“Are you ready to finish the character creation process now?”
Ah, that’s right. We were in the middle of that, weren’t we. Well, not that there was much to it since I was playing a randomly generated character. Still, the sooner I finished this, the sooner I could start the game.
“Yeah, let’s get this finished.”
“Very well, next is character customization. While most of the character generation is handled by the random character generation, you are allowed to make minor changes if you would like.”
Kara nodded, then what I could only assume was my character appeared in front of me. While not the best at guessing ages, I would put her in the early to mid 20s. She stood perfectly still, allowing me to get a good look. As one would expect of a succubus, she was extremely attractive. Her skin was smooth, her body curved in just the right places, and her face was one that would draw both men and women. Her platinum blonde hair was cut in a short bob, and the large pale green eyes had a sharp, playful look to them.
In contrast with the human beauty, the most eye catching of all were the parts that made her clearly not a human. First, while not as long as those of an elf, her ears were noticeably pointed more than those a human. More obvious were the wings and spaded tail hung extended out from her back. The wings were leathery and looked like those of a bat, with the rigid portions being black while the webbing between them was a deep red color. The tail was also black, though it faded to a deep red toward the tip. It didn’t seem to have any joints but could bend anywhere along its length like a rope. Finally, from the sides of her forehead two black horns extended up and back, curving in toward each other following the curvature of her head.
I looked over the character, considering for a moment making some alterations to her appearance before remembering the horrifying monsters I had created in the past trying to “perfect” the appearance of characters in the past. In the end I decided to keep most of it the same. There was really only one thing I absolutely wanted to change anyway.
“Can I make the hair longer, say about halfway down her back?”
What can I say, I prefer women with longer hair. And if I was going to be one, she was going to meet my preferences before anyone else's.
Kara nodded, and immediately the hair grew to be the length I asked for, putting my character well into my strike zone.
“Much better. Let’s go with this. Is it possible to alter my appearance at all in game later?”
“There are NPCs in most major cities that can do some appearance alteration, however physical changes are very limited. They are also able to alter the length of your hair if you would like. As for styling, you are able to do that yourself, or have someone else do it for you.”
That’s good. While I like long hair on women, I don’t know much about styling it to look good. Most likely I would just let it hang loose or pull it into a simple ponytail or something until I found someone who could do it for me.
“Next, you need to chose a name. This is permanent, however you can get titles and nicknames due to your actions.”
Ah, there it was. The hardest part of creating a character. Physically designing my appearance is challenging enough, but making a name that fits the character leaves me paralyzed. Especially since I am fully aware I have absolutely no naming sense. If this were a single player game, I would probably just name myself something like “AAAA”. You would not believe how many AAAA’s have saved the world over my gaming career. But this game was different. My name would be how other people were going to call me. It would be a moniker that followed my every action. I wanted it to be something that I like the sound of, and wouldn’t be embarrassed of in the future.
While I wracked my brain, desperately trying to think of a good name for my new succubus, Kara stood watching me with that same gentle smile she’s maintained this entire time, not saying a single word. It was almost uncanny how she wouldn’t even trying to give a suggestion. Oh, speaking of which, that brings up a question I could use to distract myself from the problem at hand for a minute.
“Hey Kara, what’s going to happen with my voice?”
While not the deepest, manliest voice you’ll ever come across, my voice is still very clearly masculine. It would be really strange to hear that coming out of a beautiful woman like the still unnamed succubus standing beside me.
“There is an automatic vocal modification that will alter the player’s voice to be fitting for their character. In your case it will make it sound more feminine. It also includes a translation function, so your words will be heard in the listener’s native language, though they may be altered slightly to convey the meaning behind them for languages that are very different from your own.”
That makes sense. I do wonder exactly how that software works. It’s probably extremely complicated. While changing the voice would just be a matter of filtering the waveform, translating accurately between languages is extremely difficult. Hopefully it wouldn’t lead to too many awkward misunderstandings between people. But that was enough distracting myself for a bit.
I turned back to the stationary avatar still standing perfectly upright beside me. Rather than trying to come up with a name that in my opinion sounds succubus-y, I decided to try borrowing a name someone else thought of instead. Besides, if I went with a name from mythology or something, it gave the added possibility of someone recognizing the name and possibly putting together than I’m not what I appear to be leading to fun and interesting events.
While I’m not an expert on the subject, mythology is something I have some interest in. I enjoy seeing the stories ancient people came up with to explain things happening around them that they didn’t understand. What happens when we die, why does lightning fall from the sky, why is my wife pregnant when I’ve been away at war for the last year. All these things needed answering, and they came up with very interesting answers to them. Anyway, because of this passing interest, I was fairly sure I can find a decent name. I started running through the different mythological women I could remember trying to find a good one for a succubus, when I hit on it. The perfect name. It’s even associated with succubi, or at least being similar to them.
“Kara, I’ve got a name. How about Lilith?”
Lilith. In Hebrew folklore, she was Adam’s first wife, made at the same time he was. For various reasons, she was kicked out of the Garden of Eden and ended up becoming a demonic embodiment of lust. So basically, a succubus. Perfect. Just don’t ask for the details. It’s been awhile since I read about her, and honestly I don’t remember them.
There was a flash of light for a moment, and afterward the avatar had vanished leaving me and Kara. However my point of view had changed a bit, so I must be in the avatar now. I glanced down and confirmed it. Now, I know some of you were expecting me to get all excited about having boobs. Sorry to disappoint, but that’s not what happened. This time. This isn’t my first female character in VR, so I got all that out of my system before. Anyway, now it was time to get started.
“Before you go, you might want to take some time to get used to your new body. You can also test your skills so you understand how they work before entering the world of Ariloth.”
… or not.
As Kara said this, a simple straw dummy appeared in front of me.
“Feel free to try abilities on the dummy there. It is indestructible, but will still give feedback like a normal being. I will be over here if you have any questions.”
Wow, that’s a fancy dummy. I wondered if that’s a playable race somehow. Invincible straw dummy. Unable to move, but can’t be killed. Anyway, I figured I should probably take her up on the offer and try things out first. Especially since I had never had wings and a tail before, so that might take some getting used to. First, I decided to take a look at my stats and skills to see what I can do. Conveniently, opening the menus didn’t take any chanting or anything. You just think strongly about the menu you wanted to open, and it did.
Name:
Lilith
Class:
(none)
Active Title:
(none)
Race:
Succubus
Level:
1
Inactive Titles:
(none)
Health:
101/101
Energy:
100/100
Mana:
104/104
Strength:
3
Endurance:
3
Constitution:
4
Dexterity:
4
Intelligence:
8
Willpower:
8
Charisma:
5
Skill List
Mind Magic
Level 1: 0%
Abilities
Charismatic
Mind Magic Talent
Night Vision
Shunned
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Seduce
Enthrall
Life Drain
Flight
Sharpen Nails
Hide Nature
Well, there’s a lot there. Starting from the top is basic character information. After that are my stats. Looks like 35 points total, 5 for each stat then redistributed for racial preferences. That makes sense. There are a few things I’m not sure on, though. For starters, while I understand Health and Mana, what is energy for?
Energy
Energy is a resource used to power your abilities. For most players, the maximum value will be fixed at 100, rather than increasing with level like health and mana. In combat, energy regenerates quickly, while mana is slow to regenerate. Raising skills associated with the abilities will lower the energy cost of those abilities.
I see, so it’s used for special physical attacks to prevent players from being able to rapidly spam their most powerful attacks repeatedly. Interesting that the maximum is a fixed value and instead training lowers the cost associated with abilities, though. Well, I don’t intend to be a particularly physical fighter anyway, so it should be easy enough to balance.
A quick skim of the other stats shows me they are split into two types, with Charisma being an odd one out. While they all do a few different things, Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence all are primarily attack stats governing melee, ranged, and magical damage respectively. Intelligence also governs maximum mana, with every two points of Int adding a point of mana. Dexterity also affects stealth and movement speed.
Similarly Endurance, Constitution, and Willpower are defensive stats. Endurance is your health and offers a bit of physical defense. Constitution is resistance to ailments such as poison and disease, as well as elements. Willpower is your ability to resist magical damage, and ignore supernatural effects like curses.
Finally, there is Charisma.
Charisma
An extra stat that affects others disposition toward you, especially at the first meeting. It also controls some abilities related to communication and manipulation of others.
It’s a bit ambiguous, but I think having this higher will make people (particularly NPCs) a bit more friendly toward me. Also given my race, I probably have some of the abilities that use the stat for manipulating others. Speaking of abilities, I’m a bit confused on one point.
“Hey Kara, can you tell me what the difference is between skills and abilities?”
Oh wow, this was the first time I had spoken with my new voice, and it was pretty fantastic. It was a very smooth, almost silky voice that was extremely pleasant to listen to. I was so distracted I almost forgot to pay attention to Kara’s answer to my question.
“Certainly. Through your actions, you will obtain and train up various skills. As these skills gain experience, they will level up. This will grant you various new abilities and spells. Abilities are actions you can take using your energy, while spells are magic cast with your mana. These will also become more effective as you level up the related skill.”
I see, so I train a skill to unlock new spells and abilities to use in the game. That seems a little complex, but it does make sense I suppose. That brought up a couple new questions, though.
“So, is that the only way to unlock new abilities and spells? And how does one obtain a new skill?”
“The easiest and most common way to obtain a new skill is to receive basic training in that skill. There are also ways to obtain some skills without training, but the criteria are hidden and often difficult to meet.
As for Abilities and spells, these can also be discovered through gameplay. Your class may also provide a few class specific abilities and spells when you obtain it and when you level up.”
I see. Like most things about the game, there was a lot of freedom involved. As I recalled from what I read online, you can only reach level 5 without a class, at which point you stop gaining experience. Obtaining a class allows you to begin advancing, and aside from classless there is no maximum.
Next, I took a look at my only skill, Mind Magic.
Mind Magic
A subtle magic that affects the mind of the target. Most spells of this school do not cause any actual damage, but cause various effects to hinder your opponent.
Currently learned spells:
* Charm
Charm
Causes the target to view the caster as a friend. Charmed targets will not fight their allies if they are hostile to the caster, but may attempt to convince them to stop attacking. Target will fight to protect the caster from other threats in the area. Duration of the effect varies depending on the caster’s intelligence and the target’s willpower.
Mana cost: 10
Hmm, at first glance, that didn’t seem incredibly useful. It could come in handy in certain situations, but if I’m up against a group of enemies it might take one out of the fight temporarily, but it did basically nothing about the rest. Well, it was only a level one spell after all. I can’t expect too much from it. Maybe something more useful would be in my abilities. I decided to start with the passives.
Charismatic
Grants the charisma stat.
Well, that was pretty basic.
Mind Magic Talent
Grants access to the Mind Magic skill. Increases the rate at which Mind Magic gains experience.
Oh, so I should be able to level up Mind Magic and get some new spells a bit faster.
Night Vision
Grants the ability to see clearly in the dark, even without a light source.
Another convenient skill. I won’t need to carry torches, though if I’m in a party we’d probably have some anyway.
Shunned (racial ability)
Demons are considered monsters by most of society, and will be viewed as hostile when discovered.
* Guards and some braver citizens will attack on sight
* Citizens not confident in their combat abilities will flee and alert others to your presence
What? I know Kara said there would be negatives to counteract a powerful rare race, but this seemed a bit overboard in my opinion. How was I supposed to do anything if I couldn’t even enter towns? Would I need allies to do any business in town for me? I was willing to bet that charm spell would wear off well before a charmed person was even through the gate. Okay, let’s calm down. Maybe something in my active abilities could help.
Flight
Grants the ability to fly to winged races
* Drains satiety at an accelerated rate
* Cannot be taught to non-winged races
Energy cost: Special, does not require energy
Well, I suppose if I can’t walk into town, I can always fly in. Still, it would be pretty noticeable, and if I’m spotted it would be about the same in the end anyway.
Seduce (racial ability)
A succubus can hypnotize victims and order them to perform simple tasks for, but not fight for, the succubus.
* Requires eye contact
* Duration of Seduce depends of victim’s willpower, succubus’ charisma stat, and actions performed by and on the victim while Seduced
* Seduced NPCs will forget everything that happens while Seduced and everything about the succubus
* Seduced players will lose control and senses will be distorted to hide identity of the succubus and what actions occurred while Seduced
* Limited to one Seduced or Enthralled victim at a time
Energy cost: 25
Hmm, this seemed like a slightly altered version of the charm spell. Looks like it was designed specifically for grabbing someone when I need to feed. Still, a lot less useful if I couldn’t get into towns.
Enthrall (racial ability)
A succubus can enthrall a previously Seduced victim and order them to serve the succubus for a period of time, allowing them to perform more challenging tasks including combat if ordered.
* Requires eye contact
* Requires target be under the effects of Seduce
* Enthralling a target resets the duration from Seduce
* Enthralled victim will remember everything that occurs while enthralled
* Players that are Enthralled will lose control of their character, but will still view everything that happens from the character’s point of view
* Limited to one Seduced or Enthralled victim at a time
Energy cost: 25
Wow, okay that could be handy. There’s a strange feeling of satisfaction in forcing someone to turn on their allies. And unlike the charm spell, the victim would probably be willing to fight former allies if ordered. However, the energy cost was pretty high. Combined with the cost to Seduce the target, that’s half my energy gone right there.
Life Drain (racial ability)
Drains health from subject from victim and converts it to satiety
* Requires physical contact
* Type of contact will affect rate of draining
* Cannot drain beings that are not alive such as undead or golems
* Can be used to kill target by draining health to zero
Energy cost: Special, uses 1 energy per second. If energy reaches 0, uses 1 mana per second.
There was the life drain David had mentioned earlier. Still, type of contact affecting the rate of draining was new. It maked sense that wrapping my arms around someone would work better than poking their forehead or holding their hand. Also the energy cost is odd. So it uses the quick regenerating energy, then rather than ending transitions to the slower regenerating mana when the energy ran out. I suppose that would probably be better than just ending while I’m still needing to eat, especially since a lot of my meals would have a time limit if I needed to use Seduce to get someone to feed off of.
Sharpen Nails
While not known for their physical capabilities, Succubi can sharpen their fingernails for self defense when needed.
* Your fingernails extend, harden, and sharpen temporarily, becoming a claw weapon
Energy cost: reduces maximum energy by 20 while used.
An interesting ability. Still, I think I would rather not need to fight in melee if I could help it. Not that I can’t fight, but I usually prefer not to. But it is nice to have a backup without needing to carry a weapon with me. Also, rather than using a certain amount of energy, it basically reserves 20 of it permanently while active.
Hide Nature
Succubi can transform their bodies to disguise themselves as a any sentient race they have encountered before.
* Can only use Life Drain and Seduce while transformed
* Abilities that can be used are weaker than they are in demon form
* Only a few high level detection spells will be able to see through the disguise
* Shunned does not affect character while disguised
* If satiety drops below 15%, Hide Nature will be disabled and will not be usable again until satiety rises above 50%
Energy cost: reduces maximum energy by 60 while used.
Alright, I finally found the ability I needed. With that I could go into town, though in a considerably weakened state. It reserved over half of my maximum energy, and locked out many of my abilities. I would also need to be careful not to get too hungry. Turning back into a demon in the middle of town would be horrible. At least I could still feed and use Seduce, and my magic would be unrestrained. Still, I made a mental note to be careful.
Finally done examining my character's capabilities, I spent some time getting used to my body. I also tested out my spell and abilities on the straw dummy. Seducing a straw dummy was a strange experience. Of course, it was still just a dummy, so no matter how I ordered it, it just stood there silently. Still, I got the feeling that it was or was not accepting my command, so I was able to get an idea of the limits for Seduce. I also noticed another advantage to Seduce over the Charm spell. While the spell requires you to speak the spell, Seduce just required eye contact (or what counts as eye contact for eyeless beings like the dummy) and mentally choosing to activate it. So mind controlling someone silently was only doable with Seduce.
After that, I tested out Enthrall and found that I could indeed order the enthralled target to attack, though the dummy couldn’t actually perform an action. I’ll have to try it later to make sure they’ll attack former allies.
Next, I tested out draining and noticed I could feel the energy flowing into me. If I could feel it flowing in, I suspected the victim would feel it flowing out as well. I’d have to be careful to only drain mind controlled or willing victims until I confirmed it. No surprise meals for me until then.
Finally, I grew my nails and slashed a few times at the dummy before deciding I was ready to move on.
“Alright, that’s probably enough. Kara, I think I’m ready to go.”
Kara smiled and nodded
“Very well. I will now send you into the world. I wish you the best of luck in your adventures.”
And with that, everything went black.