Jacob’s vision was obscured by flashes of grey and purple as he drifted through the void of the portal. He burst forth into a black abyss, a lone figure awash the ebony shores of a starless space. He glanced behind at the fading point of light that marked his entrance into the void. The light from his entrance blinked out of existence draping him in darkness. An irrational panic began to bubble up from the depths of Jacob’s mind. He jerked his head about seeking a new source of light while fighting back the icy cold emotion creeping down his spine and through his mind.

Jacob breathed erratically, his mind racing to find a stimulus. The game either detected his reactions or had a scripted sequence when a pinprick of violet light shone out into the void. His attention latched onto the stimulus drinking deeply of the shining hues. A low howling of wind accompanied the growing light source easing his discomfort. Within seconds he was engulfed by the light. Again, his vision was obscured by flashes of grey and purple while his hearing was drowned in the howling wind of the portal.

He felt gravity take hold as he was dumped unceremoniously onto a yellow stoned plaza floor. His vision swam, and his stomach lurched from the momentary motion sickness. He blinked his eyes firmly shut steadying himself against the ground. He steadied his breathing and slowly opened his eyes allowing the world to flood back into existence.

Dozens of demons, imps, incubi, and devils walked around him in the plaza. A cacophony of sounds flooded his hearing. He surveyed his surroundings taking note of the three roads leading out of the plaza. One cut a swath through a series of tent stalls towards a harbor. The second road twisted up hill to some ancient marble temples painted a dark ebony. The third road lazily curved around what appeared to be a housing district towards a city gate.

“-alic!”

Jacob rolled from all fours and sat down. He continued to scan the plaza, his eyes slipping over the many players walking around him.

“Veralic!” shouted a demon that was waving at Jacob.

He blinked in confusion while processing the greeting. Groggily he replied, “Kronos?”

The demon gave a Cheshire grin as he ran up to Jacob extending a hand. “Rough time through the portal network?”

Jacob grasped the proffered hand pulling himself up. “Is that what that was?”

“Yeah,” shrugged Kronos. “Some people have a bad experience with the portal’s void. Motion sickness and panic attacks are reportedly the most common side effects one experiences the first few times. At least that’s what users are reporting on the forums.”

Jacob slowly nodded his head in agreement as he rebalanced himself. He tested moving from side to side getting a proper sense of balance. Satisfied, he stopped moving and looked around the plaza. “So, is this the starting zone?” inquired Jacob.

Kronos jumped forward motioning for Jacob to follow. “Yup! I’ve already contacted my friends. They said they’ll be here in fifteen minutes. That gives us just enough time to stop by the trainers and get you a dodge ability. Then we’ll need to get you a more defensive weapon. If we finish early enough we can wait by the training grounds and practice with your new ability until Milo and Sevnah show up. Once they’re here we’ll head out for the trial dungeons to power level you!”

Jacob trotted after Kronos and flashed an appreciative smile. “Thanks, for the help man. I would be lost and wandering the streets without you.”

Kronos brushed off the thanks and said, “It’s not a problem at all. You may be new, but you listen to advice. For that reason alone, you’re worth having as a friend to me. If you like my friends, you may even be up for joining our guild.”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that. I just hope they’re not as cocky as you though.” Said Jacob with a wink.

Kronos let out a gut busting guffaw that startled a few passing players. “Not even close! No one else in the guild is good enough to have my level of confidence!”

Jacob joined Kronos in his laugh. Their laugh died slowly as they rounded a corner following the road. They travelled deeper into the housing district passing several side streets. Soon they arrive at another plaza, this one however had partitioned off zones for training.

Jacob eyed the various training grounds and asked, “To which one should I go?”

Kronos paused in consideration. “Depends, do you want a full defensive ability or a utility defensive?”

Jacob reflected upon the boss fight. I don’t want to be in melee all the time trading blows or dodging too often. So, a full defensive ability is probably outside my needs. In that case an ability with utility will be best. I need to be flexible with my options.

“I think a utility defensive ability is what I need. Something to close gaps and open space.” Said Jacob. “What do you think?”

Kronos smiled pointing to one of the training grounds. “I see what you are thinking. The dodge skill is a passive that automatically assists in opening distance between you and the enemy. But, that’s more of a tank/bruiser skill and doesn’t address your need for closing gaps as well…”

Kronos pointed to another training grounds hesitantly. “If you’re willing to practice, then the dash ability has the ability to both open and close distance with an opponent. With enough practice you can even use the ability to dodge aimed attacks by quickly repositioning yourself out of harm’s way.”

Jacob held up a hand to stop Kronos. “That’s exactly what I want. Being able to reposition yourself quickly gives you time to think. I think with time I could predict certain attacks and use dash to avoid them. What do you think?”

Kronos looked at Jacob skeptically. “Are you sure you can handle the burst of speed changes? You had an issue with the portal’s void and I would hate to see you waste your points on an ability you can’t use properly…”

Jacob flushed with anger and embarrassment. “That was unexpected. Now that I know what to expect, I can prepare myself for the feeling. I’m not saying I won’t get sick from the first use. But after that I will know what to expect and can control my reactions from there.”

Kronos raised both hands warding off Jacob. “Alright, alright, alright! Just giving you fair warning as it’s too easy to cripple your early game with some bad choices.”

Kronos gestured to a nearby training dummy and said, “I’ll be over there practicing my combinations. Come on over when you get your dash ability.”

The two split apart heading to their destinations. Kronos thrashed at his training dummy while Jacob sought out the trainer. Jacob opened a wooden gate stepping inside the dirt packed zone.

He strode with purpose towards a wiry beanstalk of a devil with grey slick-backed hair wearing a simple leather tunic. Jacob waved in greeting as he called out, “Hello! I hear you are the one to see about training.”

The devil stirred into motion triggering a script as the devil replied with a bow, “I am Porthas, trainer in the Martial Forms. Of what skill do you wish to learn more about?”

“I want the Dash ability.” Stated Jacob.

The devil straightened from his bow and said, “A simple matter should you have the potential to learn.”

Dash

Dash is a simple ability that allows the user to quickly traverse a short distance in 1 second. Distance travelled increases with player level.

Travel 1x (level up to five) meters in 1 second for (5% stamina).

Cost to learn: 40 P.P.

Jacob was about to confirm when he thought back to his Gifts of the Dark ability. “One moment please. I need to check on something else first.”

“I await your return.” Replied the devil before the scripted ended leaving the devil with a bored expression as he watched over the training grounds.

Jacob spared a glance at Kronos before slipping around the corner of an alleyway. Jacob checked the alley for occupants making sure the coast was clear. Satisfied that there were no prying eyes, he lifted his hands in the motion to trigger his ability and whispered, “Gifts of the Dark.”

The swirl of smoke surrounded Jacob ushered by the whispers of ghosts asking one thing, “Ask of us what you wish!”

“I seek the Dash ability!” commanded Jacob.

“As you wish…” came the echoed reply as a new window popped up.

Dash

Dash is a simple ability that allows the user to quickly traverse a short distance in 1 second. Distance travelled increases with player level.

Travel 1x (level up to five) meters in 1 second for (5% stamina).

Cost to learn: 38 P.P.

Jacob grinned. “That’s good to now.”

He quickly selected yes offering up the requisite P.P. in exchange for the new ability. Once the exchange was complete a new set of notifications popped up.

Congratulations!

You have successfully acquired the ability Dash.

Dash: The user propels themselves 1x (player level up to five) meters in any direction over 1 second.

Cost to activate: (5%) stamina.

Congratulations!

You have unlocked an ability that uses the stamina system. Your stamina has been unlocked as a result. Your stamina is calculated as 20xEND.

Stamina – 200. Regenerates at (10% per minute)

Jacob quickly accessed the gesture commands for his abilities. He selected Dash choosing a slight crouch where he balanced his weight on his toes in a runner pose. The system flashed an alert that the gesture was too generic and would trigger all the time. Annoyed, Jacob added a flaring of his hand in a pushing motion behind him to finish the gesture trigger. This time the system verified the gesture launching Jacob a meter forward almost colliding with the wall of the alley. His vision swam a bit from the sudden change, but was nowhere near as jarring as the portal void had been.

Jacob beamed from ear to ear as he practiced his Dash move out of the alleyway and back into the plaza. There he stopped for a moment to find Kronos scanning the plaza for him. Jacob waved and dashed towards Kronos sliding to a halt in front of the demon. “Sorry for the delay! I got carried away with practicing the dash move.”

Kronos smiled at Jacob’s enthusiasm. “I take it that you’re handling the ability well?”

“The vision blur is still affecting me a bit, but is barely noticeable when traveling forward.” Commented Jacob.

“And what about when you need to dash to the sides to dodge?” asked Kronos.

“Uh… I haven’t tried that yet.” Replied Jacob.

Kronos grinned as pulled out a wooden practicing sword from one of the nearby sparring zones. He wound up and said, “Dodge!” The wooden sword came in sharp towards Jacob’s ribs whistling loudly.

Jacob fumbled activating dash a moment too late getting slammed in the side. His fumbled resulted in the dash sliding him to the side after being hit. His vision became unfocused and blurred from the sudden perspective change triggering a sense of vertigo.

He held up his hand to stop Kronos and wheezed, “Side-dashes are a little more difficult. I think I need to focus on one point when dashing to avoid vision issues.”

Jacob stood up and nodded for Kronos to continue. “Let’s go again.”

Kronos grinned and pressed the attack coming from the other side. Again, Jacob was slow to activate dash earning himself another smack in the ribs. He did manage to maintain his focus on Kronos this time avoiding the blurry vision that followed the dash.

“Again!” commanded Jacob straightening from the last blow.

Another blow came swinging for Jacob’s flank. Again, he failed to trigger the ability in time getting lashed in the arm. He clicked his tongue in frustration. “Ag-.”

“Wait!” shouted Kronos. “Your gesture command has too long of a wind up and is easy to predict. Try this.” Kronos bounced lightly on his toes in place. “And have the follow up trigger be pushing off with both feet leaning in the direction you need to dash like so.” He finished a light jump where his toes barely left the ground before tapping both feet pushing in one direction.

“Ok, just a second.” Replied Jacob opening the gesture commands and modifying the activation sequence. “Alright, I’ve updated the commands.”

Jacob bounced in place earning a reprimand from Kronos. “You’re jumping too high! You need light taps so that your feet and toes are ready to push off in any direction at a given moment!”

Jacob eased his jumping letting his toes brush the ground. “Ready!” he called shifting his weight with each bounce. Kronos slashed out with the wooden sword when Jacob jumped. Jacob tapped the ground shifting his weight to the right. The wooden sword just barely brushed Jacob’s side as the dash ability drew him out of the full swing.

Jacob let out a cry of joy, “It worked!”

“Congrats on the first stage of dodging!” smiled Kronos. “Now pick up a training weapon. We’re going to work on deflecting. Learn to use this and you should be in better shape for a lot of your opponents.”

Jacob looked over the available practice weapons and immediately dismissed the swords. I should be sticking to range since I look to be going the mage route, at least at the start here. So, I need something that can help me defend myself and create some distance…

His eyes judged the merits of a mace before he dismissed them as well. Next, he drifted towards the halberds and spears. Maybe, but I don’t think I can handle those properly by myself. In a group I could see the merits of a spear, but on my own… I just don’t see it happening.

Finally, his eyes settled on one of the simplest weapons ever made, a quarterstaff. This should work. Nice and simple design with the ability to outrange basic bladed weapons. No sharp ends to accidentally poke myself with. I may even be able to combine this with magic mechanics like a regular staff.

He picked up the practice quarterstaff and said, “I think I want to try and learn with this.”

Kronos laughed, “What, a sword is too complicated for you?”

Jacob reddened at the comment. “Not really. This just lacks pointy bits to stab myself with. That and I feel comfortable with this, almost like I have more control.”

Kronos chuckled, “I’m just teasing. You’re right though, a quarterstaff is pretty good for defense. Not as good as a sword and shield in my opinion, but still good.”

Kronos picked up a second wooden sword and said, “I’m going to come at you at half speed. I want you to practice slight redirections while repositioning your weapon for the next blow. Don’t worry about your initial gaps in your defense. You’re going to have a lot of them at first. Pay attention to those openings and figure out how to shore them up efficiently. Now begin!”

Kronos charged at half speed as promised slashing with one blade while following up with a stab from the other. On and on the blows alternated from opposing slashes to slash and stab moves. Despite moving at half speed, Kronos continued to slip past Jacob’s guard. The two continued there sparring pausing every few moments to point out how Jacob could improve before continuing.

After ten minutes passed, Kronos stopped his attacks. “Pause.” He said checking a notification. “That was Milo and Sevnah. They made it to town and are waiting for us in the plaza. Let’s go.”

Jacob breathed heavily as he nodded. “Just a second. That was tiring.”

Kronos raised an eyebrow.

“I’m a little out of shape in real life.” Explained Jacob turning a shade red. “I’m working on my cardio though! Just let me walk there and I should be good to go, ok?”

Kronos smiled kindly at Jacob. “It’s all good man. Take it easy and let me know if you need a break.”

“Thanks.” Whispered Jacob as he walked out of the training grounds with Kronos leaving the practice weapons behind. Both took a slow walk back to the main plaza to meet up with Milo and Sevnah.