The first thing I see after opening my eyes again, is a light blue, transparent game interface, like those I've seen in games on the character creation screen. When I analyse it, I notice a few things. For the moment it tells me neither my name, there are just blank fields where they would be shown. Another blank, blurry image where my appearance would be displayed.
A notice pops up. "Welcome new Player! Your tutorial will now begin. Please choose a ducal House," the new interface tells me. Under the interface, a new window appears.
"Please choose between four Houses:
The House of Red
The House of White
The House of Blue
The House of Black"
When I focus on one of the Options a new interface tells me more about the houses. So, my eyes basically function like a cursor on my PC. Good to know. I then focus on the new information that just appeared.
"The ducal House of Red:
Always quick to join a fight, known for their protective nature. Righteous, they stand up for the people. Once they take up a weapon, they make sure to master it."
The Red House is known for their temper, but they are also really good fighters. They remind me of how Elementals of fire are often described. I am usually a rather calm person,so choosing a house with such hot tempers would be strange. More importantly I don't know if I could deal with this temper appropriately, nor would I really want to fight.
"The ducal House of White:
Known to ponder over things for ages, logical and strategic are their choices. Instead of weapons they have mastered the care of Money."
In the case of the House of White, it's their coldness which is a problem, in return they are really smart. Similar to the Reds I am unsure if their temperament is fitting for me. One too hot, the other too cold.
"The ducal House of Blue:
Caretakers and Dreamers, is what those gentle souls are often called. Knowledgeable, they have dedicated themselves to the healing arts."
The Blue House is emphatic, but also more often than not too absorbed in their thoughts. Not necessarily a bad thing. They sound like those adorable people who are gentle and often a bit too dreamy. Not me though.
"The ducal House of Black:
The Mad Hounds of the Kingdom, is a title they are often called. Driven by obsession, they are the best at whatever they set their minds to. They are also stubborn and quick to defend their stances."
The Blacks are also interesting. They're rather unique, and a bit mad, but their strength is also what easily becomes their weakness. They obsess over the things they find interesting, and easily become the best in those things, but if it's a person they can become like a stalker very fast. It's not just that they sound interesting, there is a hint of danger in choosing this option.
The hint of danger is one reason the Blacks would be the most fun to choose for my new life. Of course, the other Houses are interesting in their own right, but their flaws are also something I wouldn't want for myself. The House of White is interesting, but the danger of growing arrogant very fast, as they are unable to understand the hearts of those around them. The House of Blue, kind and gentle but risky because of exactly that. I wouldn't want to be taken advantage of.
The temperament of the Red House is dangerous. I don't know what I will be doing in this world. Based on the position and the genre I can guess a few things, but being the fighter often isn't the best choice in such games. So that lands me at being a bit mad and obsessive. Sounds like the smallest price to pay, at least to me. I have my emotions, but I also have my mind. I can be kind, and if I do something strange because I am not used to that world, it would probably fall under my family's madness.
Now that I made my decision, I only need to find out how to interact with the interface. In the old world, I read about two methods commonly used: either thoughts or touch. I start with the second option since I hope for the first. When I try to touch it, my finger goes simply through the interface. Nxt I try the other method, the moment I focus on choosing the Option: "The House of Black", a new interface opens, "Do you want to choose this option? Yes/No". I concentrate on choosing Yes.
***
"You have chosen: The Ducal House of Black.
Please choose a Constellation as a Name next:
Warming: with choosing your name you will also be choosing the gender of your new body
Lukida Aneseris (Female)
Altair (Male)
Fornax (Androgen)"
Since I was female before, and really like the name Lukida Aneseris, I will go with that option. Of course I am curious about how it would be as a male, or even gender-less, but I will go with what I know. Everything else will be new after all. So I concentrate and chose the first option.
"Welcome Lukida Aneseris Black, you will now be transferred into your new body. When you wake up you will awaken your first skills as well as your stats. Good luck!″, reads the next interface. Again, my vision turns black. The next time I awake I'm lying on the surface of a bed.
***
I'm greeted by the interface, this time it reads: "Please complete the following steps of the transfer to fully start the Game:
Activate your skills
Dispute your Stat Points (SP)
Start with the Main quest"
OK, how do I do that now? As if the Game awaited my question, the next notice appeared: "To start please say/think the command PLAYER OVERVIEW" I think the command. I don't know where exactly I am, nor who could be near to hear me. Before my eyes a new interface opens and shows a picture in full body view of my new body. Then I start to read the interface:
OVERVIEW
Player name:
Lukida Aneseris Black
Gender:
Female
Level 0 (0/100 EXP)
Stats:
Strength: 12Constitution: 18Agility: 10Charisma: 14Intelligence: 10Knowledge: 6Undisputed Stat Points (SP): 40
Skills:
Skill points (SKP): 0World knowledge (passive skill, not activated)Duchy Management (passive skill, not activated, activation condition: Head/Heir of House Black)Etiquette (passive skill, not activated)Black Madness (passive skill, not activated, activation condition: Bearing the Black-family name and Blood)Obsessions (passive skill, not activated)
Titles:
Head of the Ducal House of Black (not activated)
After reading the Overview, I focus on the skills first. There are already a few there, some seem to have conditions to be activated. From my experiences with some Roleplay type games, I know that based on the game schematics stats can exponentially boost your abilities. The system doesn't give me any information about the stats, which seems a bit strange, but for now I should focus on my tasks.
The most important skill to activate would be the skill that grants the knowledge of this world and probably also the knowledge of the role I play here. So I think the command: "Activate World Knowledge". The moment I do that the note behind the skill changes to: "(passive, Level 1)", in addition to that my mind is flooded by information. Now I am able to understand who I am here and all the knowledge that is basic knowledge here. Pretty useful image leveling that one up. It could become cheat-like very easily.
For the second skill on the list, I need to activate my title as Head of House so I will do exactly that. Under my titles is one named "Head of the Ducal House of Black" so I activate it. The notice behind the title changes from "not activated" to: "Head of the Ducal House of Black (gives Player the control of all assets of the Black Family)".
Now I activate the next skills. The moment I activate the Obsessions skill I receive three slots and a notice telling me to add my Obsessions. I ponder for a moment as to what I should put there. I then decide to add learning there. It could be helpful. After all, someone who is really good at learning will gain new skills very fast.
Next I go on to disputing my stats. I have the attributes of Strength, Constitution, Agility, Charisma, Intelligence and Knowledge. I look at my interface and the stats I already have. Additionally, I can see how many stat points I can dispute.
I notice that I have 40 undisputed SP so with those already disputed 100 hundred SP in total at the start of the Game. My next trail of thought is how I should dispute them. After some pondering I decide to even out the scales. As I won't know what kind of stat will be needed in the future it is smart to start with a balanced character sheet.
I can feel the changes taking place. My head is more clear, the things I know go far more into detail and my body feels lighter. Since I have now a good base for future SP I command the Game to open the quest log. "Main Quest: speak to your butler and start your day! Side Quest: Ask about the new school", the quest log reads. As I read the quests I hear a knock on my bedroom door. So it begins I think to myself.