When a person steps into a game, there are many actions he or she could take at once. Most people usually start by exploring the new sights and sounds while some immediately pick up a stick to go hunting outside. Sebast did neither; the first thing he did is to disconnect and scour the official forum for information.

Operating without firsthand knowledge is suicide. That is his modus operandi. Because of his actions, Sebast had been sufficiently warned by many threads in the forum that it is not advisable to exit the city to hunt before one acquires a form of weapon either via quests or scavenging as most people have no knowledge of bare-handed fighting, which makes them suffer a huge disadvantage in early combat. Death is a highly penalized thing in Ages Online, probably brought about to promote realism in game. Not only does a standard death logs one out of the game and prevent connection for twenty four hours, the character also stands to lose experience level and skill level with every fatality. Unsuspecting newbies that died to the vicious wild beasts outside the city walls often lose a stat or more with no idea how to regain them which end up lost forever when they finally do level.

However, the information he had obtained was very restricted, mostly pertaining to the starter cities themselves which even then are brief and short. A hand drawn map of Rydelin is theoretically possible but Sebast was not able to find the World Map anywhere on the net even after hours of searching. It is blasphemous to think that he could not know the exact shape of the world like countless games before this! Only when he reluctantly posted a help request on the forum did he finally receive an answer to his self-induced woes.

From: Maledicto

Beast, you can better find any in-game materials inside the game. The boards are just merely for discussions and help.

From: Trollster

And trolling. Hahahahahaha.

Of course! Why have he not thought of this earlier? A simulated virtual reality would surely have information about itself within itself. The next time Beast logged into Ages Online, he had a firm objective in mind. Not to quest, not to level, but to find a place.

“I am sorry, sir.” Beast stopped a city resident. “May I know the directions to the local library?”

He must have been overheard, for a group of players looked at him shiftily and whispered among themselves.

“That person is looking for the library?”

“Who reads in a game anyway?”

The NPC Beast approached looked up from his work, apparently amazed that someone wanted something to do with the city’s library. “The Library? Why yes, I do know. Let me mark it on your… ”

“You don’t have a map?” Another incredulous look, which Beast returned with a puzzled one of his own.

Apparently if Beast had bothered to stay for the tutorial, he would have been provided with a basic map of the city as well as some money. Since he did not, he missed out on those.

“Never mind,” the commoner sighed. “I will bring you there.”

It was a short walk from their location. Soon, Beast found himself standing in front of an ancient building that looked worse for wear. The heavy doors seemed as though they had not been opened for years. Inside however, was cozily lit with candles. Shelves and shelves of tomes lined the length of the building, coupled with empty wooden benches designed for self-studies. A lone librarian worked among pile of books, only shaking himself out of his work when the lone customer entered.

“Ahem, welcome to Rydelin’s Library.” He coughed. “How may I help you?”

“I would like to read.” Beast replied.

“Sure. Which book do you wish to read up on?”

“Everything, but give me the world map first.”

……………

While many others are out there leveling from the monsters and quests, Beast was reading in the city’s library like a madman. To an ordinary person, he might have looked like a fool when such information contained might not even be necessary for the game. To be honest, since when have clerics cared to learn about the god they prayed to, only if the powers they worship give them their healing powers necessary for their healing jobs? Beast might not be a priest – he is only level one when job change is at level 10 – but he cared. And because he cared, he learned.

There are many religions in the world of Ages Online, but the most dominant among the human race is the Church of Thema and the Church of Balces advocating change and stability respectively. The two are also the most antagonistic towards each other often resulting in strife within the past century. As for the other races, they worship an entirely different pantheon with a different set of rules. On the surface these might just be fluff, but it is exactly this that Beast play games for.

The history. The changes. How everything came to be.

No one else would have cared where the Principality of Caerheim originated. The lord of the region was actually once part of the royalty of Honduria of the central continent. A prince set in line for the throne, he abandoned his post of heir in order to venture westwards into uncharted lands. The expedition was grand and fraught with danger at every turn but after many weeks of journeying, they managed to break into the savage western continent and established a safe haven there.

Eventually the haven became a city and the city grew into a kingdom of the Prince’s own. What interested Beast was that there were no mentions of any players that have helped the Prince on his quest even though such a massive event would definitely have attracted the attention of those who seek fame and glory. This seems to be entirely conducted and accomplished by the NPCs themselves, a feat that added another layer of complexity into the virtual reality of Ages Online.

“Caerheim, Honduria, Paverun.” Beast muttered under his breath.

A trinity of powers that made up the human kingdom, the relations between them is not exactly friendly, even if Caerheim did originate from Honduria. There had been multiple incursions into Paverun from Honduria in the past, which was exactly why the individual smaller fiefdoms, who had been striving amongst themselves due to political, religious and racial tensions or otherwise, banded together with the strongest city state of Payn to form a substantial counterforce against the bigger invader.

Caerheim has her fair share of troubles too, being under pressure to defer to its parent country of Honduria on one end and coerced to join Paverun in another. Even then, the adamant refusal to abdicate his title as Prince when his kingdom is sufficiently large to proclaim himself king indicates a certain dilemma in the Lord of the region. Beast sighed. The politics that dominate the central, west and southern part of the current known world are complicated, hidden from your average user with a weave of normalcy and player ignorance.

Very much like the real world.

Intelligence + 1

Well, that was interesting. Who knew that one can increase their intelligence stat by reading books?

Speaking of the world, the world map he had obtained was a total disappointment. Hand drawn on a piece of old parchment, it had neither details nor precision. All he managed to glean from the map is that the west continent he is currently situated in is mostly uncharted. Caerheim is new after all, and much of the land’s secrets have yet to be uncovered. This is also the main reason why there was a flurry among the newbies to level as quickly as possible so that they could leave their footprint outside the city walls. Yet Beast remained stoic at the library, poring over tomes after tomes of history and lore for an entire three days. Anytime he was hungry, he took a bite off his bread stack and drank from his canteen. Only when he was out of water did he exit the library to fill it from the fountain; in this VRMMO, death by hunger or thirst is a very real thing.

……….

“Sir, you have been here for some time now.” The NPC librarian approached Beast one day. “I have never seen a person such as you who read as fervently before. Would you like to help me with a task?”

Dring!

Sort the Library

Librarian Rio requires your help to re-sort the Library of Rydelin. The library had seen years of disuse and requires some maintenance that Rio alone could never manage.

Difficulty: F

A quest? Beast wondered. Never did he realise that there could possibly be a quest hidden within the walls of this library.

“Sure.” He instantaneously replied. A quest is always good, as with his previous experiences with games. No one in their right mind would turn down a quest and he quite needed the monetary reward that usually comes with them; His food supply is already running low.

You have accepted the quest.

It was a simple quest, one with difficulty rank of F. From what Beast gathered, the quest difficulties range from F all the way to S class, usually separated by levels. A quest such as this would be very easy to accomplish alone, while those of higher classes usually require the concentrated effort of a guild or a private army. Even then, success is not guaranteed. To date, not a single person has yet to receive an A rank quest and those are said to have an effect on the region they originate in, even game-changing. Well then, sorting out some books he could do.

Beast set about helping Rio remove all the books from their shelves and then re-sorting them back in by categories. A few tomes caught his eye here and there and he took them out for further reading later. He underestimated the amount of work needed though. The grueling process took an entire week before all the books in the library had been gone through and Beast’s bread stack unfortunately ran out in the process. Without any money to purchase more bread, Beast had no choice but to go hungry.

You are hungry.

Regen -50%

Stamina -5

Strength -5

Intelligence -5

Wisdom -5

Dexterity -5

His satiety decreased even further with every section he covers.

You are totally famished.

Regen -90%

Stamina -10

Strength -10

Intelligence -10

Wisdom -10

Dexterity -10

This is bad. Already, he could feel the strength in his arms fading and his eyesight becoming fuzzy. Sooner or later, he will start taking damage and die from starvation. Luckily, there is only a section more to go. A few more books and he can get his reward before getting out of here to start the game proper. He had already spent ten days in this place which equated to three and a third real life days, and he is still a pathetic level 1. Coughing the dust out of his lungs, Beast dragged himself to the counter where Rio was to turn in his quest.

“Ah… thank you mister Beast. I am forever in your debt. I am sorry but I don’t have any money to give you. It takes all I have to keep this place running.” Rio said to Beast’s abject horror.

Dring!

Sort the Library – Complete

You have done a good deed and helped the librarian tidy up the place. Rio appreciates your kindness and is very grateful.

Rewards:

+1 Fame

+5 Public Relation with Caerheim

“However I-“

Before Rio could continue, Beast collapsed onto the floor motionless. It might have been the hunger or the shock that he had been toiling for essentially zero wages that caused him to faint. Regardless, death claimed the man straight away.