Telihiem Ch 01 Fox And The Wolf

Greetings, first of all, thank you for choosing to take the time to read my stories.

Next, I want to tell you this will be a monthly chapter Isekai-style story.

I'm a big fan of anime and D&D, those two things have inspired this story.

The world that this story takes place in is my creation, along with all the characters within. If there is any resemblance to an existing fantasy character it is unintentional.

Lastly, as for spelling and grammar, I am not the best in that department, but I will be using, Grammarly and spell check.

I am hoping it is not too bad.

I hope that you enjoy it.

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Chapter 1

Elijah sat in his chair and slowly turned the headgear in his hands.

He was feeling its smoothness, tracing the Hurricane symbol on its side.

He marveled at how light it felt and how the blue and gray color scheme fit so well together.

It had been thirty-six months since the first game trailer for Telihiem had launched.

Since then he has followed the game's progress religiously.

He watched every podcast or YouTube video about it.

He had joined the rapidly growing Telihiem Community within days of the trailer drop.

Ave and Elijah had even attended Hurricon in Houston last year.

The four-day event was amazing, and it was at that con that Ava scored her Beta pass.

Elijah had always been into MMO, from an early age.

He played them all, from World of Warcraft to Final Fantasy, even Black Desert, yet Telihiem promise had them all beat.

It would be the first full-dive MMORPG, and it looked amazing.

Elijah had missed out on the Beta because of work but had enjoyed much of it through his best friend and now new roommate Ava.

If it had not been for Ava he would have been stuck with the low-end Premium helmets, but Ava had snagged him one of the Ultra Helmets that looked like something straight out of Ironman.

The Ultra also gave him the perk of early login to create his character and several other in-game items.

Elijah looked over the instructions one last time before putting the helmet on his head and adjusted it before pressing the side bottom to have the helmet form to his dimensions.

Elijah then took the USB cord that was attached to the helmet and connected it to his PC.

Sitting back in his gaming chair, Elijah spoke to the helmet for the first time.

"Close face shield," Elijah said in a clear voice.

The helmet heard, processed, and then complied with his command.

The second the face shield locked in place, the game launched.

At first, it was just the usual Hurricane Entertainment theme and symbol playing, but then it changed, and Elijah felt he was falling through a multicolored tunnel.

Suddenly, the tunnel ended, and Elijah was in a large white area with no visible floors, ceilings, or walls, just a space.

But then there was movement.

From nowhere, a beautiful redhead female with pale white skin and red lips with the bluest eyes Elijah had ever laid eyes on was walking towards him.

She wore a long yellow strapless dress.

In the center of the dress was the Hurricane blue swirl.

"Greeting player, please enter your 21-character product code," the female asked in a soft, kind voice.

Elijah did as the female asked and read off the code he had redeemed to install the game.

The voice repeated the code to him and then asked for a moment to verify the code.

"The code you have entered belongs to Elijah Woods.

Please enter your preset password or one-time authenticity code," the female asks.

Elijah activates his security token, which then beeps three times.

"Ah, welcome Elijah Woods to Teliheim's character creation and registrations.

Please do not move for one minute as we scan you, " the female says.

Elijah holds still as he can.

Thirty seconds passed, and the female voice said, "Complete," The entire scene changed before Elijah in seconds.

Elijah was suddenly sitting at a table in a medieval fantasy tavern with the beautiful redhead across from him.

Elijah could smell the smoke from the nearby fireplace.

He could smell the food cooking in the kitchen.

He could hear the other customers of the small tavern.

He could feel the hard, cool wood of the chair he sat in.

He could feel the granny, rough top of the table they sat at.

Elijah could even feel the presence of the female sitting across from him.

"Welcome Elijah to the Salty Craker tavern.

I'm Alison, your guide to help you through the process of creating and customizing your first Telihiem character.

We here at Hurricane need you to finalize your registration forms before continuing," Alison says in a soft, reassuring tone.

As Alison speaks, she reaches her hand out and touches the table before Elijah and a tan folder appear.

"I will give you time to read these over, please, sign and initial where needed.

If you have any questions, I am more than capable of answering any question with or about the registration process," Alison says.

Elijah had signed dozens of these registration forms, it was always the same BS, yet this form was massive, being at least fifty pages in length, much larger than any others he had ever signed.

Elijah looked up at Alison, "Why so many pages," he asked.

"Telihiem is unlike any other video game you have ever played.

The interactions and themes of this game make it so that any number of interactions can take place.

We here at Hurricane need protection and proof that the players are going into this with an understanding of what they are getting into," Alison answers.

At the same time, she reaches across the table and softly rubs Elijah's arm.

Elijah thought he was ready for it, yet he wasn't.

Alison's touch sent shivers through him and shocked him to his core.

Elijah started to understand how this game would change the world and wondered if it was ready.

"Are you an NPC or a specially crafted AI, Alison," Elijah asked.

"I am a

Reflection,

my form is a copy of Hurricane employee.

I was programmed to help walk players through this stage of the game," Alison replies.

"Are we in the game," Elijah asks next.

"No, the Salty Cracker Tavern is not part of any city or area of Telihiem.

We are in a controlled subsection designed to help new players adapt to the game and its mechanics," Alison says.

"What might I expect in Telihiem," Elijah asks of Alison.

"Telihiem will be a vast, free-form game, with quests to complete, and monsters to slay.

Where friendship will bloom, love affairs or romantic dinners will connect the player and the thousands of virtual residents of Telihiem.

The game will create dozens of new industry bases just around it.

Whether it be bloggers, Howdo'ers, or the pleasure and xxx crowd, they will all find their way into Telihiem.

Elijah returns to the registration forms and completes them.

He then sits back in his chair and closes the folder.

"Here you go," he says as he slides the file to her.

Alison places her hand on the folder and seems to scan it.

"A copy of this is being attached to your Hurricane account.

Would you like us to email you a copy to your listed email address

Elijah," Alison asks.

"Yes, please," Elijah replies.

"Congratulations, you have completed registration, and are now ready for character creation.

Do you need a recap of how we do our RP point system," Alison asked.

Elijah knew the system but wanted it explained to him again.

There could have been last-minute changes or bonuses he was eligible for.

"Telihiem has thirty-five unique races. Each race has an RP value.

A player needs to roll dice to obtain PR points.

These are then used to unlock unique races.

Half of the races have low RP values and are easily accessed.

The rest require luck or a little planning on the player's part.

A play may change the race of any character when that character levels up.

Therefore, a low-level character levels very quickly, giving the players several chances to change their character's race to a higher RP race if they wish.

It is also possible to bank RP if a player has rolled very high and wishes to start play as a lower RP race.

The remaining RP can be stored and used on a second character that the player roles later.

If a player rolls a second character and does not use their banked RP, that RP is lost," Alison says.

"Elijah, do you have any questions so far," Alison asks.

"No, this was all in the Beta," Elijah answers.

"All players start with eight RP points, then role two D8 to determine their available RP points for character creation," Alison says.

She then takes a small purple velvet bag out of her pocket and places it on the table.

"You may now pick the color and type of dice you wish to roll," Alison says.

Two menus appeared before Elijah.

The first had a list of colors, along with an interactive color slider bar.

The second had a list of the types of materials the dice Elijah could roll.

It listed bone, wood, ivory, metal, stone, gem, and paper.

Each choice then had a drop-down menu.

Elijah had already known his choice for dice.

For color, he picked the blackest of blacks he could.

For the material, the dice were made from his chosen bone and then slid down its menu to dragons.

That activated a second drop-down menu that he scrolled down till he found black dragon bone.

Once he had made his selections, the color menus reappeared, asking Elijah to choose the color of the numbers on the dice.

Elijah quickly picked ruby red.

"You have chosen black dragon bone dice with ruby red colored numbers," Alison states.

She then opens her small velvet bag onto the table, and Elijah's chosen dice rolls out onto the table.

They were perfect.

Elijah reached out and took the dice off the table.

He was still astounded by the fact that he could feel the dice in his hands, feel their weight, hear them clanging together, and smell a slight acid odor coming from them.

With a flick of his wrist, the dice rolled across the table, bouncing and tumbling, finally stopping with two perfect number 8 showing face up.

Alison's face lights up, and then she looks at Elijah, "You are extremely fortunate.

Now you have choices to make.

You can keep the 24 RP, or lock the dice you have rolled in at 3s giving you 14 RP, and then roll your dice again and add your second roles total to the 14 points.

Yes, you could lose points, or you could gain them.

You could also choose to take one of the 8s and only reroll one of your two dice.

The decision is yours," Alison says.

"Alison, I'll keep one of the 8's, and with the other, I'll take the 3 points and the reroll," Elijah says.

Alison simply shook her head in the affirmative, and Elijah reached for one of the D8s he had just rolled for his reroll.

He knew it was a risk, yet the odds were with him, and he already had 19 PR points banked, which was enough to unlock well over 3/4 of all the races.

Elijah felt his hand get clammy, and his nerves were on edge.

Once more he shook the dice in his hand and let it fly.

The dice rolled across the table, tumbling several times.

It finally landed on a 7.

Elijah let out the breath he was holding in.

"It seems your luck is holding," Alison says.

"You now have 26 RP points.

Here is your list of available races," Alison says as she touches the table. A long list of races, accompanied by their ability modifiers lights up in front of Elijah.

For several minutes Elijah reads over the list.

He was right there had been some changes since the Beta.

Toward the end of the list, he saw a race he had not seen advertised or listed anywhere in the ads or blogs about being in the game.

Elijah touched it on the list causing it to light up.

"Can I be a male one of these," Elijah asked Alison.

"Yes, that is one of the extremely uncommon races that is only unlocked when a player rolls double 8s on the first role," Alison replies.

As it states it gives you two primary forms and some minor magical gifts. It's magic increase as your level increases," Alison says.

"I want that one then," Elijah says.

"Very nice choice. Do you have a name picked out as well," Alison asked.

"Yes, I wish to name him Kain," Elijah says.

"Do you wish to be addressed as Kain going forward," Alison asked.

"Yes, I do. Also, wish to go to the character generator to create my avatar next, please," Elijah says.

"As you wish Kain," is Alison's only reply.

Over the next hour and a half, Elijah generates his avatar look.

With two distinct appears to create, it took Elijah some time to get it all right.

When Elijah was finished, Alison activated the changes, and Elijah's form changed to that of his primary avatar's appearance.

She then generated a mirror on the wall of the tavern near the fireplace.

"If you are ready to take your first steps in Telihiem, Kain walk over to the mirror and look at the avatar you have generated," Alison says.

Elijah looks over at the mirror.

It was maybe twenty feet away, but she was right this would be his first step in Telihiem. Ava had talked to him about it beforehand so he was ready.

Yet it still took him a second to orient to the new height and feel.

It was so real Elijah knew already that the government was going to regulate this somehow.

That people would get lost in this and forget the real world.

Elijah walked over to the mirror and took a long look at his new form.

He went for the cool-hand Luke look, for his primary appearance.

Elijah then switched to his second appearance.

With it, he had taken his inspiration from Pepe Le Pew.

Yeah sure La Pew was a skunk, and Elijah's second form was a fox, but it worked.

Elijah turned around and walked back to the table and Alison.

"Do you accept these forms," Alison asked.

"Yes, I do," Elijah says.

"Congratulations Kain, you have registered the first Kitsune in Telihiem. As such you may receive one of the following gifts," Alison says.

She then lists off the following.

A. A magical weapon befitting any class you choose.

B. A second-level spell-like ability that is usable three times in a 24-hour cycle.

C. A 5% luck bonus to all skills and magical drops.

Elijah looked at the list for several minutes till the words of one of his online friends came to him.

He always said it was better to be lucky than good.

He had built his character with that rule in mind.

Elijah had always enjoyed gaming with him, now he was going to take that rule to heart.

With the smile of a loan shark, Elijah picked C. as his one-time gift.

"Kain, it is now time to roll for your character stats and to choose your starting class," Alison says.

Once again, Elijah was rolling dice, and Lady Luck was once again his copilot.

Elijah rolled six D8s, this time he rolled, two 8s, a 7, two 6s, and a 5. Adding this to the Kitsune's already good dexterity and charisma stats bonuses and he knew this character would be extra special.

It took Elijah about a half hour to finalize where he wanted his stats.

He settled on one of the two eights going into charisma.

The other one was in intelligence, and the seven went into dexterity.

The two sixes went into wisdom and constitution, and the five went into strength.

When asked to choose a starting class Elijah already knew what he wanted.

He took a Spell Blade class called Magus at the first level, and then at level two he was going to take his first level of rogue.

For a job, he took thief, and for a sub job, he took gambler.

"Welcome Kain, Magus, spell blade, card shark, pickpocket, I have a few quests for you before I release you into Telihiem," Alison says.

"Kain, do you see the old man sitting by the fire?

Go talk to him and learn his name, and come back and tell me his name," Alison says.

Elijah looks around the bar and sees the old, man Alison is talking about.

There is a blue star over the old, man's head.

Elijah slowly stands up and makes his way over to the old, man.

The old, man sets his drink down and looks up at Elijah.

"Hello, boy how are you," The old man asks.

"I am Kain, a card player, magician, and adventurer, I am new to this tavern,

Is there something I should try," Elijah says.

The old man gives a snicker, "Adventure, well welcome to the Salty Cracker newcomer," says the old man.

"If you are hungry try the stew, or if you are low on coin the bread and cheese hits the spot," says the old man

"Well thank you, stranger let me buy you another drink and maybe get a name if I could," asked Elijah

"Aaah free drink is enough to get a name," the old man says as he stands up wipes his hand off on his pants, and extends it to Elijah.

Elijah takes the man's hand and shakes it.

"My name is Bill, but my friends call me Mouse," the old man says.

"Well Mouse, I am going to go get some coin from my friend there, and I will get you that drink, Elijah says.

Elijah turns back to Alison and walks to her table and gives her the old man's name.

As he is doing this a large man with a scar over one cheek, wearing mismatched armor and carrying a long sword enters the tavern.

His hair is long and unkempt, and he is wearing a brown duster over his armor.

The big man takes a look around the tavern and sees Elijah.

"There you are, cheating cur, I am going to cut you from the belly button to Adam's apple," the big man bellows as he pulls his sword.

Everything in the tavern stops moving, even the fire.

Alison stands up, "This is your first combat.

Equip your gear and prepare yourself.

If you want to you can tap the links on the table to watch tutorials on combat.

When you are ready speak the word {start}, and the game will unlock, and combat will begin.

You will need to survive the combat to finish this tutorial.

Good luck Kain, welcome to Telihiem," Alison says.

With that, she walks toward the door touching it causing the door to be highlighted, She then just stands there.

Elijah opens his inventory and starts equipping his starting gear and weapon.

They're all of low-quality but better than nothing.

He then looks at his starting spell list.

He then prepares two spells that seem the most useful.

He looks up at the big man and uses his appraisal skill on his gear.

Elijah's skill tells him that the man's gear is no better than his own.

He guesses the man is 50 to 55 feet from him, maybe enough time to get one spell off.

Elijah tries to move back to get more space but he is stuck in his spot.

So with a short sword in his right hand and a spell prepared in his left Elijah finally said "Start".

The game unfreezes, and the big man points his sword at Elijah and starts to quickly move in his direction.

The other customers start to freak out they are running around looking for hiding spots.

The barkeep hides behind the bar.

"Ignis," Says Elijah as he points a finger of his left hand at the big man with a sword.

Instantly a streak of fire shoots out and hits the big man's arm.

The man lets out a bellow and starts to charge Elijah.

"You bloody mage, I'll cut your head off for that," the big man yells.

With that, he swings his sword in a wide, sideways ark out in front of him attempting to cut Elijah in half.

Elijah leaps up out of the way and onto the table, he was just sitting at with Alison.

"Fulgur," yells Elijah, and a ball of lightning arks out striking his attacker. The ball knocks the big man sideways almost taking him off his feet.

He looks dazed, and his hair is smoldering.

He takes a weak swing at Elijah, but there is nothing behind it.

The man seems to be stunned or at least disoriented.

Elijah dodges the big man's weak attack and leaps off the table striking with his sword and a second ball of lightning spell, both strike home easily.