Volume 1: Chapter 2 – My name is Eve

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- Mmmm... - Evelyn said, as she dragged her arms out, as she woke up. She sat up for a while, while considering whether she should get up or allow a little pleasure of snoozing off for a little while.

After weighting pros and cons of lazing around for a while, she eventually decided that she deserves some rest. Her final exams were officially over, and she suddenly had free time.

Her eyes ventured to the black box lying on the bed table. - 'Or maybe not so free' – she thought as the memories of the night with Mike came back to her. She would never say it to him, but she had grown fond of the man. He knew how to be delicate. And that was a rare trait for men using sexual services.

- 'Anyway let's check whether this thing is worth the money' – she thought, as she finally got up and put on some T-shirt and shorts to not walk around in underwear.

…

…

…

- Interesting... - she said to herself, as she took a sip of a morning coffee while sitting on the armchair with a laptop on her lap.

Right now she was browsing throughout the numerous forums, trying to find something else then simple “OMG THIS GAM IS ZO AMZING!!1!!!111!1!”. But she found one very constructive thread, which answered most of her questions.

All right folks, for those of you who have yet to try this absolutely amazing game, or rather completely new world, I have bunch of information regarding it.

1) The graphic.

If one were to go to sleep in real world and wake up in the world of Asgaroth, at first he wouldn't be able to feel a difference from real one. Everything is so detailed. And what's more, the feeling when you touch something is very much real.

There is no difference in perception. As well as physics is the same as real life's one.

It's like that world is a better copy of the one we live in.

2) Races

Continents of Asgaroth are populated with various races. Starting from humans, who have many branches regarding their homeland. For example Nomads are more resistant to poison and heat, and Nords have increased strength and tolerance to frost. As the only race they are the most balanced regarding stats, making them jacks of all trades.

Later there are Elves, who generally share the trait of 'agile spellweaver', having generally higher magic affinity, agility and dexterity, at the cost of lower strength and vitality. Make sure to never underestimate their archers as well! They are also the same height as humans.

Following in kind are orcs, who have great strength and vitality. That makes up for their low intellect, as well as dexterity. They are the worst manufacturers, relying on trade with other races to arm themselves up. Regarding height they are the tallest race available, offset by the fact that they are also hideous. And intimidating.

Lastly there are dwarves. Small, but sturdy, their strong points lie in strength and dexterity. They are the go-for choice if your dream is to become legendary blacksmith. They also are the only race with innate knowledge of most crafts.

3) Spells and skills

There are two categories of 'special attacks': said spells and skills.

To use spells you burn your mana, and to use skills – stamina. Spells, especially at later stages, require very long chanting, as well as very big mana pool. It is offset by the fact that one ignored mage is able to wipe out whole army, if left alone for a long enough time. Which is why they are the usual target of assassins and the like.

Skills on the other hand don't require you to speak a word – much less chant. The mechanic is really simple – to use a skill you need to learn to correct form from masters, or discover one yourself – and just so you know, skills are based on the real life. Which means martial artists have easier start.

4) Classes

There are 4 basic classes of Warrior, Archer, Mage and Cleric.

I'm not going to dive deeper into the subject, the names are self-explanatory. Just so you know you can't change your class once you gain one, so be extra careful in your decision.

5) Death

Once you die there is an 8-hour ban from the game. Mainly to cool off and such. Usually it's best to get a sleep and don't grief too much over death.

You lose only coins and some experience, so the penalty isn't that high.

Oh, there's also a chance to lose some items, but it's nothing you should be wary of.

6) Combat

Remember how I told you that martial artists have I easier? That's because you don't control you in-game character. You are that character.

Ever wanted to try that super-awesome-ultra-powerful move of you favourite anime character? Go ahead and do it. Who knows, maybe you'll get a skill for it!

Everything is based on your reflexes and judgement. Don't rely on stats completely. Or some random RNG (when there's not enough randomness in classic RNG).

7) NPCs

Remember how those guys usually stood still in one spot? Well, now you won't see a difference between them and real players! Isn't that crazy? Also remember: You can take NPC's place as a shopkeeper or a priest. Maybe a tailor? Everything you do has it's effect on the continents of Asgaroth.

If you didn't stop reading mid-way to go and grab a copy of the game along with ELECTO from the nearest shop. But if you didn't, here's...

Evelyn didn't bother to read any further, since it didn't contain any important details.

- 'Yeah, nothing important' – she thought as she skipped through the rest of the post. - 'Just advertising how great is the E.L.E.C.T.O. they're offering...'

Or course she was familiar with the term. E.L.E.C.T.O. was the abbreviation of the full name for the VR device: Electronic Link Enabling Connection To Otherworld. The full name was kind of silly, but it wasn't her who did the naming process. And everybody calls it Electo anyway.

Evelyn spent some more time digging around the net, after which she went to dojo. She'll play after she comes back.

* * *

Welcome to Asgaroth Online!

As an unregistered user, you will be guided throughout Character Creation Process, CCP in short.

Choose your gender.MaleFemale

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

- Female – Evelyn said.

What is your desired race? You can choose from the...

- Elf.

And which variant is to your liking? Elven variants are: High, Wood, Dark, Light

- Dark – said Evelyn without hesitation. This decision was the fruit of serious thoughts, where she listed out pros and cons of every variant, as well as compared them to her skills.

High Elves possess the highest affinity for magic, making them powerful mages. Wood Elves make best archers, when Light Elves are 'blessed by gods'. Whatever that means. But it broke down to being better clerics. - 'Or in-game ambulances' – as Evelyn called them.

Whereas Dark Elves specialize in stealth, as well as melee combat. To be honest that was what weighed turned the scales in it's favour. Muay-Thai techniques are bound to have their uses in Asgaroth.

Set your appearance.

Right now Evelyn could see her virtual body. Being a Dark Elf, she had grey skin, black waist-long hair, blue eyes and her physique was the same as the one in real world.

She did some modifications, like turning her hair colour into dark red with blue tips. - 'I always wanted to have hair like this...' - she thought as she looked at 'herself' standing before her. She also changed eyes to a dark green colour.

After doing some double-checking, she accepted her avatar.

What is your name?

- Eve. - Short and simple. Also being an abbreviation of her own name, it won't take her long to get used to it. Evelyn honestly wasn't the one to overcomplicate things for herself.

After choosing the name she was 'put' inside her avatar's body. She admired her new body for a while, before another message box popped up.

Where would you like to begin your journey? The world has 5 continents where you can begin your adventure. Also there are from 5 to 12 kingdoms on each of the continent. As a Dark Elf you can start on the continents of Angara and Oceania. There is a total of 4 kingdoms available for beginning your journey.

After she was done with the message, it disappeared and in it's place two maps of two different continents showed up. On the right there was a continent of Angara, and on the left – Hesperia.

Evelyn of course knew the map very well. She did her research thoroughly after all.

For starters, the continents ranged in size as following: Angara, Gondowan, Osenia, Atteka and Hesperia. The number of kingdoms was: 12, 10, 6, 11 and 5 – in order. Angara, being the biggest continent had of course the most kingdoms. However Atteka, second smallest, had only one less.

The reason for that was that it was highly populated by warlike orcs and humans. With neither side willing to give up their reign over natural resources like iron mines or fertile lands. As funny as it might sound, all 11 kingdoms there signed the pact which was banning them from destroying others' goods. And even strangely every single one was abiding by it.

Of course, there were minor clashes between races on all continents. It was inevitable. And as Atteka, placed on the south-western part of the world was known as the most warlike continent, then Hesperia – placed directly north to the Atteka – was known as the most pacific continent.

Any conflicts were quickly dealt with, and locally at that. The peace was very well-preserved.

Beside continents, there were also numerous isles. The ones worth mentioning are: Indra, Isumo and Tundaria – while the first two were located on the east part of the world, the last was frozen wasteland of south.

Of course, there were various monsters' populations on every continent. It is said that it's so vast, that researching them all is a task for tens, if not hundreds of generations of researchers. Which is why nobody bothered even to start, limiting themselves to local species.

Of course the knowledge gathered over a day of research is still very minimum. That is, for Evelyn at least. Most people wouldn't bother to look for a rough map of the world – the only one accessible from the real world.

Anyway, Evelyn had resolved herself to begin her journey on the continent of Angara – largest of all. Located at the centre of the world and reaching far to the north, it was so big that there were still large parts left unexplored.

But there comes a question. Which kingdom out of the three available would be the best to begin one's adventure in? Evelyn pounded for a while before choosing the kingdom of Vailen'gard. It was located in the centre of the Angara, what made it the best starting point for a fresh adventurer like her. Two others were: Inral, also known as the south border of the Angara, and Elvasnay – the home of all Elves, located on the easternmost part. While Inral was placed in the mountainous region, both Vailen'gard and Elvasnay were rich in forests.

However Veilen'gard was a place which welcomed members of every race, as long as they weren't going to endanger kingdom's people. It was an exception among other kingdoms, which were friendly for members of 'their' race. And Evelyn didn't want to associate herself with such racists.

- I'd like to begin in Veilen'gard – she finally said.

The CCP is finished. You will be transported to the capital of Veilen'gard in a few seconds.

- 'Let's begin my vacation, shall we?' - she thought with a smile, waiting for the process to end.

Hey there everyone, Happy New Year!

As always, post your thoughts about the chapter.

Yeah, I know that it's a tad too short as well as shallow regarding MC's feelings and thoughts. However I wanted to explain 'a little' about the world most of the story and action will be in.

Thanks for your time!