35 || To Know Others

Humility's Blade was Japan's number one gaming organization and was more equal in power to Blueriver than White Mountain could ever hope to be. They were number two internationally. Many argued that, if not for Starshine's backing of Blueriver, it'd be hard to tell who would come out on top. There had even been occasions where Blueriver worked together with White Mountain during cross server conflicts just to fight Humility's Blade off!

"You're Temitope Asuka?" Tara uttered. Their name had changed several years ago but Tara knew a little bit about Asuka's family. Her mother, Rukia Uneo considered herself the rival of Tara's uncle Guotin and aunt Tanisha from the moment they crossed paths. During an international tournament some years ago, she had tied with Dumi Temitope and subsequently fell in love with a Cameroonian gamer from Turquoise Sun. After dating in secret, Dumi challenged her father but data like history is never truly gone. Rumor has it, Rukia's future husband had fought against her father's old avatar from when he was at his prime.

Dumi had gotten throttled but respect had been forged for not backing down in the face of overwhelming power. Asuka may have been given her father's last name but everyone treated her with the respect of a Uneo.

"I'm surprised you know my name! Didn't think I was worth your time, Ms. Starry River." Asuka spats.

"Just because the elders in our family have bad blood doesn't mean we have to." Tara attempts to soothe.

"That didn't seem to stop you from wrecking the White Mountain boy." Asuka counters with a roll of her eyes and a cross of her arms.

"Him and his family aren't worth my respect like you and yours. Besides he was hitting on my girlfriend, how could I not put him in his place?" Tara blushes, raising her voice a little. It finally sinks in that she and Kristen were together. Asuka opens her mouth to say something but stops at the mention of Tara defending her girlfriend.

"Izel, what was that?" Pakeeja asks the girl beside her, as the two almost rivals fall quiet.

"I'm still stabilizing the room to lock within the restaurant space but I also have a side project going and may have turned off the translation function. My bad!" Izel chimes, eyes still glued to the screens.

"Wait, you made this room? How!" Tara bubbles. Izel pauses just enough to shoot Tara a smile and a wink.

"You remember that friend I told you about? This is her, Izel Trapex. She's a genius when it comes to coding. Even more so now that she's in virtual reality."

Pakeeja's tone is a little helpless as she explains. Izel spent the same amount of time fine tuning her data manipulation as she did inside the servers. The current room they resided in was something Izel had thought up weeks ago but as they didn't have a stable chat room, she couldn't bring it into existence fully. Now that they finally had a space thanks to Tara she could put in place the elements she had been fiddling with since the thought came up.

"Aelix Lécuyer, at your service," Aelix, the blonde, introduces himself with a small wave of her hand and half bow.

"I've watched almost all of your stuff! You're fantastic!" Tara gasps in wonder. Lécuyer became a household name from a young age, being a famous child actor renowned for her roles who was currently stepping into voice work as well!

"It's always nice to meet a fan." Aelix smiles at Tara's praise.

"Hanit Alvarez." Quietly came from the pirate themed girl as Tara shares a nod with her. The name is familiar but Tara can't place it.

Izel finally claps her hands. When she separates them, waving the screens away, a note pad and pen have materialized in hands. "Okay I'm done! Now we can begin!"

"Begin what?" Tara asks.

"Cross-examinations! We like to compare notes and see what's the same or what's different." Izel's eyes glow with excitement!

"Izel's been keeping a log of information that's a combination of what we know and what Explorers are finding out for themselves." Asuka clarifies further.

"So far several things align. Like each Story session has an eight day week with each day representing a different element." Hanit chimes in before lifting her necklace of Ithembe.

"Well, can I ask what's different for your sessions before I share?" Tara asks, causing Asuka to look as if she were about to say something snippy but Pakeeja cuts her eye.

"The first notable thing is the Class and Ancestry system for us. Now that some time has passed, I was able to compile a list of options for Explorers." Izel taps the table with her pen pulling up a 3D projected set of seven figurines.

Set one had an average medium brown man dressed in chainmail with a greatsword beside a rose beige woman decked out in heavy armor with a shield. The third "human" she recognized as Pugilist by the karategi had cyan toned colored skin!

Next were a pair of anthropomorphic tiger and lion, the tiger wielding a large longbow with a hand crossbow at the hip and the lion wielding a pair of daggers in both hands. Then a bronze elf toned elf, one carrying a Witch's Rod while a blond white toned elven Mage carries an open book. The last figure is carrying a Staff as a living ball of fire dances around. They had russet brown skin with fire red hair and square pupils, the signs of being a Dryad.

"Across the Western and Eastern continents, there are four main clans: Sophants, Zoaria, Faeminded, and Prismatics. Cultural aesthetics and even abilities differ between the two." Tara recites.

"Explorers can choose from these clans whereas Novelists have different circumstances," Pakeeja explains, as Tara knew the names but not any real specifics.

"Right! The Zoaria in particular have the largest variety of subraces before Sophants while the Faeminded and Prismatics only have two each." Izel says she pulls a seperate screen up. Izel starts placing them in separate spaces .

The humans were placed on a crimson and cyan circle. The male human splits into two more figures: one with extra animal features and the other twice as tall and muscular. The Zoaria were on a umber and green square, a bird-like person with the tiger and a fish-like person with the lion. The Faeminded were divided into Elves and Dwarves on the gambroge and silver triangle. Finally the Prismatics, the human looking Dryads and elemental toned Ifrits, were the only duo that didn't change having been set on the black and white X.

"From what I collected most beginner players on the Adventure side are mostly choosing either the Sophants or Faeminded. On the eastern continent that means Humans and Elves, while on the western it means Gigantis, or Lesser Giants, and Dwarves. Both house a third human option of those with a singular animal feature or Bestia." Izel says.

"That being said, the major differences between Adventure Mode and Story Mode is that our ancestry are completely randomized but with everyone keeping quiet I can't exactly form comparisons." Izel exhales a huff of annoyance with a glare at a wily Aelix, guarded Asuka, and the silent Hanit. Pakeeja's tail, however, swishes, with glee and pride.

"I'm a gnome. It's a unique Faeminded even within my Story! My Ancestral Skill raises my Agility a whole lot by basically ignoring any size restrictions!"

At the mention of Ancestral Skills, Tara opens a screen before her to look at the different innate abilities. "If I had to label my ancestry I guess I'm a Bestia? Though we call them animus in my Story, I originally thought I was human only to find out I wasn't after an Event."

Izel's face shifts from pouting to glowing at this information. "Oh you must have done a clan change Quest?! Afterwards, you end up leagues stronger than someone of the same family. That's pretty rare for any game, let alone in your own Story! Fascinating, I'd love to hear what happened as well as what things are like in your world."

"Yes, please regale us with your greatness," Asuka snorted.

"Suki, at least hear her out, she might be able to help you with your Event." Hanit placates. Asuka's face burns at the nickname before grumbling to herself.

"What type of help does she need? And I thought we couldn't interact?" Tara asks Hanit.

"Here we can! I took some of the restaurant's coding and applied it to this room," Izel brags proudly. The space outside the room acted as an extension of the game which was why everyone was wearing their gear. Similar to player vs player fights where everything was a copy, trading and selling items were still possible with the items moving between inventories once the server was up.

"One of the other things that makes Novelists different compared to Explorers is when it comes to Classes and Trades. Explorers are bound to one of seven classes, like Forefend or Mage. In Story mode though we can choose our own path which means we can even have multiple professions unlike Explorers." Pakeeja explains. Tara knew this to be true as she practiced several Trade skills to further her own development.

"Well, I've trained in smithing, alchemy, and inscription making." Tara reveals to them. Hanit perks up and looks at a frowning Asuka.

"I'll get what I need and see you tomorrow," Asuka sighs before getting up and leaving.

"Oh don't mind her. She wasn't expecting to meet you like this. She's been looking for an alchemist for some time now. In her Story alchemists are either hard to find or don't come cheaply." Hanit explains.

"Well she wouldn't have to wait if she just-- ah,nevermind, you'll see eventually!" Izel cuts herself off.

"I know the caster class with the Rod are Witches but what's with the Book and Staff?" Tara recognized the others pretty easily but as for the last two she didn't have a clue.

"They're called the Mage and the Summoner!" Pakeeja says excitedly, "The Mage class apparently find their magic powers rooted in exterior forces and Summoners are pretty clear cut, right?"

In Adventure mode, the main seven Classes are divided between affray and magic. Of the melee classes Vanguards have a higher physical Attack, Forefends have higher physical Defense, while Pugilists have higher Agility. If casters had Spellcraft they had Martial Arts.

Unlike Tara's Story, Adventure Mode called the ambient world energy Essence and gave physical energy the name Stamina. Melee players Arts are a combination of Essence, Stamina, and elemental energies!

The magical classes on the other hand ruled different stats. Summoners have higher Wisdom, making their companions more powerful and harder to destroy. Mages had a higher Intelligence, giving them quicker casting times, crowd control resistance, and more psychic energy called Focus. Witches, as the class with inherent magic, boasts the strongest Spirit which means they have more Essence to spend that can be recovered just as fast.

Infantries were considered the bridge between classes because, despite their average stats, they were capable of freely using various Arts or Crafts. Depending on how they were built, they could fulfill a front line role as a substitute Vanguard or Forefend, even in rare cases a Mage.

An additional perk for Infantries was the ease to fit their own personal styles. For example, only Infantry had access to both longbows and hand crossbows as a main and sub weapon respectively instead of having to choose like Vanguards or Forefends.