From Starry Sky to Stalactites High

A starry night sky as far as the eye can see. Blue oceans with fish of all shapes and sizes. A green planet, tall grass, large healthy trees, animals living in harmony. I can feel a gentle breeze against my skin and the warmth the ground has absorbed from the sun beneath my feet. It is truly calming.

It is also very short lived as the ground beneath me begins to quake. A small crack in the earth forms at my feet before traveling some fifty odd feet away. The ground splits and tears as if being forced open by large and powerful unseen hands. The beautiful field of green that once lay before me was replaced by a hole so large that I was struggling to see where it ended. Looking down, it offered a similar result as the bottom of it was nowhere in sight, at first. Then I could see it, barely at first, then clearly, it’s getting closer.

What I thought was the bottom of the hole was actually the top of a building, one that’s growing out of the earth and piercing the sky. It’s made completely of stone, and the way it is structured plays with the eyes to give the impression of a spiral leading to the top, where a castle sits. There are archways, windows, doors of wood, and every once and a while I catch sight of movement, but never get enough of a glance to see who or what it is.

Before I can think of what to do next, before I know exactly what is happening, I am reaching for the door in front of me. This was something I was doing outside of my control, something that was designed to happen before I was able to play the game. I realize now that this is how the game’s opening cutscene goes and I stop what was an unconscious urge to resist and let my hand reach for the handle of the large door in front of me.

For the first time, I see my character’s hand. It can be a bit of a shock to the brain seeing something different than what you expect to see. I am a human of a light complexion. I haven’t worked any manual labor and spend most of my time either studying or playing games. So, when I saw a hand larger than my own with skin a dark shade of green, bruised and cracked knuckles, and felt the calluses on my palm against the cold of the metal handle. There was a moment of panic, but it passed as quickly as it came as I reminded myself that this was a game. This is a statement that would be echoing throughout my mind as the cutscene continued to play out.

The handle was pulled and the door was moved, I could feel the dust from the frame tickling at my nose and the bright light coming from behind the wood burning at my eyes. That didn’t stop me from pulling the door wide open. The pure light that was barely being contained burst out and engulfed me. The beautiful world I had been standing in was swept away and replaced by a sheet of white. It took me a few moments longer to realize I could move on my own now, though looking around didn’t yield much in the results department.

Other than the almost painful, white background, there were four doors around me, each with its own labels that floated in a tidy little text box.

Directly in front of me, ‘Telifell’

To my left, ‘Buzaram’

To my right, ‘Ermoor’

And directly behind me, ‘Fibluff’

“This…” I only said a single word as my brain was again sent into a moment of shock when my voice didn’t sound right. As an Orc, even a half-human one, my voice was much deeper than it was outside of the game. Now is probably the best time to get used to it, though. The voice inside my head, my thoughts, was still my own, so at least I had that comfort.

“This seems a little lackluster for a tutorial level. Let me re-read Iggy’s message. System!” A little chime played in the back of my head. “Open my last message from Iggy.”

*Last Message from Iggy*

“Hey! Almost forgot to send you my character name. You won’t be able to add me till you get out of the little tutorial and make your choice of starting town. I started in Ermoor myself, I think Shoji went to Telifell, and Maaya started in Fibluff. If you decide to start at Buzaram then we can all go for the Horsemen titles together. No pressure! Anyway! Rhade of Lans is my character's name. See ya soon!”

He said I can’t add him till I get out of the little tutorial area and make my choice of starting town.” I took another look around the nearly empty room. “This can’t be what he was talking about, right? It hasn’t taught me anything. Maybe I’m just jumping the gun, maybe it comes after I go through one of these doors?” A wave of anxiety washed over my body as I felt the weight of this decision heavy on my shoulders. “What if I leave this room and miss the tutorial? What if there was something I was supposed to do earlier? Maybe that wasn’t a cutscene. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to open the door till I was ready. Should I restart? Make a new character?”

There was a loud clap accompanied by pain on my face as my palms made contact with my cheeks, bringing me back into focus. “You are overthinking again. Come on. This isn’t even a big deal. If I miss the tutorial, my friend will catch me up on what I need to know. It’s fine. Just…go.” The door to Buzaram came into view as I pivoted towards it. “If I start here, we can all get one of the four horsemen titles and the achievement that comes with it. Easy choice then. I hope I don’t have to keep walking through doors after this.”

Before I could put any more thought into it, and before I could think myself into anxiety again, I swung the door to Buzaram open and stepped through.

The starry sky that had once been above was now the dark, solid rock of a cave. The welcoming warmth of the sun soaked ground beneath my feet is now cold and wet from the drippings of stalactites. There was no green field or large healthy trees. I had traded in the beautiful scenery of nature and warm welcome for one of darkness and dismay.

In front of me were countless stalagmites ranging from one that had just begun to form to those nearing the ceiling. Settled around those formations were various buildings that formed something of a shanty town. It looked like a mess, but considering the location it seemed like a miracle there was a town here at all. The town and the path leading to it were lit by torches, which made it easy enough to get there when I was ready.

Not far from where I found myself, I could see shadowy forms moving just outside the reach of the flame’s light. The sudden knowledge of there being unknown entities around me put me on alert and had me reaching for a weapon I didn’t know I had. Still, my hand found the hilt of a broadsword that had been sheathed to my left side and brought it up into view. As soon as the blade was eye level, words appeared along it.

-Level 1 Broadsword-

-Stat Requirement Str 5-

-Atk +1-

The word broadsword seemed a bit generous. Chips were running the length of the edge, and rust was beginning to form along it as well. Truly a weapon for the level 1 adventurer.

“We all have to start somewhere, I suppose. Come on, rusty and hopefully trusty, blade. Let’s see what we can slay before I set foot into town.”

With broadsword gripped tightly, I took a more cautious stance and slowly took my first steps towards town. No more than three steps in, and there came a monstrous growl from the shadows. I had just aggro’d my first enemy, and though I couldn’t see it yet, I was prepared to take my first swing as soon as it stepped out of the shadows and into the light.