Chapter 15

After an hour of suffering repeated deaths, I began to loathe the thump signaling the saltwater payara's charge. I learned what the fish was called because the name appeared in my system log. Naturally, I tried searching online to see if saltwater payara had any weaknesses, only to discover they didn't actually exist. Real payara were giant freshwater fish found in the Amazon and their signature teeth rose from the bottom instead of dropping down from the top like the game's fantasy saltwater version.

It took three deaths to get the hang of walking in a crouch to minimize the ripples I made with my movements. Each grouping of oysters resembled a cactus bush with three to five pieces I could break off. I could usually gather a minimum of six oysters before the payara noticed me.

I initially raised my spear to block when I heard the thump, but I always died before I could even feel it strike. I'd reappear on the teleport platform in town. At first, I thought this was a good thing because I could visit Marla's store in person to check the worth of the oysters. It wasn't until my tenth death I realized there was a penalty. Not only did the durability of my items fall by ten percent, but every resurrection ate a return scroll.

After getting Gillifried's assistance with repairs, I searched the forums to find out what would happen if I had no return scrolls in my inventory when I died. The answer was simple. I'd start dropping gold coins as 'payment' to the mystery NPC who rescued me. The price was one percent of my monetary worth.

If I had no return scrolls and no gold, I'd start dropping equipment of equivalent worth. The richer I was, the more likely I'd drop an expensive item. If I was poor, the game took pity and only aimed for the cheaper items—or so the players who tested it claimed.

A player who died with nothing on them was tossed in jail as a trouble-making vagrant.

Some players said this mechanic wasn't harsh enough and believed players should lose a level if they died. And so, "#levels-don't-matter" was born.

The debate made me conscious of the fact I was still level zero. Shouldn't I have leveled up by now? Where was my experience bar? Maybe if I was a higher level, I wouldn't have such a tough time against the payara.

I felt silly having to search online for the answer to 'how do I level up?' But the really surprising thing was I couldn't find an answer. When I asked my NPC friends, they told me to talk to the trainers hanging around the Mayor's manor. However, none of those NPCs responded to me because they were the same trainers from the Guidance Hall. I'd already learned a skill from each of them.

I needed to ask another player to explain it to me. Sheynan, the guy who told me about Aetherscape, immediately came to mind, although talking to him would have to wait for school the following day. I didn't have his phone number.

For the rest of the day, I harvested oysters, repeatedly died from the payara's charge attack, and slowly improved my ability to sneak through Oyster Hollow. Right before I logged out for lunch, I stopped at the crafting hall to process oysters I'd managed to gather—over a hundred common oysters, almost a hundred uncommon, a few dozen rare, and three epic.

The results of processing almost made my eyes cross. I had to sell off a portion just to get everything to fit back inside my Spacial Ring.

Three hundred pieces of oyster meat, five hundred and fifty pieces of oyster half-shells, and seventy pieces of mother-of-pearl. These were items that could be processed further, but I didn't possessed the necessary knowledge. From the descriptive text on the half-shells, I had the idea they could be processed like crab and lobster shells, turning it into some kind of ingot.

Eighty-three common white pearls, sixty-four uncommon black pearls, fifty-one uncommon cerulean pearls, forty rare pink pearls, eighteen rare glass pearls, ten rare storm pearls, and three rare translucent pearls. These could be used in crafting, but they also came with the 'Enchanting Material' label. Enchanting material could be added during manufacturing to increase the resulting attributes.

Twenty-six common cloudy taming pearls, twelve uncommon foggy taming pearls, and one rare misty taming pearl. I had no idea how to use these, but I assumed they worked to increase the success rate of a taming skill.

Summoning Pearls; one each for: Green Turtle, Blue Starfish, Green Chromis, Poison Goby Dragonet, Harlequin Shrimp, Blazing Firefish, Banggai Cardinalfish, Dusky Angelfish, Glasswing Flying Fish, Floating Crystalwort, Black Sea Krait, and Rainbow Lionfish.

The Summoning Pearls worked by crushing them. Light poured out from the resulting dust to form the designated creature. Through some quick testing, I learned I could only have one summoned beast out at a time. If I tried to summon another, the first one became a pearl again.

I found the Crystalwort to be the most curious summon because it wasn't a beast at all. It was a ball of grass. It didn't follow me around like the other summoned creatures, either. It just floated straight up like a balloon. I had no idea why the developers would make such a creature into a summon.

Logging out, I joined my parents for lunch. They questioned me about the way I'd spent the money and they laughed when the first word out of my mouth was 'books'. Some things never changed, no matter how much I was enjoying Aetherscape.

"Are you about to log in again?" my dad asked. I thought about it and realized I was being a little selfish by logging in during the day. I had all night to play whereas my parents hadn't experienced full immersion at all.

"I have some homework I need to do," I said, making up an excuse. "I can log in again when it's time for bed. Why don't you and mom take turns trying out the capsule? You won't be able to log into Aetherscape since my copy is tied to my biometrics, but the system AI can help set up your personal lobbies."

My mom bolted up. "I'll go first." My dad pouted at how quickly she'd responded. She smacked an apologetic kiss on his forehead as she put away her lunch dishes, but didn't take back her claim.

It didn't take a genius to figure out she was incredibly curious about full immersion.

I actually did spend a few hours working on a few school reports that weren't due yet and studied my chemistry notes since I wasn't solid on the subject.

My mom reappeared around dinner time with a wide-eyed expression. My dad and I tried to ask her opinion on what she experienced, but she just kept shaking her head like she didn't know what words to use. The bright gleam in her eyes was the only clue that she'd had fun.

We ordered a pizza delivery for dinner since she was too spaced out to cook. My dad rushed through his share so he could jump in the capsule before it got too late. Eventually, when he climbed out again, he was in the same state as my mom. I had a feeling they'd be arguing over my discarded headset within an hour.

"Okay, my homework's done. I'm logging in. Goodnight!"

I had crafting to do.

It took a hefty portion of materials to bribe grizzled old Gillifried for the location of the oyster shell processing method. Eventually, he was overcome by greed and he spit it out. There was a Chondrik miner in Oyster Hollow named Quill. He not only sold the processing recipe to Atlantean Mother-of-Steel, but he sold mining gear and several other processing recipes.

"Use your compass when you reach Oyster Hollow and he should show up," Gillifried advised.

I rubbed my forehead because it didn't matter if he showed up on the compass. "I have no way to reach him, even if know where he is. I can never make it more than fifty feet into Oyster Hollow before a payara kills me."

Gillifried leaned toward me to whisper like he was letting me in on a secret. "I'm feeling generous, so you can have this. It should deal with your payara problem."

He held out a cerulean crystal shard.

I cussed.