Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Disney, least of all Zootopia (yet)
It has been 12 years now since the release of the greatest fantasy MMO ever know to mammalkind. A world in which many mammals have gotten lost ever since it's release.
A world in which many have found the adventure that which they could never find in the real world.
A world where some have found treasures and fame beyond measure.
A world in which nothing seems impossible.
And as such it was probably fate that a young adventurous bunny such as Judith Hopps would find herself drawn to this vast magical world.
The world of Eon's Crest.
Day 1 The Guild
The touchscreen of her VDT(Virtual Dive Tank) was glowing in a royal red as the last bit of data was being downloaded and the logo of the game sprung onto the middle of the screen.
Eon's Crest, it read, and Judy felt the giddy anticipation flow through her entire body. She would finally be able to see this whole new world through her own eyes.
That fabled world that some of her older siblings frequented every so often.
It had been hard for her to accumulate the money to get her own VDT and a copy of the game since a VDT had to be custom made. But Judy had never known how to back down. And so she had worked hard for the last two years. And now, just in time for the summer holidays, she had managed to finance her dream.
The mechanical purr of her VDT was calming as Judy stripped and readied herself to jump into the machine.
She had only done three dives so far. One to adjust the machine, one to experience the techdemo that came with the machine and her last dive was to read and experience the virtual tutorial for VR games like Eon's Crest that came with the game.
She had naturally read all the guides and the manual that came with the game itself as well, but that did not stop her from being nervous.
This was a whole new world she was entering now.
And despite her giddy anticipation there was a part of her that wondered if the world of Eon's Crest could truly be as marvelous as it had been described by others.
But there was no other way to find out but to take the leap, was there?
So she laid down into the tank before her before it closed around her with a swishing sound shortly after.
It was dark inside once more, but that was okay since it was really warm and comfortable.
The purring of the machine was much quieter now that she was inside and she could feel a shiver run down her spine when the inside of the tank lit up in red and gold before a voice spoke to her.
"Loading Eon's Crest, Judy are you sure that you want to dive?" Came the question of the automated OS.
An adventurous grin found it's way onto Judy's muzzle when she replied,"yes I am sure."
There was an electric feeling that made her whole fur stand on end before there was nothing.
A hazy feeling filled her entire body as Judy slowly found herself to be standing in a totally white plain which extended into infinity.
The loading area.
She had no time to marvel its vastness though as a thrust went through her whole body and her eyes closed instinctively as if blinded by a glistening light.
When she opened them again she found herself sitting on a chair and facing a beautiful lioness with energetic blue eyes. She was wearing a wine red uniform with ocean blue accents and golden lining. Judy could smell the scent of old wood and paper in the air and it made her realize that this was indeed a whole new world.
The room itself seemed like an old office and papers as well as other utensils, some of which Judy had no idea what they were supposed to be, were sprawled all over the desk.
The lioness smiled and started speaking,"hello young adventurer. It is great to meet you. I am Chearie and I am the mammal in charge of helping you find your place in this world."
Her voice was really calming and Judy wondered if all NPCs would be like her.
"So, may I inquire your name my dear?"
Judy nodded happily, she had decided to go with her real name as her player name. A trend that had developed in the gaming world ever since 'real' virtual worlds had become a thing.
"I am Judy..." She hesitated though, giving her full name was not required and there were many creeps out there in the world. No it was better to go without it.
"Just Judy?" Came the immediate question from Chearie.
"Yes, just Judy." She had made her decision, now there was no turning back.
"Alright then, just Judy," Chearie gave her a wink as she said that,"are you familiar with the concept of the guild aptitude test?"
Judy nodded, the guild aptitude test was described in the manual as a way of determining the strengths of a mammal in the game world.
Base stats would be awarded based on personality, affinity as well as interests and other factors.
That being said the stat total was always the same and thus no one was able to get an unfair advantage right off the bat.
Chearie had already grabbed a new aptitude crystal and moved it towards Judy's side of the table.
"If you would please." She said with a courteous smile.
And so Judy grabbed the crystal, which was relatively big for her, with both paws.
"Close your eyes." Demanded Chearie promptly and so Judy did.
"Relax and focus on the crystal in your paws, feel the energy cursing within."
This was easier said than done. How should she feel magical energy when she had never possessed it outside of this world before?
No, rather than thinking that, she should be trying to feel for something new right?
And so she tried doing exactly that, while Chearie was patiently waiting for her to achieve some sort of result.
At first she felt nothing but stupid while concentrating on the clear white crystal in her paws. This changed though as soon as she actually felt something flowing inside the crystal.
It was a weird feeling and it felt like something was swirling around in her paws. Something that was not entirely physical.
If she had to describe it. It felt a lot like a warm wind current or something similar.
After focusing for only god knew how long, she finally managed to influence the current in the crystal.
It had come naturally to her once she had gotten a better grasp of what she was actually feeling.
"You have done great Judy." Came a happy comment from the only other mammal in the room. And Judy lost her focus as she realized once more, that she had been under observation this whole time.
Had she done something weird?
Was taking this long normal or not?
She opened her eyes and looked at the crystal she was holding, it had changed entirely.
Not only had its form changed significantly from a ruby shape into an orb.
It had also changed within. The crystal itself was still mostly clear but a weird pattern had formed inside. Many different colors intertwined like vines or strings and were forming cloud like structures with hard complex cores which seemed to spiral around the center of the cristal.
It was utterly beautiful.
"Woah..." Escaped Judy as she still marveled the gem that had been changed, by her no less.
Chearie gave her a big smile as she said,"woah indeed! I don't get to see a pattern like that everyday. And considering that this is my job that is saying something."
She then leaned closer and reached over the table and held out her far bigger paw before Judy.
"May I have that for a moment?"
Judy, still engrossed in her creation, did not react however.
And so Chearie cleared her throat and tried again.
"I just need it for a short moment, you can have it back afterwards."
This time she managed to get through to Judy and so she added, "I promise, I wont rob you" with a wink.
Oh right, Judy thought somewhat embarrassed, this was still a test and she was wasting time.
"Sure, here you go." She said curtly while the insides of her ears went a little pink.
Before she gave the crystal back to the lioness in front of her.
Chearie in turn grabbed a small pedestal which was engraved with weird runes. Once she had placed it onto the middle of the table, she proceeded to then place the crystal onto it.
The runes suddenly flared up in a ghostly blue light and the crystal orb started to float atop of the small pedestal.
Judy was awestruck and she wondered if everything in this world would be this beautiful.
There was a faint sound coming from the pedestal that reminded Judy of a crackling fire or sparking electricity.
It was a weird sound, but it felt natural in some way.
After a few seconds it stopped glowing and the orb slowly lowered itself back down onto solid ground.
This prompted Chearie to grab the orb and the pedestal and move it towards the side of the table.
Which in turn allowed Judy to see that a paper had been lying below the pedestal.
She had not seen it before and she assumed that it had actually not been there before as Chearie picked it up in a careful manner only to say in a calm professional manner.
"As expected from someone with a pattern that beautiful and rare, you have got some interesting stats."
It was like a heavy burden fell from Judy's chest. A burden which she had no idea had been looming over her until it was actually gone.
The effect was completely unfiltered bliss.
"Really?!" Judy all but shouted before she tried correcting herself into a more timid," I mean... I do?"
The reply she got was a nod and once Chearie realized that this was not nearly enough information for Judy. Most likely from the observing the way her eyes were beaming with curiosity, she elaborated on the manner at paw.
"Most mammals have obvious strengths and weaknesses." She looked at Judy who was still beaming at her with those eyes that said tell me everything.
"And you certainly do too. However most mammals have two primary strengths in their stats. Those are known as affinities, there are also some above average mammals who have three. And on the other paw they also have weaknesses and these are known as incompatibilities."
Chearie took a deep before continuing, "You though, have got four major strengths and two weaknesses which makes you top cut."
Judy could not help but happily jump up onto her feet, which still left her on the chair as it was meant for much larger mammals.
Having four major affinities and only two weaknesses could only be good right?
Once she looked back towards Chearie though she saw that the lioness was not smiling.
"That is good...right?" Judy asked somewhat discouraged and her mood finally dampened.
Chearie gave a sigh. "In the long run...sure. However it will make things a lot harder for you when you are just starting out."
Judy had no idea how to feel about this.
She was by no means a pro.
She actually qualified as the exact opposite.
So the fact that things would be harder for her in the beginning was a bummer.
That being said, this was a chance right?
If she managed to get past 'starting out' then she would only benefit from this.
Yeah, that had to be her goal! Getting past the hard part would be her first task. She could not be discouraged by things getting a little difficult!
"It will allow you to grasp your skills better and it will also allow you to choose rare classes, when it comes to advancing your class, more easily. But still, your stats are pretty evened out because of this and thus you will have no distinct strength that you can rely on. At least stat wise."
Yeah, that was to be expected, but being able to master rare classes seemed like a real opportunity.
"Alright then, what are my strengths?" Asked Judy as she could no longer hold back her curiousity.
Chearie smirked and passed her the paper that she had been holding.
Once Judy touched the paper it disintegrated into thin air and there was a short ping noise that seemed to come from right inside her head.
And a holographic display entered her field of vision.
MENU UNLOCKED
INVENTORY UNLOCKED
STATUS WINDOW UNLOCKED
The sudden appearance of said display had startled Judy, since she had already forgotten that she was in a digital world altogether.
It had just felt so real until now.
There was an arrow located on the display before her and she pressed it in an instinctual manner.
The window closed and another one took its place.
It was a small window which displayed her Stats.
They were all at one except for her HP value which was at twelve.
All in all it was not really that impressive to be honest.
How was she supposed to tell her strengths and weaknesses from this?
As if she was reading her mind Chearie jumped at the opportunity to fill her in.
"Don't worry most new adventurers don't understand."
Judy looked up at the lioness who had a caring expression as she calmly continued to explain.
"Do you see how some of your status points are cursive and some are bold?"
Judy nodded while focusing on her Stats.
Intelligence, Strength, Dexterity and Stamina were bold and so she figured that these were her Affinities.
Which meant that irritatingly enough Wisdom and Elemental Affinity were her weaknesses.
Luck and Perception being her normal stats.
Judy nodded in affirmation and answered,"yes and I think I understood the system."
Chearie smiled brightly once more. "Great, using techniques that rely on your affinities will feel much more natural to you. So you should focus on that when you actually pick your class."
Judy was startled when Chearie finished her sentence and suddenly rose for her chair.
"That being said, before you can choose your class you will have to reach level 10."
The lioness made her way over towards the right side of the room where a small shelf was filled with dozens upon dozens of documents.
"Luckily for you, I happened to get a great quest just a few hours ago which should suit you quite well."
She grabbed one of the documents and brought it over towards Judy.
"Be warned though this job will not be easy."
Judy nodded in affirmation once more.
No matter how hard the task, she would at the very least try.
She grabbed the paper out of Chearie's paw and it disintegrated like her status sheet had before.
Quest Acquired:
Smiting Smithy
Difficulty Level: F
Reward: EXP + Unknown amount of Gold + ?
This would be her first quest. And she was determined to finish it!
Authors Note:
Here I go with another AU.
Which is what I am best at. I really need some help with these things now that I got so many.
I could use a Co Author who works together with me on my stories to get them out faster anyone interested?