Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (30 page)

Sitting back in the seat, Alan sighed contentedly, scoping out the competition, wondering what trials might await and who he might meet.

The shuttle flew over a bright blue ocean at supersonic speeds. They were now in the private quadrant of Khersath, full of islands and small continents, none larger than Australia, at least according to the maps Eve showed Alan. They’d been flying for about three hours now, allowing Alan to get to know a bit more about the other Black Rose recruits aboard the shuttle.

To his surprise, most of them had recently graduated from their own home world versions of high school in real life, and had recently started playing the Game as well. Apparently the age limit of 18 on the Game was a sort of universal law, where most players of any species could only began playing when they reached a minimum threshold of adulthood, the age varying planet to planet, species to species. That did make Alan wonder about the kids he’d seen in the Undercity though… he supposed it would just have to remain a mystery, at least for now.

All the other recruits came from exotic sounding places, planets light-years away from Earth, even in entirely different
galaxies
. They were all sorts and sizes, wearing varying types of clothing Alan couldn’t begin to describe. But their reasons for being here seemed rather… mundane. They talked as if this was a job application, or a college interview, rather than a chance to join a deadly fighting force. They discussed local sports teams, exchanged news about their sectors and gossiped about celebrity players. Still, even Alan could sense there was an underlying tension in everyone’s voices, as they were about to compete with each other for a limited number of spots in the guild. Alan answered a few questions directed at him, but once the other recruits learned he was from Earth, a new planet, a backwater, they seemed to leave him alone. Alan could tell that they didn’t see him as a threat. That was good.

He’d briefly tried to keep up a conversation with Kitana, but she answered nearly every question with a single syllable and it had turned into one-sided rambling. His interests in anime, fantasy fiction and video games weren’t shared at all by her, and the more he thought and talked about them, the sillier they seemed in his head. After all, he was now living in one of these stories, rather than simply watching one. That was his goal though, right? To become the hero. To protect the earth, at least as best he could. Still, he had no idea how to go about doing that or what his best options were… he should just try his best to get into the guild and complete his quests for now. Maybe some idea from a game he played or book he read would turn out useful. And so Alan stared out the window in the shuttle, watching the scenery breeze past.

A few minutes later, the shuttle began to slow down. A bright blue spherical bubble appeared, an energy shield with a radius of about 100 km by Eve’s estimates. After a brief pause, the shuttle entered this shield. Once they entered the radius of the energy field all signs of it disappeared. The blue seas and skies were all that remained, as if there had never been any shield at all.

Eve immediately highlighted a number of artificial islands and ships, all surrounding a larger hexagon-shaped island, each side around 50 km long according to Eve, a bit smaller than the Hawaiian island Oahu. Each smaller island and ship had clear defensive turrets, although they were too high up for Eve to evaluate the defenses any further. She just knew they were there. Alan thought this was a bit excessive. They were still in a safe zone, after all. Most of the island was green, left in its natural state, with a smattering of structures that Alan could barely make out.

The shuttle began to descend, silently approaching a massive stone fortress in the center of the island. It reminded Alan of a medieval castle, except with its battlements and towers covered by futuristic gun turrets. It was a majestic structure, with four main towers at each of the outer wall’s four corners and a massive keep the size of a small skyscraper at the center. A number of other buildings were held within the walls, a few rectangular administrative type buildings, a hangar and a large, dome-shaped coliseum. At the tip of each of the main towers was a massive colored sphere, containing some undulating energy unknown to Alan. The keep had an even larger pyramid of energy at its tip. Each orb was constantly shifting in color, from a deep blue, to a plasma green, to a fiery red to a clear sort of cloud, and then back again. Alan wondered what the purpose of these spheres was.

A psionic defense system, capable of absorbing many psionic and energy attacks. The energy absorbed can then be used as a potential source of energy for psionic attacks launched from within the castle,
 Eve explained.

By this time, the shuttle had landed in a small designated area next to the castle, similar to a helipad, and Mason, the arms master, had begun giving out instructions.

“… always be prepared. Anyone caught in an area out of bounds with no good reason will immediately be failed and questioned. This is your only warning. Anyways, after the welcome ceremony is over, further introductions and instructions will be given. Dismissed.”

He then quickly turned around and strode out of the shuttle. More than a few recruits gave each other startled glances.

Uh, what did I miss?

We are to gather in the main hall, mingle, and wait for a speech by the Guild Master Elissandra.

Mingle? Um, anything else?

He said something about constant vigilance, but I am always vigilant. I wouldn’t be surprised if the testing hasn’t already begun. Attend the opening ceremony and see where it goes from there.

Shrugging, Alan followed the rest of the recruits as they exited the shuttle and proceeded through the main gate of the castle, a massive open gateway over 20 feet tall. Each recruit was carefully scanned for “security reasons” by a guard at the gate, then given a metal mark to place on their armor or clothing. They were told to keep the mark on and visible at all times. On it was a single flowering black rose with a grey background. According to Eve, it was also a tracking device of some sort. Alan attached it to his shoulder like he saw most players wear theirs in the main plaza.

Within the castle gates groups of players and machines moved about, entering the various buildings and leaving through the different gates. There was a flurry of activity about the central keep, couriers dashing in and out. Following the group, Alan made his way in this direction, but as he entered the main hall Alan stopped in wonderment.

There were hundreds if not thousands of players here, far more recruits than he was expecting. The main hall was a massive room with arched ceilings covered in paintings of mythical creatures, many which Alan had never seen before. Dragons, phoenix and gryphons were accompanied by giant green slimes, six-armed monkeys and twin-headed snakes. The main hall was relabeled the Great Hall by Eve. It was hundreds of feet wide and about two football fields long, with arched support beams along its two sides, reminding Alan of St. Peter’s Basilica. This room alone could hold tens of thousands of people.

Magnificent stone gargoyles gripping spheres of golden energy posed along the walls and corners of the Great Hall, illuminating it. Covering every surface were intricate designs and patterns, mainly colored in black and gold, holding a sort of ethereal beauty Alan had never witnessed before. In essence, the whole place felt magical.

Alan’s group made their way to the front of the hall, where all the other recruits had gathered around a few tables lined with refreshments, which consisted of multicolored blocks that looked like gelatin to Alan. Still, they seemed like a step up from the dull, tasteless grey blocks that Alan had grown used to eating. Everyone began to disperse into different groups, mostly along the lines of species or alliances, as far as Alan could tell. He didn’t think it was likely there would be any other humans from Earth here, but who knew.

Someone who had apparently seen one of Kitana’s fights began to strike up a conversation with her. She actually responded somewhat animatedly when talking about various fighting styles and swords. Alan stood to the side for a few seconds, awkwardly, before muttering something about feeling hungry and walking towards the tables of food. This sort of thing really wasn’t his thing. He generally avoided large gatherings, and usually spent most of his time on his phone when he did find himself at a party.

Alan grabbed a bright blue block and bit into it. He was pleasantly surprised by a fruity, cool sort of taste that filled his mouth, reminding him of a mix between blueberries and cherry. A message popped up as well.

Feeling suddenly refreshed, Alan gazed about suddenly bright eyed. He noted that his energy bar had completely filled for the first time, as even when fully rested it usually hovered one or two points short of full. He began wondering if he could grab a few of these blocks stealthily and store them for later, when someone caught his eye.

It was the girl. The girl that he’d run into getting off the lift into the Undercity. She had on a beautiful black dress, rather than an assassin’s outfit, but Alan was sure that it was her. The same stunning blue eyes and long blonde hair, the same pointed ears. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. He began to walk towards her, to try to strike up a conversation, scrambling for something to say, only to find his path blocked by a boy a bit shorter than him. The boy had pointed ears like the girl’s, green eyes and dark hair. He was wearing what looked to be a black spandex suit and a pair of gloves with pulsing green veins of energy running through them.

“A bit out of your league, don’t you think?”

“What?” Alan asked, a bit surprised.

“The girl you were staring at. You know she’s Aurora, the daughter of guild leader Elissandra, right?”

“Oh, um, I didn’t know that.”

“Right, well, you’ll stay away from her if you know what’s good for you.”

“What do you mean? Did I do something to you?” Alan said, a bit taken aback.

The boy haughtily looked over Alan’s armor, then scoffed while staring at the blasters at his side.

“You’re obviously either a complete imbecile or one of the Administrator’s charity cases. You’re wearing Revenant armor in one of the places where they’re most hated, and are carrying blasters worth far more than any beginning player could reasonably afford. You have the bad manners of hiding your name and level among potential guildmates and attached your recruit’s emblem to your shoulder like some sort of guard’s badge. I could go on, but it would probably be a waste of both my time and yours.”

Alan hastily glanced about, and saw that everyone else was wearing their emblem on their chest. The whole Revenant thing might explain some of the not so-subtle glances he was getting as well, and why no one had approached him, even shying away a bit. Alan took the emblem off his shoulder and placed it on his chest where a nametag would go, then turned his level and name visible.

“Um, sorry, I didn’t know. No one has really explained any of this to me, if there’s any other things you think I should know I’d appreciate the help.”

Smirking, the boy, whose name was apparently Sidestep, said, “I’d advise you to leave here and maybe spend a few years learning about basic manners. People here,” he gestured about, “have been preparing for guild trials like this one all their lives. You don’t stand a chance. Or at least, you normally wouldn’t, but undoubtedly you’ve been handed a series of rare items because you were born on a backwater.”

Trying to be amicable, Alan said, “Look, I understand your concerns, but don’t you think maybe this special treatment is to counteract the fact that I haven’t been prepared all my life to enter the Game? I didn’t even know how important it was until about a month ago.”

Shaking his head, Sidestep answered, “Whatever. We’ll see during the assessments whether you really belong here. Until then, you should go stand in a corner and not make a scene. Or, better yet, not waste the guild’s time and leave.” Then, with a single step, he shimmered, reappearing at Aurora’s side.

Wait, was that teleportation?

No, simply a psionic movement skill of some sort, somehow using the energy built into his suit, I believe. Still, it seems quite powerful.

Yeah… Also, why didn’t you tell me those things?

What things?

The etiquette or manner things.

Why should I have told you those things?

Well, so I wouldn’t piss off half the people here by wearing the armor of their enemy faction or whatever.

At this point I see no great benefit to explaining or following such customs. As players in the Game come from a wide variety of worlds and backgrounds, such things are largely ignored, especially in large gatherings. Most recruits probably have only seen clips of Revenant attacks, and thus while they may be surprised to see you wearing their armor, they probably take no great offense. Additionally, Revenant armor is far superior to most other faction’s in terms of stealth. I don’t see why ruffling a few people’s sensibilities matter. If you haven’t noticed, none of the actual guild members like the arms-master or guards gave your armor a second look.

Oh, so I shouldn’t have revealed my level and name?

Alan felt Eve give a mental shrug.

Once more, I simply see no great benefit to acting in either way.

Um, right. Well, if that’s the case, I’m gonna stand against the wall and review a few of your lessons on communication skills.