The First Scholar

"Hmm, what's this?" A girl said as she looked at her computer. She had received a message a few hours ago, but she had been taking a nap so she didn't see it until now.

"A new game huh? I guess I can check it out. It's been a while since I tried something new after all."

...

After downloading the game and launching it on her computer, the girl slipped on her VR equipment and prepared for the dive.

A vast field of white spread out around her before splashes of color invaded. Everything went black, and then she found herself standing in a sea of stars. All around she could see galaxies and right in front of her was a rift or tear of sorts. A man clad in full black robes, the regulator, which hid his features stood to the side, and above the tear, she could see the word's 'Telios Void'. Behind the tear meanwhile, was an ever-changing landscape, sometimes showing a massive castle surrounded by a large city, at other times a dense jungle or a cliff by the sea, and occasionally a vast desert.

A screen appeared before her.

[Telios Void]

[Begin Playing

[Control Settings

[Graphic Settings

[Game Settings

She selected the Begin Playing option and looked at the Regulator as he began to speak.

[Welcome Traveler. Your kind has been arriving quite often recently. Ah yes, before we continue, may I know who you are.]

...

The girl once again found herself in a different location, this time a bustling town filled with different people and styles that seemed like a blend between hundreds of cultures, both familiar and foreign.

She had just finished the character creation sequence, and when she designed her character, decided to join the fox clan of demons. Her character was female and had red fox ears and a fox tail of the same color, but with a white tip. Since the fox hair was red, she gave her character ginger hair as well and fox-like yellow eyes, slightly tanned skin, and a voluptuous figure. For her class, she choose to be a Scholar and placed most of her points into perception, dexterity, and spirituality.

As she looked around the bustling scene, a woman walked toward her.

"Hello Traveler, and welcome to the city of Haven. My name is Isabelle, and I will be your guide during your first few days. May I know your name?" Isabelle had tanned skin, brown eyes, and black hair. She had a stoic expression and a line of text above her head, spelling out her name and the additional words 'Beginner's Guide Lv 5'. A set of interfaces appeared once she finished speaking, asking the girl to choose a name for herself.

'Oh, I see. I'll go with the usual then.' The girl decided and entered FlowerPotGirl12 for her Player Name, and Alisia for her character name.

"So it's Alisia, understood," Isabelle said, paused for a bit as Alisia received another notification, and then continued speaking.

"Now then, as we are a bit shorthanded, I will need to give you this. It's a map, for when you want to explore the city on your own without getting lost." Isabelle said while handing Alisia a map. Four more notifications appeared and some information and a minimap appeared in the corners of her vision.

[Status]

[FlowerPotGirl12 - Alisia - Scholar Lv 1 - No Status Effects

[Vitality: 25/25 - Stability: 50/50 - Stamina: 15/15 - Epilloga: 30/30

[Tasks]

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

- Follow your Guide around Haven]

"Now then, if you excuse me, we must be off. I'll first give you a basic tour of the city, then I'll take you to the Traveler's Guild to see one of the Quartermasters there. Also, feel free to ask any questions you have, and I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities." Isabelle said before she began walking away.

Alisia simply said, "Ok," in response, and then followed her. As she walked around the City, she couldn't help but be impressed by the design and number of people.

'Don't tell me this is the only area? So much seems to be going but everything is running so smoothly, and it's all rendered so realistically too! It's a closed beta so it's possible they haven't designed the other areas yet, which is why everything is running so smoothly despite the graphics. In that case, this graphics quality might not last for very long."

After the tour, Alisia followed Isabelle into the Traveler's Guild Hall. When she stepped inside she noticed several other people with lines of text above their heads sitting at random tables and chatting with each other.

"Just wait over here. I'll bring one of the Quartermasters to meet you." Isabelle turned around and told her, before walking towards another door at the corner and disappeared behind inside it. Alisia listened to her instructions and waited at the entrance for a few minutes before Isabelle reappeared from behind the door, with a man in light armor and robes following behind her.

"Thank you for waiting, and allow me to introduce you to Quartermaster Ryan. Ryan, this Alisia, a Traveler." Isabelle introduced the two of them.

Once she did, the man named Ryan extended his hand forward and said. "Hello, as you've heard, my name is Ryan, and I'm one of the Quartermasters here. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Alisia shook his hand and responded, "Thank you. My name is Alisia, it's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Alright, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, tell what equipment you need."

[Choose your starter Weapon. Your choice can be changed later.]

- Novice Grimoire - A magical tome, designed to support a large variety of complex spells.

- Novice Catalyst - A group of floating rings, designed to release simple but massive spells.

- Novice Scepter - An magic-inscribed staff, designed to quickly cast multiple simple spells.

- Novice Cannon - A very recent creation, this mobile artillery relies on metal over magic.

...]

'Hmm. So basically I can choose between versatility, power, speed, or technology. I guess I'll go with the grimoire for now. Sounds like it has a lot of variety.'

Alisia thought to herself as she selected the grimoire from among the three options. After which another list appeared, this time containing 22 options.

[Choose your 7 Basic spells. You cannot unlearn spells, but you can add new ones later on.]

[Incinirate - A torrent of flame unleashed from one's hands, great for burning enemies.

[Frostbolt - A piercing cold projectile that can freeze foes in place and tear away flesh.

[Lightning - A single arc of deadly lightning, shockingly fast and ridiculously powerful.

[Wind Blade - A concentrated blade of raging wind, practically silent and invisible.

[Earth Spear - A sudden spike of earth that rises up from below your enemy's feet.

[Water Shot - A concentrated beam of water with incredibly powerful kinetic force.

[Magic Missile - Three target-seeking missiles composed of pure, concentrated magic.

[Magic Muscle - A magically constructed arm with a variety of deadly and helpful uses.

[Magic Trigger - A magically powered mine that delivers a kinetic blast when triggered.

[Gust Charge - A rapid burst of magically induced speed, perfect for escaping danger.

[Earthen Wall - A sturdy wall of compact earth, useful as a temporary shield and cover.

[Rushing Tide - A stream of gentle magic energy that empowers both mind and body.

[Poison Field - Unleash a dark gas that releases lethal poison into the enemy's blood.

[Chaos Bullet - A malevolent projectile that tears away the enemy's resistance to magic.

[Blood Arrow - A malevolent projectile that increases the enemy's sensitivity to wounds.

[Slowness - A rune that hinders an enemy's movement, action, and reaction speed.

[Blindness - A rune that removes the enemy's sight and hinders their other senses.

[Weakness - A rune that impairs an enemy's muscles and therefore weakens them.

[Spectral Wolf - Summon a spectral wolf that viciously attacks your enemies.

[Spectral Boar - Summon a spectral boar to protect you during your battles.

[Spectral Falcon - Summon a spectral falcon to confuse and disrupt enemies.

[Spectral Snake - Summon a spectral snake to weaken and frighten enemies.

...]

'Do all of the choices have this list of spells? Or just the Grimoire? Cause this kinda explains what they meant by a large variety of complex spells. There are more than 20 spells on this list and I have to pick 7. And they all look like good choices too. This is going to be difficult.

Let's see, Incinerate and Frostbolt mention burning and freezing so I can assume they're good for unleashing those status effects, and Lightning's descriptions make it sound like the highest damage spell, so that's a must. Wind Blade, Earth Spear, and Water Shot sound like a Scholar's way of inflicting Slash, Pierce, and Blunt damage respectively. They may be helpful, but I can always leave that to my party members. The Magic Missile, Muscle, and Trigger spells sound cool, so I'll consider those. Gust Charge, Earthen Wall, and Rushing Tide are probably designed for Scholars who want to play solo, which I've never been fond of, so I can ignore those. Poison Field sounds like a pretty good AoE Control spell, so I'll get that one, plus Slowness as support. Oh, and Spectral Wolf is a must! Um, let's see. That leaves me with 1 more starter slot. What should I get?'

Alisia carefully considered which option would best match her playstyle.

'Yeah, I think I'll go with Magic Missile.'

After selecting her 7th basic spell, the screen closed and Ryan began talking again.

"Ah, a Grimoire right. Got it. Wait for me here while I go put in a request for one."

A few minutes later Ryan returned and led her to a training area behind the building. Having guessed what's about to happen, Alisia stepped onto the field and made her way to one side. Ryan moved toward the opposite side.

"Now then, I'm sure you've already guessed this, but it's become a bit of a tradition for us, the Quartermasters, to test any Travelers we are assigned. A bit of a spar really. Now then, let's see what you can do. On the count of three, we begin. Isabelle, would you do the honors?" Ryan said, and time suddenly froze for Alisia. A new screen appeared, this time explaining how to cast her spells. Alisia carefully read it and then closed it. Time unfroze, and Alisia, as the tutorial instructed pulled out the light gray book Ryan had given her. The book opened on its own and began to levitate above Alisia's hand, and she got ready to cast a spell.

As soon as the countdown finished Alisia would unleash her fastest and deadliest spell, Lightning, and then follow it up with Slowness, then Poison Field. Ryan meanwhile readied a longsword.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Now"

As soon Isabelle said those words, Alisia channeled the grimoire's energy to create a yellow rune that unleashed a sudden flash of lightning that hit Ryan square in the chest. However, he ignored it and charged at Alisia with his sword in hand, rapidly closing the gap between them. Alisia found herself surprised but quickly shook it off and began casting slowness. A large purple symbol appeared in her hand and then created an even larger copy around Ryan's torso, before shattering. As soon as it did, the spell's effect became prevalent and Ryan found himself moving sluggishly but was able to maintain some of his momentum.

Alisia was pleased by the success and began casting Poison Field, but found that the spell took a longer time to cast than the previous two. Ryan meanwhile got close enough to use his sword, forcing Alisia to retreat and switch to a different spell. A blue rune appeared in her hand as a long glacial shard quickly formed itself and shot toward Ryan.