POV: Sylas
With a dazzling flash I finally appeared in the middle of a huge square, in front of me was a sea of people with eccentric and unique appearances, it seems that I had not been the only player who decided to change the color of their hair or eyes.
Lights were constantly falling from the sky and more people were appearing from them, most were looking in wonder at the surroundings while others hurriedly ran out of the plaza, I wasn't in any particular rush so I walked at a normal pace to the training center while taking in my surroundings.
The plaza was huge, there were at least 1000 players in it currently but it didn't feel crowded at all, with some simple stalls selling items for novice players, it seemed that these plazas would be trading centers between players and NPCs in the future.
Looking at the things on the stalls I remembered something and with a mutter I opened my inventory.
"Inventory"
*ding*
With a slight chime, a screen appeared in front of me, something only I could see unless I gave specific permission for someone else to see it.
In it I could see many empty boxes and a 3D figure of me with all my equipment, currently I only had tattered clothes that did not provide any stats or attributes, also in a small section it told me that I currently had 5 copper coins.
It seemed that he didn't have enough money to buy anything in the plaza, according to what he researched the main currency in the game would be copper, silver, and gold coins. With a gold coin equaling 100 silver and likewise a silver coin equaling 100 copper.
Sighing in defeat I finally left the large square, the moment I stepped foot outside of it a notification appeared in front of me.
[Welcome to the Mutelight Startup Village]
Short and to the point, it seemed like just a normal notification to let us know where we had started the game, but then I noticed that a small transparent map had appeared at the edge of my vision with the name of the town just below it if I focused on it. it expanded and covered almost all of my view so I could see it better.
It was just this kind of thing that suddenly reminded you that you were inside a virtual reality game, since it suddenly appeared everything had been so realistic that for a moment I had forgotten it, from the feeling of my feet when walking to the breeze moving your hair was realistic.
But the most impressive thing was the environment, the houses and stone streets, the clothing and very human attitude of the NPCs in the town, even the birds and small animals that could be seen around, gave you an emerging sensation that you had suddenly traveled 500 years back in time.
Having the map that indicated my position, it was much more convenient to find the training center, it didn't take even 5 minutes to arrive in front of it despite not walking particularly fast, so it could be understood that I was close to the place of appearance on purpose.
The building was a large fenced training field, inside you could see many practice dummies made of straw in the center field, as well as several buildings around to register and get your first skill.
A few hundred people had already arrived before me, they seemed very eager to start their adventure as they registered with the NPCs in charge, I approached one of the lines and waited for a few minutes before it was my turn, the NPC in front of me was a muscular tanned man in mail armor had a fierce appearance but a cheerful temperament.
"welcome adventurer, are you here to register as a rookie adventurer?"
Nodding, the NPC gave a big laugh as he handed me a very common badge with the symbol of a sword and a bag full of gold.
"Today is a great day, many new adventurers have registered and will start their fight to help the kingdom, you can go to the warehouse and pick up your endowment weapon, as well as learn your first skill from the old man" the NPC said while waving a hand to say goodbye and move on to the next player.
Undoubtedly a remarkable NPC, there must have been the same line dozens of times or maybe over a hundred times by now, and yet he seemed so enthusiastic, with a sigh I located the warehouse on the map and entered the training ground.
It didn't take long to arrive, many players were choosing their beginner weapons on the shelves, and to one side was an old man in a hunchback watching, he would be the one you would have to talk to after choosing your weapon.
Walking to the shelves I observed the weapons, they all looked second quality and made of bronze, being free it seems that the system did not want to give us anything too good, going to the spear section I chose one suitable for my size and took it, when I lifted it, the screen with its statistics appeared in front of me.
[Copper Spear- Inferior Common Object
Damage: 1-3
Durability: 10/10
Attack speed:1.5]
It seemed to be pretty bad even among the common items, and it also prevented you from putting it in your inventory until you found it with the old man, otherwise more than one would secretly take a lot of weapons and then sell them and make some quick money.
After taking it I went to the old man, but on the way out of curiosity I took a sword that was next to it and I saw its statistics.
[copper sword- Inferior Common Object
Damage:1-2
Durability: 10/10
Attack Speed: 1]
It seemed to have a slightly lower damage cap, but had a higher attack speed, according to the beta tester's advice the damage dealt by a weapon ranged from the lower limit to the higher limit, for how much damage you did influence many things such as the type of attack you make, where you attack and how lucky you are.
After all, stabbing a monster in its neck wouldn't be the same as stabbing it in the arms, plus there were concepts like critical hits. It was also recommended to use a sword at the beginning for the new ones, after all it is the most balanced and easy weapon to use, when compared to a spear it was faster when attacking and only had 1 less maximum damage.
That would be a big difference for a person who didn't know how to use a spear correctly and who wouldn't reach its maximum damage on many occasions, although I didn't care since it was my favorite weapon, and therefore the one I handled the best.
Placing the sword in place, I immediately headed in front of the old man, due to the large number of players around him choosing their weapons and first skills I didn't need to speak directly to him, when I was in the range of about 5 meters immediately a screen appeared in front of me.
[do you want to choose the {copper spear} as your crew weapon?]
[Yes / No]
Confirming it immediately a new tab appeared in front of me.
[below choose your starting ability]
[Double strike: perform two consecutive attacks, the first deals 55% damage and the second 75%, cooldown 15 seconds, cost per use: 15 mana- for each level increases the attack of both hits by 5%, level maximum 5]
[Blunt Strike: Performs a mana-infused strike dealing 100% damage and stunning the target for 1.5 seconds, cooldown 20 seconds, cost per use: 15 mana - each level increases 5% damage and 0.1 seconds stun, level maximum 5]
[Mana strike: concentrates mana and fires it at a maximum range of 5 meters, deals 30% damage per magic attack, cooldown 7 seconds, cost per use: 5 mana- each level increases the damage by 5% and maximum level reduces its cooldown to 5 seconds, level maximum 5]
The three starting skills were very good and simple, since it was impossible to obtain a profession until reaching level 5 this choice would lay the foundations for what kind of player we were looking to be, for someone who wanted to become a magician it would be essential to choose mana hit, and for those who wanted to be swordsmen, the best would be a double whammy.
I seriously considered it for a moment, the blunt blow was a great ability capable of stunning the enemy, that alone would be very useful in later stages of the game, plus I didn't know how difficult it would be to get abilities capable of stunning when I got my class.
Since I was planning to become a spearman, which was considered a DPS class, I didn't know how likely it was to get a stun skill at the time, after all they were more tank-oriented or heavy warrior skills from what I had researched.
After a minute of contemplation I decided to take Double Strike, even though Blunt Strike was a good skill it wouldn't be as useful early on as Double Strike which would do more damage and be better for hunting monsters.
After all, although I wasn't in a big hurry I decided to dedicate myself to this by leaving the omega neutralization unit, and if I wanted to keep myself from this game the most efficient thing would be to become a streamer or a dark player, and for that I needed to always stay in the top of the levels.
When selecting the skill, a small beam of light hit my forehead out of nowhere and a notification sounded in my head.
[you have successfully learned {double strike} you can check it in your skill tab]
I immediately opened my skills tab to check
[Skills:
{Double Strike} level 1- Xp: 0/100]
It looks like I'll have to use it 100 times to level it up, considering it's cooldown if I used it constantly then 25 minutes would be enough to upgrade it. Although of course, it would not be so easy since you must have a target on which to use.
A little excited I decided to continue with the next step of my first adventure, the normal thing here would be to leave the city and start hunting monsters in the surroundings to level up. But according to my research and advice from beta testers, it would be best to take a quest before starting, it would greatly improve the amount of experience obtained in the shortest possible time.
Walking in a hurry this time I reached the exit of the town, the street was crowded with players trying to get out or enter the town, and outside you could see wide green fields full of lush grass.
I was already very impatient to go out and experience my first battle, but I endured it and investigated around a bit, a few minutes later I found an old tavern full of armed NPCs who seemed to be adventurers too, and some players entered it and left with happy faces.
Thinking of something, I went in to investigate and found a place full of high-level NPC adventurers drinking and eating in broad daylight, knowing a little about the trick to get the first mission, I approached one who seemed especially satisfied drinking and observed him.
[Roland- veteran adventurer- NPC
Level: ???]
With a smile, I got closer and spoke to him.
"Hello, nice to meet you, I am WordlySpear, a rookie adventurer who has just started to pursue his dream, I came to the tavern to get some information and I couldn't help but notice Lord Roland, so I couldn't help but approach you to ask you for one or two advice on be adventurous"
This is the best way to get a quest early in the game and when you don't have much of a reputation or good relationship with any NPCs, a good sweetened-up session on a promising NPC.
The NPC was slightly surprised and looked around as if wondering if I was talking to him, before looking at me doubtfully and wondering.
"You're talking to me?"
Laughing a little inside at his stunned expression I nodded carefully, I could understand why he was surprised, compared to the other adventurers in the tavern he could be considered very below average, he didn't have as remarkable or eccentric equipment as the rest and he was alone while drinking like a wretch.
But I intentionally chose it since someone like that would be easy prey for praise, after all they wouldn't be very used to it and would be more innocent and inhibited in giving benefits.
"That's right Mr. Roland, while I was at the adventurer academy I heard a lot about your adventures and I admired you from the bottom of my heart, so when I met you today I couldn't help but come and ask you for some advice on how to become an adventurer of your kind level"
Hearing me, a hideous smile appeared on Roland's face as he laughed like crazy.
"I didn't know that my prestige had reached this height, well, since a young man like you asks me for advice, I'll be more than willing to help you a bit, go to the plains near the city and hunt some field rabbits if you can manage it, I will give you a good reward to motivate you"
*ding*
[you have received a quest {hunt rabbits for Roland}]
[Hunt rabbits for Roland: Go to the outskirts of the city and hunt 100 field rabbits, and bring the hind legs to Roland to pass the quest, Reward: 50 XP and 5 copper coins]
When reading the mission I was a bit surprised, according to the information of the beta testers it is very rare that the first missions are rewarded with money, normally they would only give experience and a little credibility with the NPCs.
He had certainly hit the bull's eye by fawning over this particular NPC, a very wise decision made from years of real-world experience, hehehehe.
After thanking Roland I left the tavern with a satisfied face and headed out of town, you could only take one quest at a time at the start of the game and it would be silly to take more as the rabbits I killed didn't overlap even though I had more than one mission, my stamina was limited and I couldn't be out of town for long at a time hunting.
Before leaving town I went to a nearby butcher shop to do some research, and indeed some of the 3 rabbit drops could be sold here, respectively 3 kilos of rabbit meat would get you 2 copper, and 10 rabbit fur would get you 1 copper.
After confirming it, I immediately left the town to complete my first mission.
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1 NPC: Not Playing Character, that is, non-playable characters that are controlled by the game or an AI
2 DPS: in a group the one that generates the most damage or focuses specifically on it
3 Dark Player: A way of calling up players who are into selling in-game items or money for real money to support themselves.
4 Drops: items dropped by monsters or NPCs upon defeat