~ CHAPTER 2 ~

THE MAGIC OF ANTICIPATION AND SURPRISE, PART 2

It was also impossible not to notice that it was quite beautiful, even if that thought did feel vaguely narcissistic. Mistborn are one of the uncommon races. They typically have smaller and slighter builds than the regular human-like Freechildren, although they are a bit stockier than Eladrin, and their characteristic traits are their misty hair and opaque glowing eyes. They also have a slightly elevated proficiency with enchantment-type spells and beast husbandry, and clearer than normal eyesight in poor visibility conditions, but that was an aside. About one in fifty players were lucky enough to get this race. It wasn’t the rarest or the coolest one I could have gotten, but it was pretty far up there in my opinion.

Of course, like most things in the game, motivated players could still switch their race around if they could figure out how and dedicate enough time to it, but usually the cost for things like race changes was enough to keep people from being interested. In most cases it would involve some form of reincarnation, so of course the generated name, all Skills and items, and most of the character’s personal story would be reset along with the its race. Changing the character’s gender though? Not on the table. During calibration the VR system should have determined my gender based on my subconscious in the same way that it determined my appearance, and I’d never even heard of it being wrong. Until now, of course. Not that it was something I’d ever looked into. The character was clearly me, though, so it wasn’t like I’d somehow switched with somebody else’s account.

I stared at my character, mind blank.

<"Ahem. Sorry ms. River? The waygate is free now if you’re ready to disembark. Please take your time of course.”> The apprentice’s slightly mocking voice jerked me back to the present. Apparently I’d been ogling myself for quite a while.

Well. I could always contact the GMs, I realised. In the meantime I might as well enjoy the character I had - she was definitely cool looking! She was a Mistborn too! I switched around the slight rivulets of darker skin that were characteristic of the race, admiring the patterns they made, and then adjusted the length of my hair to as long as it would go. The sapphire/turquoise blend of eyes and hair made for an enchanting combination, so I left them as they were. If I was going to spend the next little while in a female skin, I might as well go all the way, I figured. My character was already much smaller than I was in real life, so I left that as it was as well.

Satisfied, I pushed the [Accept] button, and my consciousness swooped into the character, and then downward together with it into the central room of the waygate. Because I was still in the tutorial, I was in a private instance, so there was no-one else around except the now quite obnoxious seeming apprentice NPC. I’d figured he was an Eladrin from his voice, so I was a little satisfied to see that I’d been right, but I did wonder whose bright idea it had been to have a male NPC greet naked female characters in their first moments in game. It was also a little bit too hot in the room. I wondered if I should be trying to cover up, or acting like nothing was wrong, but… well it was kinda too late now anyway, wasn’t it? There was nothing to see anyway… right?

Still, the NPC didn’t look phased. “Ah, finally decided to join us did we?” He scowled at me, speaking so my ears could hear for the first time. “Well, we’d better get moving.”

He indicated a rack beside him where a few different costumes hung. I could choose from a full leather outfit that looked like it might be a little bit too skin-tight, a plain monk’s or apprentice’s robe, a slightly more elaborate mostly black dress that looked like something a feminine mage might wear, a simple martial artist’s gi, or finally some contrivance that looked like a miniscule halter top and hot pants combo like you might see in a superhero comic aimed at shameless little boys. Not to be deterred by his attitude, I scowled back at the male NPC and very deliberately reached for the dress. What? You say I’m also a...? Never mind that!

He snorted derisively at me, then handed me a matching pair of shoes. After I put those on, he went and got a pair of potions, one purplish red, one greenish blue, and held them out to me with his left hand. “If you can’t open your inventory by thought, you can do it by saying ‘System: Display Inventory’ or by moving your fingers like this, got it?” with his free right hand he demonstrated the motion.

I imitated him, and a set of options appeared in the air beside me with a *ploop*. I selected [Inventory], and it appeared along with my character sheet. I could already see the dress and shoes equipped on my paperdoll.

[New Arrival’s Simple Dress]

Durability ∞/∞

Defence +3

[New Arrival’s Simple Shoes]

Durability ∞/∞

Defence +1

I carefully brought the potions towards the newly opened window, and as soon as my hand passed through, they disappeared from my touch and reappeared inside.

[Novice Healing Potion]

Use: Restores up to 10 Health over 45 seconds.

[Novice Mana Potion]

Use: Restores up to 10 Mana over 45 seconds.

After three generations of full sensory VR, the developers had gotten a pretty good sense of what beginners found tricky. The tutorial continued going over the basics at a languid pace, including how to send private messages, how to report issues to the GMs, and how to equip and use Skills. The Skills I had available were the basic set for my archetype.

[Force Infused Palm]

Cost: 3 Mana, instant, no cooldown

Unleash a blast of Mana from your palm, projecting a wave of force up to 50 centimetres and dealing up to 120%+4 additional damage. Causes [Knockback (Weak)] if used at melee range.

[Myriad Fists]

Cost: 2 Mana, instant, Cooldown: 10 seconds

Throw a series of 5 rapid punches, dealing 75% damage with each hit. If all 5 punches connect, generate 1 Combo Point.

[Imbued Defence]

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Cost: 1 Mana, instant, no cooldown

Use magic to reinforce your fists’ defence, blocking an incoming attack with Defence+4, and reducing its damage by 6.

There were also a couple of passive Skills that I couldn’t use in the normal sense, but which would simply change how my character worked. It was easy to fall into the trap of thinking they weren’t as important as the combat Skills, but I knew that actually they were foundations that made the archetype into what it was, rather than simply a random set of Skills.

[Unarmed Discipline (Passive)]

Increases the effectiveness of unarmed combat techniques and Skills.

[Body Conditioning (Passive)]

Increases Defence, Resistance, Constitution, Willpower, and Endurance by +4 each.

Although the game had prompted me to choose an archetype, it was mostly only to assist with the initial setup and to ensure I had a usable starter kit. After the tutorial was over, I could attempt to learn any Skill I wanted, or even theoretically try to devise my own. The game didn’t really have character classes or even levels per se, but rather just a progression system based on the acquisition of new items and Skills, and the refinement of existing ones.

If I stayed in town and learned from players or NPCs, I could gain new Skills by practicing what they taught me, but if I went out into the wilds I could explore at my own pace and learn new Skills as I went along either by figuring them out myself or by being granted them through the Discovery System. This way, as my character got more powerful, the game would get more complex and challenging at the same time, but with practice I could get familiar with the Skills’ movements and combinations to counteract that. I thought it was a very elegant system.

There was also no limit to the total number of Skills I could possess, and there wasn’t technically anything to stop me from learning any Skill in the game, but I could only have up to a certain number equipped at any one time based on various factors. In this way the game avoided having runaway power inflation like what supposedly happened with Dreamscape - the first VRMMO to use this technology. Trying to do moves that weren’t in my active Skill list would still be possible, if I could figure out how without the System guiding me, but without Skill modifiers it would majorly limit the effect they had.

I also couldn’t ‘really’ create my own Skills, even if it felt like that’s what I was doing, because all Skills I could create would be based on pre-existing, balanced templates. Of course there was a practically unlimited number of those, and the Discovery System made full use of them all, so as soon as I got out of the tutorial my character would become something that felt at least a little bit unique with Skills that only I could use… Skills that would be wiped if I got the GMs to change out my character: that thought briefly crossed my mind.

I waited anxiously for the tutorial to be over and to get that *ping* that would indicate the start of my personal story and the acquisition of my first unique Skill.

Finally, the apprentice NPC drawled to his conclusion. We’d both been glaring at each other for some time by this point, and I got the distinct impression that he was as anxious to be rid of me as I was of him. I wondered if that was a hardcoded part of the sequence, or if his AI was responding to my behaviour. We’d somehow gotten off on the wrong foot practically right away.

I spoke to the NPC, Jaden Ness, one last time. “Thanks! Now I’m all ready to go!”

He nodded and gave me the first slightly encouraging smile I’d seen him make. “Uhhuh. Please try not to get eaten right away.” He eyed my tiny arms skeptically as he walked me to the door leading outside. Then he politely held it open for me and nodded his head towards the bustling street. “Good luck.”

I gave him another slightly mocking smile and said “thanks” before heading outside. The tutorial was now over, so I was no longer in a personal instance and I could see all the other new players milling about. I was determined: I was gunna rock this game. Various people turned to look at me intently as I stepped out, and I heard an audible gasp from somewhere.

Yup, there was just one problem.

*ping*

The message appeared in front of me.

New Skill!

[Inscribe: Rune of the Creator Flame]

Inscribes the [Rune of the Creator Flame] onto your body, allowing it to be activated periodically for the use of Runic Magic. Twinned Greater Cosmic/Fire Substantiality Rune. Permanent effect. Limited to one concurrent effect. Must be inscribed using [Ancient Flame-Seared Ink].

I frowned at the Skill, my audience temporarily forgotten. It wasn’t something I’d read about from the beta. Moreover, it seemed like it was something that I couldn’t even use right away, which was unusual. It was definitely something interesting though. The first step would have to be to find out whatever this [Ancient Flame-Seared Ink] was, and how I could get my hands on it. I didn’t expect it would take long.

My expectations were confirmed a moment later. Someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned and saw a gaunt-looking Mistborn NPC with bright green eyes standing eerily close beside me. “Ahem. Ms. River I presume?”

I gave him my best charming smile. “Yup, at your service. And you are…?”

He looked down and swallowed stiffly. “Ah, right. Portlan Mason. Ma’am.” He awkwardly extended a hand for me to shake, but seemed a little taken aback when I took and shook firmly. “If you would come with me please, the Keeper has been expecting you.”

It seemed my personal story had already started.

*ping*

New Quest!

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 1)]

Follow Portlan Mason to the ancient Keeper’s sanctuary.

~ ~ 26/1/1/11:17 ~ ~

Status: [River]

Class: [Novice Mistborn Magical Martial Artist]

Location: [Cowl’s Landing - The Waygate Hub]

Health 38/38 ~ Mana 37/40 ~ Stamina 39/41

[&^AC<0~ (Sent)] Equipped Skills (5/8):

[Force Infused Palm]

[Myriad Fists]

[Imbued Defence]

[Unarmed Discipline (Passive)]

[Body Conditioning (Passive)] Statistics:

Defence +8

Resistance +4

Constitution +4

Willpower +4

Endurance +4 Equipped Items (2/8):

[New Arrival’s Simple Dress]

[New Arrival’s Simple Shoes] Other Skills:

[Inscribe: Rune of the Creator Flame (0/1)] Other Items:

[Special Edition Founder’s Token]

[Novice Healing Potion]

[Novice Mana Potion] Active Quests:

[Acquire Ancient Flame-Seared Ink]

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 1)]