30 Leveling up and finding despair
Mission complete!
Mission to Attend the Graduation Ceremony is now complete. Live play is now active. +200exp
Bonus reward: Practicing two spells into becoming Cantrips has given you extra experience. +40exp
Bonus reward: Collecting six Character Familiarization points has given extra experience. +60exp
Bonus reward: Learning a new spell has given extra experience. +20exp
Additional Ability Scores have been calculated and added to you menu display.
Level up!
You have leveled up! You are now level 2. Each level gives unique rewards, along with Stat points to distribute into whatever ability score you choose, so long as it relates to your character class.
Because your character is a Mage, you can distribute your stat points into either Charisma, or Intelligence. Be aware that one extra stat point will be placed into Intelligence each time you level up.
Level two mages gain the ability to sense mana in the surrounding areas. You can use this ability twice a day.
Sara stared at the system messages, reading through them carefully, one by one.
'Oh? I leveled up…'
She closed out of notices, then opened her character information.
Character name- Serendipitous(21) Level-2 Title- unassigned Reputation- Limited, neutral
Race- Drow Class- Mage (Rank 127 out of 334)
Sex- male Background- Rudimentary Mage School Graduate
Spells learned- 5 Spell levels attained- 1
Strength: 9
Intelligence: 14
Charisma: 10
Wisdom: 8
Agility: 10
Constitution: 8
Available stat points: 1
Equipment:
Apprentice robes- no benefits granted
Leather shoes- no benefits granted
Cloth gloves- no benefits granted
Common clothes- no benefits granted
Sara found that three more stats had been added to her character information, along with her level and her reputation had increased as well. Her background now said she was a Rudimentary Mage graduate rather than just a mage student. She figured this was just the system telling her what her official class was.
Sara closed out of her character information window and made her way out of the ceremony room. She began making her plans for the future as she did.
She needed more combat spells, that much she was sure of. She looked up and stopped a fellow graduate.
"Excuse me? Where is the library?" She asked.
The student, almost certainly an NPC, pointed to a direction and gave a few less than helpful instructions on how to get there after giving Sara a strange look.
Sara gave her thanks and opened her map as she walked away. She saw the library lit up in her map. She rushed to get there as quickly as possible.
The library was as Sara would have expected it to be. It was huge, with books lining the walls and on giant shelves, giving the room aisles to walk down and peruse. There were tables scattered throughout where one could study the contents of the books, with paper and pens readily available.
Sara began looking through the books present, hoping she could find something helpful.
Not knowing what she was exactly looking for, she pulled a handful of books from the shelves, hoping to figure it out as she worked.
As she opened the first book, a notice popped up in front of her.
Notice!
Reading can help a character increase their intelligence stat. The more difficult the book, the more the stat will increase. With an intelligent stat being low, only low level books can be read, with it being high, more difficult books will become available to read.
The Mages Ire-
This tale of betrayal and anger is one that is well known throughout the Drow community. Would you like to read it?
Sara selected yes and another notice came up in front of her.
True virtue!
The main hero's hatred of his father and disdainful attitude is truly admirable. Though he lost out in the end, he will forever remain a beloved character in your heart.
Sara's expression darkened, but she set the book aside and tried another.
The faithful follower-
This tale of faith and worship is a staple in many Drow households. Would you like to read it?
Sara selected yes, causing another notice to be brought forth.
Incredible faith!
Reading about the main character's faith and worship of Lolth has resonated with you. Lolth truly is great.
Sara sat the book aside and continued to go through the pile of books she'd taken from the shelves. As she "read" more and more, her expression continued to darken over the useless and sometimes incredibly wicked tales they held within their pages.
Finally, as Sara finished yet another fairy tale, she sighed.
"Where the hell am I supposed to find another spell!?"
Sara left the table and began to meander around the library. Reading the books wasn't entirely a complete loss, she'd been able to raise her intelligence by two points. Of course, she'd read through dozens of books in order to get those points….
Finally, Sara found herself in the back of the library. She slowly walked down the aisle, trying to find something that could give her a better chance of winning her upcoming arena battle.
Her eyes fell onto a book whose spine was tattered and torn, as if it'd been read and re-read over and over again countless times.
She pulled it from the shelf, along with another old looking book. As she made to turn away, however, she remembered something.
'Didn't I gain the ability to sense magic? Maybe I can sense a magical tome…'
As Sara thought this, she focused on the books around her, activating her new ability.
She saw no magic around her, nor felt any. As she sighed and was about to leave to sit at that table one last time, however, a faint wisp of energy caught her attention.
Sara rushed over. There, on the far wall, Sara found a thin book wedged between two much larger books. It was so thin; one would have been unable to find it without knowing it was there.
Sara pulled the book from the shelf and hurried back to her seat.
She set the two larger books aside and hurried to read the title of the thinner one.
"Chaos magic theory…? What's that?" As she read the title, a notice popped up.
Chaos Magic Theory
This book contains the beginning teachings on Chaos Magic Theory. Would you like to read it?
Sara frowned down at the notice. It was very similar to the previous notices.
'Guess it's not a spell…just the theory around one?' She wondered.
She went ahead and selected yes.
Notice!
Intelligence stat insufficient.
Sara gritted her teeth. Of course, she finally finds something that might be able to help her out, and she doesn't have enough intelligence!
Sara tossed the book aside in a huff.
This game was broken. How was she supposed to grow in strength if she didn't even know how!?
Sara rubbed her eyes as she felt a headache coming on.
Seeing no other way around it, she picked up the older book instead.
Brakendorfs Fall-
This book is about the dwarven king Brakendorf's fall from power. Would you like to read it?
Sara selected yes.
A great victory!
Brakendorf's fall was an important turning point for the Drow race. His army's were one of the biggest threats to the Drow people. The ruins of his kingdom have long become a proud monument outside of the Drow territory that many wish to visit, but few get the opportunity. His riches were immense and the weapons in his treasury are still some of the greatest within the top Drow family's arsenals.
Sara sighed and set the book with the other's she'd read. She picked up the last one.
She didn't have much hope for the book and didn't even read the title notice before selecting to read it.
Immense history!
Though his book was difficult to read, you found yourself pushing through to the very end due to it's incredible amount of information. +2 intelligence.
Sara was pleasantly surprised as the notice of getting two additional stat points. She once again picked up the thin book and tried to read it.
She was met with a disappointing message once again.
Notice!
Intelligence stat insufficient.
Sara tossed the book aside once again before slamming her head down on the table.
It hurt.
Sara pulled off the headset and set it aside. Outside, the sun had begun to go down. Sara removed her body suit and sat at her desk. She began transfer her gaming video onto her computer as she surfed the web.
Maybe she could find some idea as to where to find more spells in the forums.
Most of the posts seemed to be about surface races. She clicked through, hoping to find something that could help her.
She paused as she came across one post that had almost three thousand engagements on it.
This game is broken…
So, has anyone else leveled up yet? I'm not asking to brag or anything, but I noticed something weird about leveling up.
OK, so I leveled up after the tutorial. I know a lot of people probably did the same, I'm not trying to brag or anything, I was just wondering if anyone else noticed that…leveling up doesn't really give you much??
I'm now a level 2 swordsman; I got two stat points after leveling up, one that's automatically put into strength and the other given for me to place either in strength or agility. But other than that…I'm able to still defend myself without armor? I guess, it's to make it so I don't have to wear heavy armor, which I am capable of doing. But, other than the weight it adds to the character, there isn't really any reason not to wear heavy armor.
This is just speculation on my part, but it seems like the main way you gain strength in this game is just through game play, rather than leveling up. Higher levels seem to be more of a convenience rather than a necessity. Does anyone else feel this way???
Beneath the post were a number of comments, some agreeing with the op and others tearing into him, calling him a noob.
-Are you serious? We don't know if higher levels give bonuses in other ways, like in p v p play. Why are you whining?-
-I noticed that too!!!!!I was thinking I was just unlucky…-
-even is it means you get more benefits frm the actually game than rom leveling, is that such a bad idea?-
-noob-
-shut up *content censored*, I've been playing VR for years, this is the most interactive game on the market, of course the leveling has been downplayed, they want people treating it as an actual world-
-doesn't that just mean the characters will all be unique across the levels? You get more benefits from interacting and exploring, which means you're character becomes completely unique, sounds badabs to me…-
-so, if they institute a level cap, it doesn't really mean anything? If you get most of your benefits from the game, then you would just continue to "level" up your character beyond the leveling cap, right?-
-Tis me, CONTENT CENSORED WARRIOR1=! *content censored* content censored*, You *content censored*. *content censored* *content censored*!@!!!!-
-I play a high elf mage, not getting benefits from levels is kinda *content censored*. I can't figure out how to gain more powerful spells! Since live play is activated, I guess that means I have to head out into the world an dsearch for them? But, my character itself isn't able to yet, he's considered a child in his clan, which means he isn't allowed outside of his village…But, He's considered a child until he's like…I think 100 years old? He's currently twenty! I have to wait another eighty years before I can head out into live play. Sure, there's a time difference between real life and the game, but in the real world that's still twenty years!-
The last comment made Sara wonder about her own character. She knew from the character information screen that she was twenty one years old, but she wasn't sure when she was considered an adult in Drow society…or when she'd be allowed to leave and head to the surface… From the looks of the adult Drow in the community, it didn't seem many left for the surface and if they did, they didn't stay for long.
Sara continued to search on the internet, trying to find a way to find more spells for her character. Finally, she found a hint.
Apparently, in previous games, doing missions gave not only experience, but also other rewards, like skills and spells. Or gave hints to those items. Thinking back, Sara knew that her first mission to attend her graduation ceremony hadn't given her any new spells, but had allowed her to find one, in a way.
Her second mission…if she was successful in doing it, she might actually be able to get more spells. The advanced classes were called advanced for a reason, obviously. It was unlikely that they would leave her without any new spells after completing the course.
But, that was only if she was able to complete the mission itself.
She still had to gain spells in order to complete it. After seeing that battle in the arena, she knew her current spell list was insufficient.
As she sat trying to figure out her next plan of action, her computer alerted her that her video files were completely downloaded. She began sifting through the hours upon hours of footage, trying to bring the amount down to under an hour. As she was working, she heard her front door open and close, signaling that her parents were home.
Sara didn't pay it any mind and continued to edit her video down.
She heard a knock on her bedroom door.
Sara looked over to see her father poking his head in.
"You're still awake?"
Sara nodded. "Yeah, I'm editing a video."
He nodded. "Your mother brought home some chicken from Little Stevie's. Her group was taken out today as a compensation for having to keep them for so long before."
"Alright, I'll be out in a bit."
Sara's dad left the room shortly after. He wasn't old, not really, but the long years in the Labor Force had taken their toll on him. The circles under his eyes were a little darker than they would have been if he wasn't in the force, and his body was a little weaker, skinnier.
Other than that, Sara's dad was a good looking guy, especially in his youth. If he'd started on his content at a younger age, he would have probably been really popular. Sara got up from her desk shortly after and headed out to the dining area to have dinner with her parents. It wasn't something that happened often, the three of them eating together. They rarely even got to interact with each other. Of course, this was Sara perspective anyways. Her parents actually worked in the same building, so they saw each other throughout the day.
Sara's mother was quietly getting her family's plates ready for them, it was a habit she had developed back when Sara was younger, but she hadn't been able to do it since she was placed back into the Labor Force. Women are given the first five years of their child's lives off from the Labor Force to be stay at home mothers, but are returned back after the child turned five. Because Sara was sick when she was younger, however, her mother was able to stay home with her an extra year.
After her mother returned to the Labor Force, Sara's dad had begun trying to build a following online in earnest. Sara wasn't sure if that was for her mother's benefit, or for her own.
Or, maybe he just felt too stifled by the life as a Labor worker and wanted to try to find a way to make him feel like he was doing SOMETHING about their situation, even if it wasn't something that could actually amount to much.
They ate in relative silence, with the occasional comment on the food, or Sara's parents talking about something that happened at their jobs.
Sara finished her food quickly before excusing herself. The long breaks of silence felt stifling to her. She didn't want to sit there longer than she had to.
She returned to her room and continued with the editing of her video.
