Rise Online

Character Creation Goes Astray(2)

The monk made the first move, hinting towards an Iron-Fortress style tactic. I moved to counter that with a Plum-Dagger tactic. We intertwined in a battle, taking several hours, until we were each left with two pieces: I with my knight and the monk with his bishop. This is not including the kings, of course. As of then, I was at an advantage, and actually, might as well have won. See, he only had a bishop, which could only go on one color of square. All I needed to do is move my queen to the opposite color, and I will be invincible. Finally, I won, and the surroundings once again change.

"Finally, a test of willpower."

This time, we were in a completely different place, just a void of darkness. There was no source of light, but, surprisingly, the monk. He was glowing a faint, pale light, enough to make him visible and for me to see him as a ghost. I really didn't know how we were going to test our willpower, but the moment I brought up the question in my mind, it was answered.

Of course, by excruciating pain!

My first thought, when I ordered my scrambled mind, was if a game was really worth this much, let alone a mere starting area. But that thought was cast out of my head the moment it appeared. I was here for a reason, and that was no casual one.

When I started forming cohesive mental sentences, I was a few minutes into the torture. When I was able to open my eyes without shutting them tightly again, I noticed the grim and resolute face of the monk. Actually, I could tell what was going through his head, what was fueling him to keep going: Damn it, I already lost two rounds, I can't let one more player pass. Especially this one, he's so much better than I am. He's handsome, smart, strong, just all-around amazing. I, honestly, can't believe he hasn't already been taken -Â My humorous thoughts were interrupted by an intensifying of the pain, making my existence a whole lot worse.

I could, eventually, see that the monk was just barely holding on, too. Man, why must these three tests always be so close? Why couldn't I just surpass him quickly and easily? A shame, all these were questions with answers nobody knows - they join a group featuring "do I look fat in this dress", "what is the meaning of life?", and especially "what color is the dress?". But I digress.

I endured for what, a few more hours? This may be just me, but I didn't have a very accurate perception of time when I was in excruciating pain. Then the pain went one level higher.

My mind immediately collapsed, but I was extremely fortunate. The monk had given up just a fraction of a millisecond before me, and I won the test by default. That was close.

The moment I passed the test, I was back to the character creation screen.

Choose your race:

Elf, Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, Beastman.

Notification!

Due to your special identity, you are given an additional race:

Heavenly Phoenix

I knew about all the races except the Heavenly Phoenix. Elves enjoyed a passive boost to agility, intelligence, and wisdom. They were naturally frail, however. Humans had no perks, but had an increased skill learning speed and could learn any skill. Dwarves received an enhancement to constitution and strength. They also had a proficiency boost with forging and mining. Gnomes were weak stat-wise, but they were made merchants. They received a huge boost towards merchant-type skills, and a much higher starting coin amount. Halfings receive a boost to agility, constitution, and strength. Beastmen had the power to change forms among different animals, each having its own powerful stat specialization.

However, the Heavenly Phoenix was an exception. For all I knew, it had no bonuses and only the ability to devour high-tier equipment and replace them with rocks.

But, given that this was not the standard choice, it was pretty much a no-brainer to select Heavenly Phoenix. It fit my fighting style, and the race sounded extremely powerful. So, I selected Heavenly Phoenix.

But before understanding all this, I needed to understand what exactly a trait was.

  Choose your Trait:

   From there, a large list was provided of Traits, including their bonuses. 

   Due to your special identity, you are given an additional Trait:

   Heavenly Phoenix Pinnacle: You are able to equip three classes. Due to your innate physique, your classes are already decided for you: Heavenly Phoenix Warrior, Heavenly Phoenix Druid, and Heavenly Phoenix Craftsman.

   Upon comparing this with other traits, I found that the others were severely lacking. As in, the strongest I could find permanently raised your physical attack by 10%. In comparison to the trait that let you have three classes, that paled.

But before understanding all this, I needed to understand what exactly a trait was.

A trait was like an innate, passive skill. They could not be leveled up, and existed solely to give a little boost to the character. A skill, on the other hand, was a lot more complicated. There were different grades, depending on the power of the skill. In descending order, the grades went SSS, SS, S, AAA, AA, A, B, C, and then D. Some were passive, and some were active. Passive skills and traits were on at all times, and provided a permanent enhancement. In comparison to active skills, they were a lot more... all-encompassing. Active skills, as the name suggested, were skills that could be activated by the player. They could buff, heal, do damage, and many more things. There were many ways to learn skills. You could learn them from an NPC, gain them from repeated action, and even create them yourself. Most skills, however, could be bought in a place called the Sanctuary, using experience, often enough to set you back a whole level. Each player started out with ten skill slots, and most kept that many. But very few players found ways to grow skill slots, greatly increasing their power. Skills could level up, and, when they met the prerequisites, could evolve into different skills. Their level would reset then, but their potential would be much higher. Often, if one had several skills, they would combine into one, having all the original effects but only taking up one skill slot.

  About stat points, they were the core part of the game, along with skills. When a player leveled up, they would gain 5 free stat points, to distribute as they wished. They could add points in either strength, intelligence, wisdom, agility, or constitution. Not only could they increase their stats with leveling, the actions of the player could increase stat points. Doing push-ups or lifting weights would increase strength, running or dodging continuously would increase agility, casting spells or just challenging one's mind would increase intelligence, calming oneself or increasing mastery over one's emotions would enhance wisdom, and taking hits repeatedly or experiencing any type of pain or attack would increase constitution. It was pretty obvious what the stats did.

Back to my choice.  It was just stupid not to choose this trait, given the clear power and rarity of the trait and/or classes. I anticipated that they were A rank, at least. I was a little worried, however. If the game could detect who I was, how much more could it find out? How much more did it know?

   Casting these thoughts out of my mind,, I chose my trait, and my vision, subsequently, was covered with black.