Feyland: The Dark Realm

Chapter Ten

The game helmet was like wearing air - so comfortable, he barely felt it. Tam let out his breath as the main menu lit up in front of his eyes. The resolution was about a hundred times clearer than on his system. No fuzzy graphics, no weird color shifts or lines across his vision. It felt like the images were inside his brain.

The F icon glowed, softly golden, looking like it was made of scrolled flame. It took only the slightest flex of his finger to select it. These gloves were prime. Super responsive - nothing like his thrashed-out gear. The menu faded out, replaced with blinking words:

Feyland: A VirtuMax Production

Alpha 1.5.0486

This was going to be incredible.

The visor-screen went dark. Faint music began playing, mysterious and chiming. Light slowly etched across his vision, a delicate tracery like webs or tree branches. He hoped, rather desperately, that this wasn’t one of those girly games. But if Jennet needed his help, he’d do his best - even if it meant defeating sparkly pink dragons.

WELCOME TO FEYLAND

The words unfurled across the screen. The letters glowed a rich gold that deepened to crimson, then faded to grey, as though they had burned down to ash. The music twisted, and the dim letters suddenly whirled up into a flurry of dark-edged leaves. Behind them Tam thought he saw a pair of eyes watching from the shadows, but before he could be sure, the leaves swirled once again. This time, the screen cleared to show something much more familiar: a character-creator interface.

“Have you made your avatar yet?” Jennet’s voice came clearly through the headset. It sounded like she was standing right next to him.

“Just about to.” He studied the choices, trying to get a feel for the game’s design, the various roles people could play. Was Feyland really going to be as different as he hoped?

Spellweaver - no, not another magic user.

Bard - interesting, but obviously not a heavy combat class. He figured Jennet would need a serious warrior-type.

“Got any thoughts on this?” he asked.

“How about a Knight?” she replied, confirming his guess.

Lifting his index finger, he highlighted the choice.

KNIGHT - Skilled at feats of arms, noble, courageous, and true, the Knight can best almost any enemy in battle. Only magic can bring this hero to his knees - but even then, the Knight’s sword may prove of greater power.

Below the description stood a basic character, ready to be modified to his specifications. He scrolled through the options, adding more detail to the avatar. His Knight would be tall, of course, and strong. But not bulging with too much muscle - quickness could usually beat strength, if there was room to move. Thick dark hair, and, yeah, that heroic-looking chin. Blue eyes, but not quite that close together. With another flick of his finger, he put the final touches on his new self.

The character bounced slightly up and down, and Tam smiled to himself. Now for a name. Roland? No, that seemed too stuffy. He needed another anagram. Wernin? Newrin – yeah.

He double-clicked his thumb and index finger, the universal glove command to bring up the keyboard. Though he preferred voice and finger commands, he could type well enough when he had to. He entered the name, Newrin, then vanished the keyboard interface. Yes, his Knight looked good, clad in shiny silver armor with a huge sword at his side and a grim-looking shield strapped to his back.

Character complete. Enter game?

He pulled in a breath, then tipped his thumb up. Yes.