World Seed

Author’s Note: Caught a small error in the character info table of the last chapter, I shall award free cookies to whoever noticed the difference!

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After I had started managing to hit the target repeatedly, I took a bit of a break, thanking the instructor. Given my encounter with the rat in the Trial of Strength, assuming that is how strong actual rats are, I’m doomed if I actually get up close with anything at my current level of skill. Sadly, though, it’s not that easy to learn how to properly wield a dagger. As such, I first needed to improve my magic skills, and maybe learn a few new spells.

With what I have right now, there’s no way I’ll be useful if I ever do get out into space, but that is a distant goal. First, I need to make sure that I’m able to deal with the threats down here. After all, I’d rather have time to build up and learn more magic before leaving, then have chosen something else like stellar magic as a planet-based race. Not sure if space magic would even work in an atmosphere the same.

But, I got sidetracked. Making my way back to the starting area, I saw that a few other elves had spawned in. My guess would be that most of them are from the online communities, since there were only a few thousand Seeds released this week. Won’t be until another two weeks, real time, before they are mass distributed. And most of the people that have one are probably more concerned with being a good old space captain.

Taking a look at the ‘quest board’ as I like to call it, I found the directions to the local magister, and set off. There were a few others heading in the same direction as myself, so I decided to introduce myself to the closest one. No point in being a loner for all my gaming life, right? And looking at him, he was a fit elf, full blooded by his features.

His eyes kept flashing back and forth everywhere with a wild grin, as if taking the world in for the first time. Like me, he was dressed in a simple white cloth shirt and brown cloth pants, but his weapon of choice was a staff instead of a bow. “Enjoying the game so far?” I asked with mild curiosity.

He seemed a bit surprised by the sudden question, but then looked over to me and nodded. “Right, been ages since we had anything so real. Well, it all seems real, but it’s just different, you know?”

I tilted my head and thought over what he had said, before nodding. “Yeah. I’m Falenel--” Wait, what? Let’s try that again. “My name is Falenel… Seriously?” He seemed confused by my increasingly frustrated expression. “Looks like we can’t introduce ourselves with real names.”

That would have been good to know before I picked a name that sounded so weird! I shook my head with a sigh, thinking to myself.

The man smirked beside me before introducing himself as well. “Jacobs. Never really got into the whole fantasy naming sense.” He then looked at my features, “You’re a half, right? Didn’t think there’d be that many people playing normal races like that. Hell, my sister actually started as a golem. She’s hoping that she’ll be able to evolve if she absorbs an asteroid or something.”

I stared blankly at him for a bit at that. “Seriously, they can evolve? Redo! I want a redo!” I called out to the sky, to no avail, which caused Jacobs to laugh loudly next to me.

“Yeah, not even sure if we started on the same planet, or the same star system for that matter. I heard that some people started as drakes, and there was one guy that said he started as a navigation AI for a ship.”

“Wait, seriously? You could even play as a ship AI? Also, how the heck do you know all of this? The game has been running for what, two hours? And that’s not even real time!” I called him out on the obvious fabrications. I knew I didn’t spend that long practicing archery!

He just chuckled again in response before answering. “You must be one of the fleshies.” Yes, the online communities typically call those of us that retain our bodies as fleshies… it gets annoying sometimes. “We can link up with people on our contacts list and chat, even from the tutorial.”

“Well… that’s got to be convenient. Still, really wishing there was a reset button or something. Even if I stay as a humanoid for the loot, I could at least pick a cool evolving race.” Though I spoke out loud, the complaint was mostly to myself. My plan had been to make a good foundation hunting for good loot planetside while I prepared myself to be ready for space, and then head out among the stars! Given that, a half-elf seemed perfect, since they gained a small boost to learning new skills, and easily learn the Huntsman class skills.

“I asked Devron, the deity that I had in my creation, and he said it’s possible to restart your character, actually.” Hearing Jacobs say that made my head whip towards him with a hopeful expression, which was cast down quickly as he finished. “However, you have to pay a fee to do so, and can’t log back in for a few days.”

“Seriously, man?” I groaned with my head held low. “If I had the money, sure, I’d be all over that. But I’m here to earn the cash, and by the time I get enough money to be able to afford that, I’d probably be too familiar with this guy. Don’t suppose it’s possible to roll up an alt?” There was still that last flicker of hope in my voice, looking for a way to have a more interesting race.

Jacobs simply smirked and shook his head. “One character per account, one account per customer. If I were you, I’d suggest looking into gene therapy once you get higher level. Not sure if this game has it or not, but with how advanced the setting is, and the number of races I’d be surprised if they didn’t. If they go like other sci-fi VR’s, then gene therapy should be a valid means to evolve.”

I nodded my head, resigning myself to this fate. Like he said, gene therapy was a pretty common thing in most sci-fi games, especially for humans. Was a way to get additional traits and powers from alien races. Of course, the more you alter yourself, the less human you become. And the less human you become, the less effect future therapies had unless they were custom designed, and those are expensive. “So, what magics did you learn in the tutorial?”

“Hmm? I got gravity magic. Seemed like a good mix between planet usage and space. Though I wish I had gotten something with a heal in it now. I’ve only got two other friends that chose to play elf, and they both went for the high variant.”

Once more, I looked at him with a bit of hope. “I think my magic should get a heal eventually. But did the net community only get one magic? I was able to choose two when I got to that part.” He nodded his head in answer. “Huh. Well, maybe we can share? I mean, it’s not like those basic spells took ages to learn, right?”

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He thought about it, but shook his head. “Not sure that’d work. Devron said that training was accelerated in the tutorial, so it may have just been easier for us to pick them up. Just imagine if a bunch of people all got together and learned all of the basic spells, then shared them like that? Would make a small group of really versatile casters. There are probably other factors involved with being able to teach skills.”

By this time, we were finally coming up on the destination, a large collection of trees that had twisted together to form a spiraling tower overlooking the forest. Well, they sure know how to make an impression.

Once we got inside, we were separated into various groups based on the types of magic we had learned. Since we were getting split up, Jacobs and I decided to add each other to our friends lists. To my surprise, I found that I already had two names on the list, and decided that I would contact them later. Unless there was some glitch that made it so random people appeared on the friends list, that should mean that those two are my immediate family, my parents.

Anyways, back to the tower, I was in a group of people that had been brought up to the third floor. My group was focused on elemental magic, such as my wind. I’m not really sure if Nature Magic qualifies as an element, but it was the first relevant group that was called for me. Our teacher this time was, of course, another elf. This one wore red robes, and his gnarled staff gripped a ruby at its tip, as if it was naturally grown with the gem in place.

“Alright, now all of you should be here for roughly the same purpose. You’re all Travelers that have just entered our world, and the gods have blessed you with the very basics of magic. However, it is up to us to educate you on your future paths.” The man spoke slowly, as if talking to a group of children.

“There are three types of casting in this realm, of which we will discuss two. Runic, and Arcane. The magic bestowed upon you all when you were born was of the latter category, which we will cover first. Arcane magic is a practice which allows you to control your mana with your will, and send it out to alter the world. This kind of casting has a higher cost, but it is easier to achieve a desired result, as you must simply practice with it.”

After taking a deep breath, he continued, his eyes sweeping over the few of us present. “Now, Runic magic is the opposite, being a sort of programming language for the world. As long as you learn the rune for a given command, you can incorporate it into any spell you wish. For instance, the runes for Blast and Fire will make your typical fireball. Now, in the past, these runes were kept secret, hidden in various dungeons. Of course, that eventually came to an end when the Guilds came together to compile a list of runes.”

“Many of these runes are used today to ‘program’ magical devices, and are available to the public. Rather than relying on luck to receive a rune you want after crawling through a perilous dungeon, only to receive one you already knew, it is now merely based on the intelligence of the user. Likewise, Runic magic is much cheaper to use in terms of mana than Arcane, but will only perform the actions programmed into it.”

Seeing that he was finally nearing the end of his speech, I let out a relieved sigh. “Not many choose to practice both Arcane and Runic magic, as they are based in two different areas of focus. Arcane magic requires greater control over your mana, while Runic merely requires intelligence great enough to remember the language of magic. For either path, you may either seek guidance for creating a spell, or may attempt to do so yourself. Be warned, attempting to cast a spell far too powerful for your skill and capacity may have permanent effects on your body.”