You now have access to the Creature Indicator!
You now have access to Abilities menu!
Stepping forward on my injured leg, I almost fell from the pain. It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in virtual reality. This was 13 damage?! With each heartbeat, the pain echoed from my calf. It was hard to bear.
“That doesn’t look good.” Kline grimaced. “Take a seat. I’ll get the loot.”
This was embarrassing. Not only were my moves clumsy, but I had gotten injured in my second fight. I could just feel people leaving my channel and looking for another one.
My gamer instinct took over. People would still be interested in knowing how injuries work here. There was only one thing to do. I took a close-up snapshot of the wound and shared it with the world.
I'll spare you the details, except to say that the fangs of the goblin-like creature had deeply pierced my cotton pants as well as my skin in multiple places. The fabric around the wound was soaked with blood and torn. As I rolled up my pants, the fabric stuck to the wound and was slowly peeled off.
I poured a little water on the wound. It was cold and soothing but did little else.
Checking my stats, since I had leveled the first time, I confirmed there was no change.
Character Status
Player Name: Lucius
Leveclass="underline" 2
Health Points: 208/221
Endurance Points: 330
Combat Leveclass="underline" Unknown?
Strength: 28
Dexterity: 40
Endurance: 33
So it was clear that leveling didn’t affect my stats at all.
Joining me on the ground, Kline piled the loot on the ground between us. It was a good distraction. There was one junk quality iron knife, about 40 copper coins, three loin cloths and a small green stone.
We agreed to split the coins, Kline took the iron knife and I took the green stone and the loin cloths. Though I insisted Kline take at least one loin cloth, he wouldn’t have it. I was stuck with the used goblin underwear? I shared a pic of my new undies as well.
“How’s it feel?”
Looking at the wound, I suspected it would heal quickly, but was it already feeling better? “Well, the pain is real. I doubt it will take more than a few minutes.”
Suspicious, he replied, “Can you feel it healing?”
“Might just be my imagination, but I think so.”
“Since we are taking a break, what brings you here?”
“Well, I’m trying to make a living off gaming. I need to do well here and build my fan base to get the big sponsors.”
“Ahhh, I got selected for this gig because I was a professional fighter. Mixed martial arts. The sport has morphed more into a virtual thing now where everyone can compete without pain or danger of injury, which completely ruined the sport. I’ve been getting by teaching kids martial arts, but it’s not what I feel I was meant to do. Codename: Freedom is like a second chance for me.”
Though he didn’t look old, I’d guess he was in his early to mid-forties. His well-honed build and physical strength made perfect sense now. There was a big difference between non-virtual athletes and the virtual ones. Strength transferred over well from the real world to the virtual, but not the other way around.
“So you have quite a few fans already?” he continued. “I plan on reminding everyone how useful real martial arts are! You’ll have to give me some pointers on how to run a fan channel.”
“Sure. This is unlike any game I have ever played. You actually have quite an advantage being in such good shape.”
“It’s not much of an advantage until I upgrade this outfit.” He sighed.
“When you get new clothing, take a screenshot and save it as your profile picture. Taking pictures and sharing it is the best way to interact with your channel right now. We can’t write any messages or respond to anyone directly. I guess you could respond, but they would have to be watching while you said it to guarantee that they got the message. They are also limiting what information we receive from our fans. The devs don’t want us to learn anything through our channels that we haven’t learned in the game.”
“Devs?”
“Developers. The people that created Freedom. Here.”
Bringing up my menu, I started to show him the basics of taking selfies. Then I searched for the Creature Indicator that was mentioned when I leveled up.
The User Interface tab in the Access Hub was now accessible. There I found it.
Creature Indicator
This tool analyzes the world around you and marks any living creatures with an augmented beacon if you are looking in its direction. When active, it is not yet capable of distinguishing between hostile and friendly creatures. As you level such distinctions will be unlocked.
Currently, the range is limited to 10 meters, but it will increase as you level.
Best use: To make the unseen seen and track multiple enemies at a time.
“Well, that’s cheating,” Kline said. He had followed my lead and found the new tool as well.
“It’s becoming more and more like a typical game. Although, this kind of thing is available with most Mixed Reality headsets as well.”
“Best of all it will be easier to track down our next victims,” he replied.
His mock evil grin looked like a dust mop with a serpent’s eyes. Talk about cheating. Kline would have people flocking to follow him just based on his expressions alone.
“Not necessarily. Its range is only 10 meters. We will need to level up more for it to be of much use I’m afraid.”
“We’ll just have to level up then.”
There was no getting him down.
“Now we are talking!” I said.
“What?!” He jumped to a low crouch.
I looked at him, doing all I could to suppress a laugh.
“We now have access to our Abilities Menu. It also gives us all basic ability upgrades so we can plan what to do when we level. Look here.”
Abilities
Abilities Unlocked: Personnel Condition Monitor (Basic), Metaverse Access Hub, Creature Indicator (Basic), Abilities menu.
Upgrades
Selecting any of the below Upgrades will cost you (1) Ability Point.
Spend wisely!
Character Sheet (Basic)
(This tool analysis your actions and translates that to your character stats. Upgrading this will add a much more detailed analysis.)
Creature Indicator Upgrades
(The range of this tool upgrades itself as you level. There may be a possibility of an addon that could also increase its usefulness.)
Creature Beacon
(Selecting this gives you a white beacon that shoots up from the creature’s location and is received when Creature Indicator is unlocked.)
Hostile Creature Indicator
(Selecting this gives you a red beacon that shoots up from any hostile creature’s location.)
Danger Indicator
(Selecting this will warn a player of danger within sensors’ proximity.)
Communication Upgrades
Grouping
(Selecting this provides experience sharing. Automatically syncs with the map.)
Group Chat
(Selecting this allows for your words to travel over long distances to those in your group. Anyone that is in close proximity can overhear the person sending the message. Only verbal messages can be sent currently.)
Group Leadership
(Selecting this allows for loot distribution.)
Join a Guild
(Unlocked by completing the quest Survive Week One. Able to choose from a number of guild hierarchies, set ranks of guild members, tax members and set guild property. To see a full list of options you must first finish the required quest.)
Guild Chat
(Selecting this allows for your words to travel over long distances to those in your guild. Anyone that is in close proximity can overhear the person sending the message. Only verbal messages can be sent currently.)