120 Opening The Starter Kit

"Starter kits would be something that is heavily researched. This is so that later players can find ways to ensure they get the starter kit they want, though there are so many that no guide can give guaranteed results."

"It would also be something that companies abuse to allow their top players and executives to have an advantage over common players by having people give them things within their starter kits to these companies' factions in the game to help stimulate their growth."

"This would allow some to gain a large amount of resources in the early game comparable to the best players who started playing before the servers even began."

Even I used these tactics to a certain extent."

"However, they would soon learn that such assets are useless…."

"Unless you have the power to protect them from the greedy powers at be and the underworld hidden below lawful society!"

Okura Noboru, an old veteran businessman who respects James Larant.

….

[Congratulations to player Rising Pelican of Loyalty for completing the C rank quest 'A Tournament For Improvement!']

[Player has been rewarded with an upgraded special skill and 2 active skills.]

[Player has gained the respect of a few affluent dojo members who used to look down on him with his victory.]

[Many in the dojo still think that you won by luck, with only Leon and Aldorus being insightful enough to confirm that you won by skill.]

Seeing this, he has realised that in Dynasties Online quests, rewards can be given while in a quest, as instead of learning it afterwards like other MMOs, the skills you gain from the quest can be learned while doing the quest itself.

It's just like how, practicality-wise, he gained his new active skills in the middle of combat but only got the official notification afterwards that they were, in fact, his quest rewards.

Now that he had two active skills and a specialised combat skill, Railius was far more confident to go out into the wider world, and there are many reasons why, instead of going straight into the military, he planned to first go into and build up a business within Dynasties Online.

The first has to do with money. Everything needed money, from the weapons and armour of the Pelican Guards to the development of a territory and the well-being of a people; everything relied on cash, and so Railius wanted to make sure he had as much of it as he could get his hands on as well as many revenue streams for it to come through.

Who knew when a territory could be lost or revoked from him or his mercenary company destroyed for siding with the wrong person? Even if mercenaries work for the highest bidder, there may be times that Railius uses his loyal security company for less than legal purposes. If caught, the entire mercenary company may be forcefully disbanded by the authorities or even killed, serving a lord at war. However, it must be mentioned that few would be able to do such a thing as the Pelican Guards are some of the foremost fighters in the world, so it takes overwhelming military power to take them down so cleanly.

While Sigismond Security Solutions primarily provides bodyguard or caravan security services, there may be times when they do other things to help Railius in his ambitions, and it is not too much of a stretch for them to occasionally be hired like other more war-based mercenary companies.

For all of these reasons, it is best for Railius to have many streams of income so that if for any reason one is cut off, he can still rely on the others.

Getting back to his room, Railius finally had some alone time. The biggest problem with having a noble status like Railius', especially when he has so many potential enemies who want him dead, is that your time alone is truly too limited. Railius, as the lord of House Aurellion, is guarded 24/7. Even the doors to his room usually have two guards posted at them, let alone other places around the house. Jordis even lives in the room next to Railius with a sword resting against the side of his bed so he can take it up and defend his lord at a moment's notice from assassins who make the dark night their home.

There had been one thing that he had been meaning to do but hadn't done yet, mainly because he had not needed to until now, but considering that he was about to form his own merchant caravan and company, he thought that now was the perfect time to do it.

Open his Renowned Fallen Martial Noble Starter Kit.

Every new player gets a starter kit that is usually related to their background or occupation, so a merchant would get a merchant starter kit, a soldier a soldier's one, a general a general's one, and so on. However, as you can only have one starter kit, there are times when one related to your status takes precedence. This is because noble starter kits usually give more resources and money than other starter kits alongside something that no noble can go without a noble insignia to prove their elevated status.

A noble insignia can take many forms sometimes; it can be a token like the military tokens that Ancient China used to bestow military power upon its generals. Others are branches, but one thing is clear, a noble house's insignia or proof of nobility is usually made in some way to resemble part of a noble house's banner or background.

A starter kit was unlike any other item in Dynasties Online, as you can choose to open it from an inventory-like menu specifically for it, but once a starter kit has been claimed, it cannot be claimed again. Also, only the first character of your dynasty that you play upon officially entering the game can claim this starter, as any other character of your dynasty will inherit whatever has been built up instead of getting a starter kit.

Because of its focus on realism, a player in Dynasties Online does not have an inventory like they usually would in other games to store their items and money; instead, they have to use bags, belts, carts or other things with carrying capacity to carry their items.

Seeing how Dynasties Online had broken so many MMORPG norms, Railius was not surprised when these starter kits also seemed to break the established rules that all MMOs have used in the past.

[Would you like to open your Renowned Fallen Martial Noble Starter Kit.]

[Y/N.]

Pressing the yes option, another set of the system's familiar notifications appeared in front of the young player.

[50 gold has been acquired.]

[Noble House Sigel acquired.]

[Fine Clothes Acquired.]

[Commoner Clothes Acquired.]

[1 high-quality warhorse acquired.]

After these few system notifications came a few that needed Railius to make a decision even if the outcome would be obvious.

[Please choose 2 weapons of your choice. You may customise them if you wish.]

Railius' first weapon of choice was naturally the sword, as this was the only weapon and combat skill that he was proficient in, while the young player expected to learn how to use two or three weapons over his time playing the game, for now, his primary weapon would be the sword whether that changes in certain circumstances is still up for debate as polearms like spears and lances are usually the better weapons when fighting on horseback so there will be times when the sword become his secondary weapon to favour ones with larger reach.

Railius had to think carefully about his next choice of weapon, as it would greatly impact his future gameplay. The two choices he felt like he had were between a polearm and a ranged weapon, with the young lord of Aurellion having to carefully consider how he wanted his early-game fighting style to develop.

Getting a polearm would allow him to charge and lead his men from the front, boosting their morale; however, a ranged weapon like a bow would enable him to support his forces from behind and considering that he was a general who relied primarily on wits to succeed, it seemed to fit more with the style that Railius was going for overall.

A ranged weapon would also allow Railius to be in less danger, for while he did have the Pelican Guards to protect him on the battlefield, personally going into combat is a risk even with the best bodyguards in the world. This is something that is very important in medieval battles where generals helped to hold the morale of the army together, as many armies fled when their leader and general were slain.

The only problem with this is that soldiers are much more willing to follow a general who charges with them into battles instead of sitting back in relative safety, allowing their subordinates to die for them on the battlefield.

Railius spent a long time pondering the various pros and cons of each until he finally came to a decision decisively choosing to get a ranged weapon because if he needed to charge with his men to keep up morale, he could do so with a sword even if a spear would be a better weapon to have when fighting from horseback it was still better to be skilled in a ranged weapon as it gave his character more versatility.

After choosing his weapons, another screen appeared, allowing Railius to customise his weapons to his heart's content, both in looks and even in power. He even had the option to put a few magical runes on it.

[Please customise your sword.]

Railius then began to customise his sword. Apart from a few materials that were only available to be crafted by Dwarven blacksmiths, such as Mithril that his mother's axes were made out of, almost any other material could be used for the blade as it would be crafted within Railius' starting area as his house does not have enough contacts to be able to import a weapon in from elsewhere. Unfortunately, apart from a select few materials, nothing was better than steel when it came to crafting weapons, as the strong alloy was both durable and easily acquired with the materials to make it easily findable throughout the world of Dynasties Online.

Even these materials would have to be mixed in with the steel due to their rarity, but different metal alloys can be combined to create powerful weapons that can even be as good a mithril, which the dwarves guard so jealously, in the end, Railius chose to make the sword out of three differing components steel, Adamantite and Lantium gaining the strength of steel, the flexibility of Adamantite and the magical properties of Lantium.

Lantium was a mineral unique to Dynasties Online, commonly used and found in elven forests or where mana was abundant, naturally forming in those unique environments. While not as naturally strong as steel, it has far better magical conductivity, so the effects of runes would be magnified. Some of the strongest weapons in the 4000-year-long history of Dynasties Online have been made out of this material. However, since the discovery and widespread dissemination of anti-magic crystals, weapons like this have lost their competitiveness and are rarely seen on the battlefield in recent years.

In more recent years, this mineral has been combined with steel to create strong, potent magical weapons, and many elven weapons are made, at least in part with this, to help them attune their magic to their weapons.

The blade was a shining grey with tiny glints of red and green and wickedly sharp. The handle had a winged-shaped crimson cross guard and a golden pelican head for a pommel written in dwarfish runes across both sides of the blade was 'Blade of Benevolence' to show House Aurellion's commitment to justice and righteous ruling.

A small red ruby was embedded into the Pelican head hilt where the mouth of the beast would be as the runes shined faintly with an earthly and red hue that could barely be seen in daylight, a subtle indication of the magic that is imbued into the runes.

Next, Railius created a light brown Ironwood bow, which was slightly curved on each of its ribs; runes were etched into the tough wood, each one shining with a slight greenish hue. Ironwood was a relatively rare material that only the wealthiest or most influential people could get their hands on, but the system had already considered these aspects and decided that thanks to both House Aurellion's fame and the surprising wealth of the noble house, it could afford to have such a marvellous weapon made for its recently come of age lord. Both strong and flexible, it allowed a bow to not only pack a considerable punch but also be flexible, bending freely to permit them to put in as much or as little power as they pleased.

After spending nearly an hour refining the looks of each weapon, he pressed done, and the game system asked a question.

[Are you sure you are happy with your weapons? Once you have confirmed, they cannot change them.]

[Y/N.]

Pressing the yes button, more system notifications quickly streamed out.

[ Railius' Customised Recurve Bow acquired]

[Railius' Customised One-handed Sword acquired]

[Please choose what type of armour you would like. This can be customised to suit your desires.]

Railius was surprised that he would get customised armour as well as weapons. The most he expected was for some decent quality gear, but it looks like he will get far more than he imagined as a customisation screen, much like the weapon one appeared. These customisation screens were very detailed, allowing you to change the type of armour and its colour. Even the most minor details and engravings could be customised, allowing you to design it as you wish. Player blacksmiths in the future could spend entire days customising weapons on this screen to create powerful, unique and artistic blueprints from which to build weapons.

It took two whole in-game hours for Railius to finally be done with his masterpiece as he used trial and error to meticulously sceptre his armour to his exact specifications, turning it into a work of art all by itself as it was the armour he would wear as the lord of House Aurellion and when he finally revealed himself and his house to the world once again.

The armour was crimson and gold made of form-fitting steel plates that covered the entire body, allowing for both maximum protection and manoeuvrability. A Pelican was engraved in the centre of the breastplate, while his pauldrons were shaped like bird beaks; the sharp metal protrusions themselves were able to act as a weapon if needed. The helmet was open-faced, and you could see the mouth and eyes of Railius clearly; however, much like the Corinthian helmets of ancient Greece, the cheeks and head were encased in metal, protecting it from attacks, although the opening was slightly bigger to help you see better and a noseguard dropped down to protect the centre of the face.

Two metal wings that start from where the eyebrows are fly back towards the back of the helmet as baby bird chick heads replace the usually round knee guards while the greaves and gauntlets encase the arms and legs in protective steel to protect them from attack all buckled on with leather straps.

After finishing and confirming his decisions, it was nearly 2 am in-game, and Railius headed to bed, allowing Reginald, the player behind Railius, to catch up on some sleep as he ended his second in-game day after the official opening of the servers. These short rests are how the game company helps to deal with the immense fatigue the game forces on the player at times, meaning that the strain that Reginald was under when he had to go through the Dynasty History System fast is unlikely to be replicated.