Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…

I stared desperately at the clock, waiting for it to hit 2:15. A few more seconds…just a few more seconds and we were free. The teacher, Mr. Sanders, was prattling on about the importance of getting summer homework done early and not saving it for the very last day. I couldn’t care less about the summer assignments, because all I could think about was the release of the new virtual reality game called ‘Ethaessa’. The previous attempts at creating virtual reality games had all ended in failure or subpar realism. But somehow the scientists and programmers at Rhalith Industries had made the final breakthrough in order to reach the pinnacle of realism, 99%...an almost perfect second reality. Of course the remaining 1% had something to do with limiting the pain censors and a few other minute details.

Tick…Tock…Tick…*Ring*

I was immediately pulled out of my thoughts when I heard that fateful ring and I couldn’t help but call out, “FREEDOMMM!” My classmates looked at me as if they were embarrassed to be in the same room with me. “God damnit…no wonder they named you Giddy. Your way too excited.” My best friend Nate hushed me and tried to get me to calm down. “Its Gideon.” I stared at him coldly. “Anyway, you can’t tell me you aren’t just as excited.” I opened the backpack next to my desk and slid all my books into it. We walked side by side as we made our way to the exit of the classroom. “True. But at least I can keep it in my pants.” He commented as we entered the hallway and made our way to the stairs. “I don’t really think that applies to this…”

I lost my train of thought when I saw the most beautiful girl in school…well I thought she was…walk up the staircase that we were currently going down. “H…uh…Hi.” I managed to squeak out the words as she passed, but she didn’t seem to hear him and continued on. Nate elbowed me in the shoulder to pull me out of my delusional state of mind. “The only time you get all shy and passive is when she walks by. Man up, tigre or she’s gonna be taken by someone else.” We left the school after a few minutes and I finally recovered from comatose state. “Yeah but she’s…Guinevere Hastings. Tall, blonde, and curvy. Plus she has that one blue eye and that one green eye. I don’t know why, but that is a major turn on.” Gideon spoke about her with a mixture or reverence and perversion. Nate immediately started to snap his fingers in my face. “Wake up, kid. In the real world we call her Gwen and she’s my cousin. I can talk you up around her, but I ain’t confessing for you. Anyway, we gonna meet up in game?”

We reached the street where we had to go different ways. We grew up in the same neighborhood, but he lived in a large mansion on the cul-de-sac at the end of the street, while I lived with my mom in the apartment complex farther down in the opposite direction. “Yeah..yeah. Send me a message when you get online. We can plan it after we make our characters.” I waved my hand before I took off down the street towards the small sky rise apartment building to the south. Nathaniel Hastings a.k.a Nate had been my best friend since primary school. Before I became the outgoing embarrassing kid I am today I was an introverted little kid and I got bullied a lot. To make a long story short…the little bugger swooped in to help me out one of the times and from that point on I started to open up more and more.

Getting lost in my thoughts I was back home in a flash, opening the front door to my mother’s apartment. “Oh Giddy your home. Your shiny metal casket came today.” I rolled my eyes at the way she called my new gaming pod. “Do you want something to eat or are you gonna go play your little game first.” His mother, Lillian Delarue, had a way of emasculating anything with a single sentence. Don’t get me wrong…I love my mom…I just wish my dad was still around or I had a sister or something so she could not treat me like her daughter. “I’m fine mom. I’ll just a protein bar or something. I want to start playing the game with Nate.” Whenever I mentioned my friends name she seemed to accept my decision…like it was a guy only thing. I grabbed something to eat off of the counter and entered my bedroom were my pod was located.

I enter and closed the pod. I heard the sound of rushing air, almost as if the pod was sealed off from the outside world. I was surrounded by nothing but blackness. It was like I was staring into an endless abyss. A blue screen popped up in my face, which caused me to jerk my head back and smack it into the cushion behind me. “Oww…” I rubbed my head and looked at the screen.

Scanning…

A new user has been registered.

Welcome to Ethaessa.

I looked up at the blue boxes and clicked the ‘Okay’ button after it finished scanning and then it launched the game. The scenery around me changed and suddenly I was floating in the air high above the ground below. I could see the new world I was going to explore and the many different continents and islands. “Hello, Traveler.” A sweet angelic voice poured into my head like she speaking to me telepathically. “I am here to guide you through the creation of your new body. Take your time and ask as many questions as you want. You only get one body on Ethaessa.” The woman continued to speak and suddenly another blue box popped up in front of him.

Please select your race from the thirty-five currently available races.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

A long list of names of races appeared below the box. I was able to recognize a few of them. Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Beastkin, Draconians, Orcs and the like. But their were a few names I couldn’t recognize at all…Qilin, Kobolds, Nasfari and a few others. It was a tough choice. None of the past RPG’s I played had such a large race selection. I knew I wanted to have a race that was capable of using mana or magic extremely well. “Hey angelic voice, which races are the best at using magic.” I could almost swear I heard giggling, but it was so feint I almost thought I misheard. “The races with the highest magic ability are the Elves, the Fae, the Gnomes, and the Cherubs. Though the Draconians are nothing to scoff at either.” Small blue boxes came up with information about the races and pictures of them.

Elves: The Elven race has the fourth highest magic potential in Ethaessa. They are also known as Treekeepers. They are the protectors of the many forests across the continents and produce some of the greatest archers on the continent, because of their ability to meld magic with physical combat. Elven Special Class: Magic Archer.

Fae/Fairy: The Fairy race has the second highest magic potential in Ethaessa. They live in secluded towns formed out of the roots of large trees in the deepest parts of the forest. They specialize in communing with nature and the moon. They have the highest understanding of mana and how it works. Fairy Special Class: Moon Dancer.

Gnomes: The Gnome race has the third highest magic potential in Ethaessa. They live in harmony with the humans and the dwarfs in the various cities on the Ibigord continent. They specialize in the melding of magic and machines and are responsible for much of the newly created technology on Ethaessa. Gnome Special Class: Inventor.

Cherubs: The Cherub race has the highest magic potential in Ethaessa. They are said to have been descendants of the Angelic race and they live in the ruins of Nulia, next to the city of Veratha. They specialize in using voice and sensory/illusion magic. Cherub Special Class: Diviner.

I studied and read through each of the class descriptions and it seemed like every race had a specialized class that could only be used by that race. The races special class typically incorporated all the benefits of the race. Other than this small restriction you were allowed to choose any other class the game offered. I was very interested in the way the Elven race looked, but the benefits of the Cherub race seemed far more interesting. I had always been a fan of using my voice. In the end I had to go with my gut. “I would like to choose the Cherub race.” As soon as I spoke the words the only thing that was left in front of me was a taller pointy-eared cherub and small winged cherub. “Ethaessa has two different Cherubs forms to choose from. The taller one looks more elvish in design from interbreeding and the smaller one with the wings is a pureblooded cherub. They both have the same magical talents, but one has greater potential for physical combat, while the other can fly.” The sweet angelic voice explained.

“I want the taller one.” I replied automatically. I didn’t want to play a small avatar; it was the reason why I didn’t choose the gnome race even though they had such a profitable magic. The taller Cherub started to change and morph into my shape. It took my same straight black hair and blue eyes along with my relatively skinny build. The Cherubs height capped out at 5’8”…so I was going to be a bit shorter in game than I was in real life. “Can you add a little bit of muscle…oh and make my eyes bright purple and my black hair a little bit longer. Also the gem on my head I would like it to match my eyes.” The Cherubs had a gem located in the center of their foreheads. It was apparently a highly coveted item, because of its ability to absorb and store mana. It was also why the Cherub race was all but extinct. As soon as my avatar was finished a message popped up in front of my head.

Please choose a name for your avatar.

I had to think about it for a little while. I did like my own name, but I didn’t know if I wanted to use it online. “I don’t know…how about Kai.” I said after a while.

The name ‘I don’t know…how about Kai’ is too long, please choose another.

I sighed mentally and heard a feint soft giggling out of nowhere. “Kai.” I emphasize the word as I roll my eyes.

The name ‘Kai’ has been accepted. Please choose…never mind you only have one starting location.

Teleportation: Active. Ruins of Nulia. Selected.