"Link Start!"
Darkness enveloped my body in its entirety. The darkness, though intangible, seemingly touched my skin and made me tingle in its frigid touch. I shivered and attempted to cover my body with my arms in an attempt to warm myself up, but realized soon after that I was threadbare this whole time.
I attempted to look around me, but I still can't see anything beyond the darkness of the environment around me. It was as if I fell into the depths of a black hole, and into the event horizon which drawn a clear boundary between space and time.
I tried to open my mouth to shout, but no voice came out of my larynx. Am I supposed to see anything at this point? Why is it not working? Is the game malfunctioning? I felt anxiety creep through my spine, making me feel even colder than before.
In a moment, as if done testing my patience, a menu suddenly visualizes itself in front of me. It was a simple, pellucid white box asking for my name. I hesitated. What name should I use?
"Aron." I murmured under my breath. I took it from a name mom told me she wanted to give me, had dad not given me Stevenson first. A name referring to a mountain of strength, a teacher, just as I tried to be the sole parent to my sister Ashley. I smiled, if it was even possible for me to smile in this part of the game yet.
When the menu disappeared from my sight, another zoomed into view. It was a series of menus, options rather, that revolved around me as if I was Iron Man designing my suit. When I took a closer look at the menus surrounding me though, it wasn't made for me to make my suit, rather it was for me to pick a race I want from the many available ones around me.
"Let's see..." I whispered, looking at each box dedicated for a specific character race. First I found were the Ljósálfar, Light Elves with special affinity to the study of arcane art. They are good with magic, but are not made for battles requiring strength simply because they don't rely too much on brute force.
Next were the Spriggan, half elves, half humans who rely on their physical power to defeat enemies, but their natural connection to the Ljósálfar allowed them to enchant their weapons for combat. Following the Spriggan were the Rhothar; humans. Natural inhabitants of the game world, with balanced power of magic and sheer force of will. Humans were the ones that brought technology to the world, but it was the Ljósálfar that made it possible for magic to be used to power up these instruments.
The Dökkálfar are the complete opposite of the Ljósálfar, being Dark Elves and all that. They too are good at magic, but they are far more destructive than the light elves. The archives tell that the Dökkálfar practices illusion and others relating to the school of destruction magic, making them fickle and always ready for battle.
Next and final race from the selection are the Dvergr, dwarves that are also considered to be elves in this world. They're not short, but they are easily discernible by the obvious fire of courage burning from their eyes. They are good manufacturer of weapons and armor, meaning that if the game will allow for it to be a feature, this race of people will surely excel in its blacksmithing skills.
I heaved a sigh of defeat after reading the information given for each race available for me to choose. I weighed all of my options and continued to read each entry carefully in order to make the best decision possible. I don't even know Tristan's contacts in the game to ask him for advice regarding the matter, and I simply don't want to bother him and give him a call tonight, especially when I know that the job earlier exhausted him beyond belief.
Still, my desire to see this through has become even stronger for me to bear. I have to make a choice soon.
I pressed the option I have chosen from the menu, and everything else disappeared apart from Spriggan which glowed a bright blue. My body becomes enveloped in light only a second later, blinding me completely, blocking out my vision for a good portion of time I stood there, possibly unmoving. When the light dissipated, a mirror materializes in front of me. It still showed me in my sheer nakedness, but I was too caught up in the moment to even try to cover myself anymore.
I attempted to walk towards the mirror, and it twinkled as if recognizing my motion. I extended a hand towards it, seeking to touch it and see what it does, but the very moment I did, my surroundings turned into pure, and infinitesimally bright. It was a stark contrast to how dim it was before.
"Please step onto the platform and select your avatar"
Says a robotic female voice that echoed from all directions. It made me flinch because of how sudden it was, but I immediately stepped forward to the glowing circle in the middle of the room when I finally recovered from my initial shock. Upon doing so, my vision is once again clogged in the menus that surrounded me just like it did earlier, only that it was for my character appearance this time.
The time I took to finish customizing my character was perhaps insurmountable. I am confident with how I look, but I at least want to make myself less lackluster if I can. I heaved a sigh of pure relief when I finally finished personalizing my character appearance in this game. My character appears as a Spriggan of average height to reflect my own. He has pale skin, blue eyes, and hair styled in an undercut with three consecutive red fine lines of hair on top of my head so that my avatar will have black hair highlighted with red. The game allowed for a body scan which let me reflect my lean physiology onto my character instead of opting for customizing it further.
The final menu I have to go through was the class selection menu. Just like before, the game sprawled out its repertoire of character classes and their descriptions. The first on the list was the Pugilist, amazing fighters of hand to hand martial combat. They don't necessarily wield weapons, but when they do, it involves something about their fists. The Pugilists uses magic that has to do with augmenting their physical power in combat, making them a great hindrance in PVP.
Following the Pugilist is the Berserker class. Just like the name suggests, it is a class dedicated for warriors with immense strength and a giant weapon to match. They are great wielders of two handed swords and battle axes coupled with their special Rage skill, resulting in a good tank character. Next to the Berserker were the sword and shield wielders called the Templars. They use enchanted swords to bring down might to their foes, but are also great at tanking damage because of their unique Reflect Damage skill which allows them to absorb damage points and return it to their foes. Pretty useful skill in my opinion.
Third among the available classes is the Ranger. Obviously, they wield a bow and arrow, but are also capable of equipping themselves other similar throwing items such as short spears and knives. The Ranger is a great class for a DPS specialist because of its Fast Shot skill that allows them to shoot simultaneously and accurately, as if raining down arrows to their foe. Next up are the Lancers. They basically wield a lance, a scythe, or a halberd, depending on the player's choice, and are great melee characters made to fight in longer distances, just like the Rangers. Their Lunge skill gives them an amazing mobility and the power to jump high enough and plunge to the ground below. This gives them enough time to charge their attack and cause one massive damage.
The White Mage is an amazing magic class focusing mainly on healing and reinforcement skills, but their unique ability to Rally their party to give even amazing buffs are something to envy. Lastly though not the least is the Black Mage. Evidently, these are magic wielders capable of ultimate destruction, a stark contrast to the White Mage.
"Please select your character class."
Mentioned the same robotic voice from before that pulled me back from my reverie. I must have spent quite a lot of time pondering over what class to pick.
"Will do." I responded, almost as if I was talking to a colleague at work. Now that I have seen everything the game has to offer in terms of character classes, I immediately pressed my forefinger towards the option I've been eyeing since the first time I've seen them, the Lancers. Ever since I was a kid, I usually play the part of a swordsman in these sort of things. I always played a big sword wielding guy, or a dual wielding guy, and now I want to try something new; something different from what I usually pick.
The menu around me will once again disappear, and my surroundings become dim like it did before. Gone was the music that played on loop during character creation, and it was once again silent like it did beforehand, so quiet in fact that you can hear a pin drop. It reached its peak, and then it dissipated without warning.
"Character creation complete."
Another automated voice line from the environment was heard. It sounded more pristine and mechanical now that the music is gone too. The anticipation for what is to come slowly teetered me to the edge, and I felt like gritting my teeth from my sheer desire to see the rest of the game, at least before it's too late for me to stay up playing.
"Welcome to Fantasy Burst Online"
Suddenly, as if a gift being unwrapped for Christmas, the pure black room fell into pieces, and my body started to fall from the very platform that held me upright earlier. I simply continued to fall, but the more I do, the more my eyes widen in surprise, especially when my nocturnal environment turned into something colorful.
"Woah" I mumbled under my breath, my body now plunging into the depths of what I can only assume is the sky. Wind blew around me in all directions; it was shambolic and disorganized. It pushed me further downwards like it was trying to drown me though there was no water for it to do so. Instead, I basked in the sight of lush green forest and healthy swaying grassland just below me as I descended from the sky with no known end.
Then, my vision begins to be pulled in front of me. First it was slow, then it gained speed till I can't see anything else aside from the blurred out colors of green and beige. Then, my senses wake up in the middle of a greatly populated town, forcing me to hitch my breath at the abrupt change of pace from the character creation, the world overview, and then finally spawning into the world.
I looked down to see a pair of gloved hands, and then my body now fully clothed in a basic armor consisting of a white tattered shirt, pants, leather boots, and a piece of iron chest plate. I looked up once again, now sure that I am finally here in the world of Fantasy Burst Online, a world I've only imagined seeing in my dreams. It is finally here. I am finally here.
"Spawn Area: Starting City"
Says the center of my screen when I refused to move an inch from where I stood. I was too engrossed in the beauty of my surroundings to even care about the game's mechanics then. I admired how photorealistic everyone around me looked like. Smiles painted on people's faces, their hair swaying along the gentle breeze. The noise of the town was almost as if standing right in the middle of a really busy metropolis. Everything is well incorporated into the game likened to living the world of my dreams!
I smiled, then I chuckled. It was probably childish to feel this way about a game, but I didn't care to think about what other players will say or think about me that moment in time. I simply wanted to take things slowly and drink it all in.
I took the first step forward, then I took another, and another, till I was finally out of the spawn area. The spawn point was truly populated with many players I heard talking about various things such as dungeon hunting, while others were talking about trading or being a merchant. Stepping deeper into the city didn't make it any better either, because it was still populated at most parts of the city that I was able to explore.
"Now how do I open my menu?" I murmured to myself as I finally took the time to look at my HUD. To the upper left corner of my screen, I had found a bar labeled as my health points. Next to it was a clear number of how much health I have for my level. Fortunately, it goes at about 150 health points. Below that health bar was another, but it was shorter. It must be my magic points, ranking at about 100 points right now.
At the bottom corner of my screen, I found a small bird eye view of the world around me. A mini map, I thought to myself. Next to it I found the name of my current location. Looks like the game only flashes the label on certain places of the map to the center of your virtual screen upon discovery. To the other corner of my screen, I found a small bag icon that looks conspicuous enough to be the menu button, so I focused my attention towards it. I found it more difficult to open the menu because I can't just press it using my thumb, but I soon learned that I need to swipe my hand sidewards to pull it open.
A menu then pops up before my eyes. On top were certain categories boxed to differentiate them from one another. The left most option pertained to the player character, where it displayed a portrait of my avatar from head to toe. Next to it is a list of things that I figure pertained to character skills because I found it containing things such as blade, block, blacksmithing, alchemy, and more. Right now, all of them are set to one.
Next to the character information menu is the inventory. It was similar to most inventory menus in games I've already seen in the past, displaying only the icon for items it contained till you hover a hand towards it or click on it which then displays more information about the item. I only found five pieces of lesser health potions there, along with a starter level spear, and an armor called the Adventurer set which is what I am already wearing then.
I equipped the only available weapon to me which then displayed itself to my back. It seems to be a perfect fit for me too, that it's only about a foot longer compared to me from feet to head.
Alright. It looks like we are all set to go. All I need to do now is find where to test out my new toy.