When his eyes opened, he was in the void. At first, it was black, an open space that stretched out with no end in sight. He looked down, expecting to catch a sight of his body in this empty expanse, but saw nothing there. It was a strange sensation, to have the feeling of a body, of fingers, of limbs, but with no visual feedback to it at all.
“Well this is… new,” he said, amusement and curiosity in his voice.
He took a step forward with his incorporeal body, the impact of his nonexistent foot upon a nonexistent ground that summoned forth a series of ripples. Ripples of seemingly black liquid, transitioning into lights -auroras- that took the place of the darkness that surrounded him. The lights swirled beneath him like a platform. Without warning, a text box appeared in front of him, signifying its appearance with a soft boop. It hovered in front of him in mid air, following his “head” movements and remaining at the center of his vision.
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Avatar generation in progress.
Would you like for your avatar to reflect your real life appearance?
Yes / No
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He wasn’t expecting that as an option, but then again he wasn’t all too familiar with VR games. He was, however, familiar with character creators in older RPGs, and the option to just generate a character model like him would eliminate the usual meticulous details that he’d put into such a tool. On the other hand, there were perks to having an avatar that looked completely different from him. Anonymity was the greatest draw of the internet, after all, but he wasn’t the type of guy that had anything to hide.
He “reached” out and selected “Yes,” the input sending a vibration through his incorporeal finger. The textbox disappeared after he did so, and left in its wake a group of motes of light. They flooded into the center of the platform. Starting with the feet, the light gathered and formed into the rough silhouette of a person. Just as fast as they collected, they scattered, leaving behind a human man.
He was tall, with a toned, but not overly muscular physique, and tan skin. His avatar also wore underwear, which gave him an amount of comfort that he wasn’t really expecting. All things considered, that detail was standard to any character creator, but the fact that he was looking at his own body emphasize emphasized that little detail enough that it was something that he noticed first. The next was his face, which held a blank expression, but the features it had gave off the impression that he was smirking even though he wasn’t. It wasn’t an overly handsome face, nor one that was too mundane, but there was something that he was certain of.
“Yeah, that’s definitely me,” he said. A smile tugged at the corners of his non-existent lips. By some strange compulsion, he tried to ruffle his avatar’s short, brown hair, but before his “hand” could reach it another window popped up as a barrier to his touch.
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Avatar generated, would you like to make additional changes?
Yes / No
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He took a moment to look over the avatar again to see if there were any oddities that resulted from its automatic generation. There were none, and with that in mind there was a brief period that he considered making some alterations. He did up the muscle tone a little bit while he was sifting through the sliders that appeared in front of him in the same fashion as the boxes of text, but other than that he kept his avatar’s appearance the same as his real life appearance. As soon as he finalized his avatar, another text box appeared.
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Avatar adjustments recorded.
Would you like character progression to be Class Bound or Free Form?
Class Bound / Free Form
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Another choice, and while his avatar’s appearance could be considered more important, this was the more critical choice in his eyes. From the little research he did before starting the game, Class Bound character developed allowed players to choose a class and progress through a skill tree as they leveled up. There were of course some variation to the classes, such as specialization, prestiging, or multiclassing, and many of these combinations or just straight class paths proved to be either competent to push a player to endgame, and at times even dominate the space. It was for those that wanted a simpler experience, something that could take a little bit of theorycrafting, but did not rely on it. Free Form, however, was an entirely different beast.
Where the Class Bound player generally trained under a Master to earn their class status, be it an NPC or even another player, Free Form players did no such thing. They started with no class, and rather than Masters their skills would be acquired from Trainers, which again, could be NPCs or other players. The advantage to this was that the Free Form player had the freedom to learn the skills that most suited them or adhered to their playstyle, but there was always the added uncertainty of how the different skills would synergize with one another. He’d read many a horror story on people having to restart their progress due to terrible builds that had already progressed too far to be corrected. At the same time, there were many synergies that he’d seen that were valuable across all situations across the game world.
For someone like him, the appeal of Class Bound progression was tempting. It was convenient, and it would just let him focus on the game. Enjoyment was important, but that wasn’t the only thing on his mind. For his needs, he’d something else. He selected “Free Form”.
As soon as the choice was made his avatar split back into motes of light. They lingered in the air for a brief moment, like a gathering of stars, before they surged towards him. The movement was sudden enough to make him flinch, raising nonexistent hands to block the incoming lights. His vision was blinded by a flash of light, and as his sight cleared his incorporeal hand were very much corporeal, along with the rest of his body. Compared the general weightlessness that he was experiencing before, the addition of a body that felt very much real prompted a brief disconnect that almost resulted in him falling flat on his face. Still, it was a body, with all the motor control of his actual one, so adjusting to it took no time at all. He took some time to examine himself, new but old body and all. From what he could tell, he was now inhabiting the avatar he just created, though with the added addition of a simple shirt and pants. His clothes too, felt very much real, soft, like cotton. He whistled
“They went all out with the sensory programming didn’t they?” he said to himself as he waved his limbs around. As a final test, he snapped his fingers, smiling at the crispness of the sound it made.
As soon as he was finished, another box appeared before him, displaying two pictures in addition to text.
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Please select a starting city.
Retissia
Lit by the auroras and stars above, the city of eternal night is home to a peaceful, mystic people. Rich in magical power, the citizens of Retissia are blessed by plentiful magical flora and fauna that aid in the development of magical skills and practices.
Common Races: Human, Elf, Celestial, Beastkin
Gram
The city of craftsmen is situated within the depths of the Gobi Valley, the natural barrier between the Chobin Desert and the Deepwood. While not as saturated in magical power, the seemingly endless resources of the Valley have made the city a hotspot for aspiring artisans and merchants alike, leading it to become a marvel of technology and the arts.
Common Races: Human, Dwarf, Infernal, Petra
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He took a closer look at the two pictures. True to it’s description, Retissia sat under a night sky filled to the brim with stars and streaks of multicolored lights that went over the horizon. The structure of the city itself might as well have been ripped right from the pages of Tolkien, with brilliant, white buildings that towered over the streets below. That was only part of the city’s make, however, as he noticed a number of buildings that appeared to be more modern in design. They held the sleek, white aesthetic of the older buildings, but there was a more rigidity to their design that made them feel distinctly new from the antiquated towers above. The people who walked the street were dressed in clothes that, while not exactly reflective of modern day fashion, wouldn’t be that out of place if worn out in public in the real world. To amplify the mystical feel of the city, it sat on the coast of a lake that's waters were unnaturally still. Its surface was almost like a mirror, even through the picture. A very tempting choice, all in all.
Gram was a different beast. The city sat at the bottom of what was closer to a basin rather than a valley, surrounded by tall walls built from white stone. Its appearance held a more industrial feel, with smoke stacks that pumped into the city’s skies and bits of machinery, some recognizable like cranes, holographic displays and the like, with others that looked too obscure to identify the purpose of. Even with all of this industry, however, there was still a lot of green that lay dispersed outside and inside of the city. A forest surrounded Gram’s walls, it's trees tall enough to match the height of the city’s barrier, while the inside of the city patches of trees, grass, and other flora filled in the city with just enough color to equalize the industrial aspects of the city. To top that all off, every building in Gram blended architectural beauty with industrial practicality. There were far fewer spires than Retissia, but even the most basic square buildings had noticeable flourishes to their walls such as paintings or carvings, and it all managed to give the city an odd, yet captivating source of beauty.
Magic was tempting, as it was so different from the real world, and that alone almost made him select Restissia out of impulse. The odds of Gram having any sort of Trainer specializing in the magical arts were low, but he knew in his heart that he was always a man that preferred to work with his hands. As much as he knew he would enjoy magic, he felt more resonance with the city of machines and artisans. That, and there was the high possibility that he’d end up in Retissia sooner or later, so he could scratch that itch when he got to it. His mind made, he selected the city of Gram.
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Please enter your Username:
__________
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Thankfully, his choice didn’t require much thought
“Gabriel,” he said.
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Username, Gabriel, selected. Is this correct?
Yes / No
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He selected yes.
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This username is currently in use by 1408 players, would you still like to use this name?
Yes / No
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He selected yes again. The uniqueness of his name didn’t matter.
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Understood, username finalized.
Would you like to enter the world of Aelios now?
Yes / No
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It was odd, up until that point he never even considered that he was stepping into what was essentially a completely different world. He’d been so preoccupied with his choices that he’d forgotten to feel excited, but the sight of this text box brought it out of him. His chest went tight with anticipation, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Yes... yes I am.”
The darkness was nothing new to him. It was as if he never left his old, shabby apartment went he entered the game. There was the obvious lack of body that told him that he was in some other level of consciousness, but it was mainly the lack of must that told him that the VR capsule worked. The lack of a vessel to move in was odd, but it was also strangely comforting to him. He felt free, for the first time in a while.
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Avatar generation in progress.
Would you like for your avatar to--
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Before the message could finish, he pressed the spot that would have said yes on the box. The box closed before it could finish its message, signalling motes of light to dot the dark expanse and gather in front of him, leave h- a body, in front of him.
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Avatar gen--
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He pressed yes again, closing the box and bringing up another window with a list of sliders. His “hand” moved quick, but without purpose, swiping across the sliders with no goal other than to move them. His eyes never rested on his avatar before he did so, but out of the corner of his eye he saw its shape shift from thin… gaunt to large and bulky.
When he rested his eyes on his avatar, it was an oddly proportioned mess with arms that were far too wide and long and legs that were too skinny to hold up its large frame. It looked more suited for a game with cartoonish aesthetics than the more realistic tone of the game he was in. It was somewhat horrifying, actually, but so out of place that it made him laugh, and impressive feat for someone with no mouth. He took to the sliders again, shifting the comically large frame to a more realistic one, a familiar one. The avatar that resulted was that of a muscular man. He was toned, but not to the overly defined physique of bodybuilders. His was a build that was perfected through practice and form rather than weights. His skin was a pale white, the only thing remaining from avatar’s initial appearance. That, he soon corrected, giving it the darker shade of someone who spent more time in the sun, the skin that he used to have. He looked at the avatar some more, thinking the sight of it would help him, soothe him.
It didn’t.
His hand flicked across the sliders again. He kept the build, but shorted the hair and made it black. He also adjusted the color of the skin, shifting it from the sun-tanned look to a color that was actually paler than it first was. The avatar’s eyes, once blue and clear, shifted to a deep red color at his command. A cold expression sat on the avatar’s face, and his hand hovered to alter the features that sat on it, but he paused. It was different enough, no point in being completely different. His avatar hurt less to look at now and he allowed himself a pitiful “smile” at its appearance.
“If only…”
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Avatar Adj--
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He pressed the spot that would have said “Free Form”. The flash of light that followed blinded him, but as his vision cleared he saw that the hands of his avatar were now his own. It shouldn’t have, but it made him smile.
“I can enjoy this… just for a bit, can’t I?”
It was then that he realized that he was standing, and then for a moment everything froze. He was standing.
As an experiment, he moved his foot.
He held back a gasp as he took a step. There was a delay, possibly from his mind getting used to its new shell, but still he took that step. He took another, then another, and when he immediately didn’t fall on his face he almost lept for joy.
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Please sele--
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He practically smacked the section that would have said Retissia. His life was saturated enough by machines as it was. Something… anything different would have been preferable.
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Please enter your Username:
__________
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That was the choice that made him pause. He wasn’t the type that wanted attention, so it would have been better for him to choose a name that many people had, but he had heard of ways to hide a player’s username.
Keeping that in mind, he chose the name that most suited him.
“Null.”
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This username is currently in use by 531 players, would you still like to use this name?
Yes / No
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That made him frown. He hadn’t actually expected there to be people with that name, but then again it was the internet. As disappointing as it was, he liked the name anyways, so he selected yes.
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User--
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He smacked where “Yes” would have been again.
“I don’t have time for this.”
As if on command, the light overtook him.
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