As the light faded, my avatar appeared on the continent of Avalon. Everyone starts in a beginner village, which is like an instance dungeon. You can't return if you leave; your exit point is entirely random.
My friends' names should be Chriskringles and BlokBuster. I looked around the game menu to see if there was a friend request section, but there wasn't anything like that. Sighing, I decided to get on with it.
I placed my sword in the storage box and started looking around. The beginning area was small, with 5 structures scattered around the area. I walked over to the closest building but was stopped by a well-dressed man holding a bow at the door.
"This place is for ranged combatants only."
I apologized to the guy and turned away, surprised at how real the man felt when he stopped me. It was supposed to be full immersion but indistinguishable from reality!
The second building I went to was for mages, so I was also turned away. On my third guess, I finally got the correct building for swordsmen. It wasn't my fault; no signs were on them, and the guards were hidden.
Inside the room were two areas, a place for spectators and participants. The lowered training area was full of dummies and people striking them with swords of different colours and styles. And in the raised area, 5 people in full armour stood around an old man.
Assuming this was the primary quest given in the training hall, I approached the old man only to be stopped by one of the guards.
"The master is occupied for now; demonstrate your skills below if you want to speak to him."
A quest window popped up when he finished speaking.
{{Quest. Demonstrate your skills with a sword. The master is looking for talented disciples; show your skill with a blade for rewards.
Requirements: Strike the dummy 1000 times.
Optional Requirements: Use Slash, Stab and Parry 50 times.
Rewards: EXP
Optional Rewards:???}}
Accepting the request, I headed to the training area and grabbed my sword from my inventory. I heard a few small laughs from some of the other players. Well, my sword isn't all that much to look at, that's for sure. But it more than makes up for it with its effects.
I didn't pay much attention to them and proceeded to try my three basic skills one at a time. I just had to think about using them, and they would activate automatically. Having my arms move independently was a strange feeling, but it was also kind of cool. It was like it turned into a real swordsman for a second and wasn't just a guy who got a sharp stick.
With the three skills on cooldown, I decided to try my fourth skill. It had a long cooldown, but it should be worth using now. It's not like I will be fighting anything crazy this early on.
Using the unnamed skill, I felt my other skills come off cooldown, so I started to spam them. Alternating between Slash, Stab and Parry, I continued to use the skills constantly. I just focused on how the motions felt with the goal of replicating them without needing to activate the skill. It wouldn't have the skill effect, but I would be a real swordsman at that point.
Unbeknownst to me then, everyone else in the training ground was beginning to stop and stare at my training. They whispered amongst themselves, trying to figure out how this new guy was doing this.
"He has to be cheating, right? That is the animation for the execution of a skill, but how can he keep using them?"
"It must be a unique skill from his class, it probably reduces the cooldowns for the basic skills or something like that. We all have some kind of awesome skill with our weapons, right? Look at him, it can't be that good, so it's gotta be some crappy skill that is only good in the beginning."
Ignoring the rabble below, the eyes of the old man from above were watching the tall man with the rusty sword with visible interest.
I had just completed the 50th execution of the trio of skills when I decided to stop using them and practice basic swordsmanship. I started alternating between using a skill and then an attack without it. It felt really strange at first, but as he continued, it felt better. Parrying was still tricky as he had yet to fight a real opponent to try it on, but the slash and stabs were feeling good.
A small amount of time after the duration of the cooldown reduction skill ended, I received the notification that the necessary number of attacks was completed, so I headed up to see the master.
When I approached, unlike last time, the bodyguards gave me a respectful nod and stepped aside. Bowing before the master, I asked what he thought of my skills with the blade.
"It has been some time since I have seen anyone with such skill and potential. I think you can go far in this path, perfect your art, and you will do well in the future. I look forward to seeing it."
{{Quest Completed! Demonstrate your skills. The master is pleased with your abilities and looks forward to your future.
Completion Rewards: 500 EXP.
Bonus Completion Rewards: Skill, Cleave & light chainmail.}}
{{Chain Quest! Master and Disciple.
The sword master sees your potential. Find him outside of the village of beginnings to receive his teachings.}}
"Thank you, master. I will find you in the future, and you will not be disappointed with my progress."
"I hope so, young one. I hope so."
Your relationship with the sword master of the beginning has increased.