Kalamedra dozed fitfully on a log for a few hours in the early morning, trying to rest a bit before moving on. When he got up in the morning, he noticed that he had been in the game for 24 hours now, which meant only an hour had passed in the outside, “real” world.

This is going to be a game dominated by those of us who live in it. If you log out to sleep or work or whatever, you are going to miss weeks in game. I know they have a simple autopilot for characters, but the actions it can perform are quite limited, so they will only be useful for those with safe, easy, repetitive tasks. I think a lot of the people who end up being crafters and merchants will be those who can’t devote themselves to living in game.

He took some of the food from his spatial ring and ate it, a few pieces of bread and some meat. He noticed that the ring seemed to preserve the food at whatever state it was in when it went into the ring. If he could find a source of higher quality food, either in taste or effect, he could stock up on it and keep it in his extradimensional space. He took out a waterskin and took a deep drink before replacing it. Getting to his feet, he brushed off his clothes and bounced in his new boots a few times to get the feel for them before he headed out.

Soon after leaving the camp spot he found a discarded stick by the side of the road that made an excellent walking staff. It looked like someone else might have previously used it for that purpose, it was worn on the tip and at a spot where someone might easily grip it, but it wasn’t worked or carved or anything.

As he walked he thought about some of the things he had discovered last night after checking his interfaces and logs. He had gained a level, which increased his hp by 5, he now had 15, and also gave him a Boost. According to the help file he had pulled up a Boost was something you could apply to a particular skill, and it would raise it a number of levels based on your current skill level, and any titles that might increase or decrease your aptitude with that skill.

I can definitely see how characters who do not have my ease at gaining new levels would need to use these to move ahead in a chosen field. I also saw that boosts can somehow be applied to your pools, health, mana and stamina, but the help file seemed intentionally vague on that front. I will hold onto the boost for now and wait to use it until I have a clearer idea of how I am making Kalamedra grow.

The other thing about leveling that he had learned, and he had heard a little about on the internet before starting the game, is that leveling did not gain him any attribute points, nor any skill points. These had to be gained by using these attributes or through using skills that used them. Clearly, he was going to have to focus on training these attributes hard, to squeeze as much advantage of his early starting age as possible.

At this point though, he was focused on getting to a particular destination, a cave he had discovered during the Alpha period. It was a cool abandoned Temple, hidden in a blasted cliff-face and if it was still there, it would be the perfect place to try out his Shard of the Void. Once he knew how that was going to play out he could plan out his character development a little better.

The boots were making his travel much easier, through their 5% speed increase as well as just the comfort of them over the terrible sandals he had started with. The spatial ring made travel easier as well, as he didn’t have to have bulky bags or carry heavy packs. In fact, the only reason he was carrying the sword outside it was so that any potential bandits would at least not think him defenseless.

He trotted down the road for a few hours without seeing anyone. Since the Alpha period this part of the continent had been ripped apart repeatedly by monsters, beasts, and bandit gangs. Most people who traveled into the outer areas were traders, accompanied by guards. It was not unusual to not see any solo travelers, but it still felt like he was alone in the whole wilderness.

After a while he came to a place in the road where there was a huge tree lying across it. He looked around for anyone lying in wait, but didn’t see anyone. Most travelers, especially those with horses, would go around either end. This seemed like a great and effective way to get someone to walk their mount into a hidden pit-trap. He could imagine large pits dug with sharpened stakes in the bottom. Quite devious of them!

Deciding to forgo the whole “dying hideously” thing, he place his hands on the trunk and threw his body over to the other side like a gymnast on a pommel horse. As his legs hit the ground on the other side of the huge trunk, a smile lit his face up. It had been so long since he had been able to perform such athletic feats of strength. This game was breathing new life into him, at the time when he was weakest.

Then the whole world went black as he felt something wrap around his midsection and jerk him back, into the abyss. He felt tight muscles around him contracting to swallow him, and as his darkvision started to kick in he felt himself plopped into a pool of stomach juices.

Holy fucking shit! I just go swallowed by something, and I am in their stomach! I need to get the fuck out right now before I start getting digested!

He pulled his dagger out and started to stab the stomach lining around him, hoping to poke a hole and then enlarge it so he could escape. It was like trying to stab an industrial truck tire, the point would bite into it slightly but no amount of force seemed capable of really opening a wound. He stabbed and he stabbed, cursing his inattention, and narrowly avoided crying in frustration. He might be an old man in real life, but his character was a child and this felt all too real.

Realizing his inability to make headway, he tucked his dagger back in his spatial ring and drew the black sword from its scabbard. He did not have room to make a charge of any type, but he pulled his shoulders back as far as they could go and shoved the sword’s chisel tip into the stomach lining. The red log icon was visible but he really didn’t give a fuck at the moment what skills he might have acquired.

He did not let up on the pressure he was applying for a moment, and when he had the strength he would shove it in a little more. Using all his physical resources in a last ditch effort, he shoved and he shoved. Nothing could be further from skillful swordplay, this was a grim pre-mortem autopsy he was attempting.

After what seemed years his sword pierced the stomach lining and was into the guts of the creature. This clearly was its first warning that it didn’t just have an upset stomach because he could feel the creature begin moving frantically. There were moments of near-weightlessness that indicated the creature was jumping with great force, but Kalamedra did not relent in his forward progress.

Eventually the pressure was too much for the stomach and it split asunder. Kalamedra was then swimming in entrails, slashing left and right as fast he could, trying to bring the beast down from the inside. The lack of air was becoming a concern, and he knew that time was not on his side. After a few dozen strikes he felt the monster slow it’s wild gyrations, and with a skillful stab into what turned out to be one of its hearts the monster collapsed to the ground, and Kalamedra swiftly pushed his way out into the light of day, gasping to get his lungs full of clean air once more.

Once he was fully oxygenated again he rolled over and looked at what had tried to eat him and was amazed to see that it was a giant toad. It was huge, easily twice as big as a horse, and its tongue lolled out of it’s mouth at least 15 feet. It was hard to believe he had survived such a thing, but it had been a stroke of luck that it swallowed him whole rather than trying to crush him up first.

As he rested he brought up his interface log.

System Notification Log Here is a summary of you System Notifications since you last acknowledged your notifications. You are currently set to digest mode. If you would like to receive notifications real time you may do so, otherwise they will simply accrue here until you acknowledge them. New Skill: One-Handed Swords Discovered Skill Increase: One-Handed Swords is now Beginner 1 (+1) New Skill: Two-Handed Swords Discovered Skill Increase: Two-Handed Swords is now Beginner 1 (+1) Skill Increase: Two-Handed Swords is now Beginner 2 (+1) Skill Increase: Two-Handed Swords is now Beginner 3 (+1) Ability Increase: Your Strength is now 11 (+1) XP Increase: You have gained 400xp

Deciding he needed to rest up more before moving on, he found a nearby creek, and washed up and assembled camp near it. He unrolled the bedroll he had in his ring, and ate some of the food, not lighting a fire to keep him a little less conspicuous.

He woke later, sometime during the night and rolled up his sleeping mat and put it back in the spatial ring. Traveling at night was not an option that many would choose but with his racial darkvision it was as easy as it was during full day, and most other people that might mean him harm would be around their campfires for the night.

Even though I just fought my way out of the belly of a beast, and the only medical care I got was a few hours of sleep, I still feel far better than my “real” body does on its best day. It is clear though that this is a dangerous world, so I should be as cautious as I can be, and seek out power and resources as soon as possible. I am not the type to sit around making things, spent too many years on factory floors for that, so I think I want to try to make my way by adventuring. After I use the shard, I should try to find either a dungeon or an adventuring group to team up with until I get stronger.

Setting off through the woods, he made his way back to the road but significantly farther west than where he had defeated the toad. He watched warily to make sure no more beasts were waiting for the unaware, but it seemed like the monsters probably knew that locals only passed by during the day. He walked through the night, not seeing anyone and then finally stopped to eat breakfast by a stream. It was his third morning in the game, but in some ways it had flown by.

He took a nap for a few hours and then continued on his way. The world was proving far more deadly than he had expected, especially with the threat of no respawns, so he was in a hurry to acquire whatever boons came with the Shard. Once he was powerful enough to handle the basic level of danger that came with being an adventurer he could take a more measured approach, but for right now he was one good blow away from death.

Once he was back on the road he kept to a steady pace, and after a few hours a cart rolled by going the other way. He could see that the driver of the cart was a prosperous-looking Beastkin, a humanoid fox with a long muzzle and black-tipped pointed ears. He was escorted by three armsmen on horseback, all clad in lamellar armor and holding lances. They all eyed him warily, and he moved off the side of the road to create some space between them but no words passed as they went by. As they rolled away he could see the cart was filled with skins and antlers, and bound bales of leafy green plants. Obviously the merchant had found someone in this wild land to trade with.

He traveled on, keeping to the road where he could, and occasionally seeking the woods on either side of it when it looked sketchy. Late in the afternoon he stopped and ate some food and took another nap, and then continued on his way. Far Westburg was roughly 100 miles from the cave he was trying to get to, and with his light burden and speed-enhancing boots he had already covered about 60 miles of that. He was hoping to make another 20 miles in the night, and then take a short rest.

After waking from his nap, he was preparing to head out when he heard voices speaking in a guttural tongue that he didn’t recognize. He quickly climbed up a tree, hiding in it’s crown as he waited to see who was approaching the stream he had stopped beside. In a few short moment he saw some goblins come trooping out from deeper in the woods. Their actual movements were quiet, so quiet there was really no way he would have heard them if they weren’t talking loudly amongst themselves.

A more foolish person, or someone playing a more forgiving game, would have tried to figure out how to take them out. There was 8 of them, and they represented a boon of xp and skill gains for a new character, but it was a a trap for him at this point.

Even with 15 hp, they would at most need to land 4 or 5 blows on me before I went down. I have no real armor to speak of – rectify that as soon as possible! – and I would need to take them out without missing or getting hurt myself. A lot of risk, for not that much reward. I think this game will prove to be quite the learning experience for players who are used to taking bigger risks with the idea that they won’t lose much on death.

He stayed quiet and hidden in the crown of the tree until the goblins had finished refreshing themselves and departed. At which point he waited an additional half hour before descending. Not detecting any sign of them he set out again, but this time he planned to walk/jog/run the whole way to the cave, eating as he moved. It represented a place he could rest and recover that was likely safer and more secure than the side of the road, at least from what he had seen and encountered so far.

Mid-day through his 4th day in Koral he spotted the cliff-face he was searching for. The town that had stood nearby was nothing more than scorched, salted earth and he feared that the locals may have found this place as well but it was easy to see no one had been near here for a long time. The cliff was on one side of a large hill, and the side of the hill stopped as if it had been sheared away and there was just bald stone. In a little area of jagged rocks there was a dark crevasse, looking like a certain death trap. With caution, Kalamedra started to lower himself down the split in the cliff face, hoping against reason he had reached a safe place.