Another Life Online Ch. 01

"Confirmed." The voice says. "All duel requests will be automatically declined, other players can no longer harm you while outside of safe areas and you are unable to harm other players in return. Do you wish to finalize your avatar creation and game settings? Please note these settings can be changed in the future. However altering your appearance or resetting your skills and stats will cost in game currency."

"Yup I'm ready, thanks." I say out of habit.

"It was my pleasure Arc." The voice replies in a cheerful tone. "I hope you enjoy your new life online."

After accepting all of the changes my vision goes dark and I feel a tingling sensation all throughout my body. As the tingling fades the world starts coming into view. I start having a slight panic attack due to the feeling of being outside and the number of people running around. Thankfully I've learned how to deal with this through previous use of my virtual reality pod. I focus on my breathing and remind myself this isn't real. I'm inside of a video game. While focusing on my breathing I notice just how clean the air smells and tastes. The air is far cleaner than back on earth. It takes a few minutes, but I finally manage to calm down. Just as I'm finally relaxed another player calls out to me.

"Hey noobie." He say while waving at me. "I'm one of the beta testers and am recruiting for my guild. Would you like to join."

"Sorry." I manage to choke out before running away at full speed. That scared me half to death. I'm not mentally prepared to deal with other players right now. NPC's I can handle because they are just a virtual intelligence designed to fulfil a role in the setting. Because of this fact it's easier to understand what they are thinking. With real people I am completely helpless. There is no logic or data that can completely decipher something as illogical as a human's personality. You might be able to pick up some traits a person has or what their general disposition is like, but true understanding of another person is highly improbable.

I have a difficult time dealing with things that are so illogical. A perfect example of this is Ari. It doesn't make any logical sense that she still continues to visit me on a weekly basis. Whenever I've tried to offer her money for everything she does for me she declines. So it's not my wealth that she's interested in. We aren't romantically involved so that's out. Honestly I don't think she's ever been romantically involved with anyone. Maybe she doesn't have any interest in those kind of relationships. Either way it doesn't make sense. Logically she should've abandoned me long before now. I'm broken and doubt I'm going to get fixed anytime soon.

Once I've finally managed to calm down I notice that someone nearby is laughing like they'd just been told the funniest joke in the world. Looking to where the sound is coming from I notice a fairy rolling around in the air a short distance away while holding her stomach and laughing so hard there are tears in her eyes.

"Did you see the look on that guy's face when you ran away?" The fairy manages to ask through her laughing fit. "It was priceless."

"Well, I'm glad you got a laugh out of it." I say with a sigh. "You must be my helper fairy."

She is about four inches tall with long blonde hair that flows down to her waist and emerald green eyes. Her skin is very fair and seemingly without a single blemish. Pink nipples cap her tiny perky breasts and there is not a single hair below her thin neck. Last thing to note is the beautiful, slightly transparent, purple wings that almost resemble flow petals.

"That's correct. My name is Orchid it's a pleasure to meet you." Orchid says with a curtsey once she's finally done laughing. "If you've got any questions be sure to ask. I'm here to help."

"After I collect my log-in reward will you lead me to the market district?" I ask.

"You don't need to collect your login rewards." Orchid informs me. "They are automatically added to your inventory when you log-in based on what day of the week it is in your world."

After saying that she waves her hand and a blue window pops up in front of me.

[Monday - 5 Silver coins

Tuesday - a health potion that restores 50% of your HP

Wednesday - a mana potion that restores 50% of your MP

Thursday - a potion that increases item drop rate by 10% for 1 in game hour

Friday - a potion that increases skill XP gained by 25% for 1 in game hour

Saturday - a potion that increases XP gained by 25% for 1 in game hour

Sunday - an item that teleports you back to the last town you visited]

The rewards look the same as during the beta, but them being automatically sent to your inventory is a welcomed addition.

"Why did you say they are based on the day of the week in my world?" I ask. "Wouldn't the days be the same here?"

"No." Orchid says. "Time flows differently in our world than yours. Three minutes in our world is only one minute in yours. However you cannot spend more than eight hours in your world logged into ours per day. Tests showed that spending longer than that within a world where the flow of time is different can cause a long term distorted perception of time."

"Interesting so all players are limited to twenty-four in-game hours per day." I say thinking out loud. "The main problem I can foresee is a huge gap between the hardcore gamers that will make sure to utilize every in-game minute and the casual player who only plays for a fraction of the time. To be fair though a gap between hardcore gamers and casuals is fairly normal. I myself am somewhere in the middle. Despite utilizing every minute I can per day, I'll be going at my own pace. How come I couldn't find information about this feature?"

"Do you normally think out loud like that?" Orchid asks. "Not judging just curious. As for your question the beta testers had to sign a nondisclosure agreement involving certain game features that being one of them once it was implemented."

"I don't interact with other people much so I've never thought about it before, but yes I do." I say in response to her question.

"I'm not gonna allow that. We need to meet all kinds of people." She says enthusiastically. "You travelers do the silliest things and I'm always up for a good laugh. No being mean though because that's no fun. Let's play a game that I'd like to call 'Have you met Arc.'"

Oh god why did I have to get a helper fairy with that type of personality. Before I realized it she'd flown off to a random female player. It's easy to tell who's a player and who isn't by their cursor colour. From what I read there are four different cursor colours that work out like this.

Green - Player

Red - Player that's killed another player within the last twenty-four hours and monsters. The difficulty of the monster compared to your level with change the shade of red. Darker-Stronger, Lighter-Weaker

Blue - NPC

Yellow - Important NPC e.g quest giver, merchant, tamed monsters, pets, etc.

The player Orchid was talking to starts walking over to me. Seeing that a conversation is unavoidable I start multiplying random three digit numbers in my head to calm down.

"Hello Arc, I'm Alavara or Ala for short." The beautiful elf says while approaching me. "Do you always use such indirect methods to get women to talk with you?"

"No, she decided to do that all on her own." I say in response while subtlety taking in her appearance. She's around 5'6 with a slender build. Long blonde hair reaching down to her waist and emerald green eyes. Her modestly sized breasts are contained within her leather armor. Last thing to note is the bow and quiver strapped to her back and rapier strapped to her hip. Judging by her choice in weapons she probably has a dexterity focused build.

"Yup." Orchid says while laughing with a huge grin plastered on her face. That little bugger. She must know this situation is making me uncomfortable and she's getting a kick out of it.

"I'm guessing you're a new player." Ala says while giving me a beautiful smile. "I was a beta tester so if you've got any questions feel free to ask me and feel free to visit my shop."

"How do you already own a shop?" I ask. "From what I read the beta testers lost all of their progress once the full game launched."

"That is true, but we were given a monetary reward based on our accomplishments throughout the beta." Ala says. "The fact that I was one of the best blacksmiths combined with the rest of my progress, barely gave me enough to purchase the smallest sized shop available and get my starting equipment."

"An elven blacksmith." I say with a little confusion. "That seems unusual. I thought dwarves were the best blacksmiths."

"It's true that dwarves do get racial bonuses to blacksmithing and they've got their racial skill that allows them to produce better metal weapons and armor than the other races." She says confirming my thoughts. "Other races can do a hidden quest that improves their crafting skill in some way based on their race. For example the elven skill provides a bonus to enchantments placed on items they create."

"Thank you for the info." I say with a smile which she returns.

"By the way I've been wondering something." She says while glancing over my head. "What is with that symbol? I've never seen it before."

"That's to show I didn't alter my appearance while creating my avatar." I say realizing what she was referencing.

"Oh, so that's how you really look." She says before mumbling something under her breath that I couldn't make out.

"Unfortunately my time is running and I was on my way to log-out before your fairy called out to me." Ala says her eyes looking slightly up and to the right. "Just a few words of advice before I go. Consider buying a Monster Energy. It'll remove the Fatigued debuff you get for staying awake for more than sixteen in-game hours. I'll give you one for free to celebrate our meeting. Also think about acquiring the Taming skill. With it your helper fairy can join you in combat. Lastly make sure to log-off while inside a private room such as an inn. Your avatar becomes a permanent part of the world once created. So once you log-off your avatar will stay exactly where you left it until you log back in and some players like to mess with idle avatars."

"I almost forgot." Ala says before a blue screen appears in front of her. Everything written on it is illegible to me due to privacy settings. She spends a few moments mentally navigating the menus before speaking again. "Be sure to accept my friend request."

I do just that and receive the Monster Energy that was attached to it before she starts walking away after a quick goodbye. A slight sway of the hips draws my attention to her amazing ass. A few moments later I head towards the market while Orchid shows me the way. The login bonus combined with the five silver given to every new character gives me ten silver to purchase my starting equipment. One silver is worth one hundred copper pieces. To put it's value into perspective the most basic healing potion that restores twenty-five health costs ten coppers.

I take in the sights while traveling to my destination. The buildings are made mostly of stone and wood. Most of the buildings are either one or two stories high with the odd one being three. Plenty of greenery can be found all around the village giving it a natural feel. Plus the green helps to counteract the bland colour of the buildings. There are plenty of NPC villagers going about their day to day lives while players can be found running all over the place. It doesn't take long for us to arrive at the market district. Our first destination is a weapon shop. Inside the shop there are weapons everywhere. Shelves and racks filled to capacity with seemingly no form of organization to it was so ever.

"Oi laddie." I gruff masculine voice calls out. "Welcome ta Windbeard's Weapons, home of tha finest weapons in Longdale. I'm Jorn Windbeard what be ye lookin' for today."

The voice came from a short and stocky bald man around 4'3 with a thick dark brown beard, green eyes and tanned skin. Despite his small stature he's built like a tank if the muscular arms coming out of his sleeveless shirt are anything to go by.

"Hello Jorn I'm Arc." I say trying to be polite. "I'm looking to purchase an inexpensive crossbow and some bolts."

"Third shelf ta yer right." He says. "How many bolts be ye lookin' for? I keep them in tha back."

"One hundred should do for now." I say while walking over to the shelf he mentioned.

"Alright. just give me a second." He says before I hear some fairly heavy footsteps walking away.

It doesn't take me long to pick out a crossbow since they were all pretty generic. Maybe there is some form of organization to this madness. Possibly by quality? I doubt it's by price since there are also daggers and staves on this shelf. No point worrying about it best to just bring this crossbow to the counter, but seriously how can he function in this chaos. By the time I reached the counter I could hear his footsteps returning.

"Be thar anythin' else ya need today?" He asks after placing the ten bundles of crossbow bolts on the counter.

"Nope that's everything today. Thanks for your help." I say grateful for his assistance.

"Nae problem laddie." He says with a smile. "Yer total be one silver. Fifty copper for tha crossbow and half a copper per bolt."

"Alright." I say removing a silver coin from my coin purse and handing it to him. "Have a nice day."

"Tell ye what laddie," he says stopping me as I was about to leave. "I like yer attitude so I'll give ye one weapon repair on tha house."

"That's awesome thanks." I say waving goodbye.

"That was certainly a pleasant surprise." Orchid says. "Never thought one of those crusty old dwarves would be so generous."

"Have you ever met one before you pulled a prank on them?" I ask.

"No, but that just shows they don't have a sense of humor." She says with a huff.

"You need to realize some people don't appreciate practical jokes as much as you do." I say while heading towards the armor shop. "Especially when they're on the receiving end."

"They just don't know how to have a good time." She says. I don't bother responding to the remark so we end up walking silence until reaching the armor shop.

"Am I gonna need to get measurements taken for the armor?" I ask Orchid.

"You only need measurements for traveler made armor." She responds. "Anything sold in a shop that isn't run by one of you travelers or obtained as loot will automatically adapt to fit you when equipped."

"It's probably to make the crafting skills a little more realistic." I say thinking out loud. "Either that or a way to prevent players from making small suits of armor that adapt to fit and thus minimizing resource costs."

I'm pleased that the inside of this shop is much better organized. The armors are separated by weight and material from the looks of it. I head over to the light armor section and look for some inexpensive leather armor. Finding a full suit is easy enough. Unfortunately however the design isn't symmetrical which is gonna bother me, but I'll manage. Once the customer in front of me has been dealt with I move to the counter where I'm greeted by a woman that I'm assuming is a half-orc.

She is about 6'2, her skin has a green pigmentation, auburn coloured hair that's shaved at the sides done up in a braided, mohawk ponytail. There is a large scar over her left eye which is a milky white colour while the other one is dark brown with tribal tattoos around it. Her ears are pointed similar to the elf from before, but not as prominent and her jaw comes forward a little further than an average humans with two teeth sticking out a little like tusks. She's wearing what essentially looks like a leather armor bikini with some iron adornments for added defense along with similarly designed bracers, greaves and pauldrons. Naturally this armor shows off her large breasts and muscular figure covered in scars. You've got to love video game armor because in real life she'd never risk having that much skin unprotected.

"That everything sweet cheeks?" She asks in a gruff, but still distinctly feminine voice.

"Yeah." I say in response.

"One silver." She says looking bored out of her mind.

"Thanks." She says after I hand her the money. "Safe travels."

"She wasn't very enthusiastic." Orchid says after we leave the shop. "Maybe I should go prank her that should liven things up."

"Don't you dare." I say with a stern voice. "I don't need you causing trouble and drawing attention to me."

"Party pooper." She says with a pout.

"Last thing I need is ingredients to make potions. Let's go find an alchemy shop." I say to Orchid.

The contents of this shop are even more organized than the armor shop. For someone like me who has a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD it's like paradise. Naturally thanks to the organization I'm able to quickly find everything I need. Behind the counter is a male elf with long coppery red hair and sapphire blue eyes. It's the first time I've ever thought that the term beautiful could apply to a man. Guess that just how elves are though.

"Your total is two silver and seventy-five copper." He says after taking stock of everything I placed on the counter. I'm not gonna go into too much detail about what I bought here so let's just say it's a lot of crafting materials. I'm not gonna buy any of the portable workstations yet so I'll need to rent one from an NPC when I need it for the time being.

"Next stop is the training center to boost my base stats up to fifteen and get a feel for my chosen skills." I say thinking out loud again. Really should break that habit. "Wish I had a map. It would make getting around easier and I wouldn't need to keep ask you for directions."

"You could purchase one or the Map Making skill." Orchid says. "The skill automatically forms a map of areas you've visited with your mind and allows you to create detailed maps which you can sell."

"That does sound like a good idea. Is it an expensive skill?" I ask Orchid.

"Not overly." She replies. "You currently have enough to purchase it. With your remaining money there is another skill I'd recommend purchasing."

"What's that?" I ask.

"Dismantling." Orchid says. "You should have enough money for both and without the dismantling skill the loot you get from enemies won't be as good."

"I never read about that skill before. Must be new." I say mostly thinking out loud as usual. "Good idea Orchid thanks. If at any point down the road you've got other suggestions be sure to tell me. Alright?"

"Will do." She says before leading me to the skill shop. Figured it would be best to get those skills before heading to the training center.

The inside of this shop looks like a library. Countless skill tomes fill the shelves. Don't feel like looking through all those books in order to find the two I want so figured it best to ask the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper of this place is about 5'8 has extremely pale almost white skin, long, flowing silver hair and large white eyes that lack pupils and have thick black rings circling them. His body is very thin almost frail looking and neither their body or clothing choice give any hint as to a gender. His expression appears emotionless and unreadable. It's slightly creepy to be honest. I'm referring to him as a male due to a distinct lack of breasts, but given his androgynous nature it's impossible to identify a sex if he even has one.