The wind churned, scattering dead leaves across the forest floor.
Deer pranced around the forest floor. Lovebirds whistled to one another, circling in the air.
A scrawny teenager started screaming in the middle of the forest.
Thankfully, I had the good sense to clamp a hand over my mouth and bolt behind a nearby tree.
There was a crack, like lightning, followed by splintering pain. Then the pain faded, and I was left lying on the ground, deeply confused.
My memory was hazy, but I do remember a girl—and some sort of weapon—and then—ohwaithangonasecond
I patted my body down, checking that everything was in one piece where it ought to be.
So I wasn’t dead. I was safe, in the middle of the forest. Perfectly safe.
No. Not safe. Something was wrong. I could’ve sworn I died.
How much time had passed? None? Minutes.
I needed to find answers.
But where?
I reached down, wiping my hand on the grass, feeling the cool morning dew wash across my skin. It was cold, just enough to wake me up a little, without being painful, or shocking. In all honesty, it was quite a nice patch of grass indeed.
Grass.
Grass?
What was I doing in a forest?
I’d been here before, in some other time.
I bent low to the ground, concentrating—utterly focused on each individual blade.
It was all like a dream—or several dreams, blended together, their final details muddled. Like a muddy puddle.
Or a slice of butter on toast.
You want a little fat, to get the flavor, but if there’s too much butter than the slice gets soggy and discussing and when that happens there’s really not much that you can do since the toast tends to sponge up the fats and unsponging fats isn’t really a thing that fats can do—
Something furry jostled me, breaking my precious flow of concentration. “Do you mind?” I muttered, rubbing my forehead.
Where was I?---ah, yes, toast. Toast i also made of wheat and the seeds of wheat, assuming your consuming any toast of reasonable quality, and as such, you could say toast is quiet complex, as though it seems and would appear simple in its given state, that is a state created from a complex system of chemical reaction—butter is rather the opposite, appearing complex but relatively simple—
Something jostled me again.
“Can’t you let a guy concentrate?!” I shouted, whipping around to face a large furry beast.
The furry object opened one of its mouths, scooching closer.
“CAN’T YOU SEE I’M HAVING A MOMENT” I screamed, shoving it off me. “Go! Shoo! Get out of here.”
It staggered back, momentarily confused, before shuffling away.
What was that thing? You see the weirdest stuff in the big city.
I glanced at the trees around me.
This is rather obviously not the big city.
Well, probably not. You never really know. I’ve heard that some of the public parks can get pretty wild early in the morning.
At least the bear wasn’t so bad. You just had to be clear and straight to the point with it.
That bear…wouldn’t come back, right?
I picked a random direction and started walking.
Why’d I feel a mounting sense of dread?
There wasn’t anything else in this forest, right?
An explosion of energy rippled across the sky, tossing splintered trees into the air.
I started running.
Sometime later, I started slowing down, glancing behind me at the…the…what was that thing? Bears don’t typically toss trees, do they?
The ground shuddered and I was running again.
Memories are funny things. Most everything I ‘remembered’ was more a gut instinct than a concrete picture. But there was one image that burned into my mind. Both were of a girl covered in chains, smiling in my direction.
Just the thought sent goosebumps down my spine.
My legs started buckling, flashing yellow.
Flashing—uh…huh?
I collapsed onto the ground, swallowing a mouthful of dirt.
[Debuff: Exhaustion II: indefinite]
There was a faint chime, and my nerves dulled, then my mind. I crashed into the floor , physically and mentally speaking, legs and muscles turned lead in a matter of seconds.
“But…” I muttered, rolling over onto my back. “...I felt fine just a couple minutes ago…”
A faint blue text box hovered beside me, flickering in a way I could only describe as ‘grossly offensive.’
“Shut up,” I groaned, swatting the projection of light. It dissolved in one place, only to appear again, closer to my head.
What was going on?
Obviously I had some sort of medical condition. Maybe something to do with hallucinations?
My stomach gurgled, and there was another chime.
[Debuff: Hunger I: indefinite]
Now there were two floating boxes around me. Great.
Well, I wouldn’t be getting anywhere on an empty stomach.
I was in a forest, right? Surely something here had to be something edible.
I reached a hand toward a bright red mushroom that reminded me of an apple, or a bell pepper, with its waxy red skin. It couldn’t hurt to take a bite.
“Are you stupid or something?” a girl asked, clamping a freakishly strong hand onto my shoulder.
“PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!” I screamed, cradling my head in my hands.
She sighed, dropping beside me. “Oh wow. You’re a piece of work.
I squinted, studying the girl. Brown hair, red coat with a black jumpsuit, and a golden crown on top of her head. Maybe it was an ornamental thing? Whoever she was, I didn't recognize her, and right about now, that was a welcome sight.
“Level 0, huh? That sounds about right,” she muttered, lending me a hand. “I’m Asiel. You must be pretty confused right about now, huh?”
“Yeah.” I sighed, getting up to my feet. I glanced at the mushroom. “Were you gonna eat that?”
She reached down, gingerly picking it from the ground, dusting the soil of its cap. Then she crushed it in her hand and kicked it into the distance.
“You could’ve just said no,” I blurted.
A distant explosion rippled through the trees, followed by the sound of roaring fire.
Asiel cleared her throat. “So. You still wanna eat one of those?”
I swallowed. “No ma’am.”
“Nice manners. Call me ma’am again and I’ll break your face in.” She picked me up off the ground and clapped me on the back. “Welcome to Tetratera.”
I blinked.
“We’re in a video game, dimwit,” Asiel chuckled. She reached out, pulling a rusty knife from thin air. “Here. This’ll be worth something.”
“A video game?” I frowned, comparing what little I knew in this world with what equally little I knew about video games. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
She smirked. “You’re taking all this pretty well.”
“Few things surprise me,” I admitted, puffing out my chest. “You could say I’ve seen a lot.”
“You’ve been here, what, thirty minutes? And you’re already got a thick head” She scoffed. “You’re so dead.”
“I’ll be fine,” I chuckled. “If this is a game, then I’ll just respawn, right?”
Her expression turned cold and sour. “No, you don’t.”
“No?” I blinked. “But—”
“First rule of the game,” Asiel held up a finger and jabbed me in the chest. “There is no respawning. Ever. Once dead, there isn’t a power here or elsewhere capable of bringing you back. You can heal any wound, and you can get stronger all you like, and you can block fatal blows, and use any amount of tools and skills at your disposal to stay alive—but once you die, that’s it. There is no respawning. Got that?”
I nodded, hastily.
“Good.” She grabbed me by the shoulder. “If you’re going to have any hope for survival, then we need you in a city by nightfall.”
“Asiel, where are we?” I asked, peeking out from behind a tree. The city ahead of us wasn’t much more than a village, with a wide assortment of different sellers, clerks and explorers roaming about. A crackle stirred the air, followed by a burst of hot light. “This place is safe, right?”
“Nowhere’s ‘safe’, rookie,” she laughed, scruffing up my hair. “But yeah, this is about as safe as they get. It’s just some sleepy little nameless village in the middle of nowhere.”
We walked through town, into the crowd, careful to avoid anyone who looked like they’d been having a bad day.
“First rule in Tetratera. Don’t pick a fight with anyone you don’t know you can beat. It’s an awful lot nicer to live with a little shame than to die a corpse on the street.”
A tall broad man spotted us, walking over.
“This is Brom.” she said, gesturing. “Brom, this is a rookie.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“I’m not doing any more babysitting, if that’s what you’re asking,” he grunted. “Where’d you find him?”
“In the woods trying to eat a Ruptorshroom.”
He laughed, loud and hearty, clutching his chest. “Well I must have a remarkable sort of idiot on our hands, don’t we?”
I swallowed, waving politely. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Sure you don’t, but you’ll learn sooner or later.” Brom chuckled, pointing to a little shack near the furthest edge of the city. “You’ll want to head there, as soon as you can. There’s an awfully helpful NPC around there—”
“NPC—” I started.
“You know,” he said, waving his hands at the shopkeepers and merchants. “They run the shops and the like, and they look like people, but they’re really just not.”
I squinted, inspecting a jolly shopkeeper, lugging around a basket of ham. “Really?”
Asiel smirked. “Watch. He’ll take another three steps,then trip, and drop all that meat. Then he’ll mutter in his grumpy old voice ‘why I never—stupid road.’ Then he’ll pick up his sausages and go on his way.”
The shopkeeper tripped, suddenly, collapsing onto the road, dumping a wide variety of mixed meats into the street.
“Why I never—stupid road,” he muttered, scratching head. He picked up a length of sausage, then ham, then he shoved the rest back into the basket and went on his way.
“Wow,” I whispered. “How’d you do that?”
“I didn’t have to do much of anything,” Asiel laughed. “Once you play the game for a little while, it’ll become obvious. Everything in the game runs through a loop.”
I thought back to the forest. “The days do feel awfully familiar.”
“Yeah,” Asiel continued. “He does the exact same things every single day, at every hour, unless he’s gotten a rookie like you on a quest.”
“A quest—” my eyes sharpened. “I think I’ve seen one of those before.”
Brom smirked. “So you’ve got a little experience, do you? Good on you, lad!”
“But if you knew he was going to fall, why didn’t you help him?” I asked.
Asiel sighed, shaking her head. “Don’t you get it? Helping him triggers the quest. We’ve all done it before. The old man mutters about his knees, and about a brand new shipment of meats he needs delivered, and before you know it you're taking a barrel of smoked ham through a wolf-infested forest.”
I shivered. “That sounds rough.”
Brom gave a grim smile. “I’ll bet the old guy’s killed more rookies than Bloodshade.”
“Easily,” Asiel scoffed. “That quest is insane, especially for a newbie without armor or experience, or a weapon. Don’t even bother trying it for the next month, alright?”
“A weapon?” I glanced down at the rusty dagger in my hand. “Does every NPC have a quest like that?”
“Most of them,” she said, with a shrug. “The shopkeeper’s award is fantastic, and it’s not like the quest is unbeatable, but even with decent gear it’s just such a grind, you know? You wouldn't think a cheery shopkeeper would send you on a four-hour quest, lugging meat through a wolf-infested forest.” She patted me on the back. “Wait until you’re at least level ten for that one, alright?”
“You two must've been around here a lot, to know things like this,” I said.
“A lot?” Brom scoffed. “You’re doing us dirty, kiddo. We’ve been playing this game for thirty years!”
I looked at Brom, then at Asiel, then at Brom again. “Seriously? No. Seriously?”
Asiel smiled. “The game’s hard, but aging is impossible, so you’ve got all the time in the world. Just ask around before you get into a quest and don’t mess with any other players. Think you can do that?”
The shopkeeper ran back around, smiling and waving, offering his selections of meat. His movements seemed so cheerful, and alive, but his eyes were glossed over, like a doll’s.
He wasn’t any more real than the monsters.
The shopkeeper looked toward me, grinning.
I shivered. “I don’t think I like this place.”
“You’re just saying that now,” Brom chuckled, wrapping a hairy arm around my neck. “Wait until you get some equipment. Then you’ll be having the time of your life.”
Asiel nodded up ahead. “I’ll take him to the tutorial shed. You get the others, alright?”
“I’ll get you who I can,” he grumbled. “Dena’s got some sort of quest going on, so she might take a while, and Quimble’s got that one dragon—”
“He’d better bring something to share—” Asiel muttered.
“---Yes well you know Kenos isn’t going to be here for days.”
“More for us, then,” Asiel snorted.
I smirked. “You guys have some pretty wild names.”
“Wild?” Brom laughed, clapping me on the shoulder, knocking the air from my lungs. “Well I suppose we do, don’t we? We picked them ourselves!”
“Do I get to pick my name?” I wheezed.
Asiel nodded. “Just say Name and you can change it.”
I blinked. “Name?”
“No,” she sighed. “Name.”
I tried concentrating. “Name. Name? Name.”
A blue box flashed in front of my face, startling me.
Brom laughed. “It’s just the system, rookie. Nothing to fear.”
I tried grabbing it, but my hand sank right through the projection.
Asiel huffed. “Concentrate”
I closed my eyes, and instantly, the pane of light turned solid, like a clipboard.
{Rookie (placeholder)}
“Common”
Level 0
I turned it over, then back again. It was light, almost wispy, but with a solid, secure, very real crystalline form. “What is this?”
“I told you we were in a game, didn’t I?” Asiel asked. “Now go on. Pick something out. You can always change it later.”
The bright blue board had a single word in its center, radiating white energy. I blinked. “Rookie?”
“That’s what you are,” Asiel stated.
I tapped the name, and it started flashing. “How does this work?”
The name flickered.
{How does this work?}
“Common”
Level 0
“No, that’s not quite right—” I frowned, messing with the board. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
{No, that’s not quite right—}
“Common”
Level 0
I sighed. “It seems a person’s got to be awfully careful with their words around here.”
After messing around with the board, and with a couple other names, I finally settled on something I liked.
{GRIND}
“Common”
Level 0
Asiel raised an eyebrow. “Grind?”
“You said something like that earlier,” I muttered. “It sounded cool. Tough. You know?”
“Grind : a cycle of mindless work and effort to get stronger,” Brom stated, with a smirk. “That seems awfully fitting, since you’ll be doing nothing but that for the next while.” He looked up, checking the sky. “Well kid, you’ve got a name, a rusty blade, and a couple buddies to keep your back—at least for now, anyway.”
“You’re leaving?” I asked.
Asiel nodded. “Around midnight or so. After that, you’re on our own.”
I scanned the town. Other powerful fighters clustered together in pods, moving together as a single unit. “Maybe I could join you?”
Asiel looked at Brom. Brom looked at Asiel.
Both started laughing.
“It can’t take that long, right?” I asked, cautiously optimistic. “What level are you guys?”
Asiel grimace. “Trust me. You don’t want to know.”
I opened my mouth, then closed. “I Don’t?”
Brom chuckled. “Grind, look above my head and concentrate.”
After a few seconds, a shimmering text appeared.
{Brom}
“Minor Ascendent III”
Level 1.4535 * E(7046)
The blood drained from my face.
E to the what? 7000? That’s a big number, right?
so a million was, like E to the 6th…so a number that big meant…it meant…
My knees started shaking.
Brom chuckled. “Unsheathing my sword would’ve eviscerated this entire town,”
My stomach did a little flip.
“Oh, you're absolutely petrified aren’t you?” Asiel sighed, with a crinkled smile. “Don’t worry, Grind, the folks around here aren’t usually much more than ten-to-twenty levels strong. We’re an anomaly, alright? We are just here to meet up with the rest of our raid party.”
As she talked, I glanced up, focusing on the air above her head. Try as I might, I couldn’t get the shimmering text to appear. “And how strong are you?”
“Very,” she grinned, flashing teeth. “But I’d rather keep that a secret. When you get late enough into the game, it’s a safety hazard, leaving your rank and level up for everyone to see. Brom's the only one stupid enough not to care.”
Brom laughed. “I’ve earned a little bragging, haven’t I?”
I balled my hands into fists. “I’ll get stronger, you know. Then I’ll join your party!”
“Go for it, Grind.” Asiel shrugged. “But don’t get your hopes up. In a week’s time, there’s a good chance this game’ll be over.”
I blinked. “Over?”
“We’re hunting the Darkest Lord,” Brom whispered. “And we’ll win too.”
“Darkest Lord? Is he important?”
Asiel nodded. “He’s the final boss of this game. Nobody has ever beaten him before.”
“Nobody?”
“Not yet,” Asiel said, smiling. “Stay alive for the next week, alright? We’ll kill that villain, free the world, and be home in time for supper. Speaking of which, Brom. Enough stalling. You’ve got work to do. C’mon Grind. You’re going to the tutorial.”
We followed the path, sifting through the crowd of players.
“Asiel, you’re really strong, right?”
“I’d like to think so,” she smirked. “Why do you ask?”
I held up the rusty dagger. “If you’re so strong, why do you care about this thing around?”
“To give to the rookies,” she grunted. “It’s among the only swords in the game that a level zero player can get, and it’s found in the tundra near Souleater valley.”
I concentrated, turning the dagger over in my hand. “Soul Eater valley, huh?”
{Rusty Dagger}
[0 Str. 1/1 durability]
“It’s not very good,” I grumbled, almost scared to hold the sword, in case it broke and I got infected or something.
“It’s symbolic,” she snapped. “That means that you’re ours, Grind. Like I said, it’s a late game item that only the newest players can use. If a guy like you has one, it means you have friends in high places. Keep it around and the better players will stay out of your way, alright? The last thing anybody wants is a war between raid captions.”
I sighed, massaging my forehead. “Raid captains?”
“Captains who lead parties to raid dungeons. Pretty self explanatory,” Asiel explained. She glanced over her shoulder. “We’ve got to get moving.”
“Why—”
“Just trust me on this one,” she muttered, shoving me forward. “Besides, I’m very busy and this is taking more time than I’d like.”
I was starting to get the beginnings of a headache coming on. “Raid captains, souleaters, monsters, NPCs…is there anything else I need to know?”
“That’s what the tutorial’s for, dolt,” she snapped. “I’m not your nanny.”
“B-But what about quests?” I asked “You said some are tricky or dangerous and a tutorial won’t have that kind of information—”
She grabbed me, turning toward a gardener’s stall. “He’s fine. You collect wildflowers in a set time. Always keep an eye out for fruit-based fetch quests. They’re easy and you get good enough loot.” An old lady crossed the path, tugging a pig behind her. “Level up once or twice and you can fight her pig. She’s a heavy gambler. And avoid the bandit pits. You’re only supposed to find them for the quest, but it expands halfway through into a level-seven fight.” she jabbed a finger at an armed man with a broadsword, patrolling the area. “If you’ve got a few spare rings, give them to the guard. He’ll keep you safe when you’re in the city. Finding and paying the city guard should be your first priority, though they’ll only protect against active threats—like a dungeon break—not fights your start yourself, or quests.”
I nodded hastily. “And if I know all that, I’ll do alright??”
“Probably, but I’d be best to—”
A shrill voice rang out from the street, cutting her off. “Adventurer! HELP!”
I tried looking for it, but Asiel planted a hand on my shoulder and forced me to keep on moving.
“Don’t pay her any attention,” she said, eyes locked ahead.
“But—”
“DON’T!” Asiel shouted. She took a deep breath, before whispering, “I—it’s not worth it, alright? That’s a quest way beyond your current level.”
Something somewhere felt horribly wrong.
I slipped out of her grip, just barely glancing over her shoulder, to a set of cages, stacked against one wall.
Asiel yanked me forward. “You don’t want to be late, do you? The tutorial keeper is an awfully grumpy man, and my charity’s running out.”
“He’s an NPC, right?” I asked, craning around to look. “He can wait.”
“Grind—”
“Adventurer? Please!” The voice screamed into the street, banging against metal. Then, she slowed to a faint whisper. “Anyone?”
The voice died down, until it was a little more than quiet sobs.
I looked at Asiel.
She glared back. “There are some quests nobody should take, alright?!”
“Is it really that dangerous?” I asked.
“Just ignore the monsters, will you?” She said, glancing down the road with a sigh. “C’mon. It’s already midday and you're still level zero, so don’t even think about doing anything stupid.”
As we turned, I barely saw a flash of pale skin, reaching from a cage.
“Grind?” She frowned, turning back.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
{GRIND} is an odd sort of story. It's a transitional piece with the end goal to make me a better writer who writes more, faster. this is also a simple test whether or whether not being a writer is a feasible option for my career. Currently, I have no job. this story is a test if, while using the free time I have, can I make a story that people actually want to read. (It's a matter of favorites/view more than money, really)
Please give writing advice, particularly as it pertains to characters in the story, and to the nature of the story itself, since I do love a good chat on such topics. I will respond to every comment, unless somebody already has. I just ask that y'all keep the comments section professional, which is to say, PG-PG-13
~If you liked this story feel free to review and favorite there's a lot more coming...~
Do you like split chapters or big chapters (continuous update vs immersion in the story)
