Dreamscape: Infinity (Book 1)

by L. R. Wolf

  Aya happened to see a mute icon flash over Voksil’s name in the chat so that they couldn’t hear what he was saying, but Aya knew he was likely laughing hysterically at this point. She sent him a private message with just four letters.

  Private Message to Voksil- “STFU!!”

  Elohwa started walking again shaking her head at the thought of someone stealing everything someone owned. Eventually she came to a group of people milling about the area. A few elves, dwarves and other races had come here to the human village of Sorrent to play with friends or family. There were six arches made of dull grey stone spread around the area in a circle. Elohwa stepped up to a man wearing grey robes and holding a staff with a smooth white stone placed into the tip. Aya quickly examined the man before them.

  Trav of the Porter’s Guild

  Skill Level ???

  Trav looked incredibly bored as he made a gesture towards the arch behind him. It shimmered briefly as the spell solidified and took hold within the arch. Aya stared through the portal taking in the view beyond. She could see snow coating the area and giant mountains towering in the background. People on the other side rushed through, snow still coating their clothes but quickly melting in the warmer weather. They stamped their feet a bit to try and knock off any ice that may have formed during the wait. The people that had come through looked human, but they were all incredibly tall. The shortest among them was easily seven feet tall. All of them had a tattoo on their face and neck indicating they were the barbarian subrace of humans.

  “Two for Vespa please, good sir.” Elohwa said to the man called Trav. He didn’t look very happy to be here and he mumbled something under his breath about having already had a portal open to Vespa not even three minutes prior. Aya couldn’t imagine what it was like to have to stand here all day doing nothing but opening portals for people, and this man was doing it for free so that people could be with their friends and loved ones. Aya opened her bag and checked to see if she had anything to give the man. She hadn’t started with any money as she was expected to earn it, but she did have the Book of Fireball. She had lost it when she had died, but Elohwa had been kind enough to retrieve it from her tombstone and return it to her. Aya bit her lip, she knew it was probably worth a few gold at least, but this man was doing her and everyone else a huge favor by donating his time, and she had yet to see anyone offer the man anything.

  She pulled the book from her bag and offered it to the man, “Thank you for opening all of these portals, sir. It’s much appreciated.” His eyes widened in surprise at her offering. The Dreamers had heard the portals were free and had come in droves, not once offering anything in return for the services because they were expected to be free. The man took the offering, running his fingers over the cover of the book. His demeanor quickly changed as he straightened up a bit and smiled at the women. “I appreciate the offer ladies, it does my heart good knowing someone is willing to donate such a precious item as this.” He gently slid the book into his bag. “Before I open your portal would you come with me please? It will only take a minute and then you can be on your way.”

  Aya and Elohwa looked at each other wondering what this was about. Elohwa nodded towards Aya and the two women turned to the man ready to follow him. The man quickly got the attention of another porter nearby to take his place while he spoke with the two women. He led them away from the circle of stones and spoke while they walked, “I wanted to thank you both for your generous gift,” he quickly glanced back at the circle to see if anyone could overhear him, when he was satisfied they were far enough away from prying eyes and ears he stopped, turning to the ladies. “I wish to give you a gift in return.” The man smiled again, his eyes unfocusing for a brief second as he sent the ladies something.

  Trav the Porter would like to teach you some new spells. Would you like to accept?

  Aya practically hissed out the yes and clapped her hands together. Elohwa also consented to the training while chuckling at Aya’s enthusiasm. Trav nodded and then placed a hand on each of their heads. Closing his eyes he reached out with his mind, pushing the knowledge of his spells into his hands and then into the minds of the two women. Spell icons flashed in their vision as the spells were etched into their minds. Elohwa already knew a few of the spells he was trying to teach, but Aya didn’t know any spells besides the Recall spell. Her mind filled with new knowledge. Trav removed his hands from their heads and opened his eyes. “How do you feel?”

  Aya felt a bit lightheaded as spell formations and words of power swirled around in her mind. There was a book with a symbol on it in the upper right corner of her vision, just above the Secret gem. She opened the book and was amazed at just how many spells she now knew. “Wow, that was incredible, thank you so much!!” She couldn’t wait to try out everything she had learned. She noticed her notifications flashing, with a quick thought she opened them.

  Congratulations Dreamer! You have earned the Generous accolade! With so little to give, you nevertheless chose to give generously! You will receive an extra 10% to coin loot.

  Congratulations Dreamer! You have learned the following spells-Fireball(Basic) Fire School, Meteor-Fire School, Lesser Heal(Basic) Healing School, Entangling vines (Basic) Earth School

  Trav had taught them the very same spell that was in the book Aya had given him plus others. If she had learned these spells at a trainer, it would have cost much more than she would have gotten had she decided to sell the Book of Fireball. Aya threw her arms around Trav’s neck and squeezed gently in a hug. “Thank you so much for this!” When she pulled away from Trav he was wearing a large smile that reached his eyes.

  “My pleasure ladies.” He gestured towards the circle. “Shall we?” The small party made their way back towards the circle of portals. “Please feel free to message me should you need to go anywhere else.” A quick notification flashed briefly in her vision.

  The Portal Master Trav from Sorrent views you as a friend and ally. He has granted you his contact information allowing you to contact him at any time through your interface.

  She noticed that when she opened her contacts list his name was now displayed along with her husband and Elohwa’s names.

  Trav stepped in front of one of the empty arches, his fingers making a sign in midair before he pushed his hand forward. Another shimmer appeared within the center of the arch before it solidified. Aya looked through the portal to see a variety of trees beyond. She caught sight of what appeared to be houses built high up in the trees. Platforms surrounded the trunks of the trees making walkways. Sturdy wooden bridges ran between platforms connecting all of them to one gigantic tree in the center.

  Aya smiled at Trav in thanks and then steeled herself to cross into Vespa. Elohwa stepped through first with Aya close behind her.

  Chapter 7: Reunited

  ∆∆∆

  As soon as Aya crossed the threshold, she was overwhelmed by the unique scent of the forest. She inhaled deeply, taking it in. Back home she loved going to the woods, but hadn’t had time in the last few years. Now, she could come as much as she wanted to within the Dreamscape.

  “There you are!” Aya turned as she heard Voksil, no longer directly in her ear, but off to the side. She turned to see a tall lanky wood elf approaching her. Above his head hung his information.

  Voksil The Wood Elf

  Skill Level 4

  “You’re skill level 4 already?!” Aya was still a lowly skill level one as she had only completed the one quest from the tutorial which had given her a skill experience token. She still had yet to even come across an enemy much less kill one to gain any kind of skill experience.

  Voksil grinned at her, his avatar was the stereotypical elf from Tolkien lore. He stood around six feet tall. His brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail revealing the two pointed ears. His brown eyes regarded Aya; his eyebrows raising in question. “I had some time to kill so went out and killed a few things. You look exactly the same here, you didn’t change anything?” He sounded surp
rised, it was unusual for his wife to play a human, she would always ask why would she want to play a human in a game when she experienced being a human every day in real life?

  “Yah I just really wanted to get into the game. I was going to reroll my avatar, but then I got a companion.” Aya gestured towards Elohwa who was standing back from them a bit letting them talk. At her gesture, Elohwa stepped towards Voksil and bowed her head. “I’m thinking they are rather rare, so I guess I can deal with looking like this for awhile. I’m sure they’ll allow people to eventually be able to change their looks if not allow race changes or something. I just really don’t want to lose her.”

  “What’s a companion? Is that like a bodyguard or mercenary? I heard a few people talking about them while I was waiting.” Voksil looked over Elohwa curiously. Aya practically bounced as she remembered what the notification had said, she linked the description from the accolade she received so that he could read it himself.

  “Wow, I really need to find a Companion. People were saying that you could hire bodyguards and mercenaries, but bodyguards are only there for protection and will take a cut of the loot and the mercenaries are just what you’d expect. They’ll do whatever you want them to, for a price.” Voksil continued to stare at Elohwa’s ethereal beauty.

  Warning Dreamer! Our sensors indicate you are likely to awaken shortly! We advise you finish what you are doing and find someplace safe to logout.

  “Awwww, guess I’ll be waking up in a few minutes.” Aya frowned, she was having a good time in Infinity and she hated that it seemed to be ending too soon. Everything looked and felt so real here.

  “Same here, I completely lost track of time in here. My alarm is about to go off, so I guess I’ll go sit under a tree and log for the day. Was a pleasure meeting you, Elohwa.” He nodded at Elohwa before making his way to a tree and kneeling down to prepare for log out.

  Elohwa turned her attention to Aya, “Is there anything you would like me to do while you’re gone?” Aya had completely forgotten to give her any orders earlier. They would obviously need money, and since Aya had not found any coin and had given away the one item that they could have sold for money she decided what to do.

  “Well, we’re going to need money eventually for training and other items, but honestly, I don’t know what would make the most money as quickly as possible. Since you have more knowledge about this than I do, why don’t you go out and do whatever makes the most money? Please.” As she spoke, the notification flashed again in her vision warning her that she would be pulled from the Dreamscape and Infinity within the next few minutes as her body woke from sleep.

  “I can do that.” Elohwa nodded. She flicked the front of her cloak aside to reveal a bag much like Aya’s. She reached in and pulled out two short swords that she hung on her belt. She turned back towards Aya only to find she had disappeared. She sighed a bit, “Dreamers.” She looked up into the village of Vespa before fading into the shadows of the forest.

  ***

  Meanwhile, in another part of Marod….

  A man wreathed in shadows looked out over the mountains. He could sense the presence of people like himself out there in the world. He had been planning for this day ever since he had first arrived and found himself trapped within this accursed place. “It’s time I made some new friends,” his voice was light and excited. “Disable the fail safes!” Something moved within the shadows that surrounded the man.

  “It shall be done my Lord.” a disembodied voice said from everywhere and yet nowhere. The man laughed deeply, but there was no humor in his voice. Creatures who happened to be nearby cringed in fear at the sound.

  Chapter 8: Stream

  ∆∆∆

  Aya suddenly found herself back in the real world rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She glanced towards her husband who was sitting on the edge of the bed looking back at her. They both smiled at one another knowing that the next time sleep came, they would be back in Infinity. For now, it was time to get up and begin the day.

  ***

  Noel kissed Ray goodbye as he left for work. The kids were already stirring in their beds ready to wake up. Noel smiled to herself as she thought about her brief adventures from the night before. It had all seemed so very real, she was looking forward to returning later on that night. Over the next few hours she got the children ready for the day. After lunch they both went down for a nap. Noel was tempted to take a nap herself and venture into Infinity some more, but the little ones never stayed down for long. She quickly took a seat in her recliner and stared at the blank wall across from her. Once comfortable, she flicked her eyes to open the various web pages dedicated to Infinity. Massive amounts of information was flooding in as people were experiencing the game for the first time. Game streams were posting nothing but starting footage from Infinity. Noel scanned to the official Infinity game site. Here, they would announce any happenings within Infinity to keep the Dreamers informed about what was going on while they were going about their day. With a flick of her eye, she subscribed to the page so that she would receive instant notifications within her HUD if anything newsworthy happened. One specific news article caught her eye making her catch her breath.

  Breaking News from Infinity! We here at Dreamscapes and Infinity would like to congratulate Dreamer Aya! Aya was the very first in the world of Infinity to discover a Companion! With her discovery we are now proud to introduce the Infinity Companion app! This App will allow Dreamers to interact with their Companions and Mercenaries outside of the world of Infinity! Keep track of the information, loot and materials they gather from the safety and comfort of your couch! Send them out on dangerous yet potentially lucrative missions while you work! Download to your HUD now!

  Noel’s eyes quickly flicked to the link to download the new app. To the right of her vision a new Infinity icon appeared. She focused on the icon to open the app on the wall turning it into an interactive wall. Elohwa’s name and portrait were listed at the top, as she was the only companion that Noel currently had. Her eyes flicked to the portrait opening up her Companion’s character screen. Aya took a moment to examine the armor that had scared her so.

  Brittle Leather Armor-This armor has seen better days, it has grown brittle and weak and provides no protection for the wearer.

  Aya sighed, it was highly likely she could have defeated Elohwa within the dungeon, but she was incredibly glad that she hadn’t. She noticed a camera icon at the top of the status screen flashing green. With a flick of her head she cast the stream up on the wall and almost immediately jumped out of her seat. When the wall lit up, a gnoll was leaping out of the shadows towards her, only it wasn’t at HER, but rather at her Companion.

  The camera appeared to be in third person. Aya could see her Companion and everything around her. She watched as her Companion’s short swords lashed out at the gnoll eventually bringing him down. Elohwa knelt over the body of the gnoll looting its corpse. Noel almost started to feel like a stalker or something as she watched Elohwa move away from the scout and towards a slightly glowing plant. She gently reached out with a hand, gingerly plucking the plant from the soil and depositing it in her bag. She looked around, her violet eyes narrowed as she examined the area, her fingers closed around the hilts of her twin blades. “Who goes there?!” she hissed.

  Noel stared at the wall. There’s no way she could know she was being watched, or could she? Noel quickly found the button that would allow her to chat with her Companion. She wasn’t exactly sure how it would work, she’d never really been able to interact with NPC’s outside of the gameworld before.

  “Elohwa? Sorry it’s me, Aya.” Elohwa’s head snapped around as she searched for Aya’s avatar.

  “Where are you?!” Elohwa continued to scan the trees and shadows looking for any sign of the Dreamer. It was odd that she could hear her Dreamer as if she was standing next to her, but she couldn’t see her, nor was she in a Party chat-with her.

  “I’m at home. Sorry, I am watching your stream
.” She was shocked that NPC’s here could stream their gameplay, or maybe it was because she was a Companion and it allowed Dreamers to look in on them? Noel wasn’t really sure at this point.

  “You are watching me? From where?” She was still looking around clearly confused. Noel was about to respond when she happened to see something approaching Elohwa from some shadows.

  “LOOK OUT!” Noel leapt out of her seat as another gnoll scout leapt out at Elohwa. Noel watched in horror as the Gnoll Scout rushed her seemingly unaware Companion. Elohwa dove to the side and at the same time unsheathed her twin blades, the swords flashing out and across the front of the gnoll scout. The scouts health dropped 60% with just those two hits. She brought one blade back and up catching the gnoll under the arm, the blade cutting through the the flesh, nearly cutting the gnoll in half. Noel suppressed a gag at the ultra realistic action. The gnolls body was strewn across the forest floor. Elohwa rose to her feet, placing a hand on the gnoll to loot it. She cleaned her blades with a piece of cloth she had hanging from her belt before she sheathed them.

  “Thank you for the warning. How is it you can see me? I cannot see you.” Her eyes once again scanned the area.

  “I can see what you’re seeing. I guess it’s like a far sight spell or something? I’m actually just sitting at home right now.” Noel wasn’t quite sure how to explain it. Plenty of games before had some kind of farsight type spell that allowed one to see through the eyes of others, this was the closest thing she could think of.

  “Oh, yes, farsight.” Elohwa nodded to herself and relaxed. She proceeded a few more steps and gently picked another glowing plant.

  “Why are those plants glowing like that?” Noel stepped back and sat back down in her chair as she continued to watch Elohwa’s stream.