Man Made God 001

by Brandon Varnell

  Adam debated listening to this man versus leaving and decided to listen. The other players who had arrived ahead of him were probably rushing to level up so they could leave the village. However, while leveling up was indeed imperative, listening to this man might provide him with an extra quest or even give him some experience points.

  “I don’t mind. Can you tell me about this world?” asked Adam.

  The old mayor’s eyes lit up as he began speaking. “The world you currently find yourself in is called the Forgotten Realm. This world of ours is made up of five continents and many islands. The Village of Beginnings is located on one of those islands. We call islands like ours Beginner Islands because it is here that otherworlders first appear when they wish to begin their adventure.”

  While all this was pretty standard information, Adam listened to the man anyway. He believed this was important. And even though this was a game, showing respect towards your elders was still something he believed in.

  Unless he was trying to assassinate his elders.

  “How many Beginner Islands are there?” asked Adam.

  “Hmm… that is a very good question. I don’t rightly know.” Cyrus crossed his arms and scrunched up his face. The gesture was so realistic that Adam almost believed this was not a virtual image created via technology but an actual person. “There are so many villages like ours that it is impossible to keep track of them all. Last I heard, there were over one hundred thousand Beginner Islands. Each island has a village called the Village of Beginnings.”

  One hundred thousand, huh? That was quite the number, but he was not surprised. More than half the world’s population had become gamers since the WWIII Armistice. That was 2.5 billion people worldwide, and he’d read that over 10.9 million people had already gone out to buy this game. There had to be a lot of these villages to fit that many people.

  “In any case, the continent this Village of Beginnings is closest to is called the Sun Continent. It is controlled by the Sun Goddess and her parthenon. Oh! I should mention, the Sun Goddess’s name is Stella. She is the entity our continent worships. Anyway, the other four continents are the Moon Continent, the Earth Continent, the Sea Continent, and the Forgotten Continent, which is what our world is named after. Each continent is controlled by a god or goddess and their parthenon—except the Forgotten Continent. That place is a dark land in which numerous devils and monsters reside. No one who has gone there has ever returned.”

  All of this was basic information about the world, but since it was still something he didn’t know, Adam kept listening. Who knew when this kind of information would become useful. In some of the other virtual reality MMOs he had played, there were dungeons with quizzes and puzzles that required a person to know that game’s lore.

  “You don’t need to know too much about the other continents right now. I’m sure you’ll find out more about them as you continue your adventure. What I really want to talk about is the ancient history of our world.” Cyrus paused as he looked at the sun, eyes glazed over as if remembering the past. “Ten thousand years ago, a Great Calamity struck the Forgotten Realm. We have long forgotten what this calamity was, but we do know that it was the calamity which caused the original continent to be split into five. If you ever manage to find a [world map], you will be able to see that the five continents look like they have been sliced apart by sword or some kind of bladed weapon. In either event, this Great Calamity was eventually stopped by the four goddesses, and the world became peaceful once again.”

  Adam waited patiently as the man sighed. It seemed whatever happened ten thousand years ago was no longer common knowledge and had been lost to the annals of history. That was unsurprising. Games like this often left their lore open to interpretation because it made playing more interesting—or so some critics claimed. Others just got upset by what they deemed laziness.

  “Anyway, thank you for listening to my story, young man. Here, take this as a symbol of our meeting.”

  Cyrus held out his hand, which had a ring resting on the palm. There was also a scroll. The ring was just a simple brass ring with no adornments, but when Adam looked at it, he saw some information appear above it.

  Name: Brass Ring

  Item Type: Ring

  Grade: Low

  Equipment Requirements: No requirements

  Description: A simple ring made of brass. There is nothing special about it.

  Attributes: Speed+1

  So it was just a simple item that could enhance his current stats, though the ring was so low-class it only upgraded his Speed stat by +1. That wasn’t much.

  He took the ring and scroll and slipped the ring on his index finger. The ring was too large, but then it shrank to fit his finger. Nifty. Once the ring was on, he thought about how to find out what his stats were, and as if just thinking about it was all he needed to do, a window popped up in his field of view and showed him his stats.

  Name: Adam

  Class: Warrior

  Lvl: 1

  SP: 0

  AP: 0

  Experience: 0/150

  Strength: +5

  Constitution: +5

  Dexterity: +5

  Intelligence: +5

  Speed: +6

  Physical Attack: +10

  Health: 50/50

  Hit Rate: 5%

  MP: 10/10

  Movement: +6

  Physical Defense: +10

  Magic Defense: +5

  Dodge-Rate: ???

  Magic Attack: +5

  For a moment, Adam could only stare at his Dodge-Rate, which contained not numbers but question marks. What the heck did that mean? He furrowed his brow, but he couldn’t think of a reason for why that particular statistic would be so odd.

  After memorizing his stats, Adam looked away from the window, which disappeared, and glanced at the scroll in his hand next.

  Item Name: Scan Scroll

  Item Type: Spell Scroll

  Grade: Low

  Use requirements: None

  Description: A low-level scan scroll

  Abilities: Allows the person who activates the scroll to scan the level of an enemy 20 levels higher than their own.

  Oh? Now this scroll was something he could see being useful. It also told him a lot about this world. Namely, it told him that he couldn’t scan an enemy without something like this scroll or a spell. That meant any battle he went into, he would be going in blind unless he could acquire more of these scrolls.

  “Now how do I put this away…” Adam mumbled.

  “You can just store the scroll in your item pouch,” Cyrus said.

  “Huh?”

  It was only after the old mayor mentioned his pouch that Adam realized he was wearing clothes completely different from anything he’d ever worn before. The coarse fabric of his short-sleeved shirt felt irritating on his skin, and the pants he wore were a little tight against his legs. Black boots protected his feet. He also had a belt around his waist, and attached to the belt was a small pouch made of leather. It was a very standard item with a flap that could be opened and closed.

  It did not look large enough to fit this scroll.

  He tried to put the scroll inside anyway.

  He was shocked when it worked.

  “That pouch you have is something all otherworlders have at the beginning of their journey. It allows you to carry up to ten items. Doesn’t matter what size the item is. You can also upgrade your item pouch, but I hear you need to find special materials and someone who is capable of upgrading it. I’ve also heard there are some items people can acquire that can increase your pouch’s storage space,” the mayor helpfully informed him.

  “Useful,” Adam said with a nod.

  “Indeed it is. I sometimes find myself jealous of you otherworlders,” Cyrus said, sighing wistfully. “I’m sure you are ready to get started on your adventure, but might I suggest you first head over to the barracks? You should talk to Sterk. He’s an old soldier from the Sun Continent who washed u
p on our shore several years ago. He’s been helping us keep the peace. He is very talented with a sword and can definitely teach you how to protect yourself.”

  The moment the man finished speaking, a soft “ding” like the chiming of a bell echoed around Adam, though the Mayor didn’t seem to notice. Immediately after that, a small window appeared in front of him. Again, the Mayor didn’t appear to notice even though it was right in front of him. Wearing a small frown, Adam looked at the display.

  [Congratulations on completing your first quest! For speaking with the Village of Beginnings’ Mayor, Cyrus Stevens, you have earned +50 experience points and +5 status points. Status points are generally referred to as SP, and they are used to upgrade your five primary stats of Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Speed. Please take note: You can only earn SP by either leveling up, completing quests, or breaking a record like being the first person to defeat a dungeon. You also have been given your second quest: [Talk to Sterk!] Will you accept? Yes? No?]

  Adam stared at the two options on the screen, then reached out and pressed “yes.”

  [The quest: [Talk to Sterk!] has been accepted!]

  Now that it looked like he’d done everything he could here, Adam began walking around the village, searching for the barracks. This village wasn’t very big. He counted only thirty buildings in total. The most extraordinary building was the cathedral he had come from, but there was also the mayor’s house—the only two-story building in the village—several shops with signs hanging above the door to signify what they sold, and a square building with a courtyard surrounded by a wooden fence.

  He assumed the square building was the barracks.

  Standing within the courtyard was an old man with a muscular body, slightly rusty steel armor, and a broadsword in a sheath dangling from his left hip. He had graying hair and was standing next to a wooden training dummy. Like everyone else, when Adam stared hard enough at the man, a window appeared above his head and displayed some basic information.

  Name: Sterk

  Description: A retired soldier who washed up on shore. He has made it his personal duty to keep the peace in this Village of Beginnings.

  Class: Warrior

  Lvl: 40

  Health 30,000/30,000

  There was another person standing beside Sterk. He was young and dressed in the same clothes Adam was wearing. Because Adam could not get even the most basic information on this man—no window appeared above his head—he assumed the person currently swinging the sword at the training dummy was another player.

  After the player left, Adam walked up to Sterk. His feet crunched against the grass. He twitched only a little as the scent of fresh grass filled his nose.

  “Excuse me. Are you Sterk?”

  “I am.” Sterk crossed his arms. “Who are you? Another one of those otherworlders?”

  “I am,” Adam confirmed.

  Sterk snorted. “Hmph. So I’ve got another otherworlder coming here to acquire my skills. I’ve seen quite a few of your kind in the last few hours.” The man looked Adam up and down, then nodded approvingly. “At least you’ve got a pretty sturdy body—much more athletic than the last several dozen otherworlders. Do you have experience wielding a sword?”

  Adam shook his head. “I can wield knives, and I’m trained to wield a spear, but I’ve never used a sword before.”

  “A spear, eh? That’s a pretty difficult weapon to wield, but it’s powerful if you can master it. Sadly, I don’t have a spear for you to wield. Would you like to learn the basics of swordsmanship?” asked Sterk.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Then take this sword and attack this training dummy. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, hold the sword in front of you—and for the love of Lady Stella, don’t try to get fancy! The last idiot who tried to use some weird stance nearly chopped his own hand off! Now, I want you to cut that training dummy in half with one swing.”

  Sterk removed the sword from his belt and handed it to Adam, who studied the weapon with a critical eye. The sword was pretty basic. It wasn’t embellished with any intricate craftsmanship. Even the hilt, pommel, and guard were made from simple steel and wrapped in black leather.

  Name: Sterk’s Broadsword

  Item Type: Sword

  Grade: Low

  Use requirements: Warrior class

  Description: A low-grade steel sword.

  Abilities: Attack+5; 1% chance of causing bleed status effect

  The stats looked pretty basic, but he equipped the weapon anyway. Not like he had another weapon to use. Now with the sheath hanging from his waist, Adam turned to the wooden training dummy, which was just a log that had been stuck into the ground.

  While Adam had never wielded a sword before, he at least understood the basics of swordsmanship. He slid his feet across the ground until they were shoulder-width apart, placed his dominant foot forward, and held the broadsword in a simple two-handed grip. He took a deep breath. Holding it, he counted down to three, two, one…

  Exploding into action, Adam swung the sword horizontally from his left to his right. He felt a moment of resistance as his sword bit into the wooden log. Then the log was severed, the top half flying off while the bottom half remained embedded in the ground.

  “Impressive,” Sterk said with a raised eyebrow. “You sure you’ve never wielded a sword before?”

  “I’m positive,” Adam said as he sheathed the blade.

  Sterk shrugged. “Either way, you’ve already proven that you know the basics of swordsmanship. Just remember that enemies aren’t going to stand still and give you time to attack like this training dummy. You might understand the basics, but knowing how to swing a sword and knowing how to kill your enemies are two completely different things. I should also let you know that just swinging your sword around won’t do anything to your enemies. To injure an enemy, you need to use specific skills like [slash] and [thrust]. I know. Why don’t I give you a quest? Go slay ten [wolves]. Your current level isn’t high enough to kill [wolves] yet, so I recommend killing weaker enemies like the [wild rabbits] roaming around outside the Village of Beginnings until you reach a suitable level.”

  Ding!

  [You have completed your second quest! +50 experience points! +5 SP! For completing the quest [Talk to Sterk!], you have acquired your first two skills! [Slash] and [Thrust]! These two skills are something you can only acquire by possessing the Warrior class. You have also been offered a new quest: [Slay 10 Wolves!] Do you accept? Yes? No?]

  Adam reached out and pressed the “yes” button.

  Ding!

  [The quest: [Slay 10 Wolves!] has been accepted!]

  Since it looked like he now had two new skills, Adam thought about the skills and how he wanted to see them, which caused a window to open in front of his eyes.

  Skill Name: Slash

  Description: A basic skill where the player swings his or her sword and attacks the enemy!

  Current lvl: 1

  AP needed to reach next lvl: 10

  Ability: Causes 100% damage to enemy if it hits

  MP consumption: 1

  Cooldown time: 0 seconds

  Skill Name: Thrust

  Description: A basic skill where the player thrusts his or her sword at the enemy!

  Current lvl: 1

  AP needed to reach next lvl: 10

  Ability: Causes 110% damage with a 1% chance at landing a critical hit

  MP Consumption: 2

  Cooldown time: 1 second

  They were very basic skills, but this was only the beginning of the game, so that was natural. These skills would work fine anyway. He might not know much about swordplay, but he was confident in his reflexes and ability to swing a sword.

  Since it looked like he had a weapon, basic skills, and a quest, Adam decided it was time to leave the village and accomplish his goal.

  As he walked out of the village, Adam saw many players rushing outside aside from himself. It was easy to tell w
ho was a villager and who was a player not only by their basic equipment, but also because every player was traveling into the plains surrounding the village.

  When he got outside, Adam spotted large groups of players racing across the grassy plains and killing the [wild rabbits] to level up. There must have been at least a hundred players in just this plain alone. Of course, because there were so many players, a number of disputes started when one player accused another of stealing their kill.

  While there were quite a few fights, Adam noticed several groups that were not fighting and seemed to be working together. These groups likely belonged to the so-called guilds. While there were currently no guilds formed in Age of Gods because the process to establish one likely required a token or something similar, that did not mean there weren’t any guilds around. Many of these guilds were ones that had been established for many years in the virtual world. They took part in almost every virtual reality game since the first game was conceived. Some of them like the Ploenexia Alliance had been around for almost a decade and were world renowned amongst players.

  Adam snorted and traveled past the plains where all the level 1 monsters were located, heading toward the forest. That was likely where the wolves would be found.

  After reaching the forest, Adam paused at the entrance, reached out, and placed his hand against the tree. He could feel the bark scrape against his palm. Not only could he feel it, but the bark felt real just like everything else.

  He removed his hand.