Drake found himself in an empty space. Everything around him was completely white. If he were to picture a realm of nothingness, this would be it. There was no floor, ceiling, or walls, just pure emptiness. Suddenly, a colossal television screen disturbed his solitude. A male character model was prominently displayed on the virtual window. The female gender option was locked away behind darkened gray.
Are they locking me from making female characters because they know I’m male? he pondered to himself. I wonder why they would do that, it seems somewhat restrictive.
There was a menu with four buttons he could press: two arrow keys which went back and forth through character options; an enter key to confirm the selection and a cancel key if he wanted to cancel a selection.
This was the character select screen. Typically in an MMO, you would choose an avatar to represent yourself. This avatar would be extremely customizable; you could pick your gender, race, and class. One could customize every conceivable thing about the way their character looks. It was almost as if one could be reborn as someone else.
In the process of this rebirth, even your aptitudes and talents would change. These would be determined by the class you chose. If only it was so simple in the real world to be able to choose your own strengths and weaknesses. In this virtual world, nothing was impossible. Those who always dreamed of being a master swordsman or a peerless sorcerer could now fulfill the dreams they had as children—dreams that always seemed out of reach.
Despite how skilled one may be with the blade or bow, some foes proved so challenging, so imposing, that grouping with your peers became a necessity for progress. The best formula for a group is one that can perform where other group members would be lacking. If you had a group of four, for example, you would want a skilled healer, tank, and two damage dealers. In MMO terminology, a healer mends wounds, a tank directs all of the enemy damage to him, and the damage dealers give everything they have into vanquishing the monsters before them.
Engaging in battle with legendary monsters is not everyone’s slice of pie. Taking this into account, there were also several crafting classes within the world that allowed players to support the fearless soldiers who fought on the frontlines—for a cost of course. Even deeper still were classes that gathered raw materials for the crafting classes to use. All of the pieces fit together perfectly like a puzzle.
It was a lot of information for a new player to take in, but having played MMOs for several years, this was all second nature to Drake. Needless to say, the level of customization in MMOs was one of the main draws of the genre.
Drake glanced at the big screen in front of him. The first thing he needed to choose for his avatar is what race he would be. He looked at the races, of which there was a brief description of each.
He stopped once his eyes met the object of his desire. The Harians were the race that resembled humans. Their specialty was their ability to adapt to any situation. Not excelling particularly in their physical abilities or their attunement to the arcane world—their versatility was second to none. They were the only race who could play every class that existed within the game.
Drake selected the Harian race option without thinking twice about it.
Next up was the class selection.
“Eleven classes huh, quite a selection.”
Drake muttered to himself as he browsed through each class like a woman shopping for clothing. After finishing his window browsing, he realized that his original decision had not been swayed.
Some of those classes seemed interesting, but I had already researched this game beforehand. I already know what class I’m going to pick.
With that, he selected Phantom from the menu. Phantoms were like ninjas prowling about in the night—ready to drive their concealed dagger deep through the enemy’s heart. Daggers and swords were the weapon of choice for this class, two of them. At level 31 they became dual wielders. This class could not heal others and their defenses could be toppled easily if they were focus fired by multiple foes. They had to get up close and personal with their enemy in order to inflict their damage. So why pick a Phantom? What does it have to offer in comparison to some other classes that are available? The answer is that the Phantom possessed nearly unrivaled damage capabilities if they were left alone. They were also not as defenseless as they seemed. They relied on their stealthy approach and evasive maneuvers to down enemies quickly, before they even knew what hit them. Paper can be sliced through easily, but if that paper was flying haphazardly in a windstorm, landing that vital blow would prove to be a much more challenging affair.
Next up was his character’s appearance. He wanted a character that was an extension of himself. A man with sand tinged hair that dipped down to his eyebrows—a body so pale that he could easily be mistaken for an unholy apparition—azure eyes that sparkled with an intelligent eagerness to tackle the world that was nearly within his grasp. This was the form of Drake’s rebirth. At a mighty height of 6’4, he would tower over most of his fellow Harians. This was nothing new to him, as he was used to being a skyscraper amongst smaller buildings, even in the real world. His weight could be said to be slightly lean or fairly average, which was actually an embellishment on Drake’s part. In truth, he was even thinner in reality than what his avatar would have you believe. All that was left was a name, a unique identifier, a label that differentiated you from everyone else.
A keyboard interface appeared in front of his hands, beckoning him to proceed. He remembered telling Stacy his character name was going to be Dusk, so he pecked the letters thusly into the keyboard, and pressed enter... finalizing his decision. The system happily accepted his query and responded in kind.
Character appearance saved.
Loading...
~~~~~
Karla spent the remainder of her time freshening up. After all... once she dove into the virtual world she might be submerged for a few hours before surfacing into reality again.
“Log on,” she commanded the Nexus Interface.
“Acknowledged.”
Karla found herself within a vast space, completely devoid of color.
Suddenly a towering screen appeared in front of her, offering her various choices for her virtual self. The character appearance alone took her thirty minutes to complete. This would be the shell that represented her. This decision couldn’t be made in haste. After much tinkering and sampling, she smiled in satisfaction as her new design lay before her: a moderately tall, athletic woman with silver hair flowing down beautifully. Skin that glittered white like unblemished snow reflecting the sun’s warmth. Turquoise eyes which seemed to emit a hypnotizing glow. In this world, this would be her new look.
She browsed through the classes with care, studying every minor detail about them, making sure she didn’t miss a beat. After assessing all of the information, she had settled on a class which seemed to be a near perfect fit for her.
A Sword Mage was right up her alley. It seemed to be the most complex class that this game had to offer. It was powered heavily by the elements in nature: earth, wind, water, fire, lightning, and ice. Harnessing these forces, she would be able to empower herself or cripple her enemies with the power of nature itself. Flexibility was one of the main strengths she looked for when choosing a class in MMOs.
Sword Mages fought with a single handed sword, dispatching their enemies with elegance and grace. Sword Mages could damage enemies or heal their allies, though they weren’t top of their class in either one of these things.
Yet their adaptability and utility was unmatched in this world. They were the most independent class in the game, excelling at solo combat. They stood above the rest in terms of dueling ability. Even the most adept warriors would often find themselves with a blade pointed at their throat if their opponent was a Sword Mage.
Karla had quite a history with MMOs, always sitting in the top bracket of players. Being the top duelist in every MMO she had ever played, the Sword Mage was perfect for her play style. The only
times where she didn’t reside at the top were doing group encounters, where other players would weigh her down. She often felt as though she was carrying other players on her shoulders to achieve victory, but there was a limit to how much she could carry on those shoulders; a limit to what she could achieve alone in a group environment.
The last decision she had to make was what her name would be. This would be the most important decision of all. She did not take names lightly. It was not simply a label to her, but a deep meaning that would branch into life. This was a matter she had thought about extensively beforehand. She typed out the name 'Tsuki' into the name selector and pressed enter.
Tsuki was a word that meant moon in Japanese. She considered the full moon to be beautiful in its silvery white glow. It was a bright beacon that shone through the darkness lighting the path for others to follow—just as she wanted to help guide others to the correct path.
On top of that, the word Tsuki came out to the number twenty in numerology. Those of the number twenty were very independent creatures who loved to help others in their time of need. They would also hold very high positions in society and generally had a very calm and peaceful demeanor. Karla also came out to the number twenty; making the name Tsuki fit her like a glove.
The Nexus System accepted her parameters as the white void gradually dimmed into pure blackness.
Chapter 3
The vast space of darkness had dissipated to allow the introduction cinematic to load before Dusk’s eyes. The narrator’s voice bounced around him, filling his eardrums.
“Septunia... a world that has failed twice already.”
It showed the world of Septunia. There looked to be seven continents scattered across this virtual globe. Upon a closer look, each continent harbored one obelisk, piercing through the heavens. There were seven obelisks in total shown: orange, blue, red, purple, green, and teal—each obelisk looming at a hundred feet tall. In the center of the world was the seventh and final obelisk. Two hundred feet tall and made out of pure gold, it was as though it were touched by Midas himself.
The narrator continued, “A world where the intelligent species killed each other off completely in two world wars.”
A bloody scene was unfolding before Dusk’s eyes. The various races were locked in a gruesome, blood soaked battle, until all of them were wiped out by a yet unknown catastrophe.
“You are a part of the third wave of intelligent life.”
The world had gone through a flash forward, structures were rebuilt under the watchful eyes of the six obelisks; the continents were now teeming with life. The exception was the seventh obelisk—devoid and barren.
“What will the third wave accomplish? Will they perish like those before them?”
The scene rewound yet again to show the aftermath of the bloodshed—hundreds of thousands of dead bodies from the previous world wars. The vultures were pecking at their various decomposing body parts.
The narrator resumed. “Or will the third wave break the cycle and accomplish great things? It is up to you to decide, all of you will shape this era, and all of you will write this story!”
The stop button had been pressed, causing the entire world before him to be shrouded in black. When the darkness lifted, Drake’s eyes sucked in the sight of a grand city—a culmination of brick, metal, and concrete with the cobblestone streets tangled like a web. The Middle Ages and the Industrial Age had collided to form this imperialistic metropolis. A trickling noise twisted into his ears—the music of a large ceramic fountain. The three dolphins were poised around the fountain as if they were about to dive out of the very fountain itself. Out of each of their mouths came a stream of water which flowed into the fountain bottom.
To the north he noticed a vast ivory structure. The main roof was crafted into a dome. Various pillars held aloft a sheltered walkway that led into the entrance. Two large wings stretched from the center structure as if two massive ivory arms extending from a sleeping giant. This was the largest and most grand structure, Fortura Castle. The yolk of this building was inside the shell of a large concrete wall which defended its soft center from intruders. On top of the building, a lightning rod was pointing at the sky as if issuing a challenge, but this wasn’t the only one. Lightning rods were scattered everywhere on the concrete stratosphere of the city. Were there frequent thunderstorms here? This building was in Bermia, the capital of the Bermian Empire—home of the Harians. The Harians started off in the Lightning Continent.
There were seven continents in this world. The Forsaken Continent was the main continent in the center where only the most skilled fighters would ever set foot. Surrounding it were the continents of ice, water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning. He paused for a moment to reflect that the title of Lightning Continent may not have been just for show. As he pondered the virtual world, he browsed through the user interface (UI). While doing so, he stumbled upon the menu. The menu was the hub for all of the functions he required to move forward in this game. To access this menu, he could touch the option with his finger, say the word “menu” aloud, or think the word to himself.
According to the menu there was an urgent message that needed to be read. He would have to save that for later. Right now he had to find Stacy.
“Friends list,” he uttered, causing the friends list menu to appear. Right now, Stacy was the only one on his list. Even being the loner type, Drake knew Stacy being the solitary occupant of his friends list would be a very temporary arrangement. MMOs often force you to befriend others in order to accomplish great things. He supposed it mimicked the real world in that sense.
“Knowing her I bet she can’t figure out how to accept my invite,” he snickered to himself.
A few minutes later his invite was accepted, revealing her general location. He invited her to his group, and she promptly accepted this time. Friends list only gave you a rough idea of their location. If you wanted their exact coordinates, you would have to invite them to your group, or party as it was called.
“Hey, Drake, what’s up? Oh sorry, I mean Dusk, haha.” Stacy couldn’t resist the chance to poke fun at his choice of names.
“Whatever. I’m coming to you, Stacy, don’t move,” Dusk said sternly.
“Not a problem, I’m still taking it all in.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. This world is somewhat overwhelming.”
“You got that right!” Stacy shouted. Her voice was infused with enthusiasm. “I haven’t even played a game in my life besides Mimecraft, so this is all new to me!”
Five minutes later Dusk had homed in on her location—a shop that sold magic wands. Her appearance was different in this game than what he knew in the real world. She had flaxen blonde hair coiling into curls—deep blue eyes which held an ocean of childlike giddiness within them—skin so fair that it nearly rivaled Dusk’s in the lack of color that was present.
She was dressed in a matching raggedy dress and tattered blouse, both of which were colored a dirty brown. Her pauper like appearance made Dusk grin inwardly. Ever since he had known Stacy she had been a daddy’s girl, always receiving anything she asked for. He sometimes imagined she slept on mattresses of money as a newborn. Her family was one of the wealthiest in the state, since her father was the vice president of one of the top banks in the country. Seeing this rich girl before him looking like a beggar on the street corner amused him no end. She held a narrow twig gently between her fingers, afraid of breaking the flimsy devise. Seeing how crappy the rest of her outfit was, she might’ve been justified not to hold the twig too firmly. Try as he might, the whole image in front of him caused him to release a loud chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Stacy nagged with her hands placed on her hips.
“Sorry, my bad... it’s just... You look so ridiculous in that outfit.”
“Shush, you! You’re not the pinnacle of fashion either!” Stacy reflected vocally as she pointed her finger directly at his ensemble.
Stacy was right, of course. Dressed
in a shoddily stitched outfit of unimaginative gray, he had no room to judge. Dusk, having been countered, stopped this current line of verbal assault. Though the mischievous grin affixed to his face didn’t shrink one bit.
“So, why does your avatar look like that? You don’t look like that at all in real life.”
“I wanted a change!” she pouted. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“No, no, just wondered why you chose a different appearance that’s all.” He waved his hands up in defeat.
That narrow twig which she gripped ever so carefully was the beginner weapon of a Cleric. Just as Dusk picked the Phantom class, the path of being a Cleric piqued Stacy’s interest.
A Cleric was the purest healing class that existed in War of the Elements. They had better defenses than a Phantom, but not by much. They possessed none of the elusiveness or damage capacity of a Phantom either. What a Cleric excelled in was supporting other players: keeping them alive with healing and restorative abilities. They couldn’t do much by themselves, but they didn’t need to. Healing and supporting classes were always the most sought after in MMOs by a fair margin. Dusk considered himself fairly fortunate to have his own personal healer, even if she was a complete newbie.
“Well then, what do you say you teach me what to do, because I have no idea.” The newly christened healer spoke aloud, making her cluelessness known.
“Well, first thing I wanted to do is leave the city so we can fight some mobs and level up.”
“Mobs?” Stacy seemed genuinely confused. She was like a newborn babe to this world.
Dusk sighed at the prospect of having to teach someone who knew absolutely nothing about MMOs. This next week would surely test his patience.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll show you when we get there.”
The Virtual Realm Page 2