Seeds of Discordia

Liam placed his hands on his knees while fighting the urge to throw up the moment he stepped out of the portal. He really didn’t like the feel it brought as he went through it. During that brief moment stepping through, it felt like his insides were spinning around like one of those prize wheels. When he was fully through the portal it felt like the wheel inside of him was forcefully stopped. A chime echoed in Liam’s mind as a notification popped up.

 

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“Mental Resistance - Teleportation Sickness has reached level 2.”

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“Not throwing up when going through portals is an impressive thing to be able to do when you’re starting off,” a rough voice said, sounding impressed.

Liam looked up to see Phorge staring at him.

Even though he was cautious he wanted to gather some information. He decided to go with some small harmless information first. “You think so?”

“Yes,” a sweet grandmotherly voice agreed. Adva appeared next to Phorge. “Not many can handle teleportation so early. You might have a knack for it. There’s a chance you’ll gain some ability to teleport later down the road with your class.”

“I can only hope then.” Liam straightened himself before asking, “Do you know if there’s a way, I can turn down the sound that accompanies level ups?”

“There is,” Adva smiled warmly. “If you think Notification Alarms, a screen will pop up. You can turn it down there, but not all the way.”

“You can also choose when you receive notifications from there too,” Phorge added.

Surprised Liam did as they said and saw a new screen.

 

 

“Of course, the settings would be on loud and immediately,” Liam disgruntledly muttered as he clicked and changed the volumes to soft and the notification timing to After Battles, Training, or Crafting. He then looked at the two and said, “Thank you for that. Those notifications popped up at the worst time during my fight.”

Phorge gave a loud laugh. “That is the initiation rite for all newcomers coming into our world. You didn’t let it do you in, so that’s a good sign that you’ll make it far.”

Adva elbowed Phorge’s arm as Liam stared at him.

“What do you mean do me in? I thought we can’t die during the tutorial run?” Liam asked with some confusion.

“That’s right! You can’t!” Phorge quickly stated. “I…I forgot since I’m not used to dungeons from here.”

Adva narrowed her eyes as she clarified, “What he is trying to say is that even though your HP won’t drop below one it still hurts a lot. He was trying to applaud you for overcoming that experience and still finishing up your fight. A lot of people are still in their dungeons especially those in the dungeon you were in.”

Liam searched their faces as he listened. He felt they weren’t lying, but a part of him felt there was something not being said. “Maybe there were cases where people died before this?” Liam thought as he tried working his brain around the words.

No matter what he tried to come up with there was still not enough information about this world and Tutorial Area. He’d have to try and gather as much as he could. After staying silent he questioned, “Hm…So what’s next? What do I do now?”

“Next you can go to the city,” Phorge informed. “You can explore, get something to eat, find an inn to sleep in, whatever you want.”

“Since it’s still pretty early I’d suggest you take a look around. Check out some of craft shops if you’re interested taking up a craft,” Adva suggested. “Check out the training hall if you want to test abilities or work on weapon skills, or head to the library to learn some things.”

“This town has all that?” Liam asked sounding interested.

Checking out the what crafters there were would be helpful so he could see how well his starting class faired against those who didn’t have the class. The library was great to hear to Liam. That meant he could try and see if there were any information about this world, why he had two classes, and if there was any way to fix his situation.

The Training Hall was also a nice bonus to hear. It meant he could keep up with his exercises as well as train his dagger weapon skill. Having these area available to him lifted some worries that he didn’t realize he had.

“There aren’t as many craft shops here, just some basic ones,” Adva started. “You won’t learn how to craft the best of items, but they’ll get you started on what you need to know. The library isn’t as big as the ones out in the world; however, it does have some books you can learn Knowledge Theories in or chances of picking up some skills.”

“Same with the training hall,” Phorge added. “It’s not meant for learning and training the best techniques, but it’ll help with getting the basics down for weapon handling, forms, and build a foundation.”

Liam was about to say something until an annoyed voice stated, “What’s going on over here?”

Liam, Adva, and Phorge turned to see Nalia approaching them. She looked as annoyed as she sounded.

“This young man was asking questions, so we were just answering them,” Adva stated with as much annoyance as her younger counterpart.

“You shouldn’t be wasting more time than necessary here. There are more people with questions than just this…,” Nalia started to say. She squinted as she stared at him like he was a puzzle. “Why do I feel something strange coming off of you?”

Adva and Phorge gave each other a confused look before looking at her and then at Liam.

“Something strange? What do you mean?” Liam asked as alarm bells rang in his mind.

“Something doesn’t feel right about you. Why is that? Is it your class? What class did you get?” Nalia inquired as her gaze deepened on him.

“That’s my business and not yours,” Liam quickly said. “And what do you mean doesn’t feel right about me?”

Liam suddenly felt something invisible begin to poke around his mind. It felt invasive and strong. His mind started to pound as he tried to fight back, albeit failing horribly. He then questioned with a confused and slightly painful tone of voice, “What the hell is going on?! What are you doing?”

“I’m just trying to see what class you got,” Nalia stated matter-of-factly.

“Nalia!” Phorge started.

Adva clapped her hands sending a gust of wind over Liam causing the feeling to disappear.

“What do you think you’re doing Adva,” Nalia turned to her, baring her teeth.

“Stopping you from doing something stupid. You know you’re not allowed to pry into other’s minds like that. If he doesn’t want you to know then he doesn’t have to tell you,” Adva answered pointedly.

“I don’t care if he doesn’t want to tell me. If I want that information, I’ll get it out of him. I have the power to do it and he’s not strong enough to resist,” Nalia challenged.

Phorge clenched his fists and was about to let out a furious retort until Liam softly said, “Crafter.”

“What?” Nalia asked as Adva and Phorge looked at him.

“I said Crafter. My class is Crafter. Are you happy!” Liam glowered.

Adva and Phorge gave him a look. He couldn’t tell if it was pity or sympathy?

Nalia stared at him. “Crafter? Well, that’s hardly a useful class. Maybe that’s why I felt something strange from you. I don’t come across many Crafter classes…actually I don’t think I’ve come across any before. Hm.” Nalia gave him a dismissive look as she turned around and walked away. “You won’t last long as a Non-Combative class. I feel sorry for the team you’re stuck with.”

Liam stared daggers as he watched her walk away.

“I’m sorry for her actions,” Adva apologized with a sorrowful look upon her face.

“Don’t be,” Liam stated with a matter of fact like tone. “It’s just a reminder that not everyone in this new world will be nice or helpful. I just need to stay away from people like that and I’ll be fine.”

“An attitude like that will help you survive,” Phorge commended. “But don’t worry. It isn’t about the class, it’s about the techniques and skills you work hard on with your training that will help you survive.”

“That’s right,” Adva smiled with her grandmotherly charm. “One’s class is but a tool that you can use and it’s not the end all be all. It’s the time you take training, honing your skills. I highly recommend you look at the three places we listed earlier. They will aid you in your long and dangerous path forward.”

“I’ll take your word. If you’ll excuse me,” Liam said sounding skeptical as he began to walk away.

He wanted to get away from there as fast as he could. Even though Adva and Phorge did nothing wrong, Nalia just reconfirmed that he should not trust any of them just yet. Liam knew that Phorge and Adva just wanted to be helpful and friendly, but whose to say they didn’t plan that. Until he found any evidence that Adva and Phorge were genuinely nice, he was going to avoid them as much as he could.

As he walked pass the whispering people, a soft bell chime sound echoed in Liam’s mind as notification screens popped up one after another.

 

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“Congratulations! You have received Mental Resilience – Divine Eye. Mental Resilience – Divine Eye has reached Level 1.”

“Congratulations! Mental Resilience – Divine Eye has reached Level 2.”

“Congratulations! Mental Resilience – Divine Eye has reached Level 3.”

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He scanned through each notification and exited them until it reached the last one.

 

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“Congratulations! Fortitude Sub-stat Mental Resilience – Divine Eye has reached Level 10. You can now feel whenever anyone is trying to probe your mind for information as well as know which direction it’s coming from. 5% chance to feel a hint of the hidden power of the one casting this spell on you.”

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“Divine Eye?” Liam thought. He looked at the description and froze as he read it.

 

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“Divine Eye – A magic ability that Divine beings use to peer into others minds seeing their stats or other information.”

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Liam slowly turned to look at Nalia. She was talking to a few enthusiastic people, but her line of sight was still on Liam. Even though she had a smile on her face, Liam could feel an uneasy and terrifying aura coming off her.

Liam swiftly turned back around and walked away as he thought, “A Divine Being? Did I just…against a…No…It’s probably just flavor text to spice things up a bit…” He glanced back once more quickly before turning back around and then gulped. “Hopefully.”

 

                                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The city was spread out with most buildings melded into the side of the rocked wall. Other structures were scattered about on raised grounds with stairs leading up to them.

People walked throughout the city. You could tell who was from this world and who wasn’t by the way they looked in awe as they saw the unbelievable and unfamiliar architecture.

The new arrivals had either a curious or anxious look to them while they walked about. Natives of this world walked like this city was normal or worked stalls and shouted out deals with hope of gaining a profit.

Liam stared at the ceiling and noticed a giant bright glow stone emitting a yellow light that he concluded was acting like the sun. His proof was as time passed the glow began to slowly dim.

Liam looked around and marveled at the buildings built within the wall. Some had designs that outlined the shape and length of the building. These ones he determined were shops as signs hung above the door. Others had a door and several windows spread out around head level and a few more rising up. He came to find out they were inns after getting a good look through the open windows.

“This is amazing,” Liam stated while starting up some stairs to a new area of the city.

After reaching the top he saw more buildings. He found a two-story grey building with a sign that had a stack of books with one open in front of the pile.

“That must be the library,” he thought as he walked to it.

The inside of the building was rounded out. Rows of books filled shelves that expanded out in a methodical way starting at the walls. There was a staircase that led up to a second floor.

A sign stating second floor unavailable was seen in front of the stairs. In the middle of the building were tables and chairs. A librarian’s desk sat close to the tables near the front door.

After looking around Liam noticed not many people were in the library. He did, however, see a couple of familiar faces sitting at a table with a few books around them.

One of them was a male who was a bit hefty. His short brown hair was disheveled from running his free hand through it as his olive-green eyes scanned through a book. He looked like he was debating something and was anxious about it.

Another was a slim lanky female. Her pixie haircut not getting in the way of her icy cold blue eyes as she sat cross legged on her chair reading.

The last was a long wavy deep dark blue haired girl with sharp facial features. The way she was reading looked like she was on a mission.

As he approached the small group of three, he said, “How’s it going?”

The three turned to look at him.

Artem nodded acknowledging him.

“What the hell happened to you?” Blair questioned keeping her legs crossed on the chair.

“You look like hell,” Avery stated as she raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you clean yourself up?”

Liam looked at his clothes and noticed his shirt had a couple of rips on it and some small dark stains. He had forgotten about the state of his clothes after what had happened. It now made sense to him why people stared at him while walking through town.

He shrugged and stated, “I just got back and figured it would be better to get some information before cleaning up.”

Avery and Blair nodded approving his decision.

Artem glanced at him again before looking back at the book he was reading.

“I take it you guys are doing the same. Did you find anything interesting?” Liam asked as he sat down next to Artem.

“Not a lot. Just how the currency works here and some similarities from our worlds and some other things,” Avery started.

“Oh? How does it work?” Liam asked with curiosity.

“Basically, it works in hundreds. For example, one hundred iron coins equals one copper coin. A hundred copper coins equals one silver, etc.” Blair answered.

“Hm, interesting. That’s not how it works where I live unless you’re saying a hundred pennies equals a dollar or a hundred one dollar bills equals a hundred dollar bill.”

The three stared at him.

“What?” Liam inquired with a confused look.

“Nothing.” Avery avoided. “They have a wide variety of books from stretches to basic fighting techniques. Magic, crafting, weapons, etcetera. From what we’ve gathered so far, the more you read on a subject the better chances you get in gaining a knowledge theory on the topic.”

“Knowledge Theory?” Liam asked.

“Yes. Knowledge Theory gives you a better understanding on a topic. The more knowledge you gain on it the better the understanding. I’d suggest you grab a book on something that interests you so you can start on your foundation now,” Avery suggested.

“Hm,” Liam started as he looked at Avery. He then looked at Artem and Blair as well and asked, “What are you guys looking into?”

“I’m reading a book based on sword practice techniques. Specifically for the Rapier,” Avery answered.

“I’m reading a book based on the different types of cooking.” Artem quietly said.

Avery, Blair, and Liam looked at him.

“What?” Artem started. A sheepish expression grew on his face before saying, “I know I may look big, but that’s just how I look. The food in my old world was bland. Knowing how to cook was a blessing, but knowing how to cook good food was a blessing not many was able to afford.”

“There’s nothing wrong with reading a book about that. I just wasn’t expecting a book like that to be in here. I guess Avery was right when she said the books vary,” Liam said.

“I’m reading a basic magic book.” Blair replied then added, “Apparently, you can learn magic even if your class isn’t a magic one. It’s not as strong as a mage class nor will you learn amazing magical abilities, but you can learn magical abilities and theory that can be useful. Oh, also apparently, you’ll need magic knowledge for certain crafting.”

Liam gave her his attention. “Oh yeah? What crafts need magic? Does it say?”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet. This is just an introductory into magic, so I don’t know if it’ll tell me or not. Why? Are you interested in Crafting?” Blair asked as she put her eyes on the book.

Liam hesitated as he thought about. “Yes and no. I used to dabble into some crafting to help me survive when my world went to crap.” Liam nodded his head side to side the corrected, “Well the crafting I did was more like mish mash stuff. Tinkering is probably the best way to describe it compared to this world’s version of crafting. However, magic is something that everyone dreams about, at least in my old world.”

Blair surprisingly smiled as she commented, “Magic is something everyone dreams about regardless of what world you’re in, I think. I will admit I was disappointed when I got my class but reading this is giving me some hope that I can use some sort of magical abilities with it.”

Liam smiled as he agreed with her. “Alright I’m going to go see what I can find. Did any of you find anything on starting classes, history of this world, or anything similar?”

Avery and Blair shook their heads.

“Apparently, those books are located on the second floor and that floor is currently restricted to us,” Blair replied. “That was the first thing I asked about when I got here.”

“Why is the second floor restricted to us? Are they trying to hide something?” Liam questioned as he gazed up to the railing of the second floor above him.

“No,” Avery started. “They said something about not wanting to overload us with too much information all at once. Also that the second floor becomes available once when we defeat a certain Dungeon floor. I don’t know, it all seems to fishy to me to be honest.”

“I agree.” Liam said. He then let out a tired sigh as he stood up. Oh well, not much we can do now I guess.”

He walked away and towards the first bookshelf. He ran his eyes over the books but didn’t see anything that caught his eye.

He walked to the next few bookshelves and looked over the contents, but still didn’t find anything interesting. As he looked over the books on the next bookcase he thought, “I know I shouldn’t be picky, but nothing is standing out…”

He began to turn his head to the next case, but then stopped and looked back. A light greenish-blue covered book stood out from the light grey books. He stared at it as a nagging feeling slowly poked his mind.

“Ah what the hell,” Liam thought as he pulled it out.

The cover read “Calm the Storm”.

“Hm, tacky name…maybe the contents within are better,” Liam muttered as he opened it and began to read the first page.

“Opportunities await those who take the time to calm the storm brewing within oneself. People often miss out on opportunities when they let outside forces distract them. By taking the time to silence the noise, put your thoughts in order, and relax yourself you can see the path of growth. This book will guide you in better understanding the power of Zen.”

“Hm…maybe I’ll give this a shot.” Liam thought as he walked back to the table.