting it on the mirror. Cassian didn't even need to do that, he simply threw the water on the mirror. Raka was desperately trying to imagine water sticking to his hand like a glove. But his brain subconsciously raised shackles which would make it fail.

Raka was getting tired of his attempts. It was like learning how to perceive energy all over again. Learning something abstract is very difficult and tiring. Giving up he decided to head down to Salmon's place to do some work and hopefully get the woodworking skill.

"PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT, YOU NINCOMPOOP! DO YOU SEE the thickness of the wood? It would take all DAY with the speed your going!"

Raka made a painful face at hearing the unusually loud voice. It could even permeate inside the ear plugs he was wearing to cut down on the noise of the workshop. He did his best to learn the basics and he was now working inside the warehouse instead of the garden.

Woodworking was another skill which was not as simple as it sounded. 'Why is everything so difficult!' he often wondered. He thought that learning it, would allow him to make wooden weapons and it probably could. But what he was learning now, was how many types of wood there are and how to treat each wood. How to measure and cut it to specification using a tape measure. And then how many many many places wood is used on the ship. His role was to treat and shape the wood for the parts of whatever was being made or repaired. Different types and shapes of wood were required for everything from chairs, tables, drawers, casks, cupboards and other household items to wooden rails, ship hulls, masts and rudders. Atleast it was adding to his knowledge.

Ships in the game, or atleast ships which he saw so far, were made of wood but had iron planks bolted on the bottom to protect the hull from damage from rocks or reefs or other things. Complicated in design, they were made of many parts.

What he also found out that the ships were operated by guilds. He assumed they were merchant guilds but they were simply called guilds. These guilds did a lot of stuff. From trading to providing protection and travel. The interesting thing though, was this. Large guilds operated out of a fixed office on some island. They usually had two or more ships of different types and capacities. However there were smaller guilds which operated out of a single ship. They did not have an office on an island. Their ship was treated as their base and office combined. Just their ship and guild were registered as belonging to some country.

'Could the same be true for player guilds?' He remembered Christopher talking about a guild base and this fact fit perfectly into his information. 'So smaller player guilds can simply buy one ship and treat them as their base. But larger player guilds will have to buy or rent an office on an island. Hmm, but maybe smaller guilds can do that as well, I suppose. Depends on which method would be cheaper. Though having your entire guild on one ship and travelling the world together, without worry of maintaining an office, does not sound bad either.'

Ofcourse, Raka had no way to verify this. He knew ships couldn't be cheap. But for once, he did want to be part of a guild...not the big ones, just a small guild made of good people...adventurous people. Sailing the world of Long Island, getting into trouble, having adventures, seeing things.

'Maybe I should go check out the guild office later. I am sure anyone around here will know where it is. Docks people always do.'