Realm Quest was unlike all the other virtual games that were released from the start of the virtual world craze. Unlike traditional games, Realm Quest was a true open world with a rich lore and dynamic character background. Unlike the static and robotic virtual games released prior, the world of Faeron opened up so many different avenues for players to apply real world skills in a fantasy-like world of magic.

The company behind its release hadn’t stated what the requirement were for creating a skill. They had announced that anyone who was a experienced in their respective fields in reality stood a good chance of creating an active skill for their avatars in-game. Unfortunately, no one seemed to know what it took to actually create one.

Abel had heard rumors about some players that had created their own skills but that was merely gossip on the forums and there was no substantial evidence to back up their claims. This was one of the reasons he loved tuning into the game broadcast channel whenever he had the time. They seemed to have their tentacles spread all across the virtual globe, gathering reliable information regardless of where you were in the expansive world map of Faeron.

Even if some people had created skills, he bet it was mostly like his own circumstance. They probably created their skills accidentally while in the midst of combat and weren’t sure of the main reason behind its creation.

Abel had been giving it some thought ever since he created Serpents Dance back in first couple of days. If he recalled correctly, he was trying to apply some of the knowledge of the Xiang family martial art that he knew in his movements. He was getting done in by the Rat Lord and his stats and level were very low back then. He had to cover his inadequacy in his raw stats with pure skill if he wanted to beat the monster.

‘It wasn’t just applying my knowledge. I remember thinking that since the Neuro-link is what was controlling the avatar, then the avatars movement would be smoother than my real body. I don’t have the muscle memory of my martial arts in my real body after all. But it shouldn’t be that simple… what am I missing.’

As Abel thought over his current theory in regards to skill creation, he dodged a ricochet arrow he saw coming towards him from the corner of his eyes. He rolled out of the way and tried concentrating on the pull of the arrow as he took aim at the enemy Kobold archer before him. He concentrated his mind and tried imbuing the pull of his arm with the idea of releasing a stronger arrow. He took his sweet time in aiming and stilling his mind with the pure intent of raw force before he let the arrow loose.

Whooosh

If anyone was paying attention to him at the moment, then they would see a very amateurish sight. The time it took for him to let the arrow loose was even longer than when he was training archery at the training citadel!

-107

‘It’s too bad I don’t have any prior knowledge about archery in the real world… Still, I created Arrowstride without any foreknowledge of archery. How did I do that?’

He wasn’t subdued by his current lack of progress. He knew it wouldn’t be that easy to crack the code behind skill creation. He currently had the feeling that he was on the right track but he simply didn’t have any evidence to back up his intuition. He had been attempting to create a strong shooting skill all morning, but without any success so far.

‘Maybe it isn’t just about the intent. Perhaps I can make use of what the captain said… I understand the mechanism and thought behind the bow, I might not be an expert but simple mechanics that I took in school explains the essence of the bow… But how the hell can I understand mana?’

He dodged another Envenomed Arrow as he tried adjusting his shooting posture. He stilled his mind and filled his thoughts with the idea of a destructive and powerful arrow. He took his time aiming, ensuring his thoughts were mostly consumed by the image of a strong and destructive arrow blitzing its way across the battlefield. When he saw the monster move, he let the arrow loose.

Whooosh

-134

‘It did more damage!’ Although an extra 30 points in damage seemed inconsequential, it was a start at least!

Abel quickly dodged an incoming Ricochet Arrow but he kept his eyes peeled on his damage panel, excitement was bubbling up within his chest. He might not have created the skill but he definitely did more damage than usual with that shot!

‘It seems like I’m on the right track, but I also seem to be missing something…’

Before Abel could make another attempt to let loose another slightly more powerful arrow, the battle died down as the Kobolds before them started dwindling in numbers. He hadn’t even realized Kel jumped into the fray after the shield warriors got overwhelmed by the kobolds before them. He had been concentrating on making the same shot for the better half of the morning without paying much attention to the overall battle. This was the first instance of some progress being made but the battle had dwindled down now that he saw hope!

‘It seems like I’ll have to wait for the next battle before I can try again. What am I missing though? The thoughts that control the avatar seem to be a crucial part of the equation. I can’t do anything about mana. I don’t have mana sense so I can’t sense this otherworldly source of energy, maybe I can ask the captain again. He probably won’t bother with me, I should continue trying before I resort to asking him. Hmm, I should have enough knowledge about the essence of the bow… WAIT….’

Abel stood stunned in thought. He seemed to have come to a realization about something but he couldn’t quite understand how it played a role. He always related weapons in-game to their real-world counterparts in reality. But perhaps that was the problem! Weapons in the world of Faeron differed from weapons in the real world.

They obviously differed in stats, special effects and so on but perhaps they differed in more ways than that. He always assumed a bow in-game would be like a bow in real life. Sure, the latter might have some flashy special skill that a bow in reality could never replicate but that’s what made them so different!

‘A weapon in the game seems to interact with mana in some way. Not all of them, some of them are as bland as their counterparts in real life. But there are some weapons that have ridiculous special effects. The Titanheart Chest Armor can prevent a person from being one-hit killed, the Flameforged longsword and the Solar longsword can both inflict burn damage onto enemies. I always thought it was due to the materials used and the design of the weapon that induced such special effects but maybe that’s not all… Perhaps the key was always mana!’

He took a look at his bow’s stats.

[Shadowstep Short Bow]

Damage: 32-36
+5 DEX
+3 AGI
Range: 65 meters
Durability: 25/30

Requirement: Level 5

Description: Crafted from the obsidian wood of the elusive Shadow Grove, the Shadowstep Shortbow is an unassuming yet enigmatic weapon. A favored companion for stealthy archers.

He slowly recalled the Arrowstride skill he created, while the skill didn’t affect the bow in anyway but it still increased his agility, precision and attack speed. All these things reinforced the ideal way in which the shortbow should be used!

‘I have been trying to make a strength-oriented skill for a stealth-oriented bow. I might have succeeded after several attempts but that’s an uphill battle nonetheless. Maybe I should try creating a faster arrow, or a silent arrow instead of a strong one…’

Before Abel could finish his train of thought, he was pulled back to reality by a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Freijah looking worriedly at him.

“Red Sky, I said is everything alright?”

“Huh. Uh… yeah. I’m completely fine. What is it?” Abel replied but that only made the shield warrior more concerned.

“I asked you twice now. What’s wrong with you today? You haven’t been yourself since the captain talked to you earlier. You’ve been shooting erratically all morning and you were spacing out in every battle. Something is definitely wrong and I’m not the only one that noticed.” Freijah eyed some of the other men that looked to be eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Nothing is wrong. I’m fine, really. I’ve just been trying some stuff out with my combat style.” Abel replied before he thought of something. Since he didn’t want to bother the captain with his earlier question about mana, that didn’t prevent him from asking one of the men instead. “Hey Freijah, what do you think about mana?”

Freijah seemed to be caught off guard by the random question. He couldn’t quite understand why Abel asked such a random thing all of a sudden but he replied to him nonetheless. “What about mana? It’s an ever-present force throughout the world, it’s as present and as vital as air. Only certain perilous regions within the realms are devoid of mana. Like the void for example or certain planes that repel mana for one reason or another like the elemental planes.”

“No, I mean… what makes mana special? Certain skills make use of mana but why is that? How can I sense it?” Abel didn’t know how to word his question as he realized it was quite broad so he explained his current problem. “You see, I’ve created a couple of original skills but I have no clue how I did it in the first place!”

Freijah seemed to understand Abel’s predicament but he couldn’t help but laugh! In fact, all the men that weren’t busy cleaning up the battle’s aftermath seemed to find what he said hilarious.

“Hahahaha! Ahahaha… Red Sky… ha” The man caught his breath after laughing wildly but still replied in the end. “I can’t believe you actually created a skill without a sufficient control over mana! This one has to go down in the history books for the most ridiculous scenario’s I’ve ever come across.”

Abel shrugged as he turned around to look at the all the grown men giggling and laughing like a bunch of a children. “I’m glad you all find this so amusing but I’m being serious here. How can I sense mana? How can I direct the free-flowing mana to follow my commands?”

“Well first of all, you have to learn how to meditate my friend!” Lard spoke up from behind, he was content in watching as a bystander before he heard Abel’s ridiculous problem.

“Isn’t meditation for mages only?” Abel asked. He had heard that meditation was the first skill a mage received upon getting the class. He didn’t know much about it but he had seen a snapshot of a mage’s meditation skill online earlier on.

“Meditation comes in many forms Red Sky. The meditation you’re referring to is a mage specific skill that allows them to interact with mana on a more fundamental level. Warriors like us only need to sense it. We don’t have to really understand it, so long as you can feel it then that’s enough. Mages have to feel, see and interact with mana. It’s much tougher than the rudimentary meditation we use.” Freijah finally said after getting all the laughter off his chest. “But considering how you created a skill before even feeling mana, then you must have some high affinity for mana in the first place. It’s a shame you didn’t become a mage, you might have advanced much quicker!”

“I’m good thanks. I’m very happy with my class. But back to the meditation skill, do I just have to sit down and close my eyes? What do I have to do to learn it exactly?”

“It’s simple, you just have to clear your mind all of thoughts until you sense mana.” Lard answered but Kel smacked him on the back of his head for the way he made it sound so easy.

“Don’t listen to this fool Red Sky. He took more than year to sense mana through this rudimentary form of meditation.” What Kel said quickly poured cold water over Abel’s excitement but what he said next pulled his mood back up. “When you’re meditating, clear your mind and only think of the free-flowing mana around you. Try not to think of anything else and only center your mind around the mana in the vicinity. You might not see it or feel it, but it’s very much there. What Freijah said was correct, you should have a very high affinity for mana.” He paused as though he was coming to a decision before he continued. “I’ll tell you what, if you can learn meditation before we leave this cave, then I’ll even teach you one of my own self-created skills.”

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I'll be taking a couple of days off. Sorry but my herniated disc hasn't been healing so well with physiotherapy, doctor's orders. Wil be back with more chaps in a couple of days!