1 Welcome to Alrisia

The words flashed across his screen. He had done all of his homework on this game and now it was time to login to his first VRMMO. He had saved all of the extra money he had after bills and necessities to buy the headset and computer software. Once college let out for the summer semester he could finally check it out. His eyes flickered to the download percentage at the bottom right corner of the screen. 97...98...99...100%.

Download complete. DreamGear will start in 3...2...1...

The world around him vanished briefly and the character creation function appeared before him. The first thing he had to do was pick a character race. He had spent months pouring over character race and class combinations and already knew the combo that he wanted. He reached his hand out and selected the race.

"You have selected the Remnant Race. Remnants are greater elemental beings that were originally created by the powers left over when the Creator first walked Alrisia. The Remnants that are still alive today take mortal forms, hiding themselves within the midsts of the other races. Little is known about the hidden power locked within these elementals, but whispers across Alrisia hint at great power for those who can learn the secrets held within."

The Class Screen appeared before him next, and this choice was predetermined in his mind like the last one. He immediately chose the Assassin class. He had chosen this for the special class upgrade later in the game transforming him into a Shadow Reaper. A special magic and melee hybrid class.

"You have selected Assassin. Assassin are lethal mercenaries. Blending in with their surroundings, rendering themselves nearly invisible, they sneak up behind their opponent and ruthlessly strike before melding into the shadows once more."

The next screen to appear was the Elemental Alignment Screen and the most important of his decisions. With the Race and Class he had chosen, choosing the right element would not only help him level quickly, but would change his attributes completely. He looked over the twelve choice set before him, but his hand hand already moved towards the Shadow Element. He paused for a brief moment then selected the Element.

"You have chosen the combination of Remnant/Assassin/Shadow. You have been granted +5 to stealth, +5 to Poison Crafting, and +5 to Stealth Vision. Unlocked Special Combination Skill: Shadowform."

His hopes had just manifested in front of his eyes. The Special Combination Skills were coveted by players of the game and not all of them had been unlocked. He himself had only found the keywords in an obscure thread he found on a gaming thread named "Amongst the Shadows". That thread led him to research unused combinations for the game. And here are his results.

"Please create your Character Name before entering the World of Alrisia..."

A name prompt appeared before him. He summoned the in game keyboard with a small wave of his hand and typed the name he had chosen. He then hit enter and waited, dismissing the keyboard in the process.

"Character name Zalin is available, creating character now."

Rings of light moved up and down over his body, scanning it's dimensions briefly before vanishing.

"Your character has been created. Zalin: Level 1 Remnant Assassin, do you wish to enter the game?"

"Yes, I wish to enter the game", Zalin replied.

"Logging in to the World of Alrisia, I am your AI assistant for the game. Would you like to start in the tutorial zone?" the female AI voice asked in a upbeat, chipper voice.

"No", he replied

"Where would like your starting location to be?" asked the AI curiously.

"The Shadowlands safe zone, the Citadel of Shadows." replied Zalin

"Are you sure that is your choice?" asked the AI.

"Yes", he replied

"Logging in to special starting point now."

The world around him turned black. He was making his first descent into Alrisia. His starting point had been discovered within the thread he had found. And if he was right this was going to be one hell of an adventure. The Shadowlands were mostly unexplored region of Alrisia and he was going to unlock it's secrets.

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