Loiterous 004

Icicle was moving vigilantly amidst the shrubbery, broken twigs and humming pine trees. His herb collecting was going smoothly. He decided to first gather all the herbs and then make them into potions.

His biggest disappointment was not encountering even one [Grey Alpha Wolf]. This was most likely caused by his close proximity to the safe zone. Last time he was attacked a few kilometres to the south-west.

When Icicle was peacefully gathering the necessary herbs, all the starting areas villages were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with new characters. Players ran around madly, wave after wave, looking for NPCs to get their tutorial quests.

Some shady players who allegedly finished the tutorial received a [Common] grade set. Most gamers didn't value this information as dependable. Their shirts only gave them 1 defense. What could the entire set give, 5 defense total? This 5 defense against [Wild Dogs], [Horned Rabbits] and [Brown Lizards] was something that could save their lives. Tutorial giving the entire set sounded too good to be true.

Many individuals ran outside after putting all of their points into strength. They wanted to test if the video posted by Sais was real. Fifteen points of strength could provide some substantial damage, but it didn't make their attacks any faster. On top of that, if they couldn't swing the sword properly in the first place, it was a tiresome task to kill even a level 1 creature.

Those who luckily managed to arrive in the same starting village came up with a plan. One person put all of their points into strength, the other into const.i.tution. 150 HP could easily withstand lvl 1 creatures' damage. If they were ganged by two or three that changed things. In such a situation, dodging and parrying came into play. However, as long as those players kept hunting critters one by one, they would emerge victorious.

To players' dismay, level 1 creatures usually dropped only a sc.r.a.p of fur or skin coupled with 1 copper coin. The price for a full beginner [Basic] set with around 10-15 defense on average ranged between 3 and 4 silver. 300 to 400 coins, how could they get them so fast? Blacksmiths and tailors gave discounts only to their apprentices...

Those apprentinces didn't have it easy either. Paying 5 gold to become an apprentice was a ridiculous sum. Only by doing certain chain quests could they receive tutelage for free.

Such requirements made getting a subcla.s.s hard. Those who wanted to make a character without a battle profession, specializing only in crafting, had their quests lighter and more rewarding. NPCs liked getting such apprentices. They were devoted and loyal.

Battle professions like warriors and mages weren't a piece of cake to get. To become a warrior one needed to either complete a training course or pay 5 silver for brief tutelage. By tutelage the game developers meant "imparting skills". All it did was give the player cla.s.s skills and change his cla.s.s. The rest he had to learn on his own. Needless to say, everyone chose the training course. They had to kill hundreds or even thousands of various monsters to finish their training...

Mages were tasked to read books or copy scrolls before receiving any tutelage. Otherwise their tutelage cost whopping 1 gold coin. Those that wanted to instantly get their magic skills were disappointed, but upon hearing how hard artisan cla.s.ses had it, they felt a bit better.

Paladins and Priests wannabes had it the toughest. They had to either make a contribution of 5 gold coins or bring back 50 yellow petals to receive their cla.s.ses. Yellow petals dropped from creatures called [Bright Yellow Flower]. Those flowers were stationary and shot the players with thorns and leaves. Apart from this, the flowers exuded a kind of gas that made players dizzy. 5 gold coins equaled 50000 copper coins, who could have such a large sum in the beginning of the game? [Bright Yellow Flowers] were level 3 creatures, so most people created waves of 8 man parties that stormed out of the starting areas to deal with the problem.

In other parts of the world, people complained about cold, about heat or lack of any proper warrior equipment. Various kingdoms specialized in different things. Lucky ones who arrived at Vilen Town could be described to receive a proper starting environment. Aside from the ridiculous cla.s.s expenses, they had almost all resources available to them. Many players envied such circ.u.mstances.

In the cold Glacia Kingdom in the far north, players needed to get cold resistant items, otherwise they would soon get a cold. Needless to say, the cost of cold resistant equipment was not something they could afford. Fortunately, the turorial helped a little with that issue.

Qured Kingdom was the exact opposite. The heat of scorching hot desert made the players drink a lot of water. They had to constantly refill their canteens in the fountain. The cost of water was immense. Forum users compared the cost of equipment and realized that Qurem Kingdom sold equipment dirt cheap. How could those who suffered from the glaring sun care about that though? They looked for ways to get a larger canteen...

Acalen Kingdom was the kingdom of mages. They had all necessary equipment for mage wannabes. Staffs, staves, wands, cloaks, robes, orbs and many more littered the stores. The prices were of course high, but items were top notch. Warrior equipment was practically non-existent. All the stores had were some sc.r.a.ps for beginners and equipment for Magic Swordsmen. It was a cla.s.s combining magic and swordplay. A hybrid so-to-speak. Mages were rich and lofty, thus the difficulty of their initial quests wasn't hard, but not too rewarding either.

Thousands of users complained on the forums. Only one response came from the Game Masters. The thread was pinned at the top of the forum. "No one said it's going to be easy. If you don't like the game, then you don't need to play it. Find yourself another VR where you can take it easy."

Such a harsh statement made various gaming communities bustle with activity. Curses flew the Game Masters' way for alienating the players, but after a while those outraged people understood. Loiterous was the only multiplayer virtual reality as of yet. They had the right to be arrogant. There were many players who were willing to play yet couldn't even get the device. Those who complained received countless private messages to sell their devices if they don't use it. Just this fact made them log back in and focus on their characters.

...

As almost every player was distraught with their early game experience, Icicle collected 49 out of required 50 [Green Stout Stalks] for his quest.  It had taken him one hour and a half. There were still three hours left to complete the quest. To cheese out the quest, Icicle decided to make potions right here and now. After he empties out the herb count, he'll gather the herbs again.

What was more important is that he has leveled up. With his level reaching 2, he was given 3 points to distribute. This time he was careful and saw that every point put into dexterity still required 2 stat points. But he didn't need dexterity right now. If he were to be of any use to Adian, he needed to put those 3 points into vitality.

Character Information:
Name: Icicle
Race: Human
Level: 2
Experience: 3/250
Cla.s.s: None
Subcla.s.s: Alchemist
t.i.tles: None

Statistics:
HP: 90
Mana: 60
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 15
Vitality: 8
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 5
Charisma:0
Luck: 5

Skills:
[Identify] (pa.s.sive) – lets you see the basic information of lowest grade items, NPCs and monsters. You can see the information of monsters who are no more than 5 levels higher than you.
[Craftsman’s splendor] (pa.s.sive) – increases your chance of making a better quality product by 5%.