บท 4: Ep.1 - Linked - Pt.4 - Realms
The game was called Realms of Power and Glory for two reasons. Firstly, the initials were RPG, which coincidentally was the genre of the game... Yeah, the devs must have thought they were supremely clever when they came up with it. But secondly, and more importantly, the game was all about realms that were owned and maintained by the players themselves. And the better a realm was managed, the tougher were the dungeons that appeared in it, which meant better treasures. Hence, the "power and glory" bit. Of course, it took hundreds of players to keep a single realm in working order, which was why they formed massive clans. The larger ones had millions of members. There was a whole economy in the game, where people had to pay taxes to the Realm Lords in order to go adventuring.
But before any of that, Jane had to create a character and that was done in the Heaven realm. It was the hub world of the game, made to look very heavenly, and the only realm that didn't belong to any player. It was the realm of the Gods... also known as the "game devs", who watched over everything from above.
Once Jane logged in, she found herself in a magnificent round palace. It was simply huge, really leaning into the sense of divine grandeur. The ceiling was at least ten stories up and there were white marble pillars, with golden adornments, all around. Tall delicate windows along the walls showed the magnificent puffy clouds outside that stretched as far as the eye could see. At the center of the palace was a large circular pool, with glowing orbs slowly moving around underwater, like planets in orbit. Around the pool, players logged in and out of the game. There was a distinct style to them, their eyes were slightly bigger than in reality, a mixture of anime and CGI. And at the opposite end of the hall, there was a beautiful golden-haired angel lady, floating quietly, surrounded by more players.
Cynthie and the boys were there with Jane. They also had bigger eyes, and they were wearing different outfits than before, in Wonderscape. Cynthie looked like a priest, with a thin staff. Mags had elven ears. He wore a cloak and had a mage's staff in hand. Sephy had a full set of samurai armor and a katana. He looked human. Mamasboi was still blue, but had a fur coat, orc tusks protruding from his mouth, and a battleaxe at his back. And FoxyGent was literally a cute little fox, in what looked like a pirate's outfit. Oddly, Jane was wearing a simple cotton shirt, plain pants, and worn-out boots.
"What the heck am I wearing?" she asked, exasperated.
"Commoner clothes," Cynthie answered her, "What did you expect? You LITERALLY just logged in. We all start out in one of those."
"Right, well I need to get some better clothes, and fast!" Looking at the others, she couldn't help smiling, "You guys all look sharp though. Are you an orc?" she asked Mamasboi.
"Yep," he replied, grinning to show her all his massive orcish teeth.
"And what're you, Foxy, an actual fox?" she asked him.
"A foxling," FoxyGent specified, giving her a courteous bow.
"You look so cute. So," Jane guessed, "do I just go and talk with the angel? She's an NPC, right?"
"Yeah," FoxyGent confirmed.
They all followed her as she made her way through the crowd and to the angel.
"Ah, a new soul," the angel greeted her, in a melodic voice, "I am Aurora, keeper of the Pool of Realms. Welcome! Before you can enter the pool and begin your journey through the realms, you must choose your incarnation." With that, she raised a hand and summoned a full-body mirror, with detailed golden rims.
In it, Jane could see only a glowing yellow light. "Is that me?" she asked. Looking down at herself, she could still see her hands... and lame commoner outfit.
"Yes," Aurora replied, "You are still formless. To determine your appearance, you must first choose a race." A list of races appeared in the corner of the mirror... "Human, Halfling, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Goblin, Merfolk, Angelkin, Demonkin, Feline, Canine, Foxling, Bearkin, Frogling, Boarfolk, Lizardkin." Aurora explained, "Each race has its perks and flaws..."
"Human is the only race that's free," Cynthie cut the angel off, "You have to buy the other ones."
"I'll just go with human, thanks," Jane quickly pointed out, "And I'd like to keep my own appearance too. Can you just make me look like my real self?"
"Yes, of course," Aurora complied.
With a wave of the angel's hand, Jane's reflection changed from the glowing light to the black-haired girl she was used to seeing... except in the game's CGI style. It was a little weird, but also cool seeing herself like that.
"There are several sub-races to choose from," Aurora went on, "each with its perks and flaws as well." Another much shorter list appeared "Woodlander, Desertlander, Grasslander, Mistlander, and Icelander."
"Just pick Woodlander," FoxyGent advised, "It's like the basic European type, it'll suit you just fine."
She did so and two new lists came up, with four choices each. In the first list was "Power, Speed, Precision and Constitution", and in the other, "Soul, Mind, Body and Aura".
"Now, this is the important part," FoxyGent explained, pointing at the first list, "These are your attributes," then, he pointed at the second list, "and there are your energy types. You can only pick one attribute and one energy type. The two you pick will combine to form your CORE FEATURE, which will determine your whole play style."
"That is correct," Aurora confirmed, as if programmed to do so, "However, your friend failed to mention that you can change these features at any of the many Angel Statues you will find throughout the realms. You can try as many combinations as you like."
"True," Mamasboi added, "but what these sneacky angels don't tell you is, you have to pay 10 tokens to change your build, every time."
Aurora looked silently at him completely unphased.
"I see," Jane understood, "So, I better pick a style I like."
"Exactly," Mamasboi said, "It's not too expensive to change it once, but if you keep changing it just to try them all out... it adds up."
"Well," she said meaningfully, "you guys know I like playing as a rogue, so..."
FoxyGent was apparently the most experienced Realms player among them and kind of took charge of explaining things, "Well, then, what you want is AGILITY, which is SPEED plus BODY. The game doesn't have formal classes, you just have to pick the attribute and energy type that best suits your play style. Agility will grant you SILENT SHADOW, which is a special hiding and silent movement skill... Keep in mind, that anyone can try to stay hidden, you'll just be inherently better at it... You'll also have QUICK HANDS, which is your basic lock picking and pickpocket skill, and DAGGER DASH, which is this cool dash you can do towards one of your daggers. It's gonna be your main form of mobility. You throw a dagger, let's say at a rooftop, and then just activate your dagger dash and you'll jump to that dagger, almost like a teleport."
"Oh, that sounds badass," she noted, "What's your guys' CORE FEATURES or whatever?"
Cynthie declared proudly, "Mine is FAITH. I'm a healer. It's the role everyone wants in their party."
Sephy told them his class, holding up his katana, "STRENGTH. I'm a warrior."
Mamasboi told his, "My core is SANITY, the constitution of the mind. I'm an orcish berserker, obviously."
"Obviously," Jane echoed, with a chuckle.
Mags continued, "I'm an elven mage. My core is WISDOM, PRECISION plus MIND."
FoxyGent finalized, pulling his foxy whiskers, "And mine is DEXTERITY. I'm a foxling cannoneer."
"What's a cannoneer?" Jane inquired.
"I have a magic cannon," he replied, pulling it from his back. It was nearly as big as he was.
"There're guns in this game?" she realized, "But what can berserkers, mages, and rogues do against guns?"
Mamasboi answered her plainly, "We just use our berzerking, arcane spells, and insane dodging skills. Easy-squeezy, baby girl. But he's gonna be on our side, so, you don't need to worry about it."
"Okay," she decided, "So, it's speed and body, right? There... my core is AGILITY." Looking down at herself, she realized nothing had changed, "I assume, I'll have to get myself some gear somehow."
"Yes," FoxyGent confirmed her suspicion, "Once you go down to a player realm, you'll need to get yourself some leather armor, and, of course, daggers."
Aurora, the stoic angel, pointed at the pool and said, "Now, you may choose a realm to enter. If you ever need my help, just call me at one of the angel statues and I'll come to your aid."
"Sweet," she nodded.
"We should go to one of the smaller realms," Mags suggested, "the big ones are too full of players."
"Agreed," Sephy said thoughtfully, "Also, you shouldn't go to a big realm unless you know what you're doing. They're full of duelists, thieves, and assassins. And those aren't just classes either, they're accurate descriptions of the kinds of people you'll find out there."
Jane took that in, "So, I can get robbed and murdered by other players in this game? What about safe zones?"
"There aren't any," Mamasboi revealed, "not like in the old games, anyway. There're guards, in and around towns, to keep the order, but they can only do so much."
FoxyGent elaborated, "Players can harm each other no matter where they are, even by accident. And if you get robbed without knowing who took your stuff, for example, you can tell the guards about it, but chances are, you won't get your stuff back. Which reminds me, you probably shouldn't go around picking other players' pockets until you get a hang of how this game works. If you get caught, you might get yourself killed."
"Jesus," she said, frowning at them, "Remind me again, guys, why are we playing such a cutthroat game?"
"It's not as bad as it seems," he insisted, "There's this KARMA SYSTEM that keeps everyone in check. According to the lore of the game, the angels are watching our every move. So, every time anyone does anything, they grant us karma for it. If what they see is good, like players killing monsters, saving an NPC, or even just helping each other out, they grant good karma. But, if they see you hurting another player, by, let's say, tricking them somehow, or stealing from them, they grant bad karma."
"That's... interesting, I guess," she considered doubtfully, "And just how evil can you get before karma comes to bite you in the ass? Can you, like, torture someone?"
"No," he told her confidently, "nothing like that. I think killing someone who didn't formally accept a duel is just about the worst thing you can do. The point is, if you ever feel wronged, just go talk to an angel statue and things will probably sort themselves out."
"And if you die," Cynthie finalized, "You go back the the Heaven realm and wait for someone, like me, to resurrect you."
"Oh, I see," she finally understood. Looking down at the realm spheres in the pool, she asked, "Okay, enough talking! Which one are we heading to?"
"Well, there's this small realm I always go to called Blazen," FoxyGent told them, "It has the best tax rates I've found so far and no one ever bothered me there."
"Then let's go!" she cried.
They all spawned down into the realm and looked around. They were in a large town, with a castle at one end and a large gate at the other. All around were merchants, stores, and players looking through the merchandise. They joined them, looking for some basic gear for Jane. She bought herself a starter set of leather armor, and Sephy insisted on getting her a set of fancy-looking daggers, with curved blades.
"To equip the armor," Cynthie told her, "you just press it against your chest and it'll magically replace your common clothes. Same thing with the daggers."
Jane did the thing and was instantly fully geared. The dagger belt was around her waist, with three daggers on either side of her hips. "Oh, hell yeah!" she cried excitedly, pulling out a dagger in each hand, "This is badass! It's like cosplaying without the hassle of making the costume. Let's go! I'm ready to kill something."
"Great," FoxyGent celebrated, "Now all you need, is to check the local bulletin board for quests."
He led her to the front gates, next to which was the board, with dozens of wanted posters and notes. She skimmed through them and found one that looked interesting.
"Farmer attacked by Goblins," she read it out loud, "Talk to Farmer Humphrey, to the south of Blazen City. Quest difficulty: Easy. This sounds about right for me."
"Take the paper," FoxyGent instructed her, "When you do, it'll add the location to your personal map."
She took the quest note and then tried pulling up her map. She figured all she had to do was WILL it to appear... and she was right. The map popped up in her hand with a red X on it, to the south of her current location, marked with a black arrow. Then, they headed out through the gate, passing some NPC guards, and went out into the grassy field. The further they got from the town, the fewer players they could see around them. After a short walk, they came up on a farm. The map indicated an NPC farmer guy.
Jane was really getting into the game. Without hesitation, she went up to him and asked, "Are you Farmer Humphrey?"
"Yes, I am," he replied.
She then said, "I hear you have a goblin problem."
"Yes," replied the poor man, "They came at night and took my chickens! They will keep coming back unless someone takes care of them."
"That's why we're here," she reassured him, "Do you know where I can find these fiends?"
"There's a cave to the south of here," the man informed her, "I'm sure it's where they are coming from. You need to kill their shaman, or they'll just get angry and attack me even more."
Checking her map, Jane saw it updating, the red X moved further down south. "Fear not, my good man," she declared, "those pesky goblins will seas to be a problem for you."
"Having fun, are we, baby girl?" Mamasboi asked her, with a meaningful smile.
"Fun? I'm having a BLAST!" she replied, bouncing off towards her objective.
Another short walk away, they found the cave.
"Before we go in," Jane told the others, "I just want to see how my skills work." First, she activated her silent shadow skill and sneaked around for a bit. "Okay, this one's pretty straightforward." Then, she tried the dagger dash skill. She hurled a dagger at a tree trunk several feet up and then dashed to it. In one big rush, she flew through the air, grabbing the dagger and hanging from it on the tree. She then flipped herself onto a branch and said, "Whoa! That was intense!" From the branch, she threw another dagger at the ground and dagger dashed again. "I'm already in love with this skill."
"It's best not to do that too much, though," FoxyGent warned her, "You consume your energy every time you use a skill and we're just about to go into a dungeon. It was smart of you to make sure you know how to use your skills, of course, but it's just as important to know how to manage your energy."
"Right, yeah," she agreed, "Okay, I'm ready. Let's do this!"
They went into the cave and began looking for a goblin settlement. The cave was full of passages, twists, and turns, but little by little, they found signs of goblin activity... bones on the floor, rags, blood... Then, they heard snarling.
Peeking around a corner, Jane spotted one. It seemed to be alone, so she pulled out a dagger and shot it at the green-skinned critter. Then, without hesitating, she dagger dashed at the dagger in his chest and slashed his throat with one vicious movement. The goblin gargled blood for a second then dropped dead. Cynthie and the others stood in amazement at what she had just done.
"Holy shit," Mamasboi commented, grinning widely at her, "the girl's a natural, boys."
"You barely even made a sound," Mags noted.
"Jesus, BJ," FoxyGent told her, smiling, "You sure this's your first time playing Realms?"
"Guys," Jane said indignantly, "I've played RPGs before, you know. This's what we rogues do."
"Yeah," Cynthie argued, "but the first time I played a VR game I was all thumbs. You just hopped in like a total pro."
"That's because I AM a pro," Jane joked.
"That could have just been beginner's luck," Sephy pointed out, "Let's see if you can do that kind of thing consistently. Come, let's hunt some more goblins."
Looking at the spot where she had killed the goblin, Jane saw that he was gone and a little green glowing light was floating a foot from the ground in his place. Curiously, she asked, "What's this?"
"That's a soul shard," FoxyGent informed her, "We collect them to show to the quest giver, in this case, that farmer, as proof that we killed the goblins. You can also exchange them for gold at the soul dealer, back in town. Just extend your palm out and it'll come to you."
She did as he instructed and the soul shard shot up into her hand and disappeared. Then, she retrieved it from her palm again and it hovered over her open hand. "Cool," she said, pleased with herself.
They went deeper into the cave and found more goblins. Jane managed to kill two more without alerting any others, but then she missed a third one, sending her dagger into the wall next to him. Startled, the little fiend pulled out a horn and blew it loudly. She dashed to the dagger in the wall, slashing him as she passed him by, but it was too late. They heard goblin cries and horns being blown from all directions.
"Now, we get to have some fun as well," Sephy said, preparing to draw his blade.
"You did well, baby girl," Mamasboi praised her, "but watch yourself from here on in, it's easy to get overwhelmed when enemies bunch up against you."
"And remember," FoxyGent cried, "be careful not to hit one of us by accident."
As they all stood back to back in a circle, goblins began to pour in through five different passages and all hell broke loose. Mamasboi released a fearsome cry, probably activating some berserker skill of his, and Cynthie cast some kind of blessing over the party. Jane, for one, felt empowered by it. Sephy dashed into a bunch of goblins slashing them violently and knocking most of them back. FoxyGent was shooting goblins left and right and Mamasboi was kind of scary, crushing them with his big war axe. Jane did her part, darting around and slashing as many of them as she could.
"There're too many of them," FoxyGent warned the others, "we need to find the shaman! Let's move!" He blew a path through the goblins by throwing a bomb into them and ran towards an empty passage.
The others followed him. They ran through several rooms, some had rustic straw beds and others had fireplaces. They killed all the goblins along the way. As they did, Jane saw Sephy and Mags collecting the soul shards, which she had completely forgotten to do. She only had the three from the first few kills. Finally, they ran into a larger chamber, with torches along the walls and a small altar.
"There he is!" Mags cried pointing out the goblin shaman.
"Jane, he's all yours," Mamasboi said, "we'll hold the others off."
She nodded at him and raced to the shaman, shooting a dagger at him on her way. But he just deflected the dagger, with his staff, hurling her blade to the side. She threw another, and another, both deflected, until she was right in front of him. Extending a little scaly hand, he shot a burst of fire at her, which she narrowly dodged, by bending back and sliding under it. He then tried to smack her with his staff, but she quickly rolled away from it and swung her leg at his ankle, knocking him down. She slashed at his arm, blowing the staff out of his hand, then jumped to her feet and tried to plunge her dagger into his belly. He rolled away from her just in time to escape the blow, but she had already prepared another slash, striking him across the chest. It sent him flying into the cave wall. He tried to cling to the stones, but faltered and hell to the floor. Jane threw a dagger into his leg and did her dagger dash move, killing the shaman.
She quickly collected the old goblin's soul shard and cried, "I got it, guys! Let's get the hell outta here!"
They all ran like crazy until they found the exit, and then ran some more, as the furious goblins chased them. At some point through the woods, they finally lost their pursuers. Panting, they stopped, some leaning on the trees, others just sitting on the ground. Jane looked around at them and started to laugh... she laughed hysterically.
"That was fucking awesome!" she screamed, with exhilaration.
The others joined her, laughing at the whole situation.
"That," FoxyGent pointed out, "is why I love this game."
Just then, they heard a monstrous roar that made them all jump to their feet, ready for action again. Though it sounded rather far off, the ground under their very feet trembled with the sound.
"What the hell was that?" Jane asked them.
"That sounded like a dragon," FoxyGent said fearfully.
They heard a second roar echo through the forest and then some kind of explosion.
"Oh, shit! Sounds like someone's actually fighting it!" Mamasboi noted, "common! Let's check it out!"
They all ran after him, to the edge of a cliff. From there, they could see it, a huge winged beast, with shiny black scales.
"A black dragon," Mags whispered.
The dragon took a deep breath and then shot a blast of purple fire from its mouth, bathing the forest around it in violet flames. And there was someone out there, a tiny little guy by comparison, who really was fighting it... He was flying... with wings springing out from his back...
"Who's THAT guy?" Jane wondered.
"No idea," FoxyGent replied, staring in awe.
"Uh, guys," Sephy pointed out, "that fire's spreading. I think we better get out of here."
The evil-looking flames were indeed reaching them, and fast. As much as they wanted to watch the fight, self-preservation kicked in and they found themselves running away from it. They barely even made it out of the forest in time and Cynthie had to heal their burns.
While the others discussed who that dude fighting the dragon was and how a dragon appeared in such a small realm, to begin with, all Jane could think was how amazing that whole experience had been. She had lived through a fantasy adventure and, in doing so had the time of her life. And that was just the beginning... There were hundreds of other realms to explore... which was to say nothing of all the other games she still hadn't played...
If she could make a living doing that... well, she couldn't ask for more.
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