I blinked into a familiar-looking area. Or rather, a familiar-looking nothingness. For a moment, I worried I'd somehow managed to pull myself into the space between, that ever-present endless darkness that existed when I shifted between worlds.
[Access your menu by saying 'menu']
The blue box quickly absolved me of that fear. The emotion that replaced it was a deep sense of foreboding that I'd eventually have to should embarrassing things aloud. For now, however, I would do what I was told.
"Menu."
[From the menu, you can access training, change roles, view your attacks and stats, contact friends, check messages, and more!]
[For now, view your current party members by saying 'Party Window' or by selecting the 'Party' tab at the top of the menu.]
The windows acted as though they were augmented reality, merely being projected onto my eyes. This had its pluses and minuses, and it was difficult to gauge my selections without a physical key or screen to press. Selecting the proper buttons, I felt, was going to be a bit of a learning curve.
Beneath the message, the blue Menu unfurled, listing out current party members (Sinbad), pets (Ani), and my equipment.
I eyed the equipment, wondering if any of the items I wore carried hidden abilities. The system walked me through the rest of the menu, going through the different windows one by one. It was the same menu I'd been using while playing Zenith Online as Blaze, so I picked up the controls quickly.
A few things were new. My personal favorite of these was the realization that I could, in fact, access all items in my Inventory from any pocket on me. As pragmatic as I was, I abused this power, watching in awe as my backpack slid into one pocket, and pulled out the other.
My least favorite new tidbit of information was one I should have predicted but had completely overlooked. While some basic skills were always available regardless of job, attacks were always locked by class. For example, a swordsman can use heavenly sword, but cannot use explosion. Likewise, a mage cannot use heavenly sword. Of course, the game wasn't quite so rigid to prevent you from switching attack types on the fly, however. Class changes were available even in the midst of battle.
As was standard, the tutorial had me practice switching between classes.
[Navigate the menu or speak the title of the class you wish to change into. Try switching to the Swordsman class!]
Feeling slightly embarrassed, I used the menu to switch to 'swordsman.'
[Mage -> Swordsman]
[Congrats! You've switched classes! Remember, each class has its own equipment. It's suggested that you build your equipment around the class.] The system said.
It needn't have bothered. Upon switching classes, it was immediately obvious that I hadn't equipped any equipment for the swordsman class. My shirt, pants, and shoes vanished, leaving me standing uncomfortably in my underwear, my face flushed with heat.
I was lucky this had happened in training, not on the battlefield. The embarrassment would have been deadly. I nimbly flicked through the menu, making sure to equip my clothes to every job class so I wouldn't be caught unawares like this again. Relief settled beneath my skin as I switched between each job type, my clothes firmly in place.
[Available attacks are displayed on your lower right. Tap or state the ability to use it.]
Ability icons I recognized from playing the game popped up on my lower right. I switched through jobs again, watching what did, and didn't, change. As I did, I wondered how my magic would interact with the players. Would it act as an attack, or would it pass harmlessly through?
[Bronze Sword added to Inventory]
[Bronze Staff added to Inventory]
[Bronze Daggers added to Inventory]
[Bronze Hammer added to Inventory]
[Bronze Guns added to Inventory]
[Basic Needle added to Inventory]
[Bronze Wrench added to Inventory]
[Basic weapons for each class have been added to your inventory! Weapons can be found all over Zenith Online, and basic weapons can be customized and upgraded according to your playstyle. Be sure to leave no stone unturned in your travels!]
[Potion x5 added to inventory]
[Ether x5 added to inventory]
[Potions can be used to recover 5% of your overall health. Your and your allies' health is displayed in the bottom right of the screen.]
[Hayden: 100/100]
[Sinbad: 150/150]
[Ani: 130/130]
[Ethers can be used to recover 5% of your overall ability points. Your and your allies' ability points are displayed in the bottom right of the screen.]
[Hayden: 70/70]
[Sinbad: /150]
[Ani: 200/200]
[Some stats, levels, and abilities carried over when your character data was converted.]
[Mage:
Level increased to lvl20!
Teleport lvl1 -> lvl5]
[Doctor:
Obtained Electrolyte Boost lvl1!
Obtained lvl1 recovery!]
[Thief:
Master of Disguise lvl1 -> lvl2]
[Gunslinger:
Level increased to lvl2!
Obtained Search and Destroy lvl1!]
[Engineer:
Level increased to lvl 15!
Tech Master increased to lvl8!]
[Explorer:
Traveled off-world. Obtained title: Worldwalker]
[Abilities:
Dive lvl1-> lvl2
Pet Taming lvl1-> lvl3]
I let out a low whistle. When I'd played last, the max level for any individual class was level 50, and abilities level 10. As Blaze, I hadn't surpassed level 11 on any of the abilities. To think I was already equivalent to a level 20 mage…perhaps White Owl had been correct. I was more powerful than I thought.
[The 'Status' page details your current role level, health points, defense points, attack points, magic, speed, stealth, charisma, strength, and the levels of various abilities you've obtained.]
A box flashed in front of the Status menu. I skimmed through my stats. Hayden McCarty, it seemed, had far better base stats than the lowly yet carefully-crafted Blaze. I assumed it was a product of my appearance here rather than any natural-born abilities. The strength alone proclaimed a hefty 50/100 possible overall points. My magic was at an impressive 70/200 possible points.
Both put Blaze's measly 20 points each to complete and utter shame, and I found myself feeling slightly bad for Blaze, even though he was a product of my imagination.
The stats were comparable to some famous self-proclaimed "magic swordsmen," who focused only on leveling up the 'swordsman' and 'mage' jobs, mixing and matching the newly gained abilities for their pleasure. I had to remind myself this was a new expansion, and the level limits had changed. Knowing humanity's ability to quickly progress through new games, my new stats might have been on the 'lower' end now. Still, I was pleased.
My other stats weren't as terrible as I'd feared, setting my mind at ease as I realized player character 'Hayden McCarthy' was far more powerful than I'd ever hoped to be. Perhaps I could do this after all.
[Training sessions are available. Please select the training you wish to complete. Other sessions will become available as you complete lessons.]
Lessons for each of the classes, as well as stealth, defense, and basic attack lessons, popped up on the menu, hovering before my eyes. The pitch-black background flickered around me as I scrolled through the options, selecting the first with a careless shrug. So long as they didn't kill me, I was planning to complete them all prior to returning to Zenith Online.
The deep browns and emerald greens of the Dark Forest, from the first section of the game, flickered like a bad movie screen into place around me. The scent of earth and pine filled my nostrils, and dirt crunched beneath my feet. Birdcall hovered in the air, soon drowned out by the crunching of leaves and twigs as three bad apples dropped down from the branches above. Poison dripped from their heads, sizzling and blackening the ground where it struck.
[Some enemies inflict status ailments. Various equipment, abilities, and potions can be used to ward off or cure these ailments.]
[Basic Attacks are simple strikes that cost 0 ability points to use.]
[Unleash a flurry of Basic Attacks to defeat the Bad Apples.]