-=Welcome To Maple Island=-

Maple Island, a place known for humble beginnings, stood alone on a vast sea. The island itself showed itself as a bright, beautiful, and fairly welcoming environment, covered almost entirely in vast grassland. Numerous types of plant life bloomed everywhere as well, from small shrubs to large palm trees. The land itself was fairly hilly and uneven, a few parts with very large gaps in elevation. The sun in the sky shone brightly, sending a warm and well-feeling light upon the entire island. This was the place where new potential Maple World adventurers made their start. One adventurer in particular was no different.

At the north end of the island, a strong white light that rivaled the light of the sun illuminated and grew out of thin air, swirling in ever growing strength. Then, all at once, the whiteness burst and fell away entirely, revealing a solitary, dark-dressed, one-armed figure in its wake.

Shadow Viper had arrived on Maple Island.

Gathering his bearings from his otherworldly trip, he examined his surroundings, taking in the beauty and wonder of the land around him, which looked almost nothing like his own home. All around him, he looked as other people, mostly younger than him, arrive on the island in various ways: by boat, by an aerial method, or even by warping in someway, as he did. Compared to him, the other people wore bright colors, consisting of white shirts, a variety of shorts, and different styles of shoes. *Hm,* Shadow began thinking. *Well, one thing’s for certain, this place does have its popularity.*

As he continued examining this strange new world, Shadow could see that despite the intense size of the island, there was a long stretch of a grassy path before him that was shorter and less scraggly than the other grass on the island. Shadow looked ahead as this green path traced an easy way through all of the foilage that gathered on either side of it. One side of the path had a sign with an arrow pointing forward along the trail. *Well, every destiny has a path to follow,* Shadow mused to himself before starting on the trail.

As he walked along, he could see other members of the population with a weapon in hand. Some had swords, others held axes, and still others carried wooden clubs. Sensing that even an island as welcoming as this would have its share of dangers, Shadow pulled out one of his twin daggers. As he did, he loked at the other one, which quickly gave him a feeling of annoyance. *Considering what I lost back home, I have no idea why I brought it along,* he thought rather angrily.

As he walked on further, Shadow noticed the land beginning to climb. His walking now included jumping as he worked his way farther through the island. He also saw a few people along the way that didn’t have the adventuring appeal others had, including a blue-haired woman in an odd-looking bunny suit greeting adventurers with a smile and an older looking woman more normally dressed, looking at the passing adventurers as she tended to her laundry. *Judging from the way they look and what they do, I’d say people like them live here,* Shadow surmised. *Maybe someone knows a few things about this place.*

Shadow walked up to the bunny suit woman. Noticing his approach, the woman walked over to him. “Hello,” the woman greeted warmly. “You must be a newcomer. An interesting one if I may say, what with the different look you have. Is there anything you need”

“Yes, you could say I’m different,” Shadow replied. “And yes, I am looking for some help. Would you happen to know a bit of the layout of this island?”

The woman’s smile partially faded. “I’m afraid I don’t know very much, dear,” she said, sounding a bit regretful. “However, there are a few people farther in the island who know some things I don’t. Maybe they can help. To be honest, I’m little more than a greeter to new adventurers.”

“I understand,” Shadow said with a nod before continuing on. As he followed the trail, he soon found a part of the island where the the land was really high above him. Literally. Looking ahead, he saw adventurers climbing up a string of rope to the patch of land above. “Now I KNOW I’m nowhere near home,” Shadow observed with great suprise. Not far from his position, he saw a gray haired man dressed in a blue suit, talking to some adventurers about a task of sorts. Interested, he approached the man, with hopes of some advice to aid him.

“Welcome to all who have arrived on Maple Island,” the man said to the adventurers, which now included Shadow. “My name is Peter, and I’m here to guide you on the ways of hunting and gathering with a very simple test. Along the path, there are creatures known as jr. sentinels. Normally, they are fairly powerful rock creatures, but the ones here have been drained of all of their power by wizards from afar, making them ideal for first time training. The test I have for you is simple, should you choose to accept it. Simply kill one, and it may drop a piece of its shell. Gather the shellpiece, and take it up to Todd.” Upon concluding his explanation, Peter waved off the adventurers to make room for more.

Shadow looked ahead to see some adventurers taking down these jr. sentinels that Peter mentioned. “The test sounds effortless, but I’ll do it anyway,” Shadow decided. “I might as well get myself used to fighting with one arm.”

Shadow leapt down upon a group of the small, yet fast orbs that hovered around the area. One in particular was aggaravated by his approach, and sped towards him. Shadow stood his ground, wanting to see how harmless these sentinels really were. The sentinel quickly made contact, but even with its speed, it merely bounced off his arm, giving no pain whatsoever. Smiling afterwards, Shadow brought his dagger upon the jr. sentinel, easily slicing it in two. The two halves floated for a moment before they both exploded into pieces.

Seeing this happen, the other jr. sentinels dashed away in total fright. Shadow ignored them and approached the remains of the jr. sentinel, spotting a rather large piece of rock among the debris. He gathered up the shellpiece. *This should be sufficient,* Shadow concluded as he examined the small hunk of rock before continuing on.

Shadow climbed up to the next patch of land, noting with interest how it floated in the air as he walked along it. Reaching the end of the path and another rope, Shadow climed it, wondering how many more times he would have to do so. His wondering abruptly stopped when he reached this path, seeing nothing but blue sky above him. Looking around, Shadow saw a man in a red suit who looked rather similar to Peter. This man was taking shellpieces from adventurers who passed by him. Certain that this man was Todd, Shadow ran up to him.

“Thanks for the shellpiece,” Todd said graciously when Shadow presented it to him. “As you can see,” Todd continued, “hunting is a very simple process overall. In fact, you’ll be doing quite a bit from this point on. This island is inhabited by snails and mushrooms. Don’t let their calm looks fool you; they’re a hostile bunch to any newcomer here.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Shadow replied. Then he asked, “Would you happen to know of any towns or settlements on this island?”

“Absolutely,” Todd answered. “Just keep going down through the fields. Near the south end of the island, you’ll find a junction. Both choices lead to a town. The higher road leads to Amhearst, and the lower road leads to Southperry.”

Shadow thanked Todd again and went on his way. Soon, he met yet another man that looked much like the previous two. Like Peter, he was dressed in blue. “Hello, there!” the man greeted eagerly. “My name is Sam, and I saw you were able to perform the shellpiece task when you gave it to Tood. Well done. However, if you want, you can perform more tasks like that and get more training with a well-known fighter called Mai.”

Shadow tossed the idea around in his head for a bit. “Sounds intriguing,” he eventually concluded. “Where could I find this Mai?”

“A little ways into the island,” Sam directed. “I would advise you kill ten snails before meeting her, as that will emphasize to her your interest in training.”

Shadow nodded and kept going. Before him lay numerous stretches of land, some floating in the air like those back with the jr. sentinels. In addition, he could see other adventurers fighting a host of small snails with green shells crawling at them. Shadow kept his dagger at the ready while moving about. *Well, this shouldn’t be a problem,* he mused to himself. This thought was amplified as soon as he saw a trio of snails headed toward him.

Shadow wasted no time getting to work. He jumped at them and landed in between two of them and threw out a circular slash, cutting them down instantly. The snails’ bodies melted and disappeared, leaving their shells behind. Noticing the third snail crawling toward him, Shadow leapt into the air again, landing behind snail before tearing it asunder. “Three down,” Shadow confirmed contently.

Unfortunately, 4 other snails that noticed the fight came after him. Shadow responded by hurling two snail shells at them. Both connected perfectly, cutting the group of snails in half. Then he flew forward, catching a third snail with his dagger, then he spinned around quickly, slicing the last one before it could react. After the scuffle, Shadow twirled his dagger around a bit as he realized how easy the fight went. *It looks like losing my arm hasn’t really hampered my fighting ability very much,* he thought. He gathered all of the shells around him and moved on.

Shadow soon came to a long, straight path that had more sets of floating paths above it. Many other adventurers managed to claim the snails, as well as bigger blue shell snails, on the island floor. Noting this, Shadow grabbed a nearby rope ladder and climbed up to a higher path.

Atop the ladder, Shadow quickly caught another trio of snails in his midst, along with a blue shell snail nearby. Charging forward, he stabbed through the middle snail, then repositioned himself to meet the other two he had sped by. However, the blue snail quickly took the downed snail’s place. Unfazed by the new arrival, Shadow took to the air like before, catching one of the smaller snails from behind as he landed. Scooping up its shell, Shadow jumped up yet again. As he passed above the other small snail, he threw the shell down upon it. The aim was true, as the shell spiked the snail easily. Upon landing, he noticed the blue snail still after him. He grabbed the shell from his latest kill and backflipped away to gain ground. When he was far enough, Shadow ran towards the blue snail, throwing his shell in mid-stride. The shell slammed into the larger snail, effectively stunning it. Shadow finished the blue snail off with a single slice down the middle.

*That makes ten snails, along with a blue shelled one,* Shadow confirmed as he scanned the area for any more snails. After finding none, Shadow sheathed his dagger, ready to move on. He was stopped however, by clapping. He looked behind him to see a young woman clapping. “I saw the whole thing,” she said upon finishing her applause. Then she walked closer to Shadow, offering him a handshake when she reached him. “My name is Mai, and you look like someone who is worthy of my training.”

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Hi folks! Well, I’m feeling quite a bit better today. Not totally 100%, but well enough to finally get the first chapter up. Sorry to have kept you all waiting. Hope you enjoy it! *Hands out Mountain Dew to everyone*

Previous installments (listed in order from most recent to earliest):
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