Tinker was at the main gate and standing around when a big warrior called all new party members to him. 9 people made their way to him and gathered around him. 5 wore hardened leather armour like him. Two wore mage robes and two wore plate armour, Tinker recognised Aragon with his smug face and the other outlander.

The big warrior seemed seasoned and had many scars. “Good day everyone, from this day on you are all warriors of Avelon, even the mages in a way. I have already made groups so stick with them and listen to your party leader. I will give you all advice, don’t get to hasty and level up in a safe way. Not all of us are as lucky as outlanders that come back to life 4 days later. Now be gone and when you reach better levels come back to the guild and start doing quests”.

A mild cheer rose and they all started walking to the gate. Tinker was singled out and called by the big warrior. ‘’You were knocked out when all the others received this, you are now an official warrior’’

Class Change!

You can convert to a Warrior. If you accept it, you can learn exclusive skills for the class.

Do you want to convert to a Warrior?

“Hell yeah’’ Tinker said loudly.

Ting* You are now able to wear all types of armour.

Tinker saw Aragon waiting for him so he walked over so that they can start the rabbit hunting. He thought now would be a good time to look at all his stats. “Stats window’’

Status WindowNameTinkerPrimary ClassWarriorHealth320Mana110TitlenoneLevel5Reputation0Strength35Agility35Wisdom16Intelligence11Stamina50Luck1Vitality22Leadership0AttackMain 9-10 Offhand 9-10Defence12Magic ResistanceFire0%Water0%Earth0%Dark0%

? Cooking (Lv. 4 : 13%): Enables you to make more tasty food.

? Herbalism (Lv. 2 : 79%): Allow for identification of plants, roots and other related herbs

? Handicraft (Lv. 1 : 86%): Has extra effects on various types of craft skills, and sword mastery.

? Sword (Lv. 1 : 98 %): Increases attack power and hit rating for swords.

Tinker did not even know he had a sword skill, and the bonus was that he almost reached level 2. He was impressed with his stats and to see results after a month of work, reading and training. When he reached the group Aragon started talking

“Hi every one, as most of you know I am Aragon the party leader. First we will all introduce our selves and then we will talk tactics.’’

Tinker was not really good with names but he remembered them as 2 shield man and 1 mage. The mage said after his introduction that ice magic did not damage creatures here as much as other places, but at least he could slow them down or cause minor distractions.

“Hello all, I am Tinker, dual wielding swordsman and cook” He was not sure why he said cook, but thinking back it probably had to do with Aragon beating him, standing there in his polished plate armour and lording over them like most leaders do. Thanks to that statement all the meats from the rabbits were given to him to make meals during combat breaks in the upcoming weeks.

“We will kill rabbits here outside the city for a few days and depending on our progress we will move further away and look for mountain wolves. After that we will hold another team meeting and take things from there. Just a heads up, the rabbits are fast and don’t really fight back. We will surround them and attack when they try and flee. We can all take a rabbit on our own but chasing it down and killing it would waste a lot of time. If we come across a white snow wolf we will fall back and not engage it, some do come down and hunt near the city but most of them stay with the pack and hunt yeti’s and trolls.’’

‘’Pardon me but how do you know so much, you are starting out just like us?’’

“My uncle is the supreme commander of the guard here and has given me a lot of information and advice for starting out.’’

With that said Aragon’s leadership and tactics were not questioned again. The other party went off to the west already, while they were still talking.

“We are going straight into the wilderness, we are not going to stick to roads, half an hour before nightfall we will head back and just after midday we will take our first brake and meal. Loot will be divided among us equally at the end of the day.

They did not walk long before they encountered there first rabbit. Aragon told Tinker that since he has was the fastest he should circle around and cut of the retreat. He and another will go for the flank while a shield man would come from the front. The mage should cast slow once the rabbit is surrounded right before they are ready to close in on the target.

The rabbit was surrounded and the mage cast a frost spell. Since the rabbit was slow down, now was the moment to attack. The rabbit seeing it is surrounded tried to run for a gap between Tinker and the shield man. The shield man tried to attack it but the rabbit dodged, but dodged into the direction of Tinker who swung his sword with all his might and hit the rabbit on its body. The rabbit was wounded and bleeding, so Tinker finished it off with 1 more attack of his sword.

Level up:

Sword Mastery [2]

The loot dropped was a rabbit skin, 2 copper and some meat. After the looting there was a small flash and the corpse disappeared forever. The amount of blood involved and left behind was minimal. For a virtual world he assumed that rabbits don’t bleed a lot and that the other games he played were blood sprayed everywhere was a bit much.

This went on for the remainder of the morning and till just after midday when it was time for lunch. He was given the meat from the rabbits for the meal. He decided to make a stew. Another parting gift from the Golden apple was an average size cooking pot, vegetables and a few spices. He made them just as he was taught and received praises from all. Neither of them could make food like this and they knew it.

After lunch they resumed their intense hunting. It was mainly a repeat of earlier with the odd exception of Aragon actually cleaving a rabbit in half. The loot dropped was a few more additional coppers since the skin and meat was ruined. The time came to go home and so they left. At the gate they saw the other party approach as well. They all went to the guild hall to talk and get their free meal. The other grouped seemed very impressed with them and talked how they killed so many rabbits that they managed to level up. Aragon keeping a straight face said well done and left it at that. The other grouped asked how he did and he just said a little better than them. What he did not tell them was that their grouped levelled up 3 times. It was a nice experience to kill rabbits and get loot. In addition to having a message pop up telling him that he has increased his level.

You have levelled up.

You have levelled up.

You have levelled up.

What Tinker could tell was that the other group attacked the rabbits 1 by 1. When failing to kill rabbits they started working together. But in two’s and three’s. No wonder they got left behind in the levels.

Aragon told his party to be at the main gate before dawn and they should rest up because they are going to be busy all day. Tinker took this time to log out and get rest himself.

With dawn and the sun creeping up from behind the mountains there was oddly a lot of activity at the main gate. Be it merchants setting out or guards changing shifts. With the entire party assembled they left and started the hunt. They were busy for about 3 hours when Aragon of all people called for a brake.

“Tinker do you mind making us some late morning breakfast? I did have tasteless porridge this morning and can do with a proper meal.” Nobody ells seemed to argue with this idea. So he took out his pot, gathered the meat and made another rabbit stew. He added different spices this time to keep things new.

‘’This is so good, not only does it taste good but thanks to your high lvl cooking we will regain stamina faster and receive 5% increase in life for a period of time. This is what I have in mind, because after the meal we are going deeper into the wild There we are going to look for our first wolf. We do not have a priest to heal so we will play it safe and use every advantage that we can get. We fight in a 3 man formation. 1 Shield man will taunt and take the agro while the other will keep a look out to protect us from other threats or surprises. After each wolf they will rotate so that each gets a chance to tank and be on guard. The mage will cast spells and slow the wolf down as we attack. Me and Tinker will attack from opposite sides and make sure he does not round the tank and attack the mage.

If the wolf retreats we should just leave it. Most wolves we face are stronger than us and will only retreat once they are losing or badly wounded. Thus in our initial attack aim for the legs so it can’t get away from us. Do not worry, I was planning on attacking rabbits for a few more days but we are all above average warriors and with the added bonus from cooking the time is now. Did you guys notice that we killed a lot of rabbits this morning and did not gain a level? It’s because we are strong and could keep grinding here for longer but we are not going to do that. Any question before we go look for a wolf?’’

“Yes, what do we do if more than 1 wolf attacks us?”

“That is why we have 1 shield man ready to block sneak attacks and I will order a retreat if there are too many. In our current state I am confident we can handle 2 wolves easy at one time. If a pack surrounds us we will punch our way through and retreat to the main gate. They will follow us but once they cense all the humans they will stop. It is the responsibility of the two shield man to provide additional protection to the mage. Tinker and I can manage.“

It did not take long for them to spot a wolf. They attacked and the wolf responded in kind. It slashed but the shield man blocked the attack. Tinker hesitated in this moment. This was his first combat against a monster that fought back and could kill him. The wolf seemed so real, he could see the anger in its eyes, the saliva dripping from its sharp yellow teeth. Aragon swung at the wolf but the wolf was faster. The shield man was great at keeping the agro of the wolf on himself and keeping up pressure.

Tinker also took a swing at the wolf but it dodged. Thus he had to revise his tactics. He would wait for Aragon to attack right after the shield man took a swing or blocked an attack, then he would attack where the wolf would dodge to. It was near flawless. The wolf leaped out of the way as the big sword came at it, but leaped right into Tinker who extended both swords and pierced the wolf in the back leg and lower stomach. It howled with pain and was silenced by a power full blow by Aragon’s sword to its head.

The loot was a wolf skin, a few silvers and wolf meat. The standard loot it seemed. The mage was the first to speak up and to tell that his slow magic had little effect on the wolf because of its high frost resistance. In all it was a good fight and they were ready for more. Thus they were killing wolves in similar way until well after midday day. Most fights went like the first. They got better at killing the wolves and predicting their movements and thus it became easier. Only the shield men received minor wounds and were bruised a bit. Their shields were helping a lot and still had enough durability to last the day. He only received one message to tell him that his level went up

You have levelled up.

His sword skill level did not rise but his % in it was increasing.

With their bellies full and feeling well rested they started all over again. They fought all afternoon and as night time was approaching they faced another wolf. This one seems a lot larger than any they faced before, but with their confidence high they attacked. After the first swing of the wolf, 4 more wolves came running out of nearby bushes howling loudly. It would seem they encountered their first pack.

The 4 new wolves seemed to each pick a target for to make it a 5 on 5 battle. Since 1 shield man was facing, to what seemed to be the pack leader at the time, the task fell to the other shield man to keep two wolves busy. Both Tinker and Aragon disengaged from the pack leader to intercept a wolf. It was not going well for the 2 shield man, they were being overwhelmed. One by the brute strength of the alpha wolf and the other by multiple attacks. Tinker found it easy to deflect and counter the wolf he was facing and in no time he was winning and the wolf he was facing was badly bleeding and becoming slower. With a final thrust to the heart, the beast was dead.

CRITICAL HIT!

Aragon finished up at about the same time, he assessed the situation and went towards the alpha wolf running. Tinker managed to sneak up behind one of the wolves attacking the shield man and chop of its leg. With a few more swings he was dead and they could kill the other wolf. The other wolf tried to dodge and get distance from its 2 opponents but Tinker was familiar with patterns of the wolf by now and finished off that wolf as it leaped in hopes of dodging the shield bash attack.

Now they had time to see what remained of the battle. With only the alpha wolf remaining. The situation looked bad the shield man was lying on the ground and seemed to be done for, Aragon was bleeding from his arm. Tinker and the last remaining shield man sprinted to them and tried to help, he was first in range and just in time managed to dodge the swing from the wolf. The shield man bashed the wolf in the face to get its attention and was immediately driven back by the wolf’s attack. Just as the situation seemed dire Aragon gave a battle cry and jumped in the air and swung down at the wolf.

Tinker recognised this attack because it was the last thing he remembered of their fight.

The great broadsword penetrated deep into the back of the wolf. The wolf howled and fell to the ground. With its spine snapped in half the beast could do no more. They finished him off and took the loot. The loot that dropped was the standard meat, 50 silvers and a pelt. What also dropped was a ring. They decided to get it identified and then decide what to do with it.

The shield man on the ground was not dead and just had bad wounds. He would live, Aragon also had a nasty cut on his arm and would be fine. With new found courage they returned to the city to recover and tell all about their victory here today.

First they went to a shopkeeper to identify the ring. It was not a power full item and it only increased mana regeneration by 1%. It was decided that the mage would get the ring since he used the most mana. Tinker asked the shopkeeper to teach him identify. It would be time consuming to return to town every time once you picked up an item that is unknown. Just maybe it can be a useful item that one can use immediately.

Skill: You learned Identify Skill.

Tinker was at the guild and only waited around to hear the other party’s progress. They spent the entire day hunting more rabbits. When they heard that Aragon’s party was hunting wolves and managed to kill their first wolf pack they promised that they also will hunt wolves from then on. He left the guild and made his way over to the Golden apple inn.

He was greeted with open arms at the inn. Tinker never sat in the dining hall and made his way into the kitchen. He was there for only moment and they put him to work. Chopping and cutting was starting to become like second nature to him. So he helped all through the night. He asked Mistress Annan if she received any new spices and the like. On the off chance she did he can gain a few more points in Hebalism. She received some rare spices from a warmer region which was a lot like red pepper but just burned way more. She planned on adding it to soldier’s food she did not like or were late to pay their debt.

He knew he would not be able to join Aragon’s party in the morning and he informed him so. Because he had to sleep longer in the real world. It was early Saturday morning and a descent 8 hours rest in the real world was 1 day of game play. He told them he would be back just after midday, just in time to make them lunch. When he volunteered to make lunch he won them over.

Tinker arrived just as he said, made grilled wolf strips with a hint of garlic. They gained their increased health and stamina regeneration, and went back to hunting. They did for nearly a month. They would attack wolves and were growing stronger to the state were they actually wanted to face pack of wolves and not attack a single wolf. Due to game mechanics the lower level wolves will ignore them and the stronger wolves will come from the surrounding area to fight. In this month only a week passed in the real world and Tinker could only join hunts when we was at home and missed out on a few fights. In the free time he hanged around the inn and helped any way he could.

It was another Friday, the last one before the exams that started. Since Tinker arrived late in the school term he was only required to give a brief speech on what he learned so far the short time he was here. With that in mind he did not really need to study and was ready for more fights. In a way it’s really great how he took so well to Royal Roads as a game but deep inside he could not help but feel this game would consume his soul one day. It was that afternoon Scot climbed into his capsule and logged on.

In the real world a week has passed and it was weekend again. The exams were halfway from done and Scot only had to go to school next week and talk about English and math. He already got tested on all other subjects he had and that was all that was left before the December holiday started. In game another month had passed. The only thing he did was kill, cook and kill some more. During this month they fought more wolves and had their first encounters with kobolds. Kobolds differed about as much as humans did, they fought with weapons and some basic tactics. The big Kobolds try and over power a person with brute force, while the smaller and low level Kobolds attack in groups and aim for your blind spots During these new fights Tinker took damage and gained more than a few injuries. It was the mage that taught them the bandage skill. Which combined with Herbalism would help more in the future then now.

Skill: You learned Bandage Skill.

Enables you to stop bleeding.

Increases life of the wounded when tended

He learned a new stat called Fighting spirit. Later Tinker would read that the endurance stat is mostly generated by warriors in the first rounds of their adventure.

When it is developed, it reduces physical damage inflicted by the enemy, and even increases the user’s life by a small amount.

You can invest some stat bonus points from a level up in the endurance stat, but the majority chose to let it develop by receiving melee attacks. Some did it by choice but Tinker just could not dodge and parry all attacks aimed at him.

New Stat: Fighting Spirit

Enables bursts of extraordinary strength and cows weaker monsters.

Points cannot be distributed into this stat. It changes as a result of a character’s actions. Increases faster when fighting powerful monsters or during prolonged combat

All his skills climbed a level except his handcraft skill climbed to the rank of 3. Thanks to the extra work he did with his hands the ability rose fast.

You gained expertise rating in Handicraft skill.

Level up: Handicraft Skill [3]

Enables you to learn blacksmithing, leatherworking and tailoring skills.

Increases attack power with melee and long range weapons. (+3% ATK)

Increases attack power with fists. (+5% ATK)

With this new information he would also start going to a leatherworker in the city to get the necessary tools and materials needed to repair his gear. It saved a lot on cost and he also repaired the 2 shield mans leather armour after a day’s hard battle until the day came were they used their money to purchase plate armour. Aragon with his plate and the mage with the cloth armour could not benefit from his new skills. In addition he learned another new skill Repair

Skill: You learned Repair Skill.

Enables you to repair items.

His Cooking went up to lvl 5 and Herbalism was at 2. His sword mastery rose to 3.

Level Up: Sword Mastery [3]

Increases Attack Power with a sword (+30% ATK)

Increases Attack Speed with a sword (+9% ATK SPD)

New skill learned: Sustenance

You are likely to use less stamina in action. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat.

With all the battles he managed to lvl up to 34 in two months. If he kept at it he could be 60 in another month. The loot from the Kobolds was much better. They received more money and started picking up items. Most items were sold and not better than their current items. It would appear the warrior’s guild gave good items, no wonder the signup fee was so high.

It was morning in the town of Avelon and it was time for another day of killing. He went to the main gate and did not see Aragon’s group. He asked a guard if they passed and he replied “Nope, don’t think they will after the news. Whole dam city in uproar about it’’

“Why, what happened?

“A group of young warrior’s left yesterday and none have returned’’

“How sure are you of this? ARRG never mind’’

Tinker slept for 8 hours and missed out on an entire day. He could not go with Aragon’s party yesterday and was afraid something bad might have happened. Before it registered he was running at full speed to the warrior’s guild. It is strange how in this game he was worried and really concerned for NPC’s.

He arrived at the hall that was nearly as silent as the grave. There was a guard or two on duty but that really did not matter. When he entered nobody was at the front desk either. He dashed into the main hall and there it was. Almost all the members of the warrior’s guild were gathered and they were all standing in silence. They were all in full warriors gear. It seemed like it was a funeral for those that have died. After 30 min of standing in silence people started moving away and others talking. Instructor Canobi was the first person Tinker recognized. He went over and just blurted it all out

“What is happening, who died? Is Aragon and the guys ok, what’s going on?”

“Calm down lad, Aragon is fine, It is the other party that ran into trouble. It appears by the tracks that they were fighting kobolds when a group of snow wolves ambushed them just before sunset. But we will know for certain what happened when the other outlander returns in 3 days.’’

“Alright, what does that mean for our group? Are we done or what?”

“It depends on you lads. If you choose to go on just be extra careful. Fortunately your group are fighting far away from where the incident happened. It’s not pretty and it’s been a while since we lost an entire party of young warriors but life in Avelon goes on and we become harder.’’

“I understand, I will be off and looking for Aragon and the fellows’’

Not much later he found Aragon them. Aragon already made the choice to keep on with their training and hunting. There were to assemble here at the hall at midday, eat and be off.

Scot finished his last oral exam and was getting lunch at school. He went outside and sat at table in the shade. Things in Royal road were going well, It has been about 2 weeks since the other party died, but as Canobi said, life goes on. He was now officially on holiday and had about 2 months to play. That would be over a half a year in Royal road. While thinking what he will be doing in his new world a group of students came over. He had seen them around but did now know any of them.

“Hey man, you are in our spot. We will not chase you away but we really need the shade and always sit here. Don’t mind us, you can keeping day dreaming, we will not interrupt your alone time’’

“Sure” Scot mumbled with a little disgust in his tone.

Scot resumed his ‘alone time’ and could not help but overhear everything the group said.

‘’I am telling you guys we were not prepared for that trap and don’t get me started on that other warrior we had in the party. I do all the tanking while he is supposed to do hard DPS but no…’’

Yes he was an idiot, I had to heal him a lot more than other party members. It is hard to cast curses if I spend most of my mana and time healing him.’’

‘’Let us next time ask a few more questions, to the next person that joins our party and not just what level and class he is’’

“Did you guys hear the other news? I read on a forum that the Heaven kingdom was voted as the best starting location by a Korean news team’’.

So they play Royal Roads and are in the Heaven kingdom as well. Wonder how far they are from me, Scott thought to himself.

‘’It makes us very lucky. We already have a head start on most new players that want to start there. I am more concerned about the other strong players that are leaving us behind and tanking the best farming spots and quests.’’

“We can’t keep up with them. If I did not know better I would say that those people with no social lives play all day and think there so cool in game cause they are way higher level than us.’’

“Indeed let’s not get to worried about this, the holidays are starting today, then we will catch up and show them.’’

“Now that I think about it, who will be able to play most of the holiday, Yuri your plans?’’ the big guy said that looked like the leader.

“I was suppose to go visit my father in Moscow but he has business and after that he and my mother are going on vacation till after new years. Think I can convince them I don’t need to go, I don’t have the power to spend all time with my younger brother and sister’’ the curly haired guy said

Leader ‘’Hahaha don’t we all need that power, and what about you 2 love birds. Zomger and Lina?”

‘’We are not love birds we are just neighbours and good friends’’ the girl hissed out. ‘’I told you already to call me by my real name and only Lina in the game” she said with a growing pout on her face

Zomger looking like a laid back person calmly chose to talk about what really mattered. “Nothing special on my to do list. Just need to spend thanks giving with the family. “

‘’Me also’’ Lina added

‘’Then it’s settled we will use this holiday to catch up and do what we do. Maybe then we can get around to making our own guild, so think of names. Unless we find a strong guild that will take us’’ the leader said

Scot thought they were an odd bunch. They were three guys and a girl. Two of the guys were big and strong looking, while the guy with the curly hair looked average but well built. The girl with them was shorter than your every day girl and very fierce looking. A lot like Morrain at the inn.

“We will finish up our current quests in the town which will take about 2 weeks, then we will be heading over to the capital of the Heaven kingdom. There we will decide what to do next and where to go. They say that most cities are awesome but capitals are near breath taking and have everything. Best to go see it now before it gets overrun with beggars and the like.”

Scot was not one to speak up and meddle in others affairs but it just happened. “I did not hear that. I only heard they have a grand palace and a few other minor things most cities don’t have’’.

He had the entire group watching him now. “ho ho, you play? Level and class?’’

“Yes, in the 30’s and warrior, you guys? And which city are you guys currently in? I am also in Heaven kingdom.”

‘’What a small world. Here and in Royal roads. First let me introduce ourselves. I am Cuzen, lvl 42 paladin tank and leader of our small party. This other big fellow is Zomger, shaman lvl 41. He focuses on curses and heals us. This fine young lady is our fire mage. Lvl 40 and last but not least is Yuri over there our ranger on lvl 43. We in a town about 2 weeks away from the capital in the Fellwoods forest area’’

“Nice, I think I am far away from you guys. I am in the Stormy peaks mountain range. Also about 2-3 weeks away from the capital in a town called Avelon.’’

“We should like totally meet up some time. We have not met any people who are not Korean. We Western people should stick together, what is your name and ill add you to my friends list”

“Sure, I am Tinker, maybe we can meet up in the capitol. I also want to go check it out and I am also about ready to move from my starting area.’’

‘’Its holiday now and I will play a lot so I am sure there will be time to meet you, and I think my ride is here. So long guys’’

They greeted him in return and Scot walked away. When he could not hear the group started their discussion of him.

“He is a loner and a warrior. I think he is not telling us everything. Players like him are either total douche bags or really good. Let us give him a try. We need a warrior and if he is in our time zone he should be most of the time online when we are.”

“Ok so it’s agreed, we shall give him a trail run.’’

“We will all be logged in just after 4 pm and then we can go kill that Demon that guards the cursed ruins in Fellwood.