Tutorial Aperture - Valtir ???

After Markus made his selection, a three dimensional avatar of himself appeared next to the tutorial AI. This specific avatar had dark gray skin, long elvish ears, long wavy raven black hair that seemed to grow halfway down his back with a dark magenta gradient reaching to the bottom (Dark -> Magenta), and a lean muscular frame standing at around seven feet and six inches (~229 cm or ~2.3 meters) tall. To him, it obviously appeared gender neutral with light masculinity considering the normal lore of elves make them out to be near indiscernible between male and females, but the Vil’thrum did not truly care about those qualities-at least from what it seems through the System. Once he got a look at the avatar, the Character Customization menu appeared next to it.

When Markus looked at the menu, only the [Gender] option was grayed out.

“Why is the gender option like this?” he asked the AI.

“It is because upon entering the Tutorial, all Players-or Cruxborne as they are called-are examined to discern if someone identifies with their biological gender,” the AI immediately responded. “This is meant to be as inclusive as possible to any and all incoming Players while offering them to identify with their gender identity. When you entered, you heavily identified as a [Male] and being the first Player ever to join, the System automatically locked you in as a [Male].”

“So, the developers created this game with the LGBTQ community in mind,” Markus thought to himself. That didn’t matter too much to him as he never explored his own sexuality that much growing up so he wasn’t too sure which way he leaned towards despite having some awareness of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals.

He returned to the menu and started fiddling around with the options for a good few minutes. After toying with the options, he settled on the ideal build for his new character.

[Body Build: Muscular]

[Eye Color: Magenta]

[Height: 7 feet 6 inches]

[Additional Features: (Tribal Tattoo), (Divine Alignment Sigil)]

[Feature: Tribal Tattoo]: Cosmetic. Provides no bonuses. [Feature: Divine Alignment Sigil]: Passive. Displays the sigil of the Primordial of Destruction, Xaradel. Unknown bonuses.

Markus clicked on the [Confirm Changes] button to accept all of his changes and immediately his Avatar disappeared from his eyes. “Uh, where’d it go?” he asked the AI as he didn’t notice he immediately inhabited his new avatar after confirming the changes.

“Ah, I forgot,” the AI sighed. “You still have some extra things to do before joining Valtir for real. For instance, I noticed you are currently holding a few extra boons to help you start your adventure.”

“What boons?” Markus asked inquisitively.

The AI pulled up what appeared to be his [Inventory] which looked to contain twenty slots in ten rows with eight of those slots filled. He tapped each slot to examine the items in the [Inventory] cells and was surprised.

Slot 0: {1x Premier Character Token} This token contains a single-use runic scripture array to infuse Player Characters with a mysterious effect… [Soulbound to Markus Reeves] Slot 1: {1x Title Sigil: “Founder Member”} Allows the Player to gain the title [Founder Member] that is only visible to other Players. [Soulbound to Markus Reeves] Slot 2: {1x Eternal Coin Package} A package that contains a considerable horde of wealth. [Soulbound to Markus Reeves] Slot 3: {10x Vault Expansion Tokens} Tradeable tokens that can expand Player Inventories, Guild Vaults, or Kingdom Treasuries. (Price: 100 Platinum per Token) Slot 4: {2x Mythical Skill Unlocks} Mythical skills that may prove useful in future endeavors… [Soulbound to Markus Reeves] Slot 5: {1x Legendary Skill Unlock} A Legendary Skill that may prove useful in the future… [Soulbound to Markus Reeves] Slot 6: {1x Origin Perk Token} Be careful when unlocking parts of your Origin. You never know what lies in the darkness… [Soulbound to Markus Reeves] Slot 7: {1x Tier 6 Companion} A trustworthy companion that will help guide you through the world of Valtir and level up alongside you! Consumed upon use. [Soulbound to Markus Reeves]

[continued…]

“That’s a big [Inventory], but what do you mean that I have boons to redeem before logging in?” Markus asked the AI.

“You have to utilize the [Premier Character Token], [Title Sigil], the skill unlocks, and [Origin Perk Token] before you can move onto the next part of the Tutorial. Apologies,” the AI responded quickly.

Deciding not to question too deeply into the whole spiel, Markus redeemed the required pieces before the AI moved him on from the [Character Generator] section and started to teach him the important lore behind Valtir. The general gist is that Valtir formed eons ago and its [World Core] had become heavily attuned to Arcanism to the point that magic flourished alongside technological progress-creating magitech. A thousand years ago, the various kingdoms went to war all across the world and, through the use of magitech, devastated entire swaths of once-fertile land where many lives and races were lost. Since the war ended five hundred years ago, the world has known relative peace with a few border skirmishes between the five major world powers. The setting of when the game starts-when Markus dives into the world of Valtir-is ten years before a new prophesied age begins.

What the AI didn’t tell Markus was that this whole tutorial had gone severely wrong from the moment his new avatar was created. They had no idea of what the Vil’thrum were nor could any data be found in the System race files about them which might have been a bug though it was strangely accepted. No one on Valtir even heard about them or their mysterious powers which would definitely make Markus’ future tread on shaky foundations with the major world powers if they found out about his true race. The only thing the AI truly understood was that Fate lurked in his shadow and there would be dark times ahead.

The discussion soon went to the general topics such as System functions like broadcasts, customizing the UI, making a [Party], casting magic, and connecting to the internet outside of the game. Once the AI explained that any further information found in the Tutorial can be found in the menu bar above “Settings,” Markus was soon sent off into the gameworld of Valtir.