* Sam's point of view right now. *
I watched Marie lay down after putting the VR headset on. I was trying to figure out why she told me about the red button. Did she know that something might happen while she was in the VRMMO? Did she not tell me everything that went on with Father Gregory and Sister Amy? Now I was actually worried about sitting here. Do I need to be more alert? Should I watch both the door and the window? Why had she brought up the broken window lock now? It's been broken for so long and she just now reminded me of that. Could something have already happened while I was outside the door and I didn't know about it? I was seriously going to freak myself out if I don't calm myself down right now. Taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down I quietly relaxed and closed my eyes for a second picturing Josh and I in the woods laughing about a prank he pulled on the baker right before he was fired. I knew it led to him being fired but it was funny at the time.
My wonderful, handsome and prankster of a boyfriend. He keeps me filled with happiness and love. I am never bored when he is around and we never seem to do the same thing twice. We have been together in secret for almost 3 years now.
I was caught there in my daydream when all the sudden I felt something brushed my ankle. Opening my eyes and looking down I saw nothing there at all. This had to be my nerves and I was just imagining it. I shifted my chair closer to Marie and used the bottom of her bed to prop my feet up and got comfortable so I could read my book I brought back with me after cooking in the kitchen.
Marie sighed which told me she was fully immersed in the game. I really hope things are going to be ok for her. Where the hell was Josh? Is he that worried about my note to show up and then leave? I will have to find him tonight or tomorrow depending on when Marie is not in the game and is charging her VR set. I really looked Marie over. I worried about her when I leave the orphanage in about 6 months. I have to leave at the age of 18 by law. Her offer for marriage would let me take her with me but I don't think Josh would be happy with that. She is my best friend and at times Josh seems jealous of my relationship with her. I will have to talk to him about the possibility as well. Wow I have a lot him and I need to sit down and talk about. The bodyguard job, what he was going to do now that he lost his job, his place he is living right now is above the bakery. He is going to have to move out in the next week to a month. The baker might let him stay until he finds another job. If he gets hired by Marie I don't know what he is going to do for living space as he is 18 and can't move in here. Maybe his parents will take him back in for a few months until I turn 18.
Completely lost in thought I didn't notice the arms reaching out to grab me from under the bed.
The next thing I knew both of my legs were grabbed and I jumped to stand up and yelled. Looking down I saw Josh's face smiling from under Marie's bed. When that little shit comes out of the VRMMO I am going to get her back so good. I have no clue what I am going to do but I WILL do something. Damn it they BOTH got me good.
"Josh what the hell are you doing under Marie's bed? You could have given me a heart attack. How long have you been under the bed? Does Marie know you are there? Forget that last question, of course she knows you are there. Why else would she have made me feel so stupid for checking her closet for you. Come on out and go get another chair. We need to have a long talk and hopefully this will work out for us both in the long run."
Josh smiled and slid out from under the bed on the other side of where Sam was. He knew better then to get out next to him. He truly spooked him and he knew his loving sweetheart would get even with him. He also needed to talk to Sam about the marriage idea and find out what this job opportunity is. So, he hurried out of the room to find a chair and come back.
"Oh my God I can't believe Josh did that to me. I was freaking out about what I could be missing. Now I know it was so I could have her leave the VRMMO and yell at her for the set up. This talk is either going to make or break our relationship. I am so worried." Sam quietly said out loud.
*Marie/Shi's point of view*
While all that was going on. I found myself back in my room at the inn. I knew I had to head over to the skill trainer and get my quest for my next skill. I checked my timer for how long I had left and was shocked to see I still had slightly less then 2 days left on my time. If has felt like it's been days to a week since I first started the game but it's only been a day and 2 hours of in game time. I also noted I still had a day and 6 hours left on my noble armor set before I could take it off. So, I would have about 10 to 12 hours of being armor free before my role was given to me. I checked my inventory and saw that I had my 86 gold still and all my items I should have and headed out of my room. I noticed a little mail icon but decided to check it after I got the quest for my second skill. Walking out to the Inn was the same as last time only there seemed to be more people there and some looked a lot higher of a level then the starters. I realized that I had decent armor but I lacked an actual weapon other than the beginner sword I was given. It would kill the small creatures around the village but nothing else after I leave this area. I told myself I would get a weapon once I got my quest for my second skill done. I am going to get the Apothecary skill. I know I talked about getting the writing and languages skill but I think making potions would allow me to travel to find rare herbs so I can grow them in my shop enough that I would be able to get out and about.
As soon as I stepped down the last step everyone froze again and bowed, knelt or curtsied. I did my best to ignore them as I walked by but I heard a few whispers to one another if I could be the noble that one person was talking about on the forums. Didn't the person say the race though was Dragonkin? That noble lacks the Dragonkin wings and is a human. Lucky for me my armor and cloak hide my wings so no one could tell my race. My body frame is similar to a human's body frame and only the wings and skin gives away my race, which is currently all covered up by my armor set.
Whispers continued, just remember the name of the noble and watch out for the notifications. Maybe that source on the forums will know more soon and can share the name or something else. If anyone can see the nobles name let us know after the noble leaves.
I ignored them and kept walking with confident steps. Inside I was yelling at myself at how I could be so foolish and give away too much to the point I might have gotten caught already and that would be dangerous for me. Making up my mind to get a better weapon right now I headed out of the inn and headed straight for the auction hall I saw when I was heading toward the storage master. It will take me about 10mins to walk there so I kept an eye out for anyone following me. I saw a few guards standing near a wall and walked over to them. They stood at attention as soon as I got close.
"Guards, there are some players that are following me and I think they have ill intent towards me. They are all actual players and not NPCs. Please do your job and stop them if they come by. I would like to make sure I am safe while in your fair city."
"By your command we will summon more guards to follow you and be at your destination, My Lady, just let us know where you are going."
"I am heading to the auction hall right now to find a better weapon and then the skill trainers."
"Contacting the guards now. We will watch for players to pass us now. Be safe until the next set of guards arrive. It will be at the most 5 mins until they are in position for you. My Lady be safe and take care."
Keeping my wits about me I continue on my way. I make sure to keep a steady pace and don't look like I am rushing. I keep wondering to myself, how did they find my location? A few mins later I see 3 sets of guards standing along my way to the Auction Hall. I am about 2 mins away from the hall. One set of guards start walking towards the hall while the other two stand there talking to each other. As I pass them, I see one set stop talking and turn to follow me at a slight distance. It appears the guards are going to do their jobs. I wish they were more than NPCs but I will take what I can get.
Arriving at the auction hall I am shocked when I walk inside. Everything about this game screams medieval times with different races walking around but the auction hall makes it beyond clear this is a game. On the left side I can see holograms of different types of transportation, mostly horses, carriages and various carts. One the right I see various signs for materials like herbs, food, wood, iron and various plants and flowers. In the center I see a station for houses which intrigues me but I will check that out after I find a weapon and maybe a shield too and then get my second skill. So, I walk to the back of the hall and after passing every clothing type, accessory shop and armor shop station I finally found the weapon one. I walk up to it and tap on the screen. Hundreds of options appear. I think about it and limit my search to swords for right now. Prices looked outrageous on here and most I had to be higher level to use do I used the filter to show only what I would be able to use. There were 10 options left for me. The first 6 were great swords and required a lot of strength and two hands and I rejected them flat out. I am on the weaker side body wise as I knew my real body would affect my abilities. Speed and agility would be my strength in the game. I saw two that had a lot of promise but there was a third one that could grow with me. The first two were good and solid beginner swords that looked like more advanced swords. One had a poison ability that I didn't like so I turned that one down. The other one had an ice effect that seemed pretty cool. Both were set in stats and couldn't be upgraded. The Third one was the one I was being drawn too but the name had me questioning my sanity.
It was named the woman's cursed blade. The description read, this blade can only be wielded by women and will be bound once equipped. The blade once bound will activate a curse that will grant the user a special affect. What that affect is will be random and then locked in place permanently. Luck could grant you a second or third ability or no ability at all. This blade will level with you as you level and will glow an eerie black shade of whatever special affect you are granted.
I thought hard about that blade. With a price of 6gold it was a pretty big risk as if I get a horrible special effect or worse no effect at all then I am stuck with that sword taking up an inventory slot unless I destroy the sword and then the gold is a waste as I can't sell it once it's equipped.
After 5 mins of staring at my 3 options I decided to go with the cursed blade. As I took out my 6 gold coins, I noticed a few people standing around sort of near me but not too close to be alarming. I glanced around to see 6 guards nearby as well so I relaxed and paid for the weapon. A package appeared in front of me and instead of just taking it I decided to open in right then and there. As I opened it people seemed to watch me pretty closely but as soon as it was open people backed away pretty fast. Apparently, the weapon scared them and I am not sure why. I opened my equipment page and went to equip it but got told that wasn't allowed in the auction hall do I put it in my inventory and went over to the shield station. I started looking for a shield and found a matching shield to the sword. It was only 3 gold and decided to get it as well and put it in my inventory too. People around gasped when they saw the shield I picked. I smiled and turned to walk out of the auction hall. One player walked up to me and waved and then asked me a question. It was in a language that I didn't know, maybe it was Japanese or something Asian but I only knew English and the translator apparently only works for typed messages. Looking up I saw his name was Kuro.
"I am sorry, Kuro but I do not understand you. I speak English."
I waved at him and started to head out. He stopped me again and bowed his head a few times and said something else slowly.
"Kon'nichiwa" said Kuro
I smiled, I used to read books about Japan so I knew the standard greeting.
"Kon'nichiwa, Hello, do you understand English?"
He smiled and nodded at me. Ok I thought I can ask him simple yes or no questions. I wish I could do more and I wondered why he was trying to talk to me of all people. I thought about a way to help and realized that if I got the writing and language skill, I would be able to understand him. Maybe it was a useful skill to have after all if I want to travel later in life.
"Come with me and I will see if I can help you."
He bowed and said "Arigatōgozaimashita"
I had no clue what that meant but I knew Arigato meant Thanks so I assumed that was what he was saying. The guards had their hands on their weapons and came closer to be in range if needed. I headed out of the Auction Hall to see a small crowd of people around the hall. I headed toward the skill vendor with Kuro following behind me like a little foreign puppy. I thought Fairies are kind of cute looking like a child in height yet they are adults. This guy was dwarf like with a large black beard and a large nose with cute royal blue wings.
We walked to the Artistry vendor and I told the vendor what he would need and that he spoke Japanese and the two of them started talking too fast for me to understand them. Finally, they stopped and both looked at me.
"My Lady, the guy here wants to speak with you but cannot as he already has two skills. He says he was some very important information for you but you will need to be able to understand him or be able to read it to get the information as it is in Japanese. It is something to do with your house or items."
"Very well, if it's that important then I will learn the writing and language skill as my second skill. Please teach me the skill."
"By your command My Lady so shall it be."
*Chime* Writing and language skill received *Chime*
Quest triggered.
Please go over to the writing board and copy the lettering that you see onto the white boards. Take your time and complete 3 boards correctly to learn the skill fully.
I walked over to the writing boards and took my time writing the strange lettering. It took me an hour and 9 tries to get 3 right but I finally got the notification that I had learned the skill.
I turned to find Kuro and he was still standing there patiently with a smile on his face.
"Ok how can I help you?"
"Did you know you picked cursed items? They will bind to you if you equip them. You bought both the weapon and shield set, are you trying to complete the cursed set and become the cursed one? I know where you can find the armor and gloves. The leggings and boots are in the auction hall and for 5 gold you can buy them both. The armor is harder to get to but with 4 cursed items it should be easier. I will help you get to them if you want me too. Do you want to find them?"
"Well, I will have to look at the other items to see if I want those. As for the armor set what do you know about them. I might as well grab the rest of the set if they are close. So, to answer your question yes I want to find them."
*Chime* Quest triggered *Chime*