Here is the fully edited version of Ilos. To make things a little easier, I'm posting it in six parts over the next few days.If you find any mistakes or anything that doesn't make sense, please please please comment or message me so I can fix it. Thanks!

 

-Tas

 

 

 

This is the beginning of the story of Ilos, a virtual land... or is it? Join David and his two friends as they embark on their adventure through this incredible place that is much more than it seems.

 

Themes apply to all chapters, not this one specifically.

 

 

 

 

 

Ilos, Book One

 

FOR THE UPDATED VERSION GO TO THE TITLE PAGE FOR THIS BOOK

 

 

Prologue: The Mage and the Demon

Ilos, Day -100

 

 

A figure stood on the edge of the island, looking out over the expanse of the land as the light of the sun flickered into existence. High in the air, above the clouds, a myriad of dissimilar islands floated, and at the top there stood a man. He was dressed in grey, his robes, his hat, his hair and beard, all grey and worn. Creases covered his face from long years of effort as he kept his vigil over the land and over the people who looked to him for guidance, but his strength was coming to an end. Long had the islands been lost, the Gates closed, and only the mainland far below still flourished.

Soon. Xynus thought to himself. The time draws close that I will not be able to maintain the Great Sleep. But bringing in the number of champions needed at once will shatter my power, and they will be overwhelmed. Stroking his long flowing beard, his long eyebrows drew down over his eyes in thought. Perhaps if I only use the silver first, let them establish themselves, they can survive when the Great Sleep breaks.

Time passed as the sun’s first light drew light hues of pink and orange across the clouds below the man, and he pondered like he had done every day for some long forgotten length of years. The changes had been slow at first, a villager vanishing here, some livestock there, but as time passed, it was no longer a single person vanishing, but entire towns sometimes. Then the Gates were taken and locked, guarded by powerful beasts. His immortal enemy was finally on the edge of victory, the prison where he wove his machinations almost undone, and the man no longer had the power to oppose him directly. Now what were once the strongest bastions of humanity were reduced to mere pittances of their former glory, the ruins overgrown and forgotten, simple myths to the people that lived there.

Monsters freely roamed the wilderness where one could once travel the length and width of the land without fear, and there were so few of the people left. Xynus gave a heavy sigh, part relief and part despair. This was to be his final move, his last gambit, and if it failed, two worlds would fall.

Slowly he moved to the center of the island, and raising his staff to the sky, he began to chant in a gravelly voice.

 

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel dunisgis antivue.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekresdun.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

De Ci cende gisvas resdun.
De Tu cende cinvas ra’an.
De Etposdun cende issus faskasi.
De Ue’et antiv vassin fasratu.

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel kermosres.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekkinan.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

Cusue’et cui gal.
Cusue’et cui setres cusekmos.
Cusue’et cui kintiv antivsus.
Cusue’et cui anlesek.

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel iska.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekreslos.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

De lospos cende’ue resdunsus.
De lospos cende’ue kinlessus.
De lospos cende’ue anlessus.
De lospos cende’ue argalsus.

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel dunisgis antivue.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekresdun.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

 

Far below, in the center of humanity’s greatest city, with walls tall and never breached, a great light bloomed, blotting out the sun.

 

 

 

Chapter 1: The World of Ilos

Earth, Day 0

 

Nervous excitement bubbled in my gut as I sprinted down my school’s halls, my backpack bouncing wildly behind me as I moved to beat the kids now streaming out of the rooms along the hallway. Their stares followed me as the whisper of my shoes on the tile floor took me beyond the increasing crowds and towards freedom. It was the last day of school for the week, a Thursday, and I had plans for the four day weekend that loomed ahead of me. Or maybe the rest of the year… I thought as I contemplated skipping school for the remainder of the semester.

Today was the day I had been looking forward to for close on a month, the day I once again would have the opportunity to live in Ilos. The thick segmented white-metal headband that hung around my neck was my Key to that wondrous virtual world, almost indistinguishable from the real one.

All I had to do was place it around my forehead and will myself to enter in order to escape from this annoying reality. Well, once the servers opened anyway. That time was a mere hour away, and I had things to prepare for my upcoming journey.

I was one of ten thousand to receive one of the silver headbands, allowing access to the ‘beta’ version of the game, if that is what it could be called. Ilos was whole and complete from the first second of the ‘beta’, and none of the other players I had talked to had found any sort of bug or odd occurrence that a beta was supposed to fix. Even more than that, the game was not advertised in any way. No commercials. No signs. No marketing whatsoever. And it didn’t matter one whit. News of the game spread through the internet and the world like a lightning bolt, and there wasn’t a person with internet access that didn’t know about it. Websites were established immediately, forums erupting with news as the beta players began to post what they had experienced. People bought and sold the Keys for unbelievable prices, hundreds of millions of currency crossing the internet in the first day as those with the funds bribed people without to let them use the mysterious devices.

Sure, I could have sold mine and spent the rest of my life in comfort, never having to work, never wanting for anything, but that would have deprived me of the thing I wanted even more: escape. I hated reality, the monotonous predictability of life in 2018. I knew exactly where I would have been going had I not gotten the headband. I would have completed school, then moved on to a graduate degree, then worked an almost meaningless job with idiots that I probably wouldn’t like for forty or so years, then I would retire, likely still unmarried, and indulge myself in whatever ways I could until I died. It was a stupid existence with no purpose, and the headband was my way out. No longer would I have to be a 6’ 1” mildly athletic twenty one year old guy with thick glasses and messy hair, but a warrior, able to beat the strongest foes with my strength, wits, or speed.

The ‘beta’ lasted for a solid two months, beginning right after the holiday break started, and I had spent every hour possible in Ilos, training, exploring, doing things that actually helped people, regardless of whether they were computer controlled NPCs or actual players. The real world became just a shadow that I irregularly visited to hurriedly shower and shove food down my throat before jumping back to Ilos. I had skipped school when it had started up again, continuing my schedule and spending even more time as the beta drew to a close.

My body wasted away in my bed, and when I was forced back to the real world I was in terrible condition. I had dropped a good twenty pounds off my already slender frame, and was as weak as a newborn kitten until I began to eat regularly again and move around. I got back into my classes reluctantly, working long hours to catch up to my peers and to assure my parents' continued support for college. The normal distractions I had had before paled when compared to Ilos, the videogames I had so loved boring and pointless, my books of great adventures dull and lifeless. All I knew was that I had to wait a full month before I could again adventure in Ilos, and that all I had accomplished there would vanish as they reset the servers. The thought that all I had done would be gone was crushing, as if I had lost a part of myself.

After a few days I couldn’t care less. I just wanted back in.

Without the time wasting activities I was accustomed to, I found it easy to concentrate on what I needed to do in order to be ready when the game officially released. All of my energies went into this one goal, and I planned and schemed to get as much time as possible in Ilos when I was finally able to. My grades went from zeroes to high Bs and then As as I aced every quiz and every test in every class. I asked my parents for more money, bolstering my bank account, and I began buying foodstuffs that would last a significant amount of time before I had to get more, probably several months depending on how much I ate. I was thoroughly obsessed, and I couldn’t care less. Everything was in readiness now; I just had some final preparations to make at my apartment.

Without any other work I would pass every class and end the semester with a 2.75 GPA, my apartment was paid for in advance until the beginning of the next school year, and I even had a service that would deliver the more perishable foodstuffs to my apartment. I had squared everything with my parents, lying about some unpaid internship I had made up that would require me to stay the whole summer.

My reverie was broken by three rather large men stepping out in front of me. I knew these idiots; these were Bill, Ted, and Joe, all of whom had discovered what my ‘silver necklace’ actually was and what kind of value it had. Each was a muscle bound cretin that could snap me in half without trying if he got a good hold on me, which was never going to happen. They had all tried to get it from me, first by threats and then attacks, but they had never succeeded. They were the ones responsible for five separate attempted break-ins to my apartment trying to get the thing, enough that I had to get upgrades to the locks and windows so they couldn’t get in without at least making a hell of a lot of noise. The only reason they hadn’t beaten me to a pulp yet is that I could out run them easily and I was quiet when I moved, almost silent, so they had little warning when I was approaching and couldn’t follow when they lost sight of me.

Unfortunately, they had me good this time. They always kept the doors in this part of the building locked, and I heard the doors I just came through click shut behind me. I skidded to a stop and looked for a way around, but even one of them standing in the entrance would be enough to stop me from getting past. Their smiles widened as they saw I couldn't run away, their eyes already lighting up with greed for the circlet around my neck.

“You aint gettin’ away this time Applesauce.” Bill smiled nastily, flexing his massive muscles and gesturing with a long smooth stick he was carrying, “Why don’t you just hand over that little trinket and you won’t have to spend the rest of the year in the hospital?”

Yep, that would be me he was talking to. David Joseph Appleton, the nerdy videogamer junior kid who did free running as a hobby, enjoyed brown eyes that didn’t work without thick glass in front of them, short but unkempt brown hair, and the complete inability to grow any sort of facial scruff whatsoever. Oh, and at a slender 6’1” and 155 pounds, was totally outweighed by each of the almost 300 pound bullies.

My eyes widened as Ted pulled out a long knife and Joe showed me a revolver inside his jacket. Damn they were serious this time! They knew it was their last chance to get me before the release today, and they were willing to risk jail to get something that would set them for life. I would have been screwed if Bill hadn’t brought that piece of wood, something I knew exactly how to use.

I set myself and gestured to Bill to come forwards, bringing my other hand to my ‘necklace’. “Alright, just don’t shoot me okay?”

He stepped forwards, believing the whiny scared tone that had taken me so much effort to produce. Surprise marred his stupid face as I grabbed the makeshift quarterstaff in his hand, twirling it as I torqued his wrist enough to make him let go. I spun, cracking Ted’s hand and sending the knife flying as I slipped into the trance like battle state that I had been so famous for in Ilos, known widely as the Stillness. Every movement was in perfect balance and I used the resistance to spin my weapon the other way, clipping Bill’s knee as he turned and sending him to the floor. Sharp cracks punctuated my swings as I broke Joe’s hand as he reached for his pistol, shattered Ted’s knee, fractured Bill’s skull as he fell, cracked one of Joe’s ribs, clipped Ted behind the ear as he stumbled to the ground, and then hit Joe’s temple as he keeled over clutching his rib.

I had flipped the quarterstaff to my back where I had a holder for it in Ilos and it hit my backpack before I caught myself and grounded one end on the tile floor instead. Bill, Ted, and Joe were sprawled around me, all unconscious, mere seconds after Bill had stepped forwards. I smiled and dropped the quarterstaff as I hopped over them, glad to see I still had the instincts my weapons training in Ilos had brought along with the silent way I moved. Maybe I should have felt sorry for them, but I really really wasn’t. They had had a right beating coming to them, and I was completely unopposed to having given it to them. I wasn’t worried about police either, the three were well known bullies and petty criminals, and the idea that some nerd gamer kid half their size and six inches shorter beat the hell out of all three of them was ridiculous.

Putting it from my mind, I ran back towards my apartment at a nice easy ground eating lope. I considered what I would do at the very start of the adventure I was about to embark upon. Exactly 990,000 regular metallic headbands had been sold across the world for the upcoming release, bringing the total players to exactly one million, and that was a little bit of a problem.

Having that many people all appearing in Ilos at close to the same time could clog everything up, and I really didn’t like crowds. I figured I could skip the beginning intro quests that forced players to run around the starting city and get familiar with it before sending them out to kill things and just get to the next town and do the quests there. It’d be harder, but absolutely faster and much more interesting.

I arrived at my apartment with just under a half hour to get everything ready. I made some sandwiches without mayo so they wouldn’t get soggy, made sure the fridge next to the bed was well stocked with water at the front, and even made sure the new shampoo and soap were in their places in the shower for fast scrubbing. Finally, I sat down in front of my computer and opened Skype, then called the two people that were my closest friends and the ones I would be spending most of my time with in-game.

Nick answered first, his reddish hair and bluish eyes shimmering with an excitement that matched the smile splitting his face. He too wore glasses, but they weren’t nearly as thick and were more for when he was about to do some serious gaming, otherwise preferring contacts. Nicholas Finn Charleston was my rather enthusiastic partner in crime, if slightly less of a geek, and was mostly responsible for any social life I had. He chose a different college than I did, much to my unvoiced disappointment, and was an absolute whiz at anything economics or business related. He was already wearing his black headband and was fidgeting excitedly, obviously feeling the same bubbling feeling in him that I was. “Dude! Are you ready?!”

“Am I ready? Am I ready?! I’m set for freaking months dude!No no, the question is are you ready?”

“Hell yeah I'm ready! Do you know how jealous I've been of you?! The only person I know to get a silver key? Forced to listen you talk about how amazing Ilos is for the past month? You’ve got me so jacked to try this game!” Nick waved his hands wildly, trying to get across just how ‘jacked’ he was.

“Hey now! Who was it who begged me for details about Ilos? Oh yes, you! And I know exactly how jealous you are, because you’ve told me practically every time you’ve talked to me!” I laughed.

“Well duh, how could I not! I mean, you got to-“

“Yes yes, he got to play in the beta, and had a wonderful time in Ilos, and you’re entirely envious, and he’s so lucky. We know already Nick.”

“Good to see you too Jess.” Nick laughed, “Are you ready?”

She sighed, but was still smiling. “Sure. I’m still not sure how the hell you managed to convince me to try this game bro, but it better be damn good to be worth the effort I've put in to clear my schedule for the entire week!”

My smile stretched wider, if that was possible, when Jess’ face popped up next to Nick’s. Jessica Abigail Baker, a beautiful girl with light blue-hazel eyes and soft blonde hair, was the second on my list of close friends, bringing the total to two. Her creamy and lightly tanned skin seemed to glow softly in the light of her computer, and I found myself once again staring into her dazzling and utterly unique eyes. The brilliant blue of her irises was broken by a splash of rich brown radiating out from her pupils, a configuration I had never seen anywhere else, and it for some reason mesmerized me whenever I saw them.

“-llo. Hello! Snap out of it Bro.” Jess was practically shouting into her mic.

I blinked, then shook my head, “Right, umm, what was I saying Sis?”

Nick, unable to hold himself anymore, bust out laughing while Jess sported a wry smile, fully aware she was the cause of my antics. All three of us knew I had a crush on Jess and that she didn’t return the sentiment, but for some reason it wasn’t awkward in the slightest. To be honest I was secretly a little hurt that she didn’t have the same feelings for me that I did for her, but at the same time she was the sister I never had in many ways, and I was loath to lose that. Both of us had a strong Christian upbringing, and ever since she found out that she was named after Abigail in the Bible, David’s sister, she had started calling me Bro, and after a year or so I started to do it too until we almost never used each other’s names. She was one person I really admired and was everything I was not. Where I had a hard time with strangers and social situations, she was a natural born leader and speaker, and I fully believed she could talk a boulder into following her up a hill.

“You called us to discuss where we were going to meet when the server opens if I remember correctly.” She hesitated for a moment, “Okay Nick, shut up now.”

I chuckled as Nick’s laughter renewed itself, then continued on to the business at hand. “Right. When you first get into Ilos you can customize the random appearance they give you. I'd suggest you stick to close to what they generate for you because it’s based off your real body and it should feel natural. If you do that we should all look enough the same that we will be able to recognize each other even with the little changes they will put in. All you need to do is head north to the gate because we will all appear in different places. The starting city is a huge circle, so if you just head generally north you will be able to follow the wall until you get to the gate. I should be there before you, but if I’m not for some reason just wait a few minutes.”

I waited for them to nod before continuing. “After we all get there we’ll head north along the road that leads out of the city past the first village and into the following town of Riskmarl. The quests there are surprisingly easy and we will be free to complete them quickly without having to compete with the other million people for hunting spots or items. We will have to be careful though, because other players can kill you and probably will if they see you heavily injured, and it’s a long walk from the plaza in the city that you’re revived at and where we’ll be questing. With the three of us it shouldn’t be hard to do because all of the quests at that level are made for people alone, though we will have to get three times the creature drops to complete them. Nick, if I’m busy doing something or other, try to explain things to Jess, you know how these games work." I ran through my mental checklist of important information. "I think that’s about it.”

They both nodded again, Nick having corralled his laughter by this point and was back to grinning excitedly. His eyes flicked to the corner of his screen, “We still got eight minutes till launch, any last minute advice David?”

I thought for a moment, “Oh, before you meet me at the gate pick up whatever weapons seem interesting to you from the stores by the gate, you should have enough money left over to pick up some health potions as well, so spend all the rest you don’t use on weapons on those. You will want as many as you can and you’ll go through them faster than you think you will. At the beginning it’s the only way to heal yourself quickly, and you will get hit a lot while you learn how to use your weapons. Keep in mind that there are no ‘skills’ like in other games, it’s all you, though you will have some assistance from the game while learning. Other than that we just need to level as fast as we can at the beginning and be ahead of as many people as possible to reduce the chances of getting robbed by other players.” I checked my computer’s clock, “Four minutes. See you guys at the North Gate.”

“See you there Bro.”

“AHHHHH I CAN’T WAIT!! Let’s DO this!”

I saluted my friends, then hit the ‘end call’ button and shut down my computer. I slipped my Key from around my neck for the first time since the ‘beta’ ended and placed it around my forehead, unable to contain my wide grin as I laid down on the bed. My eyes closed, and I waited for the feeling that would tell me I could again enter Ilos at will. Seconds seemed like hours as I readied myself to be the first person in, to watch as the multitudes began to emerge from areas of shimmering space, to breathe the sweet air and see the countless sparkling stars unclouded by pollution, to see the islands in the sky that stretched out of sight, to once again walk the lush grass and explore the blooming forests of Ilos.

I felt it, and within the second shifted just like countless times before, the familiar light of the transition taking me to the world of my dreams.

 

-----

 

I selected the appearance I had already made for myself during the beta, studying myself in the mirror provided in the empty white space that was character creation. Rather than just a plain, somewhat athletic, messy-haired college student with glasses, a stoic looking young warrior stared back at me. He still had short brown hair and eyes, was the same height, and looked a lot like me, but his posture was more composed, and his muscles were plainly visible through his skin. His eyes seemed more vibrant, a warm chocolate color instead of dark dirt or mud, and his ears had slight points. I grinned, then confirmed the appearance and typed in the name Cariss on the keyboard that appeared in front of me. My vision washed out for a moment, and then I appeared in the central plaza of Ilos with a glow of white light and a tinkling sound.

Looking around, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. Buildings surrounded the open area, though they were around two tenths of a mile away from where I stood. The plaza was massive; with a diameter of 700 yards, it was made to hold all one million players at one time. Most of the buildings were made of different colors of marble this close to the center of the city and the Palace towered upwards in front of me in all its splendor. The blocks under my feet were made of some kind of white stone that had never been seen on Earth, each containing thousands of shards of crystal that reflected the light into a myriad of colors. Looking down, I saw that I was dressed in the normal beginning armor, if you could even call it armor, in different hues of blue. It was essentially clothes that were thicker than normal, offering little protection, and there was a dull short sword belted at my left hip.

Lights flickered like a weird kaleidoscope across the plaza as more players logged in. I watched for my friends for a moment, but with the number of people appearing there was no way I would be able to spot them. Shrugging, I started off towards the North Gate, weaving through the rapidly growing crowd. Unlike every other online game ever, you couldn’t just walk through other players here, you’d just run right into them. I did see a few people do just that, and a couple good-natured arguments started up before I left the plaza.

Staying away from the crowds was easy, though it was because I knew all the back streets and alleys that led where I wanted to go. I stopped briefly at a weapons dealer, spending most of my money on as many throwing knives as I could buy, the rest would be for the few healing potions I could afford with what I had left over.

In the beta I had picked up a quarterstaff, only to get a much better one for a quest reward almost immediately, so I was just going to survive with the knives until then. I could use a sword, better than most really, but I would probably end up taking a lot of hits without a shield, which I wasn’t going to buy. Storing them, I ran back into the alley and up the wall onto the rooftops.

Everywhere was fair game here, rooftops, alleys, walls, basements, rooms, everywhere. As a free runner, it was amazing, a playground where even if you fell it didn’t hurt. And if it also happened to be the fastest way to get from one place to another, well, that was a nice bonus.

Consequently, I beat both of my friends to the North Gate and had some time to shop and got to watch the first few players leave the gates. As with most online games that allowed character creation, everyone who I saw was idealistically beautiful, handsome, tough looking, scarred and experienced, or some combination thereof. There weren’t really any ‘ordinary’ looking players around, ‘cause what was the fun of playing an RPG if you just wanted to be normal?

There were a few I noticed that seemed to know what they were doing and walked with confidence and a destination in mind, and many many more that were just the opposite, wandering through the shops and taking in the sights… and buying some of the most worthless items. I mean really, what were you going to do with a broad spectrum antidote potion? Drink it for the taste? There wasn’t any poison to deal with yet, that came much later. Or that guy that bought the Bronze Knee Spikes and nothing else, how could he possibly use that effectively? Though I must admit it was really amusing to watch people make horrible purchases and try to strut like they knew what they were doing.

I probably did some dumb things when I first came here too, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t funny.

After a good ten minutes or so my friends finally arrived, Nick speaking up to get my attention off of the fool who had bought a Woolen Robe, a comfort item, and was wearing it like armor and heading out of the gates. “What are you laughing at dude?”

I turned to greet my friends… and doubled over laughing. They were both standing there in their basic armor, puzzled looks on their faces, and struggling not to drop at least four different weapons each. I held out a hand to forestall their indignant responses while I got control of myself.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t explain the inventory system did I?”

I got a flat look from Nick and a puzzled one from Jess through the jumble of weaponry they were carrying.

“No, you didn’t really mention that dude.”

“Inventory system? What’s that?”

“Here, set those down and I’ll show you.” I said chuckling as I motioned with both hands like pulling on the corners of a square with my thumbs and index fingers, bringing up a holographic display in front of me.

Jess dropped her weapons with a clatter in surprise, eliciting another smirk from me. Nick set his down on the ground and looked curiously at the mostly transparent swirling area hovering in front of me, a few tiny looking items floating around in it.

“This is the Inventory display; it allows you to store items and weaponry so you don’t have to carry them around. You can reach into it and pull out any items you have in there, “ I reached into the window and pulled out one of the health potions I had bought, having it materialize in a flicker of light, “and to put something in you just do the reverse.” I pushed the potion back in, it dematerializing into particles as it passed the screen, a tiny red potion appearing in the display. “There is a weight limit that a Storage Gem can store, but not a size limit. Everyone starts with a basic Storage Gem set into the front of their belt, though you can move it to a different piece of armor or jewelry if you visit a specialty shop.” Closing the window with a brush of my hand, I continued. “You have to use both hands to open the inventory, so it’s usually a good idea to keep things you might need to use in battle on your person and save the inventory space for spares and things that would hinder you to carry. You can close any window with a motion like brushing something off your shoulder with the back of your hand or by doing the same thing you used to open that window.” I hesitated, making sure I had gotten everything before shrugging. “And that’s all there is to it.”

After getting them to store their purchased weapons, Jess was looking at me funny. I cocked my head at her. “Yes?”

“Sorry Bro, you just look a little different from how you normally do. I’m not sure why, but you do.”

“Yeah, you do look kinda different dude, but at the same time not really.”

“Well that’s what the system does at character creation. I know my eyes are a slightly different color, I don’t have any sort of acne here, and my ears are a little more pointy.”

I took in my friends again, looking for the differences I knew were there. Nick’s hair was still red, but more of a blood red than the brown-tinged color he had had before. His eyes were also a brilliant sky-blue rather than a dull blue and his face was more classically handsome as well. Jess was more beautiful, if that were possible. Her features were perfect, her eyes and irises were slightly bigger and more tilted, though they still had that brown into blue coloration unique to her. I noted that her ears were pointed when she brushed back her shining blonde hair, enough to be noticeable when viewed plainly, but invisible when she had her hair down.

She noticed me staring and gave me a raised eyebrow and a little smirk. “Looking at something Bro?”

I flushed as Nick started snickering. “Let’s – ah – let’s just go.” I stuttered as I headed out the North Gate, my friends laughing as they followed.

We went out to the hilly fields just north of the city, which were filled with one of the stock starting RPG enemies: Boars. I tried to explain a few more things as we walked the short distance. Unlike any other online RPG, there was no grouping system; anyone who helped with an encounter got experience based on their participation and performance.

Nick nodded, but Jess just looked confused. “Wait, what does any of that mean?” She asked, “And what is ‘experience’?”

I shook my head, “I keep forgetting you don’t play video games at all. By killing enemies, completing tasks for people, or discovering new things, you gain ‘experience’. The more experience you have, the more powerful you are, the harder you are to hurt, and the more help you will get from the system as you fight. You get more experience for doing more difficult things, most of which are either combat or quests. The more damage you do to the enemy and the smarter you handle combat the more you’re given at the end. For example, you could still get experience for distracting or misleading enemies even if you don’t actually do any damage, though the more allies you fight with the less experience you will get individually.”

Jess blinked at me, absorbing that information, and Nick ‘hmmed’ thoughtfully before asking his own question.

“You said something about help from the system while you fight. What do you mean by that? Can I like, use the skills I learn here in the real world or something? Cause that would be awesome.”

“Oh, that’s one of the things I love about Ilos. There aren’t actually any ‘skills’ here like there are in other games, but when you try to do something you don’t know how to do, the system will help you out a little and sort of guide you along. You can use the skills you learn here in the real world, but that’s because you’re actually learning about weaponry, not because of some skill the game gave you. You’ll see when we fight some of the boars that are out here in these fields, but when you swing your weapon you’ll feel some small pressure as a guide for your motions and attack. If you follow the guiding you’ll have proper technique and will strike much more accurately than you probably would otherwise. Does that make sense?”

“Sort of…”

“Not really.”

I sighed, “Well I guess you need to experience it first hand, let’s go practice for a little bit.”

We stopped just off the road and I let them fight imaginary monsters for a bit to get used to feeling the guidance of the system. I would occasionally give advice or encouragement, though I don’t know how much I was really helping.

After about ten minutes or so, I took out my own blade and started working through the sword forms I knew, not that that was very many. Unfortunately I wasn’t high enough level for the system to assist me with most of them, so I was just doing what I could with the muscle memory I had developed. A few of the most basic slashes and thrusts felt like I remembered them, but the rest were just a little slower and less powerful, though they did have decent form.

I stopped, twisting my mouth. Probably good enough to deal with monsters, if slowly, but not for a real fight. I hope my quarterstaff reflexes haven’t decayed similarly…

Noticing the silence, I looked up, seeing my friends staring at me open-mouthed. I blinked at them a few times, “What?”

“Dude. Where did you learn to do that? That was awesome!”

“Yeah Bro, that was really cool.”

“Umm.” I responded eloquently. “I just followed the system assist. As you accumulate experience you gain access to more forms and it eventually just becomes muscle memory.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “To be honest, I wouldn’t be able to defeat an actual swordsman with a sword, I’d need my quarterstaff, but I should be okay against monsters. If you’ve both gotten enough practice, let’s head out further and see if we can find some boars to kill.”

“Yeah! Let’s do it!”

Jess sighed, “Okay, but you guys better back me up.”

“Hah.” Nick scoffed, “Like anything is going to happen with this guy here.”

There were already a few players out and in combat with the boars, most by themselves, though there was a pair working together. One of the solo guys got hit with a boar’s charge, taking enough damage to kill him, collapsing and slowly beginning to dissolve into red motes that quickly faded from view. I spoke up in response to the concern on Jess’ face.

“Don’t worry, when you die you just respawn in the plaza in front of the palace, though you do drop whatever weapon you were using and random other things you had. When you respawn you will have a basic version of whatever you dropped, so if you were using a staff you will respawn with a staff to help you recover your items where you dropped them. Most people are nice enough that they won’t steal your stuff when you die, at least not at this level. Besides, I’ll be here to take down anything that you’re having trouble with.”

Jess and Nick pulled out their weapons as we approached the nearest boar, and I stood back to watch. “Remember to follow when you feel the system guide you!” I called out.

Surprisingly, Jess took the initiative to attack first, hitting the boar with a glancing blow with her sword and dealing a little damage. The boar tried to hit her with its tusks, its only close range attack, but it missed her. Nick ran in and swung his sword in a painfully slow arc, allowing the boar to just move out of the way. Jess attacked again, but now that the boar was moving she missed by just a little, dodging out of the way of its counter attack with a little scream. Nick screwed up his face in concentration and slashed at the boar again, almost hitting it this time, but not quite. Jess used her sword to stab at the thing and managed a glancing cut, but left herself open for the boar to ram her with its head, knocking her down.

I stepped in, slapping the boar across its flank with the flat of my blade to draw its attention and then holding it in place with its tusks. Unsurprisingly, both of my friends seemed a little shaken, flushed and breathing hard. “Remember, the monsters and things in this game can’t actually hurt you, though getting hit will make you feel a little uncomfortable. Just relax and focus on following the system assist, don’t be scared.”

Jess stood up, her wide eyes nervous but determined, and Nick reset himself and nodded at me to release the boar.

I let go of the thing and pushed it towards Nick, causing it to run towards him.

Jess managed to slash its flank as it ran past, opening it up to Nick’s attack, which was much better and caught the boar on its neck, dealing enough damage to kill it. The boar collapsed, the blood from the animal and the corpse slowly dissolving into white motes.

Grinning like a lunatic, Nick jumped up and down waving his sword. “Did you see that?? That was AWESOME!”

I looked apprehensively at Jess, but she had a smile on her face too as she sheathed her sword. “That was a lot of fun actually; I don’t have the whole system guidance thing down yet though.”

“That’s alright,” I replied, “you’ll get it soon enough and then you can try out the other weapons you bought and see what works best for you. It’s going to be scary at first while fighting, but just remember that you can’t actually feel pain here and try to relax. Here, let me heal you, you don’t regenerate health without potions or spells when you’re not resting.”

I walked over to Jess and put my hand over her stomach where she had gotten hit by the boar, focusing on what I wanted to do.

Kasi.I said in my head.

A dim light flowed out from my hand and into Jess, doing some minor mending and expending all of my mana, causing a slight dizzy sensation. “There ya go.”

“What was that?” Nick asked as he joined us.

“A basic Light elemental healing spell. It’s not very powerful, but it’s useful when you don’t want to use potions.”

“I thought you had to say it out loud to have magic work.”

“No, though it takes a lot more mental focus to do it in your head, and it’s a lot harder to do that in battle, so most people just say the spell out loud.”

“So how do you make magic work?” Jess asked, looking up from examining her stomach.

“Hmm… Well, that’s kind of a long explanation, but I’ll try to put it so it makes sense. To cast a spell, you have to use a word of power and have enough mana to cast it. If you don’t have enough mana, the spell will sap your life force to provide the remaining energy, and can possibly kill you. You’ll be able to tell if a spell will cost more mana than you have, so it’s more of a desperation move than anything you’d do accidentally. Like everything else in Ilos, the more you use magic the better and more powerful you become with it. Magic works a little differently than most things though. As you cast magic of a certain element, that element becomes more powerful like it normally would, but all magic also advances, if at a slower rate, except when using Light and Shadow. Spells are divided into nine elements: Fire, Water and Ice, Earth, Air, Nature, Spirit, Light, Shadow, and Death, each of which advances separately. Fire, Ice, and Death are offensive elements, Water and Nature are healing elements, and Earth and Air are supportive elements. Light and Shadow are weaker than any of the other elements, but are also the most versatile. For example, the basic Nature spell Ka, is a healing spell half again as powerful as the Light element healing spell I used, Kasi.” I paused, “Did all that make sense?”

“I… think so…” She answered, frowning. “So if I wanted to throw a fireball at someone, how would I do that?”

“Well, you wouldn’t be able to make one bigger than your fist and it would probably fizzle out after a few seconds, but you would just focus on what exactly you want to do, imagining as many details as possible in your head, then say the word Fas.”

She held out her hand, her eyebrows drawing down as if concentrating heavily as she stared at her fist. Nick and I glanced at each other, then returned to watching Jess with an expectant air. She suddenly opened her fist and commanded “Fas!”

A ball of flame appeared above her now open hand, one that was roughly twice the diameter of her fist. It flickered fitfully, changing color, size, and intensity constantly, but she managed to hold it in existence for a full five seconds until all her mana was depleted.

“Wow! That was really good Sis! I’ve never seen anyone get it to work on their first try, much less make one that big or hold it for that long after only defeating a single boar!”

“That was SO COOL! Lemme try, I want to do that!” Nick exclaimed before copying the same stance Jess had just a moment ago. “FAS!”

We waited expectantly, but nothing appeared over his now open hand.

“Oh come on! Fas! Fas. Fas! FAS!”

Jess and I were both laughing at his antics by this point as he tried different intonations of fas and being overly dramatic with his stances. It took a couple minutes to get ourselves back under control, especially because Nick would deliberately try to cast fas again in an exaggerated manner every time he saw one of us winding down. We finally had to beg for mercy though our tears before he would relent and allow us to stop laughing.

“You’ll get it eventually Nick, just get Sis here to teach you.” I grinned at him.

Nick just smiled at me, then seemed to remember something. “When you were naming off elements, you said Water and Ice, does that mean there are actually ten elements?”

“Oh, I guess I should explain that one. Water and Ice is a unique element, and the most versatile of the main six. When you use a Water or Ice spell, that part of the element becomes stronger for a short period of time, but they advance together regardless of which part you use.” Seeing their confused looks, I continued. “For example, if you are attacking an enemy with Ice, the more mana you use to attack the stronger Ice will become. However, if you suddenly needed to cast a Water spell, it would be much weaker and take more mana to cast. Think of Water and Ice as a big round boulder. Once you get it rolling one direction, it’s easier to make it keep rolling in that direction, but more difficult to push it in the opposite direction.

“Ah.” Nick nodded, “Got it. How about Death magic? You didn’t say anything about that. And what’s so special about Light and Shadow elements?”

“See this is why it’s hard to explain magic, there are so many rules to remember. Death magic I know about only by hearsay, I’ve never actually seen it used, mainly because Death elemental words of power are practically impossible to find. I just know that it’s dangerous and can start draining your health without the regular warnings all other magic gives you.” I shrugged apologetically, “Unfortunately that’s just about all I know about Death magic. For your second question, Light and Shadow elements are kind of special. When you cast a Light or Shadow spell, your power in any of the other elements goes down, though I don’t know if that applies to Death. However, in exchange, casting a Light elemental spell increases Light as normal and also increases Shadow by half the amount. The normal elements are half again as powerful as any spell cast from Light or Shadow, but between the two it’s possible to recreate the effect of any spell from any of the other elements. Of course, the words of power for them are almost as rare as Death words, so you aren’t going to see many people using them.”

Nick nodded slowly, processing that, while Jess seemed to have gone into informational overload. I took as step forwards and tapped her shoulder to snap her out of it.

She started. “Huh? What?”

I chuckled. “Let’s just worry about all that later. What did you guys call yourselves here? I’m Cariss when we’re in Ilos.

“I named myself Finn.”

“And I'm Lassea.”

“Finn and Lassea, Finn and Lassea.” I muttered to myself, then shrugged and laughed. “I’ll try to remember, but no guarantees. Let’s see if we can get both of you used to the assist in real combat, it will give you a huge edge over most of the players. It took me around a month to figure out exactly how it worked.”

 

-----

 

It took us most of the afternoon to get both of my friends mostly used to the system assist and then another few hours to let them get a feel for what weapons they liked best, but I felt it was worth it, despite the fact that we ended up with very little in the way of experience and loot. Monsters didn’t just drop coin unless they were humanoid, but the tusks we had gathered should sell pretty well in any town.

The sun was setting and we were walking back to the city to sell the extra stuff we had picked up fighting boars before logging off for the night. Jess had a small smile on her face; a bow slung over her shoulder and a quiver at her waist, and was walking with a distinct spring in her step. She was also balancing a tiny flame, no bigger than a lighter, above her open palm, which might have something to do with her attitude. I honestly hadn’t expected her to enjoy the game so much, but I was happy she was.

Nick was possibly enjoying his time in Ilos a little too much. He was caressing his chosen weapon, a bastard sword, as we walked along and had a grin that seemed to want to split his face open. He’d taken to the system assist really well and was by far better than the normal player here.

As we approached the gates of Ilos, I remembered something I had forgotten to tell my friends, something that still puzzled me. “Oh, one last thing before we get into town. The NPCs in this world are… different… than any other game I've ever played. I've noticed that if you treat them like you would a human; they will often give you extra things when you do a quest for them, and even remember your name. They seem to be happier if you’re polite to them rather than treat them like computer generated objects. Just keep that in mind while we’re in town.”

“Wait, the people here aren’t real?” Jess asked.

“Of course not. Do you think whoever is hosting this got millions of people to just be shopkeepers and guards while everyone else is off going on adventures?” Nick answered.

“I guess not…”

“Hey David-

“Cariss.”

-Cariss, we should totally duel! I bet I could take you after fighting all afternoon while you sat back and chilled!”

I gave him a smirk, “You think so do you?”

“Yeah! C’mon, don’t tell me you’re scared!”

“There’s no possible way you’d win.”

“Then there’s no reason for you to say no then is there!”

I sighed dramatically. “Alas, your words of logic have slain my will to resist your request!”

“Alright! Let’s do this!”

I drew my pathetic excuse for a short sword and leveled it at him, the gesture for beginning a duel. “To accept or challenge someone to a duel, you just point your weapon at them with the idea in mind that you want to spar. You can also bet this way by thinking about that and having both parties agree to the terms, but that’s for later. This way we can’t actually kill each other.”

He copied me with his own sword, causing a loud pinging sound and a wave of light to wash out from between us and form a glowing ring, Jess quickly taking position outside of it. Nick jumped at the noise, then settled into a ready position while I resheathed my sword. A clock appeared between us, counting down from 30 seconds.

“Alright Finn, I’m going to let you try to hit me for ten seconds before I start attacking, so make the most of it.”

He nodded, then charged me as soon as the timer ran out and the duel began. I stepped to the side, his blade almost brushing my arm as it swung down. He swung again, and then a third time, each slash barely missing me as I leaned barely out of the way of the assisted blow. He was obviously getting used to the system assist, because his attacks were infinitely better than earlier that day. I felt the slight uncomfortableness on my arm on his fourth strike and knew I’d been hit. Jumping back out of the way of his follow-up, I grinned at him.

“Nice! I didn’t think you’d actually be able to hit me!” My smile widened. “But now it’s my turn.”

His attacks were good, but his stance was still pretty bad. I leapt forwards while drawing my blade, dodging under his attack and cutting across his middle, then twisting to stab him through the back right into where his heart would be. His body went limp and I kicked him off my blade, spinning it in two tight circles before sheathing it.

A light effect played over my head for a few seconds as the glow of the duel circle faded. Jess stared at me, horrified and shocked until Nick began to get up a few seconds later, then relaxed and sighed in relief, approaching the pair of us from where she was standing out of the way.

“Damn dude, you gotta teach me how to do that!”

I smiled.

The last edge of the sun dipped below the horizon.

DONG

The sound like a massive gong was struck somewhere in the center of Ilos, loud enough that I could feel the vibrations in my chest and in the ground. The duel forgotten, we all turned to look at the city.

The Call to Arms? Why would they be ringing that now?

DONG

The second toll had an actual shockwave, rustling the grass and our clothes as it passed.

“What is that Bro?”

“David?”

“That’s the Ilosian Call to Arms, the giant bell they ring when the city needs help, but it sounds different…” I replied absently, trailing off.

What is going on?

DONG

This shockwave was even stronger, but it seemed to go through me, as if my body was made of mist, about to be blown away by the slightest breeze. My friends staggered from the force.

“Woah!”

“Hey!”

“What the…?”

Even our voices sounded fainter to my ears, and they both looked at me with fear in their eyes. Fear I knew was reflected in my own expression.

DONG

Jess and Nick were thrown to the ground by the force of the shockwave this time, and reality itself trembled. I felt like I was about to come unraveled, all of my nerves sparking into pain at once. It was as if I was being unmade, ripped apart. Nick was shouting something at me, Jess looked like she was screaming, but the sound was distorted and barely there. I reached out for them, my face twisting in pain and terror as I realized I could see my friends through my arm. I tried to yell, to beg for them to save me, but only the faintest of sounds came out.

DONG

I screamed as my world was torn asunder.