Djin was exhausted, not physically mind you, but mentally. It was the end of his 248 hours logged in, two and a half days in the real world, and all he had done is study. There was some practical application of what he learned, but only to prove his conjectures and theories. Djin's progress was astounding though, the books he read never had a full analysis. They provided terrific insight and pointed him in the right direction, but they were always just a few pieces of the puzzle.

That puzzle was more vast than Djin could fathom though. Even after a week of studying, Djin couldn't say he even had the edge pieces worked out. He couldn't even tell how knowledgeable he was over magic, saying even 1% would be too arrogant for his taste. However he had learned more than anyone else in the game had, he was sure of this.

Djin took one last look around the room. He had opened every book, if at least to get a rough understanding of it's contents, and he found himself satisfied. He knew it, all of it... the elemental magics, the holy and dark magics, he knew of rituals, runes, formations. He had studied alchemy, herbalism, he studied inscription, of gems of power. He was ready to conquer Endless with the knowledge he had.

Djin closed his eyes and accessed the menu, choosing to logout.

Alex saw the pod open and went to check on his friend. Extended time in the virtual plane would lead to a sense of displacement and muscle weakness, well, that's what he read online.

"Easy Luke, you're going to feel a bit dizzy and weak, let's just sit you up for now."

Alex had removed the IV a few hours earlier, having served it's purpose. Now he was checking Luke's condition, it wouldn't be uncommon for Luke to pass out after the time he spent.

"I'll be fine Alex, I'm going to eat and sleep. After I wake up, we'll be able to start."

Luke tried to recall everything he had studied but...

He couldn't! It was there, but fuzzy... always on the tip of his tongue.

"Alex! I... I can't remember it. I know I was studying in the library but it's all distorted!"

Alex nodded and reassured his friend.

"You're not alone, every player is experiencing that. According to Lucky Day, this is intended to prevent players from metagaming. You know, preventing player knowledge from gaining an advantage in the game. A lot of people are complaining about it, thinking it's causing a loss of memory, but no one has been able to prove it's affected anything other than game knowledge."

"So what? We won't be able to talk about Endless at all?"

"No, we can, but it's limited. I can tell you the name of the town I'm in, but not where it's located. I can tell you the monsters I've fought, but not how to beat them. You'll be able to regale others with your adventures, but only as if you weren't there to experience them."

Luke pondered this, the implications were staggering. A complete embargo on game knowledge, every secret, boss, hunting ground... it would all have to be discovered or discussed in-game.

"Alex... if this is true, then the time I spent is going to be valuable beyond measure."

Alex nodded at Luke, it was true. He'd played for 90 hours now and he had seen how impotent the players were. No one knew how to do anything more than swing a blade really, those that could use magic weren't in much better shape. He'd seen one poor mage torn asunder by an angry bear after he gave it a pitiful zap. So far the most effective hunting was being done by groups of archers, groups of up to 20 all lining up to fill their prey with shafts before it could fight back. It was slow progress though, and not even profitable as they lost more in arrows than they gained from kills.

Alex himself had tried earning coin working jobs for NPCs, players who had an armor set were doing much better. Able to absorb strikes from wolves without being cut or maimed. Some of those players had gotten lucky and found a way to get gear from a quest or secret quickly.

"Get some rest Luke, I'll head to bed too so we can start fresh together."

Luke got up and stumbled towards the kitchen, feeling his body wiped out and craving food and sleep.

...

"Hey, did you eat my donuts!?"

Welcome to Endless

Obtaining Biometric ID.

User: Luke Trebe

Profile found. Character Djin.

Djin sat up, he found himself in an empty room save for the bed he was lying on. He checked his character's inventory and equipment.

"1 gold coin to start, won't go very far though. Enough to get a weapon or some armor, but I won't need that."

Djin had a plan already, the information poured back into his mind the moment he opened his eyes. Magic. He concentrated his energy but found it more difficult than it was in the tutorial.

HUFF "It's... It's there... just..."

He strained himself, but couldn't quite manage to produce an effect. The feeling was right, but he wasn't able to draw it as well as he could before.

"Well, I'll figure that out soon enough, Alex logged in already so I should try and find him first."

Djin opened the door to the hovel and stepped out. A grand landscape lay before him, to his right was a large mountain range, miles long. To his left was a deep deciduous forest, vast but not endless. The hovel was perched on top of a hillside, and at the bottom of the hill was a town.

"Freemont... Alex... Kreo now... said he'd wait for me there."

Djin walked down the hill, leaving the hovel behind. It only took him a few minutes to reach the small town, he headed for the marketplace to meet his friend.

"He said he'd wait by the fountain... ah, there he is."

It didn't take long for Djin to spot Kreo, his name had a gold star next to it, signalling that the player was on his friend list. Djin made his way through the crowd and greeted him.

"Alex, I mean... Kreo, so we finally meet!"

"We ate breakfast together you nerd."

Kreo punched Djin's shoulder and the two chuckled.

"So Mr. Scholar, what's the plan?"

"Well first, I need to settle into my role, I'm still having trouble calling up my mana though."

"Did you allocate your stat points yet? Before doing that, you'd have trouble doing anything at all."

Djin's eyes grew wide and he face palmed.

"I forgot... give me a moment."

Kreo nodded while Djin pulled up his menu and accessed his status.

"So five is the base amount? Is that an average human's capabilities?"

"Yes, and I'd suggest you don't leave them at five, at least one extra point in each stat is a huge change."

Djin frowned, every stat point was precious and he already knew what his goal was. He put 14 points into intelligence, and 5 points into wisdom... putting the 1 extra point into endurance.

"Alright, give me a minute while I try this again Kreo."

Djin focused the magical energies inside of his body, it was much easier this time. He pulled the energy to one spot in his chest, then had it flow through every inch of himself, picking up stray mana as it did. Then he concentrated the mana into his chest, forcing it to beat in rhythm with his heart.

Passive Acquired - Heart of Mana Lv. 1

Your body can store and generate more mana.

Mana Pool Increased - 100

Mana Regeneration Increased - 1 MPS

Kreo watched his friend, but then he saw it. A green halo appeared on Djin's head for a few seconds before drawing in. Djin just learned a skill. HOW? All he was doing was standing there!?

"Djin... what did you do?!"

Djin didn't answer, he had a few more things to do before he would be settled. First, he pooled mana into his left hand. It gathered it in his hand, and he willed it hotter... hotter... until it combust. Djin held the flame in his hand, not a fireball, just a kindling that soon burnt out.

Spell Acquired - Ember Lv. 1

Create a small fire using mana.

The size of the flame is proportional to mana used.

Before Kreo could even speak, Djin started again. This time concentrating mana into both his hands, imbalancing it and forcing it to pass from hand to hand in the air. Sparks soon started to form as the mana demanded it settle into a balance, one that Djin would not allow it to have.

Spell Acquired - Static Lv. 1

Create an electric charge using mana.

The strength of the charge is proportional to mana used.

A crowd started to form now, players watched as Djin created another skill, another green halo pulling into his head. Kreo could only stare with awe, in less than twenty minutes of playing he'd already been surpassed by his friend. Kreo only had one skill so far, Power Swing... it let him hit a bit harder.

Djin took no notice of his friend nor the crowd. Instead he began to expand the mana in a sphere in his hands, having it pull at the heat in the air, before pulling it back inside. Again and again, faster and faster, the greedy mana stole the heat from the ambient air. Djin concentrated and forced the sphere smaller, concentrating on a pocket of air between his hands. Finally satisfied, he uncupped his hands and let what he held fall to the ground.

Spell Acquired - Snow Lv. 1

Create snow using mana.

The amount of snow created is proportional to mana used.

He'd done it, the base three elements were under his control, but he didn't expect what happened next...

Grand Achievement - First Elemental Mage

You are the first player to have used three different elements in casting!

All elemental spells will cost 10% less mana.

You are 10% more resistant to elemental magic.

Elemental Mage Class Unlocked.

If the green halos and cantrips of magic didn't grab the crowd's attention, the plume of light did. Kreo and the crowd watched as Djin was highlighted for everyone to see. It only lasted a few seconds, but no one seemed to notice. Time stood still for those few seconds.

Finally, Djin looked up at everyone around him, unaware of his audience until now.

"Uhh, ta-da?"

It was bedlam, it was madness, players assailed Djin with every question, they demanded answers. Did you cheat? What was that light? How many skills do you have? How did you do that magic? Did you pay to win?

It was too much for Djin, he was overwhelmed by it all. Half the audience wanted his head and the other half wanted his friendship, one player even prostrated himself before Djin, begging to be his apprentice. Kreo had seen enough and he stepped in.

"EVERYBODY, CALM DOWN!"

The chaos dimmed, the man groveling before Djin looked up. Kreo had to think fast...

"What you saw... it was just dumb luck. We had just got done with a quest that gave us some scrolls and this guy... he wanted to use them to try and copy their effects. They weren't any good in combat anyway. Some slush? A spark? What would that do against a wolf?"

The players were disappointed, but not all of them were convinced...

"Don't lie to us! We saw the green halo, he learned a skill!"

Kreo stalled, but Djin had caught onto the idea.

"Ah, yes, I did learn a skill... Scroll Use! It let's me use scrolls with more ease. Does anyone have a scroll? I can show you."

No one volunteered a scroll, not that they had one to spare in the first place. That one dick didn't shut up though...

"What about the plume of light? What was that about?"

Djin grinned, he anticipated this question.

"Ah, that was from a scroll called Spotlight. It's supposed to help your party find your location."

Satisfied, if not upset... the crowd went back to their business. Kreo pulled Djin away from the marketplace so he could vent.

"Djin... what the hell was all that? What did you do?"

Djin grinned as he explained it all to his friend.

"Wow... you weren't kidding when you said that a week would give you an edge."

Djin smiled, he felt great. Already he was cycling mana around his body, gaining experience in his passive Heart of Mana so it would get stronger. It was slow, but it would matter. There was much to do though, as he began to list his objectives to Kreo.

"We need to build our strength, I have three ways we can do this now. Two of those ways will benefit you, and the third can benefit me."

Kreo nodded, ready to help his friend help him.

"First, I'll need reagants. I'll need to learn herbalism and start foraging for some of the flowers I need. Dragon's Toe, Heart Tear, and Purple Mullgrass, I can use these to make some low level potions for us to use."

"Potions!? No one has potions yet! What will they do?"

"Well with just those ingredients, I can make weak healing potions and minor stat potions. They won't be useful later on, but it will work well now. Besides that, I can also enchant weapons and armor with temporarily boons. I can perform permanent enchantments later, once I get a skill for it."

Kreo couldn't believe what he was hearing, stat potions and weapon enchantments? Isn't this too much? He hadn't even heard of these things yet, only dreamed it was possible. He shook out of his daze.

"Okay, so after we get those reagants, then what?"

"Then? I need to level... even just one level will allow me more possibilties for my magic. Right now I can only do minor magic, not very useful for combat."

Kreo understood this, leveling was a core part of any RPG. He himself gained his skill from leveling, not from creating it through effort like Djin.

"So we level you, what else?"

"I need a wand."

Djin and Kreo set out to complete their objectives, they found an NPC that taught herbalism and Djin opted to learn it while Kreo did not. Why not? Kreo had absolutely no idea what herbs to look for, Djin did. Djin had spent around ten hours studying herbs in the tutorial.

Djin was able to collect the Dragon Toe and Heart Tear from a field of wild flowers near the town. However the Mullgrass was more difficult.

"It only grows near cemetaries, I'm guessing it's a game mechanic."

Kreo frowned at that, there was a cemetary nearby, but it wasn't a place he wanted to venture to. Level 5 undead spawned there, zombies and skeletons... He relayed his concerns to Djin, but Djin didn't share in them.

"Not to worry Kreo, I have a method for dealing with the undead. First, let's visit the church in town."

They made their way over to the small church, meeting with the local NPC priest. Djin was able to get holy water from the church, but they asked a donation for it.

"10 silver for that little bit of water? You better hope this works Djin."

Djin didn't answer him, he just focused his mana. He held the small bottle in his fist and focused his mana into it, probing the holy energy it contained. The vial shined brightly in his fist, but dimmed back to nothing in a few seconds.

Skill Acquired - Bless Lv. 1

Bless an object using mana.

The strength of the blessing is proportionate to the mana used.

Achievement - First to discover Holy Magic

You are the first player to have created a holy based skill.

Holy Magic will be 10% more effective.

You will take 10% less damage from Holy Magic.

You will receive 10% more healing from Holy Magic.

Priest Class unlocked!

Kreo wasn't surprised when he saw the green halo form at Djin's head, he figured this would happen. He was a little bit surprised when a small plume of light appeared to highlight Djin though.

"Let me guess... achievement?"

Djin nodded, Kreo just sighed.

"So what now? Zombies?"

Djin nodded again, the two of them made their way to the cemetary.

The sky grew dark and cloudy as they approached... Djin was adamant that it was directly related to their distance to the cemetary, and Kreo conceded that point rather than walk back and forth to check. Regardless, it did much to add to the cemetary's spooky atmosphere.

"Look there Djin, dead player."

Djin looked and saw, there was a body, but it didn't look damaged. Kreo walked over to it and plucked a small disc floating above the corpse.

"You probably haven't seen these yet, they're loot tokens."

Kreo handed the token to Djin so he could inspect it.

"You can turn them into the Quest Hall for a small reward, usually a few coppers. Or you can turn it into the Thieves Guild to try and take an item off the corpse."

"What about the player?"

"Ah, well if no one takes their disc or turns it in for the 24 hour logout period, they won't lose anything."

"...24 hour logout period?"

Kreo explained.

"When you die, you have to logout for 24 hours, or 4 days in game. Then you can log back in and play more."

"Right... I really need to read the FAQ for this game."

"Yeah, you have a lot of in-game knowledge, but no game knowledge."

Djin couldn't disagree, over and over he found himself being a newbie with simple matters. He turned the token in his hands, where had he seen this before...

"Alright so what's our plan for fighting the undead? I'm only level 3, you're level 1. The undead are level 5, or higher if a field boss appears."

"We'll be fine, give me a moment.."

Kreo obliged and Djin began to focus his magic. He had the skill Bless, but he didn't want to just use the skill, he knew a way to use the holy magic better. First, he gathered 150 mana in his hand, forming a small mote of mana. Kreo watched with fascination, he could see the mana, it was faint, it was wispy and smokey, but it was there. Having created the base for his spell, Djin focused Holy energy onto his other fingertip, it began to glow white.

"E.T. Phone ho-"

"Don't."

Kreo grinned, but Djin ignored it. He drew his finger towards the mote, carefully planting the holy energy inside of it. Soon the mote transformed, becoming a bright ball, illuminating their surroundings.

Skill Acquired - Holy Light Lv. 1

Create an illuminating ball of light that disperses holy energy.

Strength of the light is proportionate to the mana used.

Djin wasn't satisfied with just this though. He beckoned Kreo to hold his weapon before him. Slowly, carefully, he pushed the spell into the weapon, his empty hand constraining the magic to the confines of the iron sword. It took a lot of effort, the magic was stubborn and didn't want to be forced into the cold iron, however it soon gave in to Djin's will.

Skill Acquired - Holy Weapon Lv. 1

Apply holy damage to a weapon. Half of the weapons damage will be dealt as holy.

Duration of the skill is proportionate to the mana used.

Grand Achievement - First Enchantment

You are the first player in the game to apply an enchantment.

All of your enchantments will be 20% stronger.

Increase all stats by 2% for each piece of enchanted gear you wear.

Profession Unlocked - Enchanter

"Okay Djin, It's getting annoying now."

"What is?"

"The green halo, the plumes of light, you've gained more skills in the last few hours than anyone else in the game."

"Well what do you want me to do about it?"

"Go into your filter settings and turn it off!"

Djin felt embarassed, another newbie mistake he could've avoided. He quickly opened the menu and found the setting. He turned off all visual effects on his character.

"Okay, I took care of it."

"Good, so now what do we do?"

"Go try your weapon on a zombie, it should be devastating."

Kreo grimaced but he made his way into the cemetary, Djin followed behind him. They didn't have to go far before finding some undead, some slow shuffling zombies were wandering around the tombstones. Kreo looked at Djin, who gave him a thumbs up, then down at his blade. It glowed with a white light, it... it looked pretty awesome. Okay, let's do this.

Kreo carefully treaded towards the nearest zombie, it was missing an arm and was only level 4. Kreo raised his blade and struck the zombie in the chest. The blade cut the weak, dry flesh and left behind a glowing white scar. The zombie screamed in pain and clutched at it's chest. Kreo didn't wait and he struck again and again. The zombie collapsed into a heap of bones and ashes after only six attacks.

He did it. He killed a zombie! He was finally strong enough to...

He paused, watching the white glow fade from his sword.

No... it wasn't his strength that killed the zombie. It was Djin's...

"Good work Kreo, let me cast Holy Weapon on your blade again."

Kreo held out his sword for Djin but he was lost in thought. If not for Djin, Kreo would still be teaming up with others to take down level 2 wolves. He couldn't lose Djin, not until he was stronger...

Roughly 14 zombies and 2 skeletons later, Djin leveled up.

"Ding. Oh shit, I'm still classless!"

"Don't worry about that, Classless transfers all their levels when they first get a class. I'm close to leveling as well."

They had been cutting down the undead for an hour, but making incredible progress. Djin gathered the Purple Mullgrass and buffed Kreo as he cut down the undead one at a time.

"When should we head back Djin? If we hunt too long, an elite monster might appear, and even if we could beat those a field boss would appear eventually."

"Yeah, I got the ingredients I needed. Let's go back to town."

They made their way out of the cemetary, passing by the dead player again.

"Kreo, how long does the player corpse stay there?"

"Just until you've turned in the token, then the body will fade away."

Djin pulled the token out of his pocket again. He looked at it again, then he remembered where he had seen it before. There was a method for casting a ressurection spell, but would the game really let you skip the forced logout period?

"Hold on a moment Kreo, I want to try something."

Djin pulled all his mana to his hand and ignited it with holy energy. After the mana was pooled to one hand, he cast spark with his other hand, adding the properties of electricity to the holy spell. The ball of light crackled with power, Djin took the token in his hand and dropped it into the sphere of energy. The token floated in the middle and started spinning. The mana drew into it, causing it to glow with holy light. Lastly, Djin placed the token back onto the dead girl. Her body shook and absorbed the shock, but that was all.

"What did you expect to happen Djin? Now we don't even have the token."

"Well, I didn't expect anything really, I just thought I'd try something. Anyway let's head back to town."

The two left the body behind, heading back to Freemont.

Silima was playing a FPS in her pod, having been forcibly logged out for dying. She was trying to take out some of her frustration before heading to bed. It didn't help though. She turned off the game and prepared to eject from her pod when she saw a notification was waiting. She tapped it.

Endless

Another player attempted to cast Resurrection on you.

The attempt has reduced your death timer by 20 minutes.

You may now login at 10:43 PM.

"Someone knows resurrection? That's... INCREDIBLE!"

She squeeled in delight, she might still be logged out for the next 22 hours or so, but...

"I HAVE GOT TO FIND HIM!"

She wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon.