Yvvaros: The Digital Frontier (3 page)

“So uh, do I have to do a quest now or something?” he asked, suddenly feeling as though he wanted to run out and begin exploring.

Azalene smiled and shook her head.

LEVEL REQUIRED: 10

“I will have many tasks for you, later,” she said. “You are still recovering at the moment. Some fresh air would do you good, but be careful and stay close to the city until you feel confident in your abilities.”

Luke nodded and then looked around again. The temple he was inside of was huge, and it curved up into a geodesic dome. The light that spilled in through the stained glass windows filled the inside with color, blood red, ocean blue, and jungle green.

“Alright,” said Luke. “So… can I just head outside?”

The High Priestess Azalene smiled at him again and then began walking over to another bed, where another player had just materialized.

This is launch day. She’s going to have her work cut out for her as more new people begin streaming in.

Luke walked toward the large, curved double doors in the front of the temple and pushed through them. What he found outside caught him completely off guard.

KANTOR: The last city. Floating over a hundred meters above the ground, it was initially built by the Temple of Rygon as an offering to the Universal Truth. After the Severance Onslaught of 231, it became the last refuge of humanity, the only outpost untouched by the carnage.

He was in Kantor. The High Priestess had casually mentioned that it was a floating city, but no words could have prepared him for what lay in front of him at that moment.

The city was humming with activity and packed full of other players. The way they moved gave away that they weren’t NPCs, traveling in unpredictable paths, with varying degrees of urgency. Kantor was a gorgeous piece of architectural work, all of the buildings made of white marble with gold trim. The sandblasted brick walkways were clean of any litter or debris.

All of that was impressive, but what Luke was dumbfounded by were the clouds that hovered at eye level in the air directly in front of him. The edge of the city was no more than a kilometer from where he was standing, and beyond it was the empty nothingness of the sky.

Birds were thick in the air, flying in small groups and chirping merrily. Some had settled on the edge of one of the nearby buildings, watching him with eerily realistic eyes as he walked.

The Temple of Rygon was in the city center. Kantor itself was a floating disc covered with essential buildings that had an administrative feel to them. Luke walked forward slowly, finding himself unable to keep from looking side to side.

It felt as though he was standing on top of a gigantic, gleaming white coin that had been lofted into the air and forgotten by gravity. Most of the other players around Luke were conversing with NPCs or one another.

He saw a couple off in the distance at the edge of the city gleefully dancing near the outer wall. Beyond it was nothing but open air. A group of players were getting their thrills by competing to see who could be more daring in their flirtations with it the ledge. One of them hopped over the uppermost railing and dangled from it by one hand, laughing and whooping.

This is going to take some getting used to.

The thought of doing that himself made Luke’s stomach twist into a knot. The headset was more immersive than Luke had been expecting. All he could think about was the new frontier that awaited him.

A noise chimed in Luke’s ears. He noticed that a new icon had appeared in the lower left-hand corner of his vision, a small scrap of parchment. Instinctively, he reached his hand toward where his pocket would be as if to pull out his phone. He was wearing a pair of rough-spun, cloth trousers, and it took him a second to notice and check a small bag hanging from his belt.

Inside of the bag, which stretched surreally as he reached his hand into it, was a tiny scroll, rolled up and secured with string. Luke pulled it out and opened it, straining his eyes to read the words inscribed on it.

It took you long enough to get through the tutorial, Luke!

I’m down on the surface right now, but if you hang around Kantor for a minute or two, I’ll meet you back up there. I know what you’re thinking, and I’m right there with you! Even the other VR games I’ve played haven’t been like this! It’s almost too real!”

- Ben “Silverstrike” Dobson

The words inscribed on the scroll looked as though they had been hand written. Luke shook his head and took a moment to appreciate the detail that had gone into the world around him. Part of him wanted to rebel against it a little, as though finding the limits and rough edges of the simulation would allow him regain a sense of control.

Another part of him, a larger part, wanted to tip forward and lean further into the experience. He felt a chill run up his back as a couple of flowers growing in an earth box in front of him tilted to the side as a breeze blew by.

The wind… I can almost feel it.

Luke made his way over to the very edge of Kantor while he waited for Ben, or as he was known in game, “Silverstrike”. He chuckled at the childishness of his friend’s naming choice.

Well, knowing Ben, it’s not all that unexpected.

The floating city was filled with shops, a couple of inns, a few NPC homes, and not much else. Luke remembered Ben mentioning that it, along with one other small NPC towns on the ground, were the only zones in Kantor that were unavailable for player and guild development. They were designed to be neutral areas for open trade and events, and as such, they were unique within the game.

Their unaffiliated status wasn’t the only thing that set them apart. Luke leaned against the outer railing that separated him from the very edge of the floating city. He could see another smaller town down almost directly below it, and beyond that, the continent of Yvvaros.

There were few, if any, signs of other players having made significant headway into the greater land expanse of the continent. It all just looked like an empty, untapped frontier. Luke was up against the southern edge of the city, and far off in the distance he could see the land slowly turning from grassy plains and hills into parched desert and dunes.

“Hey there, ‘Kato’!” A voice that sounded eerily familiar in cadence, but subtly different in depth called out to Luke from behind. He turned around and couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across his face as he recognized his friend.

Compared to how faithfully Luke had stuck to his real life appearance when he’d designed his character, Ben had taken a more liberal approach. He had created his face without his acne scars, knobby nose, or slumping jaw line. All the features of his real face were gone, replaced by the chiseled characteristics of an A-list actor.

Along with it, Ben had added long, silver-colored hair that reached down to his shoulders. His eyes were the same color, a combination that made him look eerily inhuman.

“Silverstrike, huh?” Luke smiled. “Well, I guess it fits.”

He waited for Silverstrike to make it over to the fence he was leaning against and had a sudden realization. His voice didn’t sound the same as it did in the outside world, either.

“Hey, why is it that the voice chat sounds off?” he asked his friend. “Is it distortion or something?”

Silverstrike shook his head.

“It’s not true voice chat,” he said. “In a sense, it’s better than that. The VR headset has a natural language processor that ‘hears’ what you’re saying, and then uses a close approximation of your voice to speak the words in-game. It allows them to add a configurable filter for swear words like… and…”

Luke saw his friend’s mouth move during the blank pauses and understood what he was getting at.

“I’ll have to remember to turn that off the next time I log in,” he said. “Really though, I’m not sure why they’d be worried about keeping things family friendly after that insanely bloody intro sequence.”

“Yeah, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting that,” said Silverstrike. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s designed to weed out people who might have an adverse reaction to this kind of game, immediately.”

The wind blew a bit of dust off the wall in front of them, and Luke had to remind himself that he wasn’t really there, and he couldn’t really feel it. He looked down at his body and carefully examined his outfit, the basic cotton shirt and trousers and the simple sword hanging in its scabbard on his belt loop.

“You’re still in your starting gear,” said Silverstrike. “Come on, we can get you some stuff in Stark Town to use for now.”

Luke followed his friend back toward the center of Kantor. There were more players mingling about now, each of them with their own unique avatar. A cloud drifted in front of the sun up above them, and everything became a shade darker.

Silverstrike stopped when the two of them reached a strange, runic circle near the temple that Luke had started out in. He nodded to Luke and walked into the center of it.

“I’ll meet you down below, buddy.” Silverstrike’s body disappeared in a flash of white light as he spoke. Luke scratched his head, and then slowly followed after him, standing in the same spot and waiting.

He didn’t have to wait for long. White light filled his vision and then faded. Luke didn’t feel any different, but his surroundings had changed. He glanced up and saw the city he had just been in, now floating above him. Kantor looked like a fantastic, magic-powered, low-hovering spacecraft.

“Alright, so this is Stark Town,” said Silverstrike. “It’s a lot smaller than Kantor, but right now, it’s the only other settlement on the continent.”

STARK TOWN: The first outpost to become fully self-sufficient on the surface of Yvvaros in the aftermath of the Severance Onslaught. Its existence is a testament to the strength of the human settlers and the blessing of the Universal Truth.

Luke scratched his head.

“It’s the only other town? Really?” He felt like even the most barebones MMORPGs had more than that.

“Haven’t you read the books, or watched the show?” asked Silverstrike. “The entire continent has been destroyed by the Tymians and other monsters. All that’s left beyond this are a couple of ruins and undeveloped expanses of wilderness.”

Luke nodded and looked around. Stark Town was nothing more than a basic collection of drab, brown and grey buildings, much more practical and much less breathtaking than Kantor.

“This is where we players come in,” said Silverstrike. “Forming guilds, building houses, farming, and eventually having entirely player run towns is the end game. Yvvaros is a sandbox MMORPG. It’s a little more freeform than the ones that we cut our teeth on back in the day.”

Luke smiled back at him.

“Sounds good,” he said. “Let’s get started!”

The first thing that the two of them did was head to one of the larger buildings in Stark Town, the local militia’s garrison. Luke was taken aback to find that the heavyset NPC soldier who’d led the introductory battle he’d been a part of was at the center of the room.

“You’re alive, soldier,” said the NPC. “That’s good to see.”

Luke felt a strange mixture of emotions as he looked at the man, his memories of the fight still raw and surprisingly vivid.

“We lost the battle, but we haven’t lost the war,” said the NPC. “Here, take some new equipment from the chest over there and get yourself prepared. I’m going to put you on guard duty for now against some of the wolf creatures that have been threatening the town. Come back to me with five of their pelts as proof, and I’ll give you your pay.”

QUEST ACCEPTED: Wolf Pelts for Militia (Level 1)

Luke smiled.

Some things never change.

The gear he found in the chest consisted of a simple set of leather armor, a sword, and a shield. Luke held the leather breastplate in his hand for a moment, and then made an attempt at lifting it up and pulling it over his head. It stretched to accommodate his body and slipped on easily, as did the rest of the armor.

He left the wooden shield with the commander and took only the sword, feeling that it was a better fit. It felt more natural to have one hand free during battle, at least to him.

“You’re a Sword Saint, right?” asked Silverstrike. “Strange… there wasn’t much hype surrounding that subclass prerelease. In fact, you’re the only one I’ve seen in-game so far.”

How is that strange? The description jumped out at me, that’s all…

“What class are you, anyway?” asked Luke. Silverstrike set his hands on his waist and puffed out his chest.

“I’m an Agent,” said Silverstrike. “It’s a Rogue subclass, with a mixture of combat and speechcraft skills.”

“What use is speechcraft in a game like this?” asked Luke. “It relies on a player driven economy, doesn’t it?”

Silverstrike smiled and waved his hand.

“Indeed it does, my friend.” His voice sounded different, deeper, and somehow more trustworthy. “But the speechcraft skills in this game actually affect the way words are processed and heard, so it makes no difference in the end whether I’m using them on a human or an NPC.”

Luke raised an eyebrow and said nothing else. He felt overwhelmed by the depth of the world and excited by the way it was drawing him in.

“Come on, let’s go kill some wolves.” He nodded to Silverstrike and then started off.

The area around Stark Town was known as the Inner Plains. They were grasslands, and mostly clear of trees and forest, with several low, rolling hills mixed into the landscape. Luke and Silverstrike jogged out to the north, noticing a couple of other players out and about, most likely on the same quest they were on.

“It doesn’t seem like there are all that many people venturing outside of the towns,” said Luke.

“Yeah, I think it’s taking most players a little bit more time to get comfortable,” said Silverstrike. “This game is… well, you went through the tutorial. The stakes feel a lot higher when the combat is so realistic.”

The environment was simple, but the details were impeccable. The grass underneath Luke’s feet shifted in the wind. A variety of different plants and flowers grew in clumps across the plains, waiting to be harvested. A group of tiny rabbit-like animals scurried about in a patch of vegetation, moving realistically, but with a bit less fear of humans than their real life counterparts.

It didn’t take the two of them very long to find what they were looking for. As they reached the top of a small hill, they could see a pack of three wolf creatures down below. The lead wolf in the group noticed them immediately and let out a shrill, alien sounding growl.

“Be careful,” said Silverstrike. “I saw somebody fight one of these things earlier. They can spit venom.”

The creatures were dark gray, almost black in appearance, with strange-looking purple eyes. The leader began to slink slowly up the hill showing its jagged, ugly teeth.

YVVA WOLF: One of the many corrupted creatures birthed during the Severance Onslaught. In addition to razor sharp claws and teeth, they have acidic saliva strong enough to dissolve human flesh.

Luke didn’t waste any time. He made sure his grip on his sword was solid and then lunged forward. The weapon felt as though it had weight, and as it cut into the flesh of the lead wolf, he was almost sure that he could feel the recoil.

“Look out!” Silverstrike yelled just in time for Luke to realize that another one of the monsters was headed his way. He dove forward over the first beast and fell into a combat roll down the hill. Behind him, the grass dissolved into green mush as the acid from one of the creature’s mouths landed on it.

Silverstrike hurled himself onto the same wolf that Luke had already wounded. He was wielding duel daggers and stabbed into the beast several times before backing away. It fell to the ground, and when Luke trained his vision on it, the health bar above it was empty.

“There’s one left for each of us,” said Luke. He tapped his sword against a rock and drew the attention of the larger of the two remaining wolves. It took a step back and then charged toward him.

Luke’s first swing cut into the creature’s snout. Unfazed, it pressed on, its claws angling toward him with deadly intent. Luke whirled, continuing forward with his momentum, and struck it again with his blade against its flank.

It let out a demonic howl and turned to face him. Luke moved quickly and finished it off, each strike feeling more natural and effortless than the last. The fighting style of the Sword Saint class matched his natural approach perfectly, and he couldn’t help but smile at how much fun it was.

10 XP GAINED

“Alright, that should do it,” said Silverstrike. “Here, you can have two of the pelts, and I’ll take the third. I almost have enough for the quest, anyway.”

Luke nodded and dropped down to begin skinning the beasts. He had never skinned an animal before in real life, but the process of doing it in the virtual world felt natural and straight forward, much easier than he’d thought it would be.

They stored the pelts away in the small satchels hanging from each of their belts, which also served as their in-game inventories. The bags were much roomier than their diminutive size suggested, but there was a weight limit to what they could hold.

After he’d finished, Luke wiped purple blood off his sword on the grass and then scanned the horizon.

“It looks like there’s a couple more off to the east of here,” he said. “Are you up for it, buddy?”

Silverstrike nodded.

“Oh yeah! Let’s do it.”

The group that Luke had spotted turned out to be bigger than the first one. There were four wolves in total, and as Luke and Silverstrike approached, three more came out from behind a nearby hill.

“Uh oh,” said Silverstrike. “This might get a little tricky.”

Luke nodded and felt his heart begin to race. This was reminiscent of the tutorial battle, and he clutched his sword tightly as the lead wolf began to move toward them.

“Just keep moving and fight defensively,” said Luke. “I’m sure we can take them if we just-”

The lead wolf let out a growl and the entire group charged forward at once. There wasn’t any time for Luke to do anything other than dodge and roll out of the reach of their jaws. He swung his sword wildly, hoping to strike vital locations, but only managing to push them back slightly.