My favorite table in the Tutorial Village library is by the far, back end of the building, right next to the historical section. When you sit in the left side chair in the middle of the day, the light streams down perfectly while you read.

I’ve got a stack of seven books I already finished reading to my left, and only two more books that I still plan to read in a pile on my right. I'm currently going through a historical tome, detailing the rise of the Kingdom of Berkshire. The chapter I’m reading details an account of magical discrimination. In which the third King of Berkshire executed all the mages of his court who were able to use lightning magic. He believed in the old myth that the age of dragons had ended due to the lying influence of the Lightning Dragon, who tricked the others into fleeing this world; as such, to keep a wielder of the lightening element around would only invite disaster.

“You've got to be kidding me, that's it?!” I yell.

“Quiet! There must be silence in the library!”

“Well can you blame me, Janet?” I yell back. “I’m 200 pages deep into this book, all because the works of Scowl the Limericist hinted that this tome might actually have something useful for me about the mystery of the dragons. Two sentences! There were two sentences about dragons!”

“Quiet! You will not disrespect this library!”

I heave a sigh, leaning back into my chair. I can feel all the strength leave my body.

“You're right, Janet. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up in the first place. I've checked the online forums and everyone agrees: there are no dragons in Golden Age.”

“I will not stand for this nonsense!”

“I know, right? It is ridiculous! Did you know that most players even call anytime you see a monster or something that you can't identify as, ‘spotting a dragon.’ I mean what were the devs even thinking? This is a fantasy world, there should have been dragons.”

“There will be silence this instant!”

I rest my right cheek into my hand and lean against the table. I skim through the last couple of pages of the, History of Berkshire, book in front of me before flinging it onto the ‘done’ pile. I pick up the next book I had hunted down, despite my lack of enthusiasm. This one is a series of anecdotes from the Jewel Tribes who live on the floating islands in the Mountain Continent. I’m hoping that since they’re supposed to be one of this games indigenous groups that they might have something about dragons in their history.

“You know Janet,” I say, as I kick my feet onto the table, leaning back to get comfortable, “maybe I should just start making my way through the cooking section next. At least there will actually be something useful to read there. What do you think?”

Screech!

I flinch at the sound and look over. The NPC Janet has stood up, shoving her chair back. She’s just staring at me. “… If you do not put your feet down, in the next 10 seconds, you will be banned from this library forever.” She says, her voice an icy whisper.

I look into Janet’s eyes.

What I see there sends a shiver down my spine. I very slowly take my feet off of the table and put them on the floor; I scoot my chair forward so that I can sit up straight.

Well I guess someone’s a little grumpy today.

I can hear the voices of new players and the incantations for basic spells hitting training dummies against the wall behind me. All eight shooting aisles are in use right now. Arinn is on shift again this weekend, so it looks like he's going to have his hands full.

There have been a lot of beginner players coming and going already, and the main rush is only just starting. I keep seeing some of them shoot glances my way out of the corner of my eye.

It must be my nice new leather bag they're looking at. Made it myself.

I still have the beginners tunic and pants on, but I've added some accessories the crafting instructors helped me make. Like this bag and some basic tools on a new belt. I even have a nice set of chisels that I forged myself on the belt; the current Material Crafting Instructor is a stone sculptor, and he promised to teach me how to make a statue later tonight.

Oh shoot, I don't want to look like I'm preening. I turn my attention back to the rows of bookshelves in the Magic building. I had read some books that referenced a thesis written by a hermit, who discusses how Light and Dark spells are able to have mass and substance, while their natural reflections do not. I still have trouble visualizing how to generate those elements voicelessly, and I’m hoping I might find some useful hints with that paper.

But most of the works here don't have titles on them, and there's no Janet to ask for help. And there’s a lot of books on these bookshelves. Well, if all else fails I can just start working my way from one end to the other.

“Hey, D0n?” says Arinn.

Oh, Arinn usually doesn't talk to me until after the beginner groups leave the building. He's very professional with how he conducts himself, so I wonder what's so important.

“Look man, you've already been here for a couple weeks. I get wanting to make the most out of every resource available to you, but why don't you just, go start the game already?”

“But, I'm still playing the game right now.” I say, scratching my head in confusion. “It’s not like I won’t go down the exit hole later on, but it doesn't make sense to just a waste this opportunity, you know?”

“But you’ve already limited yourself by staying here. All of these books and resources are in the main game anyway. As well as so many other things you could be doing. So why are you still here?”

I feel like chuckling. As much as magic users complain about it on the forums, I thought it would have been obvious to Arinn. “Simple. If wanted to use any of these books in the main game, I’d have to pay for them.”

Arinn stares at me. It goes on long enough that I notice there is total silence in the building. I glance around and see that the other new players are looking at me as well. Three of them are nodding their heads in understanding.

Aaron lifts his hands up and slowly rubs his eyes. “What are you looking for again?”

“Oh, I’m trying to find one of the theses written by Tiffany the Hermit. The one about Light and Dark having mass.”

Aaron lets out a deep breath. With one hand he points at the bookcase by the left-hand wall. “The writings of all hermits are kept over there. Third shelf from the bottom.”

I grin and slap Arinn on the back. “Whew, thanks man. I was actually planning to start looking from the right-hand bookcases first. It would've taken me forever to find that paper.”

“… No problem.”

I shift the pile of tools in my arms, being very careful not to drop the box of nails. It is early morning in the Tutorial Village. The light coming through the clouds is still a pale yellow. I try to focus on the task at hand to distract me from how tired I'm feeling. I made sure to log on as early as possible today so I could get Van’s help before he logged off for his night.

I can hear Van yawning behind me. I'm sure he's been up for the past couple hours, tinkering with his projects. At least he gets to go to bed when we're done. I still have a whole day ahead of me.

Van walks past me while I’m readjusting the supplies I’m carrying. The strength inherent to his race as a dwarf and due to his high level means that he can carry far more than I can. He has a large stack of lumber and other raw materials on his shoulders. I wonder if it even feels heavy anymore after your strength stat rises enough. Though even if it does, it's not like we have far to go.

We turn the corner to reach the back of the Metal Crafting building. What awaits us makes me smile all over again.

In that same spot I had fallen asleep for the first time, tucked against the furnace’s chimney, is my own personal hobo hut. That's the name the other instructors jokingly gave it, but since it kind of works I decided to keep it.

Since I could use the brick wall of the building as my main support, the rest of my hut is set up more like a large tent. I used some large, sturdy wooden beams to make the frame of the hut. Then I had draped a large piece of leather I sewed with the help of Jazz916 over the wooden frame. There were a couple of iron spikes dug into the ground at the edges to help keep the leather taut.

On the inside of my hut I had covered the ground with a bunch of pillows and blankets I had made. I made sure to use the comfiest ones to make a nice little nest, right against the chimney. With the extra cushion and the warmth from the furnace, it’s the perfect place for naps.

There's a wooden short table right in the center. It's low enough that you can only really use it if you're sitting on the floor, but that’s fine by me; I even added some metal feet on the table legs to make sure it's really sturdy. The inside is lit up with a dozen or so magic lanterns. I had made all of the lantern frames out of metal and some opaque glass. Van helped me with that part. No idea where he learned how to blow glass, but the effect is really nice. Inside each lantern is an enchanted jewel. A Jeweler, who was acting as the material crafting instructor for a few days last week. taught me how to make them. Each one glows softly in a different color according to the type of gemstone inside.

Overall, the inside of my little hobo hut has a nice, relaxing, fantasy aesthetic.

The inside has pretty much been done for a while. It's already littered with a bunch of half finished projects, nicknacks, and notes. There’s not a lot of space in here, so I’ll have to be careful to not let it get too cluttered.

But the one thing I didn’t like was that I only had a flap for the entrance of my hut. It's not like this is a building that officially belongs to me, so I had no way of stopping other players from looking inside or taking stuff while I was elsewhere or while I was logged off.

I talked to Van about it and he offered to help me build a nice door with a lock. Making the locking mechanism was far too hard for me to do myself, but Van seemed more than excited about the challenge. He just finished it yesterday, so all we have to do now is make the door and install everything.

We set our tools down on the ground and each begin our own tasks. I make sure my measurements are in place to install some extra supports into the hut’s frame. Van lines up and marks the wooden planks he carried over to build the new door.

“You know, D0n,” says Van, “I had always been called a little crazy by my friends for how much time I would spend here, just for the opportunity to tinker freely; while not getting any bonuses from the game for it. But I think you’ve definitively got me beat.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve had everyone from NPC’s to brand new players tell me the same thing. But if the whole point of this game is that I have the freedom to play it however I want, then I really do want to make the most of that. Sure there's more to explore or experience in the main game. But just because I'm taking my time here to learn, it doesn't mean that any of that's going to go away. I'll get my full here, and all those other things will still be waiting for me when I'm ready. “

“Hey, you don't have to explain it to me. If anything I respect you for it. In fact, you've inspired me to be even more selfish with my projects when I get back to my shop.”

“Just be sure not to name me as the cause, or all of your apprentices back home will hunt me down.”

The two of us grin at each other.

The wooden door I want to make is simple. Just a row of two-by-fours lined up parallel to each other, with two crossbars and a diagonal connecting piece to hold it all in place. As long as the hinges and the lock work well I shouldn’t have anything to worry about. If even this fails I can put a sign out front, I guess.

The support struts for the door are in place and the doorframe is ready to go. I sit down and get comfortable while I watch van use a hand drill to bore the holes where the lock and door handle will go.

I’m enjoying the bird song coming from the forest nearby when suddenly I hear a yell.

Off to my left, near the village’s spawn point, I see a new player standing a distance away, staring wide-eyed. As soon as I look over at him, he immediately runs away.

I look at Van. “Any idea what that was?”

“No clue.”

I get to my feet, feeling like I should look for the player to ask what was wrong. But from that same place a group of four players runs around the corner and starts making their way towards me.

“See! I told you I wasn't lying. He's real!” Says the human boy who yelled when he saw me and ran off earlier.

“You've got to be kidding me?” says an orc girl. “I thought all the rumors in the dragon spotting forums were a bunch of lies.”

“Do you think we just got extremely lucky or are they starting to up the spawn rate?” Says a short boy. I can't tell if he's young, or if he managed to roll a halfling race when choosing random during his character creation. Wait a minute, what does he mean by spawn rate?

The group stops a few feet away and just stares at me. I am so lost that all I can do is stare back. Since I don't hear any more drilling behind me, I assume Van is doing the same.

The fourth member of the group, a tall elf girl. who looks older than the rest of them, waves at me with sleepy looking eyes. “Hello.”

“… Hi?” We just keep staring at each other.

“My name is Covin, and these are my friends. What's your name?” Says the first human boy.

“… D0n.”

“Wow, that sounds just like a player name!” Says the orc girl. What on earth is wrong with these people?

“So… can I help you with anything?”

The human boy, Covin, jumps forward and asks, “We were wondering if you have a quest or anything special for us!”

“Why would I have a quest for you?”

“Idiot,” says the halfling boy. “Don’t you know you're not supposed to ask with game speak. You have to interact with them and raise your familiarity points until they naturally offer you a quest.”

“Whoa, hold on! Do you guys think I'm an NPC?”

The elf girl looks surprised. “Oh wow, I wonder if he's part of a new update. Most of them never know terms like that.”

I can hear Van failing to muffle his laughter behind me, but I ignore him. “No, for real. I'm a player.”

“What kind of player would spend so much time in the Tutorial Village that they build a house? There's been rumors about the super rare hobo NPC all over the Internet.” Says the halfling boy.

Van isn't even trying to hide his laughter anymore. I drag my hand slowly down my face.

“I just wanted a place to keep my stuff while I mess around here. I really am just a player.” All four of them look really disappointing as they stare at me. Come on! I’m a fellow human, what were you expecting?

From behind that group, all the way by the spawn again, I hear another yell. In the distance, a beginner players screams, “Oh my god, the rumors are real!”

I can only stare into the distance with my mouth hanging open. The laughter behind me is reaching a fever pitch.

“… Van, get the door hinges.”

I see a second group gathering around that player in the distance.

“I swear that lock of yours better work!” I turn around and pull the door out from under my ‘friend,’ who’s collapsed to the ground, slamming his fist into the dirt.

“Quit your laughing and help me!” I can hear the footsteps getting closer. “Hurry, before any more show up!”

The exit for the tutorial village is a literal hole in the ground. The devs had gone with the aesthetic that these Villages were small islands, hidden inside of clouds. They really committed to that idea.

The hole is easily 10 meters across. It's a sheer circle with a cobblestone rim. Through it you can actually see rolling plains of green and sprawling forests on the continent below. Apparently that's just a visual effect though, since these Villages are an entirely separate instance from the rest of the game. Either way, it means that if you want to leave you've got to jump down the hole.

I peer over the edge, appreciating the view. There are a couple of new players registering their starting kingdom and their Inclination at a stone column with a large crystal on top of it.

All new players have to start in one of the major cities, to ensure that there are enough resources available to them in the beginning. But you can choose which one of them they want, and once in the main game you’re free to travel anywhere else. Even across continents.

Your Inclination is the major stat boost you take with you from the tutorial village. It's essentially a bundle of stat points that you can choose, depending on what Alignment route you want to go down.

I'm standing by the exit with Van and Riyu. I walk away from the exit and look back towards the two. I can see Arinn a little bit away. He has this massive grin on his face, but as he looks around he suddenly gets incredibly sad.

“Aww,” I say, patting Riyu on the shoulder, “look. Arinn’s sad to see you leave.”

Riyu and Van look at Arinn’s forlorn face, and both snigger. “Yeah, that's absolutely why he looks like that.”

I shrug my shoulders, not getting why they’re laughing. Oh well, I’m sure there's a unique kind of connection between players who started the game together.

I back up to stand next to Van as Riyu grabs a small bag, packed with the items he wants to take back into the main game. “Seriously Riyu, thank you for all your help.” I say. “I’m going to miss sparring with you.”

Riyu gives a teary smile and pulls me into a tight hug, lifting me off my feet. I struggle to catch my breath once I’m plopped back on the ground; Van laughs at me.

“Same here,” says Riyu. ”I was only able to stop by once a week, but sparring with you was always the highlight of my day. Still, I didn't expect that I'd be the one leaving before you did, D0n. You ever plan on actually starting the game anytime soon?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Eventually.”

“I’ll do my best to get him to leave by the time I have to go. Though I make no hard promises on that.” Van says. “Now I hope those steel knuckles I made for you work out well. If you have any tweaks or any questions, and you find yourself in the Mountain Continent, always feel free to hit up my shop.”

Riyu nods. “You bet. And D0n, you have my friend code. If you're ever nearby you can always ask me for help. And hey, go easy on whoever takes my spot”

Riyu gives us a wink and a salute, and then dives backwards down the exit hole.

Van and I start walking away, making our way towards the Metal Crafting building.

“So D0n, what will you be wasting your time with today?”

I roll my eyes at Van’s teasing. “I’m thinking about making some leather armor. Jazz is in again, and he doesn't mind me loitering around the Fabric Crafting building all day. Might as well take advantage of his tools and expertise.”

Van distractedly nods his head in agreement, looking around.

“What are you doing here this late? For you anyway. You normally don't log in until it’s nighttime here.”

“I decided to pull an all-nighter. I have an old friend who was supposed to start today and I wanted to greet him. Ah, speak of the devil.”

I follow Van’s line of sight and spot a shine coming from the Village’s spawn circle.

There’s only one person standing there. But instead of someone wearing the beginners tunic and pants, it's a player decked out in full plate armor. Even from here I can see that it's polished to a crisp steel blue.

Van and I make our way over, and what awaits me is a man who is even bigger than Riyu. Everything from his armor, to his sword and shield — still strapped to his waist — match. There are a couple of embellished crests across the face of his shield and on his chest plate, but everything else is brutally efficient. Everything about his appearance screams the image of a knight.

He walks closer to the two of us and takes off his helmet. Beneath it is a man who looks older than I thought, but still youthful. He has a strong jaw line, with short cropped black hair, and looks to be of Asian descent. He spots Van and gives a gentle smile.

“Good to see you, old friend. I see you're still making your little crafting pilgrimages.”

“That's right; no way I'd pass this up! And all of us knew I'd be coming here for the past three months. So what's your excuse for coming in now, when I'll be leaving soon. It's so rare we get a chance to relax and drink together normally.”

“Because unlike you, I am here on business. To help make sure the level of players in other continents stays high. You’d get far more chances at being here if you'd actually work with the game’s management.”

Van scoffs and waves it away. “If I did that, they’d make me actually work.”

The man's chuckle is slow and deep. He looks over at me and gestures with his chin. “And who are you?”

“The name’s D0n.” I reach out my hand with a smile.

Van slaps my back a couple times saying, “Yes, this here is my new friend. I can’t tell you how lucky I am that I got assigned to this island for my time as an instructor. I would have been heartbroken to hear I had missed out on meeting a character as interesting as him.”

The man in the knights armor smiles and shakes my hand back. “Hello, D0n. My name is Zhaz Morrowolf. I'm a Paladin Alignment.” He lets go of my hand. “And if Van of all people is giving you such high praise, I’m sure you must be quite the player.”

“More like I'm the only one here who can put up with his rants.” My hand is tingling. I don't know if it's due to sparring against players like Riyu as often as I have, but everything about the way this man carries himself sets me on edge. He's strong. Even when he’s standing completely relaxed, I can't imagine how I would get a hit on him.

“Oh, don't sell yourself short D0n. You can also keep pace with me when we drink.”

Zhaz Morrowolf laughs and says, “Well that's a sight I have to see. I suppose if things aren't too busy we can have a drink or two together.” He nods at Van, and then looks at me. “I’ll be taking over the role as the Defense instructor here for the next two weeks. Most new players try to leave the Tutorial Village as quickly as they can, but feel free to stop by before you do. I promise to be of help.”

Van laughs loudly next to me. “Oh don't worry, I'm sure D0n can squeeze some time in for you, what with his busy schedule and all. Pffthahahaha.”

I side-eye Van, and make a mental note to steal the last of his homemade mead after he logs out.

I give the paladin a strong nod. “Absolutely. We can have a casual spar.”

Zhaz’s smile widens. “Yes, that sounds like fun.”