Chapter One

I woke up, feeling great. It was the morning of my eighteenth birthday. I looked at my clock. It was a little past seven in the morning. No school today. I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Brutus Williamson and I love video games. I hopped out of bed and charged down the steps. The shack I lived in was big, for a shack anyway. I looked around, making sure my parents hadn't hidden anything in the cracks of the walls. I looked at the kitchen table, cluttered with all the letters from various companies. Then, after moving a stack of them, I saw it. My new XR Headset! I grabbed it and went back into my room. I wanted to Dive as soon as possible. I pulled off his shirt, pulled on his pair of shorts, grabbed a jacket, and left for the Dive Center. After exiting the shack, J spotted my bike leaning on the side of the shack. I untethered it and sped away to the town center. Wonder why my parents weren't awake. Oh well. Maybe they are already at the Dive Center. I kept peddling, the visor heavy in my jacket pocket. I have to get a bag for this thing. Perhaps the first thing I purchase? I was almost there. The Dive Center was a huge building, where everyone in Youngstown went to enter Sword Splinter. It was a rather large building, complete with state of the art technology, doctors, and snack bar. When I finally got there, I tethered my bike to a rack and sprinted into the Center. Each person in Youngstown and its surrounding suburbs had their own Dive Chamber, and there were a lot of people. Boardman alone had like twenty thousand, maybe more. Just thinking about the number of people mad my head hurt. I've been preparing for this my whole life. I've watched Twitch streams, I've already thought out my character, I'm ready. "Welcome, Brutus! Did you turn eighteen today?" I looked up. In front of me was Nicoletta, the receptionist of the Dive Center. She was in the standard DC uniform, a jet black jumpsuit with her name on it, and a white sailors cap. "Of course I did. Why else would I be here? Now, can you take me to my Chamber? I want to Dive as soon as possible."

"Already jumping to dive? You really are eighteen! Just remember not to be in there too long. Greenhorn Divers usually don't take the first Dive very well. She led me to the elevator. Pressing the button taking me to floor fifty-five. My lucky number! This will be a breeze. She leads me down a long hall, giving me a brief tour of the essentials. "Bathroom is there, snack bar there..." she says, pointing in directions that I followed with my head. We stopped in the Pit, a large circle where everyone on that floor convenes each week for watching the Sunday Night Arena. The SNA is just a two-hour marathon of Sword Splinter Battle Arena fights that people can gamble on or watch for entertainment. On some occasions, entire guilds went up against one another, but that usually didn't happen. "So," says Nicoletta. "What character race will you be?"

"Easy. Dark Elf."

The races of Sword Splinter weren't just for show. Each race had a specific role to play, each role with skills and abilities that followed with it. The Dark Elves were unpopular because of the balanced playstyle of the character. "Dark Elf, huh?" Nicoletta says, typing on a keyboard. "Ok, follow me this way. It's time for you to meet your Cell." We walk through back towards the snack bar. Then, we take a left. The snack bar was the middle of every floor, and each hall had cells for each race. "Your Cell will be this one, number twelve. Remember, be careful about how you make your avatar. You can't change it," Nicoletta says, and then she smiles. "I'll see you in there when I go on break!"

Then she turns around and walks away.