As Matthew was reminiscing about the wild encounter they had just experienced, Sarah was engrossed in another topic.
[Matty said that this world was like an RPG instead of an MMO. But I can't find the status screen…]
"Uh, hey Matty, how do I pull up the status screen?" Asked Sarah with an awkward look on her face.
"What do you mean, it should be flashing in your vision. It is hard to miss." Said Matthew as he poked the air.
Sarah looked around her vision but saw no flash of light, or anything that would resemble a game-like overlay.
"I don't see it…"
Sarah was very confused because she had just seen her own before entering the world…
"What do you mean you don't see it, here, look at me. Do you see the health and mana bars over my head?"
Sarah turned to look at Matthew. She looked at his head and above him, and she even turned him completely around but to no success. There was no health bar.
"Nope. Nada…"
"I can see your status bars…they are right above your head. Why can't you see mine?" said Matthew as he scratched his chin in confusion.
[The hell would cause that? Everyone should have the ability to view the status bar…it is a basic privilege.]
"Wait…I see your health as 80/80." Said Matthew with a surprised look on his face.
"That should be normal, right? Maybe something is wrong where I am an admin…something funky?"
"No,no,no…that should not be normal. I am not in a party with you and I do not have a full inspection ability…the numbers should be percentages that everyone can see."
"SO?" said Sarah, getting impatient at his genius roleplay…"OUT WITH IT MAN!!!"
"I uh, I don't know. I have no clue why it would default to this instead of the percentage view…I mean, if you don't have it then I technically should not have it either but it is right there…"
"Say, what does your status show you? You said you could see it right?"
"I'll check…hold on…"
[Status-Matthew-No Noble house.]
Lvl.1 (Exp: 0/40)
HP= 130/0
MP= 80/0
Constitution= 7 Wisdom= 10
Strength= 6 Intelligence= 10
Dexterity= 2 Spirit= 10
{Error}- Super Administrator Access -{Error}
Class- None
"Well, FUCK! Do you have admin access right now, Sarah?" Asked Matthew while he studied his lack of a max health.
"WELL, I can't really find out right now, idiot!" Said Sarah as she facepalmed.
"Right…let's just find the town and ask someone there about the status screen and mana issue the world was having when you attempted to materialize."
As the trio walked quickly through the forest, they noticed that the world was alive.
It had a vibrance and a quality not unlike their own world.
Life…continued. When they would walk somewhere, they could see small creepy crawlies to which Matthew "EEKKK'ed" at…
Sarah stood composed, like that of a battle-hardened Emergency Nurse. She had seen people holding their intestines before, so bugs were kinda' cute.
They kept walking and trying to find water for Bowser but there was a constant fear that something was always near. Nothing else encountered them, but to be sure there were strong beings that had marked their territory in this area.
Keeping composed was important for an adventurer, but this world was different from what Matthew had designed. The quality of the forest was very high. Nature seemed to be indifferent as life continued at all levels of the ecosystem.
Matthew contemplated the reasoning behind his incongruity with his sister.
[Well, it is probably something to do with the fact that mana seems much lighter than before. If the mana-layer was heavily damaged, then it would probably change a lot of shit. Fuck me, I guess we have entered a post-apocalyptic world that has recovered somewhat. Weird ass shit.]
As the trio was walking for around 20-minutes, they noticed a plumage of smoke that was drifting from multiple places.
"YO, Sarah, do you see that?" Said Matthew pointing at the streak of black in the sky.
"Of course, I can see it…I am not blind…" Said Sarah with a facepalm.
"How the hell did we get here so quickly? I wasn't going to tell you, but it is supposed to take around an hour to get there for new players. I made it specifically 3.1 miles away from spawn to account for the average human walking speed."
"Why would you make the new players walk so far?"
"To get them used to their bodies…there is a normal disconnection between their actual body and the new body if they modify their character."
"Smart…but why is it so close to spawn then? We didn't sprint, here did we?"
"HA, like you could get this mangy-mutt to sprint for a long distance." Said Matthew as he rubbed Bowser's head.
*Panting* *Lick*
"Who's a good boy? Huh, Bowser, are you a good boy?!"
[Of course, I am a good boy!!!! I am the goodest boy to ever live!!!!]
"Well, lets keep on keepin' on."
As they walked closer, they noticed that the city was not small, not in the slightest.
It was built with white stone, cut and placed in a flawless manner. But that was just the defense wall.
There was a giant pair of thick wooden doors followed by a smaller series of metal gates to the side that were manned by guards.
The outer wall must have been easily 40-feet tall and built using multiple feet wide stones. Creating a nearly impenetrable fort.
The wall was manned with many guards with bows and crossbows. They had Pikemen and Halberdiers at the gates and what appeared to be trade coming from a frequented path that was further to the east bending around the forest.
The group was around 1000-feet from the doors and 400-feet from the road off to their right. They could see that the city had a large presence in the area with tens of large wagons and hundreds of people traveling by foot.
"Damn...that's a nice wall…" said Matthew in awe.
"I thought you said it was a starter town…" Sarah was getting worried about Matthew's lack of knowledge.
"Well, it was but I guess a lot has changed in that much time. Let's go get in line." Said Matthew.
The line was incredibly long and there were a mix of people.
Brown, red, yellow, and some greenish tinted people. Of course, they were traditional ethnicities with regional traits, but a lot of the people had either pointy ears, or a tail to them…
"Huh, where are the beast folk at? They should be around here somewhere, and I don't see any full blood elves either…strange."
"WAIT, I COULD HAVE HAD CUTE FOX EARS?!"
"Yup…" said Matthew as Sarah turned to him with sheer disappointment and began to regret her choice.
"But I don't see any full-blooded ones here, they should be the most abundant in this area. They are excellent hunters." Said Matthew as he scratched his chin in confusion. "Maybe we will see some inside."
The line was moving at a steady pace and they were not in the mood to speak with anyone, so they just kept their heads down and tried to pass the time.
"It seems like this place has a lot of visitors…they are processing at both minor gates. I wonder why those folks are getting in so quickly?" said Matthew as he stared at a blonde man get waved through to the city.