The Abyss and a Tour of Haven

Jason looked around at the bustling town full of people. The place looked like it was made by European and Chinese architects working together as small signs of their cultures, and some unique pieces as well were present in pretty much all the buildings and clothing within Jason's sight. many different races, both mystical and traditional, mingled around the area.

Many of the people present turned their heads to look at Jason after he stepped through the tear-like gate. The gate leads him to a raised platform in the middle of a road crossing. Jason looked behind him and could see four pillars surrounding a larger and more unstable version of the tear he just walked through.

"Ah, there you are. So you came through the 5th portal, got it. Oh right, where are my manners? Welcome Traveler, to the city of Haven. This is the Order's main base for now. My name is Herald, and I'll be your guide during your first few days. Ah, before I forget though, what is your name?" A thin young man with dirty blonde hair, countless freckles, green eyes, and wearing green scholarly robes came running up to him and spoke with a fast and excited tone. He was about to grab Jason and pull him away somewhere but stopped himself at the end when he had his question. There was a line of text above him showing his name and role. As soon as he finished speaking, another system prompt appeared.

[Herald - Beginner's Guide Lv 5]

[Please choose your Character Name.]

_________________________

(Note: Only NPC's will see this name, not players.)]

[Please choose your Player Name.]

_________________________

(Note: This is seen by players, but not NPC's.)]

"Let's see, I guess I'll go with Jacob for my character name and EnderKnight0 for my player name," Jason said.

"Ah, Jacob, I see. That's a nice name." Herald said.

[Notification: Whenever you introduce yourself, regardless of what you say your name is, NPC's will only hear your chosen character name.]

'Huh. I was just about to ask that question, but it answered before I could even question it. This AI is actually pretty smart huh. Seems like it was a good choice to check it out. The guys who made this must be geniuses and the graphics are incredible."

"You don't know how happy I am to see you. You're the very first traveler to come here through the gates. I'm so glad the young masters' plans actually worked. Oh wait, lets' see, first we need to show you around town, and then I'll take you to go see one of the Quartermaster's at the Traveler's Guild. Before that though, let me give you this map. There are only 20 of us guides at the moment and while we expect to get some more help, I might not always be available to lead you around the city." Herald said as he handed Jason, now Jacob, a folded map he pulled out from a bag that was slung around his arm.

[Congrajulations: The Map feature has been added to your function list.

Simply think; 'View Map', to view the full map area, or access it through the Player Menu. A minimap display, featuring nearby location info, will also appear in your GUI by default. This option can be disabled in the Game Settings menu underneath the display section.]

[Congrajulations: The Task feature has been added to your function list.

Simply think; 'View Tasks', to view the full task list, or access it through the Player Menu. A mission display, featuring crucial objective info, will also appear in your GUI by default. This option can be disabled in the Game Settings menu underneath the display section.]

[Congrajulations: The Status feature has been added to your function list.

Simply think; "View Status', to view your character's status, or access it through the Player Menu. A status display, featuring crucial character info, will also appear in your GUI by default. This option can be disabled in the Game Settings menu underneath the display section.]

[Congrajulations: The Menu feature has been added to your function list.

Simply think; "Open Menu" to open the menu and access a variety of other features, including your character's status, inventory, settings, and map.]

As Herald handed Jason the map, 3 new notifications appeared, alongside three new semi-transparent displays covering the corners of his vision. One in the top left showed some text encased in a grayish-gold box with some text inside and four horizontal bars beneath it, each a different color. The text was composed of his character name and player name, alongside his class and level, while the 4 bars represented his vitality, stability, stamina, and epilloga. The vitality bar was red, the stability bar was yellow, the stamina bar was green, and the epilloga bar was blue.

In the top right corner of his vision was a round circle with an overhead view of his surroundings inside it. Several symbols dotted the view, likely showing different kinds of buildings and their function, and a small white arrow pointing forward was in the center, near a little golden dot. The white arrow seemed to be himself, and the golden dot was Herald.

Right below the minimap was another rectangular box, only noticeable due to its outside edges being solid gray lines and the fact that it contained text inside. The text composed of a title, subtitles, and some descriptions.

[Status]

[EnderKnight0 - Jacob - Soldier Lv 1 - No Status Effects

[Vitality: 50/50 - Stability: 35/35 - Stamina: 30/30 - Epilloga: 21/21

[Tasks]

[A New Tale Pt 1. - Entry into the Abyss

- Follow your Guide around Haven]

"Now then, let's get going."

As Jacob walked behind Herald, the latter would give occasional tips and or point buildings and people small bits of trivia and lore around them. The walk was fairly long, lasting around an hour, but it was also interesting. Many of the things Jacob saw along the way, such as the general scenery, the clothing, and the architecture were stunning and the overall atmosphere was beautiful. If you looked up at the sky you could see slight ripples, as if a stone was thrown into a pool of crystal clear water.

"Ah, you noticed the ripples," Herald said.

"What are they?" Jacob asked while thinking. 'These AI are pretty smart huh. This is something you'd expect from a leading company, not some newcomers. Actually, no, not even the leading companies have AI or graphics this good. I mean sure I haven't seen the skills and battle mechanic's yet, but what I have seen so far has been incredibly high quality. I just hope this isn't all there is.'

"They used to be rare, but now that the mages are expanding the realm's borders they've been showing up more often. You see Haven is located in a minor realm, so it technically both is and isn't part of the abyss. Those ripples happen when the mages are filling up the realm crystal, which serves as a heart that maintains this place. It's kinda complicated, but basically, you can think of the abyss as this huge ball, and then Haven, alongside plenty of other similar areas, are just smaller balls stuck to it. All parts of the same worlds following the same laws, yet also completely different spaces. It's kinda cool isn't it?" Herald explained in a calmer tone, but the sparkles in his eyes only grew larger. Jacob wasn't experienced enough in dealing with people enough to realize, but Herald was currently trying to make himself look smart.

As they walked around town, Herald pointed out a variety of areas, such as the trading market, the main roads, the palace keep, and what he personally thought were the best taverns and inns.

After igniting Jacob's passion to explore and cruelly not giving him the chance to, they finally arrived at their destination, a place called the Traveler's Guild.

"Now, about the Traveler's Guild. The masters were thinking of just gathering all of you guys in the castle but that would be too far away from the gates and stores, so they set up this place. The Guild is mainly here to give you work and a place to eat and sleep if you run out of money. You can also get some cheap equipment and supplies from here. By the way, don't tell anyone I said this, but the stuff is low quality since they have to focus on mass producing them, so you'll be better off finding some shops in the market to get some higher quality stuff once you have enough money for that." Herald told them as they walked in.

Jacob looked around the building and found that it was very neat. There were a few people carrying stuff here and there, while others were cleaning and giving others.

"Ah Herald, you brought one in huh." A woman said as she walked over.

"Hello, my name is Matilda Greysirth, and I'm one of the Quartermasters posted here in Haven. I'm assuming Herald has already explained everything, so I'll get you some equipment. What kind of weapon do you want?"

[Choose your starter weapon. Your choice can be changed later.

- Basic Broadsword - A common and versatile iron sword, good in most situations.

- Basic Quarterstaff - A sturdy wooden rod designed for self-defense and usability.

- Basic Saber - A curved iron sword with a sharp edge, deadly for common beasts.

- Basic Spear - A straight iron spear with a sharpened point to deal more damage.

- Basic Mace - A heavy bludgeon with sharp, broadened spikes for added lethality.

...]

"Let's see. Swords are way too common, staff doesn't sound very deadly, saber seems nice but it's kinda close to being a sword, spears are easy to use but boring and limited, and the mace just sounds destructive. Yeah, I'm definitely going with the mace."

"The mace huh. Good choice, I'm sure you'll love using one of those. Ah, by the way, the mace is a one-handed weapon, meaning it can be used with a shield. If you don't mind some extra weight, a shield is a good way to protect yourself.

[Do you want to use a shield alongside your mace?

Y/N ...]

"Mace and shield. Soldier's sounded like a tank class anyway and I don't really care about speed, so yeah I guess I will."

"Mace and shield. Got it, just wait here for a bit while I grab your stuff, and then we'll test you out on the training grounds, so get ready."

"Ah, so the combat tutorial is coming up. I wonder how that will work out?"