'Welcome to Ascension Online.

The system doesn't recognise any saved data, would you like to create a new account?'

Hearing a disembodied cybernetic voice, Alex took a look around at her surroundings. Standing at the center of the cathedral-like interior, humongous pillars lined up on both sides supporting the dome. From the clerestory windows, light rained down on the imposing statues towering over her lone figure.

Behind her, an arched doorway that remained open outlying the horizon of the azure sky let out a sacred feeling. Moreover, in plain sight where the altar was supposed to be at were eight empty seats, emanating power over the whole place. The question echoed inside the cathedral,

Alex: "Yes." breathless and wide-eyed, Alex answered.

'The system will be doing a full body scan. Please wait for a moment.'

Disconnecting her from the game, the game minimised itself on her Nerve Gear as it scanned her brain waves.  Without a word she lie on her bed, waiting for the scan to finish. Before long, the game initialised itself and an information prompt greeted her.

Full Body Scan: 100% [Completed]

Failing to notice that she was naught but an apparition, Alex gasped as her body materialised right before her eyes.  A familiar light feeling landed on her back as her waist length hair appeared . Inhaling in the fresh air, a wide grin spread on her face. Continuing with the questions, the disembodied voice danced around the cathedral.

'What's your name?'

Alex: "Alex..."

'What's your race?'

A crease formed in her forehead. 'Of course I'm human...'

Alex: "Human?" Confusion laced her voice causing another information prompt to appear.

[td1]Choosing this race will have the following bonuses and drawbacks:[/td3][td1]Do you belong to this race?[/td2][td3]Yes / No[/td4]

HumanA human once was able to occupy one of the Seats of Power

despite the advantages the other races held.

It was one of humanity's greatest feats.

Most of this race inhabits the continent of Tethys

and currently has the largest population in the world.None

Reading over the mass of text carefully, she swiped at the prompt to see any other available information. Other race's information came at her fingertips as she continued to observe their deviation from one another.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Demons and Demi-Humans. With the differences in their starting locations, stat allocation and stat scaling, it gave the players an important choice to make.

'Considering I'm a beginner, drawbacks might amount to more while bonuses might amount to less.' following her thought process, an immediate answer presented itself on her mind.

Alex: "Yes."

'Do you wish to make any changes to your appearance?'

Another window appeared, containing a human image of her. Not giving it any thought, she replied.

Alex: "No."

'To start your journey, please choose a starting location.'

Replacing her image with a map, names of kingdoms and towns scribbled itself under the continent named in bold as 'Tethys'. Noticing a darker shade in the names of kingdoms compared to the towns with faded names, Alex started looking at the outskirts of the continent.

Embedding itself on the land like a wide spread plague, the mark of civilisation drove nature into a corner. And surrounding it was one of the few remaining landmarks in Tethys -Sleeping Dragon. An aptly named mountain range in the form of a sleeping dragon separated civilisation and nature like a barrier.

Situated between the mountain range and the remaining forest, a village caught her attention. Minuscule compared to it's surroundings, the village's name was almost completely faded. Squinting her eyes, thoughts of peace and quiet invaded her mind.  

'Alone...' without fear, she tried to read the name.

Alex: "V..i..ll..a..g..e."

'Huh, it doesn't have a name?' a look of bewilderment passed over her usually impassive face. Suddenly, a gust entered the cathedral causing the dormant dust to grind against the weathered interior. Turning into a gale, the winds howled in her ears while continuing to drag her out of the cathedral.

Alex: "Who are you?!"

Returning the question to the one who questioned her on a whim, she didn't expect an answer, considering that it was an AI. Yet, right before she lost her footing on the uneven, cobbled floor and heard the doors close shut, she saw him.

Standing at the foot of the steps towards the eight seats - the Seats of Power - with his back facing her, his disembodied cybernetic voice transitioned over flawlessly to an amused human tone.

"Hermes."