Alaric had read that when players spawned into this virtual world for the first time a light would descend from the sky to fall upon the [World Gate] a large platform in the center of town. The new Player would shimmer into the world on top of this platform for all the surrounding players and the city citizens to see their grand entrance.

For some reason, Alaric did not receive this grandiose entrance like the other players had. He found himself in a narrow alley between two long buildings with yellow roofs somewhere in Terminus City. At first, he nervously thought that something must of went wrong with him being teleported into the world.

Then as he stood silently thinking about he began to realize that Hugh was actually helping him out. If he had made a normal entrance all of the people trapped in this world would wonder why someone had suddenly joined knowing the consequences, and more than likely suspect him of being someone possibly associated with the game or that he had even come to save them.

Alaric smiled thankfully for what Hugh did for him. He just wanted to blend in with the current players and enjoy this new world and life without being suspected or mobbed for information about what was happening in the outside world and if anyone was going to save them.

He pulled himself together and took a deep breath and walked out of the side alley into the street. Standing off to the side Alaric opened his inventory before getting started to see what all he had to start with in this world.

Inventory Item Description Amount Bedroll 1 Starter Iron Shortsword 1 All Purpose Knife 1 Cloth Bandage 50 Loaf of White Bread 10 Piece of Flint 2 Kindling Stick 10

Well, it isn’t much to start with, but at least I have food and a bedroll to curl up in at night. That should help me save some of my starting money until I am strong enough to start making enough to comfortably support myself.

When he had clicked on a few items in his inventory he was surprised to see an option to directly sell items to the system for a set price. He figured that it must be a convenient option for Players to sell items at a lesser price than normal. This would save them a long journey back to the starter city from the wilderness.

After he had gone through the short list of items in his inventory, he then opened his status menu to familiarize himself with his stats and skills.

Alaric Brightblade Skills Skill Level Weapon Class Proficiency Acrobatics: 1/25 One Handed: 5% Athletics: 1/25 Two Handed: 0% Blocking: 1/25 Polearm: 0% Equestrian: 1/25 Ranged: 0% First Aid: 1/25 Thrown: 0% Foraging: 1/25 Custom: 0% Pitch Force: 1/25 Custom: 0% Pull Force: 1/25 Stealth: 1/25 Strength: 12 Swing Force: 1/25 Constitution: 12 Defence: 7/7 Intelligence: 3 Health Points: 120/120 Perception: 2 Satiety: 100/100 Agility: 5 Level: One (0%) Charisma: 10 Skill Points: 0 Attribute Points: 0 Currency: Gold: 50 Silver: 50 Copper: 50 Jobs: (NONE) (NONE) (NONE) (NONE) (NONE) Title: (NONE)

Hmm, I wonder what Pitch Force is? I believe that I just have to click on it like this and a description box should pop up.

Pitch Force

This skill determines how far and accurately you can throw a weapon or object.

Strength works together with this skills level to determine damage bonuses of thrown weapons and distance of travel when you release the weapon.

I see this skill affects how far, hard, and accurately I can throw a weapon or even an object like a rock and it seems that my strength will also help determine these factors. Then Pull Force should be similar.

Pull Force

This skill determines your pulling strength applied to objects and your abilities with ranged weapons.

Strength works together with this skill to determine damage bonuses added to Ranged weapons.

It also determines how much weight you can actually pull.

This skill seems to work along with bows, or if I were to pull on something like a rope. If I were to increase my strength it would affect the bow’s distance and damage. He speculated.

Now, this is strange, I distinctly remember reading that players start off with only ten gold, but this says I have fifty gold, fifty silver, and fifty copper on my status menu. Did Hugh change the starting amounts, because everyone was now trapped here? Alaric reflected as he closed his status menu.

Looking at the mini map in the outer corner of his vision Alaric couldn’t make out his current location in the city so he opened up the local map to figure out where he had been teleported.

Ok, so I am down in the south-east part of the city among these yellow roofed buildings. He thought while examining the map.

When he had his bearings, Alaric decided to head north from his position towards the main street. As he traversed the current housing district he examined everything from the houses to the citizens.The people who went in and out of the yellow roofed buildings appeared to be people of lower class from the way they dressed and acted towards one another. He found that most wore clothing of laborers, peasants, and a few were dressed in black with light armor that resembled stereotypical RPG thief class ruffians.

This area of the city must be considered the slums where people will little money or those who wish to avoid attention live. The buildings and streets look well maintained and the streets are clean. I wonder if it is because the game is still new? Most games would make the slums look run down and dirty. If it weren't for the people around me I would never have assumed this was the medieval version of a ghetto. He thought as he continued to walk north while observing his surroundings.

Alaric soon found the main street that ran east and west across the length of the city. The red roofed buildings he spied earlier on his map appeared to be popular shops that lined the main street.

Alaric decided to follow the main street east with no real goal but to explore the city. As he excitedly strolled the streets he found that it was easy to spot the other players around him. For one it appeared all the male players wore the same starting outfit that he currently had on. The outfit they wore had knee high brown soft leather boots with leather string laces, light brown pants that felt like they were designed to be snag and rip resistant, a white long sleeve shirt that laced up half way, and a short sleeve dark brown leather jacket with pockets on the chest and waist. The females wore the same exact outfit but it was tailored to fit a woman’s body providing a more visible display of their assets.

One other thing that made players stand out was the fact that they were all in a state of shock. He found them randomly sprawled out around the city, sitting in the middle of the streets, leaning against buildings, or sleeping wherever they happened to find themselves. Some had blank stares looking off into the distance, while others were in a state of depression or hysterics.

They had all just received the devastating news a few hours ago that they were now trapped inside this virtual world and could no longer return to their lives and loved ones. Alaric felt sorry for many of them when he discovered the state of despair they all openly displayed.

With a long sad sigh, Alaric made up his mind to upgrade his gear and buy some supplies from the surrounding stores.

It seems I can’t stay in this city. I can truly understand why all of these players are so devastated, but it is quite depressing to observe everywhere I go. I want to enjoy myself and start a new life like I planned. I know that it may be a bit selfish, but there is nothing I can do to heal their hearts. Alaric deliberated as he searched out stores.

When he found an armor and weapons shop right next to each other he stopped and entered. The weapons shop had many different types of weapons for sale in varying levels of quality. Even though Alaric had browsed the entire display of weapons and armor it seemed that all of the metal weapons were made of iron. He found the same true for the purchasable armor which was available in cloth, leather, and iron plate at best. It may have been because the world was so new that steel had not been invented yet and any other special type of metals had yet to be discovered.

I know from what I read on the website that the world has some metals and resources that will provide bonuses to weapons, armor, and certain creations, but it seems they have not been made available to the city's craftsmen. Alaric thought while making his selections.

After some browsing, he purchased a low-end set of leather armor, a cheap iron longsword, a wooden short bow, and a quiver filled with arrows. Alaric had sold off his starter short sword to help cover the costs of his new gear to the weapons merchant and stored it all away before leaving the counter. When he stepped out into the streets he opened his inventory and equipped his new leather armor and the iron longsword and his new quiver of arrows.

Now that I have some basic armor and weapons I should find some cookware and food supplies. He whispered to himself as he strode down the street.

Halfway down the block, he came across a store with a sign that read “Trading Post”. He went inside the Trading Post and found that the store was similar to the old general stores that sold a little bit of everything and bought a length of rope, an outdoor iron cookware set, utensils, a metal cup a few assorted containers, a small kit of varied spices, a cheap cooking knife, a pickaxe, a shovel, a pillow, a couple blankets and a wood handled axe. Alaric paid the merchant and stored his purchases into his inventory and left the trading post to continue his shopping.

Spoiler: Updated Inventory. Inventory Item Description Amount Bedroll 1 Starter Iron Shortsword 1 All Purpose Knife 1 Cloth Bandage 50 Loaf of White Bread 10 Piece of Flint 2 Kindling Stick 10 Rope 1 Cast Iron Cookware Set 1 Assorted Container Set 1 Cookware and Silverware Utensils Set 1 Cast Iron Cup 1 Small Spice Kit 1 Cooking Knife 1 Pickaxe 1 Shovel 1 Axe 1 Pillow 1 Blanket 2

When he came across a blacksmith shop after leaving the trading post, he went inside to look around. Alaric discovered that not only did they sell items they crafted but offered lessons for a fee to advance blacksmithing skills. He would need to wait until level ten when he could then chose a job before he could attend lessons, though it was a nice discovery to find for later. The blacksmith shop seemed to also have a side room that catered to the needs of those with the blacksmithing job.

In this room, they sold anvils, hammers, smelting pots, bellows, and a diverse selection of tools. Alaric left the blacksmith making sure to remember the location. He had planned to take up the blacksmithing job at level ten so he could repair and upgrade his weapons and armor. Now that he found a store where he could purchase everything he may need he would now have to finish his shopping and get out there and level up.

A few stores down from the blacksmith on the opposite side of the street he found a store sign that read “Apothecary medicines and potions” written on it hung above the entrance. Alaric curiously crossed the street and entered the store. Inside the store, he saw shelves lining the walls with containers filled with various herbs, flowers, and dried animal parts. He somehow felt as if he had just entered a witch’s brewing room.

The store displayed medicines, balms, salves, and potions for many ailments. Since he had a good amount of money left he purchased some healing salves and a few decent healing potions.

This world did not have any magic so if he were to become injured he would need to use his bandages along with his first aid skill or find other means to quickly heal himself. Alaric decided to buy a few salves and potions to test out on his injuries. Alaric knew that using bandages with the first aid skill at a low level would take a good amount of time to heal his wounds. He was hoping to find a way to quickly heal his injuries until he was able to level up his First Aid skill with these salves and potions.

When Alaric had finally reached the center of town he found an enormous open decoratively paved plaza. In the center of the city plaza was a market with rows of vendor stalls selling just about anything you could want. In among all of these vendors, Alaric saw a platform that stood roughly fifteen feet off the ground that was flanked on either side by a staircase.

So that must be the [World Gate] I read about that everyone spawns into the world from. Alaric thought.

Alaric walked through the plaza market and found a farmer selling vegetables, eggs, and milk amongst the stalls. He stopped and purchased a few vegetables, a small container of milk, and a couple dozen eggs from the farmer and bought cooking oil and a couple pounds of beef cuts from a butcher. A vendor in the stall next to the butcher had bags of flour that he stopped at to buy a couple bags from for cooking with.

This should be enough to keep me going out in the wilderness. I can always return to restock if I run low or forget anything. That reminds me, I should use that Mark Location option while I am in the city. Then I can always fast travel back here to shop or sell. He pondered.

Alaric walked south toward a row of large teal color roofed buildings and used [Mark Location] marking his location next to the building. As he went through the options he found that it was possible to set more than just one Mark by changing the name of the each Marked Location way point on his map, he could mark up to five different locations.

This is different from what I read online, just like my increased funds. I remember it stating players would have a [Mark Location] and [Return] option, but it never said anything about setting multiple locations. Even when Hugh has shown me this option earlier, I don't remember him saying anything about being able to set this many marked way points. Alaric contemplated these changes as he closed out his menus.

When he reviewed his local map once again he noticed that the city was located on a peninsula. The city was surrounded by water and only the southern route seemed to lead out to the mainland.

Alaric closed the local map and walked down the main street that ran from north to south until he entered a gate house with a portcullis and drawbridge that extended out across a moat that encompassed the city walls.

Alaric double checked his armor and weapons and then began his trek along the southern route in search of decent hunting grounds.