“It’s... over?” she asked suspiciously, fearing that his words were yet another trick—but he nodded, and pulled her to standing.

“I am Gomi,” he told her. “I am a servant of the First Fate, one of many tasked with presenting fortunes to those who come to this place. Two options are now before you: have your fate read now, or be tested again.”

“A-Again?” she stammered, then shook her head quickly. “No. No. I will have my fate read now — please!” Some people would go through that more than once? She wondered, but then her logic backtracked. Anyone who took the test more than once would be more prepared for it the second time, and would likely get more desirable results in the long run.

Still, she thought to herself. Whoever goes through that more than once must be a masochist.

The fox man laughed and nodded. “Very well. Then behold, child, as I draw your choices.

“All choices are given to you based on the results of the tests you have just undergone,” he told her. “These selections are based not only on your answers but your feelings — what was in your heart when the test was taken. Think not that you could fool fate with honorable answers if your heart held no such intent.

“First, you must choose your clan.” The fox man waved his hand, and three person-sized cards appeared before her in licks of blue fire. “This choice will affect all parts of your life in Uldarin. Presented to you shall be three out of eight possible options.

“The first of your choices is the Treasure Clan.” The fox man walked over to the first card on her right, depicting a simple image of a hammer and a blade over a gold coin. “The Treasure clan specializes in the crafts of treasure-making and treasure-seeking. Their naturally high dexterity makes them great artists, and their moderate talent with imbuement magic allows them to make unparalleled works of art. It has also been suggested that this clan has a connection with the Veil, allowing them to get special materials and enchantments for their use. Members of the Treasure Clan are rich and skillful, with high dexterity and creativity. They care little for politics and warfare, instead seeking only to perfect their crafts. Classes possessed by members of the Treasure clan are almost always related to their chosen trades.

“The next of your choices is the Mist Clan,” he moved over to a card that was less of a sigil and more of an optical illusion of mists and things hidden within them. “The Mist Clan has strong connections to the spirit world. They are often associated with the Veil and are one of the few clans that hold power over it. Those from the Mist Clan tend to be physically weaker than members of the other clans, but spiritually stronger. Mist Clan classes are fairly balanced, with their spiritual abilities making up for their physical weaknesses. Classes available to those of the Mist are highly intertwined with the Veil and their spirituality.

“The last of your choices is the Noble Clan,” he crossed to the last card, which depicted the image of a noblewoman, all in purple, silver, and mink. She clutched a glowing scepter made of gold and lapis lazuli. “Those of the Noble Clan are people of brilliance and political mastery. They are the clan that rules all other clans and holds the church's power. As such, they tend to be arrogant and disliked by the common people. They are, however, geniuses when it comes to magic. Be it holy, dark, or natural magic, these people excel at whatever magic they try. The people of the Noble Clan are fine magic users but are generally quite physically weak. They are rich in gold, finery, and education, and can often compensate for their weaknesses with those. Classes of the Noble clan are lofty and connected with jobs and careers in the Imperial Court.

“Take a moment now to consider my words, and choose which clan’s fate shall be interwoven with yours.”

Dassah’s heart leapt up to her throat. She had been offered the one option she really wanted, though she hadn’t dared to hope for it. Not having to think it over for long, she told him: “The Mist Clan. I want to be of the Mist Clan!”

He gave her a bit of a crooked grin and said, “You do not wish to give it more thought?”

“No,” she answered. “I will be of the Mist Clan, and foster a connection to the spirits!” The spirits in the Veil had intrigued her since the first time she’d heard about them in the media. She had always believed in ghosts and fates and monsters of the night, and she longed to be able to see them. In this game, there would be a half-decent chance that she could do just that.

“Very well.” The man sent the two unchosen cards up in flames. Two other cards appeared in their places, plus one more. “The time has come to choose where you are to be born. You are presented with three of seven options. First: a large town.” He went over to a card that depicted a bustling market with a simple skyline. People at the market were dressed simply and seemed to be buying basic goods. “Each kingdom has several medium-sized towns within their borders. These small towns exist mostly for defense and trade, and to support the rural outreaches. These towns attract travelers and mercenaries, traders, and tradesmen.

“Second: a City.” He pointed to a card that showed a grand city leaning against a mountain. “There are eight major cities in Uldarin, one capital for each of the main kingdoms. These are the homes of the royals, the nobility, and the scholars, and are the centers for their military forces. They are centers of trade, religion, and foreign attention. The cities have both the richest, and the poorest, populations of each kingdom.

“Third: a rural town.” He walked over to another card, this one showing a solitary cottage sitting quietly against a vast forest, behind a wheat field. “There are rural communities that produce the food and trade goods for the kingdoms. These populations are farmers and simple tradespeople. They are skilled but poor and uneducated and struggle in their daily lives. However, these people have strong hearts and wills.

“Choose,” he said, standing between two of the cards.

Dassah did think about this one for a moment longer, but her gut instinct drew her, and she said: “The rural town. I wish for a simple life.”

The man nodded and set the cards away. Then, a series of smaller, hand-sized cards appeared in the air before her in more flickers of fire. Each one depicted various people; more than a few seemed to be more than human.

“The next step is to choose your parentage. A father to provide the seed, and a mother to bear you.” The fox-eared man crossed his arms. Dassah looked over her choices. Seeing the one card she wanted the most, she picked [Parent is a Spirit], then settled on [Parent is a Knight] for her second choice. She plucked the cards from the air and handed them over to him. With a woosh, the other cards disappeared as he gave her selections a once-over.

Gomi looked thoughtfully at the two cards for a moment, and the wind came and circled them. Hearing only the semblance of whispers, Dassah strained to hear why his black eyes looked so amused.

“You are aware that not all is in your control before birth, and even after,” he asked her. “Are you not?”

“Well, yes,” she answered, tilting her head. Many people had posted that the Fates seemed to have some algorithm based on the answers you gave during character creation and the fear test which read your thoughts and emotions.

“Then I shall dictate the following: you were born in the Spring, under an eight-color rainbow. Your mother was a knight. Your father was a spirit—a fox spirit, in fact. It is now up to you how these things will affect the person you are destined to become.”

The fox-eared man smirked, put the small parent cards alongside the larger cards she had chosen, and gave them details. He conjured up two more cards, one with cherry blossoms, one with the eight-color rainbow, and then turned back to her. “There are a few more choices that lay before you now, are you ready to make them?”

“I am,” she answered happily.

Two dozen cards popped up around her this time. He said, “This is where I shall leave you. Pick among these traits as you will, to a total point value of fifty. Some traits will take away points from your total, while others will add points. Everything you choose here shall help and hinder you when born into the world. You have unlimited time to choose your traits, but choose as efficiently as possible, for time and fate wait for no one!” With that, he disappeared in a flicker of blue flame just as his cards had.

Looking at the cards, Dassah scratched her head. There was a lot to consider.

“If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!” came a small, familiar voice. Dassah turned to see that Biku Biku had reappeared, bobbing up and down in the air quite close to her face.

“Thank you!” Dassah said with a smile.

It didn’t take her long to settle on her traits. Though she struggled a little with the point of total restraint, she managed to get most of the traits that she had wanted. She chose the traits [Veil Walker], which allowed her to interact with the spirit world, [Gifts of the Other Realm], which boosted her stats and gave her the ability [Spirit Armor], and the actual trait [Child of the Fox Spirit]. To get the [Child of the Fox Spirit] trait she’d had to take quite a few extra negative traits, but it would be worth it. [Child of the Fox Spirit] was a powerful beginning trait that boosted magic resistance and her Fox Spirit reputation, gave her an innate charismatic skill, the shape-shifting ability [Fox Form], and 10% life steal on all damage dealt.

Dassah tried as hard as she could to make her character’s traits as relatable to her personality as possible. She was unsure of the effects of traits like [Haunted] and [Superstitious]. From what she had learned, most of the available negative traits functioned more as nuisances in the worst-case scenarios, quirky character details at best. The consensus was that they had been designed to guide people to choose classes that suited them based on personality, rather than mere desire.

Because who wouldn’t want to be an Archmage or a raging death god if they had the chance?

She also took a gamble and chose the trait [Fear of Humanoids], which decreased her stats by 5% around people. This trait was rumored to have a glitch that meant it only functioned in the physical realm and not the spirit realm, meaning that if the humanoid was a spirit, it didn’t count. It was also a trait that had been confirmed to be removable when the proper requirements were met.

Eventually, she ended up with something that looked like this:

<<>>

<<Guin Grey Level 0 No Profession>>

<<Human - Mist Clan - Rural>>

<<Mother: Knight Father - Spirit>>

<<Stats:>>

< Body - 3 >

< Endurance - 5 >

< Resilience - 1 >

< Reflexes - 7 >

< Intellect - 4 >

< Spirit - 15 >

< Presence - 2 >

< Resolve - 2 >

< Perception - 8 >

< Fate - 12 >

<<>>

<< Health: 165 - Mana: 270 - Defense: 1.75% - Power: 5.25% >>

<< Tutorial Tokens: 0 - 0c, 0s, 0g, 0p >>

FACTIONS

[Mist] 1500

[Spirit] 1000

[Fox] 500

SKILLS

[Charismatic] Beginner

[Beguiling] Intermediate

[Hunting] Beginner

[Animal Handling] Beginner

ABILITIES

[Fox Form]

[Spirit Armor]

[Veil Phase]

RESISTANCES

[Nature] 2%

[Magic] 2%

[Spiritual] 2%

POSITIVE TRAITS

[Veil Walker]

[Gifts of the Other Realm]

[Lucky]

[Spirit Blood]

[Favored of the Fates]

[Child of the Fox Spirit]

[Hunter]

[Veil Sight]

NEGATIVE TRAITS

[Haunted]

[Superstitious]

[Ordinary]

[Hatred of Dolls]

[Hatred of the Dark]

[Fear of the Depths]

[Fear of Humanoids]

[Anxious]

<<>>

She wasn’t a stranger to MMOs, but the stats seemed strange for a first-level character. It was true that many of her stats were low because she had sacrificed them for high amounts of Spirit and Fate — however, she wondered just how high the stats could get if people focused on the numbers rather than their effects. But the really important stuff should be in the extra bonuses, not the stats...

Nevertheless, she had gotten many of the traits she initially wanted from the game, and that was all that mattered. She wasn’t terribly interested in the numbers or the mechanics; in the end, she just wanted to enjoy the game for what it was.

“Is this correct?” Biku Biku asked her to confirm. “Be advised that once you confirm, you will be born into the world, and you can never look back.”

Dassah gave a strong nod. “I am ready!”

“Very well,” came the soft voice of the wind. “Then listen, human, to the fate that shall be followed.

“You shall be born into the small rural village of Bade. Your mother was a Knight of the Imperial Army who retired from the battlefront to look after her sick mother. While there, she fell in love with a spirit of the forest — a handsome Fox Spirit. After their union, your father was not heard from again. You were born in the Spring, with the blossoms all in bloom, and a rainbow over your head. Afterward, your mother raised you with the support of the village. As you have come of age, your spirit power is blossoming. Thus your story begins.”

Listening in awe, Dassah was stunned at how the AI had built her a story out of the combination of choices that she had made and that had been made for her. Certainly, it shouldn’t have been difficult to come up with certain factors, but just thinking how much work must have gone into syncing the hundreds of thousands of characters active at any given moment made her head hurt.

“You will go now into the world,” the Fate said. “Go now, human child. Go and learn much before you come to the Second Fate. This is your task.” A ding sounded throughout the area and a new screen popped up:

<<>>

Congratulations! You have begun a great quest to discover your world! You will now enter the tutorial phase.

<<>>

<<>>

You have received a quest!

<Tutorial: The Power of Learning>

The First Fate has crafted your soul, and you have been given the job of nurturing it into adulthood.

Your task is to learn about the world and build strong relationships in and around the town. Once you have completed your education and developed these relationships, you will be given further instructions.

This quest is REQUIRED. It cannot be skipped.

While this quest is active, your character’s rate for learning skills and abilities doubles.

While this quest is active, your character will not gain experience points.>>

<<Difficulty: E><XP Reward: N/A>>

<<>>

With a smile and a wave of the hand, Dassah sent the message away. The fog became thicker, and Dassah — now Guin Grey — was enveloped in white.

And so it begins.