Kal finished up with character creation, not bothering to change his form. He hoped he could alter his physique through training later. A heartbeat passed before a new world shifted into and popped existence.

Several hundred years ago.

Kal stood on the front lines of an enormous army, within the main body of footsoldiers. Their chain and plate glistened under the rising sun, reflecting the rays like countless shining stars. The bulky forms, arranged in neat rows, formed a lattice of iron and steel. They held swords, axes, clubs, and countless other weapons Kal couldn’t name.

“I can see,” he whispered to himself, unsure if in an elaborate cutscene. “I can see!” The hairs on the back of his neck stood as if jumping to attention. It had been a year since the accident, and he’d never expected his eyesight to return.

He stared down at his hands, perfectly recreated; the old woodworking scars were gone. Padded cloth covered his forearms which stretched below the thin layer of chainmail covering his torso. He rolled his shoulders and found the gear surprisingly unrestrictive. Kal inspected the weight pulling at his hip. He’d never held a real blade like this in real life but felt confident he’d be able to use it if pressed.

In the distance, a similar-sized force approached. Banners streamed above the troops all black as night—a wall of darkness stretching across the horizon. They crushed the field with blackened boots, pounding in time with the heavy beat of a war drum. Their dark presence only made to stir the wills of their opponents. Kal’s allies began to roar a challenge, echoing across the plain.

Three thunderous howls from the black army rose in challenge.

A bulky figure paced back and forth before the allied lines. Gilded plates polished to an incredible shine—each shoulder moulded to a dragon’s head. The front of the figure’s helm opened to reveal a man’s weathered face. He looked over his cohort, and for a rousing moment, Kal was sure their eyes met.

“Today we fight not just for victory, but the whole of Alterion. Our enemy awaits.” The King gestured behind, his sword catching the light of the sun. “They would take your homes, your lives, and your families if they could. We fight to end the tyranny of the would-be Overlord and restore peace. That terror has united the strength of the ten relics; we must put an end to this today before it is too late... Death before surrender.” He cried, finishing his speech.

“Death before surrender,” the army roared back, Kal included.

Kalir inspected the squad around him, noticing a few puzzled faces. Could this be a shared introduction to the game?

“Any of you play the beta?” He called out to the others. They all shook their heads. An elf, two humans, and one of the felines. “Me neither, guess we’ll have to work it out ourselves. You’ve all played MMOs before, right?” This statement received a much more positive response. Kal’s shoulders relaxed.

Welcome to the world of Alter Online. This tutorial will introduce you to the basics of combat. Though this is not a hand-holding experience. Interface options have been disabled, except your health and mana bars. Each of your experiences will be unique; the world will respond to your actions. Just as you are testing the game, the game will be testing you.

Kal raised an eyebrow. The game would be testing him. What did that mean? A glance around revealed distracted and surprised expressions of his companions. They must have all had the same prompt.

After a moment, a set of status bars appeared in the corner of Kal’s vision. They faded away or reappeared with a thought.

HP 400/400

Mana 50/50

Excited to see what more the interface could show, Kal cycled through a set of menu options.

Character sheet (unavailable), settings, help, tips, logout.

Kal expected more, but he shrugged it off. Perhaps all the system’s functions weren't visible just yet. He pondered opening the ‘tips’.

Taa-Toooooo.

The blare of a trumpet followed by a whooshing hiss pulled Kal out of the menu. The enemy had crossed an invisible threshold, no longer at a safe distance. Whoosh. Various projectiles flew from Kal's force to meet them. The arrows, soaring overhead, cast a blanket of shadow. Kal stood in awe, taking in the sight of hundreds, no thousands of flying spells. They sparkled and crackled as they approached the rushing mass, like a firework display, but horizontal and much deadlier. Kal, hypnotised, nearly fell as those behind shoved past. He’d missed the signal!

“Fuck,” Kal cursed to himself, laughing, “MMO players are always so eager.”

Making up for his lapse, Kal sped to the front of his line, angling towards where he’d imagine the king to be; where the most exciting action would take place. He wanted to test the capabilities of the game engine and himself. His virtual body felt stronger than he’d ever been. He sped through his allies, crunching emerald grass underfoot, soon making his way back to the front.

Kal gasped. The oncoming horde, composed of thousands of warriors, rushed with incomparable realism. Armed to the teeth warriors snarled with fury, blades aloft in their charge. Each figure, be it human, orc, or otherwise only had one intention plastered on its face. Kill.

“This is just a game,” Kal sealed away the budding fear.

Though the mass intimidated Kal, he knew that the approaching horde, composed solely of zeroes and ones, couldn’t cause any real harm. He had nothing to worry about safely tucked away in his apartment.

Either through sheer luck or scripted events, Kal made it unscathed through the projectile hell. Not all of his allies had been so lucky. He drew his sword, and before he knew it, the tides crashed together. Shouts and screams intermixed with the clanging of metal on metal. The colliding bodies became a restricting writhing mass. For a time, the crowd threatened to become a stampede, until finally, the lines stabilised, giving Kal room to breathe and take stock.

An opening appeared between the two forces. Here warriors sauntered forward from each side, hollering and jeering. Duels exploded into action as players hope to test things out in the no man's land.

Kal reflected on his police training. Though he’d never faced down a sword, he’d spent hours learning how to defend against blades. Usually, the best practice involved avoiding engagement with an armed target. Here, Kal knew this wouldn't be an option. For the first time, however, he had his own blade to match.

His first foe, strong and fierce, thundered forth. He sported a scraggly brown beard, with red war paint striped on his cheeks. Kal parried his first attack and yelped. The blow shuddered down his arm. He pushed back at the brute before dodging away, allowing the man's weight to unbalance him. Using the advantage, Kal danced to the side, scoring a combination of blows with incredible speed. Blood splattered out from each successful strike, his pristine sword cut through the man’s leather armour.

Kal noticed the system didn’t hold back on gore. Blood spurted out of a wound on the man’s leg, which could have only been the femoral artery bursting.

The man paled and fell to the floor, his life force diminished. The health bar floating above him empty.

Overlord berserker defeated.

Experience held.

Congratulations on your first kill in Alter Online.

The battle raged on as Kal fought his way over to the thickest centre of fighting. Enemies at the front would be the cannon fodder, there to give new players an introduction. While the short clash had left the blood coursing through his veins, Kal yearned for something more. He ambled through to where a section of allied troops had dug a wedge into the enemy line. Their opponents faltering from the savage pressure.

Kal stopped for a moment to rest. He’d been reckless in his last duel, earning a portion of missing HP and a dull shoulder ache.

HP 301/400, Mana 50/50

Each blow had added a sluggishness to his movement to match the pain. Carelessness would only lead to further punishment.

A robed man in similar colours approached, gliding with a calm unbefitting of their surroundings. He wielded a weighty-looking mace in one hand, the other he outstretched towards Kal.

“Be healed brother,” he spoke with a confident air as if that was enough to make everything better, and it was. Kal's shoulder tingled like he'd applied a soothing balm.

Allied priest cast heal, gain 50hp.

HP 354/400

Before Kal could muster a ‘thank you’, the priest had sauntered off through the mass of bodies. The roars and screams from all around suggested he’d have his work cut out for him.

“Back to it then,” Kal said.

The wedge of troops had stalled in their progression. In the centre, a stalwart flag billowed with the dragon insignia. Kal rushed to the front line, shouldering his way through his force and into the protruding formation. Here the fighting frenzied.

You have gained the buff: Royal Aura

+10% to all stats.

Stats increase with proximity to the king.

The buff allowed Kal to move faster and hit harder. He battled in a near blur; stabbing and parrying, ducking and dodging. Each fight hurt more than the last. Fighting techniques from years gone by resurfaced.

In one battle he intercepted a blow early with a raised forearm, one of the first martial arts movements he'd learned. Another, he waited for a lunge, rolling the soldier over his back, and pounced when they fell to the floor.

In the midst of the fighting, Kal found an allied soldier fallen on his back, scrambling for a weapon. Something severely impaired the man’s movement. The poor soul raised his arms in terror. Behind an enemy warrior raised a greataxe, readying a killing blow. Kal dove into the man; the axe dropped from its swing and fell, burying its blade into the earth. As the pair tumbled to the ground, each snarled and traded obscenities as they sought to gain the advantage.

“Fucking NPC,” Kal spat, then frowned. He must have sounded crazy. Caught up in the heat of battle, he continued, “we’ll bring down your overlord.” Whoever that was.

Kal fought to get on top of his opponent, struggling to keep him pinned as he rained punches down. He’d spent many hours practising grappling but had never used this level of violence. The man’s face exploded with blood as his nose burst. Something blurred. Kal barely dodged a slash aimed at his throat. His reflex earned a deep cut into his cheek.

“Fuck!” Kal berated himself for not noticing the dagger sooner.

The welt seared like a harsh graze. If Kal didn’t know better, he would have thought the pain real, if a little dull.

With a reminder of the consequences of failure, Kal’s hand-to-hand training kicked in. He gripped the dagger holding hand and jabbed the inside of the man's elbow. The man's arm spasmed and lost its strength. Kal then pressed his weight down.

Overlord berserker defeated.

Kal rolled off the now slump berserker and fumbled for his sword. He pulled himself to his feet, giving himself a few moments for his strength to return. Having nearly forgotten the reason for the fight, he assessed his new ally. The man rolled in the grass, tugging at the bind.

“Here let me,” Kal offered, motioning for the man to move aside.

The dark-haired man nodded. Fresh blood and mud-splattered across his chain vest. Blue wisps of magic wrapped around his left ankle and bound it to the ground. A small metal caltrop acted, as Kal assumed, the focal point. Wasting no time, so as not to open himself to attack, he slammed his blade in down in a high arc. The blow shattered the contraption into rays of blue light. The magical binding disintegrated without its source of power.

Kal held out a hand to assist the man back to his feet.

“Are you good..?” Kal asked, checking for a name tooltip. Apart from the previous lack of mobility, a few superficial gashes had torn his mail. His shoulder plates gleamed where not covered in blood or dirt, Kal could make out the crest of a dragon.

He must be critical to the army.

“Arron.”

As the man revealed his name, it appeared above his head. Kal found he could show or hide the description with a thought.

Arron Crealt, Kingsguard

“Yes, thank you,” he retrieved his own blade, “we need to get back to the fight.”

The retinue had continued without Arron; unwilling to falter their progress or unnoticing of his predicament. Kal had several questions, but they could wait. Perhaps a battle wasn’t the time.

Arron proved a formidable fighter. Kal wondered how he’d been pinned at all. Every sequence and movement hit with deliberate intent. His skill forced opponents onto the back foot where they couldn’t hope to recover. Together the pair cut a swathe through the enemy, killing any who were trying to isolate the vanguard.

The idea of swaying the outcome of the battle seemed unlikely. With thousands of combatants, his impact, if any, on the result would be slight. Fighting alongside the king’s retinue must count for something. If this was a test, then he’d need his best performance.

As if to confirm that thought, a friendly soldier launched into the air towards him. He sidestepped the corpse. The man’s armour had buckled under a single mighty blow. Ahead the vanguard caved as the elites of the enemy's force arrived on the scene.