1 Awaken
The player opened his eyes, sitting up, and looking around him. He'd read and heard about it before, but experiencing this, was another thing entirely. True virtual reality. He'd saved money for nearly six years, after seeing prototype footage from the very early days of this new game. And now he'd get to experience it for himself.
He was alone on a narrow mesa, many like it rose from the ground for miles, ringing the most enormous tree he had ever seen, rivers feeding through many narrow, forested valleys, linking up to a lake at its base. He paused, taking in the scene for a long moment, sitting down and feeling idly at a patch of grass next to him, watching the clouds drift through the boughs of the tree as many lights drifted up into the sky from the other mesas surrounding it.
Suddenly, a blue square filled the middle of his vision.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: "Welcome to the launch of Eldritch Online, a new immersive simulation from Illumina Entertainment, character creation will begin shortly, please enter a name for yourself."]
He skimmed this new message, thinking. If people were going to be talking to him in person, as opposed to just typing words on a screen, and were going to act somewhat in character, it wouldn't really do to have a stupid name like he would on a website or normal game. After a moment he went with a simple name, Kris.
The next screen held the racial selection. Up until this point he'd been a nondescript, grey outline of a normal human. The first thing that stood out to him was the sheer number of options on this screen. Most MMORPGs he'd played before had between five to ten options, this menu had dozens. There were animal people, variations on classic fantasy races, shapeshifters, and even a decent selection of monster races.
He tapped on a small goblinoid race, Grellkin, and felt his body shrink. It came with a hefty bonus to his dexterity, stealth, and climbing stats, but equivalent hits to strength and endurance. It was certainly interesting to be that small, but he didn't want to look like a goblin, at least not all the time.
He flicked back through the menu, choosing one of the human subraces; Highlander. After a bit of customization, he looked like a wild, slightly taller, and in much better shape doppelganger to his real self, a wiry, mousy-haired young man. The race came with a bonus to his [Wildcraft] skill, whatever that meant, and a few special class options on the next screen, which he considered carefully.
[Fighter: "Skilled in strength of arms and wearing heavy armor, these warriors excel in the thick of combat, protecting flimsier comrades from the brunt of attack while dishing out punishment of their own. This class has a difficulty rating of average, and is recommended for the group-play oriented player."]
While the example image certainly looked interesting, if also generic, he wasn't sure how painful being hit in this very real feeling environment was yet, and wasn't up to be the one taking hits for everyone else.
Scrolling through the rest of the class list, he saw more of the standard ones any MMO player would expect, hunter, sorcerer, rogue, cleric, even a few summoner classes for players of the more evil alignments, though what caught his attention was in the race restricted list, past the non-combat and artisanal classes.
[Harvest Wizard: "A hybrid class, harvest wizards gain power by becoming closer to the plants and animals of the earth, can call upon the powers of nature to enhance, grow, and control plants, and befriend the creatures of the wilds. This class has a difficulty rating of advanced, and is recommended for the role-playing oriented player ."]
Noting the presence of non-combat classes in the list, he figured there had to be ways to level up that didn't involve killing everything in sight and selling the loot in town. This class seemed like it would be great for gathering raw materials for alchemy, and travelling outdoors alone if he ever needed to.
He skimmed his choices up to now and tapped the [FINALIZE] button. The full user interface suddenly flared into place, a robe, satchel, and sandals appeared on his body and a stave in his hand. Now that he had some options, he took a moment to look at his character sheet.
[Name: Kris]
[Level: 1]
[Race: Human (Highlander)]
[Class: Harvest Wizard]
[Alignment: Neutral]
[Deity: Danu]
[Health: 100]
[Mana: 200]
[Str: 10]
[End: 15]
[Agi: 10]
[Dex: 10]
[Int: 15]
[Wil: 25]
[Cha: 15]
[Spells]
[Accelerated Growth]
[Plant Control]
[Calming Touch]
[Skills]
[Wildcraft: Beginner]
[Empathy: Beginner]
[Herbalism: Beginner]
[Gear]
[Plain-Stitched Robe]
[Patched Sandals]
[Gnarled Stave]
[Starter Satchel]
[Beginner Rations: 5 Charges]
[Waterskin: 5 Charges]
[Compass]
[Map of Arran]
He was interrupted as his body began to glow with iridescent light, and began rapidly floating up towards the giant tree. Surprised at the sudden moment, he glanced down as he shot through the clouds, connecting with a large branch and beginning to follow it off into the distance at high speed, similar lights flashing to his sides.
So those had been other players the whole time, creating their characters.
His flight took him southwest, across fjords and an ocean channel. He touched down in an open forest clearing on a small island, standing up, his user interface flashed.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: "Character creation complete, welcome to Eldritch Online!"]
