Chris found herself back to the same white empty space as before, dozens of screens surrounding her. Only this time, five of those screens were flashing slightly. Each depicted a different race, showcasing a nondescript and standard specimen of each race along with their statistics. Her eyes automatically veered toward the flashing elf screen. Half of the screen displayed an elf that was rotating in mid air, wearing standard leather armour. The other half had the race’s specs on it.

Gesturing with her right hand, Chris beckoned the screen toward her. She’d never been in virtual reality before but she took it for granted that some things like the screen interfaces would remain the same as they were in the real world. As it floated her way, the remaining screens stacked behind it like soldiers on parade, before finally disappearing from sight;the elf screen grew and grew in size until it stood in front of her, ready for inspection.

The generic elf stopped rotating in midair as soon as Chris looked at it, and instead assumed an impatient look whilst crossing its arms. It could go both ways, being a woman or man so Chris was reticent in assigning it a gender. The other half of the screen gave information about the race and its characteristics.

Elf

A humanoid creature with strong ties to the earth.

Known for their strong affinity with manic creatures and their capricious nature.

After a brief description of the race there was a comprehensive list of the Elfin specs, their strengths and weaknesses in terms of characteristics were listed. It was a race that specialized in speed and accuracy over brute strength. Chris glanced over the each attribute before noticing a button with [Trial Result Affinity] on it.

Chris lifted her hand and tapped the option. The screen grew in size and added another column to the right of the characteristics with a bunch of bars on it. The column was labeled as [Affinity Level] and showed different values ranging from 0 to 100 for each characteristic. Anything above sixty was coloured green, anything above twenty was coloured yellow and anything below was red. Chris was surprised to find that while she did have some green bars, most of her bars were yellow. She even had a couple red ones when it came to weapon skills, but most surprising of all was that she had a score of zero on one of them.

Height.

She hadn’t even realized it had been tested, but there it was. A big, glaring, red zero. Twisting her brows in confusion she clicked on the red bar to investigate. A window and a graph popped up. The first explained the score and the second she didn't initially understand. It showed a bell graph with a flashing red dot in the far bottom left. It was only after she read the axes that she understood. The x-axis showed the range of the other female player’s heights and the y-axis showed the distribution thereof. Most of the players heights were about 25cm taller than her, which wasn’t unsurprising. She was used to being short.

What Chris wasn’t used to though, was knowing that she was in the bottom percent of the female height distribution of the world. It shocked her. She’d always known she was short but she had never realized quite how much. To add to the shocking realization, the explanation of her score basically ruined her plan of being an elf.

You may choose to create any character you desire to in Nova Era.

However, be aware that the virtual technology cannot make up for too much

of a discongruity with your real world body.

It cannot change how your brain sees that body immediately.

In order to prevent neural miscommunications with your limbs, and to prevent clumsiness, players are thus advised to keep their chosen body limitations within fifteen percent of the real ones.

Doing some quick math, Chris realized that she wouldn’t be able to add more than twenty two centimeters to her real height. That would make her exactly one meter seventy which was nowhere near the minimum height of one meter eighty required for the Elfin race. Chris had flailed around like a drunken sailor during the reenactment of one of Era’s recent wars. It had been attributed to the adrenaline laced fear of the occasion, but it now dawned on her that she might have been wrong. She definitely didn’t want to have yet another disadvantage playing against her, especially if she really was as far behind as her trial results showed.

Disillusionment clawed under her skin, but it was not enough for her to disregard the fact that being an Elf was no longer a viable option. Crossing her arms in annoyance she shooed the screen away with her hand, not letting herself dwell on it anymore. When the screen, although smaller, still remained among the foremost ranks with the other flashing screens she quickly made a crossing motion with her hand. It immediately stopped flashing and a big red X slammed into it as it disappeared behind dozens of other racial screens.

The game had chosen the Elfin race as one of her better races even though she would have a major disadvantage in terms of her height. It made her wonder how low her affinities with the rest of the game’s races were for the Elfin race to even be considered.

“Organize by racial affinity.” Chris commanded her troops.

The screens all lined up, the flashing ones in front of the parade formation. They were in the order of Darkling, Halfling, Gnome, Dwarf and Elf. The Elfin screen stood there, taunting her with broken dreams. She motioned to it before saying, “Get rid of it.”

The screen disintegrated into thousands of little pixels before blowing away in a blueish haze.

“Show values.” She said.

Percentages popped into sight, one above each screen. Shock of her abysmal scores slapped her across the face. The best value being 53% and the lowest being 2%. She’d known she wasn’t going to be a good fighter, but she hadn’t expected to be basically ostracized from all races. Steeling herself, she tried to look ahead. It wasn’t a popularity contest, all she needed to do was keep her plan going and become indispensable in other ways. Eventually, there was no way around it, she would have to learn to fight. Success in the game, especially in later stages, hinged on it. For now though, her non-existent skills would have to be enough.

The low values sneered at her from across the ranks, making Chris feel like the unwanted last kid on the bench that no one wanted in their team. Annoyed, she dismissed the rest of the races except for the remaining top four. The Dwarven race was listed as 27% affinity, too low for Chris. They were also creatures that specialized in strength as a weapon which didn’t fit with her at all.

The Gnome was listed at 32% but after looking more closely at the race’s characteristics, she saw they couldn’t absorb manic creatures. An immediate dismissal. In the end the choice came down to the Darkling or the Halfling. Not knowing anything about either, Chris brought the screens up side by side for easier comparison.

Halfling

A humanoid creature of small stature and ridiculous moodswings.

Known for their agility and dexterity, especially with other people’s coin.

Darkling

A being grown from the darkness and depravities of the living realm.

Known for their initial incorporeal state as well as their suffocating presence.

Forewarning: Not all races can team up with this race, some will attain substantial debuffs.

Forewarning*: If you choose this race you will be living in unspeakable pain until you gain a body.

Forewarning**: Otherworlders that are enrolled in the Convict Rehabilitation Initiative are not able to bring the pain settings below 100%.

A glimmer of excitement had grown in her eyes at the description of the Darkling, but as soon as she read the first forewarning, she knew she wouldn’t be able to choose it. Her future success was going to depend on others, she just didn’t have the option of taking on a race that complicated her eventual plans for joining and creating a guild.

Shooing the Darkling screen away like a troublesome fly, only the Halfling one was left. A window popped up.

Do you wish to become a Halfling?

Yes | No

Chris opted for [Yes] and the Halfling screen before her expanded like a bedsheet before wrapping itself around her in a large arc, cocooning her away from the white space of the room with no boundaries. The statistics of the race disappeared from the screen that was no longer a screen but was instead enveloping her. The small Halfling on the other hand multiplied into six before each copy shot across the area around her.

Each Halfling was positioned in an even circular distribution around her and as the standard dark blue background colour of the screen was replaced by a different biome in each Halfling’s segment, they too changed. They had all been copies of the original standard halfling, which looked just like a human but much smaller, with small circular ears, proportionately bigger eyes and button noses. Now each was distinctively individual.

The one standing about an armspan in front of Chris grew a little in size, especially around the arms. Behind it the scenery changed into a rocky terrain along the side of a mountain range. A boulder appeared behind the Halfling and it nonchalantly plopped down, giving Chris a bored look. A little weirded out, she looked around to see that the other halflings had also changed physically. Two had grown smaller, one had darkened considerably, while another had whitened to a paleness of snow only rivaled by the stringently white cop of hair on its head.

All of the biomes were different, though forests seemed to be the prevailing theme, holding three of the six spots. One of them was a rainforest and as soon as Chris focused her attention on that biome, the forest sounds of chirping crickets, rustling leaves and snapping twigs came to life. She could smell the moisture in the air and all the other halflings around her were forgotten, only to be remembered when she turned her attention again, only to be immersed in a completely different space.

As the investigation of the differen clan differences stretched out, Chris tried to find out which of the clan’s physical builds would be best suited for her. They all had special attributes, skills and bonuses and Chris wasn’t sure how to stack her own deck. Her trial results hadn’t been what she expected and she brought them out for closer examination. Dozens of graphs came up showing her location on the bell curve of performance.

Focusing on the limitations of each clan first, Chris immediately dismissed the bulkier Halfling clan which didn’t allow for any other weapon choice other than the glaive. Her performance with it had been less than exemplary. As in, the bottom three percent. One of the forest Halfling clans could not eat meat and, from what the forums said, players would have to rely on hunted wildlife for nourishment at some point or another. Especially where she planned on going, where a drought was withering away any and all viable plant foods. Finally, she also dismissed the white haired, pale Halfling clan that, although very resistant to temperature variations, would just stand out too much with its colouring.

Each of the remaining Halfling took up a bigger segment of the area around her while Chris continued to study them and her results. She had done abysmally in every single thing. Well, not abysmally per se, but quite averagely in everything. Except for the weapon handling results; those she didn’t even want to look at.

Not all of the best players she had looked into had been good at fighting when they started, but they all had something that made them special, that made them stand out. Chris just needed to figure out what that was going to be for her. Looking at her graph results, she crestfallen realized there was nothing that she stood out in. Her pointer was always either smack dab in the middle of the bell curve or in the lower half. The only exception was her height. In a way she did excel at that. She excelled at being exceedingly short.

Her eyes widened in realization as her lips stretched into a self-satisfied smirk. Quickly checking the height limitations of the remaining Halfling clans she chose the one with the best small size disposition. It turned out to be the rainforest biome clan which had evolved to become small and lythe so as to be invisible and noiseless in the hunt.

Chris quickly dismissed the other clan options.

As a clan of hunters their special skills were SharpSight and AllFours. The special attribute was a reduced bone density which decreased a body’s weight by ten percent, making stealth much easier. The only drawback was that it made you more susceptible to damage. Because of the two skills, the clan did not offer any special status bonuses to start with.

SharpSight:

Increases chance of spotting target from far away.

Current skill ability allows for one target to be marked at a time.

Current range: 15 meters.

AllFours:

The ability to walk on hands and feet to minimize weight on each point of contact.

Reduces both sound and chance of leaving tracks behind.

Current chance of success: 0%

Forewarning: System Assist should be used on skills before attempting any form of combat as it will be disabled during any kind of engagement. Chance of success hinges on skill level.

Do you wish to join the Cazate Clan?

Yes | No

[Yes.]

Your race and clan have been configured.

The environment once more gave way to the pedestal room. Her hand was released from the third pedestal and the path to the fourth one was lit. Used to the sequence of events she followed the blue light which was quite clearly drawing a seven pointed star on the floor of the darkened room with each pedestal being at a point.

Placing her hand on the fourth pedestal, she was given the chance to choose her appearance. The standard Cazate Halfling appeared before her like a life-size mannequin, rotating in mid-air. Before anything else she reduced its height as much as she could within the recommended 20% margin. She then quickly chose the female race but then went on to make it as gender neutral and inconspicuous as possible. Especially trying to avoid any defining features like a noticeably big nose or mouth. After unwillingly using herself as a model for a couple of minutes, she switched gears and tried to recall the most unremarkable, innocent and unthreatening person she had met.

An image of the silent man that had shared her cell for three days flashed into her mind. She could barely remember what he looked like but followed her mental image of him in building her character. The boobs were almost entirely removed. Depending on the clothes she would be able to pass for either a very young woman or a child. With the large Halfling eyes, the innocent look came easily with slightly pouty lips, but not enough to call attention to themselves. The face was slightly rounded and framed by flat black hair. Part of her wanted to give it the more common brown hair, but she figured black would be better for fitting into the night. It’s frame was slight and by the end of her alterations there wasn’t a single remarkable thing about it other than the big Halfling eyes.

This would have to do though. The eyes would add the bonus effect of innocence and would probably just be remembered as a Halfling trait. If attention was only called to that one trait, when asked, people wouldn’t be able to remember anything else about her. Misdirection. A trick often used in magic and often commented on in her business classes. There were so many uses, especially in marketing and negotiations, but those would have to wait. Her character was complete.

679 Credits are at your disposal.

Chris watched as the window that popped up multiplied into more screens by breaking up and splitting off, expanding in size until it was as big as the original screen. They flipped around to reveal different sets and pieces of clothing, armour and weapons. Each had a credit value assigned at the bottom. It was time to go shopping.

Surprised that the forums had said the trial was a waste of time, Chris greedily began perusing the available items. Remembering all too well how her weaponless attacks had been in the arena, she searched for a weapon first.

Taking out her weapon affinities chart, she looked up which weapons the game had graded her best in. On the bell-curve of average human performance she had done quite miserably in all weapons. The only weapon she had managed to even reach the performance average in was the dagger. She had also done surprisingly well, compared to the other weapons, with an axe. Chris momentarily considered getting a sword , knowing that it dealt more damage and had a longer reach.

However, after searching for weapons she quickly realized that she couldn’t afford any, not if she wanted to buy some armour as well. The only dagger she could afford cost 650 credits, had a broken hilt and a massive crack in the middle. It looked like it was about to fall apart.

In the end, remembering her 10% lesser bone density she chose to go with the armour. She already had quite a weak race, further weakened by her clan choice. She ended up choosing a basic gladiator skirt for 290 credits, a tight leather vest for 330 credits and one basic leather bracer for 50 credits. She used it on her left arm as she did not have enough money to buy a second. Unable to do anything with the remaining 9 credits, she returned to the pedestal room and walked to the fifth pedestal.

It was time for her to choose her education tree. It was a choice that would dictate the way she should live and act in Nova Era. The list of trees was quite comprehensive and the more popular ones were the battle tree, the intelligence tree, the love tree and the friendship tree. After choosing one you would gain a seed you would have to consume.

The tree was supposed to grow within you with every act you took that supported that tree. In the fourteen months of the game no one’s tree had fully matured yet and, although there were many theories, no one seemed to know what would happen after it did. All anyone knew was that with each new branch, a player was given the power to take on more manic creatures.

Chris stood again in the blank room, only this time it wasn’t so empty. She was surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of cases with different types of education tree seeds in them. Each one had hovering letters above it, labeling the kind of seed it was. It was a labyrinth of display cases that went on forever. The seeds all varied in colour, texture, size and even smell. Ignoring these Chris continued to look around, looking for something that would fit how she wanted to play the game. Something that she wouldn’t have to go out of her way to achieve. Something that should come naturally. She already had a lot on her plate, she didn’t need a tree that would veer her from her path.

It was definitely not going to be swimming.

Nor horseback riding.

‘Sleep? … Really people?’

The cases stretched on and Chris thought she was going to have to settle for the negotiation tree when she finally found one that called to her. Manipulation. It was a shiny, oily black that felt slick to the touch. There was a tiny red dot on it that looked like a festering blister, it looked repulsive. She didn’t care. She swallowed the wretched thing, vowed never to think about the taste she had just experienced, and was transported back to the pedestal room with a smile plastered across her face.

Two pedestals to go and she knew that she would choose Durrenheim as her starting location in the next one. The final one she wasn’t quite so sure about yet. However, the budding feeling of the seed she had just swallowed was giving her an idea of just what kind of gatekeeper she wanted.