Graceful Invitation

At the crack of dawn, the village was silent, not a soul present.

The sky was grey, and the forest was dark. Only a few rays of sun broke through the clouds, illuminating a few areas of the village.

It was as if the entire village had been frozen in time, not a single trace of life.

Yawning, Raven stretched as he got up from his bed. His mind was clear, and his body felt deeply refreshed and invigorated.

'Damn, that was the best sleep of my life!'

As Raven prepared to leave the game, thinking over what information he would search online, he noticed something on the desk next to him.

It was a letter, sealed with wax.

Raven cursed, reaching towards the letter.

'Am I a fucking dumbass? I was so caught up in the benefits of sleeping in the game, I didn't even think of the risks!'

While sleeping in the game did indeed make the most efficient use of his time, he was also defenseless.

'I need to change my mindset immediately! This world is not like the real one. If anything, it's closer to the past. Back before humans united, when they squabbled and slaughtered each other like beasts.'

Holding the letter Raven briefly contemplated the risk of it being a trap.

'Probably not, as they could've easily killed me in my sleep.'

Raven opened the letter.

"Congratulations, Raven! We at the Shadow Guild have been impressed with your skills. So, we offer you this opportunity. In the nearby town of Starfein, there will be a friendly competition. The three top competitors will be offered apprenticeship positions in the Shadow Guild. If we are correct about the powers you strange travelers possess, you should receive further details on your own."

After Raven finished reading the letter, a notification appeared.

___________

Quest: Win Shadow Guild's Battle Royale

Expected difficulty: Immense

Reward: TP, variable amount. Loot from players. Apprenticeship with the Shadow Guild.

Start Date: One week from now.

Accept?

___________

Raven immediately accepted.

'So, there are NPCs that know about the power of players? Well, it was only a matter of time. No way to keep a secret with millions of players.'

Raven crumpled up the letter, and jogged over to Rainheart's corpse. Ruffling inside his utility bag, he pulled out some flint and steel. It took him a while, flint and steel is not nearly as easy to use as a lighter, but he was able to burn the letter.

Raven then took the utility pack, strapping it to his back. He also replaced his long knife with Rainheart's short sword. After, he walked back to the restpoint.

'An apprenticeship with the Shadow Guild could provide me with wonderful opportunities. If they were able to quickly find out the abilities of players, and make a plan on how to exploit them, I am guessing they are resourceful, cunning, and knowledgeable.'

Raven smirked. 'I can squeeze all the value out of them that I can, and then test out the ability of "Bondbreaker". Rainheart was my friend, but friendship isn't the only bond people can have...'

Raven reached the restpoint, and once again received a prompt asking if he wished to leave. This time, he said yes.

***

After leaving the game, Raven rushed out of the capsule as quickly as he could. He might have gone too fast, as he almost ripped off his 'Manly Companion' when he yanked off the waste tube connected to it.

After groaning and sobbing in pain for a minute, he forced himself to get onto his PC.

Then, he poured over all the wiki articles and forum discussions about the game that he could, absorbing as much information as possible.

After an hour of that, and then a few minutes spent eating a snack from his fridge, he delved back into Leigthaven Online.

***

With a flash of light, and a burst of wind, Raven appeared in the middle of the guest room.

Excitedly, Raven rushed out.

'Okay, time to test out the first stage of developing an Aura Core!'

Raven jogged away from the village, heading towards a familiar forest.

***

Raven climbed up onto a familiar hill, and looked out at the desolate goblin camp.

The corpses he and Rainheart had neglected to burn were festering and rotting, emanating a disgusting smell. Many of the bodies had been torn into by wild animals, although none of the bodies near the entrance to the cave had been touched.

Stealthily, Raven hiked towards the goblin camp. While it didn't look like there were any goblins around, it was always prudent to be careful.

Eventually, Raven made it close to the cave's entrance.

The cave now looked even creepier. It smelled of rot and death, and any grass or plants within several meters had shriveled away.

Raven took several deep breathes, calming himself. Then, he placed his last TP into the Aura Discipline.

Taking one last deep breath, he walked into the cave.

As Raven stepped inside, he began to feel the as if the air was eating away at him. Poison was seeping into his flesh, slowly draining away his life.

Calmly, he sat dawn a few meters inside the cave. Still holding his breath, he began to focus on the sensation seeping into his body.

It was similar to the feeling he had when using his [Blindside] ability.

He felt as this poisonous sensation would enter his body through the pores in his skin, and as it did, his mind would grab onto it. Then, he would circulate it throughout his body.

As the poisonous aura circulated throughout Raven's body, it began to be assimilated into himself. This assimilation transformed the pores in his skin, and Raven's skin began to look even paler.

It was a long and painful process which brought Raven to the brink of death. While the assimilated poison became safe, and the more he assimilated the more resistant to poison he became, it was still damaging to his body to take in the poison.

However, Raven stuck to it, resisting the urge to breathe or escape the cave.

Eventually, Raven felt that the Aura had finished transforming his pores, and he quickly left the cave.

After escaping, he collapsed to the ground, taking deep breaths.

Raven smiled, basking in the new power he felt flowing through his body.

He could now feel ambient aura in the air, and as it entered through the pores in his skin, it was transformed, becoming poisonous.

That wasn't the end of its' evolution, however. As the Aura circulated throughout Raven's body, his perk [Poisonous Aura] acted upon it. His perk further refined the Aura, making it even more toxic.

Raven laughed, and began controlling the Aura in his body, having it move where he wanted it to.

'Looks like my gamble paid off! I could've absorbed ambient Aura, and my perk would've made it poisonous. However, I was curious. What would happen if I absorbed Aura that was already poisonous? Well, now I know.'

There were several important pieces of information Raven had learned online about Aura and Aura Cores. Some of it from the guide players received as starting equipment for placing three TP into Aura, and some of it was what players had discovered through experimentation.

Firstly, a player had to assimilate Aura through their pores, and then use it to transform their body. Doing this would give them the ability to sense and control Aura, and their pores would then be able to assimilate ambient Aura into their body.

This was the first step towards forming an Aura core. Most players had done this with plain Aura that could be found anywhere, but several had experimented. There were places that had felt strange to them, so they decided to try assimilating Aura there.

Those were places saturated in special Aura. Players that had assimilated Aura there could now transform ambient Aura into specialized Aura with their pores.

After that, Players could attempt to form an Aura Core. With the ability to sense Aura, they could look for places seeped in it. Then, they would assimilate it. Once it entered their body, they would gather it up in one place, condensing it into an Aura Core.

However, not all Aura Cores were equal. The amount of Aura present, and the amount of time spent condensing it, both impacted the size of the core.

So far, players had been able to create Aura Cores with the sizes tiny, small, and average.

Raven had no plans for forming any mundane Aura Core, however.

Playing around with the Aura in Raven's body, he began his journey towards the town of Starfe-

Raven froze. 'Wait... where is Starfein?'