The black faded and I was back in the meadow on which I had started the testing. Alkmene was with me again. "Welcome back, traveller. I see that you had an impressive performance in your testing. Why, the gods themselves judged you and I can tell you, some of them were quite impressed by your feats, well, impressive for a mortal, that is. Let's see how they rated your attributes, then we can see where you might fit into the world of Mundus."

It feels like the developers wanted to make everything clear like a nice, muddy puddle. 'Impressive for a mortal'? What on earth does that mean? A blue screen interrupted my musing.

Name Morgana Race Undefined Level 0 Health ???/??? Stamina ???/??? Astral Power ???/??? Divine Power ???/??? Strength 10 Agility 12 Dexterity 12 Intelligence 15 Intuition 15 Charisma 10 Courage 13 Endurance 11 Vitality 12 Special Ability gained You gained the Special Ability: Overflow For having Intelligence of 15 or higher, you gained the skill Overflow. Overflow allows you to let your Astral Power burst forth, charging a spell beyond the maximum, increasing it's effect. Most spells however can only take a limited extra charge before shattering with unpredictable consequences. Special Ability gained You gained the Special Ability : Bullet Time For having Intuition of 15 or higher, you gained the skill Bullet Time. Bullet Time allows you to boost your mind to the maximum, decreasing your perceived flow of time, giving you more time to plan out your actions. Note that this does not increase your physical speed. The duration depends on your Intuition, your Intelligence and your remaining Stamina and is not known before hand.

Ok, so if I read this right, my physical stats except strength are on the high side for a normal human but my mental stats except charisma are exceptional. But what are Astral and Divine power? Let's ask my companion. "Can you tell me what Divine Power and Astral Power are?"

"In simple terms, Astral Power is extracted from the astral rivers that flow all around Mundus, it's used by mortals to cast spells. It can also be given to the gods in prayer, hoping that you gain some of his power for yourself. And that is Divine Power, power that a god lent you, it allows you to perform small feats of the Divine, those depend on your chosen deity."

So if I understand it correct, there are two ways of spell casting, Astral and Divine, one for the classic mage-archetype, the other for priests or clerics? Alkmene went on with "Sadly, only extremely few mortals have the natural aptitude for true magic, most of their so called casters simply know on which deities door they can knock to get help and boost their pathetic skill."

Your performance during the tests gained you traits. Trait gained You gained the trait: Natural Mage Natural Mages have an inborn connection to certain elements, which allows them to gain understanding of the true runes of that element. This allows them to read those runes and create new combinations, that become the 'spells' of later generations.

You gain Special Abilities: [Rune Meditation], [Rune Comprehension]

You gain Traits: [Rune Affinity: Ice], [Rune Affinity: Darkness], [Rune Affinity: Blood] Special Ability gained You gained the Special Ability: Rune Meditation Allows you to meditate on Runes, possibly increasing your Affinity with them or inferring different runes of the same type. The ability to infer runes depends on your Affinity and the specific Rune-Magic Skill Special Ability gained You gained the Special Ability: Rune Comprehension Allows you to gain understanding on the meaning of Runes. You need to either draw, see or meditate on the runes to understand them. The complexity of the runes you can comprehend depends on your Rune Affinity and the specific Rune Magic-Skill. Special Ability gained You gained a Special Ability: Rune Triangle For being a Natural Mage and reaching 10 Intelligence, you gain the ability to link three Runes into a single spell. This is the basic form of rune-magic. Special Ability gained You gained a Special Ability: Rune Pentagon For being a Natural Mage and reaching 15 Intelligence, you gain the ability to link five Runes into a single spell, increasing their possible uses. Trait gained You gained the trait: [Rune Affinity: Ice] This trait grants you understanding on runes regarding the element Ice. The element Ice stands for freezing, solitude, calculated action and eternity. Trait gained You gained the trait: [Rune Affinity: Darkness]

This trait grants you understanding on runes regarding the element Darkness. The element Darkness stands for concealment, uncertainty, devouring and change. Trait gained You gained the trait: [Rune Affinity: Blood]

This trait grants you understanding on runes regarding the element Blood. The element Blood stands for sacrifice, regeneration and the cycle of life. Trait gained You gained the trait: Ruthless You don't hesitate to do what you have to do to reach your goals.

Your allies are less likely to trust you to guard their back.

When the boxes appeared, Alkmene was visibly surprised and told me, “Truly impressive, I was not aware that you did that well. I only saw the attributes and was unaware of your other achievements. It is a rare being that steps into the world a true Mage with multiple affinities. Now, however we have to see about your race. I feel that using the guise of a human would be a burden to you. Here are some races I feel would be better suited as your guise.”

Suggested Races Moon-Elf The Moonelves dwell amongst the ancient forests, they worship the moon and natural order, they value community, piety and continuity. Within their forests, they create fantastical feats of magic, in symbiosis with nature. To attack the elves is to go to war with the forest itself. On average, they are tall, slender and graceful. They defend their ancient trees and seldom venture from their magic kingdom. Naga Naga dwell in the shallow parts of the oceans, they are creatures with a human torso and a snake-like lower body. Their cities are under water, protected from sea-monsters by artificial shallows or hidden within underwater caves. They are masterful swimmers and tend to stay close to the ocean. Their natural affinity to the ocean makes them the best navigators and sailors. Firn-Elf The Firn-Elves are not true elves, as elves view those things. They are the outcome of an experiment by a mad god. He crossed the Svartalfar with Jötun in order to create a highly magical race of loyal soldiers. His experiment failed, Firn Elves are highly magical but also independent, headstrong and ruthless. They don't form tribes but individuals wander the northern reaches of Mundus. White Kitsune Kitsune in general are magical fox-beings, they value secrecy, intrigue, magic and sensuality. The White Kitsune live in small, tight-knit communities in the high mountains, secluded from the world. Little is known about their internal workings, only few venture forth to study from foreign masters. The study of magic and martial arts is their main path, pursuing balance in all things.

Wait, four races? “Are there more races to chose from? Can you show them to me?” The next thing I saw, was a long, long list of races, containing pretty much everything from Amazonian to Zora. I scanned the names but nothing truly jumped at me so I decided to go with one of the four suggested by Alkmene, after all she was a lot more knowing about the world than I was.

Going by exclusion-principle, I wasn't too hot with Moon-Elves and White Kitsune, both seemed rather bound in their culture and I wanted to walk my own path after I had lost the team I had nurtured for years to the greed of others and the dictatorship of the majority. No, if I would be in a community it would be either strictly short-time for a certain purpose of mine or I would be the uncontested leader, no more feel good democracy for me. Both Naga and Firn-Elf have their own appeal but the snake-body and the 'sticks close to water' are off-putting. So, Firn-Elf, sounds good to me. Fitting.

“Well Alkmene, I think my guise will be that of a Firn-Elf, I think it fits me best. Can I alter my appearance to fit as a Firn-Elf?” I asked. “Why, yes, of course. There you go.”

An editor appeared before me, to show me my looks as a Firn-Elf and customize on them. I didn't change much, I wanted to keep my overall body close to my real body to keep my body-coordination so I mainly sharpened my features. I resisted the temptation to get some strange hair-colour and stayed with raven-black. That contrasted nicely with their natural slightly bluish hue. I chose my natural green eyes and silvery-blue lips to finish the look.

Race gained You belong to the Firn-Elves. You are one of the few remaining Firn-Elves, product of the experiments of a mad god shortly before the cataclysm. Nobody knows how many there are or where you came from, Your people have a few settlements in the far north. Rumours have it that the mad god not only used the blood Jötun in his experiments but also his own blood that has spawned many a monster in the past. You gain Attributes: +2 Intelligence, +1 Intuition, -1 Charisma, +1 Agility, -1 Vitality, -1 Strength. You gain traits: [Frost-Resistance], [Lowlight Vision], [Denizen of the Dark], [Denizen of the Eternal Ice], [Heat-Sensitive], [Glare Sensitivity] Trait gained You gained the trait: Frost-Resistance You are used to a cold and chilly climate. Arctic cold is no danger to you and magical cold deals reduced damage Trait gained You gained the trait: Lowlight Vision Your Ancestors lived underground and did not need light to live. That trait is weaker in you but your vision is strong enough to make you able to see normally in dim or gloomy light. Total absence of light or magical darkness robs you of your sight like everyone else. Trait gained You gained the trait: Denizen of the Dark Your people lived in the Darkness for a long time, they became accustomed to it, melding with it, taking it into their very souls. All magic with the Darkness-Attribute costs less. Trait gained You gained the trait: Denizen of the Eternal Ice Your people lived in the eternal Ice of the North for a long time, they became accustomed to it, melding with it, taking it into their very souls. All magic with the Ice-Attribute costs less. Trait gained You gained the trait: Heat-Sensitive You are not used to hot climate. In hot climate, increased Stamina consumption, magical heat deals more damage. Trait gained You gained the trait: Glare Sensitivity Your eyes are used to lowlight conditions, sudden, strong glares will disorient you and cause strong pain. Your eyes are unable to adapt to extremely strong light sources.

“Now, Morgana, we need to talk about the path you want to walk. The decision which path to walk is a monumental one, your path can't be changed and while it is possible to stray from your predestined path, walking on the path will always be faster and smoother.”

Please select your path Martial Path The follower of the Martial Path believe in strength of arms above all else. They are the warriors on the battlefield, the knights leading the charge, the general at the head of an army. But they are also the ranger in the wild, tracking and hunting with spear, bow and his wits. Divine Path Those who walk the Divine Path, believe in something bigger than themselves. They are pious believer in their chosen deity and further their will whenever they can. They are the proud Paladins protecting the faith, the inspired Preacher tending their flock but also the ruthless Inquisitor hunting for heretics. Arcane Path The Arcane path might be the narrowest path of them all but also the most branching path, with each branch being a narrow path of their own. Followers of the arcane path value magic and secrets above all else. They are the hedge-witches, the guild-mages, the warlocks and the sorcerers. They delve into the unknown in search for truth. Civilised Path The Civilised Path might be the widest of them all. All walks of life can be found on this path, the greedy merchant grabbing for coin, the talented crafter plying their trade, the sly diplomat furthering their lords goal but also the sinister assassin stalking the shadows.

Ok, I'd be a fool if I discard my already gained traits, I have a feeling they can be incredibly usefull on the right path and if I'm honest, I want to play a caster anyway and not feeling terribly devout I think the Arcane Path will be for me.

After selecting the Arcane Path, Alkmene was visibly relieved. “It would be sad if you were to become one of the sheep, blindly following a cult. Walk your path and later you can still look for the divine on your terms.” she told me. “And here I thought you are a servant of Hecate and would be happy to add someone to her believers.” I replied. “Yes, I'm a servant of wise Hecate but do you think that she who guards the crossroads would take any traveller into her cult? Only those who are worthy may join and only the mistress herself is able to make that distinction. So if you want to join, you will have to summon at least an avatar of the mistress or even herself. Not like those other cults in which even mid-level clerics can induct newcomers. They only value quantity, Hecate places little value in having a herd of bleating sheep, she prefers a small stash of true gems.”

Sounds like there is some resentment there, interesting.