Chapter 3: Two

 When I opened my eyes again, I found myself standing in a brightly lit building made of white marble. Ornately carved pillars lined each side of the hall, with beautiful statues standing atop each one. Each of the statues appeared to depict the different races I’d seen in depicted when attempting to choose my race. 

Looking around at the people surrounding me, I saw several wearing white robes trimmed in gold milling about and talking to different people who wore clothing of varying styles. The one that stood out the most was a short green skinned man, wearing a loin clothe who was shouting angrily at an elven woman in white robes. 

“Day’s greetings upon you, citizen. May I enquire as to your chosen name?” 

Turning around, I saw a tall, slender man whose pale skin made him appear like he’d been carved from the same white marble as the building in which we stood. High angular cheekbones set in a regal-looking face, paired with pointy ears that poked through a curtain of silver-toned hair, made guessing his race easy.

“Kadia, my name is Kadia.” I said, only half paying attention as I watched the screaming green man get carried out of the temple by a man in gold armor. 

“I am Farlin, and this is the temple of beginnings. The birthplace of all digital beings who call Kaledon home. Do you require help, or are you already familiar with this world?” The elf asked with a bright smile as he indicated the large hall with a slender hand. 

“I would like help, please. Oh, can you tell me what race I am?” I asked, feeling my cheeks grow warm in response to the smile.

Get it together, Kadia! He's just a good-looking guy. You’ve seen dozens of good-looking guys. Don’t forget, a pretty face often hides an ugly personality. Just look at Danica as an example. That vile woman’s beauty is barely even skin deep.

“From your clothing, tail, and ears, I would presume you to be a member of a Yōkai clan. You will need to view your life token in order to confirm this,” Farlin said, and wide-eyed, I craned my neck back, trying to find the tail he’d mentioned. 

I have a tail. Oh no! Please don’t tell me I’m of those weird cat girls from one of Marcus’s anime shows!

 Horrified, I stared at the fluffy tail attached to my rear. It was red, same as my hair, though it faded to white at the tip, reminding me of a red fox. The tail, which seemed to have a mind all of its own, swished back and forth behind me in a slow, rhythmic motion. Next I patted the sides of my head, searching for my ears, and found a pair of furry triangular ears sitting just above where my ears used to be. 

Looking down at the clothing I wore, I discovered I was wearing a red knee-length dress in a style reminiscent of a traditional kimono with a wide sash tied around my waist, knotted into a bow at the back. My feet were clad in a pair of red slippers. 

As I admired the slipper, I raised my right foot, and wriggled it around in fascination. It didn’t hurt; for the first time in years, my foot lacked the dull aching pain I'd always felt when placing weight on it. Ever since I’d injured my right ankle when I was fifteen, I’d suffered from long-term instability and recurrent sprains. Even in Avalon, there had been pain, as the capsule registered my mind's expectation of pain and thus manifested it.

Placing my foot back down, I ran my hands over the silky material of the outfit I wore. I felt, rather than saw, a lump beneath the sash on my right side, and found a small silk pouch tucked into the sash at my waist. Pulling out the pouch, I turned it over in my hands, and feeling its lightness, I went to tuck it back into my sash, presuming it to be empty. 

“If you open the pouch, you will find your life token and any starting items your life plan includes,” Farlin said, and I looked up from the pouch in my hands. “Life tokens are Kaledon’s version of an identification card, and are bound to you. If you leave it somewhere, it will appear back in your pouch or any inventory device you are carrying.” 

Opening the pouch, I stared at a faint blue screen, and smiled. This was an inventory screen. What a strange way of accessing it. In Avalon, I’d just needed to think about opening my inventory to access the screen, and it appeared. Looking at the box, I saw six floating tokens, and as I focused on each, a line of script appeared above them. 

—

Weapon token, platinum grade. Use this token to gain a random weapon. 

60% chance of gaining a Rare-quality item. 

35% chance of gaining an Epic-quality item. 

5% chance of gaining a Legendary-quality item. 

Basic sustenance pack, contains x2 apple, x1 bread, x1 small water flask.

(Bound) Land token. Use this token to claim a 5-acre plot of land to call your own.

(Bound) Housing token. Use this token to create a place to call home, only usable on land you own.

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(Bound) Money pouch. This pouch contains 5,000 gold coins. (This item is bound until opened. Once it's opened, coins can be dropped on death unless stored in a bank.)

(Bound) Life token, identification item [Name: Kadia. Race: Kitsune-Yōkai Guild: None.]

—

Kitsune Yōkai? Ah, a Fox demon. Well, that’s better than a cat girl, I guess. Leaving the tokens for now, I closed the pouch and tucked it back into the sash, smoothing down the material as I did so. Once the pouch was tucked away, I turned to the elf, who watched me with his smile still fixed in place. 

Aren't his cheeks sore from smiling so much?

“Did you find your life token?” He asked, and I nodded, feeling a light breeze against the backs of my legs as my tail swished back and forth. 

“A Kitsune,” I said with a grin, happy I wasn’t some anime cat girl. 

“Ah, I thought you might be, either that or a Ōkami Yōkai, a wolf demon. Did you have any other tokens?” Farlin enquired, and I almost answered him, but stopped myself as I remembered something Marcus had told me when I’d started visiting Avalon. 

‘Tell no one what you’ve got in your inventory, Kadi. Always underplay how much gold or valuables you have. These worlds are just like the real world, and are filled with scum who take advantage of unsuspecting people.’ 

“Oh, uh, just a sustenance pack,” I lied, and the elf’s eyes narrowed before he nodded, his smile brightening. 

“As a new digital being, I suggest you spend some time exploring the city of Caruan before heading to the eastern gates and taking some basic jobs from the guards there. You will need to earn some gold, and the guards will give you a basic weapon if you accept an extermination contract from them,” Farlin said.

I nodded, remembering having had to do a lot of ”kill this amount of creatures” or ”deliver this letter to this random person” quests when I first joined Avalon. 

“Do you know if there is a guild called Eternia here?” I asked, wondering if the guild had used the same name when they moved to Kaledon. 

“Eternia? Yes, I believe so. From memory, their guild hall is in the eastern part of the city. Most guilds have a hall in Caruan, as it is the second largest city on the continent. Unlike ‘players,’ who often start in smaller towns, digital citizens will all start in one of the four main cities. This allows them to transition more easily to life here,” Farlin explained, and after asking for directions, I headed out of the temple, intent on finding the Eternia guild hall. 

I was pretty sure Marcus didn’t know what his mother and our father had done. He’d made it clear over the years that being digital was something he wanted, just as joining the family company was something I’d wanted. 

If I can find Marcus, then he can try to fix this. If he reports what happened to the authorities, they will see a mistake has been made.

As I wondered through the city street, a large storefront with glowing stones of varying size and color drew my eye. Walking closer to the store, I could see dozens of people inside, and the walls were covered in shelves, all containing more glowing stones. Looking up at the sign, which read “Alice’s Enchanting Emporium,” I forwent going inside to look around. I had nothing to enchant, and wouldn’t even know what enchantments to get if I did. 

Continuing down the street, I stopped every few feet to admire the colorful stalls and stores, selling everything from weapons to food to clothing to toys, and one even selling medicinal tinctures. I’d ended up spending almost an hour talking with the man selling the tinctures, and was rather shocked to discover just how differently the crafter occupations worked in Kaledon. 

In Avalon I’d played as an alchemist, and it had been a rather simple matter of tossing your ingredients into an alchemist pot and then waiting the allotted amount of time for the potion to be ready. According to Jarred, the potioneer selling tinctures, the alchemy profession in Kaledon was split into two groups. One was potioneers who could create low-level tinctures by infusing herbs into alcohol. Then there were true alchemists, who could create higher grade potions. However, learning to do so was difficult, as there were very few recipes available, which meant alchemists would need to experiment and create their own. 

“Anyone can be a potioneer, but only the most dedicated can become an alchemist.”

Thinking back on the man's parting words, and everything I’d learned about alchemy in Kaledon, I decided I was going to be picking up my old profession for however long I ended up staying here. I was intrigued by what Jarred told me about the brewing methods in Kaledon. Just as real historical alchemists did, an alchemist here brewed the potion from start to finish. I was glad this world appeared to give some realism to the craft, as alchemists were the pharmaceutical scientists of the past. Even today, the methods they discovered were used when creating modern medicines. 

Tail wagging and ears twitching in every direction as they picked up the different sounds of city life. I strolled through the market, just taking in the lively atmosphere along with the sweet scent of the food sold at various stalls and stores. 

Everything seemed so lively; it’s like I’ve walked back in time. Avalon was a historical fantasy setting as well, but it didn’t feel like this. Is this why Marcus like’s being in VR so much?

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