World Seed: Game Start (3 page)

I
didn’t even have the presence of mind to pay attention to this
latest window, still reeling from my defeat. By the time I noticed
what was going on, I was standing in a wide room, surrounded on all
sides by a circle of pedestals. Atop each pedestal was a single book,
though there was also one inside the circle with me. Looking at the
closest book, I found it to be a book detailing the basics of mana
control. “You can learn from any two of these books, not
counting the Mana Manipulation book before you. After you have
acquired the skills, you may spend as long as you like practicing
them.”

I
let out a final sigh, and opened the book, reading through it. There
was a strange sense of energy around my, like static over a
television, and it only grew stronger as I got further along in the
book. Around halfway done, I was able to identify this new feeling as
mana, the key component to any and all magic in the world. The book
also taught me how to pull the mana into my body, which I began doing
slowly.

Seeing
that I had properly learned the first skill, I set it down on its
pedestal, and walked around to take a look at the books around me.
Each one seemed to cover a different field of magic, from nature,
ice, fire, water, shadow, even more sci-fi ones like technomancy or
stellar magic. Knowing that I could only choose two of them, I
grabbed the one I thought most helpful to me, given my race, Nature
Magic.

Opening
the book, I was relieved to find that Nature Magic encompassed both
plants and animals, as I was afraid I’d need to hunt through
more books to find the latter. Quickly reading through the book, I
memorized the basic spell taught within it, Nature’s Grasp.
Strangely, I did not receive any prompts after finishing the book, so
I set it down and began practicing.

Placing
both hands in front of me, I gathered my mana between them. Since I
was by every definition a beginner, I opted to use the chant provided
for the spell. According to the books, once I gained enough skill
that would no longer be necessary, but for now it was a price I had
to pay. “Mother of all things, that which rules the land, come
forth to my call and seal their movements.”

With
each word, I caused the mana between my hands to spiral and contract,
absorbing my intention before I slammed it into the ground. A moment
later, a few thin vines began rising up from the ground around me,
though they did not seem very energetic about it.

My
smile grew three shades brighter that day, as I had managed to cast
my first spell! Next, I began looking around for the other schools of
magic, and ultimately decided on Wind Magic, because I felt it was a
good match for my build. Reading through the book, I then practiced
the spell, which was a simple gust of wind. No doubt the GMs did not
want people to have strong combat spells at the beginning of the game
that could make them overpowered.

With
this, there was simply one trial left, but I had plenty of time, so I
stayed in the Trial of Magic while practicing all three of my new
skills until they hit Beginner Level 2. Not that there was any
noticeable change between them, but I felt like I should do it.

“
Alright
Aria, time for the last trial..”

“
That’s
right, John! One more stop, then we can get you into the world of Neo
Life.” She seemed a bit more energetic than before as she said
this, likely looking forward to being rid of me after spending half a
day together.

Looking
around, I saw a weapons rack with various weapons to choose from.
There were bows, swords, even a few rifles alongside the daggers and
shields. “Choose wisely, young adventurer.”

I
looked at the various options, but ultimately I grabbed a bow, a
single quiver of arrows, and a dagger. I’d have to come up with
some way to overcome the ammunition cost of the bow, but that was for
the future. Once I had selected my weapons, I was brought to a
shooting range. “Can’t exactly ask you to fight a monster
before you even know how to fire your bow, can I?” She asked
with a slight snicker.

I’ll
show you! I thought in my mind as I nocked an arrow, pulling the bow
back to full length, and letting it fly straight for the target!

Yeah,
if only life was so nice… The arrow barely made it halfway
before swerving off course and falling to the ground. I grimaced,
grabbing a second arrow and shooting again… and again…
finally, on my tenth arrow, I managed to hit the outer edge of the
target twenty meters away.

With
a slight grumble, I continued firing the bow again and again, until I
was consistently able to hit the target. I only hit the bullseye
once, but it was enough to level up my Archery to level 2. And with
my acceptance of the skill, I was brought to yet another area. This
one looked like an old roman arena, a wide patch of sand with stone
walls atop which a cheering audience sits. And in the seat of Caesar,
was everyone’s favorite blue-haired goddess, Aria.

I
knew by the mischievous grin that she was going to thoroughly
humiliate me. “Ladies and gentlefolks, I bring to you our
newest competitor, Anonymous784! And his opponent… the three
time undefeated champion…” As she spoke, I facepalmed at
her generic name for me, while at the same time the massive gates on
the other end gradually opened up, and a loud roar was emitted from
within.

“
Common
rat mob!” Wait what?

As
she called for it, the small rat walked out of the oversized gate,
looking up to me and twitching its nose almost cutely. “Let the
games begin!”

Chapter 2: A rose
by any other name

Suddenly,
as if her words had triggered some kind of rage mode, the small rat
lunged at me, its eyes glowing red. Unable to react in time, I barely
got half a step back before it was on my leg, and had managed to tear
off a chunk of flesh.

With
that one bite, I watched as roughly a quarter of my health bar
vanished, causing me to panic. Grabbing my dagger, I attempted to
slash wildly at the rat, only to have it jump off before I could
connect.

Fuck
that hurts! I actually managed to stab myself by accident?! At this
point, a third of my life was already gone, so I just began swinging
wildly. Best case scenario, I’ll hit the rat. Worst case…
well, at this rate I’m going to die anyways. Seriously, why the
hell is a rat so strong?!

I
blinked at the notification, looking over where I had blindly swung
my dagger, only to see it covered in blood, the throat of the
creature having been cut. Naturally, that didn’t mean I won
just yet, but I definitely pissed it off! With its throat cut, it was
taking constant bleed damage, as well as moving much slower than
before. Seeing this as my chance, I charged at the rodent and resumed
my wild swinging!

Almost
refusing to believe that I had actually managed to do that, I took a
look and did indeed see that formerly vicious rat lying dead on the
ground, before its body shattered into blue light, fading away from
view.

Looking
over, I caught a glimpse of Aria, who seemed to be pouting over the
loss of the rat. Or over my victory. I’m not really sure.
Either way, it didn’t take long before she stood up with a
wicked grin, looking towards the false crowd. “Well, there you
have it folks, a new champion! Now, shall we move on to his next
challenger?!” There were cheers from all around the stands
while I inwardly pleaded for this to stop.

“
Next
up, from the home team, the biggest bad that ever graced our halls,
the bull of Cernea!” As she spoke, the gate opened yet again,
and this time the loud footsteps could not be mistaken for anything
else. The giant frame of the gate barely even allowed the figure to
get through, and when it did I wished to anything that I could
surrender.

What
stood before me could only be described as a minotaur. Half man, half
bull, standing over four meters tall with an overly muscular build,
wearing naught but a loincloth, and carrying a massive axe that no
smaller creature would dare to wield.

I’ll
admit, I cried there for a moment, before that massive axe brought
itself down onto me, slicing me in half before I even got the chance
to feel anything.

How
was that fair?! Going from a bloodthirsty rat to a minotaur?! I began
cursing my own luck before the next window appeared.

I
wanted to rage at Aria for so obviously rigging the match against me,
but my whole virtual body suddenly froze.

Don’t
tell me I have to wait here for over an hour like this… I
started to complain again, even if only in my own thoughts, before
the clock suddenly fast forwarded.