Open - Brave New World

Finally.

Chihiro sat on her bed, a young woman in her late teens with long, sullen features and a refined sort of beauty. She was still in her clothes from the private school she attended. There hadn't been any time once she returned home from her violin lessons to change, or have a snack, or anything else. As soon as she'd made sure the coast was clear she had gone upstairs, locked her bedroom door, and begun downloading the client she'd received from a mysterious email. Her dark eyes were wide with mounting excitement as the little loading bar ticked upwards.

It had only been four months since TerraSphere had become known to the people. With it came endless amounts of propaganda, paranoia, and fear-mongering. However, Chihiro hadn't listened to a word of it, only seeing in TerraSphere something she desperately wanted: freedom. A life outside of her parent's controlling ways. A world she could express herself without fear of being judged or hated or...anything. She had been looking for the damn client for so long.

Then, today in the middle of her school-day, an anonymous email appeared in her inbox, holding a mysterious file.

It had almost been too good to be true.

Yet, here it was.

Finally the little loading bar hit the end, the numbers below it showing the download had hit a hundred percent, and it was ready to launch. Chihiro covered her mouth to smother a squeal of delight that threatened to burst from her lung. She had to be careful. She didn't have school tomorrow, but she had tea ceremony lessons at noon. She couldn't stay up too late. She couldn't make any noise, or her mother or father would come in to check on her. Not that they cared much about her playing games before, but a game as controversial as TerraSphere might be different...

Why am I still thinking about it?!

Plugging in her VR headset and setting it on, she laid back on the bed and got comfy.

Finally, finally, finally she was going to experience real freedom.

Well, sort of.

GAME:

WELCOME TO TERRASPHERE, MIST LÚTHES

Mist opened her eyes to see the sun-soaked canopy of a forest above her, the light glistening in her light green eyes and warming her body. She was laying down in the grass, just as Chihiro had been laying in bed, and the world around her was so peaceful right now. She felt the tips of her long ears brushing against the soft earth, her bare feet tickled by the grass as she lay still. Everything felt warm, and the air smelled fresh and clear and real. Wow. So this was TerraSphere. It...it really did feel like she was in a whole new world.

Wow.

Slowly--almost regretfully--she stood up to her full height and turned her head about. Ah, so she was somewhat on the edge of a forest, just near a clearing and a babbling brook. Not too far from her was a worn stone path, the stones glistening with dew. It must have been daytime where the server was, perhaps? It was getting dark in the real world. But who cared about the real world! A beaming smile broke out over Mist's face and she walked over to the stone path, looking both ways up and down it. She saw nothing one way or the other to indicate it was the right way to go, but a path had to lead somewhere on either end, right? One of them should be the starting town.

So she began to stroll along the path, and as she did Mist began fiddling with the menu. She didn't have much gold, no magic points, but her masteries were all there as she picked them. Plant magic would be good if the whole world had this much vegetation. And so long as she kept on this path she might run into other players soon. God, she couldn't wait for that. To meet real people, to make real friends, to have a life here she loved. No father or mother to hold her leash. Just her, and her life.

Finally!!

 

So this was a fine sight.

Rellan, or rather Yuriko, wasn’t much of a troublemaker. In the real world, in real life, she pretty much kept her head down, which wasn’t hard because she was so short. But in TerraSphere, upon logging into this world she’d determined that her ‘new’ personality would be completely different from her real life counterpart. And so…she gambled.

In any case, regardless of what world she was in, Rellan didn’t know much about gambling. The games back in The World were easy to follow and understand. If you didn’t understand something there were always online tutorials or faqs or whatever, you could find it. In TerraSphere, however, there were no such things. You learned by doing and watching and maybe she probably should have thought on the order of those instructions befo9re she started to play cards with absolutely no idea how to play.

So she was currently only in bra and panties walking down a dirty path.

Oh, and boots. They’d laughed when they threw them back to her, saying they didn’t want her to ‘wreck her pretty little feet’ as she stomped away fuming. She knew she could always get more stuff, but that meant she had to kill things and maybe do a quest or several with nothing but her underwear on. She wouldn’t have minded so much, as this wasn’t even her real body, but the humiliation was making her cheeks burn a permanent red. So into her own anger and frustration that Rellan barely noticed the girl she walked by, though she paid her no mind as she continued to stomp.

“I HELPED KILL TITANIUS!!” she stopped and yelled suddenly, at no one in particular. The martial artist put her hands into her face and screamed. “I HELPED SAVE THE WORLD NOT TWO DAYS AGO!! I DIED SO YOU MOTHER FUCKERS COULD LIVE!! I DIED!!” A pause to inhale, then exhale slowly. “Ugh. Whatever.”

Rellan let her bottom lip jut out just a bit before she began to walk again, this time with noticeably less gusto.

 

Crap! Chris found himself running through the woods as if his life depended on it. In reality it did. Sort of. He was still in the game Terrasphere, and had spent several days getting used to the game’s mechanics. His tail no longer threw off his balance as he ran, instead it seemed to help him as long as he didn’t think about it. And his ears picked up sounds much better than normal. Which is why he heard the pack of wolves crashing through the brush after him in hot pursuit. I was stupid.



Early in the afternoon he was able to get online after finishing his last class for the day. He figured he’d spend the time in the game to learn the combat system; specifically the magic system since that was what his character specialized in. It was going alright for the first two hours of the game. He learned what each of his six spells did. Three were actual combat spells, and the other three were more utility. With practice he was able to gauge the distance on the spells and how long it would take to cast them. He was getting pretty confident. And then he toggled the option from “Assist Mode” to “Free Mode”.



That ended up being his first big mistake in this world. He spotted a group of wolves that were hunting nearby and figured he’d sneak past them with his ‘Circulate’ spell to hide his scent. He held his staff out and spoke in a clear voice in order to cast the spell in confidence. A completely forgot the words. He stood there for a good minute trying to think of how the spell even started, and eventually the wolves picked up his scent. That was when the chase began.



Now Chris ran through the trees heading for the nearby road and hopefully to some sort of guard patrol. He had switched his option back to ‘Assist Mode’ as he ran, however he couldn’t cast spells while running. He’d have to stop and confront his pursuers, and he wasn’t about to do that without backup. One wolf he could handle. Two and three if he played smart and used his spells to divide them. But five was a bit much.



“I HELPED KILL TITANIUS!!” “I HELPED SAVE THE WORLD NOT TWO DAYS AGO!! I DIED SO YOU MOTHER FUCKERS COULD LIVE!! I DIED!!” Great. Someone who can help me fight. He broke through the trees lining the road and noticed two women walking the road. And one was almost naked. He stopped to gape at the woman storming around in her underwear in complete shock. The rustling coming behind him broke him out of his stupor, and he jumped back as the first of the wolves leaped from the tree line. ”A little help?! He opened the ‘magic window’ with a swipe of his hand, but he couldn’t cast a spell as he kept jumping back from the snapping jaws of the wolf pursuing him.

@Mist Lúthes
@Rellan Shard

 

Oh! A person was approaching! Mist lifted her eyes from the menu and closed her hand once more, then stopped in her tracks for a moment, dumbfounded. Why were they in their underwear? Even Mist, having only spawned in a minute ago at most, had come in at least a decent set of adventurers clothing. So...had she died and lost her equipment? Yikes, hopefully that was a setting that could be changed. Still as she was just going past her Mist tried to come up with something pleasant to say. It was her first interaction with another person in this game! She didn't eant to blow it. However it seemed like the mostly naked woman had a different plan as she started shouting at the heavens:

“I HELPED SAVE THE WORLD NOT TWO DAYS AGO!! I DIED SO YOU MOTHER FUCKERS COULD LIVE!! I DIED!!”

Ooh, yup, died and lost her gear. That had to suck. Was she shouting at the devs? Mist approached her by a few steps and held out her hand, trying to smile as warmly as she could to show she wasn't mocking her or anything like that. Everyone had bad days. Sometimes

"Um...do you need help getting your gear back? I'm super new, but I can, I don't know, do something? If you need--"

That was when a second voice sounded from a little ways off, surprising Mist yet again and catching her full attention. Oh no! Somebody was in trouble! Mist gasped as a pack of wolves came out from the bushes, chasing after the boy with furious teeth trying to catch any part of him they could. That was horrible! But, well, expected. It was a starting zone after all, of course there would be monsters.

"Don't worry! I'll help you!"

MASTERY ACTIVATED: AEROMANCY - DISRUPTION

​

A feeling inside of Mist welled up like she was drawing in an enormous breath, and just as her lungs were full to bursting, it flew past her lips in a gust of wind so strong that it shook the leafs off the shrubbery around them. The wolves right on the stranger's heels were knocked off their feet and crashed into the earth, while those following behind were stopped short or tripped over their pack mates. Mist gasped for air with an enormous grin on her face. Had she just done magic?! That was amazing! She'd felt it rush through her whole body like a real force of nature! And she had done something to help somebody! Or, at least, begun to help, as the wolves were getting back to their feet.

Hm. They looked even angrier now.

Oh dear.

 

Oh look, a person. A cute person!!

Also a boy, with wolves?!

Rellan felt, for just a moment, that she’d lost time and suddenly things were springing up and happening all around her while she wasn’t paying attention. But the girl was cute, and one of them adorkable stammering submissive types that she dug so much…in theory. Or that was all Rellan could garner of her personality because wolves. Well, she was a martial artist, and she didn’t need clothes to fight. Though fighting wolves in the near-buff would probably be…tougher? Only one way to find out!!

The magic Pinky had summoned was cool, if you were new to the game. Rellan had certainly marveled the first time she’d seen it. Of course, since then she’d been to the depths of hell, an Old God, and then died before come back to life in a cycle that felt far too real to be simulated. But it was, of course. The other guy was…well, he looked new too. At least he acted like it. Rellan couldn’t judge. The first time she’d entered TerraSphere she’s nearly been mauled to death by chickens.

Deciding that concentrating on her task was probably for the best, Rellan breathed in deep, then let it out slow before she jumped into action. No, a real martial artist didn’t need anything but their fists, feet, elbows and knees to get the job done and she had all of those intact. Just because she’d lost all her clothes gambling didn’t mean she couldn’t punch a wolf in the face.

And punch a wolf in the face she did.

And then another, though the third was kicked. She backdashed a bit, taking only the slightest of moments to peer, from the corner of her eye, how the other two were faring. The guy was still running, but at least most of the wolves were off his trail and were now growling at her and Pinky. Rellan moved slow now, attempting to keep an eye on all available targets while making her way towards the other girl in the fight.

“Rellan, Rellan Shard,” she introduced nonchalantly herself just as a wolf leaped in at them. Rellan caught it barely as she rolled back and flipped it over. She got to her feet quickly, putting her guard up instantly before her gaze returned to the pink haired girl. “So…you, uh…come here often?”

@Mist Lúthes
@Chris Seenter

 

Chris felt a strong breeze blowing behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see that his pursuers were knocked down by what one of the ladies did. Most likely the one with clothes, as the other leaped into action to batter one of the wolves into submission. Chris turned as he slid to a stop in the middle of the road. He still had his spell menu open, and he selected a spell with his right hand while brandishing his staff with his left. ”Let the life of the earth hold you to the ground. Binding!”



The ground quivered around one of the wolves struggling to rise to it’s feet, and small tendrils of green vines shot out and wrapped around the creature. It was stuck to the ground unable to move, but Chris was already selecting another spell from the list. Binding only lasted for 5 seconds, and after that the wolf would be released to attack. And most likely go after Chris since he was generating a bit more agro on it. ”Let water gather and impale my enemies. Icicle!” Water gathered together and formed a small spike of ice above Chris’s staff, which he let loose against the second wolf struggling to rise. It struck the creature in the side before evaporating.



This caused two of the wolves to focus on him, and left three for the two ladies to deal with. Well two, as the one that the mostly naked chick hit got a good beating. He focused on the two now trained on him, and felt his legs shaking from fatigue. Crap! I used too much energy running. I only have one more spell before I pass out. He had practiced his limits when learning the magic system. Usually he could cast four spells before he felt the symptoms of low energy. Apparently running also cost energy, and he was dangerously on ‘empty’. He had maybe one more spell before he passed out from exhaustion. He raised his finger and hovered over a third spell on his list.

@Mist Lúthes
@Rellan Shard

 

Wow, the woman in only her underwear was a great fighter! Mist had figured that was the case, since she claimed to have saved something's lives a little bit ago, even if she was, well, naked. Still, assuming and seeing something in action were two very different things! The man being chased, too, had magic in his arsenal and whipped out two spell with amazing ease. Would she be able to do that, too? No, his magics were different than hers. But there were still things she could do to help! Drawing on that feeling from earlier, she felt a warm, growing light reach from her chest, down her arm, and to her extended pointer and middle finger, collecting in a bright white orb.

"I'm Mist! I just spawned in, like, two minutes ago? And here!"

MASTERY ACTIVATED: WHITE MAGIC - SUPPORT (BUFF)

​

A pair of white beams shot forth, one striking Rellan and the other hitting Chris, filling them with energy anew. Seemed like she'd stated into the support role. Ah, well, that was good! If she was caution that meant she wouldn't get hurt as often as DPS or tanks, and she would be able to help others this way! Speaking of which the spellcaster seemed to be running on fumes. Mist felt a little more exhausted than she had been, but not by too much. She would have to be careful not to run out of energy, though. She'd only just started the game! It just wuldn't do if she failed her first encounter!

"You guys are doing awesome! Keep it up!"

 

Well of course the other woman didn’t notice.

Rellan chided herself but tried not to dwell. It was a problem for her, over-dwelling on things that probably didn’t need too much thought. Like now, for instance; instead of trying to impress a girl, she could be fighting wolves. Being casters they both were limited without someone to distract the targets and that left her. She was no tank but with no other options the martial artist tried to pick up the slack. She just needed them to stop running around and stay god damn still.

“Hey, squishies!!” Rellan shouted, just as the pink haired one named Mist healed her and the boy. “Do’meh a solid and gather up together near’meh. I’ll take the ones that lunge, you two take the ones that are prowlin’ the edge!!”

She put herself equal distance between herself and the two casters, just to make sure any wolf that crept in she could deal with. The problem came from being farther apart from the other two, and if these wolves decided to charge two or more at a time they’d be in trouble. They seemed to be in luck, however, as the wolves weren’t all charging yet but nor were they giving up. They seemed starved, so it was unlikely they would give up this meal easily.

“Ain’t scared’ah ya,” Rellan growled, holding her fists up and crouching low, which served to keep solid footing, making it harder to knock her down. “I jump kicked a God. So fight’meh, lose, and die mad about it.”

 

Chris risked a glance towards the two women as the two wolves now focused on him. They were still off balance enough that he only had to backpedal once to avoid the fangs of the one struggling to rise. The other had just been released from the vines. "I'm Chris. I'm also relatively new." 'Relatively new' was an overstatement, but at least he wasn't stumbling over his tail anymore. He found the trick to it was to just not think about it.

The clothed woman 'Mist' cast a spell at both him and the nearly naked woman 'Rellan'. Yes, it was better to refer to them by their names, and not the fact that one had less clothing than the other. He felt a slight surge of energy, and the shaking of his legs lessened slightly. He figured he still only had enough energy to cast one more spell, but he won't pass out because of it.

“Hey, squishies!! Do’meh a solid and gather up together near’meh. I’ll take the ones that lunge, you two take the ones that are prowlin’ the edge!!”

Taking a few hopping steps Chris moved to place Rellan between him and the two wolves that were focused on him. If they were really focused on him then it would only buy him a little time to choose his next spell. He hoped that the 'god kicker' was skilled enough to pull the aggro. He held his hand over a spell in his menu and waited for the right moment to cast. It was an area-of-effect spell, but it was best used when allies weren't in the area. Meaning he had to aim it well.

 

"I can do that! Uh--be careful! And let me know if you need healing! I can heal!"

MASTERY ACTIVATED: AEROMANCY - LIGHTNING ALTERATION

​

Mist rubbed her hands together, feeling sparks of magical energy dance between her palms, and the flicked both hands outward to the wolves on the edge of the clearing. With a series of flashes bursts of lightning shot out from her hands, zapping at their paws and noses. The damage didn't seem too great--being level one sucked--but at least one of the wolves whimpered and backed up, rubbing its burnt nose with its paw, before it turned tail and rushed into the bushes. It was just one out of a dozen, but Mist still beamed and thrust her fist into the air. Even a small victory was worth celebrating.

"I got one! I got one! Yay!"