8 007 Into a New World

James's room was quiet, well all except some snoring.

Sarah wanted to wake him but Sebastian stopped her. This was the first real sleep he got since his parents passed away.

James's eyes snapped open, he was little panicked.

"Computer! What time is it?!"

"It is currently half past noon."

"I over slept! The game servers opened four and a half hours ago!"

He hit the intercom system built into his bed and called out.

"Sebastian! Sarah! Could you come here please!?"

The both promptly arrived in his room.

Sarah apologized and quickly threw her husband under the bus, "Sorry James! I wanted to wake you but Sebastian stopped me. He said you needed the sleep."

Sebastian could not believe it! His wife ousted him just like that!

"It is no problem you two. I understand your concern."

James was smiling for the first time since his family died. This made the couple relieved.

"Can you have someone prepare me a meal? I feel like I have not eaten anything in quite a while."

Sarah was confused, "Don't you want to join the game as soon as possible? Even a few minutes could have a significant difference in progression?"

"He probably has his reasons. Could you go prepare him some food? You have been talking about making him eat your cooking ever since he ignored you before."

Sarah's cheeks blushed, "I am not trying to get revenge or anything! I was just worried about him!"

She quickly ran off towards the kitchen.

"I take it you have a plan?"

"Yes I do. Since I am late as it is, an hour or two later won't make a difference. This gives me time to look over the new information the players found out. I'll visit the forums while I wait and eat."

"Even with all the time you are taking to plan you still seem on edge. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I'm nervous. I am sure my father explained that I have a hard time talking to people. There is a large disconnect due to my disposition and what resulted from it. It is easier to talk to you two because my father introduced us. I no longer have that privileged."

"Do not worry about it. It might take you some time but you will warm up to people. I remember that your father made Sarah and I come over often to watch all those hired actors put on plays in your room. You were super quiet until you started going on and on about how well put together some of the plays were. Take your time and find your baring."

Now it was James' turn to blush. He remembers how embarrassing it was gushing about those plays.

A few minutes went by as the two of them kept quiet. Dazing off, James started talking to himself under his breath, "What if those I bond with leave me? I do not know if I can handle any more loss.."

Sebastian pretended he did not hear James. He also wondered what James would do if that happened. 'He can only live and learn. There will always be sorrow mixed with the happiness of life.'

Sebastian gave a quick clap to knock James out of his daze. "Alright! Sarah should not be long. You should start your research. I will go make the final preparations for the log-in process. Our console is a little different that the typical gaming console."

James focused on his researched. Sarah came with his food and helped him eat. He started to feel something he thought that he would no longer be able to feel, warmth and love.

James poked around the forums until 2 p.m.

From what he gathered no one mage class had everything. Elemental mages could not truly heal and the priest based classes and little combat ability. Both types of mages, even the other classes, would have to depend on others to get the most out of the game.

The different elemental mages had their own perks. The earth mage had more defensive spells, wind mages had more single target spells, fire mages had more AOE spells, and water mages was an average mix between the other three.

There were polls on the forums where players were trying to collect various kinds of data. The post that he was interested in was about the current distribution of mage classes. The results where that of all players who voted 28% played earth mages, 24% played wind mages, 32% played fire mages, and a meager 16% played water mages.

On top of that there were many that were upset that they cannot change their class. Their accounts were tied to their bio-metrics. The company did not allow anyone to change to a different class. The water mages were highly disappointed about being stuck with a mediocre class.

After much debate James decided to become a fire mage. This way he would kill more creatures to gain experience points fast. In the off chance that he wants to party with other people they would most likely look for a fire mage for their large AOEs.

He called Sebastian to see if everything was ready. He wasted enough time as is.

"I am ready to log into the game. What all do we need to do?"

"Nothing too hard. We will connect your to an oxygen tube then lower you into the capsule. You will be suspended in the gel as you play the game."

James raised an eyebrow. "What if something happens with the oxygen system?"

Sarah looked very confident, "Sebastian, myself, or another staff member will be monitoring your vitals and keeping an eye on the machines to ensure everything works and there is no danger."

"It seems like you and Sebastian have everything covered. Let's get the ball rolling."

James was quickly clipped into a loading system. He wore a harness that was connected to a machine that could raise and lower him at a push of a button.

Next they attached an oxygen mask to his face. It resembled a diver's mask. As soon as they did all their checks they lowered James into the gel filled capsule.

"Alright James! How do you feel?"

His voice was a bit muffled over the intercom, "This gel's texture is something to get used to. Other than that I am feeling a soothing sensation wrapped around me."

"That would be the relic enriching the gel."

Now that all the sciencey talk was finished Sarah started explaining the log-in process.

James found it simple enough. All he had to do his close his eyes and internally command the game to log-in.

[Log-in]

*******************

Instantly James was transported to space. If he looked down he saw a massive planet. It had landmasses and oceans but did not look like earth. Just looking at it made James want to explore it.

"Greetings adventurer! Welcome to [Breaking Chains], below you will see the planet of Amerish. It is the world you will be sent to once we finish here. You will find endless trials, wars, creatures, mysteries, and glory."

The voice without a body continued, "It is here that you get to choose the path you will walk. Once you choose there will be no going back so choose wisely. If you would look at the screen that just appeared in front of you it would make the exposition faster."

James followed along with the request of the strange voice. He looked at the transparent screen and it pretty much followed what he expected. It was a screen that showed off each of the combat paths and their potential classes.

"What may I call you? I would be honored to learn your majesty's name."

"I have no name. I solely exist to usher in the new souls that migrate to this universe."

"That is boring I will call you Herald."

The voice was speechless..

No one knew that the game masters were watching over the game and even a few interacting with the players. This voice was one of them. He, like many other GMs (game masters) wanted to see what the players thought and acted the first time they saw the world they created.

'Herald' was shocked, not even his co-workers were asked for a name, much less given one.

"Herald, I like that name. It matches my purpose well. Since I have a name now we should continue on."

He continued, "What would you like to be called, young adventurer?"

"I would love to be called Blaise."

"Oh? Blaise, from the Arthurian Legends?"

"You know stories from Earth?"

If James could see 'Herald's face he would see that his cheeks turned red from embarrassment.

'Herald' had to quickly patch up his slip-up, "Of course! I am a being who is in-charge of processing the transfer of the soul from one place to another, I need to know some information about the world were you hail from."

"That does make sense, You are correct I am referring to the Blaise from the Arthurian Legends, he was a great chronicler, sometimes a teacher to young Merlin, and most importantly his name also means fire or fiery."

James paused for a second, "I feel it is a great fit for me. I wish to know about Amerish and have my adventures etched into the history of the world. I also wish to be a [Fire Mage] so the name's basic meaning fits great as well."

'Herald' gave a great laugh, "Great! It is a fitting name indeed. So you will follow the path of the magic and adopt the element of fire, correct?"

"Yes, that is precisely what I wish."

"Very well young Mage, since you have given me a name I will give you something special in return. Normally new souls are transported to a random city. However, I will allow you to choose whether you want an easy or a difficult starting city."

James was surprised, "That is awfully nice. I am sure there are benefits to either choice. Would you be able to explain the difference between the two? Typically those given the choice would pick the easier route but I suspect there is more to the story."

'Herald' smiled at James's perception, "You are correct. An easier starting city mean there will be little obstacles, fewer quests, and less competition. While if you choose a more difficult city what you will find is large amounts of quests, great and difficult obstacles, fierce competition, and chances to interact with some of the more powerful native inhabitants."

He continued, "Do not be tricked, every other soul other than yourself was sent to a random location. Those who have strong spirits and an urge for power are moving towards larger cities already. Not everyone stays where they were sent."

James let the information set-in for a while. [The people he mentioned who have strong spirits and an urge for power are most likely pro-gamers and members of large guilds from different games. It makes sense for them to move to larger cities were opportunities would be more common. I should follow suit, I am already late to the party as is.]

"I would like to choose to start in the most difficult city."

'Interesting, I do not remember offering you the chance to specify the overall difficulty of the city that I would send you to. You must have your own plans. I believe you have much ambition. I will allow your request. If you are ready I will now send you on your way."

"I do have my reasons; I am guessing the most difficult city would be the capital city. It means that the city would have the most opportunity and a population of important people. I believe I can get a good start there even if it is difficult."

"Your assumption of it being the capital is correct. Currently new souls are only being sent to the nation of [Glish]. The capital resides near the center of the country. The further away from the city the more dangerous it becomes. I wish you luck, Blaise."

James felt a strange power wash over him. It felt like he was being lifted into the air. Looking down at his body he noticed it was vanishing then a bright light blinded him. He had been teleported away from the limbo of the login terminal.

After sending James on his way 'Herald' left the game and allowed the AI take over and actually do what it was created to do.

"Welcome back sir, we all assumed you would be welcoming new players for a few more hours. Did something come up?"

The person speaking was "Herald's" assistant. "I found someone interesting. Did any other players give the other GMs or the AI in-charge of welcoming new players a name?"

"A name? No, it seemed like everyone wanted to jump into the game. No one talked to the [Voice] as if it was a real person. Did someone offer a name to you?"

"Someone did. The young man called me 'Herald'. Send a notification to Zack, the official name of the [Voice] will now be [Herald]. It is a fitting name after all."

"Yes sir!"

After his assistant ran off 'Herald', who's real name was Doug, moved towards the viewing room where all the other GMs are located. The room had dozens of monitors displaying players who were deemed 'people of interest'. These players were mostly pro-gamers and other famous individuals in the gaming industry.

"Welcome back Doug! We had bets on how long you would stay in the game greeting players. Looks like Tim won; he believed you would be out in another hour. Everyone else though you would be several! Hahaha!"

Doug expected his peers would do something ridiculous all he could do is chuckle.

"I guess I should congratulate Tim then!"

"Doug! What username do you want up on your monitor?"

"His username is Blaise. He is not a pro or famous person. But he interested me greatly."

Everyone was surprised. It was hard for Doug to be interested in anyone outside of his work and family.

"What did he due to capture your interest?"

"Nothing much, he treated the [Voice] as a real person and gave it a name. From now on the [Voice] will be called [Herald]. I have already sent the news to the developers."

"Eccentric as always. Well let's see if he lives up to your expectations!"

Doug sat down in the seats and everyone turned their attention to the monitor that had James's character displayed on it."

Everyone, including Doug, was confused after a couple minutes. James had yet to move from his spawning location.

*******************

After the blinding light was over all James saw was darkness. That was until he opened his eyes. What appeared before him was a beautiful city. The roads were made from paved stone, many buildings were built from expensive materials, and there were people everywhere.

James was ecstatic that he was in the game. He would finally be able to move around like a normal person.

However, in almost an instant his mood crashed to an all time low. Tears could be seen forming in the corners of his eyes. [Daaammmmnnnn iiiittt! I can't move my appendages still! Why.. Why.. Why did this have to happen..]

James just stood this is disarray.

*******************

Both Sebastian and Sarah were filled with panic. They were staring at the screens that were monitoring James's conditions.

The monitors were flashing and filled with alerts.

If you looked at James who was floating inside the capsule you would be able to see tears coming from his eyes.

The monitors were displaying all kinds of information.

One set had James's heart rate that went through the roof then came to a crawl. The monitors showed similar readings when they were connected to James after he found out his family members died. It showed that he lost the will to live again.

Another monitors showed live scans of his brain activity. They showed that James was trying to move his arms and legs. But no matter how much activity the scans showed there were no signs of success.

Sarah could only muster a small almost inaudible voice, "... Sebastian... How much more heartbreak does James have to go through?

Sebastian hugged Sarah and brought her close, "I don't know..."

*******************

Inside the game James lost himself. He felt heartbroken. [Did my family really die for this? I failed them in the end, I cannot even move within the game. My family put in so much effort to bring me to this point..."

*******************

Everyone in the GM viewing room were confused; it typically only took a few seconds for a player to start moving. The longest case was thirty seconds but it was determined that the player was momentarily shocked. Looking into the player's real identity they found he was blind since birth and was so happy he did not move around for a time.

"Is there a malfunction of his game capsule?"

Another GM disagreed, "This looks different than a problem with a capsule. He would have been logged out by now by the safety protocols."

Doug was determined to find out what was going on, "Tell the medial and physiological departments to fetch me reading of the player called Blaise."

Ten minutes later a report came back and one of the viewing monitors changed to show live scans of Blaise's brain activity. They saw the same thing that Sebastian and Sarah. James was desperately attempting to move but could not.

Doug was saddened by what he saw, "It is not that he does not want to move... He is unable to..."

"The one player is blind in real life does this mean the player is a cripple in his real life?"

The lead doctor who is in-charge of the medical department had a different opinion, "I do not believe that to be the case. We have had other players who were in wheelchairs or lost their limbs and they were able to move around freely. This has to be a special case."

The doctor continued, "Doug, do you want me to look into this player's identity?"

Doug was distracted by what he was seeing. He could only reply with a yes. What he saw on the monitors was a young man in a desperate attempt to will his body to move. He was rooting for Blaise.