"I wouldn't know the answer if someone asked me how I got here... I have no one to blame but myself...'"
[Initiating connection...]
"I haven't always been alone, but I've been alone for a long time... It's tiring, really."
[Connection established...]
[Initiating transfer...]
"There are countless things I regret, but if I had to choose one of them, it would have been meeting you."
[...]
[...]
"I carry a piece of paper with me, an archaic thing, I know... On it is written my only wish... 'I wish I had been enough.' "
[...]
[...]
[Welcome, young adventurer. Choose your race.]
I found myself standing in the center of a circle, around me various avatars representing the options available.
Humans and their infinite variants, elves and their arrogant nobility, dwarves, orcs, lizard men, dragon born...
The races could be divided into four types:
Mundane, such as humans, dwarves, orcs, gnomes...
Faerie, like elves, fairies, dryads, tritons...
Half-breeds, such as half-elves, half-orcs, half-giants, half-dragons...
And the special ones, some sort of angel and some sort of demon... unfortunately these two were blocked.
Each race had its advantages and disadvantages, like the humans who were good at everything at the cost of not specializing in anything. The orcs had an enviable set of physical skills, but at the cost of having no magical affinity. Elves, on the other hand, came with a balanced set of physical and magical advantages, with almost unparalleled agility, but at the cost of having little vitality.
I went through all the options, just to check that the information matched that released by the beta testers.
It's been over a month since the first images were released, since then a lot of information has been shared with the community, and I've had a lot of time to think about my choices.
There were many virtual reality games (although I've never played any of them), but this one promised to change the world. And here I am, trying to be part of that change.
My chosen race was a half-dragon, half-human, which brought human versatility and the magical affinity and endurance of the dragon born. I was also given the option of choosing a basic affinity, and I chose dark.
[Race chosen: Half-blood dragon]
[Affinity: dark]
[Define your name, adventurer]
— Alnair.
[Define your avatar's appearance]
The avatar was a humanoid about 1.8 meters tall, with black scales covering part of its face, shoulders and arms, with four spiral horns emerging from between its dark hair. Yellowish irises and reptilian pupils completed the avatar's draconic appearance.
[Allocate your points]
[Attributes +1, skill point +1]
Strength: 00
Agility: 00
Vitality: 01
Vigor: 01
Magic: 02 ⇾ 03
Mind: 02
Will: 01
There wasn't much newer in the basic attributes, although some rumors claimed the existence of secret attributes.
The player receives 1 attribute point and 1 skill point at each level, with another attribute point rewarded after choosing a class at level 10. In addition to these, the player would receive another point, which would be assigned automatically depending on their race
Alnair will be a mage, so his first point was magic, and at each level he will receive 0.25 in [vitality], 0.50 in [magic] and 0.25 in [will]
Strength - Defines muscle and physical power, power and damage caused by physical weapons.
Agility - Defines movement speed, attack speed and the ability to move through difficult environments.
Vitality - Defines the amount and regeneration of HP, resistance to diseases and harmful effects.
Vigor - This is the maximum capacity the body has to carry out activities that require physical effort, certain skills require vigor, and increases the regeneration of vigor.
Magic - Increases compatibility with all forms of magical energy, the amount of energy it can store and manipulate and the speed at which this energy regenerates.
Mind - Defines learning speed and the ability to retain and manipulate large amounts of information, the speed of creating and casting magical formulas.
Will - Defines resistance to mental attacks, soul attacks and spiritual attacks. Increases the ability to withstand massive damage, increases resistance to contact with beings above your level.
Choosing the skill was a little more difficult, as there were apparently thousands of options.
Technically, I could learn any skill in the game, the big catch was that the time it took to learn a particular skill depended on your affinity with the branch of the skill.
If a mage who had a dark affinity wanted to learn dark magic, it would take 1x days, if that mage didn't have a dark affinity, it would take 10x days, and if he wasn't a magic class, it would take 100x days... was it possible to learn the magic? Yes. Was it feasible? No.
I've narrowed down the choices for magical, dark, offensive skills.
[Black spark (0): Shoots a small spark from the tip of the finger, dealing 2-6 damage. Has a 5% chance of causing corrosive damage for three seconds]
Well, I think that's it. After changing a few details in my avatar's appearance, I've finished this stage.
[We'll be watching you every step of the way, Alnair. Good luck!]
I had barely finished listening to the sentence when I found myself stopped in the middle of a dirt road, with the sunlight momentarily blinding me. The abrupt change of scenery delayed my reaction. As I surveyed my surroundings, I saw some people passing me by.
The dirt road led to a fortified village. Around the village, people tended crops of various sizes, stopping momentarily to watch the strange procession pass by.
It took me a while to notice that I was also walking... It was very strange to realize that there were no differences between my real body and my avatar. There was no confusion or even strangeness in my movements, for all practical purposes, this was my real body too.
I was wearing a set of ordinary clothes... and that was it. There was no inventory, no copper coins, not even any bread or water.
Alnair had only the clothes on his body and a dream...
A promising start...
Fortunately, the game's developers didn't abandon me, and soon came the beep of the message and the soft voice of the system showing me the direction.
[Search for information on skill instructors in the village of Terhi]
…
…
The village of Terhi was not at all friendly from the outside. Built on a hill, it was surrounded by a dry moat studded with stakes, followed by a wooden wall about 4 meters high, with even higher towers. And to get to the village, you had to cross an unreliable bridge while you were in the sights of archers, and if I'm seeing correctly, they also had ballistas...
Despite their hostile appearance, the guards were polite enough to welcome us, quickly answering our questions and directing my fellow players to the location of their missions.
I followed the instructions, heading down the main street to the center of the village, which wasn't really the "center", and from there to the "Arcane Tower", which wasn't a tower.
After entering the "arcane inn", I was guided by a young man to a large hall where dozens of players were waiting. I was also a player, so I waited.
After a few minutes and more players waiting, an old man in a pointed hat and flowing cloak made his way to the center of the hall.
"I welcome you all! Each of you should have a card similar to this one, just activate it and you'll automatically learn the skill described."
There was a murmur of irritation as we searched for our cards.
I quickly found mine in one of the pockets. It's not like there are many places to keep it, after all.
[Instant learning card: Black spark(0)]
I take the card and activate it, watching it fragment into a cloud of golden light. And as if by magic...
[You've learned a skill]
"Pay attention! Your skills can't hurt you, but their effects can. For example, the fire from [fireball] can't burn me, but a fire started it can. This is even more important when using spells with physical manifestations, such as [stone spear] or [ice thorn]"
The old man remained silent, as if trying to remember something, and then he exclaimed: "Magic and abilities in general are strictly forbidden within the village! Breaking any of the king's laws will result in severe punishment! Attacking or stealing from one of the king's subjects is a very serious crime, punishable by real death... Thank you all for coming, you're excused."
What, it's over? I don't know what I expected, but it definitely wasn't that...
I'm standing in the center of the village, under the shadows of the castle. I have no money, no food, and no direction either... it feels very much like my reality...
First of all, let me check my status.
Status
Name: Alnair
Race: Half-Blood
Class: ???
Level: 01
HP: 2,5/2,5
Sp: 02/02
MP: 07/07
Attributes:
Strength: 00
Agility: 00
Vitality: 1,25
Vigor: 01
Magic: 3,5
Mind: 02
Will: 1,25
Skills:
[black spark(0): ... cost 1mp]
Well, here things can be solved with magic at least... Now I just have to figure out where my magical abilities will be needed.