World Seed: Game Start (33 page)

I
smiled, satisfied with that. Sadly, the software wasn’t
retroactive, so I didn’t immediately know the information
regarding the brain that I had looked up before. And it was also nice
seeing that Programming was my currently highest level skill. If I
worked a bit longer on the code, I might be able to reduce the cost
to record images, but I’ll save that for later.

Moving
out of town, I decided that this time I would change into my wolf
form to run towards the city. Since the wind wolves don’t
differ much visually from normal wolves, they shouldn’t bother
me if I take that form. Surprisingly, my Cybernetic eye remained even
after I changed. I guess, since I was using a different type of magic
to create it, Nature Magic wouldn’t automatically change it to
match a new form. I wasn’t going to complain, since that meant
I had one eye that still had perfect vision. I actually went ahead
and spent the extra mana to alter my other eye as well, temporarily.

Once
I had rested for a few minutes and grown accustomed to the new forms,
I ran off out of the forest, once again heading to the city. Though,
this time the city wasn’t quite on the horizon due to the
change in elevation, that was soon fixed. I should also note that I
saw something I hadn’t noticed the first time I took my wolf
form, and that was the metal bracelet on my front paw. It seemed to
have adapted to my new size just like my armor would.

With
this form, I was largely unobstructed during my travel. The only
attack that came for me was from another elf, who seemed to have
misunderstood me as an attacking wind wolf. After that encounter,
which was solved by me running away for dear life, I ran parallel to
the road without running on it. There was little difference for me,
but for normal people on the road, it relieved them to see that I
wasn’t attacking. They would be on guard as I approached, but
relax the moment I left.

My
running speed as a wolf was only about half of that of my flight
form, but the additional measure of safety was worth it. As a result,
the normally two hour flight turned into a four hour run. I heard a
little beep from my wrist some time around the third hour, and knew
that Celeste was letting me know I had officially gone further than
the last time. That thought made me chuckle slightly, an odd sound in
my wolf form.

While
running, I began to make ideas for other programs I would make once I
had ‘reformatted’ my brain for increased memory. My mind
already counted as a simple operating system, so I at least didn’t
have to make that from scratch. I would, however, need to make a
program to let me experiment with my memorized auras to combine
different aspects of creatures and create new forms. While I could
simply do it manually one piece at a time, having a preset would save
me a bit of time when I need it most.

After
the fourth hour, I finally approached a large steel wall, and jumped
over onto the road. A pair of guards looked at me warily, moving to
grab what looked like pistols at their waists as I shifted into my
elf form and dismissed the Cybernetic spell on my left eye.
Immediately, the two relaxed, and even bowed respectfully to me. I
guess that druids really are respected a lot in this society.

Chapter 30: The
Plan!

As
I approached the large metal gate in my half-elf form, one of the
guards came forward to stop me, much to my surprise. “Excuse
me, sir, do you have any identification?” The guards were
dressed much like you would see a soldier, with streamlined black
full-body suits. Each of them had a pistol, and what looked like the
hilt to a sword at their waists.

I
tilted my head curiously at his question, but shook my head. Nobody
had provided me a means of identifying myself to others in this game
yet, so naturally I couldn’t provide it. Noticing my reaction,
the guard let out a soft sigh. “Traveler?” To his simple
question, I nodded my head. “Okay, well, we’ll issue you
an ID then. After that, you can simply show your companion to
someone, and it will display your ID.”

Waving
me forward, he led me to a small terminal near the gate. “Simply
put your left hand on the panel, and it will read your aura and load
the program.”

I
nodded my head, thinking this must be a pretty specialized device to
be able to do that. As he instructed, I put my hand on the panel,
which beeped once before the companion AI wristband lit up with a
holographic blue screen that seemed eerily familiar.

My
eye twitched a bit as I read that window. They have a concept of
levels here widely known, and they aren’t told to people in the
newbie village?! Is everything just considered so weak that it’s
not worth knowing about the levels?

The
guard nodded his head, satisfied. “Thank you very much, Mr.
Falenel.” He seemed a bit surprised when he saw my information,
so likely someone getting through at level 12 was uncommon.

“
Mind
if I ask a couple question?” I looked to the guard, who nodded
his head. “Could you tell me the levels of the wind wolves,
harpy eagles, and land wyrms?”

He
raised an eyebrow curiously at that, but shrugged. “A wind wolf
is typically between levels twenty and thirty. A harpy eagle can be
between thirty and fifty, depending on their size. As for a land
wyrm, they are roughly level one hundred and fifty.”

Okay,
I am NOT sticking around to study the birds. I can see if they have
any examples of magical beasts or monsters in the city and go with
that. “Ah… thank you. Guess disguising as a wolf really
was the right call to get here quickly.”

I
had run over a hundred miles as a wolf, so no doubt it would have
taken me at least a day to cover the distance in a normal form. The
guard seemed to agree as well. “Yes, though you may want to
increase your strength a bit before you leave the city.”

I
smiled slightly, nodding my head. “I planned on it. Do you know
if there is anywhere I can sell elemental seeds in the city? And if
so, would you know how much they tend to go for?”

The
guard thought about that for a moment before he nodded. “Their
selling price should depend on their quality, but you can sell some
in the market district. Just look for a map kiosk once you get in
town, and it will tell you where to go. If you want to pay a silver,
you can also buy a guide program for your companion, that will tell
you where to go for various things.”

I
thought about it, and nodded my head again. If I could mass produce
and sell element seeds, then I’d easily be able to make back
that silver. Walking past the guard, I moved into the city itself,
which was full of tall, metallic buildings. Surprisingly, there were
no flying cars, though I did see a few flying people. A bit
impressed, I decided to take a ‘screenshot’ of the scene
by doing a very brief recording through my Cybernetic eye. To my
surprise, my earlier program worked very effectively, and I
immediately knew exactly how many people I had seen, their shapes,
and looked a bit down and to the left of where I had been focusing on
before. Thanks to the Photographic Information program, I noticed the
small kiosk up in the corner.

Walking
over to it, I tapped a button on its screen to activate it. “Welcome
to Landfall, the first city of Hascion, one of the key tourist
locations of the wood elf territories. Would you like to see a map,
purchase a guide program, or ask a question?” A large blue
holographic face with female features appeared above the kiosk and
spoke to me.

“
I’d
like to buy the guide program.” I answered simply. The image
pouted slightly, but nodded her head. A small coin slot opened up on
the kiosk itself.

“
Please
insert one silver coin, and place the wrist containing the companion
AI near the terminal.” I did as instructed, after which the
hologram faded away, its work apparently done.

“
Woah…
now that’s a bit of info.” I saw Celeste appearing above
my wrist instead, smiling slightly. “You want the market,
right? Hmm, there’s info on it in here, as well as some basic
prices. The low quality element seeds go for one silver each if they
are of a primary element, or fifty percent higher if they belong to a
secondary element.”

I
nodded my head, though I was a bit disappointed in the prices. Makes
sense, since any druid can produce them. Though, if I was in the
territory of a culture that was lacking in druids, the price would
likely skyrocket. “The kiosk said this was a tourist spot, can
you tell me if there are any pet stores selling magical beasts or
monsters? Also, I want to visit an enchanter for training, if at all
possible.”

She
thought for a moment and processed my questions. “Okay, there
are two stores selling pets like what you mentioned. One sells combat
monsters and magical beasts, while the other sells novelty pets. From
what the information says, the novelty pets can have some peculiar
skills, but are not trained for battle. As for the enchanter, there
is one located in the market. It is the same location that is
suggested for selling elemental seeds.”

“
Alright,
then, lead the way. I want to visit a Technomancy instructor at some
point, too. But that is a secondary concern for today.”

Celeste
smiled at me as I started walking forward. “Looking to get that
spell you asked the other one about? The one that would have me in
your head?”

I
chuckled, following her directions as she gave them. There were
surprisingly few people of different races than the standard wood
elf, though I did take a pair of snapshots for each so that I could
study their auras. Like I had expected, the auras of a sentient
creature were far more complex than any animal. Much like myself, the
auras were more detailed, and brighter. Two wood elves standing next
to each other may look radically different, but have nearly identical
auras from a first glance. “Would you like that?”

The
hologram at my wrist nodded. “If my container is damaged I
will, in essence, die. Although you will be able to get a new
companion, and it may even develop nearly identical to myself, it
wouldn’t be me. Naturally, I would like to continue to exist.
Plus, I am very interested in your home world.”

“
Well,
we’ll see what we can do. My magic isn’t nearly skilled
enough yet for everything I want.” Jarl had said that
accurately copying the traits of another race would be similar to
brewing a potion spell consisting of twenty parts. I wasn’t
sure if that was an exaggeration or not, but I should have an
advantage now. Once I get an inn room, I can practice my Technomancy
some more. Worst case scenario, I die and get a forced logout.
However, for some reason I’m confident I’ll be able to
copy the recorded auras from my computer. The auras of technology are
far more basic in the real world than the tech I’ve seen here.
Even Celeste is several times more complex than my computer.

“
By
the way, Celeste, how much is an inn room? I’ll be needing a
place to stay.”

“
Already
looked into it, and the most expensive inn room is ten silvers a
night. However, I doubt that’s the one you’re wanting, so
I made a note for a cheaper one, which goes for the price of thirty
coppers.”

While
the latter price made me wince, I nearly coughed up blood at the
first one. Back in the village, I had gotten an inn room for just a
fraction of that! Sighing, I resigned myself to accepting the
increased rates. Either way, if I created some seeds, I’d be
more than able to pay off that bill. Since I was able to create one
seed every four or five hours at my current ability, I could make
three or four a day. This would also let me increase my affinities,
and naturally advance my skills.

“
Let’s
go to the inn first. I’ll need to create at least one seed to
sell before I can visit the enchanter, and they might have
precautions against druids reading the auras of beasts at the pet
shops. So, I’ll spend the night at the inn and go to the
enchanter tomorrow. Should also make a note to stop by an alchemist
at some point to learn new recipes, once I’ve got some more
money. Harlan said it was thirty silver to get the basic alchemy
program for you.”

Celeste
nodded her holographic head, and changed the directions she was
giving to that of the inn. There was another program that I wanted to
write before I got started, but it would likely only work after I had
‘upgraded’ my brain. Once I got to the inn, I found it to
be a regular hotel, like what was often found in the real world. If
it was like this, then thirty copper was not a bad price at all. Even
ten silvers wouldn’t be more than what was spent on an average
hotel room.