For Answer I [Solo]

[Saber]

    Fake rocks gave off a soft but hard crunching noise, breaking away as they shouted towards the person whom stepped on them as the pressure beneath the black boot increased. However, the person whom had placed his foot on top of the world’s little children wasn’t looking down; he was looking out towards the distant realm beyond. The player looked far out towards the distant glow of the horizon, his eyes glued to the sky, watching as the sun slowly crept up from where it rested, or hid. For a replica of the real thing, the sun rise within the game of Elder Tale was something to be admired because of its accuracy. It was a beautiful thing and was much calmer than the real world’s. However this place was just a fake image created to represent the other side of the monitor, but now it seemed even more real than ever before. How was that possible?



    The player which had watched the sun rise and fall from a godly standpoint was now one with his creation; his character, and was looking towards the sun in a first-person perspective. It was a new sight and something much different than he had expected to see upon reentering the game. Rather it was only a dream or a real sight was still something to be determined, but for now the man enjoyed the sight before him. Even if it was only for a few seconds, he enjoyed it.



    “So… this is your expansion…” A whisper escaped the lips of the player standing quietly in the hole which had been formed in the wall. The player didn’t sound enthused about the situation, but he didn’t whine. He didn’t cry. The man standing there simply stared towards the rising sun, waiting patiently.



    He waited, watched, and discovered that he was not alone. All across the ruins of London’s virtual landscape, other players were cropping up as they signed in. Some were here longer than he was and were already searching about, some were trying to understand their situation with frightened eyes, and a few were even already beginning to fall apart. Women screamed and collapsed, several men hugged themselves or fell to their hands and knees, others who accepted their fate had begun to look at their menus as to keep themselves together.

[Saber]

    On the fateful day of the expansion, the phenomenon known as the Catastrophe occurred. For someone who was finally getting a handle on this game, the incident had the worst timing possible. Although, the game changing event couldn’t have come at a better time. The player standing in the wall squeezed his fists together, adjusted his eyes from the players below, and began to look over his own avatar. He had just switched from a higher level character which had made a name for itself, too someone who never existed. If he had remained on his other character in this situation, he would have been looked towards for guidance, for answers, and for orders. Now as he stood alone with his face hidden and new to the world, even with a different name, there was no one he had to guide. There was no one he had to bring along with him. It hurt knowing he was by himself and that he couldn’t help the people he had slowly begun to call friends, but it would be for the best.

    “Time to take this world…” Saber whispered, tapping the starting weapon he had chosen for his character; the short bow.

    The player turned away from the wall, adjusted his clothing, and pulled the starting scarf tight around the lower part of his face. Until he had some answers about what was going on around him, he would need to remain by himself. It was a much different path than he had originally elected to take but with such a dramatic twist, there were too many questions. Who could he trust? Who could he look towards for answers? Who had the answers? Was this person one of the Game Masters and should he trust what they say? Where was Shiori? What did this mean about his skills? How does he play the game now? Is it all manual? Where was Shiori…?

[Saber]

    “Shiori…” Saber paused in the middle of his short descent down the broken staircase which led to the crumbling building’s rear exit. The man placed his hand against the wall to his right and stared down at his own feet in regret.



    Shiori… That was right. Without Saber, what would Shiori do now? She had taught him a lot in the past few months, but when the guild formed she only became the Guild’s second-in-command rather than take the helm. What would happen to her? Would the other guys support her? Or would they take over and leave her behind? No, that wouldn’t happen. Shiori helped several of the others start and she was a smart person. In this situation, Saber would have expected her to have a better handle of everything. The Guild would be fine with her leading it, right? Saber hadn’t told her his new character’s name so he doubted that she would be contacting anytime soon.



    For now, that would work in his benefit as there were more important matters to tend to; Saber needed questions answered. He needed to know about surviving in this world and what it would take to keep himself alive. With that on his mind, Saber continued down the staircase and slipped out the back of the structure he had appeared in. More and more players began to fill the streets of the London Ruins as Saber made his way through the ancient-looking city. With the increasing number of other players, the man who was rapidly trying to avoid them all was becoming anxious.

[Saber]

    Each person he passed glanced at him or even stared as the determined player rushed by without saying a word. He didn’t like the growing crowdedness that was occurring and needed a way out of the area as quickly as possible. In this situation, if someone knew where they were going or at least looked like it, the chances of someone following them increased. Being tailed in such a fragile time was bad, and Saber would have no answers for them, but maybe him being tailed was necessary? If he had questions about what was happening, then it was obvious that at least thirty other people had the exact same ones as him. Would it be best to have them all answered together at once? Or would it be best for Saber to keep the information to himself?


    From a business standpoint, withholding important information could be a great opportunity to make money quick. If Saber could answer questions that no one else could, he could sell that information about the game at a high price and suck the brainless players dry. He could become an informant and build a small foundation for himself to live off of. However it was also likely that path would lead him to damnation or make him a prime target for other players who may consider the same route. At the same time, there was a potential for a better way to go about this. Instead of selling, Saber could simply become an NPC of sorts. If someone asked him a question, he could just answer it and give all of the information he knew. That wouldn’t make him a bad person unlike his initial route would. Yet that also meant he would mean he’d lose out on something; an advantage. In a crisis, any advantage was worth killing for if it meant putting yourself in a better position than others.

[Saber]

    Just like he had read during school and on his own time, battles in war were sometimes decided by the amount of information one side had over the other. Additionally, the more reliable the information, the better the result would be in the end. If enough information was gathered, a stronger strategy could be put in place. With a stronger strategy, fewer casualties would occur and the victory came more seamlessly unless there were drawbacks or unknown variables that cropped up in. As this new tale just beginning, information would be key towards any future strategies. In order to get that information one had to seek it out; which meant that people would have to go on quests or adventures.



    Saber liked adventures…



    The only question was where he should start. There were several People of the Land roaming about the ruined London landscape and it wouldn’t surprise him if they had quests that needed done or if they had information about the area. If Saber hadn’t already played the game, they would have been the first people he talked to regardless of any previous thoughts. Yet he already had a bit of experience with the layout and the surrounding zone. Due to him switching characters a few times and having to restart, Saber had gained a decently firm grasp about the area in direct vicinity to London. He hadn’t memorized where quests were or their material rewards, but he knew the locations of the ones who gave the most experience. If he could take those quests and check them off his list early, he’d start leveling fairly quickly. That was something he needed right now; strength and experience. If Saber wanted to know about the world and his situation, he’d need to explore every possibility and cover every corner. Just like when hunting an animal; he had to prepare for as many situations while also guiding the target into the best suited for him.

[Saber]

    With a firm nod, Saber turned to his right and darted out of the large, mossy city gates as he began his hunt. That was the mentality he needed; he was hunting now. He was hunting for information that would allow him to survive here in this new, unknown world. Everything around him was new and with the expansion, he had no choice but to think of everything as new. He couldn’t rely on what he previously knew as far as monsters and quest locations so he would have to figure those out on his own just like he had done when he first played. Yet the world couldn’t have changed too much. Looking at his surroundings from an avatar standpoint and not from a monitor was quite a drastic change visually. Before, Saber was able to look down on his character and everything was laid out in a user-friendly manner. From the avatar’s point of view however, there were no actual reference points to make that would keep him moving in the right direction. The lack of god-like view would take some getting used to.



    As Saber ran down the main path that led away from London, the man clenched his fists together and ground his teeth. Over time, he began to feel tired confirming that there was fatigue in this world of some sort. With that being said, what was the limit? How far could he run before he was forced to stop? And how hard could he push himself before that? Exceptional physical ability was a trait he had in the real world due to his childhood, and it was something prevalent in everything he did on the reality side of things. How did that translate though? If he ran faster, would he tire faster or would it still be a gradual thing because of his body’s trained resilience?

[Saber]

    The man pumped his feet and continued to run, testing the game system’s endurance limit as he did so. It was strange, running in such a manner that was so similar to real life even though he was in a game. The fact that he had decided to make his character’s body like his own, aside from its red eye color and the Elven ears he was forced to choose due to his racial choice, was becoming very beneficial. Though, he seemed to be running faster than he did in reality; and that was weird. His steps were much quieter and he was more balanced than before, almost perfectly balanced. It was strange and Saber wondered why that was. Maybe it was because of his race, could that have been it? Would it have been his class and subclass combination? The possibility was there, but it was still something to be deter--



    A bush shook to the left of the path ahead, causing Saber to snap free from his thoughts and stare at it. The player twisted his hips and skidded to a halt, ripped the bow that was strapped over his back into the air in front of him, and drew a single arrow from his quiver. Unlike a technologically advanced pistol, a bow and arrow combination took more time to load and fire, but Saber was in no rush and kept the two objects apart from each other. He simply waited and eyed the bush quietly as he attempted to determine the cause behind the movement. Was it the wind, or maybe his eyes playing tricks on him? He had just run a decent distance and his chest was on fire, but the player’s assumptions were probably doing more damage to his conscience than anything else. Over the past ten minutes, he had asked himself far too many questions, considered far too many outcomes, and his mind was in shambles because of it all. Maybe this bush was his mind telling him to shut up.

[Saber]

    This time though, it wasn’t the man’s mind trying to control the body. The culprit behind the bushes movements popped out of its hiding spot with tenacity, and caused the player to respond almost immediately. As the creature perked up in the middle of the road, Saber swiftly docked his arrow against the old wood of his short bow, drew the string back as far as his in game strength would allow, and fired. His first shot of the game, and one of his worst, soared over the head and between the ears of a small rabbit creature that had appeared. The player sucked his teeth at the sight and reached back to grab another arrow. At the same moment, the rabbit looked over at him in fear. The little animal saw the culprit of the noise and confirmed the source of danger. With knowledge that there was a human, no an Elf, in the area it quickly began to flee. Saber hissed at the rabbit’s attempt and yanked the second arrow from his quiver, docked it, drew, and fired.



    Rather than rely on the game mechanics, it seemed he would have to work off instinct. His shots were both horrible and his second slammed into the ground several feet in front of his fast-moving target. There was no aim assist here and there was no way to track the target automatically unlike there was back when he was looking into a monitor. Both times, Saber had to perform every motion by himself so it seemed that ordinary attacks weren’t systemized and weren’t preset. That was both good and bad. For some people who relied on the system, they were in for a rude awakening. Yet for people like Saber who had personal experience with their weapons; the lack of predetermined attack scripts was a gift from god.

[Saber]

    “Praise be to Zeus.” A smirk crossed Saber’s face as he took a moment to appeal to those watching down from above. His moment of prayer lasted only for a moment as a twig snapped beneath his target’s foot.



    The rabbit ducked back to the left, avoiding the arrow which stuck out of the ground directly in front of it as much as possible. With speed, haste, and prayer, the little creature darted towards the next nearest safe place; a small collection of rocks that were piled up beside a tree. A short distance away, Saber pulled out a third arrow from his quiver, determined not to lose. He took in a deep breath, relaxed, and set up his shot. The rabbit drew closer and closer to the stones it was trying to use as shields. Then, it leapt into the air to try and cross the last few feet quickly. Saber tensed his body, ended the wavering sightline, and exhaled. The rabbit, just inches from safety, was suddenly struck in the underbelly by a well-placed stone arrowhead. The tiny creature released a loud yelp an instant after the impact and flew behind the cover of the rocks into a tree. It had reached its destination but had done so at a price.



    Without hesitating, Saber stepped into action again and sprinted forward to check the damage he had caused. The increased speed which came from either his class, race, or subclass gave him was a blessing in disguise and helped him close in on the wounded rabbit’s location. While he ran, Saber pulled a fourth arrow out of his quiver and readied it against the side of his bow. He didn’t stabilize it yet but he remained prepared in case if he had to fire a second shot. When he popped out around the edge of the first stone in sight, the player’s eyes immediately began to search. He clutched the wood, placed the back of the arrow against the string, and drew the arrow back to his cheek. It took that same amount of time for him to realize that the rabbit was no longer there; it had escaped him.

[Saber]

    “To bad this isn’t reality.” Saber thought to himself as he relaxed, returning his arrow into its resting place on his back. With speed and precision, the player navigated his menu and manually pulled up his skill list. To his dismay; the skill Saber was looking for wasn’t in sight and it seemed he had no chance of tracking down the rabbit in his current state. In reality, there would have been some tracks he could work off or even blood. In this game there was none of that. The player cursed under his breath and glanced at the other two skills he had available to him: Atrophy Break and Silent Move. He tapped onto both of them lightly, bringing up their descriptions. When he looked at and read the skill given to him due to his choice of a subclass, he released a soft grunt.

    “So that’s why my feet were silent…”



A twig snapped to the player’s left and Saber perked up in response. He scanned the collection of trees and bushes just to his side and in front of him, searching for the source or at the least something of interest. That was when a grin crossed his face. Saber closed his menu and walked on his tip toes slowly to his left, but he kept his eyes to his right towards where the sound had come from. Very carefully, the player moved from one side of the tree in front of him to the next. As he moved, he drew an arrow and set it against his bow. As slowly, calmly, and quietly as he could; Saber steadied the arrow, pulled back and readied to fire it. A smile remained on the player’s face all the way until just before he released his shot. At that moment, he lost his grin for only a few seconds as he took in a deep breath, leveled his bow, and exhaled.

[Saber]

    The arrow shot into the grass, trimming the top of the collection of life, and a pair of ears twitched beyond a small bush. A loud squeak echoed into the air right after a soft thump rang out. Out from behind the small green bush, the same bunny Saber had encountered earlier, and that was thought to have escaped, fell out into the open on its side. Two arrows stuck out of the little animal’s body; one from its belly, a second from its side. The creature twitched as the health bar above its head gradually emptied due to the pair of attacks, rendering the animal unable to move. Then, in a blaze of glory, the little rabbit burst into a mix of digital dust and items right before its killer’s eyes. Saber’s first kill was switched from a physical entity back into a string of numbers that would be recycled later.



    “So it begins.” Saber smirked and lowered his bow as he reveled in the sight of his first earned items on the ground. The player glanced to his right towards the city of London he had left behind in his search for answers, confident that he had made the right choice. Today marked a new day and the beginning of a new life in this world. Saber didn’t know much, but he would spend his day today learning everything he could before he was forced to stop. Killing the rabbit was his first step to understanding, to enlightenment, and he wasn’t going to stop there. It was time for Saber to put his father’s teachings to good use and it was time for him to become a real hunter.