The first thing that Ambrose noticed was the smell of saltwater floating in the air. A tunnel had flooded in the Underground and filled with the stuff, the entire area had smelled like fish for months. The once horrendous scent was no longer awful, in fact, it was the best thing Ambrose had ever smelled. More smells filled his nose, the wood from the ship, the small candle burning next to the bed, the dirty sheets, everything no matter what it came from was the best thing Ambrose had ever experienced. Shouting from the deck of the ship brought Ambrose back to reality.

“I swear upon the twelve that if you don’t get off my ship I’ll use you as fish bait!” The gruff voice of what Ambrose assumed to be the captain of the passenger ship yelled. Ambrose gathered his belongings, the travel pack filled with everything needed for camping and starting a farm. He would have to spend some time at the local markets to get some other necessities that were not included in his starting kit, like the skill books. Ambrose pulled up his starting menu to take a quick glance.

[Name: Ambrose Jay

Race: Norse

Mana: 100

Level: 1

XP: 0

XP Needed To Level: 100

Attributes:

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Dexterity: 10

Strength: 15

Constitution: 13

Unspent Stat Points: 0

Skills:

[Farming (Novice I)]

[Taming (Novice I)]

[Alchemy (Novice I)]

[Cold Resistance (Apprentice I)]

[Wilderness Survival (Apprentice I)]

Spells:

[Earth Manipulation (Novice I)]

[Water Manipulation (Novice I)]

Unspent Skill Points: 0]

The starting attributes were all ten, the only reason he had more in strength and constitution due to his starting race of Norse. While Eden was a game, it was said to be designed with as much realism as possible. If someone got their head chopped off it still meant death. There were hidden statistics, like stamina which was the reading on how much energy he could use for running, walking, among other physical activities. Another hidden bar was health, which would increase and decrease depending on how healthy he was. It was somewhat obvious. Since he had just spawned into the game he should have maxed out on health and stamina, that would change as effects such as sleep deprivation, temperature, hunger, and a dozen other factors took effect. In all actuality, it was hidden, but it was hidden in the same way that in real life a person could only feel how healthy or tired they were. This game was supposed to mimic life after all.

The only thing that could be quantified numerically was the amount of mana that Ambrose currently held. It being a direct influence from the (Wisdom) attribute. Ambrose immediately wanted to try out his two magical skills, which he began by pulling up the two skill descriptions.

[Spell Name: Earth Manipulation (Novice I)

Cost: 10 mana per second

Description: Shape the earth within a radius of five yards]

[Spell Name: Water Manipulation (Novice I)

Cost: 10 mana per second

Description: Shape any water within a radius of five yards]

Not much of a library of information, but it was better than nothing. Ambrose wanted to try to go outside of the deck and try out his magical spells, but he wanted to double-check a few things first.

His backpack held a lot of supplementary items such as a weeks worth of rations, a canteen, a sleeping bag, a tent, cooking equipment, a sewing kit, wheat seeds, corn seeds, potato spuds, farming equipment such as a hoe, shovel, and harvesting scythe. There was also an alchemy set that included a mortar and pestle, glass vials, and beakers of varying sizes. Ambrose was amazed at the multitude of things that could be stored in just one bag without causing him to feel weighed down at all. It also seemed that his starting kit was directly related to his starting location and skills. Since there were also a few extra clothes in his bag which he had picked in the starting location.

But what he was most joyful about were the half dozen soul gems that were nestled carefully in a pouch that was strapped to Ambrose’s belt. Since he didn’t have the [Identification] skill, Ambrose couldn’t pull up a solid description, but instinctively he knew what they were used for.

Soul gems were necessary for the taming process of wild animals. Only after applying a soul gem with your mark onto a beast could you then take control of it. Only then would it follow your commands. Taming wasn’t an exact science but soul gems were the absolute factor in every tame. You could feed the creature exactly what it wanted but it still might never listen to you until you apply a soul gem.

In addition, the soul gem didn’t have a guaranteed chance of working, to increase the chance you must subdue the creature, have a high enough skill in taming and follow whatever extra requirements to finally gain the beast's subservience. The bestiary would help tremendously with all of the steps. Souls gems also came with different rarities, higher rarities would make the taming process easier, while lower ones would make it harder.

Making sure he had all his items accounted for, Ambrose finally started to make his way off of the captain’s ship. That was when Ambrose was alerted by a prompt appearing in his field of vision.

[As a member of a Collective Group with aims to create a frontier settlement on the unexplored land of Norsege Isles, you and your group have been designated a meetup spot at the Floating Otter Inn. Make your preparations and head out to explore the wild!]

The system message gave Ambrose a goal in mind and when he reached the deck of the ship he was practically thrown off by the stout Norse man. The 6’3’’ blonde bearded man had enough anger in his belly that it was a surprise that he wasn’t breathing fire. Though Ambrose guessed that the captain would have burnt him to a crisp if given the chance. Ambrose wondered if this had to do with what the AI had told him about the natives not liking the migrating souls of the people from Earth. Ambrose was about to dismiss it as just NPC behavior when he realized that it was probably best to treat these NPCs like actual living beings. If he was going to spend his life here, then it was better to become friends with the natives instead of dismissing them as inferior.

When Ambrose reached the end of the ramp leading towards the land he was greeted by another prompt.

[You have entered the village Bjora of the Norsege Isles (Reputation: -100)]

Ambrose frowned as the obvious discrimination of migrated souls became much more obvious. But Ambrose didn’t let that dissuade him from his next goal. He could do magic!

Ambrose had always enjoyed playing fantasy games while living in his underground pod. The human race didn’t have to worry for much, at least where Ambrose lived, but it wasn’t actually living. To Ambrose and many others, it was a form of purgatory. Where nothing ever happened besides the occasional leak from the outside world.

While playing his games, Ambrose had always decided on being the mage or a farmer. The latter always felt repetitive as some games hardly ever fleshed out the farming system, which wasn’t a worry here since Eden was a complete replication of life. In any case, wielding deadly magics and smiting foes had always appealed to his senses. Which was why he was so glad that he could do some sort of magic even when he had applied himself to his passion for farming.

Going to the edge of the shore, where cold hard stones jutting from the ground and waves broke against their sturdy bodies, Ambrose activated his first spell.

“[Earth Manipulation]” Ambrose didn’t know if he needed to say the spell out loud but he immediately felt the flow of a gentle liquid within his body. It reminded him of blood flowing through his veins but it could be felt clearly. Within seconds a brown glow settled over Ambrose he could acutely feel every stone and pocket of dirt within five yards of himself. Directing his will, Ambrose couldn’t help but grin as a fist-sized hole appeared in the ground.

Ambrose had accomplished his first form of magic.

Kneeling down next to the hole, Ambrose realized that he had willed the dirt to move aside. Creating a packed-down version along the sides of the hole. He pondered the use of what could be done with the spell and then immediately attempted to use [Water Manipulation].

The same glow settled upon Ambrose, except blue this time, as he could clearly feel the body of water that could be manipulated. He pulled the salty water from the ocean before scattering it back out, forming a fan-shaped spray of water. Ambrose was giddy. But a quick look at his mana amount left him frowning.

[Mana: 60]

Ambrose had only used the spells for a few seconds but it had almost drained half of his mana reserves. And with his mana reserves only filling back up at ten mana a minute, due to him having ten intelligence, it would take ten minutes to fully fill up his mana bar from zero. Which wasn’t bad, but it would be annoying to have to wait ten minutes for every ten seconds of using a spell. Ambrose would either have to increase his mana reserves, regeneration, or skill rank.

With each skill rank and level, it would become easier to use the spell and the spell would have better effects. Perhaps at the master level, [Earth Manipulation] would be as easy as breathing and would cost basically nothing?

After playing with the spells for a bit longer, Ambrose returned to the ramp that he had previously arrived on. Dozens of people were still walking down every so often while a fuming Captain kept yelling at them to get off.

Milling among the mass of people that had chosen the Isles as their starting location, Ambrose began to wander. The god’s words held true as many of the NPCs avoided eye contact with Ambrose or blatantly ignored him when he attempted to ask for advice. Though that may have been caused by his extremely poor social skills. His confidence shifted for the better as he reminded himself that he was a new person and shouldn’t let his past hold him down. His mental pep talk allowed his next conversation to go much better.

“Excuse me, do you happen to know how to get to the Floating Otter Inn?” The hopeful farmer tapped an equally sized giant of a man on the shoulder. Flinching slightly as the man turned to reveal a rather obvious face tattoo. The circling black line spiraled around one eye before branching off into the roots of a tree as it traveled down his neck. His blue eyes were the average appearance amongst the Norse along with his square-set jaw. The man’s braided blonde hair with shaved sides looked straight out of an ancient TV series that Ambrose had managed to get his hands on.

“Aye, I’m looking for that place too. You wouldn’t happen to be part of the collective now would yah?” the gruff Viking of a man gave a questioning raised eyebrow. Ambrose almost wondered if the man’s face had cramped due to the strange look.

“Yes I am, my name’s Ambrose. I should be on the list,” the man’s eyes unfocused for a moment. Something that Ambrose attributed to looking at the status screen. The blue eyes snapped back onto the farmer and gave a wide grin.

“What a beautiful coincidence, names Jerald. I’m hoping to be one of the village’s guards since my skills are primarily focused on combat, though I do have some of the lumberjack skills,” the man gave a guffaw of a laugh which Ambrose awkwardly joined in. Ambrose accessed the list that detailed everyone in the group and quickly found Jerald among the names. The man had skills in [Weapon: Axe], [Shield Bearing], [Beserk], [Logging], and [Armor: Medium]. Jerald had really seen the Norse way of life and embraced it on all fronts.

“My skills are invested in the farming branches so hopefully I'll eventually be able to keep you fed enough to protect us,” Ambrose rubbed the back of his neck as he shook the man’s hand. The strength of the two should have been extremely similar but Ambrose could help but wince at the handgrip of the berserker. The man had a one-handed ax strapped to his side, its cold iron blade glinting in the minor sunlight that penetrated through the clouds. His shield was circular in shape and made of thick wood, rimmed with the same metal as his weapon. Tough hides protected his body, but his movements didn’t seem to be too impaired.

“I guess we should just start walking around?” Ambrose suggested as the two were stopped in the middle of the mass of migrating souls.

“Aye, that sounds like a better plan than just standin’ here,” the two former earthlings started to explore the coastal town. Jerald was much more of a talker than Ambrose, the former providing many topics of conversation.

“Hopefully they’ll be some cute women in our group, I'd hate to live around stinky men all day!” The man laughed and bumped his shoulder into Ambrose in a gesture of friendship. The socially inept man laughed at the statement.

Ambrose had played a few games in his day, with a limited population in the Underground but the wealth of resources ensured that even the weakest of humans could get some form of luxury. It was a common theme that females who played games were as rare as unicorns but with all of humanity in the game, unicorns would be pretty common now.

The duo eventually reached some sort of marketplace as shops of all professions littered the street. The smell of cooked fish and ocean life filled Ambrose’s nose and he could help but salivate. Following his nose, Ambrose reached one of the food carts and inspected the skewered meat.

[Coelacanth Skewer

Rarity: (Uncommon)

Effect: Reduces hunger and provides Well Fed bonus

Description: This native fish is considered one of the staple foods of the Norsege Isles, living in every sea, stream, and lake. It is not hard to find one of these for every meal of the day.]

“How much for one skewer?” Ambrose asked the grizzled man standing behind the counter. The pale-skinned Norse man was a few inches shorter than Ambrose but twice as wide. He carried the usual disgusted look on his face when he realized that Ambrose wasn’t a native.

“One silver,” the man said, for which Ambrose gasped in shock. The currency in Eden was stunningly simple. One Hundred copper to a silver, one hundred silver to a gold, one hundred gold to a platinum. Ambrose doubted that anyone besides kingdom-sized city-states ever used platinum, but that's beside the point.

The man was blatantly trying to rip Ambrose off, asking for a silver for a stick of fish. The god that had helped Ambrose design his character had left the man with some basic knowledge of the currency.

The average NPC or native of the land made roughly fifty silvers a year. The most common job being a fisherman and selling that produce to the merchant ships that would take them to kingdoms across the seas. With the abundance of fish in the market, selling a single skewer for more than a few coppers was absurd.

Ambrose, the still awkward young man living in the body of a giant, didn't know what to do, but Jerald seemed to have no reservations.

“What in the fuck! Charging anything more than five coppers for a piece of fish is just discrimination against us. I’ll come over there-” Ambrose stuck a hand on the berserker's shoulder and shook his head. The last thing they needed was to ruin the already terrible reputation of the earthlings with the local populace. The two members of the collective turned their backs on the small food stall and continued their journey.

It wasn’t long before the two found a large building with a sign detailing an otter floating on the ocean waves. The furry beast had a tankard in its paws and was drinking heavily from it. The liquid inside splashing around into the water.

“This must be the place, after you, my good man,” Jerald waved the farmer inside through the pine plank doors. A cozy aura instantly surrounded the man as he took his first steps inside. Mounted heads of moose, elk, deer, oxen and a multitude of other strange creatures were hung up on the walls of the inn. A fireplace in the corner of the room provided warmth against the cold elements outside.

A dozen people were milling about, some sampling some of the native cuisine which came out in big bowls of fish stew. A lady behind the counter waved them in and gave a greeting.

“Hello there! If you’re new here then take a seat anywhere and we’ll be with you in a moment!” The bright-haired woman smiled sweetly at the two men who nodded at her. Another voice struck out to reach them.

“You two wouldn’t happen to be part of the group that's supposed to meet here?” Ambrose looked around for a moment trying to find the creator of the words.

“Down here,” the voice was tinged with a bit of frustration but Ambrose craned his neck downwards to make eye contact with his first fantasy race.

The halfling was olive-skinned with coal-colored eyes. Her chestnut hair reached down towards her waist and her backpack matched her small frame. She only came up to what Ambrose guessed was four feet and he couldn’t help but stare in surprise.

“I’m sorry, but, yes, yes we are here for the collective,” The girl grinned in delight before gesturing to them to follow her over to where a dozen other people were seated around a long table. Most of the men and women were of the Norse race but two others were the same halfling as the women who had greeted the duo. The strangest sight was the numerous children that had the same backpacks as those who had migrated to Eden. He filed it away for a question for later.

“Since we have two new people here and we’re still waiting on the rest it should be a good time to introduce each other, but first, names?” The halfling's eyes were unfocused as she looked at the list containing everyone who should be in the collective. Precautions were already being taken to prevent people who hadn’t been selected to sneak their way in.

“Jerald and this here is Ambrose,” The warrior offered their names and after a moment's notice the female smiled brightly.

“Perfect! That's another guard and our first farmer! Or is it tamer?” She seemed confused as she knocked her head to the side and looked questioningly at Ambrose.

“Mainly farmer but I chose a [Taming] skill to help with domesticating some of the wild animals for farm use,” Ambrose explained his line of thought.

“Ooh! That's pretty smart, I guess it would suck having to do everything by yourself.” The halfling nodded to herself.

“In any case, my name is Tina. I’m the designated map maker of the group and I’m hoping to scout along the way so we can explore inland better.” Tina explained what her skills were geared towards. The rest of the group began to explain theirs and Ambrose noticed that at least everyone had allocated one skill towards some sort of weapon use. It made him a bit more grateful that he had joined a group for protection.

“Since we’re still waiting for the rest of the crew to get here I guess it would be a good idea to get some food in you or get any last-minute supplies for the journey. We here think it would be a good idea to leave as soon as possible to get a leg up on the other people!” Tina said with her squeaky voice.

Ambrose did have a few items that he needed to acquire before they left the town, mainly more seeds and hopefully some small items such as nails and skill books. After telling them what his plans were, Ambrose left the excited group and journeyed back down to the marketplace.