Nimbor – Ever Hold Marketplace

Alex, Kate, and Lara entered the closest Inn to the marketplace, where they were greeted by a portly woman dressed in a sky-blue ankle-length tunic-like dress with a silver cord wrapped around her waist. Her chocolate-brown hair was tired to one side of her hand.

“Welcome dears, what can I do for you?”

“Hello, my sisters and I need to check for any letters or items for us, Miss?” Alex asked with a charming smile.

“Oh dear me, I am Mistress Rhea dears. But just call me Rhea, and I’ll just need your names before checking.”

“No problem, my name is Alex or Alexios and these are my twin sisters Kate or Katelynn and Lara. The family name is Forrester.”

“Be right back dears, please take a seat by the window,” Rhea said before disappearing into the back.

Rhea returned with these boxes that were just above in average size to the standard moving box, once Rhea had set the Boxes down upon the table. Each of the siblings saw that each box held their names written upon the side, Alex motioned for one of his sisters to go first to which Kate jumped to the chance.

Kate opened the lid of the box before her, inside were miniature versions of the items that were listed in the message they got from their father at the end of closed beta. Kate nodded to Alex, who opened the lift of the box in front of himself. He retrieved a miniature spear that matched the one listed, before a bright flash of light and he found himself now holding an 8-foot long spear with a sharp-looking bronze blade on one end and an end spike on the other.

“Nice, dad chose well,” Kate said whistling at the spear she had been given.

“Is it really safe, Alex?” Lara asked a little scared.

“It is Little Bird, dad wouldn’t have played anything inside that could hurt us,” Alex answered leaning the spear against the table.

Reaching into the box, Alex removed the miniature version of his new shield and the instant it was free there was another flash of light. Once the light disappeared Alex was holding the full-size version that measured 38 centimetres across, 11 millimetres thick, and weighed close to 6 kilograms. They continued to remove items from the boxes until the table was completely hidden by their new items.

Alex turned to Rhea, “Mistress Rhea is there a room where the three of us can get changed and armed?”

“Of course dear, I’ll show you.”

***

An hour or two later Alex had returned to the main floor of the Inn wearing his Grey Tunic under the hardened leather cuirass, with the greaves and sandals protecting his feet and legs. Protecting his forearms but still allowing access to the tattoo upon his left arm were his bracers while resting upon his back was the quiver which hung over the grey cloak that hid the twin swords at his hip. Strapped to his left arm was the large round shield that depicted interlocking arrows, while the spear was held in a relaxed grip of his right hand. Turning his protected head to the sound of someone coming down the steps, Alex saw that his sisters were wearing matching outfits but had weapons that favoured their fighting style. Kate favoured the more close-range style of fighting and carried a spear in her right hand while holding a shield similar to his in her left, while hidden under her cloak strapped to her hip was a single bronze short sword. Lara matched her sister in appearance save of course for her hairstyle and fighting style which was more geared to range combat than close-quarters, Alex could remember the last time their father took them out camping. He attempted to teach archery to all of them, but only Lara and Alex himself took to it like a duck to water while Kate stay away from bows after getting a rash from the bowstring.

The siblings exited the Inn and back out into the main marketplace, looking they could see that thousands of players were still looking around at their new surroundings when a voice called out to them.

“Hey, Alexios! About time jerk.” A familiar feminine voice called.

Turning to face the newcomer, Alex’s eyebrows rose to his hair as he took in the person’s features.

“Hey Bitch, having fun yet Liz,” Alex shouted while planting the butt-spike of his spear into the ground and wrapping his best friend in a warm hug.

“As touching as this is with all the teenage romance and… stuff, but we have a highly realistic and massive digital world to explore. Plus at some point, I think we should retrain ourselves.” Kate interrupted.

Elizabeth stepped out from Alex’s arms and looked at the twins, “Ah Katelynn Forrester, always the mood killer regardless of the mood.”

“Elizabeth Davis, you still longing to be in my brother’s bed, and it's Kate, Bitch.”

“Oh coming from the Ice-Bitch herself that’s rich, but we have better things to do yes?”

“Agreed, let’s go see the great plains and everything they have to offer,” Alex said before leading their small group towards the nearest city gate.

***

It didn’t the four of them reach the Eastern Grasslands where a few different species of animals went about their day. Alex opened up his menu by touching the triple circle tattoo and navigated to his digital inventory where he placed his spear and shield in their miniature state. Alex freed his new Scythian bow from its holder followed by an arrow from the quiver on his back, taking at the closest animal Alex’s Heads-Up-Display added new information.

Name:

Pachycephalosaurus

Tier/Rank/Level:

Rookie/1/1

Diet:

Herbivore

Movement:

Bipedal

Length:

5.5 Meters (18 Feet)

Height

3.1 Meters (10 Feet)

Weight:

1,814 Kilograms (4,000 Pounds)

Relaxing his fingers upon the bowstring Alex felt the rush of air against his cheek as the arrow left the bow and sped towards its target, everyone waited and watched as the arrow drew closer and closer to the crested Dinosaur. But his aim was a little of as his arrow sunk into the upper thigh of the animal’s flank, with a loud trumpet-like sound as pain wrecked its body and mind. The middle herbivore turned to face him, lowered its dome-like head and charged.

“Damnit!” Alex said.

Quickly freeing another arrow, and changing his stance while slowing his breathing. As the Pachy closed to within 10 Meters, Alex released the arrow from the bow. This time the arrow struck true, making contact with the Pachy’s right eye. With a final scream of pain, the Pachy stumbled forward a little before impacting the ground and shattering into millions of glass-like polygons. As the last shard disappeared a small bell rung, followed by a notification flashing before Alex’s vision.

Experienced Gained:

25 Points

Power Draw Skill:

45/800

Tier/Rank/Level:

Rookie/1/1

“Wow Alex, that was cool,” Lara said as she ran up to his side.

“Thanks, Little Bird.”

“Lara’s right Alex, that was cool if a little intense at first. But remind me what type was that again?” Elizabeth asked.

Alex lifted his left arm and touched a finger to the black triple circle tattoo, seconds later a transparent screen appeared. Alex navigated to a secondary screen that listed encountered animals.

“Pachycephalosaurus or Pachy is a bipedal Herbivore that is easily spooked and will charge if threatened. The Pachy measures 18 feet or 5.5 meters in length, up to 10 feet or 3.1 meters in height, and can weigh up to 4,000 pounds or around 1,814 Kilograms. Key features of the Pachy are its dome-like bone structure on top of its head and its truly nasty disposition.

“Okay Doctor Grant, can we continue please,” Kate said sharply.

“Mum and grandpa would be proud Alex,” Lara said flashing her brother a smile.

Alex hugged his baby sister, “Thanks Little Bird, “and yeah they would be of all us.”

They continued to train skills on dinosaurs they came across while mapping out the area around the city of Ever Hold. After a while, Alex looked at the left corner of his vision.

Time:

1445 (2:45 pm AEST)

Day:

1 (Saturday 22ND, September 2063)

Location:

Eastern Grasslands, Ever Hold, Central Core

Wind/Temp:

SE at 27 km/h, 18 degrees Celsius

Player:

Alexios Forrester

Mount:

None

It was getting close to the first scheduled log-out period, where all the player would get an hour break from the digital world for the medical teams to check them over while the players had food and drink before returning.

“Okay we have fifteen minutes before our first scheduled log-out, so I say we log now and when we get back in meet back up in Ever Hold’s marketplace and go from there,” Alex said.

“Sounds good to me,” Elizabeth said.

“I’m okay with it,” Lara replied.

“Yeah, whatever mister I’m so cool,” Kate said.

The four of them opened their menus and navigated to the Options Sub-Screen and tapped the Log-Out button, and waited for the system to confirm their request. As the minutes dragged a cloud of concern hung in the air.

“A-Alex, why can’t we exit?” a visible shaking Lara said.

Moving close to his sister and wrapping his arms around protectively, “It’s going to be okay Little Bird, I’m sure that dad and his teams are aware of this and work to fix this as well as making sure all of us return safely.”

Kate moved to stand close to her brother, “I hope you’re sure big brother.”

“Same here sis,” Alex said.

The silence of the moment was shockingly pieced by the ringing of a bell that they thought was a signal that they were by to be logged out, but by the fifth chime all four of them were engulfed by a blinding pale-blue light and disappeared from the grasslands.