Anna's Village

After consulting Seth, Nanncy understood that her day calculation was off. The 6 hours they spend every day in the Game did not mean a day in the Game. It only means half a day.

That meant, Tuesday 6 gaming hours and Wednesday 6 gaming hours equal to 1 day in the Game. And Nanncy was happy to hear that.

That means she has enough time to prepare more plans and figure out how to make Seth's Skill convert to Talent.

Seth received 10 EXP every half an hour and he spent 4 hours doing nothing but receiving her lesson. That was 80 EXP. Minus 1 hour for copying books and 1 hour for resting and looking around the village for any unexpected event.

Seth has levelled up his Drawing Picture Skill to 10 and from then it refused to budge. Then Nanncy began teaching him Painting and that was when that Skill popped up.

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[Window]

Level: 5 (10/30)

[Skill]

~Drawing Picture (10/10)

~Painting (10/10)

~Calligraphy (01/10)

~Sculpture (01/10)

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"Master Nanncy, Painting has been Maxed!" Seth said as he threw away the brush.

"Okay, we should move on to Calligraphy. You know the basics, start them before I come back. The village Chief wants me to copy some Art."

"Okay," 

But the moment Seth saw her leave, he ran out to watch the fight that was happening outside.

It has been two days since they started all this and as if she was in a hurry, Nanncy kept urging Seth to practice more. 

She even resulted in making Seth leave his daily book copying duty. He has no idea how she convinced the Chief. Now Seth practised for 5 hours straight, giving him enough EXP to level up his skills. 

Sadly, Seth did not feel any improvement. 

On the status screen, he maxed their level. But he still made the same mistake he did before. It was frustrating levelling up with no actual tangible progress.

Despite his frustration, Nanncy was more frustrated because she was in a race against time. She has no idea how to move his skill after they were maxed because they stopped receiving EXP even if he practised for the whole day.

Seth has checked the Game Forum and he found many complaints from people like him. Some have stopped playing, some filed reports. And some are organizing petitions. 

There were two Games in the past that enabled blind and deaf people to play with no obstacles. That was Mass Hysteria and Painting The Heaven. 

They were able to make people see and hear like normal people and they garner more attention than any Game due to that. 

Sadly, Painting The Heaven required someone with Artistic skills to play up to the top, without that, you can't compete. Despite that, people still play because it has amazing graphics.

Mass Hysteria was an odd Game. It was believed to be created to poison the mind of youth towards the act of violence. And it was banned after four months of release.

Asteroids Online should have the features to make blinds to see but there were none.

Seth had searched it and he managed to find some things. Cripples or handicaps were able to easily level up by learning an Auxiliary Job and also the level-up EXP is small.  Another thing was they can level up their attire without requirements. Normal players need to acquire specific material to do so.

When Nanncy came back she had to drag Seth back to her lesson. But to raise his interest she told him she knew how to make him have a skill as a Scribe.

And that was by writing what other people were doing, that was documenting everything he sees and hears from them!

And then the boring days pass by.

****

"Miss Anna. These are the terms and conditions we are willing to offer you." A middle-aged man said as he gave Anna a piece of paper.

Anna was in the Game and her feats were extraordinary, to say the least. The usual tasks her village gave were to hunt and help the village they were in to flourish. The more advanced the village becomes the more Contribution Points and fame they will have.

And later in the Game, their starting points will have an effect on them.

This was one of the differences Asteroids Online has from other VRMMOs. In other Games, a player will outgrow his starting point and leave without ever coming back.

While in Asteroids Online, the starting point has a tremendous effect on the future. Because the developers made the NPCs human-like and linked the life of players and NPCs.

Killing an NPC has severe consequences in and out of the Game. Except if it was the NPCs fault. 

The reason was no NPC could revive after death. Well, except by using rare resources that only kings and Queens can afford. Animals and beasts do not revive either. Any beast killed was gone; however, there were ways that they were being replenished.

"I am sorry, Mister Ranbir. I am not in the mood to enter any Guild right now. I will tell you what I told the others. I'm on a Chain Quest. And before I finish it, I can't join any group." She said.

Anna paid for her meal and went out. This was the tenth time someone approached and invited her into their guild.

At first, no one knew her but that changed when the entire forest animals and beasts around their village were wiped out by the combined efforts of Players and Villagers.

The players grew strong and were able to kill the monsters with ease. Beyond the forest was a force field that separated them from another forest. They thought by killing every animal, beast and insect they would clear the village trial.

They were wrong!

The next day after the players had logged in, pressure descended on them for a second and disappeared. A general Quest was given to all players. Protect the Black Mamba Village!

With the coming of the Quest came the roar of the beasts. And an old lady brought out a Black Bell and began ringing it.

Old people walked out of their holes and started barking orders. In just three minutes the villagers were assembled as foot Soldiers, Archers and Spearmen.

Players were surprised at first before they began to arrange themselves too. Everyone in the village at the age of thirty and above has grave expressions because they knew what was happening!

Weapons were distributed to everyone. Thankfully, players have trained and were familiar with the Game's fighting style.

Ten minutes later, the beasts they thought had been wiped out returned, this time stronger and at higher levels.

The highest level before was level 10 but now it is level 40. The whooping jump-in level scared the shit out of the Players. 

Just the level suppression was enough to make their attack useless. But when the village Chief entered the battlefield, everyone had a boost in strength. 

In the village, there was an Old Well. Players wondered why the villagers respect the well and never get close to it. 

Even the water inside was not allowed to be touched by any villager. Except for the Players. They drink it because it replenished their stamina.

That day, they knew why as black objects burst out of the well. It was a snake… the Black Snake began to increase in size until it was a hundred meters long and three-meter wide.

It spat out Black Venom that separated into equal numbers of Players and Villagers before landing on them.

"Do not worry Mother Mamba will protect us!" The Chief shouted!

Ding!

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[Quest]

Protect the Village

[Reward]

~Mother Mamba's Gift

~Fame +100

~Ash Continent Map

[Failure]

~Lost of Black Mamba Village

~Fame -50

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Anna was in the Ash Continent and the Players' attire was the same as Seth's but coloured Ash with black lines at the edges.