Chapter 3: Chapter 2 - Learning the Ropes
"Welcome to Ahya Online. Please speak and spell your chosen name for me."
Glancing at the blank room around me, which was nothing more than the standard entry screen for any MMORPG, I couldn't help grinning to myself. The only mildly original thing I could see was the person standing across from me. Judging by the way he spoke, I figured he wasn't another player, but an AI created by the system to help me get into the game.
"Senso. S-e-n-s-o."
A floating screen appeared before me, bearing the spelling of my chosen name, and asked me to confirm, which I did. Then the screen flashed out of existence, and the man in front of me turned and gestured to the wall behind him.
"Please select your preferred starting weapon. You may select any you choose, but please know that this choice is final, until you can be trained in the use of another weapon."
That was a surprise. Normally games limited you to a few weapons that were unique to your specific class. But then again, the system hadn't asked me to pick a class. Odd… Then I actually took a moment to look at the weapons provided, and I let out a long whistle. The makers of this game had done their homework, it seemed. They had EVERY medieval and renaissance melee weapon in existence here.
The long rack of weapons wrapped around three walls of the room, bearing weapons of all kinds stacked next to each other. And above that row, there was a row of every kind of shield created. I thought of several different weapons: the jitte, the scimitar, the flamberge. They were there. I was impressed.
"I can select only one weapon," I repeated to the bot. It wasn't a question, strictly speaking, but he nodded in response.
"Correct. You may only begin the game with knowledge of how to wield one type of weapon, or a weapon and a shield. You may learn other weapons later, but for now, you may pick one."
Well, that was interesting. I'd taken part in so many live combat classes in VR that I recognized and understood a handful of the weapons presented. But I still didn't understand how the game worked yet, and I wasn't yet sure I'd keep playing it. So I went for a simple choice and grabbed an English Longsword. The blade was just under four feet in length, and as expected, it was just as I remembered it.
"You have chosen the standard English Longsword." The bot said, and I nodded. The game seemed to take that as an acceptable form of communication because the rest of the weapons disappeared, and left me with the longsword. A long scabbard appeared in my left hand, complete with buckle options to sling it either at my waist or over my shoulder. I chose to buckle it to my belt, as that was most comfortable.
"Very good." The bot said. "I will now assign you stats based upon your body type, weapon choice, and various other statistics that would take too long to explain."
I arched an eyebrow but said nothing else. Another screen appeared in front of me, carrying details of my statistics.
Character Name: Senso
Rank: Novice
Maximum Hit Points
20
Armor Rating:
4
Strength:
6
Agility:
7
Constitution:
4
Magic:
1
Handling:
2
Luck:
3
"Only one magic?" I asked the bot. He made no reply. "Well, it's not like I'm a big fan of magic, to be honest. Still, I like that agility score. A standard STR/DEX build, eh?"
I paused in my train of thought as I noticed the bot holding something out in his palm. I took it and examined it. It looked like a badge. There were three lines of text on the square piece of metal.
Senso
Novice
20
"What does this number at the bottom mean?" I asked the bot.
"That is your total Power Ranking." The bot explained in a level tone as if it were reading from a script. Which, I realized, was pretty much what he was doing. "It is the accumulation of your stat totals, excluding luck."
"Does that mean I can't level my luck?" I asked with interest. "3 is pretty low."
"Your luck will fluctuate with time and actions. The more bad things that happen to you, the higher your luck will rise."
Oh so it's like karma, I thought to myself. Okay, that was cool. I'll probably have to figure out exactly how that works later, then. I looked back down at the other stats. My Constitution wasn't too bad. I resolved to level that the first chance I got. I looked back at the bot.
"What is this Handling stat?" I asked. "Rather, what purpose does it serve?"
"The Handling Attribute reflects how skilled you are at riding mounts and vehicles."
"Vehicles?" I queried, thinking of motorbikes.
"Boats of all kinds." The bot replied.
"Well, the final step for your character creation is to decide upon your physical appearance. You must keep it within reasonable size and shape for a human. Also, your appearance must align with your true gender, and cannot be manually edited again. The only change allowed is through the natural growth of attributes."
That was easy, I thought to myself as a tall mirror appeared before me. Whenever I was given the choice, I always went with a similar appearance. I based it on my actual appearance, taking a few liberties to make myself look a little better.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160lbs
Skin: Fair
Hair: Black
Body Type: Thin, moderate muscle
That was better. A few minutes more of tweaking, and I was satisfied. Facing me in the mirror was a man in his mid-twenties, with a slim body, powerful legs, and a sharp, angular face that suited him well. The black hair was long enough to be tied back into a short ponytail, but not long enough to be a nuisance.
I accepted the appearance, and the mirror disappeared. The bot seemed satisfied and gave me some kind of salute. He tapped his chest with his right fist, the first two fingers extended as if in imitation of a blade. I copied the gesture without thinking, and a white veil began to fall upon me, erasing the room around me. It was quite an interesting character creation process. Much shorter than I'd expected.
My eyes opened at once, though I didn't remember closing them. As I took in the deep forest around me, I also noticed the dense dirt path I was on and the faint breeze that blew against my face. Then I heard the growling.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone