The next day after freshening up and quickly eating his breakfast Vikram was all set to enter the game. He switched on his VR helmet and wore it before lying on the bed and closing his eyes. His mind soon entered the world of the Odyssey.

The moment Vikram opened his eyes he found himself in what seemed to be outside the beginner's village. He expected the place to be crowded, as it should be because of the popularity of the game but unlike his expectations, the area was deserted.

He was currently in an empty courtyard at the edge of the village, it seemed to be the spawning point. Before exploring the village to find out what was wrong with it Vikram decided to check his character information. Soon a panel with his stats came right in front of him.

Player Information

NAME – ROSSIAN

RACE - DEMON

LVL– 1

CLASS – UNASSIGNED

STR (Strength) – 1

END (A/N: Stamina Changed to Endurance) - 1

DEX (Dexterity) - 1

INT (Intelligence) – 1

HP (A/N: Health changed to Health Points)- 1                             

The low stats felt even lower after yesterday's event. Vikram just chuckled and brought down the window, it was now time to focus on the other thing at hand. According to his player information, his 'race' was 'demon'.

This was his first time hearing about 'race' in the game because apparently all the rest of the players are humans, at least that's what he knows from the little bit of news that he watches daily.

Thinking that he might have missed this thing accidentally, Vikram decided to check it once he goes offline. Vikram soon walked out of the courtyard and slowly moved towards the entrance. He could see two guards guarding the village.

To be precise they were NPCs(Non- Player Characters), Characters that were pre-programmed to behave in a certain manner and were not controlled by a human.

Unlike normal NPCs in the game though, the NPCs in the Odyssey were very famous for their ability to evolve. Like a wet sponge they soak in all the information they get from the players by speaking and listening to them and improvising themselves. Though this improvisation is limited to the constraints that have been put in while programming the said character.

"Stop right there! We haven't seen you in this village. Are you a traveller?" One of the guards, who had horns coming out of his helmet asked in a loud voice.

"Umm…Yes, I got lost in the woods, and now I'm here. Can I enter the village?" Vikram asked the guard, initially sceptical about interacting with an NPC.

"You say you got lost?" the guard said and eyed Vikram from top to down in doubt and continued, "I don't care whether you're telling the truth or not just know this one thing, if you create any problems in the village for us, we'll hang you in the gallows for the people to witness what happens to people like you. Now move!"

Vikram quickly hurried inside the village. He underestimated the intelligence of the guards. Vikram took a mental note of this experience as he walked inside the village. The name of the village as written on the entry board was Ekkinisi village. Walking inside the village he saw a lot of NPCs moving about busy with their daily lives but not a single player was seen.

To differentiate between a player and an NPC one just had to look above their head. NPCs would have their name and level written in a blue transparent light above their head. Blue light signified that the NPCs were friendly with the player and red light indicated that they were hostile.

The villagers all looked at Vikram strangely as he walked inside the village. It was clear that they all had realized that he was new in the village. The interesting thing was that none of the villagers were human, they all were demons, and the horns on their heads indicated that.

Vikram too subconsciously placed his hand on his head and found two horns protruding out of it. He wanted to tinker with it more but restrained himself because even though the people who were staring at him were NPCs he still felt a bit awkward getting all their eyes focused on him.

After walking for a while Vikram soon reached his destination. It was the village's training hall. Even though this wasn't a human village it was still similar in layout to that of a human one. The instructor who was standing outside the hall had his eyes sparkle the moment he saw me as he moved towards me.

"What brings you here traveller? Want to learn how to combat?" The instructor said. He seemed to be a jolly person with a potbelly, something far from a warrior. It felt strange seeing such a person asking him this question but he still answered.

"Yes, I indeed want to learn how to battle and protect myself," Vikram replied.

"As you should, a man who can't protect himself can't be called a man. I was wanting to ask you what type of combat class you would prefer but seeing the sword that you have in your possession, becoming a swordsman is the best thing for you." The instructor said.

"Sword? What sword?" Vikram asked as he touched his body in order to find the sword which the instructor was referring to. He suddenly thought of the inventory and thought of opening it in his mind. The inventory panel soon opened in front of him and Vikram noticed a sword, the only item in his empty inventory space.

'The Baleful Sword?...it came with me?' Vikram thought to himself as he equipped the sword and the sword appeared in his hand.

The instructor nodded seeing that and said, "Young demon, remember to use that sword well, it possesses might far greater than you could think of, unfortunately, it's been attached to you too greatly so I'll suffer grave wounds if I even attempt to steal it from you otherwise, I would have."

Hearing the honesty from the instructor Vikram wasn't pleased in the least, 'Then you shouldn't have mentioned it to me old man…I can't seem to trust you now.' He thought to himself.

As if reading his thoughts, the instructor chuckled and said "I was just kidding hoho…regarding your swordsman class, here's the class mission for you. Complete It and you'll become a swordsman.

Vikram's class assigning mission appeared in front of him.

Swordsman Class Test: Defeat 30 Demonic hounds in the periphery of the Ekkinisi village.

Progress: (0/30)

Reward: Swordsman class would be assigned.