EFate: An MMO Story

Tonbura Village was quaint. Houses with thatched roofs dominated the skyline, if you could really call it that. Not a single house went above three stories tall, with most topping out at only two stories.

Appearing in the village square, Eric blinked once to rid his eyes of the residual light. As he did so, a ringing sound appeared in his ears.

[Ding! System Notifications Unlocked]

[Skill Unlocked: Basic Militia Swordsmanship]

[Skill Unlocked: Basic Militia Spearmanship]

[Skill Unlocked: Sword Technique - Guard]

[Skill Unlocked: Basic Archery]

[Skill Unlocked: Fishing]

[Skill Unlocked: Herb Identification]

[Skill Unlocked: Wilderness Cooking]

[Skill Unlocked: Basic Arcane Magic]

[Skill Unlocked: Basic Fire Magic]

[Skill Unlocked: Arcane Strike]

[You have learned an uncommon skill! Congratulations!]

[Uncommon Skill Unlocked: Multi-linked Flame Strike]

[Achievement Unlocked: Naming]

You have named yourself, Erick Kystfyr. This is your first step to becoming a strong power that Nasvencia can depend upon. May this name resound across the land!

~

With that, the deluge of notifications finally ended. Dismissing the notifications, Eric pondered his first step. Normally, the ideal path forward would be to grind monsters and level up as fast as possible. However, he currently had no weapons or armour, aside from a small knife that Calyn had gifted to each of them. While he could probably use magic, there was a good chance that if he ran out of magic he would die, which was something he wanted to avoid if at all possible.

Looking around, Eric spied a tall elder nearby, surrounded by other players who were all clamoring for his attention. Elbowing his way into the throng, Eric looked at the elder.

"I want to defend the village. What should I do?" Eric asked, giving the elder a pointed look as he made himself heard over the mass of shouting players.

"You're still weak. Go see Tom the blacksmith if you truly wish to defend our village," the elder said, before turning to the next player.

[Quest Received: Militia Enrollment (1)]

Joining the militia is easy. They are desperate for new hands. Go and find the village blacksmith to get yourself a weapon. He'll tell you what to do next.

Closing the notification, Eric set off, searching the village for the blacksmith. The blacksmith proved to be surprisingly easy to find. With how small the village was, it didn't take long for Eric's search to lead him to a small smithy. A middle aged man with arms the size of bowling balls was standing in front of a forge, hammering away at a spearhead.

Clearing his throat, Eric made his presence known, causing the man to look up.

"Aye?"

"I was sent here by the village elder. He told me to seek you out if I wish to become strong," Eric explained.

"Ah, Flen must want ye to join the Tonbura Village militia. Not a problem, I've got plenty of weapons for yer choosing. As a new trainee, you can choose from a bronze spear, sword, bow, or axe. Which will it be?"

Eric pondered for a moment. This choice would change how he played for at least the next day, if not far longer. From what he could tell based on the tutorial, skills were gained by performing specific actions over and over. If he used a sword, he was likely to learn more sword skills, and the same was true for each other weapon. Thus, if he wanted to optimize his skill acquisition going forward, then he should choose the weapon he planned to use in the lategame. The real question then became: what weapon was that?

"Ye gonna choose boy? I've got other orders to fulfill," Tom said irritably.

"I'll take the bow, thanks," Eric replied, causing Tom's face to break out into a toothy grin.

"A great choice! Ye get one of Craig's cruder works, and a quiver of twenty bronze arrows," he said, handing the items to Eric. "Now I see ye don't have a militia badge yet. Go visit captain Alistair to complete your enrollment, he'll give ye some tasks to complete."

Thanking Tom, Eric left the smithy, opening his quest log to see if his quest had updated.

[Quest Complete: Militia Enrollment (1)]

[Quest Received: Militia Enrollment (2)]

You've obtained a weapon. Now go and enroll for real. Alistair is the captain of the Tonbura Village militia. He'll give you tasks such as killing creatures and monsters that threaten the village. But first you have to find him.

Dismissing the quest log, Eric set off once more, searching for the militia captain.