“Status”
<table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Drake</td><td>Title</td><td>Elan’s Chosen</td></tr><tr><td>Gender</td><td>Male</td><td>Race</td><td>Halfling</td></tr><tr><td>Fame</td><td>0</td><td>Adventurer Rank</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>Health</td><td>90</td><td>Mana</td><td>78</td></tr><tr><td>Strength</td><td>10</td><td>Agility</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Stamina</td><td>1</td><td>Pool</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>Intellect</td><td>10</td><td>Dexterity</td><td>15</td></tr><tr><td>Luck</td><td>0</td><td>Charisma</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>Money</td><td>20 Copper</td><td>Quest</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Armor</td><td>2</td><td>Attack</td><td>1</td></tr></tbody></table>
‘Great…. No luck. I hope 20 coppers cover’s the entrance fee.’ Drake walks forward to the gates calling out, “I’m lost, what town is this?”
The guard looks strangely at him. “Where’re you from? You’re dressed to lightly to be wandering Heart’s Wood.”
Replying honestly, “I suddenly found myself here with almost nothing. I need to find an adventurer’s guild to get my ID.”
“You look too weak to be an adventurer, but it’s just inside the gate…. Since you’ll be dead in a week without training, I’d suggest you ask for the training seminar as soon as possible. Now get in here before night falls. Even I don’t want to be out there in the next few minutes.”
Drake enters the town guild and, natural as any other game he’s played, attempts to register and con a free stay out of them. A disinterested man was straightening out a nearly empty signboard on the far wall. Hearing the door the man called out, “Eh? Guild’s closing! Come back tomorrow!”
Drake, not to be deterred, “Can I please stay the night? I’m lost with no money and I want to register in the morning.”
The man sized up Drake and realized the kid probably wouldn’t last the night without getting a slave collar on if he didn’t help out since he could detect almost no mana and see no muscles or weapons on him. “Alright…. Let’s do this quick, just so I don’t have to waste money buying you from the slavers if you’re caught sleeping outside.” Before Drake could object, the man had stabbed his finger and pressed the bloody tip to a card.
<table><tbody><tr><td>-30 HP</td></tr></tbody></table>
“What the…? How’d I lose so much health!”
The guild master grins, “Oh, that’s a magically enchanted knife I’ve got. I figured if you wanted to be an adventurer so badly, I’d see if you could at least survive an evolved rabbit’s bite since they’re the most common monsters I can send you after. Reading these stats, I guess I have to send you to train first. You better get upstairs to the first room, that’s for the men, and don’t lose this card.” Drake looked at the card, it was the standard status information on the front, but the back contained quest information already assigned to him. He was about to ask why when he noticed he was alone in the main room. Climbing the stairs, all he could do was wonder, ‘Why me?’
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.<table><tbody><tr><td>Quest: Increase stamina by 20 through classes with Rya</td></tr><tr><td>Quest: Increase agility by 20 through classes with Jack</td></tr></tbody></table>
In the morning, Drake woke up to find a maid apparently cleaning the dorm. Checking the internal timer, he noted that unit’s support system registered his real world sleep and hunger levels as safe. Thankfully, as uncomfortable as it was to sleep clothed, he’d forgotten to undress for bed in the game or this would be an awkward scene. He excused himself and went downstairs. There were only four people in the room. “Ah lad, yer just in time! I want you to meet Rya!” It sounded like he said ‘Rye-ah’ to Drake, but he followed the man from last night to the lady at the table eating breakfast. “Milday, this is Drake. He needs a lot of stamina. I nearly killed him just getting enough blood for the guild card and he also had nothing other than what you see.” Drake wonders what’s wrong with what he has and notices for the first time that he’s wearing a torn shirt and loose shorts.
“Jerimiah, you know I don’t like children. Why are you pawning him off on me?”
Chuckling, the man answers, “Two reasons. First, I’m the guild master. Second, and you’re gonna love this, look at his title when you stamp his card for training. I’m sure you’ll understand but I dunno if he’ll survive you more than a day.”
That got her. She hauls drake off to the outer walls. “Alright, give me your card so I can put my trainer’s mark on it. I don’t want to lose out on the points I can earn for my leadership skills.” As she reads over the card before putting the mark where it needed to be, smoke starts to come from her fingers. “Be glad this thing’s fire proof you little snot nosed jerk. You better run as fast as you can around the walls of this town or I’m going to burn your shorts right off of you because of this title. It has to be fake! There’s no way a human, much less a boy, would be granted this blessing!” Barely retrieving the card, Drake took off and made it about 15 steps before falling down winded. Not wanting to look like an idiot, he called out that he tripped on a root as a fireball slammed down beside his foot. “Move it scum!” Drake knew one thing: this was going to be a long day.