Another Life Online Ch. 01

"I'm looking for the Map Making, Dismantling, and Sexual Talent skill books." I say remembering that Sexual Talent is free for all players verified to be over eighteen.

The changeling gives a nod of their head before walking out from behind the counter and heading over to a shelf. A short time later they return with the tomes I was looking for.

"Five silver." He says in an emotionless voice that also does nothing to reveal his gender.

After giving them the money I take the books and open them one at a time to get the prompt to learn the skill. Once that's done I switch Map Making to an active skill slot. Once equipped a small map appears in the corner of my vision. Focusing on the map causes it to expand. Thankfully the starting town is already completely detailed on the map. The town is laid out in a wheel and spokes pattern and divided into districts with a large fountain in the very center of town. The market district is the innermost ring of buildings followed by the guilds and training center, residential district and finally the farmland. Beyond the farmland is the twenty feet tall wall surrounding the town. The wall has twelve spots that jut out in an arrow shape that shield the lookout towers. There are two of these spots on either side of all four town gates. The others are spaced evenly around the rest of the wall. Kind of gives the town a sun like shape.

Once I'm done looking over the map we head to the training center where I spend eight in game hours grinding my stats and most of my skills to the limit that the training center allows. Interestingly while training I was rewarded a few stat points. I got them for raising a stat from ten to fifteen, raising all of my stats to at least fifteen, raising a skill from one to five and increasing at least five skills to level five using the training center. I put the points into Luck and then head back over to the apothecary while eating some of the free bread given to all players to restore some of my Hunger.

"Hello again." I say to the red haired elf. "Can I rent your alchemy station?"

"Ahh interested in the alchemical arts are you." He says with the words flowing like silk. "Smart choice. Never know when you might be caught outside without any potions and need to make some in the field. I also sell portable alchemy stations if you are interested. As for using my station let's make a deal. You give me the first potion you make as a way to commemorate the birth of a budding new alchemist and I'll let you use it for an hour for no cost."

"You've got yourself a deal." I say extending a hand. The elf accepts and we shake in agreement. "By the way I'm Arc and you are?"

"Melandrach Roxidor." He says with a smile. "Pleasure."

After heading over to the alchemy station I remove the dried Healing Grass from my inventory. Using the mortar and pestle I grind it into a fine powder. Next I fill a flask with water and place it on the burner.

"Hey, Orchid." I say while waiting for the water to heat up to the appropriate temperature.

"Yes?" She asks while floating around watching what I'm doing.

"How do these devices work?" I ask while pointing to the burner. "The setting seems to be in the middle ages so this level of technology shouldn't exist. Just like the lights, heaters and such that I've seen in the shops."

"They're magic items powered with Mana Stones." She informs me. "Mana Stones can be found within the bodies of all monsters and are the main source of an adventurers income along with loot items."

That's actually a pretty interesting idea and it makes more sense than how in some games you can kill a wolf and it drops money.

"Are you thinking of becoming an adventurer?" Orchid asks placing a finger on her chin.

"Actually I'm gonna be more like a jack-of-all-trades." I tell her. "Capable of fulfilling most duties, but not specializing in any one thing."

"Neat." She says.

Once the water is heated up to the right temperature I pour it into a vial add some powdered healing grass and a little magic power to create a healing potion.

[Beginner Healing Potion

Recovers 11% of your HP on use.

Crafted by Arc]

"Recipe has been registered." That same monotone robotic voice from the character creation says. Let's call it the system voice from now on.

After creating an item for the first time it produces a recipe. The recipe can be used to recreate the item simply by spending mana. If you remake the item with a better result your recipe will get updated. It's convenient, but the process takes longer depending on the item produced.

I tried various different ways of making the potions and my best result was fifteen percent healing. I don't think it's possible to do any better with the ingredients I used. The way I understand it once a player reaches level twenty-one Beginner Potions lose most of their effectiveness so you'll need to switch to Intermediate Potions. In addition NPC stores only sell potions that restore up to five hundred health. It's probably meant to make player made potions more important in the late game. The whole game is designed this way. Challenging late game content would be extremely difficult with store bought items. Loot items are better than store bought, but are mostly inferior to high quality player made items. I said mostly because only top tier craftsmen can compete with legendary items.

During the year long beta many players managed to reach the level cap and access end game content. So naturally a lot of information was shared by the beta testers. The beta testers had to make new characters upon the full release. Some of the beta testers were upset about this, but most of them were happy they'd be able to make their characters even better this time with all of their gained knowledge. Not to mention those that accomplish great deeds during the beta were immortalized in the game's lore. For example there's a book about Alexander the Relentless and how he managed to single-handedly slay an adult dragon or at least that's what I read.

"Think it's best to go try my hand at some real combat now." I say to Orchid. "What do you recommend I hunt first?"

"Your best bet is to start with Horned Rabbits. They are the weakest enemies and have easily dodged attacks." Orchid says.

"Sounds good." I say in response. "Best to practice on the weaker enemies to get used to live combat. The training dummies didn't fight back after all. Before we do that however I'm going to tame you so that you can help me in combat."

"Alright, but if you mistreat me I will sever the pact made between us." She says in a firm voice. "You don't seem the type that would treat me poorly, but I also won't accept you denying me my fun."

"Guess that's something I'll need to learn to live with." I say with a sigh.

"It won't be so bad." She says. "Maybe I'll help you break out of your shell."

After equipping my Taming skill I hold out my hand to Orchid.

"Orchid I ask that you loyally serve me and I promise to be a master that is worthy of you." I say the words coming to my head upon activating the skill. "Do you accept?"

"I don't know I mean this is all happening so fast. We only met today and haven't even been on a date yet." She says with a cheeky grin while I roll my eyes. "Just kidding I accept."

With her agreement she begins to glow and a symbol appears on her left hand. Kind of looks like a hand petting a dog, but it's hard to tell due to her size.

"You have formed your first pact. You now have access to the taming window." The system voice says. "Within this menu you can organize which tamed creatures are within your party, tasks assigned to tamed creatures not currently in your party, and the design of your mark."

"Interesting. I'll definitely be changing my mark at some point." I say thinking out loud. "With that done let's head out."

As we leave town I go through my memories for information about the world map. The starting town Longdale is in the dead center of the continent. The further away you get from here the more powerful the enemies become. The map is divided into eight sections and each of these areas have a major city like Longdale. In addition every region has a temple. These temples are dedicated to the seven elemental spirits and the goddess of mana. Each temple has a trial you can undertake to be bestowed a blessing. The blessings are a permanent effect of your choice. The trial in the temple dedicated to the goddess of mana which is located within the starting town. Can only be undertaken if you've passed all of the other trials. Within the beta only a small handful of parties were able to clear all of the trials. Anyway the section the first town is in, is mostly a large meadow with some woods here and there. A lot of the monsters in this area are fairly tame and won't bother you if you keep your distance.

Ultimately my first major goal is to get the skill Crafting. It allows you to use every type of crafting as one skill. To learn it you have to merge five different crafting skills together after they've reached level fifty. The downside to this skill is that it takes significantly more experience to level up than regular crafting skills. Anyway this means I'm going to need lots of materials in order to level Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Cooking, Tailoring and Woodworking.

Speaking of crafting materials I just noticed three Horned Rabbits thanks to Hawk Eyes. They look just like their name suggests. A rabbit with a single horn on their head that they use to impale enemies.

"Orchid I wish to test my own capabilities in combat right now. Therefore I'm asking you to stay back and provide support only if I'm in trouble." I whisper to Orchid. "Also my curiosity is getting the better of me so I'll be looting the first ten enemies without using Dismantling. I'm curious as to how much of a difference the skill makes. Just informing you so that you don't need tell me the skill isn't equipped."

"You are an odd person you know that?" Orchid asks. "Despite knowing it'll reduce the amount of loot you get you're choosing not to use it simply to see the difference it makes. I thought most of you travelers just want to get power and wealth as fast as possible."

"I still do, but I'm also interested in the technical side of things." I inform her. "Alright I'm gonna make my move now. Try to stay hidden so you don't draw their attention."

Using Stealth I sneak closer to them while equipping my crossbow. After getting within shooting distance I carefully take aim. With a pull of the trigger the bolt flies through the air before piercing the unaware rabbit. Thanks to the sneak attack bonus I manage to instantly kill it. With that done I begin the chant for Magic Missile, it's the only spell you get a chant for by taking Magic Knowledge. For any other spells you need to learn the chant through other means like using the library for example.

After I've finished the chant the spell is released and a glowing blue missile made of mana hits one of the remaining enemies taking off half of its health. Unfortunately I no longer have the element of surprise, my crossbow isn't loaded, they're closing in and it'll be too difficult to cast magic with them attacking me. Guess it's time to rely on Unarmed Combat Mastery. As it turns out all of my martial arts knowledge went out the window. I panic when one of the rabbits lunges at me. Makes sense I guess. Despite reading through plenty of martial arts books and practicing the stances and techniques having something actively trying to kill you changes things from the controlled environment I'm used to.

I know that it's just a game and when you take damage the pain it causes is extremely dumbed down from what it would be in real life. Which I learned in the training center while increasing my Constitution. However it's still scary having something so pointy being propelled towards you. Anyway the point is I rolled out of the way wasting a perfect opportunity for a counter attack. I could've easily sidestepped the attack and retaliated, but instead I rolled away. Well, at the very least I learned that Unarmed Combat Mastery also helps with those types of movements. My somersault was a lot more fluid than I remember from gym class in school. Of course I was also only a child then so that also be a factor. After completing the roll and back on my feet I remind myself that this is a game. It's not real.

I take a deep breath to calm myself before getting in a ready position to deal with these enemies. I'm going to focus on analyzing their attack pattern before I make my move. More data is always better. Their attack pattern is simple and easy to deal with. In addition if you pay attention their attacks are extremely telegraphed. They point their horn at who they're targeting before lunging at them. This is to be expected of monsters in the starting area I guess.

Once I'm confident about their attack pattern and recovery time I start the counter attack. I wait for one of the rabbits to lunge at me before sidestepping the attack and punching the ball of fur. Out of the corner of my eye I see the other rabbit lunging at me. Unfortunately I'm still in the middle of my attack leaving myself wide open. Just before it's horn can pierce my body a blade of wind slams into it. Definitely glad to have Orchid around at the moment. Rushing over to the downed rabbit I kick it with all the strength I can muster while utilizing my momentum for increased damage. The enemy sails through the air a short ways before disintegrating into particles of light. Unfortunately the other rabbit took the opportunity to lunge and impaled itself in my back.

It's attack only hurts about as much as a pin prick. However it is apparently stuck and give its location I can't attack it. Trying to grab a hold of it only succeeds in it biting my fingers. After a few moments it manages to get itself unstuck and falls to the ground. I take the opportunity to punt it across the ground which unfortunately isn't enough to kill it so I get ready for another counter attack. After it lunges I counter with a punch killing it.

[Victory

Experience +30]

While attempting to loot their bodies this message pops up.

[Notice

You do not have the Dismantling skill equipped which will decrease your chances of success. Do you wish to dismantle this Horned Rabbit anyway?

Accept/Decline]

My looting yielded three Petty Mana Stones and a single Horned Rabbit Meat.

After that fight I went on to kill another seven Horned Rabbits without using Dismantling on their bodies and another ten while using the skill. In order to get a more accurate conclusion I'd need more data, but my hypothesis at the moment is that the Dismantling skill doubles the item drop rate. Chances are the skill with also gain abilities to increase this chance further.

With that taken care of I resume the hunt. Once out of Health Potions I call it quits. Thankfully I was able to collect a fair amount of crafting materials from the rabbits and plants growing in the area. With that done I decided to return to town, craft more potions, prepare myself a meal to refill my Hunger and once that's done enjoy this game's adult content. While I don't have any experience in real life I've enjoyed some previous adult oriented VR games. Mind you those games still sucked and the only enjoyable part was the coitus. Even with that being the best feature they didn't really do anything special with it. Sure being able to have sex in a virtual reality that simulates all the pleasure you'd experience in real life is great, but I could just buy a love bot if all I wanted was to enjoy the pleasures of intercourse.

After cashing in my Mana Stones and some of the loot items I'm uninterested in I purchase some ingredients for cooking and head to the Chef's Guild in order to rent a cooking station.

"Do you have a cooking station available for rent?" I ask an NPCs with the guild's crest that looks like a frying pan and ladle crossed over each other forming an X. This NPC looks fairly human with a few noticeable differences. His eyes are blood red with vertical slits for pupils. Skin is red tinted made of scales, fingernails are longer and sharper than normal and the same for their teeth.

"Certainly." He responds. "Follow me."

After leading me a short distance he shows me a room filled with cooking stations.

"Use will cost you twenty-five copper per hour." He says so I reach into my coin purse and pull out the required amount before handing it to them.

Using the ingredients purchased earlier I make rabbit stew using Horned Rabbit Meat along with potatoes, carrots and some seasonings. It turns out pretty well, but there is definitely room for improvement. Once my hunger meter has been filled I head over to the brothel.

While walking down the stone paved path to the brothel I take in the scenery. Upon closer inspection the buildings appear to have a Medieval European style design to them. Lamp posts can be found through town set to light the area when it gets dark. It's nice to have some more modern conveniences in a distinctly middle ages type setting. Thank goodness for the mana stones or this world would be much more difficult to live in.

"Orchid would you mind de-summoning yourself until I'm done in here." I say while gesturing to the brothel.

"Alright I'll just re-summon myself when you exit this building." She says before disappearing.

Immediately upon entering the building I'm assaulted by a pleasant scent that causes a stirring in my loins. Everywhere you look there are a large variety of different beings in various states of undress. Along with girls dancing on stripper poles or in cages. The lights are dim and there is loud music playing in the background. Okay maybe this was a bad idea. There are way too many people here for me to be comfortable. Both NPCs and other players. Some of which are having intercourse right out in the open. Just as I'm about to leave one of the hostesses approaches me. In order to calm myself I start multiplying random four digit numbers together. Once calm I return her greeting.

"Hello." I say with a shakiness to my voice.

"You seem nervous." She says in a calm soothing voice. "I'm guessing it's your first time here. How about I take you to a private room and give you a magic catalogue that shows which of our hosts and hostesses are available and their prices."

"Thank you." I say taking her up on the offer.

She leads me to a single door. The way I understand it, doors like this lead to multiple instances of the same room. That way it can accommodate any number of people without needing to add an absurd number of rooms. When someone makes a character that character is assigned a random number. When a person opens the door to such rooms the room revealed is the one linked to the character. If someone else wants access they need to knock on the door and choose your name from their friends list. This action sends an entry request to your room. Since they designed it like that it allows players to customize their inn rooms and such. Although I'm planning on buying a house at some point and running a shop out of it. It's gonna be awhile before that happens though because the cheapest plot of land costs five gold and I'll still need to build my residents on the land.