Eric regained consciousness bathed in a bright, warm light. The light shone brightly through his eyelids forcing him to squint as he opened them to search his surroundings. Eric felt like he just woke up from a nap cut too short and it took his eyes several long moments to adjust enough to make out a sun beaming down from overhead. He soon realized he was lying flat on his back. He rolled his head over and found a grassy meadow spread out all around him. It extended infinitely to the edge of his vision in every direction.

He took a moment to grip the grass between his fingers and suck in a few gulps of crisp air. It tasted fresh and clean, unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was the first time he had ever tasted air not filled with pollutants and toxins, and he was pleasantly surprised at the difference. After a few methodical breaths, he suddenly had a rush of sensations. He realized the enormity of being able to take those few precious breaths in the place he had found himself. It meant his immersion was successful and his past life would forever be a memory. He felt a wave of euphoria flow over him at finally being free from all of it.

Eric breathed a sigh of relief that the technology delivered on its promise. He knew the failure rate for immersion was astoundingly low, but he still had a lingering fear that he wouldn’t wake up again or would be somewhere he never intended. He carefully lifted his head off the ground and saw an old man with long white hair and gray eyes looking down at him. The man stepped in front of the sun overhead creating a shadow over Eric’s face. The man held out a wrinkly hand, offering to help Eric up. Eric took it reactively and gained his feet.

Eric took a moment to gather himself and feel steady on his feet. The man watched him patiently as Eric looked around across the endless fields and felt the warm ground beneath his feet. Eric was astonished by how natural everything felt. His body felt years younger, and it was as if all of his previous injuries were miraculously healed. He couldn’t feel any of his usual aches or pains that had previously plagued his body.

“Welcome to Teurilia, Eric. My name is Flendor, and I will be helping you to start your new life here. I will serve as your temporary guide,” the old man said calmly with a warm smile, breaking Eric’s inner thoughts.

Eric focused on the man standing in front of him. The old man wore a thick white robe and had the face of a friendly neighbor.

Eric gently cleared his throat and said, “Thank you Flendor. It is a pleasure to meet you. I can’t believe I’ve made it here.”

Flendor’s eyes sparkled, making his weathered face suddenly look much younger. “That is a typical reaction. It will take some time to adjust to this new world. There is no rush, time will be on your side to learn and find your place,” he said.

Eric realized Flendor was an NPC. He didn’t know if he would have been able to so quickly distinguish him from an ordinary player if he wasn’t familiar with the character generation process. He had learned an NPC would greet new players and introduce them to Teurilia. They would help players get their necessary information set up and be their first contact once inside the virtual world.

It was easy for Eric to perceive how highly advanced the A.I.s implemented within Teurilia were after only a short conversation with Flendor. Eric’s research indicated every NPC had an independent A.I. thread that developed and grew as the controlled avatar gained experiences and memories. The notion that an artificial creation would learn and develop through memories and interactions was incredible. It led Eric to a wave of speculation indicating NPCs could eventually be indiscernible from players. Theoretically, the level of immersion would slowly increase as the world’s A.I.’s became more advanced.

Eric stood dumbfounded as he inspected the elderly man standing before him. Realizing his rudeness, he quickly said, “This place is unbelievable. Better than anything I ever imagined.”

Flendor smiled and said, “You will find the deeper you scratch the surface, the more magical and wondrous everything will become. Unfortunately, we only have a little time together, and there is much for you to decide so I must insist we begin. First, you will need to choose a city to start your adventures, you can choose any of the established kingdom’s capital cities, but be warned there is no changing any of your decisions once you leave me and this place.”

A well-constructed wooden table materialized into existence directly between Flendor and Eric. Flendor unphased by the table’s magical appearance immediately rolled out a large map across its entire length. The map was filled with beautiful illustrations and depicted the whole continent of Teurilia. Eric recognized the map from some of his research. The major kingdoms were outlined in various colors with the main cities and towns represented by small sketches of castles or spires drawn throughout. Eric took in all the details and observed almost all the major cities were found along the eastern coast of the continent while a majority of the West was undetailed and barren of any settlement.

He focused on one of the kingdoms near the middle of the outstretched map. It was highlighted in a dark purple and had at least a dozen settlements dotted inside its borders. As he took in the details, he was surprised to find a transparent screen flicker to life directly above the map. The screen began populating with descriptive text about the kingdom. It provided a snippet of the kingdom’s political status and a brief history of its origins. He was surprised with how easy he could navigate the scrolling text using simple eye movements or mentally nudging it to adjust the speed and direction.

He practiced the trick with several of the other kingdoms and received the same result. The feature made scrolling through the descriptions of each kingdom a breeze, and he read through each one in no time. Eric had found much of the same information about each kingdom from his research, but the continent contained centuries worth of history and lore, so it was impossible for him to memorialize it all. Although the map was flooded with valuable information, a particularly fascinating insight he gleaned was the majority of land displayed on the map was marked hostile or unexplored. Eric realized this meant the civilized kingdom’s only guaranteed safety near their major settlements. This was an interesting revelation, and Eric made a mental note to explore the meaning of these hostile zones more when he had an opportunity.

After finishing his analysis of the map, Eric thought carefully about which kingdom he would choose. From his research, he learned the eastern shores represented the most valuable real estate. The dense populations reduced the threat of invasions and led to prosperous trade along the shoreline. The history of the eastern shore was unfortunately drenched in bloodshed. Its value resulted in vicious wars for territory in Teurilia’s past. Fortunately, all of the kingdoms had been at peace since the great peace alliance was signed several hundred years ago. There was still some tension and minor uprisings throughout the continent, but no significant wars had taken place in centuries.

Eric smiled as he turned his gaze to the kingdom of Dorenth on the map. It was one of the kingdom’s far away from the crowded cities on the eastern coast, and it shared an extended portion of its western border with unexplored territory known to many as the frontier. He read through the description one more time and solidified his decision. He had confidence it would be the perfect fit for his goals. He made sure to take note of the names of the kingdom’s that shared borders with Dorenth including Radora, Trent, Celux, and Vrening.

“I’d like to start in the kingdom of Dorenth,” Eric responded confidently after looking back up to Flendor who had waited patiently for him to make his decision.

“Very well. Dorenth is a kingdom of strong warriors and features a tough society. The territory is populated with a mix of races that has created a vibrant and blended culture throughout its history. Faced with the assault of monsters along its western border from the frontier attracts many adventurers to its territory in hopes of finding glory and treasure. I offer a warning if you have similar ambitions, the path to fame is often long and lonely. Many fail to realize the amount of sacrifices required to make a mark on history,” Flendor said thoughtfully.

Flendor’s advice was sound, and Eric had no illusions about the challenge he would face, but he reassured himself with Flendor’s words. Eric was more than ready to meet a challenge and looked forward to an opportunity to prove himself. This was what he had craved for so long in his old life, and he would not miss a chance to achieve his goals and ambitions in his new life.

“The next decision is to choose your race and primary competence,” Flendor said, interrupting Eric’s musings.

Flendor rolled out another equally large scroll. The scroll displayed the various races available in Teurilia. The manuscript featured rough sketches of each race and listed their unique attributes in the margins rather than displaying information on a digital screen like with the kingdoms.

After flattening out the parchment, Flendor began to explain the impact of the primary competence, “You will have to choose between Strength, Intellect, or Agility to be your primary competence. Each competence affects the pace proficiencies and skills can be mastered. All of the skills and proficiencies available in Teurilia, including those required for non-combatants are classified into two of the three competencies. One serving as the main competence and the other secondary. Any skills or proficiencies can be learned despite the primary competence you select, but the path to learning skills and proficiencies with a differing main competence will be more difficult. Skills and proficiencies that don’t align with your selected primary competence in either their assigned main or secondary competencies will be the most difficult to learn and will take additional training and patience to achieve success.”

Eric nodded toward Flendor and began to mull over his options as he studied the various races laid out in front of him. Each race had unique attributes and passive bonuses which could combine with certain competencies to present unusual combinations. The system of primary competencies was designed to add balance to the world and limit one person from becoming too powerful, that much was clear to Eric. The system of checks and balances effectively limited skill distribution and mastery.

Eric researched each race extensively beforehand, but he had been unable to make a final decision on which one he would choose before his immersion. He was almost out of time, and he had to decide on a race before he proceeded. He looked down the list of races, scanning through the couple dozen options hesitantly. He had already decided to choose something that wouldn’t significantly change his appearance which helped narrow his decision and immediately removed all of the beast hybrids and sub-orc races from the list of viable options. He thought carefully as he looked through the remaining races. He methodically thought through the different combinations until he had it narrowed down to a couple of species from the human race.

The human race hailed from different areas of the continent, and each species had unique attributes specific to their region. Eric was initially drawn to the northern Dawncutter species which specialized in high Strength and passive elemental resistances. The other species he found of interest was the Swiftsworn, a small sect rumored to have trained with the eleven warriors of the southern woodlands. The Swiftsworn had high resistance to diseases and poison as well as naturally high alignment to Dexterity. Eric felt in his gut it was the race for him, even though he initially eyed races with naturally high Strength or Vitality bonuses. He finalized his decisions and relied on his gut and pre-planning to guide him to success.

Eric looked up from the scroll and said, “I will choose the Swiftsworn race and take Strength as my primary competence.”

“So it shall be,” Flendor stated. He paused momentarily to let the weight of the decision sink in before continuing, “You have opted for an unusual combination of race and competence. The Swiftsworn are natural rangers and scouts and naturally fit within the Agility competence, but to choose Strength will lead you down a unique path.” He leaned down and quickly rolled up the scrolls before tucking them away into the bag attached to his hip.

Eric knew the Swiftsworn race would provide extra Dexterity and would be well suited for a character seeking to become an Agility-based class, but he determined long term the Strength competence was the only option for him. He wanted to become a great warrior who struck down enemies in a single blow and Strength would be critical to accomplishing this feat. The Dexterity bonus drew him to the Swiftsworn considering the usefulness of the attribute. It would prove essential if he planned on making contact with his enemies. He knew the most powerful punch in the world would be useless if he couldn’t touch an agile opponent so adding a little balance from his racial traits was a no-brainer in his mind.

Flendor looked back up to Eric and said, “You have one final decision to make, and it may be the most important. The world of Teurilia is a brutal place, and you can decide how painful your existence will be. You must decide how much pain you will bear. The starting value is 10% and can be increased to a maximum of 50%, for each percentage of increase you will gain one bonus attribute point for allocation up to a maximum of 40 points.”

“I choose the maximum,” Eric replied immediately without hesitation.

Unlike most players who opted to remain unaffected by the pain of the new world, Eric decided to take the opposite approach. He needed to feel pain to truly live his life in Teurilia. Pain was essential to train his body and feel normal in his own skin. It would ensure he didn’t completely lose his past life’s lessons which shaped him. He was somewhat desensitized to violence from his rough upbringing, and he felt being without pain could carry him down a dark path and limit his future growth. He also didn’t mind the bonus attributes which provided him with an instant boost to ease his start.

“Very well. You will begin your story in the capital city of Drail within the Kingdom of Dorenth, good luck young traveler,” Flendor stated calmly.

After Flendor spoke, a ring of shimmering light materialized into a portal in front of them. Flendor motioned Eric forward into the portal. Eric took one last glance around before he lifted his head confidently and stepped into the blinding light, prepared to face his destiny.