Chapter XIV: Official Launch
If Daliah was still in my mother's employment, I might have thought twice about what I was going to do. My mother was across the Atlantic Ocean in Quebec, so I didn't have to worry about getting caught. I was going to pull an all-nighter for the very first time in this new body. A real all-nighter.
I showered and put on my school clothes for the next day, I grabbed my book bag and loaded it up with everything I would need for school, including the deodorant. Just in case.
We met up at Joyful Flourish at eight-thirty on opening day. We decided to come a half hour early to make sure that none of us were late. Unlike me, the rest of them were sneaking out.
Room twelve was made from handsome wood and was barely large enough to fit four people. It was cramped, but the four of us would be able to lie down. There were two couches and two recliners. It was cramped, but at least we wouldn't be sleeping on the floor.
"If you want to take a break and need anything, please use the speaker on the wall," the employee said, gesturing to a piece of plastic. "This will connect you to an employee. If you want food or something to drink, you can pay through this terminal and we'll bring it to you."
"Thank you," I said. She was being a little pushy, but I could live with it. Or maybe it was just me. I wanted to get back so bad that I didn't care what she had to say.
Amos picked up one of the helmets wired to the wall. "How do these work?"
"You just put in your game cartridge here in the side of the helmet and close the lid. It won't turn on otherwise. The card reader is over here connected to your Neural Spheres. You have to insert them, or anything you do won't be saved. Then just boot up the Neural Sphere and lay down. Once the system activates, the nerve signals your brain sends will be intercepted and you won't be in control of your body anymore. Not until you log out. You should know that we close at midnight, so all internet is turned off at eleven thirty. At eleven, we'll send you a reminder," the worker said.
"Thank you," I told her again. I didn't want to have to explain it to them.
When I took out my account card, the worker's eyes widened. "Is that a beta card?"
I nodded. "It is." The black and gold cards had become something of a status symbol around the game. A player with the black and gold account cards had played Primal Vale longer than anyone else.
"That's so cool," she said. The girl looked like she wanted to say more. "I have to go back to work but... Aren't you kids too young to rent this room out for the night?"
My friends most certainly were. "Nope. Thanks for everything." She didn't put up a fight and she left.
I found a spot in the corner of the room where one of the recliners was placed. The side of the Neural Sphere was already open, and I inserted my cartridge into it and then the card into the reader.
"So... How does this turn on?" Kanade asked, turning it around in her hand.
Did none of them do their research? I pointed to the visor. "When you have it on and you're ready to play, just pull the visor down and close your eyes. The system will take care of the rest."
I looked at the clock. 20:59. Just one more minute. I laid down against the wall, put the helmet on, and waited. Once the clock struck nine, I pulled the visor down and closed my eyes.
There was the vortex I had become so used to seeing during the beta test. Then the words Stardust Studios: Express Your Dreams! and the logo for Primal Vale.
The system check:
Touch Sensor System: Connected!
Sight Sensor System: Connected!
Hearing Sensor System: Connected!
Taste Sensor System: Connected!
Smell Sensor System: Connected!
Another quick animation and I was back in the character creation room. "Congratulations, player! Welcome! You are now connected to the European Primal Vale Official Server! According to your account card, you have a rendered avatar and settings already chosen. Do you wish to port them over from the beta?"
I clicked on the blue O.
"Information... Has been transferred. Congratulations! Do you wish to enter the tutorial?"
I clicked the red X this time. I had already gone through it once and I didn't need to do it again. I assumed it was giving me the option because of the date from the beta.
"Chevalier Phénix, you will now be transported to Lutetia! Player, we wish you the best of luck."
The room disappeared and then cue the falling light animation. I was right, this time around the plaza was filled with players. There were NPCs, but most of the avatars around me were players.
The plaza was sealed again, but I got an alert telling me that as a former beta player, I didn't have to stick around for the NPC announcement. I wouldn't be able to leave the city until the announcement was over, so I went to the bazaar.
Before we had even logged on, I told them where to meet me. You had to be standing in front of a player before you could friend them, so I couldn't message them.
I bought the Small Sword that ran me 20 lyre. Two health potions and one antidote potion ran me 30 lyre.
Right next to my favorite potion stand was a food cart that hadn't been there in the beta. While the food was available in the beta, not many players ate anything in-game. There wasn't a reason to.
On this point, an NPC was kind enough to explain what the official game changed from the beta in regards to food: there was a hunger status. If you didn't keep your avatar well-fed, its stats would gradually decrease until you died. The only way to fix it was to eat something or respawn after death.
For a level one character like myself, I would only need to eat a little bit once a day, but as we leveled, we would need to eat more often. And in large quantities. Though the more nutritious a food item was, the more it would affect the hunger status. In this case, I bought five Small Burn Bread Loaves for a lyre each. Two for me and one for each of my teammates.
I wanted to eat one now and see what it tasted like. The loaf reminded me of the small loaves in Attack on Titian, so it was cool to have one. What wasn't so cool was the fact that these loaves, the cheapest food in the game that could only be found in the starting cities, were burned. They tasted burnt too.
I guess Stardust Studios were going for realism. To a certain degree. I waited by the weapon rack and eventually, the others found me.
Euphie was named Ghost Lantern. Kanade chose Namikaze for her character, in honor of her favorite Naruto character. And Amos named his Sage: "Since I want to play a spell caster."
"You already have a weapon?" Sage complained.
I smirked. "Yes. I do. I bought it. Didn't you buy anything?"
Sage shrugged. Namikaze gave me a lop-sided grin. "Sorry. I guess we were waiting for you. You seem to know your way around the game."
Ghost Lantern nodded vicariously.
"I guess I can help you out," I said. "First things first, we need to friend with each other."
"How do we do that?" Ghost Lantern asked.
"From your menu."
"... Menu?" she repeated. I showed them how to open their menu and then where the friend option was. The Guild Quest hadn't been beaten yet, so the Guild option was grayed out.
We each friended each other.
"We can message each other now. If you're in a dungeon or a labyrinth, voice messaging doesn't work, but it should be available at any other time."
"That's good to know," Namikaze said. "Since this isn't a class-based game, what skills should we equip?"
I shrugged. "What skills do you want?"
Sage raised his hand. "I want to cast magic!"
"Then you'll want to equip the Seed Skill Sorcery. Once you do that, the first ten spells will pop up. You can read through them and decide which one you want to equip. Just find the skills section on the right window."
"Wow. I can have a scythe?" Ghost Lantern asked said.
"It will be more expensive than a Small Sword, but yeah."
"Oh yeah. I should have called myself the Grim Reaper."
I turned to Namikaze. "What are you thinking?"
"Bow and arrow?"
"You want to be an archer?"
"Yeah."
A simple Wooden Wand ran Amos 10 lyre. Euphie's Scythe cost her 70 lyre, but it was better stated than my Small Sword. A Small Wooden bow ran Kanade 30 lyre and each arrow was 1 lyre. These early arrows must not be too good if they were that cheap. By the time I tried the Archery Seed Skill in the beta, more than a month had passed and we had better equipment.
The Seed Skill Sorcery prevented Amos from equipping any armor that wasn't enchanted, and there was no enchanted armor this early in the game. So he was going armorless. I followed suit, but Euphie and Kanade bought some leather armor. We each bought potions, and by the end of it, Euphie was the only one that didn't have any money left.
"This stupid scythe cost me most of my money," she said, staring at her Scrap Iron Scythe.
I shrugged. "What did you expect? It's the best weapon we have right now."
For now, I decided that we would focus on leveling. "Once we level up, we'll try some quests. "
"That's fine with me!" Amos cheered.
We were closest to the West Gate from this bazaar, so I took the lead. We had to wait in line, which was annoying, but what can you do?
As soon as we stepped out of the city, the sounds of the monsters echoed out of the forest. They matched the natural sounds of the forest that the game generated.
"Where's the slimes?" Amos asked.
"In dungeons and labyrinths," I answered. "They're not the weak beginner-level monster here, so you won't find any out in the field."
We were too close to the city for monsters to spawn, so we followed the other players into the forest. I decided that we were going to separate from the other players.
"Why?"
"Because we don't want anyone to steal from us," I told Euphie.
Her eyes widened. "They would steal from us?"
"You sweet summer child. Bosses and monsters are meant to be stolen and frankly, we would have to PK anyone who tried to steal from us."
"PK?"
"Player Killing."
The first monster that spawned was a Boar. Thankfully there only one of them spawned, so this would be a good learning moment.
"Kanade, why don't you fire an arrow."
"Um... I don't know if I can hit it," she admitted.
"The system will assist you. This isn't a simulator game, so it's easier to hit things. Your dexterity is only 1, so the assist isn't the best, but it makes it easier to hit the target. Take an arrow out and pull it back in the bow."
When she did, Kanade gasped. "You should be seeing a fluctuating circle in the field of your vision*. That's the system's assist for any ranged attacks. Arrows, magic spells, and any other ranged attacks will generate that circle. Your attack will randomly hit somewhere in that circle. The more you level your dexterity, the smaller that circle will become. The less it will fluctuate. Why don't you try?"
Kanade let the arrow fly and actually hit the Boar. The monster screeched and turned to face us. "Load another arrow. We're going to try a skill. Which ones have you equipped?"
"Flash shot, Feather Light, and Acrobatics."
I assumed she would have chosen two branch skills, but Feather Light and Acrobatics were general skills. For the kind of character that Kanade was going for, it was a good choice.
"To activate your kills, just say the name." The Boar leaned forward, readying its charge. "Go with Flash Shot."
Kanade took a breath and pulled the arrow back. "Flash Shoot." As soon as she spoke the name, the arrow started to glow white. The Boar charged and she released it. It left a white line as it sailed through the air, hitting the Boar in the head.
The bow froze and then it shattered into blue dust that floated into the air. A screen appeared in front of her, displaying the rewards.
***
*I shamelessly took the circle from Sword Art Online. I like the Mechanic
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