Edward lies down on his bed after he makes sure his door is locked. He puts on the headset and says "Start!" His vision behind the visor turns white.
Edward finds himself in a white room. A figure pops into existence before him. It looks like a fairy. At 5 inches tall with pointy ears and a pair of dragonfly wings flapping. It zips around Edward before saying "Welcome new player! I am the AI overseeing the game, you can call me Albert." Edward is stunned. "You look so real! Expressions and everything!" Albert smiles. "Of course Taria is a revolutionary game using different AI for every character. Each one of us has emotions and thoughts."
"How do I start playing?"
"That's easy! We first scan your body and create an avatar for you. Then you need to choose a starting city and class. Finally you choose a username and you're ready to go!" Albert continues buzzing around in front of Edward. "From then on if you don't have any questions you can start playing."
"Ok if you'll please scan me, I have work in the morning so I'd like to start as soon as possible." Albert nods. "Give me a second."
A red light comes from Alberts eyes going over Edward from head to toe. After it's finished Albert frowns.
"Are you hacking?" Edward is surprised "What no!? How can I hack the game when it just came out?" Albert is still frowning. "Then how do you have the blessings of wind and water? Those should only be available late in the game." Edward returns his frown with one of his own. "Can you keep a secret?"
"All player information is kept confidential even from the game company."
"Well then, I got them when I died and reincarnated."
Alberts eyes widen. "So you mean to tell me you were reincarnated with a blessed body?"
"I don't quite understand it myself."
"Very well I'll allow it, although it's a unique case. This is your avatar." Albert motions and an exact replica of Edward appears in front of him. "Would you like to make any changes?"
"Uhh" Edward stares forward with a dumb look. "Can you give me a big bushy beard?"
"Of course!" Albert motions again and a luxurious, thick beard grows on the figure.
"That's perfect!" Albert nods. "Now your starting city..." He waves his arm and a round world appears in front of Edward. "Just take a look and choose." Edward walks around the the globe. 'A port city would be great. Someplace where I can get back into the navy or piracy. Sailing is what I do best.' He peruses before stopping in front of a collection of islands.
"Pirates Cove?" Albert nods. "Yes, although I wouldn't recommend starting there. It's on the more difficult end of starting cities." Edward smiles I'll start there."
"Ok then! Your available starting classes are be: privateer, swashbuckler, sea witch, or witch doctor." Albert waves his arm again and the world disappears, 4 different figures materialize in front of them.
The privateer is dressed like a common sailor with a sword and pistol on each of his sides respectively. The swashbuckler has two sabers and is dressed more like a pirate. The sea witch is wearing a dark blue robe with a symbol of a kraken on the front. The witch doctor has purple tattoos all over his body and is clutching a voodoo doll.
"Out of these the swashbuckler and sea witch are more alike traditional classes from virtual reality games." Albert pauses. "For example the swordsman and wizard. Although they vary slightly they are mostly the same."
"Not interested" says Edward.
"Very well. The privateer is the common pirate. Wielding a gun and sword, they are short to mid range."
"I'm tempted, but what's the witch doctor about?"
"The witch doctor uses a variety of magics to buff themselves and curse others."
"Do classes restrict what weapons you can wield?"
"No they do not, however classes give users certain benefits when using one weapon or the other."
"Then I'd like to be a witch doctor!"
"Very well then. What will be a your username?"
Edward gives Albert a large smile. "Make my username Blackbeard." Albert returns the smile. "Ok Blackbeard. Any last questions?"
"Yes, I have work at 8:00 in the morning. How do I set an alarm?"
"Just bring up your system by thinking... Well system! From there you can set an alarm for any time, among other things."
"You will spawn in a starting town nearby Pirates Cove. Have fun!" Albert waves and the surrounding white room begins fragmenting, falling away as Albert zips off into the surrounding dark space.
——————————
Edward opens his eyes to a blue sky with a few clouds in the distance. He is lying down on a beach and wearing a simple white cotton shirt with brown trousers. The tide is coming in almost touching his bare feet. The first thing he does is think 'system.' An interface opens up and he sets an alarm for 7:30.
Next he checks his profile.
Blackbeard
Class: witch doctor
Health: 100
Mana: 100
Strength: 10 (+10)
Vitality: 10 (+10)
Agility: 10 (+20)
Intelligence: 10 (+10)
Wisdom: 10 (+10)
Skills:
-Passive: Blessed Body of Water Stage 1
Plus ten to all stats. 400% additional regeneration when water is applied to a wound.
-Passive: Blessed Body of Wind Stage 1
Plus ten to agility. When wind is blowing in the direction you are going, receive 100% boost to agility.
Just after he finishes a window pops up in the lower left corner of his vision.
[Quest: Get your class gear]
-Get to town and talk to your class teacher-
'Guess this is how it starts for everyone.' Edward looks around and spots buildings in the distance. He starts walking in their direction. While thinking to himself 'Its so lifelike! I never expected this.' He wiggles his toes into the sand. 'I can feel each individual grain of sand!'
In ten minutes Edward walks into town. As he does he receives a message. [Welcome to the village Sacra!] The people walking on the main road give him side glances. Curious about the new visitor.
'Well I guess I'll treat them like I did most villagers.' He reaches over to someone walking past him and grabs their arm. "If you know what's good for ya tell me where the witch doctor is!" The man he grabs looks startled as he turns to look at Blackbeard. His face turns from a scared one to a look of scorn. "A level one like you thinks you can talk big like that! I'd like to see if you can even hurt me!" Edward looks shocked as he checks the area above the NPC's head.
'Villager lvl 11'
'Shit I didn't think he could see my level. I'm like a sailor who's yet to find his sea legs!'
Edward gives the villager a pained smile "Sorry, my ship crashed and I washed ashore on this island. I'm a bit grouchy given the circumstances, could you direct me towards the witch doctor of this town?" The villager widens his eyes at Edwards attitude doing a complete 180. He narrows his eyes then says "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today. Just follow the main road, take the third left and on the right side of the street there's a sign with a skull and crossbones above it. That's where you'll find the witch doctor."
Edward thanks him and sets off. 'Guess I can't bully anyone I find like I used to be able to. I'll have to be more respectful until I have a high level.' he follows the directions and enters the door under the sign. The bells on the door jingle as he enters into the dimly lit room. In a corner a hunched old woman in a gray robe is stirring something in a pot. It's giving off a foul smell. Keeping in mind to be respectful after seeing the level 54 over her head he says "Hello there, I wish to become a witch doctor would you be willing to teach me?"
The old woman doesn't say anything only motioning with her finger for Edward to come closer. Edward walks over. As he does the foul smell coming from the pot gets worse. Eventually Edward reaches the woman. He has a pale face and is holding his breath. The woman looks over. "Since you can stand the smell of this brew without retching I'll teach you."
She snaps her finger and the fire under the pot goes out. She snaps her fingers again and the black liquid in the pot is funneled into a potion tube in her other hand. She corks it and looks at him with an appraising eye. The smell slowly dissipates from the room.
"Your mana pool is decent but I have no idea how you are still level one at that age!" She cackles "Someone like me must've stolen your experience."
"The first order of business is making a voodoo doll. It's the most basic kind. For more advanced ones, you need to innovate and experiment." She begins rummaging through drawers on the wall. "By the way my name is Dorrotte." Dorrotte pulls out many different vials filled with different colored liquids, some dust, and finally straw. "Now this is isn't easy, making even the most basic doll takes heart and a lot of ingredients. Let me teach you."
Edward and Dorrotte spend the next four hours making the doll. They first shape it using straw. Then they soak it in pitch and the blood of many different monsters. Finally the doll is covered in the dust of undead bones.
There are four types of dolls. The crude type which Edward and Dorrotte made. Bane dolls (attack). Mojo dolls (protection). And spirit dolls (healing). The three dolls other than crude use different types of world energy as their source. The crude crude dolls are similar to regular wizards magic.
"Now to select a target for your doll you need to attune to them It's simple, just touch them with the doll and use the skill attune. From there you can harm or heal the target." She pulls out a book from a shelf. "Just read this book on the basics of voodoo and witchcraft and you'll figure it out."
Edward takes the book, sits down on the floor and starts reading. It takes him about thirty minutes to get through the small book. 'It seems voodoo isn't entirely about dark magic as I thought. It can do a wide variety of things from crowd control to healing to damage.'
Skill learned: Attune lvl 1
Cost: 1 mana
Attune to the target touched. Allows the user to cast voodoo on the target. Up to three targets available at a time. Stays until a new target is chosen or you get farther than 30 feet away from the target. As you level up the skill, the distance and amount of targets available increase.
Skill learned: Poke lvl 1
Cost: 10 mana per target
The witch doctor uses a needle to stab into a voodoo doll. The attuned target is dealt 30 physical damage. No limit on targets per use.
Edward thanks Dorrotte and makes to leave. "Hold on just a minute you didn't think I was doing this all for free did you?" Edward stops in door turning around with a bewildered look on his face. "No, no, no you owe me and I just so happen to need a certain ingredient to finish my new experiment." She smiles wickedly. "Won't you help an old woman?"
"Of course I will, what do you need?" Edward says keeping in mind her level above her head. "Giant alligator hearts. Five of them. With your skills you should be able to handle that right?" A panel shows up in Edwards lower left hand vision again.
[Quest: Hearts for Dorrotte]
Dorrotte needs five giant alligator hearts for her latest experiment. Collect them and return to her and you'll be rewarded
Reward:
300 xp
???
"Very well I'll do this for you." Dorrotte gives him a toothy grin. "Great! There's a swamp on the other side of this island about an hours walk away. There you'll find the alligators." Edward turns towards the doorway once more. As he leaves he hears her old voice again, "Have fuuun!"