Serene felt the darkness dissipate and she 'opened' her eyes again. She could see the vastness of space in front of her. There was a single, earth-like world spinning in front of her with the giant letters 'ATLAS' placed over it. It was quite similar to a popular production company.
"Don't know how they got away without a copyright strike," Serene joked to herself in her thoughts. Right below the world were the words 'START'. She gently lifted her finger, and lightly tapped on the start in front of her. How her hand was able to reach the words, she didn't know. Her vision blurred and she was now standing in a giant empty white space. She looked down to see herself, but she couldn't see her own body. She tried to pat herself to feel anything, but there was nothing. She would've screamed if a voice hadn't sounded out just then.
"Easy, child," a soft and gentle voice spoke out. The voice was slow and easy to listen to, yet the voice sounded above her. Serene's eyes widened in shock as she looked up. Above her was an old man who was slowly floating to the 'ground. The old man looked to be nearing the end of his days with swaths of gray hair and a slightly hunched back. He was clothed in white robes and held a crystalline staff, but that wasn't what shocked Serene so badly.
"Can you--," Serene was so shocked that she was going to ask a question, but the sound of her delicate and soft voice that reached her ears made her pause. She just heard the old man's voice. She just heard her voice. She just heard.
"How? What? Why?" Those were the only questions that Serene could even comprehend to think of, let alone ask.
"Easy child. Take a breath, slow down," the older man spoke again. Serene thought the man's words were wise to listen to, plus they made sense. He also looked like a wise old man, so his words ought to be wise too. Serene began to calm herself through some breathing exercises she had been taught. Once her breathing had calmed enough, she was finally able to speak.
"Why can I hear," was the immediate question she was able to get out.
"The headset that you are wearing brings your consciousness into the game and only your consciousness. Hence, the disabilities of the real world, are left there, and in Atlas, you are but your true self," the old man offered slowly. His voice was calm and gentle as if he was guiding a student. Serene almost got drunk in the ecstasy of being able to hear the man's voice, to hear someone again, that she almost didn't hear the older man.
"So I will always be able to hear in Atlas," Serene couldn't help but ask. Her voice got higher the longer she spoke.
"Indeed," the wise old man said.
"Amazing," Serene couldn't but help let out.
"It truly is," the wise old man stated mystically. Finally able to calm herself down, Serene studied the wise old man and found that there was something odd about his aura. Everything about him told her he was alive, and yet, it felt as if he didn't believe so.
"Are you real," Serene couldn't help but ask.
"I'm only as real as you believe me to be, child." The only thing Serene could think in response to that was 'what'. Yet the wise old man's words had a semblance of truth in them. This was a game after all, who would say that the characters in it were alive?
"Are you ready to go to the world of Atlas my child," the wise old man asked. Serene paused for a second, after having been brought out of her thoughts by the wise old man's sudden words.
"I guess so."
"The first step you need to go through is your character creation then after that, you will begin your adventure." The wise old man motioned his hand to his side, and there Serene found an exact replica of what she looked like floating a few inches off the ground. It slowly rotated such that Serene got to see what she looked like from all angles. She couldn't help but gasp. Who wouldn't when they were able to see themselves from someone else's eyes?
"Am I able to change it? Am I able to change me," Serene asked in absolute wonder.
"Yes, you can state any changes and it will happen." Serene looked back at herself. With long silky black hair, sharp blue eyes, and a taller stature, she couldn't help but feel disappointed. 'This is a new world,' she thought to herself. 'I don't want to be Serene in this new world, I'm going to be whoever I want to be.'
"Change the hair color to white," Serene told the image of herself. The image of her hair immediately changed to a pure white color.
"Shorten the hair." The image did exactly as she said it to, and it followed the exact image of what she had hoped would happen. Style, shape, and size, everything was perfect.
"Change the eye color to an emerald green, like a phthalo green. I also want to be a bit shorter." The image followed her commands to the letter.
"I also want my torso to be shorter, and I want longer, silky legs." Serene stated. She could feel herself blushing a little from such a request. Who wouldn't change themselves to look more attractive? So what if she had a little bit of an ego? However, she currently didn't have a body so the wise old man couldn't see her blush. Serene looked at the new image of herself in astonishment. The new image of her was vastly different than who she was in almost every feature.
"That's what I want," Serene stated, still enamored by her new image.
"That's a good choice child, it suits you. There is another thing for you to do. Every new player must choose a general pathway of evolution. Some games call it a 'class', others as a 'profession'. In Atlas, it is listed as an Evolutionary Path. Do you know which one you would like to choose?"
"Um..." Serene lightly spoke, before bashfully continuing, "I don't even know what paths there are to take."
"That is alright child. I can show you a list of them." The wise old man gestured his hand to the other side of him, and a large panel of words appeared. Serene was able to see them very clearly, even though the letters were rather small and a good distance away.
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Evolutionary Paths
- Mage: People who specialize in the ability to contr...[Expand]
- Esper: People who differ in their abilities to control...[Expand]
- Cultivator: People who gather the abundant natural...[Expand]
- Warlord: People who are particularly talented in lear...[Expand]
- Pugilist: People who are particularly talented in lear...[Expand]
- Diviner: People who use the powers of exterdemio...[Expand]
- Constructor: People who specialize in various ways...[Expand]
- Tamer: People who form special bonds with various...[Expand]
- Life Weaver: People who use blood as a medium to...[Expand]
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"Is it possible for you just to give me a quick summary of each of them? I feel like reading through all nine of these would be rather time-consuming," Serene asked the wise old man.
"I can," the wise old man nodded as if this was something he expected.
"The Mage is an evolutionary path where those who partake on this journey uncover and use the mysteries of the vast arcana available in Atlas. Using this natural arcana, they can weave it into magic, which they can use to create miraculous spectacles or devastating destruction. However, to get stronger they need to take time to study and understand the natural arcana of the world. They must use premade spells, or with enough talent, time, and money, they can create their own spells." The wise old man paused for a moment, watching Serene for a response. However, when she did not say anything he continued on.
"Esper is an evolutionary path where those who take it have discovered their natural ability to do the unnatural. Their abilities are the hardest to explain because everyone's powers differ and as such the way they get stronger is unique to each individual. Some are as common as controlling the natural elements of the world, like water and fire. Others are extremely unique and never have been seen before." Again, the wise old man paused, and waited for a few moments before continuing on.
"The cultivator is an evolutionary path that uses the natural qi to enhance their bodies. They also use it to do things similar to the mages, however to a lesser extent. Cultivators are also well-versed in the martial arts, however that is not where the entirety of their focus lies. To get stronger cultivators must meditate and cultivate more qi while also discovering more techniques, which can help in a myriad of manners." As following before he paused.
"Warlord and Pugilist are very similar evolutionary paths but differ in their focus. The Warlord is a strength-focused Close Quarter fighter. They tend to focus on overwhelming strength through any and all means. The Pugilist focuses more on their Dexterity. They are not as overpowering as the Warlord's, but their applications have a much greater range, from using ranged weapons, and targeting enemy weak points, to also being stealthy. In order to get stronger, they have the simplest of means. They simply have to train their skills, abilities, and classes. These two evolutionary paths are the most common and are the most recommended for anyone new to Atlas."
"Diviners make a pact with an extra-dimensional being to gain power. The power they inherit depends on the being they make a pact with, so they are one of the more wide-ranged evolutionary paths. In order to get stronger they have to grow their bond with their being. The means of doing so depends on the being."
"Constructor is an evolutionary path that focuses on the building of materials to assist them. This can follow a mechanical aspect, or can follow a different more mystical manner, or both. In order to grow their strengths, Constructors must continually build more and more items, grow their knowledge of construction, as well as acquire more and more materials. Constructors have one of the lowest play rates, but they are universally desired for their abilities to create items. They are also only limited by their ability to imagine items and the quality of the tools and ingredients used in their creations."
"Tamer is an evolutionary path that focuses on making pacts and building relationships with a variety of creature types to assist them. Tamer and Constructor have similar play styles but differ in the way they use their power. Tamers are inherently weaker than the other evolutionary paths, but they make up their strengths through creators they are packed with."
"Finally Life Weaver is an evolutionary path where people use their own blood, or the blood that happens to be lying around to create miraculous spectacles of life, or devastating consequences of death. They are slightly similar to the Mage but differ in the medium in which they use as well as some of the things they can do. The way they get stronger is similar to mages as well as increasing their power of blood. Is that enough information?"
"Yes that's enough," Serene said, "I just need a moment to think." She paused for a few minutes, softly talking to herself as she thought about all the things the wise old man said.
"You said Esper's all have unique powers and that no two people are the same," Serene asked.
"That is a blanket statement, but yes. Even people like that have a general ability, such as controlling the natural elements, have different aspects of it, or have different means of doing so."
"How so," Serene asked.
"For people who are able to control water, some might be able to create and form ice, change the fluidity, or contents of the water. Some might be able to create poisonous water, others are able to change the temperature of it. Lastly, the source of their power might be different, some might be able to just create water out of nothing, and others might have to collect it from a source. For instances like these, the extent of their abilities is balanced among the ways in which their power is used or formed."
"What about with people who have unique abilities that no one else has?"
"Then they must find out the extent of their capabilities alone."
Serene tried to make sense of what the wise old man was telling her, and she tried to lightly scratch her head, but there was nothing to even make contact. She thought for another moment or two before asking another question.
"How do people figure out what ability they get?"
The cheeky smile that started to blossom on the wise old man's face should've warned Serene, but she was much too interested in the Evolutionary Paths to take notice. "You roll the dice."
"So I won't know what I'll get till after I choose it?"
"No, you will not."
"Is there a way to go back if I don't like what I get?"
"No," the cheeky smile of the old man never left his face. It was rather strange how much that smile suited the old man.
Serene began to think to herself for a moment. Life Weaver was most definitely out. Serene did not want to use her own blood, or the blood of others to do things. Blood was already disgusting enough, let alone using it to defend herself would just be grotesque. The path itself just screams at being an evil type of person.
Pugilist and Warlord are also obviously out of the picture. Serene didn't want to play a game where she would always be up close and personal with people all the time, punching them and wrestling, that just wasn't her style. Even worse, the thought of grooming the idea of becoming an ultra-jacked woman was not what Serene wanted to do. She was okay with how she looked, and even more loved the way she made herself look just a little bit ago.
Constructor and Tamer seemed interesting, but she didn't want to have to rely on other things to get her by, whether that be animals or tools. Plus the two paths seemed to be extremely difficult, possibly even expensive to follow. The same logic also applied to the Diviner, she wanted her power to belong to her. Not something she was borrowing or granted from another being.
Which just meant that the only things left were the Mage, Esper, and Cultivator. Of those three, the Esper was the most unique. From the wise old man's descriptions, the cultivator was a cross between Pugilist and Mage, and cross classes were usually more difficult to understand. Plus they would be weaker in both of those classes' expertise. However, she wasn't willing to be a Pugilist which also meant she wasn't willing to be a Cultivator.
Finally, although the mage seemed cool, she didn't like the idea that she would have to 'study' the uses and applications of magic in order to get stronger. Serene never liked academics, and so having to play something that might even have a connection was disgruntling. That left the Esper, and even though Serene didn't like the idea that she didn't know what kind of power she would have from the beginning, and that she would be gambling her fate, it was still the most interesting choice. Having a natural power that was explicitly unique to her, or at least the most unique to her, was just something that she couldn't give up. She wanted her power to be from her, and a part of her.
"I want to choose the Esper evolutionary path," Serene said to the wise old man. The wise old man's smile only grew even wider in return.
"Good choice," the wise old man responded, his voice oozing with schadenfreude.
In Front of Serene, a massive game show wheel appeared, with what looked like thousands upon thousands of tiny little slivers. Before Serene could even think to do anything, the wheel began to spin. The buzzing of the pointer slapping against the metal rods as it spun was the only sound in the large white space she was in. So many rungs were being hit that there was a constant buzzing sound. It too, was awhile before the wheel began slowing down and landed on a tiny sliver that she couldn't even read. However, a smile plastered onto the wise old man's face as he began to speak.
"Congrats. It seems you unearthed the White Mist power. Now the last step before you go into the world of Atlas is to choose your username. Your username can be visible to all players, or it can be hidden. What would you like your name to be," the wise old man asked.
"Wait, are you not going to tell me about the new ability," Serene asked in a hurry.
"Your name," the wise old man asked once more.
"But my power," Serene protested.
"Your name," the wise old man said once more.
Although indignant about not learning about her power, Serene only had to think about it for a few moments before she knew what she wanted.
"Soundless Rain."
"That one is not chosen, so your username is 'Soundless Rain'. Is there anything else before you go child," the wise old man asked gently.
"I don't think there is," Serene said hesitantly.
"Alright, well I will send you off now." The wise old man waved his hand, and Serene could see the white space she was in began to dissolve. Slowly at first, before speeding up rapidly.
"Wait," Serene yelled out. "I never got your name." The white space was already almost completely gone, all that was left at that moment, was the wise old man, her, and the few feet of space between them.
"I am just a nameless helper my child. But you can call me-" The wise old man's words were cut off, as everything went black and Serene lost consciousness.