I woke in a dim room, evening sunlight streaming through the wooden-slatted window illuminating the particles of dust hanging in the air.
I blinked, flexing my fingers, slowly as I got used to the feeling of inhabiting the artificial body for the first time. I'd played plenty of full-dive titles up to this point, but every game was always a little bit of a learning curve the first time you entered its world.
"You're awake." A soft, dangerous voice came from the other side of the room. A starting NPC?
I turned and saw a girl, long black hair, red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the dim light, wearing long black multi-layered robes that only opened just under her neck to reveal a glistening silver jewel necklace.
"Who are you…?" I pushed up from the bed, still slightly disoriented from the transition into the game world.
"..." The girl stood there unblinking.
"Um, I'm Starcrosser. Where exactly am I right now?" Was this supposed to be a tutorial? The beta-testers had already gotten their hands on the game ahead of time, but I'd purposely stayed away from any explicit details to avoid spoiling the initial experience for myself.
"Starcrosser?" The girl looked at me curiously. "Is that a normal name from where you come from?"
"S-sort of?" Was there an in-world explanation for where the players came from? It was true players tended to take this kind of name, though that wasn't the case for our real names. But shouldn't she be telling me things rather than asking questions? What kind of tutorial is this? "What's your name?" I asked, once again.
The girl looked at me for a long moment. "It is not my name, but you may call me Violet." With just a step forwards shadows spilled from her, curving around her body as she sat down until it formed an amorphous chair.
"Ah, um, Violet! Nice to meet you." I sat up further, getting more accustomed to the new body by the second. "Where are we?" I asked, as it seemed like this girl would only answer questions the second time around. Why does the tutorial feel more like an interrogation? Is everyone's like this? Do they just randomly assign intro NPC's and I happened to get a difficult one?
"In a house in the Bayroot forest."
"Ah, and where is that?"
She looked at me, her gaze searching me for a few seconds. "Do you know of the Greyrock kingdom?"
"No," I said sheepishly, scratching my cheek. Shouldn't she know I know nothing about this world? Or maybe it's like an avenue to skip tutorial stuff if you already know about the world? "I'm afraid I don't know much about this world."
"..." The girl looked at me silently, then tilted her head. "And magic?"
"Um, yes! I've heard a little, but I'm afraid I don't have any practical experience with it. Was that…Spirit sorcery? Or are you a natural sorcerer? Is that level of control usual? You make it look so easy." I gestured at the shadows she had formed around her into a chair.
The girl blinked at my sudden enthusiasm but her expression quickly settled. "What about affinity?"
"Ah! Well I…" I scratched the back of my head. "Haven't really decided yet, so I left the points unallocated. I chose Runemaster as my starting profession, but that doesn't use up any affinity points, so I don't really know what to pursue on top of that…"
For the first time I saw a hint of confusion in her eyes, which quickly disappeared behind her mask-like face. "So you're a runemaster…" Her eyes shifted for a moment.
"And the Mage Tower?"
"Um, What about them? They're a big mage's association in this world, right? Are you a part of them?"
I was getting more and more confused by the direction this conversation was taking, but I wasn't exactly in a position to rudely break it off either. One of the big draws of Magia Online was supposed to be its incredibly life-like NPCs with unique personalities and fully-realized decision-making and backstories. It wasn't a good idea to be anything except polite, especially to those of importance.
"Hmmm, no. The Mage Tower and I have…different philosophies."
"Um…if you don't mind me asking…why are you here? Are you…going to teach me something or…?" I felt a bit guilty asking the question, but I was wondering if this starter NPC had maybe forgotten the reason she was here, as the conversation was feeling a bit aimless.
Violet continued staring at me silently until she finally frowned and asked "Why are you here?"
"Um, if you mean why I'm playing the game, it's just to kind of mess around and have fun. I'm really interested in learning the magic system and seeing if I can make cool stuff with it."
"So this is like a game to you?" Her brow furrowed and her gaze grew icy. "What happens when you die?"
I frowned, a bit confused. "Um, I respawn in the nearest town after 24 hours, as long as I have respawns available, right? Shouldn't you be the one telling me…or…?"
"Hmm," her brows furrowed even further, and the atmosphere grew cold. She stood up, looking at the floor distractedly. After a moment her gaze snapped to me, magic seeming to crackle in the air around her as the shadows from her chair began roiling around her like living snakes. In just a split second her nails extended into claws and the glow in her red eyes intensified before she disappeared in a flash and reappeared right in front of me.
"Beware," She warned in a low, raspy voice, a hidden fury seething under her words. Her hand shot out to gently scratch my cheek with her sharp claw, a drop of blood dribbling down my chin, as I shivered in fear. My pain sensitivity was pretty far down, but I could still feel dim pinpricks of pain where her nail-like claws pierced the skin of my cheek, and the icy steel of her overbearing presence sent shivers down my spine. "The Mage Tower."
"This world is not your toy, nor there's, to do with as they please." The words came out in a sharp whisper. Then she retracted her claws and presence and walked back a few paces.
"Do not leave this place. I shall return shortly." And with that the shadows that had been swirling around her thickened into a black wall, and abruptly, she vanished.