Bright.
The sun shines high in the sky. It lights up the beach. The floor stretches for hundreds of thousands of miles, too far for me to take it all in.
Unlike other floss which have height this floor is flat.
I can almost see the edges.
Sometimes I forget that each floor has its own day-night cycle. It's based on where it was in the original world. Back before the World Tree grew into what it is now.
We spawn on a giant teleport rune made of black crystal.
Etched in red letters are the words "Illarian_Lake."
Hundreds of players gather around the surrounding gate, meeting friends in clothes similar to ours, a mix of colors. No one wears armor or carries weapons. It seems we all agreed it's better to keep peaceful floors just that, peaceful.
The atmosphere is loud as we walk to the edge of the rune. A massive lake spreads before me, impossible to judge how deep it is, surrounded by miles of beach in a circle. Some sections are dotted with forests and flowers. Almost the entire floor is this lake and the beaches around it.
Crabs scuttle across the sand. Shells of all sizes litter the ground. I wonder how a lake this big could exist in this world.
If this counts as a lake, what does a sea look like?
I slip off my sandals. I let my feet sink into the sand. We walk for a few miles. I took in the smell of the beach and searched for a quiet spot. It felt almost impossible.
We found a small clearing with palm trees behind us. They offer a bit of privacy.
"Here," Sera says, looking at Rei.
Rei nods silently.
Sera snaps her fingers, and a green flash lights up the area.
The flash dies down, and my eyes return to normal. Sera has summoned everything we might need, laid out neatly as if she expects the rest of G2 to arrive, though I'm not sure they will.
The cooler shelves hold food: different types of meat ready for the grill, chips, and drinks. Three large towers of supplies, sunscreen, a big beach umbrella that could cover all of us, and a few smaller ones. Chairs line the sand.
A frisbee, some decks of cards, a volleyball, and a net. Bags filled with small amenities like sunglasses, napkins, and paper towels.
"How much was all this?" Risto asks.
Sera looks at Rei. "Not worth the stress of fighting the slime queen."
Shino shifts, clearly embarrassed.
I wish I had brought something, I say.
"No," Rei replies. "We intended to have two guilds here. There's plenty for you."
"If you say so," she mumbled.
"Two guilds?" Adrian asks.
"I had Sera ask your guild if they wanted to come," Rei answers. "They said they might, but they're working on something else."
"Sounds like them," Adrian says. He fidgeted with his fingers for a moment. "I'll start cooking!"
"I'll put up the volleyball net," Viri says, excitement clear in her voice. "Haven't played in a hot minute."
She walks over to the equipment box. On the side, I notice a small logo: two letters, FG. Most of the supplies, from chairs to umbrellas to coolers, are from that guild. The grill, however, comes from a different one.
Teruki settles into a chair, putting on sunglasses as she pulls out a book and pen. Viri works on the volleyball net while Rei offers help, which Viri ignores.
"I can do it myself," Viri says, smiling stubbornly.
Rei laughs and steps back, letting her struggle in vain, watching her grin as she wrestles with the poles.
Adrian places wood into the grill and lights it with a Fire Stone. The smell is warm, like rosewood. He seems focused, peaceful. I didn't want to interrupt.
I walk toward the water.
The water is cold but perfect. It's clear enough to see deep. I stop at the edge, letting the water lap at my feet.
Shino and Sera walk up beside me. Shino looks around, thinking out loud for a moment, unsure what to do next.
"I can't swim," Shino finally admits.
"What?" I say, surprised.
"As a kid, I never learned. And as a slime, we always just float. There's a reason there aren't slimes in the ocean."
"Do you want me to teach you?" Sera asks.
"Why you?" Shino replies.
"Sure," Sera says, monotone.
Sera wades deep into the water, and Shino follows behind her. A small smile crosses my face.
Fish swirl around their legs.
They move farther into the lake. Shino is completely submerged, but Sera keeps her head above the water. Sera lifts her as she wades, giving instructions on what to do. After a few mo
Shino manages to wade on her own. She moved back and forth with a happy expression flashing across her face.
I never realized how short she really is. I'm not tall by any means.
"Hey, Shino," I say, trying to get her attention. Sera helps her wade as we talk.
"Yeah?"
"How tall are you?"
"144.78 centimeters, I think," she replies instantly.
"And in feet?" I ask.
"About 4'9," she answers.
"Really?" I say, surprised.
"Well how tall are you all ?" Shino asked.
We all start sharing our heights.
"Viri, you first," I say.
"6'1," she replies, standing tall and proud.
"Reyna?"
"5'10," she says.
"No way," Adrian says, laughing. "We can't be the same height."
Rei stands back-to-back with him, smirking.
"I'm slightly taller," she gloats.
"To be fair," Adrian says, "I'm still growing. I'll dwarf all of you eventually."
"Okay, let's see," Rei says, stretching my arms. "Sera, how tall are you?"
"5'6," she answers without hesitation.
"Teruki?"
"5'3," she replies, adjusting her sunglasses.
"And you?" Rei ask, glancing at myself.
"I'm 5'4," I say proudly.
Risto chimes in. She leans against the cooler. "5'5! Looks like I'm right in the middle."
Adrian goes back to cooking. He shook his head with a smile.
I keep watching Shino swim. She's only able to wade at first, but with Sera's help, she moves forward and back, clearly excited.
I stand up, letting Sera and Shino continue. My feet are wet, sticking in the sand. I slip my sandals back on and let them dry.
Risto sits beside Adrian as he cooks. The smell of hamburgers and sausages fills the air. Adrian also makes a small pizza with ingredients and cheese. In the coolers, there are chicken wraps, sub sandwiches cut in thirds, and pasta salad.
Adrian starts plating the food. Risto moves back and forth between the cooler and the grill. She helps where she can.
"I've always had this question," Risto says, breaking the quiet.
"What is it, Risto?" Adrian asks as he slides a burger onto my plate.
"I thought you didn't use magic," Risto continues, "but your willingness to use runes, city gates, and anchors… how does that make sense?"
I glance at Adrian while he sets down another plate.
"I think the problem people have," Adrian says, "is they assume this world is a one-to-one recreation of the game. It is not. There are skills, like soul force skills, that did not exist in the game."
He sets down a small dish of pasta salad and grabs tongs to move slices of pizza onto another plate.
"What I believe," he continues, "is that there are three types of energy or magic, if you want to call it that. The first is obvious, mana. The second is the soul. Soul force skills and runes use this."
He pauses while flipping a burger and sliding it onto a plate.
I listen as he explains further, watching him arrange fries for himself while Risto goes back and forth helping cook and handing him plates.
"Mana and soul," Adrian says. "Mana is random. Some people have a lot, others almost none. There have only been eleven cases of a player having no mana at all. You are more likely to have billions than zero." He gestures toward the city gate outside. "Skills like runes are built on this. Teleport runes in cities use soul because not everyone has enough mana. You can pour mana into a rune to power or enhance it. You cannot do the opposite."
He shifts a plate toward me and wipes his hands on a towel. "Souls cannot shape elements. There are runes that replicate lightning, ice, or wind, but those still use mana. True runes use soul. Everyone in this world has a soul. We all have the same amount, even avatars."
"That is why soul force skills or skills that target the soul are so deadly." Risto says. Risto Sits on a nearby chair.
"That is also why I don't like avatars. They merge souls into one."
"If soul skills didn't exist in the game, how did avatars work?" I asked.
"I guess that makes sense," he replied. "Since avatars existed in the game, souls probably did too, even though there was never a visible soul meter or anything like that."
Adrian grabs another burger and adds it to Risto's plate.
"So since everyone can use soul, you use it?" Risto added.
"The reason I don't use mana, even though I have a lot, is because there would be an inherent advantage between me and the average person. Anyone can pick up a sword. Anyone can use a spear. Anyone can use soul. But not everyone can use skills that rely on mana."
He paused. "Even so… I hate magic in general. Humans were never meant to have this kind of power."
I nod and take a bite of my burger. Rei walks over as Viri finishes the net.
"And what about the third?" Rei asks, picking up a plate.
I watch Adrian shift on his feet, arranging food on plates as he thinks.
"Sho likes cultivation. Although cultivation doesn't improve the soul, nor does it increase mana in any meaningful way. At least not in a way we can rely on. That means there has to be at least one more type of energy we can use or improve."
Risto chews for a moment before asking again, "And what is this hypothesis based on?"
"Have you ever been in a fight, Risto, where all hope seems lost? You are out of energy, and you need to draw deeper from a well that should not even exist," Adrian explains, sliding a slice of pizza onto my plate.
"You call that power Will?"
He leans back slightly and gestures with one hand. "Mana is fuel. Soul is structure. And what did we learn in all the books that NPCs wrote? Everything ties to commands. Will is a command."
I nod slowly. I try to let it sink in.
"It's a shame," Risto says.
She shook her head.
"This world is so confusing. So many facets, so many systems that clash. I'm sure you're right. There are other powers we haven't unlocked yet."
"If it were a one-to-one system," Rei say, "we wouldn't have to worry about all this. We would know for certain how everything works."
"Yeah," Adrian agrees, arranging some food on his plate. "But I much prefer this. I would hate levels or experience points, being forced to kill. I much prefer…" He pauses, looking around at the lake and the beach.
"How human this world is."