"The Creation process is nearly done. Are you ready to determine your skill set?"

Blake's brow furrowed but he nodded.

(That should be the Class selection, right?)

"VERY WELL."

The hulking humanoid stretched out his right hand to the sky and slowly clenched his fist.

The ground beneath him started shaking and around twenty figures appeared again which slowly dug themselves out. The process went faster than last time and soon all the figures were out and stood around. All were human and looked nearly identical to Blake. The biggest difference was in the armor and weapons that the figures carried. Blake looked around with an interested look while lightly biting his lip.

(So class variations this time? I'll just stick to my decision and go with the fun option. I picked the race for it and this is just the guest edition so I'll have to redo everything once I buy my own game either way.)

He turned towards the grey light figure and spoke up with a determined tone.

"I made my decision."

The figure stood still for a moment before answering.

"...speak."

Blake continued.

"I choose Nature Seeker."

The humanoids voice boomed again through the clearing.

"AS YOU WISH"

The ground started shaking again and Blake sunk into it at a quite fast rate again. His heart beat wildly despite knowing it's harmless. After a second cool stones covered him completely and he was in the dark once more. The trembling died down but then he suddenly felt a jolt in his shoulder area.

He was still covered so he couldn't move and the strange sensation grew stronger.

"...ke"

He heard a muffled voice and breathed out in relief.

***

Blake took off the goggles and put them on the table in front of him.

"Lunch time, come on you can continue later."

Caleb, his dad, stood next to him and he was the source of the weird sensation ingame. He had been lightly shaking Blake's shoulder. The latter slowly stood up and stretched.

"Sure dad, coming."

"I baked some pizza today. I think it turned out quite good."

With those words Caleb went out of Blake's room who also quickly followed with a happy expression.

"Oh pizza? Is it still hot?"

***

An hour later Blake returned to Alteration with a filled belly.

The goggles needed a few seconds to form his surroundings and after that he found himself in the familiar clearing.

(Now where is he?)

He looked around trying to find the big grey humanoid.

(Oh.)

He noticed the outlines of the humanoid that now sat cross-legged near the rock he was initially on. He sat there motionlessly and seemingly in deep thought. After a few seconds the figure stood up with no warning and headed towards Blake who waved towards him and spoke up.

"Hi. Can we continue?"

The humanoid slowly walked towards Blake with heavy steps, but there was something different about him this time. Blake couldn't quite put his finger on it but the whole general feeling he gave off was much more intimidating and suffocating than last time and it wasn't even a walk in the park first time around.

"Can we? Maybe you could take another hiking trip?"

Blake looked flabbergasted at the grey figure which continued to talk with its powerful voice that now rumbled out of its aggravation.

"Don't mind me, I'm here always anyway so might as well. Right?"

(What?)

Blake's face perfectly reflected his utter confusion.

(The character creation NPC has some kind of consciousness of me logging in and out? I thought it would just pause because I didn't even enter the world... So this program is also probably something like an AI or AI/VI hybrid? Fascinating, this game's budget must have been insane. I wonder how good the AI is? Well better first apologise so it calms down.)

Blake cleared his throat and answered the hulking humanoid.

"I am sorry for my sudden disappearance. It was something I couldn't postpone. Again, I'm really sorry but it couldn't be helped."

The figure stopped for a moment after hearing the excuse and continued with business, but a cold tone was still very much present and it chilled Blake to the bone with its intensity.

"I see, it couldn't be helped."

The figure suddenly raised its hand and a big window with a map appeared right in front of Blake.

"Choose a starting settlement."

Blake examined the map closely for a few minutes and finally spoke up while pointing at a town which was shown to be surrounded by a thick forest and even a volcano was relatively close by.

"What's the name of this settlement? It looks interesting."

The humanoid answered in an indifferent tone.

"Borcena. Do you wish to choose it?"

Blake nodded.

"Yes."

"Do you want us to proceed now or might you be interested in another pause of an hour or so? Or maybe you prefer to surprise me with that?"

Blake bit his lip and refrained from answering abruptly.

"I am sorry for that. It wasn't my intention to leave you hanging, it's just that something came up that I had to do."

(It's really persistent with that grudge. Why did they implement the time flow element here already? I understand it in the main realm but here? Come on!)

The figure nodded.

"You chose Borcena."

The ground near Blake started rumbling but in a much more tranquil manner this time. Soon a hole formed and a magical portal could be seen from within it. He tried taking a better look but found himself unable to move. He panicked a bit.

"Uh... W-Why can't I move?"

The figure answered calmly.

"Body preparations. First time travelling with portals requires some time to get you ready."

Blake breathed out in relief.

"Ah, I see. Good."

The figure continued talking with a tone that was as nonchalant as it could be with its rumbling voice.

"There is a slight problem though."

Blake's brows rose.

"And that would be?"

The figure continued.

"I missed Borcena slightly with my portal. Oh well, it can't be helped."

Blake blinked a few times in disbelief.

"This is a joke, right?"

The figure laughed and made everything around it tremble.

"It might be, I do find it quite amusing. I recommend showing a bit more respect next time you meet someone."

Blake's face turned pale.

"Stop this! Where are you sending me?!"

The grey figure shrugged.

"Somewhere near Borcena, who knows..? Well in a few seconds you will, I guess."

And with that the figure swung its arm in Blake's direction who immediately got hit by an invisible power and got thrown into the pit with the portal. After bumping his head and limbs a few times on the stones during the fall he finally went through the portal.

***

*THUD*

“GH! Bastard…”

Blake crashed straight onto a hard uneven surface after a few seconds. The crash resounded through the whole space and created an echo. He grimaced from the unpleasant feeling that went through his body and unsteadily got up.

He looked around but darkness spread everywhere he turned.

(Come on, what kind of start is this? A creation program with an attitude… Which genius thought that was a good idea?)

He wobbled carefully forward and looked for some wall or anything he could use for steadiness. Blake flailed his arms around in search for it and soon enough he felt a chilly rough surface. He started walking while continuously leaning on it.

(This is stone I suppose? So he dumped me into a cave?)

A small smile bloomed on his otherwise angry expression.

(This doesn’t seem like the entrance of the cave. I might get some valuable loot here if I’m deep enough. That bastard just might have helped me...)

Blake carefully walked parallel to the wall. Gradually a warm light started appearing and it revealed that his guess was correct and that he was walking through a big cave. With his vision restored he let go of the wall and sped up to the opening the light was coming from.

As he came closer he noticed that the temperature rose exponentially which confused him.

(What’s up with this heat? Why is it getting so hot?)

He carefully approached the end of the tunnel and stopped just before it to check what’s wrong.

(Wow… I’m way deeper than I expected.)

A huge chamber with lava expanded in front of Blake and its heat caused him to squint and shield his face. He slowly stepped out and noticed that small paths went along the elevated sides of the chamber. His gaze followed the nearest one and saw that there were numerous entrances along it.

(One of these must be hiding a chest room. I just have to look out for guardians.)

He ducked a little bit and followed the path while trying to walk as softly as possible.

Beads of sweat rolled down his face caused by the relentless heat as he hurried towards the nearest opening.

(Now lets see…)

He stopped right before the entrance and quickly peeked in, discovering a long corridor stretching on indefinitely.

(Yeah... That’s not it.The longer I explore the better the chance I’ll die horribly.)

He continued walking to the next entrance while scanning the chamber again. The paths seemed quite solid and the entrances he saw were all big enough for anyone to comfortably pass through.

(Where are the usual patrolling monsters? This chamber looks way too important for it to be empty. This could be an entrance to a subterranean town. Maybe AIs misbehaving is a scripted event and this is the actual start? A weird one if I’m right.)

He reached the next entrance and again carefully peeked in and saw a short corridor that made a sudden turn after a couple steps.

(Now this looks more promising.)

He snuck inside and picked up a small stone near his leg. After leaning into the turn slightly he discovered that a room was located there.

He tensed his body up, ready to run at any sign of danger and threw the small rock inside.

*thunk*

Blake’s heart throbbed like crazy and sweat continued rolling down his neck while he remained perfectly still for a few moments. The sound died down and silence returned once again to the cave.

Blake breathed out heavily and relaxed his body.

(Good, doesn’t seem like there are monsters in the room.)

He cautiously entered and scanned the interior. It was relatively small and at first glance contained nothing. Blake looked around with a confused look.

(C’mon, this can’t be right.)

He examined the room more closely and shifted some rubble that was in one corner. A big grin soon followed.

(There we go!)

Some wooden object appeared in the midst of the rubble that he was shifting. After a minute of rumbling and lifting a beat up chest finally appeared.

Blake’s smile widened as he opened it.

(Now lets see what you got for me.)

Gained:

3x Heat pebble

Armband of the Scorched

Myrvar scale

(Alright, got some gear, that’s always nice. I’m not sure what to do with the rest though, but I’ll see to it later.)

He put the items in the bag and wandered out of the room while contemplating what to do next.

(I should probably r…)

Sounds coming from the lava chamber stopped him right in his tracks.

He frustratedly bit his lip and took a look at the chamber.

A handful of creatures swam through the lava in a lively manner. Blake couldn’t guess their height but they were at least two meters wide. Thick spikes seemed to protrude from their backs, but he couldn’t clearly tell how it looked like because they were partially covered in lava. The heads seemed to be a mix of black, yellow or red. Blake couldn’t see if it was the lava sticking to them or just their natural colors.

(Elemental guardians?)

They looked undisturbed by the scorching temperatures and seemingly played with each other.

He slowly went back inside the corridor while still keeping a watchful eye on the creatures.

******

I just want to mention that I appreciate the comments. Always a nice feeling to see a new one.

For info about the releases check out the author's note in the first chapter. In case you want to ask questions first check the tags and the synopsis. I'm just mentioning this due to past experiences