Nermeria's Descent - Beginning

Nermeria lay on the soft silk sheets on her bed, enjoying the feeling of finally having a soft bed and heated home. Much better then the hovel's she had spread out throughout the various provinces of the game, that was most definitely for sure.

Nermeria was one of the first players to the new FBMMORPG's, titled 'Medieval Quest'. A bland name, to be sure, but she loved the game all the same. While it was certainly designed to be played with friends, Nermeria took a different path in the game - a Rogue. Thinking over her class, she pulled up the GUI which described her character.

Name: Nermeria Longlif

Major Class: Magical Rogue

Minor Class: Silent Ranger

Major Class Description: A Magical Rogue is the combination of two unlikely areas of expertise. A rogue's quick thinking, craftiness, and potentially for thievery with the mage's intelligence, wit and wisdom. Combined, the two allow for a deadly pair if used properly and tactfully.

Minor Class Description: A Silent Ranger is a solo character, usually closely associated with rogue specialties. Moving with light feet, they utilize any weapon which keeps the distance between themselves and their enemy. Not one to play support, they move quick, and kill even quicker.

General Overview:

....

A loud knock at the door of her middle-size home disturbed Nermeria from further looking at her class menu and the description. To date, she'd not met one other person who had specialized in her area, and she was grateful for that. Her abilities allowed her to be undisturbed by the majority of the playerbase and simply enjoy the game.

Checking on the door, she realized it was the games neighborhood cleaning service. Paying a few meagre copper to the maid and butler, she allowed them to clean and tidy up her house. Eventually, with enough gold, she'd have her own cleaners and butlers. Just like the richer players....

After they finished, Nermeria felt a slight ding in her head as a temporary buff appeared.

A Clean Hearth (24 Hour Duration - Middle Size Home Level): Having a professionally cleaned home allows you to relax, and focus more. +5% percent to all stats, +10% to experience gain.

Nermeria nodded her head, having received the buff before. It was a nice little token of appreciation from the Dev's towards players, letting them know that a home simply wasn't a money pit. Letting herself forget both the buff and those concerns, Nermeria suited up for one of her solo adventures. She had a lead on a nearby cave system which potentially held treasure.

That was, if a drunk NPC blabbering his mouth was to be trusted. He'd come up to Nermeria as she left the General Store the day prior, chuckling and hiccupping like an idiot.

"You there, lass, you're the adventurer sort. Why don't ya check out this cave? My sonnie ran like a bat outta hell when he reached it..." The man said, as a new quest appeared in her logbook. Nermeria, surprised at how...direct a quest beginning this had been, watched the man stumble off into the crowd. She then read the quest description.

Quest Gained! - Nearby Cave: A drunk man stated a cave nearby may be worth investigating. Perhaps....

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Nermeria rolled her eyes at the cliché nature of the quest, not surprised at this point. The developers were certainly direct when they wanted you to investigate something they deemed suspicious. After that encounter, Nermeria returned to her home, resting up until the morning.

Getting dressed in her plain looking cloak, tight fitted leather armor and slacks, she slipped out, hopping not to be recognized as she stalked out of the city. Having players ask about her class was always a frustrating endeavor. Thankfully, no one stopped her, and she was able to get to her horse with ease. Mounting him and then heading off the quest markers direction, she felt the usual ding from the GUI for a general alert.

Skill Level Increased! - Horsemanship: Level 41 of 100

Closing her GUI, Nermeria realized she was near the cave. Approaching the small entrance, she snuck her way in, practicing her rolls and crawling on her belly at some points. No one besides for two goblins were in the cave, and both quickly received a bolt to the back of the neck by Nermeria. Finding the dead-end of a cave, Nermeria sighed to herself, imaging she had been screwed over by one of the game's radiant quests. Something glimmered out of the corner of her eye, and Nermeria looked up.

Jackpot. A secret area. Accessible only with a grappling hook, funnily enough. Not the most steady with using one, Nermeria took it slow, reaching the cliffs edge after a few minutes of careful climbing. Sitting on the edge of the cliff, she look into the darkness of the hidden area. A shine of a chest was evident up ahead, and Nermeria grinned to herself, lighting a small flame in her hand.

A sack of gold coins, combined with an ornate white box with....something in it. Nermeria recognized it was an ankle bracelet made from wood and gold beads, probably worth a hefty sum to the right collector. As she touched it, she realized it actually was equipable, and had it's own abilities. Interesting.

She thought of its abilities all the way back to her home, not feeling safe enough to examine her treasures until she sat comfortably alone. Pulling it form her knapsack, she read its description.

ANKLE BRACELET OF MASKING (Unique)- An ankle bracelet designed by a wizard from ages past, this bracelet allows a player to hide and/or modify their player status, Major/Minor Class, and stats. To remove its abilities, one must remove the ankle bracelet from their ankle.

Currently Level 1 of ???.

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Hm. Nermeria was confused at what exactly this thing did. After a fair bit of tests, she realized its true power. Her GUI now read as if she were simply a level one player hiding their stats, a common occurrence in the game. After even more testing, she realized even more of the power of the ankle bracelet, allowing her to blend in with NPCs with ease. Would they believe that she was one of them, though?

She vowed to test it the next day, throwing the ankle bracelet onto her nightstand. The questing had exhausted her.