Soulcatcher

by Sergey Zaytsev

  "Guys, these are fairies!" Foxy blurted excitedly, looking at the dwellers of the bushes with wide eyes.

  "Yeah," I happily confirmed. "Buck naked ones, too."

  Buzzing quietly with their transparent dragonfly wings, the tiny winged girls, the size of my palm, fluttered among the branches. Their bodies glowed from the inside with an amber luminescence. Their figures, although miniature, were extremely seductive and every proportion perfectly shaped.

  "Had enough admiring?" chimed a nearby, low voice.

  A tall male silhouette stepped from a lateral offshoot onto the path.

  Two little fairies, obeying the wave of his hand and a flick of his fingers, immediately left the cozy thicket. They soared higher and hung above the stranger's broad shoulders.

  His appearance resembled that of a typical starter-level mage.

  His jacket and trousers were made of coarse grey fabric and his pant legs were tucked into knee-high leather boots. A bag was strapped over his left shoulder and an intricate pommel, made out of polished steel stylized into a solar disk with nine short rays, stuck out from behind his right. A wide-brimmed straw hat adorned his head. A wide belt, bearing both a short-sheathed dagger and a gleaming metal flask, encircled his waist.

  The beating of wings intensified, and the feminine bodies flared brighter, illuminating the young, bearded face of the stranger. His eyes flashed cheerfully. He smiled benevolently and introduced himself.

  "Call me Grant. Follow me, I'll show you to the inn."

  He turned and confidently stepped into the darkness. The little fairies followed him, lighting the way.

  Chapter 2

  "A useful contact"

  Having invited the three of us to later drop downstairs for an introduction into the local way of life, Grant left us at the inn's counter. Before leaving, he informed us that the administrator behind the counter was called Turcan. The thing was, we were yet to see the information interface. Despite everything that I had seen so far, this made me doubt that we are in a game,.

  The administrator, a rosy-cheeked, fat man dressed in a brown suede jacket, diligently handed each of us a backpack with personal belongings and pointed us towards unoccupied rooms. My room was on the first floor, at the end of a short corridor. There was nothing special inside of it; a bed, a clothes hanger, a sink, and a shower. Having thrown the backpack onto the bed, I went downstairs and joined our guide. There were no other newcomers besides Grant and me. Four mugs, filled to the brim with a foaming beverage, stood on the table in front of our guide. The mage had accounted for everyone.

  I had a look around before sitting down at the table. The inn was a pleasant place. The small room was decorated with panels of lightwood and looked as if it was shrouded in cozy twilight. The wall lamps glowed with a warm, yellowish light, barely illuminating the oaken tables arranged around the hall in a creative chaos.

  I always did love quiet moments like these.

  "Sandbox", being a "sandbox", didn't have many players in it, as they tended to level up very quickly. Players would run off into the "big world" full of opportunities for progress and newfound dangers, the moment they learned the game's basics. After all, adrenaline junkies were attracted to danger that could only be felt through near death experience.

  Since I was in no hurry, I had a better look at Grant.

  The man was tall, a bit taller than me, and broad-shouldered. He had a narrow and elongated face that seemed somewhat stern with a large and very prominent eagle nose, heavy superciliary arches, and a thick beard like a leshy[1]. However, it was neatly trimmed. He took care of his appearance. I had a feeling that his sternness was just a ruse. Grant smiled, showing off his snow-white teeth, and his eyes, dark and mysterious, filled up with dancing light. He smiled quite often. He had leaned his magic staff against the wall and was using it to hang his hat.

  I did not know why Foxy and Pops had changed their minds and decided to stay in their rooms. I found it hard to believe that they were already sharing one bed. They clearly didn't have enough time to form such a "close" relationship. I couldn't understand resting either. We had just "woken up", why sleep now?! So what if it was night outside? I wasn't feeling sleepy at all. I was looking for a way to blow off some steam. Why not spend one's time usefully and learn as much as possible about the upcoming game world?

  The beer Grant ordered was a good one; dark, fragrant, with luminous sparks dancing in the amber liquid, like those cute fairies from the garden near the "Replicator". Apparently, the beer was not a cheap brand. The only free thing here was probably the cheese in the mousetraps. Grant definitely needed something from me. Well, maybe not specifically from me. I was still, after all, a nobody in this game. However, for some reason, he needed something from a beginner. Therefore, some discretion wouldn't hurt.

  "Well, I see that your friends aren't in a rush, and time is passing," Grant sighed. The liquid in his stein was barely covering the bottom. "I'll tell you what's what and you decide if you'll go with me or not."

  "With you?" My ears perked up. I put my mug down. "Where to?"

  He grinned enigmatically. "First, some info. The briefing you had at the 'Replicator' was probably short, wasn't it?"

  "Spot on." I nodded. "'Ears' fed us some bullshit and then kicked us out."

  Grant let out a low snort.

  "Well, at least he introduced himself for a change. He usually skips that part."

  "How so?" I raised my eyebrows, puzzled. "That's his real nickname?"

  "Yeah. Did you think he was kidding?"

  "Actually, I gave him that nickname. Did I hit the bullseye?"

  "That bastard," Grant laughed softly. "Listen up. The implant that connects the player to the game's interface is built into the brain of the avatar, making everything intuitively clear and easy to figure out. Wait, do you even know what I'm talking about? What do you remember about games?"

  I instinctively rubbed my forehead. Good question. What did I remember about games? I went over the info that popped up in my mind. Branched trees of endless quests, killing mobs until your vision blurs, studying talents and skills until you lose your mind, crafting systems that bore you to tears but gradually become profitable... In general, a multitude of ways to have fun and waste both your free and not so free time.

  It turned out that I said all of that out loud.

  "That's right," Grant nodded approvingly. "Well, I'm glad that you remember something at least. Some newbies are so dense that you might as well not even bother! You have to explain every damn detail to the witless twits. Alright, now you just need to say to yourself: 'Activate the interface'."

  I readily followed his advice. A semi-transparent page with my stats immediately unfolded in front of me.

  Player: Wisecracker

  Level 1

  Race: human

  Experience: 0/1000

  Basic stats

  HP: 100/100

  Mana: 50/50

  Energy: 50/50

  Defense: 0

  Strength: 10

  Dexterity: 10

  Intelligence: 10

  Wisdom: 10

  Endurance: 10

  Underneath that was a list of other minor stuff like: dodge; parry; critical strike power and chance; HP, mana, and energy regeneration per second; and so on...

  Well, I expected something like this from a game world. I had some unallocated points. I liked planning how many points to invest into which skill but I didn't even know where to spend them yet. I didn't even have a class or a specialization! Very unusual. The three available lives, opposed to an infinite number of resurrections, were even more unusual. It all felt a little uncomfortable. I will have to figure it out as I go. A single line of text in the category "Permanent Effects" attracted my attention.

  "Shield of a Novice"

  A protective aura that absorbs 90% of incoming physical and magical damage and distributes the remaining 10% over the entire body area.

  Clenching my mug, I let out an
involuntary whistle.

  A cool effect, to say the least. Dying should be hard with such a powerful starting defense effect. That is, unless you were a total idiot. Though, Ears must have had a reason to mention danger. What would a game be without some serious trials, after all? A little bit of danger was needed in order to prompt the players to progress. However, the danger, at least at the beginning, shouldn't be life threatening. So, onwards to increasing stats, skills and leveling up. I had no idea how the leveling mechanism would look like on a physical avatar, but I was interested in finding that out. The most important thing was not to let your guard down and put all hopes into this miraculous defensive skill.

  In all honesty, my head was full of questions about the game. I didn't know which one to ask first. How was all of this compatible? Was this a physical world with virtual conventions? What happenes when a player runs out of lives? Does their consciousness simply return home into its real body (and where was this home that I had no memory of)? What would happen if I died before leveling up and without getting a chance to pass on my knowledge? Would a hefty piece of life disappear into oblivion? That would be a pity, really.

  "You like the 'Shield', don't you?" Grant smirked understandingly into his beard, correctly interpreting my reaction. "By the way, guess why it doesn't block the damage fully."

  "Pain provides a good incentive for learning, doesn't it?" I said with a slight grin.

  "Exactly. Absolute protection does not teach caution. However, exposing newbies to the risk of premature death would be counterproductive."

  I looked at Grant's stats. However, nothing came up except for his name, level (7), race (human) and class (mage). I wasn't sure was the info hidden because of the difference in our levels, me not being in his "friends" list or something else. That was ok, though. I expected to find out everything eventually. "Grant, I see you're level seven already. How much damage does your 'Shield of a Novice' absorb?"

  "Only thirty percent," nodded the bearded man, pleased with my wit. "And that's nothing. Quite bearable. The aura will disappear once you reach level ten. Everything after that depends on your progress."

  "Rough. How does it work, though?"

  "As far as I know, a special energy cell, charged by the host, is built into the bodies of avatars. The more tired you get, the weaker the shield becomes. I tested it myself, so I know what I'm talking about."

  "Ah-ha. So you need to save your strength and avoid fatigue. Listen, Grant, why are all the stats so...suspiciously mediocre?"

  "Default. Newbies being, well newbies, usually invest all of their points into one stat and forget all the others. Therefore, to prevent all this nonsense, we are given ten new points each level. The system evenly distributes five of them, leaving the other five to us. You also get skill and save points on each new level. You receive one skill point for every even numbered level, and two points for every odd numbered level. You get ten save points every time you level up. Gather a hundred and you will get an extra save. Not a simple task. However, some quests will give you save points."

  "Ah, well, then it's fine. I thought that the system would do everything for me. That wouldn't be fun. Extra lives are good news, too." I ran a quick calculation in my head. "So I'll have thirteen skill points at level ten? Will that be enough?"

  "More than enough," Grant assured me. "Skills are not static; their ranks can be increased through practice, so these points are a starting bonus to your overall development."

  Although the interface was translucent, the network of windows in front of me was confusing. I had to focus in order to make sense of things. After experimenting a little, I mentally shuffled the windows in a way that seemed comfortable, closing those with unnecessary info. I could reopen them if needed. The following windows remained: map, still empty; inventory; HP, mana, energy and experience bars, four thin strips welded into one block; and the window with active skills, which was suspiciously empty. I also left the battle log opened. It'll be useful to watch it and get a sense of the game's mechanics. I would turn if off once I had everything figured out.

  "Speaking of skills. What do you need to do to get them? Go to a class trainer? Does he live around here somewhere?"

  "It's much simpler than that. You only need visit the 'Training Grounds'." Seeing doubt on my face, Grant added, "as soon as the first combat-type action is completed, the system will automatically assign you a suitable spec to level up. This will depend on your psychological characteristics."

  "Sounds fun. Wait, I have to enter combat to figure that out?!"

  "It's going to get even more fun," Grant consoled me. "At such a low level, your basic game stats have little effect even though they apply automatically. Everything depends entirely on you and on how clever, cunning and prudent you can be. But later on, as you level up, starting from level ten, the effects of in-game abilities will increase significantly," Grant said, putting an emphasis on "significantly". "But, for now, there's hardly any threat to you."

  "Where can I get weapons? Who can I ask for one?"

  "You already have a weapon. It's in your backpack." Grant gave me a wide, white-toothed smile. "And now we finally come to the main point. You should get yourself a mentor if you want to avoid the standard beginning difficulties and not waste one of your lives."

  Player Grant offers his mentorship.

  Accept: yes / no?

  "No need to rush," he warned, raising his hand, "I'll explain what a mentorship is."

  Not that I was in a hurry. No gift should be taken for granted, even when it came from a person named Grant. Ha-ha, a pun. Even so, I eagerly absorbed all of the info he gave me. Information was everything in this world. I finished the beer in one gulp and put the mug on the countertop with a loud knock. Foxy and Pops seemed in no hurry to join us. Grant and I exchanged understanding glances, and picked up the untouched mugs. Their own fault for being late. Beer shouldn't be wasted.

  "Here's how this works," Grant said, wiping the foam from his lips with the back of his hand. "Any player can, after level five, take a level one newbie under his patronage. The mentor's role is to enlighten the newbie, explain nuances and help with quests. For this, the mentor gets extra experience, which is, as you may have guessed, a good thing to have. Just yesterday, my mentor, Stinger, left this location. Therefore, I can now take newbies under my wing. A partner will come in handy. You see, loners don't do well here."

  What a big hint. It would only be polite to agree. He was trying his hardest to gain my sympathy; beer, info, an Invitation to join a quest, and polite, wide smiles. So many gift horses, I could as well open my own stable. However, I felt the same. In games, nothing was valued more than experience. It was the most common commodity, after information, that is. The more experience you have, the faster you level up, and your stats and skills grow accordingly.

  "Listen, Grant. You say that Stinger left the location. I am yet to hear what this game world is like. How big it is, and what nations and races are there. Hell, I have not even heard the names of any locations! Not even of the village we are in! Ears is a real asshole. He gave us the absolute minimum and bailed…"

  Grant laughed. I frowned, puzzled, unable to understand what was so funny.

  "Being level seven didn't add much to my knowledge," Grant explained with a kind smile. "But what I do know, I'll certainly share. The road is long, and we'll have something to talk about on the way. Yeah?"

  Now he was promising me a lot of interesting tales. Not for free, I am sure. He knew how to tempt, the damn devil.

  "True that, but …"

  "Ok, let's just do it like this. It'll be easier to just show you. Are you ready for a walk? It's in the center of the village, which is called 'Daisy', by the way. However, if you do decide to go with me, you better take your things with you, so you don't have to come back for them. Shorts are not the most comfortable attire for a walk in the woods."

  The quest he mentioned was, of course, outside of the village. And of course, we had to
go right now. At this time of night. I was level one and he was level seven. I bet that we'll run into some mobs that will tear me limb from limb, not giving a damn about the "Shield of the Novice". Usually, if the newbie was not a total idiot, they completed their first quest in a safe location like this very village. Something simple and safe like delivering firewood or chopping the parcels. No wait; it was the other way around. Deliver parcels, chop firewood, plow a vegetable garden, repair something no one needs and then steal something everyone needs.

  However, his offer was the best way to get to know the game. Didn't I want that more than anything right now? I could barely restrain my impatience. Even if the "vitamin" that my avatar was injected with was the cause of my fidgetiness, I wouldn't be able to restrain myself forever. I needed to release the adrenaline boiling in my blood in some manner.

  "Ok, you convinced me!"

  I rose with resolve and, leaving my new friend to finish his beer, went to get my stuff. Once in my room, I shook the things out of the "Novice's Backpack", and rummaged through the pile. There wasn't all that much stuff in there and the interface gave a brief and rather unhelpful comment about each item.

  "Novice's Jacket"

  "Novice's Pants"

  "Novice's Belt"

  I had no complaints about the clothes being made from cheap, thin and flimsy material. It was to be expected for beginner gear. You were supposed to get better gear on your own, after all. What seemed strange was the fact that the items had names but no stats. If this really was a game, the least they could do was be consistent with game principles. As there were no decent boots, I had had to stay in my sneakers.

  "Flask with a Tincture of Health"

  Durability: 10/10

  Capacity: 10/10