Gally stood there, in the middle of a plains with pine trees in the distance, taking it all in."Wow" She said aloud. 'This is amazing, I mean virtual worlds are nothing new but I can almost feel the wind, smell the pine trees.' She thought. She looked down at her self seeing the tiny bow in her hand, and arrows on her back that didn't amount to much. Using the free hand she had left, she placed her index finger to her head. "Trash Bow. +0 Damage" She Read. 'Well that will have to change.' She clenched a fist then released it allowing the menu to reveal itself. She looked into her inventory and glared at the 0 GP glaring back at her. They had the basic tutorial for her just after character creation but not on how to get gold and other items. This was a brand new experience for her and she was determined to have a better time than her real life.

 

It was as good a day as any to the renowned martyr to look for newbies that might need a human shield. While in reality it wasn't her reason for being there, she could hear whispers of strangers saying it was likely the cause. After all, Solaria owned a shop in the player kingdom of Astorea. When she wasn't there, what else would she be doing but trying to take care of strangers?

Just down the trail that she'd been taking in Brisshal, a seemingly unwary traveler caught Solaria's attention. It appeared to be a girl- likely a faerin based on height alone- whose small size greatly contrasted the Yladian's own build. When she got closer, she found herself towering over the girl- but bubbling with excitement at the thought of a new friend, Solaria still seemed to be the younger in energy, for the time.

"Hey there~ You a new archer? Your bow looks pretty worn out...I can help find a smithy with you if you want. There's a good one in the small village near here. I visit them a lot to see the new swords they've made." Her smile overtook most of her small but gentle features, Victorian dress greatly contrasting the hilt of her sword that seemed to be attached to her hip. "I'm guessing you're new since you're so cute and unscathed. It's always nice to see a fresh face. Especially one who seems so eager to experience the world!"

 

The young looking elf girl sure had energy to spare, but this was never the case for Gally she was already a bit overwhelmed by the young woman in her face. She was pretty that was no doubt like a little sister he always wanted but with the hyper knob cranked to eleven. "Y-Yeah I'm fairly new. I'd appreciate some help." She said her own timid voice making her sound even more nervous than she would have in the real world."I'm..." She thought for a moment. "I'm Gally it's nice to meet you." She said. "I-I don't have money for new weapons yet I just started a few minutes ago. If you could just show me to some of the quest giving npcs I can handle most things on my own." Gally had trouble with people who were nonchalant about things. This level was a bit much to handle.

 

Scratching her head nervously upon Gally's request, she felt a bit bad- this girl really knew nothing, not even the quest system- or rather, lack thereof. Smiling a bit calmer, she let her hand reach the smaller girl's with ease, bowing her head. "Gally, is it? I'm Solaria. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The girl's small stature didn't elude Solaria, even if she was calmer and probably a bit older than her based on the way she carried herself. In games, no one was who they seemed, and Solaria knew that. But she also knew it was important to be true to herself. That meant helping was critical.

"There's no real 'built in' quests. It's kind of a 'hope an NPC happens to need help' or find a request on the boards- sometimes even other players on Zero Channel will give quests to each other, or at least ask someone to join them on one. The one quest that I found that's currently more constant is called the Brisshal Completion quest, but...That's better to wait on, I'd say. You want to get some experience first, since I hear it involves some rough battles at points. I haven't actually finished it myself...I only know what I've heard, for that one."

 

The sudden change from bubbly over energized creature of social doom to helpful knowledgeable gamer caught Gally off guard. "T-thank you." She said staring at the blue eyed girl now bathed in a new light of calm and clear direction. "I got this game just today and it was from my friend." She said trying hard to forget the other email she had seen before the one containing this game. "I had been trying to find a copy of it for months. I guess I leaped before I looked." She said scratching her head looking quite embarrassed. "So the quest system is slightly systematic and mostly player driven?"

 

Had she just heard Gally properly? The girl got the game...from a friend? She knew about it? So that commercial wasn't a total hallucination? I know others saw it but...Just...What? It really got around that much?

Well, either way, the girl was there. "I got it by fluke personally. There was this message on a board I was on...I'd just started playing around with my headset I got as a gift from my folks. When I was on a board I frequented on my computer, I found a strange link that no one else seemed to get, and I downloaded the game from there." Mind flustered, she tapped her chin as she continued to ramble. "It said not to talk to anyone IRL so I didn't, but...I guess the game's getting around more, huh? I even saw a commercial last time I visited my family on a weekend off from school." She shook her head, rapidly trying to return to the conversation and away from her jitterbug thoughts.

"Anyway! Yeah, it's kind of player driven but it's kind of not. You kind of never know what NPC will have a quest, and there's plenty that don't like players at all. You gotta get lucky with them and more or less ask to help out. Even without quests, though, there's plenty you can do with the right skills. What masteries did you take? It'll help think of the right starting point to practice."

 

Gally closed her fist then quickly opened her palm, to access the menu options. She opened her status menu. "Lets see. Ranged, Illu-Ilumancy? and Cooking. I didn't know what that Illumancy did but the brief synopsis I read said that it had to do with light magic or something." Gally put her hand down and the menu disappears instantly. "I guess I could make some basic foods and sell them. Is that right? It says I have the masteries but there is nothing next to it." Gally enjoyed most MMORPGS so this was all part of the fun for her learning something new. The idea that NPCs act more like humans and can dislike you was fascinating to her. Realism was something that got Gally into virtual reality in the first place.

 

"Illumancy is light magic, yep! It gives you the ability to use holy magic both to fight and to heal wounds. It's pretty handy, especially as you get more used to it. You can also use it to imbue weapons of yours or your allies temporarily with the magic, so that attacks do more damage- particularly helpful if you're fighting a demon or something else that's dark."

Smiling, she found it easy to get off track blubbering over the use of the one skill they had in common. While they both had illumancy, their fighting skills and crafting ones were fairly different- meaning Gally would need to train differently than Solaria, most likely.

"Yeah, with this game...There's no 'experience points'. Your abilities grow by training. I put a lot of work into my swordsmanship, so if you look at mine, you'll see a higher number at Slash than, say, at my alchemy level. But crafting skills definitely are good for making some money. If you work hard enough and earn a lot, you can even buy your own shop to sell things. I have a shop I sell salves at now, but for a long time, I was just making things for raids I was on..."

 

DANGER!
Unknown Character Entering!
​

Vivian made her entrance when her ears burned of someone saying Light Magic. As the female seemed to fall seamlessly from thin out, her knees bent at angle and stood up with the grace of an angel as she smiled wickedly, while flipping the long purple hair from off her shoulder.

One eyes covered from the veil of shifting strands, the Malefimancer continued to smile at the two women in front of her. Eyes like gentle white diamonds, the female brought a hand up as if to start a chant or the beginnings of a spell, but instead. "Hello Ladies! Embarking on a fun new adventure today? I couldn't but overhear someone saying something about 'Light Magic.' What a drab and particularly useless skill choice." The woman said almost scoffing at the notion of even using light magic. But each to their own.

The female moved with a sway, her hips moving like liquid within a glass as she took a step forward and her eyes were bound to the two players in front of her. She leaned forward, red lips parted to reveal that full smile of hers. She didn't look dangerous, on the contrary! Vivian was just a very playful sort who enjoyed the chaos of the world around her. Her eyes traveled from one person to the next, letting out a 'Hmm' as if contemplating what to do next.

"Is this a play date maybe? I didn't quite catch everything but you two seem to be forming a party of some sorts. How about you let me join you? If that girl there is an Illumancer, I would like to learn as well. Oh! Pardon moi, where are my manners? I am Vivian!" The woman took a step back and bowed her head looking down at the dirt, then rose it gently, "The Malefimancer," as that long smile turned wickedly in a heartbeat.

 

The sudden entrance of the woman, threw Gally off guard for a moment. She was in the public space in the plains so it wasn't uncommon. She seemed to hold herself in high esteem trying to be alluring and seductive in her movements. Although most would find that alluring and very intriguing Gally just felt uncomfortable.

"U-um Gally, Solaria, it's a pleasure." She said, she gestured with her hand to her self and her new friend as she said the names. "I'm fairly new to Terrasphere just started about 10 minutes ago to be honest." This was strange for Gally. For a player to hear the conversation and appear out of nowhere was quite some power, but Gally was interested in helping others and not about looking out for only herself.

"So do you want to learn Illumancy? because you said it was a worthless mastery but then said you wanted to learn about it." Gally said looking quite confused at the woman's words.

 

She could see a few things from @Gally Tresha's reaction to the stranger: for one, she was definitely not typically a people person. This was two people now that managed to seemingly startle her, after all! Secondly, Gally was very mannered- she even took the opportunity of introductions to introduce Solaria as well!

"As she said, I'm Solaria. It's nice to meet you, Vivian! But, be careful who you tell the malefimancy bit to. The 'locals' aren't so fond of it...Though I personally see nothing wrong with dark magic." Then again, the first person she met was a bit of a crazy fellow with the same skill. She couldn't hate it when someone using it helped her, right?

When asked about learning illumancy by the very same stranger, Solaria found herself a bit confused. Using the UI to take a peek into @Vivian Cruz's masteries, she shook her head slightly. "At this point, you can't learn it, I'm afraid. You have to train your current skills to have at least a total combined of 1000 Mastery Points. Once you have that, you'll unlock the fourth slot, so that you can learn a new skill-set alongside the ones you have. I can help train you in Slash though a bit, if you want."

She tapped her chin with a long finger, thinking a bit deeper. "And while we can't teach you to use it yourself...You can watch us, and maybe let us watch your malefimancy in turn. Not being able to learn the skills doesn't mean you can't learn from watching in general. You'll learn if it fits your preferences when you unlock that fourth slot, right? What do you think, Gally? I can't teach you how to use a bow or to cook, but I can teach you some healing skills so you'll gain some mastery in it. And we can all go hunting as a team to work on our weaponry." Turning to Vivian once more, she added, "But why'd you take magecrafting exactly...? I mean, you don't have the ability to use what you craft with that and Slash..."

 

"Questions, questions! Such curious little kittens!" Vivian laughed, holding one hand up to her mouth. There was a twinkle in her one exposed eye. These two didn't quite catch her meaning of learning. One could learn from watching, and then she could find out what makes Illumancy tick. The casting time, the hand movements one needs to use for the spell, the chanted words that are used to evoke the power. All these things are learned to later squash it down later. Because once you understand how a skill works from another player, it can be used against them later.

Vivian strolled forward, almost with a sauntering walk towards the two girls. "Yes, you are right. I actually have no desire to learn the skill myself. But I still wish to -learn- do you understand? I just want to see what kind of spells can be used and the whatnot. And a showcase seemed like a fabulous idea, we could use it on some monsters instead of wasting energy on earth and stone."

When the question was asked about her current skill set, Vivian narrowed her one seeing eye at Solaria, "All in due time, Precious. One must look into the future for their power to grow. Some may look a day or two ahead of themselves, but I look into months and months ahead of myself for plans of power." There it was. The darkness in her voice, although it was like honey to the ears, a sense of foreboding from this woman had gifted foreshadow that she might not be what they expected.

Giving a wave of her hand, the female moved and parted way from the group. "It seems Solaria-dear, is the veteran player. Why don't you lead us along then and take point. Since I am a new player as well, I would like to -learn- all that I can from this fantastical game."

 

While they were three different races, each had something similar to leave the Yladian intrigued. For her, each shared a single mastery- and yet, somehow, they all had a similar makeup of a singular magic set, a weaponry skill and a form of crafting. Coincidence or not, this was an intriguing scenario to the green-haired girl. So many differences and similarities colliding! Oh, the mystery!

"I've been playing for a few months now...And I've made good friends to help me learn the ropes over time. If you use the inspection tool, you can see what people are willing to let you see about them. I'm a pretty open book myself, so you can look at mine and see anything from my character's age and gender to my own and where I'm generally from. I don't hide my masteries and things like that, but some people can- to be honest, I don't really get how to use the settings on that. So...It's a fluke I figured out yours."

Sadly, Solaria hadn't read the manual- if there was one, even- when she started the game. She had made it difficult on herself by trying to learn everything on her own, impulsivity and natural curiosity mixing into a deadly toxin through her imaginary bloodstream. She just jumped right into whatever she well pleased.

Turning to look at @Gally Tresha a bit more distinctly compared to her peering before at @Vivian Cruz, Solaria smiled softly. "The first thing you'll need to know...Is that all people use magic a bit differently. What I use for a spell isn't what will work for you, and that's okay. Some people use specific incantations they've made up for themselves, like me...Others use song, or just gestures they've set up in the UI. For now, I'll show you my own skills. But first...Let's make a party properly. This way, we can go on a hunt and you'll get something out of it too, besides just watching me."

Smiling to both women, she maneuvered her hand to send the invite.

Invite

Solaria has invited you to their party. Accept?

"When you've gotten it, accept and then show me your weapons. I'll show you one of my favorite skills to use in battle with a team. It's pretty handy. Either of you should be able to do something similar, too...It's not limited in this case to Illumancy."

 

The window appeared to Gally, she had not been a part of a part very often on MMO's this would be a struggle but none the less she went for it. With her finger outstretched she clicked the green circle. She was eager to see what her specialty in magic was at least able to do, though she did keep in mind that her own magic would be unique like the person themselves. Gally nodded at the green haired girl her purple eyes alight with excitement, then gave her her trash starter bow that was mainly used to show and didn't add any damage. "This is all I have...I'm sorry!" She said slightly embarrassed at how much like a noob she felt.

 

Vivian cleared her throat with a small cough. With her hand outstretched, she accessed her inventory and appeared within her hand was that of an exotic curved sword. Smiling as if the item mysteriously found it way to her from some other realm, the woman hooked the chains to her belt and swept it around towards her hip. Red lips parted as she rolled a hand across her hair, unveiling the other eyes for if only a brief moment before it was swept back into place.

The long purple locks of hair fell from off her shoulder as she moved onto her left side, the weight causing her hip to pop out as she looked in front of her. The array of words in front of her and the choice to accept the party invite. Of course she hit the 'O' button with a delicate press of her finger tip.

"I too have nothing to hide in terms of what I have and am holding. It is up here," the woman tapped her head, a thin nail touching the surface of her temple, "is what makes the mystery of the player." She laughed coolly to herself, her brows raising with her sudden laughter before she folded her arms and nodded. "The party seems to have formed. And don't worry about your bow, Little Bird, I am sure you will get the hang of it soon enough. Well then..."

Vivian turned on her heel, brushed the hair off her shoulder as those long colored bi-purple locks uncoiled around her back, "Let us see what Solaria can do being the Veteran player here. We shall follow up with our own attacks once you get the ball rolling." Vivian had little to say in her Slashing Technique, or if she had one at all. She was quite new to weaponry and was willing to throw all her chips on the table with Malefimancy, yet the lingering thought that she needed a backup Offensive Mastery was needed. No, it was absolutely mandatory and vital to her creations in the futures.

Eyes on the prize.