There’s a first time for everything. Whether it be as simple as riding a bike or as complex as making a relationship, there’s always a first. Sometimes it feels natural, other times strange. Virtual reality is a strange thing, but to be thrown headfirst into it when it’s three o’clock in the morning is quite a bit stranger.

Zack, eyes drooping and lips falling into a bit of a frown, pulled on the goggles, adjusted them, and then snatched up the controller to play. Ever since college had started, he hadn’t been much of an avid gamer, but this had been so critically acclaimed that he just had to try it, whether it be for a few minutes or a few hours. Plus, he needed something to lose himself in, as lounging about doing nothing for hours wasn’t quite healthy. Not like video games were, but it was at least better.

As the screen brightened, Zack couldn’t help but slip a hand under his goggles to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to stay up so late when he had so much to do tomorrow. Then again, sleep was a hard thing to come by these days. The loading screen disappeared, replaced with a bustling town filled to the brim with players and shops alike. It took him almost a whole minute to even take in the graphics, let alone all the people walking around, each one different from the next. The town itself – Mac Anu, as the instruction manual called it – seemed as alive as ever. Things sure have evolved in five years, he thought. There was no denying that ‘The World’ was the best and most popular MMORPG around.

Yet where did he begin? There was so much he could do; yet with all this activity his mind kept on changing. He could head to a dungeon and try to increase his level, he could try to buy some equipment, or maybe he could try and contact that Adrya person he had planned to go to a dungeon with. Trying to contest her first sounds like a good idea. Since we’re both new, things might work out –

Ven’s thoughts were cut off as he saw a group of players whispering to each other and pointing a finger at him. Just point the analogue stick forward and move away. Before Zack could even press his thumb onto the stick, though, he found a man from the group in front of him. It was a little funny, as the man was a few inches smaller than him, but it still had him freaked since there were a few others lingering around him.

“You new here?” the man asked.

It alarmed him a bit to hear the man’s deep, rock hard voice, but Ven didn’t show it. After all, he didn’t exactly have to since it was just a game. “I don’t need any help, but thanks anyways,” he replied calmly, but when he moved away the man stood in his way. Despite Ven’s cold look, the man didn’t seem inclined to step aside.

“I’m part of the tutorial, though! We help new players all the time!” The man smiled widely, but Ven could tell it was just a lie. The player looked from side to side in search of an escape, but he found that there were people on all sides. There was a player eyeing him, though, with silver hair that drifted down around his shoulder blades. He didn’t have much time to catch anything else, but the silver-haired player did mouth something that looked like ‘run’ before he disappeared behind another player.

Once again Ven looked around, his mind racing for an escape plan until he saw the man’s legs that were partly open. Here’s hoping I can remember the controls, the Heavy Axeman thought. With that thought, he sprinted forward and as the man prepared to grab hold of him, he slid forward in between his legs. Then he was off, running through the crowd as fast as he could, shoving past everybody while looking around for a good place to hide.

Ven stopped in the middle of the crowd and looked around quickly before setting off down an alley. Already he could hear voices behind him, followed by the appearance of someone on the other end of the alley. Without thinking he grabbed hold of a ladder and clambered up, aware of the players chasing him. Once he was on the top, he found almost instantly that there was nowhere to go. Think, think, think! The Heavy Axeman ran to the edge and looked down. Could he risk jumping into the crowd? No, that was suicidal. The river was too far away and fighting them was definitely not an option.

A caravan moved through the streets, pulled by a plump NPC. There was no thought that went along with jumping off the roof in the direction of it, but simply the crazy idea that he could somehow lose the players that wanted so much to pester him because he was new to the game.

It took only a second for him to hit the caravan. There was a loud crack as the wood split in two under his weight. His character had survived, though, and all Ven could do was get up and dash from the scene as the NPC yelled about his ‘beloved tacos.’ Lucky for him, the guy didn’t give chase, but he was aware that they were still after him. It was only when he rounded the corner that he realized jumping off had only delayed the inevitable. A woman was leaning against the wall and with a swing of her spear, Ven was down for the count.



A few minutes later he found himself floating in the river, staring up at the sun that hovered above. It hadn’t been as bad as he thought, but it was still annoying. He couldn’t do a simple thing about it. I feel like I’m in Kindergarten, Ven thought as he pushed himself out of the river and shook the water out of his hair. There were a few people that were looking in his direction, but once he had moved on he found that he was another one of the spectators. Once he had found his place on the bridge, the group was already chasing another player, who instead was tied upside down from one of the building tops.

Well, on to business now that that’s done. After fiddling with the menu for a bit, he sent a short flash-mail to Adrya so that they could meet up at the bridge. It was definitely less crowded than the streets.

OOC: I will not be receiving rewards for this quest! I have a solo called The Childhood Chronicles Part 1 that I will be receiving for instead.

“Untie that duck...”

A Wavemaster (or as she would prefer to be called, Wavemistress) was laying on a small mound in a field asleep, her body spread out and her eyes closed. In the real world, Bethany sat at her computer desk in her room, her head bobbing back and forth with her visor on. It slid down her face inch by inch from her wobbling, and her body heavily waved back and forth, threatening to fall out of the chair any moment. However, none of this was a concern to her considering she was in the middle of a rather entertaining dream to say the least. Her scolding of individuals tying a duck by its feet upset her slightly, but the circumstances of the dream along with the animated existence of the characters seemed to lighten the overall mood.

Then, a chime rang loud in her ear, causing the girl to jump and fall out of the chair. She grunted as her body met the hardwood floor of her room, knocking the wind out of her. At least it guaranteed her to be awake and aware though. Climbing back into her small chair she groggily looked to the time on the small clock on her desk, noticing that it was now close to midnight for her. Blinking a few times, she looked to her screen with blurry eyes to see that she had received a message. Rubbing her eyes, her vision cleared and she read it. It said:

She stared for a moment, letting the message slowly register in her mind. Her eyes then widened as Bethany finally understood the mail.

“Oh yeah. Ven.”

The Wavemistress sat up, stretching her stiffened body from laying down for so long and then stood. Running a hand down her garbs she dusted off the blades of grass that stuck to her. Her time here on the field was extremely uneventful, considering that there were barely any portals to activate. That didn't matter to her however, since she wasn't quite ready to take on this game on her own. Her coming here was more for the sake of wasting time until she was to meet the player that accepted her invite into a field. However, when it came to deciding on a field Adrya was lacking any ideas. She was hoping he was a little more familiar with the game than she was.

Finally feeling it was time to head back, Adrya gated out with Mac Anu as her new destination.

When the girl arrived at the root town she gasped at the amount of people littering the streets. She jumped and leaned from side to side, avoiding the bustling people as they made their way to shops or to other players they were to be meeting.

“Out of the way, please!”

Adrya jumped as she stepped to the side, two Long Arms brushing passed her and towards the Chaos Gate. She watched them as they made their way, a male and female, and as they stopped the discussed thought about a field to go to. The two of them looked over to her, the female Long Arm raising a questioning eyebrow. Adrya blushed as she realized she was staring and then spun on her heels and away from the two.

Walking slowly down the stairs she gripped her staff tightly as if it were a shield from the chaotic city. Looking around she began to feel a little stressed. It was so massive; she had no idea where to go. Adrya thought about asking for help, but every time she tried to stop someone they ignored her or didn't hear her.

A pout slid along her face as she realized that the reason that she was most likely being ignored was for her low level. A level one was barely noticed unless another low level came to their aid, or at least she thought. As she continued to pout and think about the unfair treatment of low level characters, she looked over to see a crowd of people pointing and laughing. Moving forward to get a better view of the happenings of Mac Anu, Adrya realized that taking another step would be unwise. The proof to her assumption would be a player hanging upside down from a building. She really doubted that he was enjoying himself.

Better to stay away from there I suppose, unless it's some weird game they all like to play together. Either way, I'n not touching it.

She shrugged to herself as she walked down the stairs from the Chaos Gate and then merged into the large crowd, walking with the flow of people as they made their way through the streets like a river's current. It was a struggle to break away from the current of people, but finally getting through she walked onto the bridge and looked around. Spotting a heavy axe standing to the side she walked to him, gripping her wand tightly. She began to feel nervous. They would soon be going to a field, and this would be her first time. She wondered if this was his first trip as well, and if that was the case it would make her feel a little better. She didn't want to hold him back.

Stopping to the side of him, she stared for a moment and blinked a few times. Finally she asked: “Are you Ven? I hope you are or else I'll feel really stupid for walking up to a total straaaaangerrr!” She grinned, her blue eyes lighting up cheerfully.

EDIT: Added more to the post.

There was something very rhythmic about listening to the water flowing down the river. If he closed his eyes, it felt as if he were actually standing by a real one. Behind the goggles, Zack’s eyes started to droop a little as he remembered the fact that he still hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. If she didn’t show up soon, he’d have to get going…

Ven looked down at the waters and at an NPC rowing one of the canoes down the river. Everything in ‘The World’ was so lush with detail that it was hard to believe he wasn’t in the real world. He could move just about every limb in his character’s body without trouble, even! If he wanted to slap someone, he could do just that, or if he wanted to scratch the back of his head, he could do just that. I’ll never get used to virtual reality, Ven thought idly as he sat himself on the bridge’s railing. I guess gaming has moved on since High School.

A voice from behind broke his train of thought and shook him awake. It was unmistakably a girl’s voice, probably in her mid-teens. She seemed rather cheerful and upon turning and setting his feet back on the ground, he found that it was undoubtedly the person he had met on the board. Ven simply nodded at her question, forcing a smile. “Yeah, that’s me. And you must be Adrya?” He held out a hand for her to shake. “It’s nice to meet you!”

Despite trying to act cheerful in the situation, Ven couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. In most games, you could converse by text or if you had a microphone, but in here it felt as if he was meeting up with a living, breathing person. Just by looking at her character design, he could tell that she was still in High School, or at least that’s what it seemed like with the short skirt and knee-high boots. She also seemed rather tall, around where his height was. Let’s just hope she fares well on the field of battle, he told himself as he pulled his hand away.

“Well, now that introductions are over with, you want to sit and talk or shall we just head to the field? I’m itching to test out this axe of mine, but if you want to do other things first, I’m fine with that.”

“Yeap, that's me, Adrya! Its nice to meet you too!” She said as he gripped his hand in hers, shaking lightly. Taking in the image of the Heavy Axeman was somewhat of a shock to her, considering his image did anything but match the typical heavy class. His clothing was the exact opposite of what she was expecting. While wandering around Mac Anu for the past few days she had noticed that the majority of axe wielders she had seen were clothed in thick, oversized armor, their tlarge builds along with the attire slowing them down in their movements and making them look, well, ridiculous. It would drive her crazy to have her movement limited like they did. He, however, had easy, light clothing, giving him a more practical appearance. At least he would be able to move in the field, making him far more useful in her eyes instead of the typical axeman. That pleased her.

There was a silence that took hold of the area for a moment, and Adrya began to feel slightly tense. Rocking on the balls of her feet she looked around the town before being brought back by Ven's voice.

“Well, now that introductions are over with, you want to sit and talk or shall we just head to the field? I’m itching to test out this axe of mine, but if you want to do other things first, I’m fine with that.”

She thought about her options, wondering if maybe looking through the shops would be a good idea before they headed out. During her short time in the game she had failed to pick up any items, for all she did was wander about either the root town or extremely low level fields just to get a glimpse of the expansive game. What if they ran into trouble out in the field because Adrya failed to purchase any medicinal items, or booster items? What if she ran out of SP and therefore couldn't cast any spells? What if she got separated from her partner? What if she died, or worse, he died and she had no way to revive him? A cold sweat wrapped itself around the wavemistress from the uncomfortable thoughts that snuck their way into her brain. Failure was the last thing she wanted riding on her shoulders. She bit her lip, looking around the town nervously. The streets were still crowded and people were still flooding into the shops. If she went to go shopping now she would surely push them back even later than what they were. What time is it where he is?

“Um, let's not worry about anything here,” she said looking back to Ven, “I think we should just get this thing on the roll. I hope you didn't wait here long for me to arrive. Sorry if you did!” She smiled as she pointed her rod in the direction of the chaos gate. With the most cheerful voice she could give she asked “Shall we go?”

She began walking down the bridge and back towards the immensely populated city. It made her nervous, really, to see this many people about the server. Making sure she was close to Ven the entire time, she desperately tried to think of something to say. Small talk would suffice for now, but it was just a matter of finding something to discuss. In the real world there would be no problem when it came to making friends and having a nice conversation, but here for some reason was a bit more difficult. Why though, she had no idea.

“Um...so where are you from? How old are you?”

She mentally kicked herself for asking such a juvenile question. What if he didn't want to give out that information? Would Adrya drive him away? Would he become annoyed with her? She ran a hand through her hair.

Needless to say, Adrya was a little high strung this evening. Possibly from the lack of sleep. Too bad she had school in the morning...

“If you don't want to answer those questions I can completely understand,” she held tightly onto her wand, “Keeping those things private is a good thing, I guess.” The chaos gate was straight ahead, the image sparking a thought in her head. Those keywords she had picked out the day before! What were they? Furrowing her brow she began to quickly run through her thoughts, seeing if she could remember even one word of the chain. What were they?

Boundless Eternal White Devil!

“I picked a level three field.” She said, looking to Ven under her shaggy bangs. “I hope that's okay. I kind of wanted a challenge, but hopefully this won't be too bad.” Looking to the Chaos Gate, she remembered her words once more before speaking them.

“Boundless Eternal White Devil.”

The Chaos Gate began to dissipate, wrapping a golden aura around the players before warping them out of the root town and into the field.

[OOC: Its a level three snow field, at night, with many buildings... At least I think so! I was never good with Keywords. XD If you want anything about the field changed, please tell me and I'll edit it.]

Thankfully, Adrya seemed ready to head to the field. Whether or not she had shopped for items beforehand was beyond him, but he had the feeling they wouldn’t have much trouble. If he had to use a few healing items, that was fine, and if he didn’t that was even better! It was their first outing after all, and he was quite sure monsters would be a breeze early on.

Ven set off with the Wavemistress back into the midst of the crowds, having to shoulder past most of the players. It wasn’t very dense, but people were constantly moving around and it wasn’t like you could move right through them. Adding to the realism wasn’t exactly the greatest idea in this situation, but it took only a little less than a minute to make it through the bustling crowd of players. Adrya stood close by his side and as the two walked up the stairs to the Chaos Gate, she made an attempt to initiate conversation. He couldn’t blame her either. It would be rather boring to simply fight monsters endlessly without conversing about anything. Ven found it a little strange that she’d first ask about his personal life rather than the field they were headed to, though.

She seemed rather polite about it, though, as she didn’t exactly demand him to answer or anything. Adrya seemed to be okay with him not answering, too, although in his head it seemed like a good idea to share at least a bit of information so they could become better acquainted. I’m at least five years older than her, though. Would that weird her out? I’m kind of an adult and she’s still kind of a teenager… He simply scratched the back of his head and laughed as they walked up to the Chaos Gate. “Nah, that’s fine, although I think it’d be better that we talked in the field rather than out in the open when two dozen people can hear me talking about my personal life.”

After all, who knew what kind of people were lurking around in these parts? Most of the people were obviously here to have a good time, but there were obviously people here that weren’t exactly hanging around in ‘The World’ for a fun time…

Ven shook the thought out of his head and stepped beside Adrya in front of the Chaos Gate. In the instruction manual it had explained that this was used to transport players to the field. From there they fought monsters that came from portals until they reached the dungeon. Waiting at the bottom was a treasure chest full of goods, but that was only if they made it past all the monsters. Sounds simple enough.

Adrya had picked a level three field, which meant they might have to work a little harder, but he didn’t care much. They had a Wavemaster and a Heavy Axeman, meaning they had both powerful physical and magical attacks. That definitely meant something good, right? Let’s hope so. Three golden rings wrapped around his character, who dematerialized in an instant. There was a loading screen for a few seconds before the field was revealed.

All the bustling activity and talking from Mac Anu was gone, replaced with utter silence except for his character’s steady breathing pattern. Ven looked around, examining his surroundings. The field was like an endless plain with broken buildings buried under snow and bare, dead trees. The sky was covered by a dense fog that showered snowflakes on him, making his character cave a shiver. After all, he hadn’t dressed warmly. Ven was dressed lightly enough that he wouldn’t be surprised if he came back to Mac Anu with frostbite. Maybe the dungeon was a little warmer?

He stretched his arms and gave a long yawn before turning to Adrya. “Well, let’s get going. The monsters aren’t going to kill themselves!” With that said Ven took off in no particular direction, his boots sinking a few inches into the snow with every step he made. As he walked, he turned the questions she had asked over. What would he tell her? What was important and what wasn’t? The basics seemed like the only thing that would interest her, or so he thought.

“And since you asked nicely,” he said, turning his head a little, “I’ll answer your questions. Not much to really say, though. I’m twenty-three, I’m in college, and I live on the west coast.” He winked at her. “I think that’s all you’re going to get from me unless you want something as basic as my hair color, which I’m sure you could care less about. Now you tell me a little bit about yourself. Right now you’re still a bit of a stranger to me.”

It wasn’t long before he caught a faint glimmer of light to the right of him and after examining it he realized that the source of the light was actually a portal containing monsters. “Huh…interesting design,” he muttered to himself. Ven turned to Adrya, smiling. “Well there’s our first fight. I take it you’re ready?”

Whether or not she was, he didn’t know, but he sure knew he was. Adrya wouldn’t have to jump in and match blades with anybody, so it certainly couldn’t be too hard. He, on the other hand, would have to fight however many monsters appeared with his axe. Well, it is the strongest weapon, so I shouldn’t have too much trouble wiping the floor with these guys. As Ven stepped up to activate the portal, though, he simply scowled as two moth-like monsters materialized along with another one carrying a sword. Three against two was definitely not what he had been expecting for his first battle.

The Heavy Axeman reached back and pulled out his axe, gripping each end of the handle with one hand. Ven had never handled anything of the sort, nor had he expected to actually be able to handle almost every movement… The monster carrying the sword charged, violet-colored armor clanging as he went. Holding up his axe, the Heavy Axeman sprinted forward and spun, bringing his axe around and smashing the monster in the side, making a large dent in the armor. Bringing his arm up so both gripped the very end of his axe, he brought it around the other end and yelled, “Triple Wield!”

The player’s axe cut through the armor and crimson liquid splashed against the snow. The monster let out a yelp of pain, but it still hadn’t finished with him. His axe might’ve sliced through its armor and brought its hit points down to single digits, but the monster could still stick a sword through his ribs. And that’s just what it did. In one quick motion, it knocked him back with his shield and brought its blade into its rib cage, tearing through bone and splattering Ven’s own blood across the snow. Just seeing it made him wince, but he still had the energy to pull his axe up and finish off the monster with a short swing.

His victory was short-winded, though, as he found there were still more to deal with. They weren’t quite as lethal as the last monster, but their hit points were twice as high and they were quite a bit higher to reach. Ven looked up at the moth approaching and readied his axe, bringing it around and waiting until it was close before he swung up, only to find that it merely skimmed off the moth’s wings. The thought crossed his mind that he should’ve been trying to protect Adrya rather than fighting off this monster, but part of him felt that with her magic, it wouldn’t be too hard to take down a single monster, even if it was a level higher than him.

The moth swung the lower half of its body towards him, sending him staggering back. He didn’t have enough spell points for a skill either, so that meant he’d just have to keep attacking until Adrya could help. If she isn’t dead, that is. So much for wiping the floor with the monsters…

[OOC: Nah, it's all good. ^_^]

The two had arrived in the field, the bustling noise of Mac Anu now faded away only to be replaced by utter silence. It was a haunting image really; the night swallowed the plain in its darkness, the faint moonlight shining through the thick fog above them. Snowflakes fell from the sky, landing gently on her skin and clothing. The air was frosty and sharp, sending a chill down her spine. Looking outward she saw the buildings that were broken down and buried deep within mounds of snow. Seeing places like this always sparked Adrya's imagination. She wondered what it would be like inside these buildings. Would there be remnants of their past lives inside their walls, giving you small hints of who occupied those spaces at what time.

This is just a game. There would be nothing inside of them. I doubt I would even be able to get inside anyways. This game is too real.

Adrya jumped as she heard Ven's voice leak into her thoughts. He had mentioned moving forward, stating the obvious fact that the monsters wouldn't be killing themselves any time soon.

Nodding, the girl stammered “R-right!”

As they walked down the mounds of snow, she could feel her legs sink into the pile of ice. At this point in time she was glad she was wearing her boots, seeing as how they were managing to block out some of the cold. She still felt a small chill run through her legs, but it was far more tolerable than what she felt on her arms and face. If there was one thing Adrya hated, it was being cold. She would much rather sweat than shiver, any day. However, she was the one who chose this field, so she held any complaints that she may have had in, sparing Ven the aggravation. The thought made her laugh nervously to herself.

“And since you asked nicely,” he said after a short pause, “I’ll answer your questions. Not much to really say, though. I’m twenty-three, I’m in college, and I live on the west coast.” He winked at her. “I think that’s all you’re going to get from me unless you want something as basic as my hair color, which I’m sure you could care less about. Now you tell me a little bit about yourself. Right now you’re still a bit of a stranger to me.”

Adrya gave a small grin as she wrapped her arms around her body, and as she was about to give information about herself she stopped as she saw her partner's eye catch something in the distance. Looking in the same direction she saw the golden shimmer of a portal. A knot formed in her stomach, and it lurched upwards in nervous anticipation. This would be her first battle! Scared that it would end in utter failure, Adrya mumbled a small prayer of success to herself before taking off behind Ven. He was already down the hill and confronting a strange creature wielding a sword. She stopped and stayed behind, watching as he swung his massive axe into the armored monster. It was a powerful hit, sending the creature off to the side from the impact. Unfortunately the attack didn't finish off the monster, leaving an opportunity open for the monster to make an attack. It's blade went into Ven's chest, causing a thick line of blood to drop and stain the white snow. The Wavemistress squeaked as she gathered her thoughts, making her way towards the Heavy Axeman.

“Hang on, Ven!”

As she made her way towards her partner she grunted as she suddenly came to a halt, stopped by the two moths that had exited the portal as well. The two creatures were now posing as an obstacle for the girl, blocking her from getting to Ven.

“Get out of my way! Gan Don!” From beneath the snow rose a mass of earth, circling around the creatures. It hit the two moths, the creatures letting out a strangled cry as they were hit. The spell seemed to hit the moth closest to her the most, only scratching the other who was to the side.

Taking the time to run around the moths as they were being attacked by the earth spell she ran towards Ven.

“Repth!” She called, a wave of energy washing over the axeman quickly. She watched, trying to see if he healed at least somewhat, but her lack of attention caused her to be hit from the side, the source being a moth's wing.

This is rather pathetic. Maybe I should have picked a simpler field...

“Juk Rom!”

A large gathering of wood rose from the ground, wrapping around the moth that had assaulted her. That seemed to be the end of the moth, a sigh of relief washing over her as she saw her spell had taken out the weaker of the two. However, she was now faced with a new problem. She was out of SP, leaving her useless. She could use her wand as a weapon, but she knew it would cause little to no damage when it came to the enemies.

“I'm out of SP. I need a minute to gain it back!” She called, her statement more as an alert than anything else. Communication was a much needed thing when it came to teamwork. She just wasn't sure what she would do while she was waiting. There were still two monsters left in the field, and without her magic she would be little to no help. She ran back, getting out of the way of the clash, waiting for her SP to replenish itself. She just hoped Ven had enough HP to at least get rid of the sword wielding monster.

OOC: 30 SP used

Ven: +500EXP, +1 Health Drink, +1 Mage's Soul

I like where you were going with it. Let's build some momentum. I'd like to see an active Heavy Axeman. You might be the first one since Darkstar. Hahaha