Chapter - 2

Alex stood in a white and endless expanse. He couldn't see the floor beneath him, assuming there was a floor. In fact, he couldn't see anything but himself in the 'white room'. Suddenly, someone appeared in front of him. He recognized her instantly.

"Aria" (Alex)

"Hello Alex." (Aria)

Aria was the Artificial Intelligence that had practically run Ouroboros. However, with the creation of Novus Mundus, she was 'repurposed' and another standard management-purpose AI had taken over her previous position. Now, she was responsible for the maintenance of the game. The creation of the game had been done by another AI, namely Alice. 'Alice' and 'Aria' could be considered sister AIs as they were 'built' together. They were, reportedly, the oldest AIs in the world.

"Where's your sister?" (Alex)

"She's taking care of the character creation of the other 2 billion players" (Aria)

"Holy shit! 2 billion!? Is it that popular? That aside, why are you here and not her?" (Alex)

"Special attention for the crippled son of the CEO?" (Aria)

"Not funny." (Alex)

"It is somewhat true." (Aria)

"Hmm...fine. Let's get on with it." (Alex)

"I know you're somewhat familiar with the game, but there have been some changes" (Aria)

"Changes? Okay, explain." (Alex)

"Alright then! As you may already be aware, we tried to make this game as realistic as possible. Therefore, it is not recommended to 'go in blind' so to speak. So, I am going to start with the basics of all games, Status Windows. Now, unlike typical VRMMORPGs, Status Windows display a very minimal amount of information, seeing as we have no 'skills' in-game-" (Aria)

"What!? No skills? I bet a lot of people are going to be unhappy about that...." (Alex)

"I doubt you share the same opinion. As I was saying, no skills exist, but those only refer to skills that one would, say, pick up from those so called 'Skill Books'. But, players, with enough practice can 'create' their own skills. As 'compensation', the game gives a player somewhat of a 'photographic memory'." (Aria)

Alex frowned when he heard that.

"You're confused? Hmm...how do I make you understand? I know! Say you wanted to 'learn' the basic 'Slash' skill of the Swordsman class. From there, you have two options, find an instructor to learn it from or learn it by yourself. There are disadvantages and advantages for both ways. If you went the instructor route, you would learn faster under them, but your skill would be 'un-original' and wouldn't be as powerful. However, if you learnt it by yourself through a large amount of practice, you'd also develop 'insights' into the 'Way of the Sword' and the skill would be unique to you." (Aria)

"That's really amazing...." (Alex)

"Yup! It's like making custom skills. However, these are not just limited to physical skills, but also mental, magic and even craftsman skills! In terms of magic skills, one has to have an understanding of the element that they are manipulating to execute a good skill." (Aria)

Aria waited for Alex to fully digest what she had just said before moving on.

"Now, back to your Status Window. The Status Window shows only these things: Name, Race, Class, Profession, your Primary, Secondary and Deviant Element, your Unique Ability, your affinities with the basic four elements and a Skill List which displays all the skills you have learnt." (Aria)

Alex seemed even more confused now.

"Don't worry, I am going to explain everything. Let me quickly explain the whole elements thing first. In this world, the four basic elements are Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. Each Race in this world has different 'Affinities' for the elements. A Primary Element usually refers to the element or elements that you have the highest 'Affinities' with. This can change as you train your elements. A Secondary Element, as you have guessed, is the element/s with which you have the second most affinity with. The basic four elements have a chance of 'evolving' into 'Higher Elements' if you train their affinities to a high level, merge two or more elements or gain Advanced Mastery over an element. A Deviant Element is an element that 'Awakens', either through a 'fortuitous' encounter or some extreme exposure to those elements. I won't be spoiling it for you and telling you what the Deviant or Higher elements are. You understand so far?" (Aria)

Alex nodded.

"Good. Now the differences between Class and Profession. It's actually simple. A class defines your 'build'. A profession is a 'job' which gives you monetary earnings. These kinds of professions can range from the Craftsmen professions to professions like Monster Hunters or Mercenaries. A class usually is like an Archer, Swordsman, Rogue, Mage, Craftsman, Artist etc. With me so far?" (Aria)

"Yup" (Alex)

"Now here's the interesting tidbit. 'Unique Ability'. As the name implies, this ability usually has to do with the player itself and is unique to each and every individual. This gives every player an edge over another and adds unpredictability to the mix. Unique Abilities are not ranked or anything like the monsters in-game. This is mostly because it's the way someone utilizes their ability that makes them dangerous. Now, many players will be able to access their UA almost immediately but there will also be a large amount that won't be able to because they will need to achieve some 'Activation Conditions' that is individually tailored to them. Any questions?" (Aria)

"What races can I play as?" (Alex)

"Well, aside from the Dwarven, Elvish and Human races that you are already familiar with, we introduced Draconians, Orcs, and Elementals. Dark Elves are considered the children of Dwarves and Elves and come under the category of Halflings. Halflings are usually Half-Something and Half-Something else. You can create a hybrid of only these races for now. Other races will be playable; we won't ask a player to restart if they wish to play as a 'new race'. Mostly because most of these races are convertible types and one can 'transfer' their soul into another race, but only once. They would also lose any racial advantages or disadvantages of their previous race completely if the new race is of the 'Non-Convertible' type like say a Mermaid or Clockwork." (Aria)

"Clockwork, huh?" (Alex)

"Oops, spoiler alert!" (Aria)

Alex raised an eyebrow at that.

"Ahem! Now, any other questions?" (Aria)

"What about Stats like Strength or Luck?" (Alex)

"Ooh! Good question! Stats like those aren't visible through Status Windows. Instead, you will have to periodically train and maintain those stats. Once you do train them, you can check your improvement in various Training Halls or Magic Testing centers. Be warned! Many stats that would usually be defined as LUK, INT, WIS or MANA cannot be seen in numbers. You'll understand once you get there. Also, things like Health Points or HP does not exist. As long as you are able, you can live! " (Aria)

"Oh man, this game is going to be a lot tougher to play." (Alex)

"Well, we did promise 99% realism!" (Aria)

"Okay then, I'm ready to choose a race!" (Alex)

Whoosh!

Suddenly, nine different humanoid figures appeared in front of Alex. Each and every one of them had his facial features and body build. Alex was 5'8", of a medium build, with dirty blonde hair. He had piercing sea-green eyes and an almost David-like face.

"There are certain rules for character creation. Number One, you cannot change your gender. Number Two, your body build cannot be modified too much unless it is affected by racial traits. Number Three, you can mix up to three races only. Final Rule, the Four Elementals cannot be mixed in with each other, however, each one is capable of 'Evolving' into Higher Elementals or Deviant Elementals." (Aria)

The Elementals in question had a vague shape and facial features. The other humanoids resembled Alex more. The Elvish one was a version of Alex with a slimmer build and long ears. The human one was Alex as he was. The Dwarvish one was a stouter version of him. The Orc was a green, mean and muscular Alex. Finally, the one that appealed to Alex the best, was the scaly version of him, the Draconian.

"You said I can mix up to three?" (Alex)

"Yes. Have you made your choice?" (Aria)

"Yup! Follow my lead. Mix the Draconian with the Elf, let's stick with my build and change the colour of whatever scales there are to black." (Alex)

"Is that all? Good. Character name?" (Aria)

"Need you ask? The same as always. Rex Vagus." (Alex)

"Done and done. Seeing as how you have selected a Halfling race your affinities will not be that high. Say or think 'Status' to look at your Status Window." (Aria)

'Status!' (Alex)

*TING*

NameRex VagusRaceHalfling (Draco-Elf)ClassNoneProfessionNonePrimary ElementEarth/FireSecondary ElementWindDeviant Element>Unawakened

"Wow! This is going to be fun." (Alex)

"Heh! You ready?" (Aria)

"Yes! Wait! Where am I-" (Alex)

"Too late! DIVE!" (Aria)

Alex suddenly felt whatever he was standing on disappearing. He felt the sensation of falling and when he looked down all he saw was a large jungle below him as he hurtled towards the ground.

Alex screamed.