#5 Starting line (Part 1)

James took quite a while to collect himself again. "No Daniel," he said "I won't be able to join you. You see… Someone needs to run this whole project. We're talking about a gigantic amount of data capacity that needs to be tracked by the second. If even one bigger error occurs, this whole thing could crash and who knows what would happen to you and the rest of the subjects. The server, all the issues with the public, runtime updates. Someone needs to handle that and I am the only one that can".

"You're saying that you're leaving me alone?! In a world, I have absolutely zero knowledge about? Why can't somebody else handle that??" Daniel shouted.

He was mad. He was so mad! All that talk about saving his life, building him a new place to live his life to the fullest, because he couldn't live without him and now he was not gonna stay?

"No, I am the only one that can. I built Elisa. Nobody else knows how she works and she is in constant need of new information as the world grows and develops! Every single detail about the game is manufactured by her, but she can't do it without extensive information. Someone needs to be on the other side. You have to understand that. Forgive me, Daniel, please! However, I will be there for you whenever you want to talk! 24/7!".

James stretched his hands into the sky and a leather necklace fell onto his hands. He handed it to Daniel.

A small wooden bird of elegant brown colour and in the shape of a kingfisher was attached to it. "This will be our communication device", James explained. "Is it still your favourite animal?" Daniel didn't answer, still sulking. "Whenever you need me, I will be right there with you. You just need to hold it in your hand for a minute. The bird will recognize the touch of your hand and send me a "wake up" message". James tried to catch eye contact with Daniel.

He lifted up his chin. Daniel's eyes were wet and shone brightly in the sun. He had the grey eyes of his mother James had always loved so much.

"Okay", Daniel sniffed. He wasn't satisfied, but he was old enough to understand why his father did things this way. "But you will always be there!".

"I will always be there", James answered. "Sometimes in this form, sometimes in another, but I will always be there and watching you". James looked up into the sky. Blinding light shone in his eyes. "Just like your mother", he added.

"Do you really think she is watching us?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, I do".

Both of them stared into the beautiful sky for a few more minutes and savoured the warm touch of the sun rays.

"Now, let's get you ready for your great adventure. You have a few choices to make, my son" James said, as he turned back to look at his son, who was still squinting into the sun.

Choices? Daniel was wide awake. He turned his head in surprise, eyes wide open.

James continued. "I don't know what Elisa already told you, but the world is currently split into different sectors, most of them managed by different tribes, consisting of many different people of different races. Each sector brings with it its own inherent attributes. Some are hot, some are really cold and according to those attributes and the danger level, you will get different rewards from the game. But I don't want to spoil everything for you. You will find out more soon enough.

What you will need to know now, however, is that the game is experience based. Everybody in this world started at level 1 and worked their way up to where they are now. Each level you gain grants you access to the "circle of stars" and one point to spend on a star. Before you ask, no, it is not an attribute-based system. The circle of stars is a giant ever-changing system with all kinds of rewards. Obviously, the first choices for you will mostly be skills that you can level as well. However, later on, you will be able to choose basically anything that is interconnected to another star that you have chosen before. Some examples would be skills, passive and active, status bonuses, weapons, although I would advise against that, and so much more".

"Why would you advise against that?" Daniel asked.

"Well, because weapons you can already find in the world. They can be crafted and found in the different sectors as rewards. Skills you can't find".

"Makes sense… Alright, you said something about choosing stars?" Daniel followed up.

"Ah yes. Whenever you get a point, you have the option to choose one star in the ever-changing "star system" to add to your "path to glory", awarding you with its inherent reward".

"Okay, but what if I don't like any stars that I can see?" Daniel interrupted.

"Just let me finish!" James answered and laughed, as he recognized the glimmer in the boy's eyes. He had caught his attention.

"As I said, the system is ever-changing. Elisa'a is the centre of this universe. Everything turns around this world and so do the stars. So with every passing minute, a new opportunity you might like could show up, as the stars moved around. So it is never a bad idea to check the current star system when you have some time. Any questions about that?".

"Yeah. How do I look at it?" Daniel asked immediately.

"There are certain commands, like in a video game, the only difference being that you need to envision them. For example the star system. If you want to open it, you only need to think of the words "star system". You will see a screen pop up right before your eyes and see your "star tree". At least, that's what I call it. Should you come up with a cooler name, feel free to tell me".

Daniel tried, but nothing happened. "It doesn't work", he said confusedly.

"Well of course it doesn't, silly. You aren't even really part of the game yet.

Now, that's that. Let's get back to the choices I told you about. First, I need you to select your race and how you want to look. You can obviously stay the way you are, but some people like the option to change".

Six blue icons popped up before Daniel. They read 'Elementalist', 'Undead', 'Angel', 'Demon', 'Spirit' and 'Human' in ancient letters, that Daniel had no clue about how he could read them. After he had read them, Daniel looked up. "What do they do?" he asked.

"Well, nothing much really. The determining factors are the levels. Your race only gives you special bonuses against or for certain attributes and charisma with different races.

Take Angels for example. They really detest the undead and don't really like humans. Obviously, they have a light affinity, so if you would like to play a character that is built on that type, they would make an obvious choice, but you really don't have to. An undead can also wield the light. He will only progress a little slower in his skill levels than the angels do.

Other than that races are only visual updates. Angels have wings and such". His father smiled, proud of his achievements.

"Alright… I see. Still, a tough choice to make. Aren't there half-breeds?" Daniel asked, while still looking at his options. You could see smoke coming from his head, created through all the work his brain was doing at the second, considering every possibility carefully.

"No, there are none yet. Half-breeds would be created through the usual sexual intercourse. As Elisa'a is a new world, nobody has had the time yet to think about offspring. There is no rush anyways, as the races grow way older than in our world".

"Hmm… alright" Daniel answered. "So Elementalists have access to all the elements, Undead to the power of the dead, Spirits to the power of life, Angels to the power of light and Demons to the power of darkness. Did I guess that right?".

"Yeah, that's about right, but as I said, it doesn't really have an impact" James answered.

"But what do humans do?". Daniel looked at his Dad pessimistically, one eyebrow raised. "They are probably weak in comparison, aren't they?"

James laughed. "Don't underestimate the humans. They are really good at things like swordsmanship and assassination and can be really useful companions, especially the swordsmen. I've heard that one of the bigger tribe leaders is in fact a human!".

"That's surprising" Daniel acknowledged and turned back to his choices.

After a few minutes of deep thinking, he made his choice.