Legendary Rule Page 4
His eyes ran down the list; it was long. A very long list of extremely minor infractions. Mr. Richard had been compiling this list for over half a year.
Looking up to meet Mr. Richard’s eyes, they were relaxed. A thin smile settled on his face as he took in Ajax’s befuddled expression. He held out his hand for the tablet and Ajax handed it to him with a dead expression.
“Great, it seems there are no arguments” He started tapping away on the tablet before holding it out again. “Please sign here; you will be let go. I’m feeling generous so we’ll at least pay you for your saved up vacation and a few weeks severance pay.”
Ajax nodded reaching out for the tablet to briefly scan the legal document on top. He was having trouble focusing on the document, each time the tablet ticked when he scrolled was like a loud gong beside his head.
How had he wound up here? Reaching the bottom of the document, he found the spot to sign. A few swishes of his finger left his distinct illegible signature save for the first letters A and D.
“Why?” was all Ajax could get out before handing over the tablet.
“Business, it’s cold and heartless.” Mr. Richards stepped away, as a man in blue overalls came up to Ajax’s station. Ajax stepped away and watched as the man pulled the tell-tale projector out of his bag. “Go along, clean out your locker. Come back if you need any home supplies.” The smile on his face was so fake it revolted Ajax.
“Welcome to Lowes-Depot” A calm male voice came out of a speaker as the technician was unloading items from the bag.
Ajax looked to Mr. Richards, his smug smile still plastered on his face as he watched reality sink in for Ajax.
The only positive thought he had walking away was that he’d had quite a bit of vacation saved up. At least he wasn’t immediately homeless.
He dazed off on the bus ride home still in shock from losing his job. However, he found some joy in the upcoming launch of LR. He could use it to escape reality for a few days. There was something about it making him giddy. Was it the message from Missy? Or was he just happy to have a chance of playing the latest video game again? He wasn’t sure when the last time he looked forward to something so much. Maybe he would keep the game and find a way to make it work.
Then again maybe he was just avoiding the massive problem that had become his unemployment. He, however, got enough money from being let go that he’d be fine for a month. Then if LR didn’t work out he’d sell the PIU and have two months buffer to find a job. He’d make it work out. He tried to think of it like a bird being pushed out of a nest rather than having his life destroyed. More uplifting so to speak.
Ajax would be able to start with everyone else, the new PIU hardware was a level playing field. He couldn’t help but dream about becoming a pro player as he walked into the small apartment.
Having spent his nerves waiting all day, he went into the kitchen and busied himself with dinner, all the while surfing the game sites with his iLids. He’d made ramen so many times that it didn’t really take much focus to work on his dinner. It boiled over once with his inattention but he didn’t even care to clean it up. He just turned the heat down and went back to looking up things about the new game.
LR was more customizable than any game before it. There were no classes. Rather, any player could learn to do anything with practice. If you wanted to be a warrior that ran around with a shield all day but a year into the game you really wanted to be able to make portals, you could… after practicing magic for hours on end.
You may even be able to make a custom skill that combines magic and your shield for various effects. The game permits characters to create an ability, it was just extremely vague. There had been beta testers but they were tied up in NDAs, leaving the rest of us to struggle with our imaginations and expectations.
The official game site said that you could train on specific spells or learn from books. However, custom spells would require a player a decent amount of time to develop. Science with magic Ajax thought. Then again what was magic but the science we didn’t understand yet? Ajax figured he’d have to understand some magic and quick if he wanted to get ahead. Even if he went the route of physical DPS, magical buffs were always in high demand.
Ajax had been watching and reading all of the posts that were released from the limited details the beta testers could share. It seems like besides leveling you were supposed to practice fighting or crafting to give you a decent amount of stats. The monsters in the game seem to be tuned not to a player that has just leveled but one that has taken the time to raise their character outside of directly fighting to level up.
He watched a video of a character doing push-ups to increase his strength while another jogged for stamina. Though the information from the beta players was limited by their NDR, a few leaked more details onto the web. None of them showed how to create skills and spells, just the versatility and uniqueness. Ajax guessed some of the leaked videos were purposeful or they’d post something of more value to new players, considering the risk.
However, he knew he was going to be up all night so he tried to remove the distractions and clear his head by washing his face before getting a bit of shut-eye.
Looking in the mirror, Ajax wasn’t quite the huge man his namesake had been. He was a bit over six feet with wavy black hair and slightly tanned skin. The concept of race had been diluted since the 2050s, but if one had to try and assign him to one he would look Greek. Both of his parents had thought of themselves as having Greek origins. One thing seemed very not Greek about Ajax- he had startling blue eyes. A few girls had called them ‘forget me nots’. However, he failed his Greek warrior namesake and was almost devoid of muscle tone. Spending too much time on a computer and possibly his poor diet, only his fingers and wrists got much exercise.
Ajax tried to calm his mind as he set an alarm with his iLids for 1:50am. He was ready to jump into LR.
***
Red sirens went off in Ajax’s vision. He jolted awake blinking to turn off his iLids. “Shit.” He wasn’t sure if he’d ever get used to the iLid wake-up alarms.
Blinking away his grogginess Ajax realized what time it was. It was like Christmas morning and he was in the kitchen in a flash.
Ajax got some leftover pancakes warmed up and poured himself a glass of milk. He was still in his boxers planning to go into the PIU with just them. The testers said you could go in with clothes but it sometimes hindered the sensors, best to go in nude or in your underwear. He wasn’t quite sure what Reinhart would say if he saw him popping out in the buff so he went with his boxers. Some of the posts said that you got a better reaction time out of the sensors if they didn’t have anything between them and the skin, some guy even posted that they shaved their legs for this.
Swallowing his pancakes near whole and downing his milk. He brushed himself off to make sure he was crumb free before jumping into his new PIU. The PIU’s inside seemed even darker at night the black mesh looked like a pit. He wasn’t going to be thrilled with the moment of claustrophobia as it enveloped him again. Though he’d have to get over that.
Ajax got comfortable in the seat blinking to checking the time repeatedly. At 1:59 he closed his eyes and activated the link with his iLids, the pod slid closed at his command and the surrounding black liner bulged as the machine hummed. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about the walls of the machine closing in on him. He was lifted out of the chair by the inflating liner that was covered in microscopic sensors. The feeling of weightlessness as he lay flat on his back was different than any other VR where you were still grounded to reality through your body. This felt like you were entering the game for real.
Ajax landed on his feet in the familiar grassy field System greeted him with cheery energy. “Welcome, Ajax!”
“System is the Legendary Rule portal active?” Ajax rushed through the field to the stone arch, he wasn’t sure if he had to do anything before running through.
“Not just yet, would you like me to set a countdo
wn to activation? After it’s active you’ll see the portal is working.” Ajax sighed and let up his charge to the portal.
“Yes, please give me a timer for LR launch.” Ajax figured he wasn’t in that much of a rush and stopped being in such a hurry.
“Okay, Ajax. Two! One! START!” System yelled over the field. The stone portal ahead of Ajax lit up the words etched in the stone arch glowed red hot like they were burning themselves into the stones of the archway. Still glowing brightly the doorway filled with blue light and reflected a shimmering image of the world beyond. Ajax didn’t have time to yell at System, charging headlong into the portal. He swore he’d break ahead of the early leveling crowd.
CHAPTER 6
Ajax felt a faint sense of falling before he felt a hard floor beneath him. Looking around he was surrounded by fog, he couldn’t really make anything out. There were faint grey looming structures dead ahead and what he thought must be a forest behind him by the green canopy.
System’s voice rang out as he landed on cobblestone. “As this is your first time logging in, would you like a tutorial?”
Ajax stared at the floating scroll “No System, let’s get right into it.” Ajax was ready to go; there wasn’t anything in the tutorial he couldn’t look up later.
System’s voice came over again but none of her usual cheerfulness was present instead it sounded far more recorded “Welcome to the PIU system. It interfaces with your iLids and screens and optional in-game function with the same micro contraction touches. Please push the sequence Red, Green then Blue on the dial.”
Ajax found a small wheel with a few colors on it. Didn’t he just tell System that he didn’t want the tutorial? The mentioned sections lit up instantly as he took just a split second to focus on each in order. These were the same exercises everyone went through when they first used iLids. Good to know all the menus functioned the same here.
“Great, would you like to continue?”
Ajax focused on saying no. This stuff was too basic to waste time on. Two messages popped up.
“Would you like to quit the tutorial? Y/N” Ajax wasn’t going to be held up and moved forward.
“Would you like to keep helpful hints on? Y/N”
Ajax answered yes to both and continued forward through the fog till there was suddenly a door standing in the middle of it. As he turned the handle it was like a light came on behind the door and enveloped him as it swung open. He suddenly was in an abyss. A mirror appeared before him rimmed with options.
He looked himself over in the mirror and found he was recognizably himself but… more like what he could look like? His hair was cut in a shorter trendy style, his arms had some muscle on them, not like a bodybuilder but maybe at least someone that exercised and dieted. Getting curious he lifted up his shirt, they weren’t washboard abs but it was flat with a faint hint of muscles beneath the surface.
He pulled himself away from his newfound narcissism and looked at the options. There were some options for hairstyle and color but he was pretty happy with the short messy look he had. The next was called ‘face scramble’ Ajax pushed on it and watched with a strange horror as his features began shifting. It didn’t make him a monster or anything but it adjusted his features enough that he kind of looked like someone who could be a relative but not quite himself. He liked the anonymity that would provide so he left it.
Next were some sliders for his body. However he noticed none of them had much variability, the base points were all his real-world features but he could only change his height by up or down two inches at most like his avatar in his personal space.
He wondered briefly if he’d revert to his real face when he entered his personal space again. That wasn’t important now.
He decided to leave his body how it was. Reviews from beta testers said it was disorienting if you made too many changes to your body every time you got in and out of the game. There were options for being an elf or other race but he had already decided to stay human after reading through the options from the beta testers. Humans were definitely the most versatile, and again some of the larger races caused disorientation between the game and real life.
The final option was a box for his name. He liked to keep it simple and named himself Ajax, hoping he wasn’t too late to get that name. He held his breath for a moment as the spot next to his name turned into a spinning wheel before it solidified as a green check. Focusing on ‘done’ his world spun again.
The sensation under his feet felt like he was landing, and he bent his knees out of reflex. But he just found himself squatting at the start of a cobblestone road. It appeared empty except for an older man approaching him.
“Hello, you look lost. Did you just get into town?” The man asked.
“Ah, yes.” I looked over the NPC once. He appeared to be a classic farmer with worn overalls and a straw hat. Once Ajax focused on him
“Well, the center of Kindle Town is that way” he pointed down the road. “While you are here though would you be willing to help me pick up an order in town? I have an order for some new tools in Rodrick’s Smithy.” The NPC had a pleading expression on his face. Ajax had the sudden concern he wouldn’t be able to tell NPCs and players apart if he didn’t see their nameplates.
“Okay, I can do your BS messenger quest.” Ajax just wanted to rush through the starter quests. The character was an NPC, he just needed to get through the conversation.
“Great, thanks so much!” Farmer Henry smiled and faded away.
A light at the top of his vision caused him to look up and see the mini-map it now had a new arrow pointing towards the direction the man had suggested.
“Well, I guess this is how it starts.” Ajax strode towards town. After a few steps, he found himself in a throng of people pushing their way towards the town center. The starting quest must have been in an instanced zone, and now he was in the starting zone with all the other players. There had to be hundreds of people moving down the street now. Ajax picked up his speed, rushing towards the quest marker. Even though he felt like he was running faster than he could in real life, there was no sense of the fatigue that told him that he couldn’t keep running faster, yet he couldn’t seem to urge out any faster movement.
His speed must be locked to this as a maximum, he was sure there had to be a few things to increase his speed and maybe even get a mount later on. Looking at the map it would take him a few minutes to get to the center of town amongst this running of the bulls. He was one of those bulls. Players were jamming into each other as they ran. Ajax could see people on the edges of town running into carts and stalls, destroying the quaint town street. Ajax kept his eyes ahead but flipped open his character screen.
Name: Ajax
Level: 1
Exp: 0/100
Health: 100/100
Energy: 100/100
Mana: 0/100
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Fortitude: 10
Stamina: 10
Wisdom: 10
Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 10
Skills >
Okay, so everyone starts out flat. Ajax selected skills to drop down and see what was inside. Nothing, he had no skills. Not sure there was anything to actually expect, but he now knew he was entirely a blank slate. Hovering over the Mana stat he had a tooltip
The green message fl
oated across his screen. What? Confused he flicked open the character log.
Ajax turned his head in reflex to look at the text and wasn’t watching where he was going. Something hit his shin, and he stumbled.
Trying to regain his gait, the crowd of new players pushed on heedless of the fallen Ajax. He found himself being carried off his feet like a leaf in the wind. He tried to get his feet back on the ground but the crowd was pressed too tight.
He did start to slide down among the press of bodies but not how he wanted; it was like being pulled under by a riptide. Struggling, Ajax realized what was about to happen moments before it did.
He slipped under the flow of the crowd. Each foot stamped on him causing 1 damage.
No, I can’t die here. He was baffled and embarrassed at the fact he might just die amongst this noob stampede.
A hand came down amongst the crowd and pulled his arm.