Orc Wars : Uprising

Chapter 8 - Quest

Lazarus, Ranger Level 1, spawned in mid-air, dropped, rolled and stopped in a half crouch. He blinked rapidly adjusting his silver eyes to the soft morning sunlight and stood up slowly. He stretched out his arms turning his hands over and over feeling the strength and vitality running through his veins.

Wow, it really was like putting on another skin. He literally had full control of another body, his Hero's body, the one he had just created. He turned 360 degrees testing it, I feel good. The Ranger marvelled at the body's reflexes. At least I did not fall flat on my face. It would be embarrassing to eat dirt the second I go virtual.

"Sensors on," Lazarus muttered to himself.

Suddenly he could feel the warm artificial sunlight on his skin. He took a deep breath of the sweet cool air and sighed in pleasure. The forest around him was teeming with life. Lazarus could hear the birds chirping and insects buzzing. Wow, this is amazing, it was much more than he had expected. Simtrixx really outdid themselves. This is going to be fun.

The Ranger was wearing the basic hunter's garb. All greens and browns. No weapon he remembered. Got to get one soon or I won't last long in here. He touched his clothes feeling the fabric. Some sort of coarse peasant weave he supposed with low grade leather cuffs, belt and straps. Cool.

Lazarus took a few tentative steps, then ran and climbed a tree, testing the body. It responded readily, he had full control, there were no glitches. He jumped down landing sure footed on the turf.

This body and this world are so awesome I may never want to go back to real life, he thought. He had a small pouch on him. An Inventory items menu displayed in the air in front of him when he opened it. Cool, so that's how it works. In it he had the standard rations, a small sharp knife, basic survival items and some bottled potions.

A message appeared in the sky. He looked up in astonishment. Ahh, so thats how it works. The Game would give them ingame messages and quests simply by materialising in the sky. The Ranger gave a small laugh, like messages from Heaven.

Quest 1 : Find a home and start building. Reward – Experience points 10,000, Gold 5,000.

After a while the message faded. Game on, Simtrixx!

But first, better make a weapon. He did not want to come across a local menace or monster weaponless. That would be a definate disadvantage and might even end his game early. Lazarus got to work. Soon he had a serviceable bow made with supple willow bark and twine. Simple arrows sharpened at the tip finished off with carefully cut fletching from feathers he found lying around. Simtrixx provides for those who look he supposed. Aha, he got some points for making a weapon. It was a good start.

The Ranger's sharp ears heard a soft sound nearby. His body reacted automatically, reaching for an arrow, nocking it and letting it fly in one swift fluid motion. He could feel his muscles tightening at the tension of the bow, as his body assumed a hunting stance. The arrow hit something which squawked nosily ... it was a strange type of fowl.

Yes!! Dinner. He picked it up and it disappeared. Where? Oh, hang on. Quickly he opened his Inventory pouch. There it was, his food supplies had increased.

Okay, problem solved. He had a rudimentary weapon and he now knew how to hunt for food. He touched the rune at the nape of his neck and the main menu floated in front of him. He went through it and found the Research menu.

There were two Research trees. Hero and Castle. Since he had enough resources, the Ranger started Researching the Hero tree. Lazarus picked Hero's Health. The more he researched, the stronger he will be as he levelled up. He could not start Researching the Castle tree as he did not have a home yet.