by Max Jager
When Mendelen was done, Estellese stepped back up. "I have put out signs in front of the buildings. If you do not intend to stay here, your first night in the inn you've been shown is free.
For those who do intend to stay and live here, seek out the buildings for things you think you can contribute to. Like if you think you have combat skills or are willing to learn, the guard post is your building. If you want to assist with farming, the farmhouse is your go-to place, and so on. Anyone who wants a signet ring, the ring that gives you a unique power while worn, line up in front of me. And remember, this world is not a game, the other creatures here are alive, please refrain from killing them and make sure you keep yourself safe." Estellese finished her speech.
Mendelen stepped up once more "And if you choose not to stay here, remember that you are always welcome to come back if you later find the world to be too dangerous. Your safety is guaranteed here, we will protect you."
As he spoke a portal opened behind him and a man wearing heavy, spiky black armor walked out of the portal. He had a massive scythe on his back, the whole thing made him look a little scary and intimidating. He walked straight onto the stage and pushed past the other two to take center stage.
"Kaden! What are you doing here?" Mendelen angrily questioned.
"I wrote a speech, it's my turn to share." Kaden replied. "You guys gave this exact same speech last time, that's pretty boring ya know. So I'll mix it up."
"Kaden! No, not after you crashed our last meeting." Mendelen started. "Estellese, this is a private conversation, end the spell again."
Estellese ended the spell, and neither Mendelen nor Kaden could be heard, but they were clearly arguing and making everyone in the crowd uncomfortable. After a moment Kaden pulled a scroll out of his bag and activated it, once activated he had the voice boosting spell on himself.
"Hello? Does this work?" Kaden's voice echoed through the crowd. "Oh good."
"Kaden! Knock it off and leave. You've taken this off track enough, we need to finish this meeting and get everyone situated." Mendelen insisted.
"I'm giving my speech first. What are ya gonna do? Attack me in front of everyone?" Kaden pointed out.
Mendelen shot him a glare. "Kaden, knock it off. You're making things worse."
Kaden ignored him and resumed his speech. "Alright everyone, welcome to the world of Immersion. The others have, I'm sure, told you that this world is just as real as the one you left. But I am sure they left out a few key details. In this world we are growing at a rate much faster then in the real world, one day of weightlifting is equivalent to a week of weightlifting back in the real world. And right now, in your first few months, that rate is even faster. This won't last forever, it will eventually return to a semi-normal rate. The strength us Alphas gained from tasks has dwindled down and we are now only getting five days worth of improvement from a single day's work." He explained, then took a deep breath to continue.
"So this is why I am here. By sitting here in this city, pretending you're safe you're throwing your lives away and making yourself more and more unsafe with each passing day. Everyone around you, all the people who aren't hiding and who are facing the world head-on, are growing stronger ridiculously fast while you sit here and stagnate. Yeah, many of them are dying, but the survivors will come back far stronger than any of you could hope to be. You all have the potential to gain that same power right now. Don't stay here, get out there and grow stronger. Then you don't need to worry about hiding to be safe, you'll be able to protect yourself and your friends on your own." He finished.
Estellese recast the spell on Mendelen when Kaden finished, and Mendelen stepped up to speak. "There is training programs set up within the village to help you achieve these levels of power from the safety of the village. And as I said before we need more people to be dungeon runners, once you learn how to fight you can sign up and start assisting us with looting dungeons. Those are among the most dangerous places in this world. You have all the same options to grow stronger here, in the village, where you don't need to fear dying every day. We want to minimize casualties, this isn't a survival of the fittest game."
"It isn't the same." Kaden interrupted. "You won't grow as strong hiding here. Facing death on a daily basis, being in unknown conditions, being forced to improvise and figure out impossible problems is what makes you the strongest. It's what made us so strong. You know this."
"But people shouldn't be FORCED to if they do not want to Kaden. We support freedom of choice here, and that isn't going to change." Mendelen firmly insisted.
"They're putting their trust in you, and you're gonna get them killed." Kaden stated as he opened another portal beside himself and walked through it. Ending the conversation before Mendelen could reply. The portal closed behind him and with that he was gone.
Mendelen stepped up again to finish his speech. "For those who want to train, and become stronger like he said, there is training areas, and I am still waiting at the armory for fighters willing to do dungeon runs, and people who are willing to assist me in taking back Oline city. You may also just leave, and face the world on your own like Kaden wants. But I warn you that the world is dangerous and the chances of survival are slim if you do that. For those who do not want to face combat, there's nothing wrong with that. You are growing exponentially faster in many ways, not just combat. You're also learning faster, your intelligence and creativity is improving faster than ever. If you want to learn a new skill now's the time to do it. You don't need to be fighting to take advantage of this growth spurt." He finished. "Your stay at the inn is free for tonight. I will be at the armory for those who want to run dungeons or assist with the other city. And remember that Estellese is handing out signet rings, you will all want one of those. Good luck everyone. I'm hoping to see you all around the village." He finished, then left to start walking towards the armory to await those who wanted to join him.
Most of the people in the crowd lined up in front of Estellese to get a signet ring, Jackson didn't get in line but everyone else in the group did. Once everyone had gone through and gotten their signet rings the group exchanged a few glances and immediately knew what everyone was thinking. They all moved away from the crowd to talk.
"So, we finally made it to the village." Fate replied. "What is everyone going to do now?"
Elliott and Brooke exchanged a look and nodded to each other. Then Elliott spoke up. "Well, we are both a little uncomfortable with the village. I'm thinking the two of us are going to go sign up to do some dungeon running. It sounds like the best way for us to adjust to this world." Brooke nodded in agreement.
Snipes, Chloe, and Sophia all looked interested. "Can we join?" Sophia asked, speaking for the others.
"Of course!" Brooke replied.
George grinned. "I'd also like to tag along. I was going to go alone, but if everyone is going I mine as well go with you guys."
Matthew and Fate both also nodded in agreement.
"Everything is more fun with friends, why don't we all just go together?" Damion replied.
Elliott and Brooke were both hesitant knowing that one of these people was a killer. But at the same time they didn't want to abandon all of their friends over this. Plus, Carley did say they didn't have to worry about that unless something happened tomorrow. "Sure, let's all go." Elliott replied, trusting Carley.
"We should go to the armory then. They will arm us for this right? Once we get our gear we can set out tonight, before any other weird things happen." Brooke replied.
Carley shook his head. "I think we should stay in the village. At least for a couple days." He quietly spoke up.
"Why?" Fate asked.
"We just should." Carley replied.
"Well, we are all going as a group now. So why don't we vote on it." Chloe spoke up.
"W-Well, we should… We should just stay." Carley countered.
"All who want to stay here a couple days, raise your hands." Chloe started. Carley raised his hand. Assumi
ng Carley knew something Brooke and Elliott and Fate also raised their hands. But they were outvoted six to four.
Jackson approached the group. "What's up?" He asked.
"We are considering going out to run a dungeon, it sounds like the best way to start off in this world, all things considered." George replied.
"That's dangerous." Jackson stated.
George nodded. "Well, all the people who can't fight are no longer with us. Aside from the children. I think we can handle it." He replied. "You gonna come with?"
Jackson shook his head. "No. I've got something I gotta do. Sarah and I are leaving tonight."
Carley looked uncomfortable and uneasy with everyone's decision to leave right away. He turned to Jackson and walked a little closer to him. "Can I ask you a favor? Two actually." He quietly asked. When Jackson looked down at him he resumed speaking. "The group is leaving to hunt this dungeon tonight. If you're also leaving tonight, please stick with the group for one more night." Carley whispered to Jackson. "I really need you to do this."
Jackson thought about it and nodded in agreement. "What's the second thing?"
"I-I… Will explain that one tonight. Not now." Carley whispered.
Jackson gave him a questioning look, his expression silently said 'What are up to now?'
"Please trust me. I really need you to do this." Carley insisted.
"You sure about whatever it is you're planning?" Jackson whispered back.
"Honestly? No. But you know me by now, I'll find a way." Carley whispered.
Jackson nodded. "Alright..." He replied, knowing Carley was going to do it regardless of if he helped or not.
"Thank you." Carley replied. "Also, you didn't get one of these, so I grabbed one for you." He said as he held out a signet ring towards Jackson.
"No thanks." Jackson said
Carley shook his head, "No, seriously, you need one of these. If they do what they say it does, having one is going to be near essential to surviving in this world."
"Yeah, I'm good." Jackson replied.
"Jackson." Carley started. "You've helped us a lot, and you're helping me with this. We don't know what dangers are out in this world, and you said you and Sarah are going out there without a group. I don't care how good of a fighter you are, at some point you're going to run face-first into something you can't beat. It's going to happen to all of us. So let me help you, this might just be the key you need to win, or escape." He insisted. "Having one could save you, it could save Sarah, and it could save whoever else you need to protect. Not having one is deliberately handicapping yourself, which will only put yourself and those around you in more danger."
Jackson gave him a half-annoyed half-blank stare as Carley spoke.
"Fine…" Jackson said. He took the ring and pocketed it. "I'll go find Sarah. Meet us back here before you leave." He added as he turned and left the group again.
"Thank you." Carley added as Jackson left.
The group went to the armory where they were greeted by a few town guards who were working there. The guards asked what they would like to help with, and when Brooke said they wanted to be dungeon runners one of the guards lead them into a back room.
"Alright, as dungeon runners we will request that you seek out dungeons, gather the loot from them, and bring it back. You are allowed to keep the things you need, but we strongly request that you donate the things you don't need to the village. Each time you make a significant donation to the village you will get a week of free stays in our inn." The guard explained. As he opened the door to the next room and lead everyone in they could see that it was an armory.
"You may all take two thousand dollars worth of equipment from here. Everything has a price tag. You will earn the items you took from your donations, it shouldn't take very long for you to earn enough to own everything you got from here. We also will allow you to exchange the equipment you take for better quality equipment. As long as your stuff is in good shape we will exchange it for full value towards another piece of equipment you need. As long as you continue running dungeons for us." The guard explained.
The equipment here wasn't anything special, but it was by far better than the makeshift weapons they had. George grabbed a massive copper hammer that even he had a little difficulty carrying and a copper chestplate for armor. Matthew grabbed a staff and some chainmail armor. Sophia took some extra arrows, and a full set of leather armor, along with two potions. Fate spent almost everything on one steel rapier, she thought that a good quality weapon was all she needed.
Chloe picked up two small iron axes. Damion picked up a steel knife, and only that knife despite having leftover money. Elliott picked up a copper longsword, Brooke grabbed a copper mace and they both picked up a leather chestpiece. Carley grabbed a copper shortsword, along with a composite bow and some arrows.
Snipes was the last one to choose, him and Inami were sitting in the back. Snipes initially went for the bows, but then he remembered how poorly that went the first time he tried using one and decided not to. Ultimately, he ended up grabbing a iron shortsword and three potions. Inami did not take anything.
"Alright, all geared up?" The guard asked when everyone was finished. "Then take these. The dungeon we are assigning you is in the northern field, just about three miles north of Oline city, the city infested by goblins. It's marked on this map." He explained as he handed a map and a small bag to Elliott and Brooke. "The dungeon will be in a small graveyard that looks out of place, just push back the biggest gravestone and you'll find a secret tunnel."
"What's in the bag?" Elliott asked, noting that the bag had some weight to it.
"It's a magic case for a campsite, it comes with a barrier to keep monsters out while you sleep, and four tents that each fit three people." The guard explained. "The barrier just needs to be charged with someone's stamina." He added.
"Thank you." Fate replied.
The group left the armory and went back to the meeting point to find Jackson and Sarah. While they walked, Elliott looked over the map.
"If I'm reading this right, we walked right past it on the way here." Elliott pointed out.
"Close." Carley spoke up. "On the way to Oline city, when we left the first forest, we walked past it but it was pretty far to the east. I believe I spotted the graveyard in the distance."
"So at least we know roughly how to get there." Elliott replied. "It isn't too far."
As they approached the meeting place, they spotted Jackson and Sarah already waiting for them. They both were carrying bags of their own new equipment.
"So we're sticking with you guys for another night, to get everyone through the forest?" Sarah commented, she seemed a little confused by the change of plans but more than happy to tag along.
Elliott looked a little confused and shot a glance at Carley, making the connection that Carley and Jackson must have set this up when they were whispering together.
"Yeah." Jackson spoke up. "Considering the werewolves, it's probably best we do."
"We do have some camping gear with a barrier, we should be okay." Elliott replied. "But you're more than welcome to stick with us until we leave the forest."
Jackson nodded. "You guys probably shouldn't leave the village so soon, especially not in the evening. But, if you're dead-set on it, we might as well go together.
Elliott shook his head. "Something feels off here. The first two said it was safe, but then the other one said it wasn't. I don't know who to believe, so I want to give it a little time." He replied, and Brooke nodded in agreement.
"Oh, that's just Kaden." Sarah replied. "Don't trust him, he isn't right in the head. It really is safe here."
"Don't trust anyone." Jackson added.
Brooke shook her head. "We'll see if it's safe in a week or two, then we'll decide if we are staying or not."
Sarah nodded. "That sounds fair. Just be careful in the meantime."
The group walked out into the forest and spent a couple hours walking. They had almost mad
e it through the forest before it started getting too dark to see, so they stopped and set up camp. Jackson and Sarah both had their own small tents now. The group set up the other four tents, which were nowhere near as nice as the one Charles had. Jackson and Sarah were setting up their tents a short distance away, but still within the barrier.
"Alright everyone." Fate started. "Each tent fits three people, we'll have one tent that only has two people. We-" She started but was interrupted.