Chapter 6: Book 1, Chapter 6: First Encounter

Before Shane could appreciate the beauty of the digital world beyond the open door, another blue screen popped up in front of him.

-Tutorial Quest Complete!-

Tutorial Quest Rewards

You May Pick 2 of The Following:

• (Uncommon) Sharp Novice Sword
• (Uncommon) Novice sandals of Speed
• 5 Minor Healing Potions
• 1 Random Uncommon Feat Crystal & 1 Random Common Spell Scroll

Shane picked the sword alongside the random feat and spell. The screen disappeared, showing the inventory screen waiting behind it with the sword crystal's icon. Feeling a little restless, Shane couldn't wait any longer and touched it. A tiny green crystal with a sword etched in its center appeared in his palm. Immediately, a new screen then popped up.

-Alert!-

Consuming Novice Blade Proficiency Gem Will Reward The Corresponding Feat

Continue? Enter/Cancel

He knew from previous gameplay testing that he would have to ingest the gem to gain the feat within it. "Gaagh, that's nasty," said Shane as he put the tiny stone on his tongue. The taste was somewhere between licking a mint and an anvil.

-Notice-

Feat Successfully Absorbed

Wanting to distract himself from his taste buds, Shane opened his inventory and picked out the new Shortsword he had just acquired. For all the games he had played as a swordsman, it was ironic this was the first time he actually held one.

-Sharp Novice ShortSword-
(Uncommon)
+15 Physical Damage

Modifiers:
Sharp: +5 Physical Damage

Use/Cancel

He pressed "Use," making the weapon info screen disappear, and the sword materialized in his hand a second later. The selection was also reflected in his right-hand slot on the inventory screen.

As he stood in the open doorway of the cabin, he gave the sword a couple of practice swings and decidedly felt more sure of himself. Within the confusion and uncertain fear of his rebirth, holding this sword felt right—like coming home after school and riding your comfortable bike with friends. The blade also came with a sheath that was tied to his waist. Shane sheathed the sword and looked to the screen off to his right. There was a "Feats" and "Spells" tab with "Feats" already open.

Feats:
Minor Blade Proficiency

(Common Passive Feat)

Allows proper handling of Uncommon (and below) long swords, short swords, and daggers

"Ahhh, right, that's why the sword feels so light and natural."

Shane had felt the heft of a real sword from a specialty shop once, and the one he held now felt better in ways he couldn't quite quantify. It kind of felt like he had trained extensively with it. The rest of his "Feats" page was empty besides the blade proficiency, which disappointed him, given how many feats and spells the other classes were granted at early levels.

He pressed the "Spells" tab next to see what was there. A single spell scroll sat there alone. Shane selected it, and a thick paper scroll appeared in his hands. Opening it revealed a few lines of intricate runes that stood out from the parchment. The runes began to glow a vibrant yellow, and after a few seconds, the entire scroll de-materialized. His "Spells" tab popped into focus, showing him a new slot-able spell.

-Minor Regeneration-
(Common Light Spell)

Heals user 1 HP every second for 20 seconds

Cost: 10 Mana
Range: Self/10 ft and Line of Sight
Cooldown: 30 Seconds
Requirement: 6 Intelligence/6 Wisdom

Shane preferred to roll a character class with some self-healing or built-in survival mechanics when playing a Massively Multiplayer Online Game or Role Playing Game.

Shane grinned.

"Healing spells at level one are a godsend!"

I couldn't have asked for a better starting spell, he thought with joy and relief. Shane returned to his character inventory screen and saw that his class already had two feats and two spell slots. This was a surprise as the other starting classes had only one of both or just one of the two at the start. Passive feats and spells don't need to be equipped to active slots, but his healing spell did, so he added it via a drop-down menu on the first available spell slot.

It took him a second to realize the splendor he had ignored in favor of micro-managing his abilities. He looked up, blinking, the screens minimizing into his wrists, and saw the beautifully expansive world before him. Tall lush trees surrounded the cabin with swaying green and gold leaves. His eyes followed the tree bark to the ground, where sparkling-green grass flowed—each near uniform blade no higher than his ankle. Looking north, he could see where the trees ended, and a luscious field of yellow dandelion-like flowers began.

This wasn't the first time he had seen this image, but from his current in-world perspective, it was that much more breathtaking and charming at the same time.

"If heaven doesn't look like this..." he couldn't finish the thought; it was just so captivating.

He took a few tentative steps away from the cabin and began exploring. It had been some time since last testing the game, but he had a good hunch that he could find something to swing his sword at. Traveling south for a minute brought him to a more spacious yet sparse section of the woods.

In the middle, where the trees were the most sparse and the space most open, were three of what were called "Shamblers." These zombie-like creatures were common in Endless Veil but could be dangerous in more significant numbers. Luckily, their physical blindness made it easy to sneak past them so long as you were as quiet as possible.

During testing, Shane had fought these creatures in the game countless times before. As if on queue, a screen popped up in front of him.

-Level 1 Battle Quest-

Slay 3 Shamblers

Accept/Cancel

Shane accepted the quest and stepped a few feet closer, feeling confident and bold.

"Come and fight me, you trash!"

His heart started to pound in his chest as he watched the Shamblers begin hurtling toward the warcry. These creatures were smaller than he was, standing at five feet tall, but they had a startling physical presence—which he failed to consider having always fought them on a screen.

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His fight-or-flight response slammed into overdrive.

"OH SHIT!" He couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

Shane quickly unsheathed his sword and made a desperate stabbing motion towards the closest Shambler that first closed the gap between them. The way the blade slid through the Shambler's upper chest with ease was something he would never forget. There wasn't any resistance at all. The Shambler really was nothing but saggy gray skin and bone held together by shadow magic.

14 Damage!

The glowing red text hovered in the air for a couple of seconds, telling him how much damage he had done to the humanoid creature. Good lord! It basically ran right into my sword! Shane thought with stark relief and several deep breaths. A simple red health bar appeared above the Shambler's head, with a third of the bar missing. He saw it, withdrew the sword from its chest, and made a quick "X" slashing motion across it, quickly carving through the thin skin to show rotting bone beneath.

29 damage!

Just like everything else in this world, including him, when something lost all of its HP (Hit Points), it would die; that was it. For decades, video game experiences had been defined by this singular rule. Shane knew this concept well; it helped incentivize playing the game to get stronger, earn powerful loot, survive longer, and prevent the loss of HP for the player.

The Shambler crumbled to the ground in a heap as if someone cut the strings controlling it. For a brief moment, glowing yellow text that read [+11 Exp] briefly danced in the air before disappearing. Shane watched that floating number with satisfaction just long enough for the second-closest Shambler to rake him across the chest with its broken, jagged claws. The red bar on Shane's wrist pulsed once. He looked at it closer, wincing in pain as blood began to stain his gray cloth shirt in scattered amounts.

HP: 115/125
Mana: 75/75
Fatigue: 15/110

The Shambler was slow to move after attacking him, allowing Shane to make several chopping attacks to its head and right shoulder with the inner edge of his sword. At nearly the same time, the third Shambler began closing in.

13 damage!
14 damage!
13 damage!

The second Shambler's health bar disappeared, it promptly fell over, deceased.

+11 Exp

Shane took a few steps back to catch his breath after the onslaught of attacks he made, but the remaining Shambler could hear his labored breathing. In a burst of frightening speed, the walking corpse lunged forward, biting down on Shane's arm just as he raised it in time to protect his face. Through the pain, he eyed his stats as they pulsed again from the attack.

HP: 99/125
Mana: 75/75
Fatigue: 25/110

The pain was as startlingly real as he hoped it wouldn't be. The Shambler disengaged from Shane's arm, taking out a chunk of his forearm. Blood poured out of the fresh wound, seeping into the dirt in thick globs. The pain was immense, but his anger and surprise from the attack let him shift the sensation to the back of his mind as he charged the bloody-faced Shambler.

"You bastard!" Shane swore as he brought his short sword down on the creature's head.

The blade cut through its skin and bone like hot butter with sickening ease.

15 Damage!

The bony humanoid faltered, reeling from the attack. Shane took this opportunity to circle the Shambler and run his sword through the center of its back in a single, powerful thrust! He looked over its shoulder to see the tip of his blade poking out of its chest, flecks of rotting bone stuck to its edges.

Critical Hit!
28 Damage!

He watched as the Shambler fell limp around his sword. Still panting hard from exertion and pain, Shane kicked the Shambler off his blade, watching it tumble to the ground limply. The quest reward screen popped up seconds later. The dopamine hit from winning that fight and seeing the reward screen appear was palpable.

+12 Exp

-Level 1 Battle Quest Complete!-

All 3 Shamblers Slain

-Battle Quest Rewards-

You've Obtained The Following:

• 73 Exp
• 200 Bronze Coins
• 10 Silver Coins

You May Also Pick 1 Of The Following

• (Uncommon) Novice Wooden Shield of Respite
• (Uncommon) Elemental Spell: Ice Gun
• 3 Potions of Minor Flight

Quests in classic role-playing games usually had rewards that were set in stone. However, with the integration of Shane's created AI director, quest rewards could now be tailored to the player based on what data was fed to the director through observation. Some would surely not love the idea that something would watch every aspect of what the player would do in-game, even down to what the player looks at and for how long.

However, the trade-off was a personalized and tailor-made experience for each individual in the most meaningful ways. In Shane's case, the loot generated was primarily random and tailored to help fill out his many empty equipment slots at his level. He also quickly realized that one of the pros of the class the game seemingly made for him was the increased amount of quest rewards given and to choose from.

As time passed, the system would even favor certain kinds of loot based on how he liked to play.

Shane studied the quest reward screen. The draw of physical combat AND spell-slinging was too enticing to ignore whenever Shane tested Endless Veil previously. The kinetic satisfaction of swordplay combined with the tactical utility of spells always had a special place in his heart. Now, with him being in the world of Endless Veil, that fact resonated with him even more.

He gave a cheeky smirk. It won't be long until I can live that fantasy out, Shane thought as he pressed "Elemental Spell - Proper Ice Gun."

The quest menu fizzled away, leaving Shane to watch the three Shambler corpses begin to digitize and disappear, like the static in a boxy television from the 90s. The last Shambler corpse blew away in the wind, leaving a small glowing orb floating at eye height.

Shane reached out to it and touched it without hesitation.

Loot Corpse?

Enter/Cancel

He wanted to and pressed "Enter."

You Have Obtained The Following:

• 50 Bronze Coins
• 2 Minor Healing Potions

He closed the menu, smiling with satisfaction. The wind blew calmly through the canopy of the few lush trees around Shane as he slowly plopped down on the forest floor—his arm and chest still throbbing. As he did, a new window popped up.

-Congratulations, You Are Now Level 2-

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