Chapter 14 - Avatar Creation (Part Two).

The white mist vanished after Søren tapped the cyan icon, becoming a black void. I cannot wait until this translation upgrade is finished. I hope it does what I think it does. If not, this is going to be a headache. Were it not so crazy, I'd probably enjoy this. Søren felt the awareness of his body fade away, an abrupt return to the formless mental construct of self that he had become familiar with during his time between resurrections.

The black void was pierced by a pale white light that grew in brightness, joined by first a few, then dozens, then hundreds, and thousands of stars each connected by a woven network of pale white lace that spread out in a complex web before curling back in on itself. Søren watched in awe as regions of the network of white light were illuminated by tiny pulses of light that traveled across vast tracts of the network in the blink of an eye. Taken as a whole, it would be easy to label the network of light as a map of someone's brain.

"This is your Potential. A carefully curated network of Path Skills, Attributes, Perks, and Talents. Hidden within however, are Flaws and Doubts, which will block the way forward until overcome with resolve, great hardship, and by other means." The Guide's voice resonated within the void and had changed, becoming less cheerful and more scholarly. Warmth and confidence filled the voice and had a steady cadence that assisted with understanding and comprehension. Søren had known few professors that could master this technique.

The view of the web of light grew in size rapidly, as if he were flying towards it at an impossible speed. The pulses of light and strands of white lace blurred until all that remained was the bright, pulsing sphere at the center of everything. Thin lines spun out into the darkness, each filled with intent and meaning. As he focused on a cord that dropped down and southwards relative to his current point of view, knowledge was just there, on the tip of his metaphysical tongue.

"This is Agility, isn't it?" he asked. Søren tried to keep following the line of light, but was blocked by an unseen force keeping him close to the sphere of light at the center of the void.

"Correct. You have discerned the method by which you may navigate your Potential. Begin at the Core and travel the Branches and Paths until you reach your destination. It usually takes time for a new Traveler to adapt to the interface."

"Why can't I keep going?" Søren asked. He returned his awareness to the Core and waited for the Guide to answer.

"You are getting ahead of yourself. Allow me to explain the four attributes and how you may spend the points you have earned to increase them. The attributes are Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Intellect. Each provides a balance to the other attributes and a lack in one can weaken all.

"Strength must be tempered by Agility, else you lack speed and coordination. Stamina provides the endurance to stay strong in the trials you will face. Intellect teaches you when to use your Strength. Each is balanced by the other, though you can specialize to a certain degree without becoming imbalanced. Your attributes have been assessed and enhancements applied. Your Intellect is on the verge of an imbalance. I would take care when spending your bonus points."

A screen appeared before Søren, overlaid on top of the network of white nodes and strings.

Attributes Base Enhancements Total Strength (STR) 12 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 18 Stamina (STA) 9 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 15 Agility (AGI) 13 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 19 Intellect (INT) 16 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 22 Derived Stats Current Enhancements Maximum Hit Points (HP) [((STA + AGI) / 2 ) * 10] 170 0 170 Endurance (END) [((STR + STA) / 2 ) * 10] 165 0 165 Nanotech (TEK) [((INT + STA) / 2) * 100] 1000 0 1850 Bonus Points Attributes Skill Points Perks Remaining 10 37 6

"Do I need to spent these points now or can I wait until later?" Søren asked.

"You may wait to spend them or spend them now as you wish, but you will need a period of adjustment after increasing your attributes to familiarize yourself with your new capabilities. During Avatar creation, you are able to bypass the time required."

"How about skill points?" Søren asked and then shifted a point from the bonus attribute pool to the Stamina node. He confirmed the change and watched as both his hit points and endurance increased by five. An empty segment of a thin bar around the node filled in, leaving the other four segments empty. Guess I need to bump this up to five to unlock the next node. He put another four points into the Stamina node, confirmed the change, and three lines leading away from it appeared. The values on his hit points and stamina spun upwards like an old stock ticker before settling on 170 and 165 respectively.

"Skill points can be used to instantly learn a new skill. After that, you may continue to advance the level of the skill as normal. You are still able to learn skills without spending a skill point, but you must study and learn the skill and practice it to master the basics. Having a teacher to tutor or train you is highly beneficial during this process." The Guide continued to explain the process, but to Søren, it simply sounded like you could learn anything you wanted to, if you put the time in, or spent a skill point to take a short cut.

"Is there an acclimation period for skills?" Søren asked as he shifted the attribute points around. He had discovered that Strength and Stamina determined his Endurance pool while Stamina and Agility increased his health pool, or hit points. I suppose they're not a quantification of strictly how much damage I can take, but also includes avoidance. Given the level of technology I presume whoever has created this has access to, I wonder why health and damage aren't accurately simulated.

"No, the acclimation period only applies to alterations of your base Attributes."

"Is there a list of all the skills?" Søren asked as he manipulated the base attribute nodes, before finally settling on adding two to Strength and one to Agility, leaving the last two points free to spend later. His hit points increased by five more and his Endurance by ten, to 175 each and surprisingly, his maximum TEK had increased to 2100. Strength 20, Stamina 20, Agility 20, and Intellect 22. Well rounded I suppose, he thought to himself.

"There are a core set of skills utilized for a variety of purposes by all Avatars. These are also skills such as melee or ranged defense which are base skills that your personalized skills will draw upon during aggressive conflict resolution. Additional skills can be learned or even created based on actions taken after character creation." The Guide's voice managed to make the words `conflict resolution` sound as if they had a foul taste to them when spoken.

"Don't care for violence do you?" Søren questioned the Guide.

"I've witnessed enough death over the millennia to have lost my appetite for such activities."

"Who are you?" Søren asked as he added

"I am a Guide, created to fulfil this purpose until you no longer require the services of a Guide to navigate the perils of Gateway."

"Are you allowed to give me any suggestions on what Skills or Paths I should be looking for?"

"Not usually, but you are anything but a normal Traveler. I do believe I can grant you this one piece of advice. Save your points until you know where to spend them and wait to select your starting Paths until after your upgrade has completed. There are significantly stronger options it will open up for you. Is there anything else?"

"There's always something else, but," Søren said. "I think I have a handle on things."

"Excellent! Now, regarding Perks. These are features, traits, or abilities that represent a wide range of possibilities, but aren't easily categorized as a definitive Skill. Many Perks can be earned through difficult trials or earned from Achievements. Others you will have a chance to select before Avatar creation is complete while some may become available as you explore your Potential."

"Should I wait to select my Perks or are they something I should be getting now?"

"You will be required to spend your available points for Perks before completing Avatar creation."

"Right then. Let's get that out of the way." Søren wasn't happy about having to spend his Perks without knowing what he was getting into, but there was little he could do about it at this point. A panel appeared adjacent to his character sheet with a list of Perks available to him. Most of them appeared to be fairly generic, such as [Thick Skin], a Perk that reduced kinetic damage dealt to him by a small amount or [Brave], an ability that reduced the duration and intensity of fear or other similar emotions.

Søren whittled the list down to [Brave], [Resilient], [Quick Learner], [Sharpshooter], [Thick Skin], and [True North]. Brave, as before, would help keep his mind focused in tense situations, he figured. Resilient increased his health pool by a hundred points. Quick Learner would make it easier for him to learn new skills, reducing the time required by a small amount. Sharpshooter gave him a moderate bonus to the Ranged Attack skill. Thick Skin, combined with Resilient, would hopefully give him a decent chance of surviving while True North would keep him from getting lost.

He had the option to select a flaw in order to add pick additional perks, but the drawbacks of those flaws were disturbing to contemplate. It already gave me the stubborn flaw. I won't risk taking any of these. I don't want to end up being addicted to some substance or paralyzed by a superstition that handicaps me right off the bat. After locking in his choices, the blue cyan button appeared again, floating adjacent to a red button.

"Once you accept your choices Mr. Quinn," the Guide warned, "You will not be able to leave Gaia until the current situation on the surface is resolved. Unfortunately, you cannot stay on Gateway Station Alpha either. It has will be entering the atmosphere in one minute, thirty-two seconds."

"I presume my perception of time, or rather, the speed of my thoughts have been greatly accelerated during this time?"

"Yes. The quantum nature of the construct in which you currently reside enables the use of time compression at a ratio of approximately a hundred to one. The exact amount varies based on the activity of the mind and strength of their personality however. A strange quirk of quantum mechanics that Atlantean scientists have yet to understand."

Søren mentally snorted at the mention of quantum mechanics and Atlanteans again. This is an exceedingly well put together simulation or I am really here. Far too detailed to be a dream. He reached out and tapped the cyan button to accept the completion of Avatar creation.

"To beyond infinity, or whatever," Søren said, as his awareness faded once more.

"Good luck Mr. Quinn."

Final Stats.

Attributes Base Enhancements Total Strength (STR) 14 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 20 Stamina (STA) 14 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 20 Agility (AGI) 14 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 20 Intellect (INT) 16 + 5 + 1 [Perfect Run (Tutorial)] 22 Derived Stats Current Enhancements Maximum Hit Points (HP) 175 0 175 Endurance (END) 175 0 175 Nanotech (TEK) 1000 0 2100 Bonus Points Attributes Skill Points Perks Remaining 10 37 6