A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

The two, Eldrian and the dark-robed NPC, traveled in complete silence. This silence was not normal either, but rather unnatural. It muffled all sounds, the hooves of the horses hitting the ground, the wind passing past Eldrian's ears. Even his and the horses breathing, all seemed to not exist.

When Eldrian realized this he felt goosebumps spread over him as he wondered what was going on. The silence racked his nerves making him want to break it by talking. Each time he considered it and opened his mouth he would get a death stare from the NPC.

Eldrian felt certain the stare said something like, "You talk and I will leave you." This caused him to swallow back his words and wonder just why they had to be silent. His imagination ran wild.

After having traveled in this eerie silence for over an hour Eldrian found another thing to worry about. He had not taken into account how late it was when he followed the NPC, he had just a few hours left until he would be forcefully logged out.

At this time he had no idea how long they still needed to travel, the fires from his old division having long been hidden by the night. No new light source offering Eldrian relief.

With this added stress Eldrian felt himself mentally tire as if he was using magic. Feeling this familiar tiredness somehow helped him cope a bit as he looked at the darkness surrounding them. Realizing for the first time that it was truly dark.

Looking up he found that there was no moon, yet he knew that today was not a new moon. No, it had been a half-moon. Wait, where are the stars? Eldrian questioned as his gaze wandered and he realized that there was none.

The hell is going on! Eldrian shouted internally. He had no idea if this was caused by the NPC or by the things they were seemingly avoiding, his mind became even more of a mess. Eldrian started wishing that something would just attack them. At least then he could do something.

This silence felt like torture and was driving him crazy.

If not for the system clock Eldrian felt he would have gone crazy, yet he knew that only one more hour had passed. This did not comfort him though as he knew each hour passing meant he was in more danger.

How far is his division! Eldrian shouted in his mind, finding that even his mental voice was softer. This freaked him out for good. Eldrian started looking around worriedly, wondering just what could make him think at a lower volume.

I am going to miss my class... Eldrian realized as another hour passed. This caused him to realize an important fact and relieved the stress he was feeling a little.

He had to actually manage his game time, luckily he did not have a test today, but if he had then it would have been truly bad.

This sidetrack allowed Eldrian to calm down, bringing back logical thinking. Back to his normal self he curiously looked around again, wondering just when he had started to freak out. It's not scary. Weird, yes. But not scary. He told himself, feeling certain that the darkness was caused by the NPC.

It is to keep something from finding us. Eldrian told himself, confident in this statement.

More time passed and Eldrian received a system notification informing him that he had passed the allowed playtime.

[Max playtime has been reached, player will be forcefully expelled from the game in two hour. Receiving double the death penalty and being blocked from logging in again for one day.]

[Player will spawn where forcefully logged out when allowed to log in.]

Reading this Eldrian felt that the felt a coldness surge through him. This notification was basically a triple death sentence for him. First, he would die twice by log out and then when he actually logged in.

He was certain he would not survive this place on his own.

As Eldrian started freaking out mentally he finally saw some light in front. Ultimate relief flooding him, Eldrian almost fell off from the horse as his entire body relaxed.

As they neared a fire surrounded by a few NPCs Eldrian felt the entire night becoming brighter. Surprised by this he looked up and saw the moon and stars, relief washing over him as he realized he was safe.

"Are-" Eldrian wanted to ask if they were here but he was interrupted by the robed NPC's stare.

"Who goes there!" The NPCs around the fire sprang into life as they pulled their weapons out and flanked Eldrian and the other NPC.

"Dreadful Night. Calm down and stay alert, they are active tonight."

The first sentence caused all the NPC to immediately put away their weapons and back away from the NPC in dark robes. Fear and respect clear in their eyes.

The second sentence caused them all to tense up and shiver. Some even broke into a cold sweat, Eldrian even able to see the sweat running down their foreheads.

As Eldrian and the robed NPC passed them he heard one of the guards say with a mix of fear and respect, "T-to travel at night... He is true to his name."

Eldrian had no idea what was going on, the NPCs reaction made him wonder just who this robed NPC was. When he wanted to ask he got another glare.

Mustering up his courage Eldrian wanted to at least ask what was all the silence about. Especially now that they were safe. "What were you talking about?"

"Nychterninos Tromos. True demons of the night. I am surprised you managed to keep cool-headed, I had half expected I would need to knock you unconscious."

Wait, what! Eldrian almost shouted out. The answer did not really help him understand what was going on, but it did inform him that the glares were the NPC readying to knock him out. On one side he almost wanted this to have happened. But on the other hand it could have turned out bad for him.

"Why did you come and get me at night then?" Eldrian asked, wondering just why they would risk something which had sent a bunch of veteran soldiers into shivers. From the robed NPC calling them demons of the night, Eldrian felt it would be safer to travel during the day.

"We would need to send an entire regiment to bring you over during the day. This is the most efficient and least dangerous way."

Eldrian was surprised that the NPC was actually answering his questions. More than he was about the answers, as such he asked another. One which was more pressing for him currently.

"When will we reach Old Sword?" Eldrian really wanted to make sure he could log out as soon as possible. Leaving his other questions for later, he doubted that this NPC would actually answer his curiosity questions.

"A few minutes." The NPC replied as they rode through the camp, keeping quiet after this again.

This division was clearly much different from the one Eldrian had previously been in. The resource division had only been really organized at the perimeter, the inside of it was more chaotic with all the transportation vehicles and animals.

This division instead was clearly structured to react to a fight immediately. The tents were set in groups, these groups were again set in more groups and so forth. Making an entire system that could easily defend in sections. Each section independent of the other.

Eldrian was also shocked at how much smaller this division looked, yet he knew that the number of soldiers here was the same if not more. The size difference likely being due to the lack of transportation vehicles.

"Here we are, you go in." The NPC said, disappearing as soon as he did. Eldrian had been looking straight at him, yet somehow the NPC had disappeared before him before he could even reply. It seemed to Eldrian as if the NPC had simply vanished into the dark.

Looking at the large tent in front of him Eldrian felt he was at the correct place. The tent was much bigger than the others, but it was not fancy. Its size was likely to allow people to gather inside, entering Eldrian found this to be correct.

Inside there was a bunch of NPCs standing around a round table. Old Sword was leaning on the table as he looked at the map.

Everyone in this room seemed to be in full battle wear. Old Sword in his old scrappy armor which had been fixed multiple times. His greatsword slung over his shoulder and a dagger in his hand.

All the others in the tent were also battle ready. Fully dressed in armor and weapons at the ready. This sight confused Eldrian but he simply took it in.

Old Sword did not lift his head, speaking coldly. "Go through, we will talk tomorrow."

Eldrian felt strange hearing the distance and coldness in Old Sword's voice. It caused him to slightly think of the worst. He tried to change his thoughts immediately as he passed all the NPCs.

While Eldrian was worried about what had caused Old Sword to be that cold to him, Eldrian knew that he had to log out as soon as possible. If he did not then he might not be able to log back in on time.