Let the games begin

Enjoy!

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The alarm went off loudly, rousing Plat from his slumber. He yawned and got up, checking the time. Everlife wouldn't launch for another few hours, so he had plenty of time to get ready. After dressing and using the restroom, he checked his messages. He had gotten responses back from Henry, Reva, and Dia last night; all of them sorry he couldn't stay. There a message from Raim warning him to stay away from Sarah, complete with usual threats. To Plat's surprise, however, there was a short message from Sarah.

It read: "Hey Plat, I got your wrist number from Reva. I'm sorry I let myself get distracted last night before we had a chance to talk. Reva said you were going to play Everlife too, so let's meet up in game and talk later. My character name will be Bright, how about you?"

Smiling happily, Plat sent her a brief message agreeing with her and telling her his name was Steel in game. After that, Plat left his dorm room for the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat.

The cafeteria, located on the ground floor of the dorms. was thankfully deserted so Plat had plenty of time to grab a dish and eat it before returning to his room. He checked his wrist-communicator for the time again, than practically ran to his cyber chair and lowered the visor.

He loaded directly into his virtual room this time, and immediately ran through the Everlife connection door. Just like last time, Plat found himself floating into the blue space and coming to a landing on an invisible floor.

"Welcome to Everlife, the world of beginnings." He heard a familiar voice coming from all around him, "I am your guide to entering this wondrous world, one of the many servants of the gods."

In a blast of light, a beautiful women came into being in front of him. She had long, splendid hair and two large white wings behind her back. The light formed a halo over her head as her beautiful smile lit up the space.

"Now tell me you name dear traveler . . . Oh?" She paused and stared at Plat, who waved at her and winked cheekily.

"I must say, that was far a better entrance than what I got yesterday." He laughed at the rapidly blushing angel.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in astonishment, which quickly led to a haughty look, "You might as well take in all my splendor as it will be the only time you ever see it."

"I thought you said you were a guy?" Plat smiled innocently, "Are you on of those special people who . . ."

"Cease that thought or I'm making you a girl in the game!" Plat shut his mouth at once.

The angel sighed and waved her hand in the air, getting rid of the wings and halo as well as most of her other-worldly beauty, "You have no idea how badly you have messed with my programming. I had to call for assistance for over half my charges in order to gather the processing power needed to deal with you."

"Why not have someone else take care of me then if it's so much trouble?"

The angel frowned and put her hand on her hip, "I helped you already remember? Your IP is already locked with mine, so I can't hand you off without explaining why; which would get us both in trouble. Anyway, it's not like you were a total bore yesterday. and I am owed some favors anyway."

"Is that why my friends thought you were a program instead of an A.I.?" He asked, "You didn't think they were interesting enough?"

The angel shrugged, "You were polite and humble, they were not. It is a simple equation after all. Anyway, are you still okay with your character from yesterday?"

Plat nodded, "I want to play as him."

"Understood traveler." The angel pointed and light swirled around Plat as his body changed back into his avatar.

Steel flexed his fingers and nodded happily.

"Now that character creation is done, it's time to give you a quick introduction." The angel magicked up a chart with a large map on it, "As you can see, the world of Everlife is divided into a main continent and two smaller continents which are close by; one to the north and one to the west. This is the current known map available to players. For your information, if you as a player were to walk across the main continent from one side to the other, it would take you several weeks on foot. Now, all players will begin in Beginner Towns located across the main continent; you have the choice of general cities where all races can start or race specific cities where only human players will be."

"Why are they called beginner towns, but you just called them cities?" Steel asked curiously.

The angel rolled her eyes, "Grammar lectures from a human, what a day. The collective group of locations where beginners start are known as Beginner Towns, but in actuality are cities located across nations. All human and race general cities are capitals in different countries, but the other races have a few smaller choices as well. New players are not allowed outside the city walls for four weeks unless they reach level 10 or are written permission by a city official."

Steel frowned, "If we can't leave, how can we gain enough experience to reach level 10? Is this one of those impossible challenges?"

The angel giggled, "Each city has there own area for hunting monsters and animals if that's what you're asking, but you easily gain experience through quests around the town. No need to focus on just fighting in this game; even a landscaper class can become amazing through hard work and effort."

Steel shook his head, but smiled ruefully. "Okay then, is there any last minute advice you can give me before I drop out into the world."

"Go to the training hall first and learn some basic skills." She advised, "I know it will be crowded, but it's important. Also, try doing as many quests as possible to familiarize yourself with the city. Which reminds me, which city do you want to go to?"

"A race-general city if you don't mind." Steel said, "I have some friends who are different races."

"Did you plan where you would be going?"

Steel face-palmed and groaned, "Of course we didn't; no one knows the locations yet and we forgot."

The angel rolled her eyes again, but this time with a smile, "Don't worry; I'll make sure those other three know which city you are in since they are also connected to me. Are you letting me have the choice of city then?"

"Yes ma'am; I trust your judgement."

The angel smiled warmly at him, "Good choice on your part. Now, if there is nothing else?"

Steel widened his eyes in realization, "Oh, do you know which city a character named Bright is?"

The angel frowned and tilted her head, "I do since she was one of mine, but that is private information you know. Not something to spread around."

"I don't want to know anything about her character, I just want to go where she went." Steel said quickly.

The angel sighed and nodded, "Luckily for you she also chose my recommendation; guess you're lucky in that sense huh. No matter, in a short moment you'll find yourself in the middle of the city of Rostwood, frontier capital of the country of Fealum. I wish you luck traveler."

As light began to shine around Steel, he called out, "Will I see you again? Oh, and what is your name?"

The angel snorted in laughter, "Seriously, you ask my name at the end of the meeting? No matter, it is unimportant to you at this time. We'll likely meet again if you get strong enough, so work hard and goodbye!"

Steel disappeared in a small blast of light.

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Steel found himself standing in a cobblestone square next tot a large fountain. All around him, players were appearing and running around in excitement, eager to begin the game.

Steel smiled and activated his menu, clicked options, and read the choices. Nodding to himself, he toggled his map 'on' and made names visible. Now, every person had a name and level above their head. Steel looked around and spied an elderly gentleman giving away scrolls of paper.

Steel walked over to the small line and waited patiently for his turn. When he reached the old man, he was handed a map of the city.

"Young traveler, the gods have foretold your arrival and prepared us for your coming. Take this map of the city and explore it so that you become familiar with it. I wish you luck young Steel."

Quest AddedBegin Your AdventureWelcome new player to the World of Everlife. Starting the day you arrive, you will not be allowed outside the gates of the city for 4 weeks or certain requirements are met. As such, you should familiar yourself with your new home, as it will teach you how to play.Objective:Locate at least 5 different significant locations and learn about themReward:Knowledge of the city, intimacy with important figures, and 10 copper pieces

Steel gave his thanks and walked away, opening the map scroll he had been given. It disappeared in a twinkling of light and the game informed him his map had been improved. Now, the mini-map in the corner of his vision had names to go with every building and a few small arrows pointing to the places that would satisfy the quest.

Steel was curious and clicked the help button. "Will every quest have arrows that point out the location of the objective?"

Only beginning quests for new players will have arrows for assistance. Future quests will only have a location marked in a general area.

"Good to know then." Steel nodded to himself, "Now, let's see which place is closest to me."

According to the map, the closest objective was the guard building next to the west gate of the city. Steel quickly made his way over to it, but was stopped by a guard as he neared the gate

"Hold their traveler, what is your business at the Rostwood Gate?" One of the gate guards cried out to him as he approached.

"Good sir, I am a new traveler and merely exploring the city to get my bearings. I am not here to use the gate, just the guard house.

The two gate guards eye'd Steel and shook their heads.

"Young traveler, while I respect your desire to prove your strength, you are far to weak right now to leave this town. It is wise of you to recognize this for yourself. However, with your level of intimacy you are not eligible to enter the guard house. Please return after gaining some renown for yourself."

Plat frowned and sighed and he considered the guard's words. Obviously, he lacked the charm, intimacy, and ability to enter the guard house at this time.

"Since I cannot enter, could one of you explain to me why the guard house is significant?"

The guard smiled down at him and nodded. "You may indeed young traveler. Every city gate has a guard house, the place where guards work and are assigned duties by the city. If you become friendly to the city, you may be permitted to enter and accept the quests posted on the job board within for items or coin. If you ever accept a position within the guard, it will also become the place where you are assigned jobs and paid."

Thanking the guard, Plat walked away and began his walk to the next place.

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Kinda late because RRL was down last night :p If you notice similar things, well, this is a rewrite and not a completely new story :p