Kanjori

Chapter 3 : The First Quest

It took about 3 in game days for me to fully heal. During that time we got accustomed to being called our in game names, and went out on walks to explore the village we were in.

The village was rather large with sounds coming from each and every street. There were little kids running around, and their mothers would sit in a circle while drinking tea. During the day a large market opens that sold a large variety of items from swords to books.

We've spent so much time online due to the global pandemic going on in the real world that we've grown comfortable with our in game names. After about an in game week went by, Damian finally recovered and Mr. Gregorio told us to meet him outside in the morning.

"Hey Rin, what do you think the old man's gonna talk to us about?", Damian asked while staring at his arm.

"Well I'm sure it must be something important for him to call us outside so early.", I replied while opening the door.

The sun hadn't come out yet, and the streets weren't really well lit. Mr. Gregorio was sitting on a large rock in front of the lodge. He wasn't wearing his usual work attire, instead he wore a white tank top and red shorts. He also had a red bandana wrapped around his arm. I have a slight feeling it's there to hide a tattoo he has, because when you look close right beneath the bandana you can see what looks like a blue talon.

"Ah, Damian, Rin, glad to see you two could make it this morning!" Mr. Gregorio exclaimed with the widest smile on his face.

"Well somebody's excited" Damian replied while leaning up on a wall.

"I wanted to get you two out early to tell you about the in game classes. You've both recovered from your injuries now and it's about time you guys start going on missions to get money and progress through the game."

Damian and I both nodded in agreement to what he said.

"In this game, there are 5 classes that you randomly spawn with the moment you login. Mage, the class with an affinity for magic, a class with much versatility but a huge lack in physical strength, which is why it is absolutely necessary for a mage to be good at what they do. Swordsmen, the name is self explanatory, they are very good at close combat, and some who train very very hard gain the ability to use magic with their swords to create long range attacks. Tanks, overall have the strongest endurance and physical strength, but have little to no skill in any magic outside of defensive magic. Archers, they have a bow and arrow, and with lots of practice their accuracy will increase as well as the power in their arrows, and if they learn magic they can truly become a sight to behold. And Specialists. Specialists have the power to tap into any of these things. They say to be a specialist is to have the power of a god."

"So, how do you know which one you spawn in as?" I asked.

"It's simple, hold this stone I will give you and after a few seconds I'll be able to tell you" he replied while pulling a stone out of his pocket.

I held the stone tightly and looked to Mr. Gregorio for an answer. He looked down and stared for a few seconds, and said "You are a swordsman."

Damian took the rock from me next, and without hesitation, Mr. Gregorio told him that he is also a swordsman. He then snapped his fingers and 2 swords appeared in our hands.

"Now that that's over with, you two will be assigned your first mission! At the outskirts of this village there is a bandit group that stole a diamond from a local jewelry shop. Get the diamond back and return it for 500 zeals each. Before you ask, yes zeals are the in game currency."

"How would we know where to go?" I ask while stretching.

"There's a cursor that indicates where to go, walk in its direction and you'll find it. With that being said, good luck adventurers!" Mr. Gregorio said while walking inside.

Damian stood up without saying a word and began to walk towards the cursor. I caught up to him, and looked at him and it seemed as if something was bothering him. He looked at me and confirmed my assumption.

"Rin, did you notice how something was a bit off when he was telling us what classes we have?" Damian asked.

"No, what do you mean?" I replied with concern.

"When he told you your class, it seemed almost as if he was hesitant. He took his time to look, which he didn't do when I held the stone. I don't think I was imagining things when I saw his eyes widen for a split second. He's hiding something."

"Well he could've been lagging, this is a game after all even though it does feel so real."

"That is true but it doesn't explain why his eyes would widen. Remember that he is an advanced NPC, created to feel emotion just like us."

"But Damian, it's just a game. Either way, it seems like we've already arrived at the outskirts, we can argue about this later."

Damian scoffed and drew his sword. Some boars were approaching, but this time we were armed and could fight back.

The quick movement of Damian's arm seemed to have triggered the mobs, because they started to charge towards us. I drew my sword as well, and rushed at them.

One boar jumped toward me, and I slashed it before it could hit me. It rolled over and got back on its feet, and charged at me. My legs buckled at the sight of something so large coming towards me, but before it made impact, Damian's sword slashed through it, causing it to explode into dust.

"C'mon Rin, get a hold of yourself!" Damian said while swinging his sword at another boar. I could do it. If he could be calm, cool, and collected, I could too.

I straightened up and ran towards a boar at full speed with my sword in front of me. It pierced the boar and it turned to dust.

Before a while, we started to understand how to use our swords properly and the boars became increasingly easy to kill. All was well until a glowing ball of light hit Damian in the back and sent him flying towards a tree.

I looked for the source of that attack and sure enough, I was greeted by what seemed to be a mage. Her hair and eyes were crimson red, the same color as the magic orb she used on Damian.

"You two are here for the diamond right? Thanks for holding off those stupid boar for me while I went and got it, I'll be off with it now." The girl said while smirking.

Damian got up and ran towards her at full speed with an angry look on his face. She shot two orbs at him and he dodged them both, continuing to close the gap between the two of them.

While she was distracted, I too began to charge at her, hoping that I'd be able to snatch the diamond and make a run for it, but she was able to see me out of the corner of her eye. Without hesitation she looked at me and I got hit in the face with a rock.

She then shot a larger orb at Damian, and sent him flying once again.

"You two are cute trying to team up on me, but you'll never ever be able to beat me." She said while tons of little rocks began to float around her.

Damian rushed over by my side and began to shield my body. She covered her mouth and began to giggle at the sight, then shot all of the rocks at us, with killing intent.......