than I really felt. You could die? Even if it wasn’t real, the idea gave me chills.
Drawing a breath, I put on the gloves and then the helmet. Darkness flooded my vision, blanking out my surroundings, except for my own body, and it was seriously weird to see my hand floating in front of me in empty space. Except the space wasn’t empty anymore. I stood on the edge of a cliff, mist rising in front of me and obscuring what was on the other side. Nothing else but hardened ground beneath my feet and cloudless blue sky above. Kind of spooky. In fact… I took a step forward, unnerved when my foot kicked a loose stone and I felt the movement, heard it clatter on the ground.
Jesus. This is all an illusion?
“Oh, it’s stuck again,” said Amanda’s voice in my ear, startling me. “Stupid loading screen–hang on.”
Scenes flicked on and off before my eyes, like changing television channels. Fields, mountains, cities. And then a gleaming square, like a computer screen, appeared in front of me. Menu screen. When I lifted my hand, it was like operating a touch screen, scrolling through a list.
Holy wow. Alber would love this.
Following Amanda‘s instructions, I navigated my way through various menus and screens, and set up a basic combat scenario. You could customise according to what kind of opponent you wanted to fight, whether you had weapons or not, even change the setting.
My heart drummed in anticipation as the wide corridors of the Passages unfolded around me.
“Pick your opponent,” said the overhead voice.
They must have every possible opponent from every universe logged in here, from humans to semi-humans to monsters. Rated according to difficulty level. It came as no surprise to find wyverns amongst the top level.
“Don’t overestimate yourself. Remember, this simulates a real-life scenario. It feels real, and it’ll take as much a toll on you as a real battle with one of those creatures would.”
I’d beaten a wyvern, but I’d fought alongside two other people and it had already been injured. I didn’t want to die, even in virtual reality.
“That’s not to say it’s impossible, but you want to get the most out of the experience. Don’t do anything you aren’t ready for.”
“I’ve fought these things most of my life,” I said. “I reckon I can handle this.” And I selected a certain pain-tripping concrete monster.
The Passages shifted, warping before my eyes. And there… was a monster.
A chalder vox towered over me, seven feet of concrete-like skin, four tree-trunk legs, and five brutish arms. Drool dripped from a mouth of curved tusks, and manic pain-crazed eyes spun, resting on me. A familiar scenario. I relaxed into the fighting stance that came naturally from years of practise. A dagger appeared in my hand, and although I knew it wasn’t real, I could actually feel its shape in my hand. But there was one thing I’d expected to feel even though rationally, I’d known I wouldn’t. Magic.
I missed it almost more than I missed my old life. But I couldn’t use it again, not after it had taken me hostage, used me, almost destroyed the Earth. I’d been learning to defend myself ever since I was old enough to throw a punch, magic or no magic. Besides, killing this particular monster was easy. Just get to the weak point.
“Remember it’s not real,” said Amanda, through the headset. “The simulation’s made for ground fighting. Jumping too high tends to confuse the system.”
Oh, crap. I couldn’t try my usual manoeuvre, not that I could jump six feet in the air without a magic boost anyway. Still, I had all the tools at the ready. As the monster lunged, teeth snapping, I ducked to avoid it. The sound and sensation of teeth just missing my feet was disarmingly lifelike. I crawled between its legs, forcing it to lumber around to find me. As its head bowed, I seized my chance to throw my dagger at the neck, but missed.
“Don’t throw away your weapon!”
Oh, crap. I’d
Drawing a breath, I put on the gloves and then the helmet. Darkness flooded my vision, blanking out my surroundings, except for my own body, and it was seriously weird to see my hand floating in front of me in empty space. Except the space wasn’t empty anymore. I stood on the edge of a cliff, mist rising in front of me and obscuring what was on the other side. Nothing else but hardened ground beneath my feet and cloudless blue sky above. Kind of spooky. In fact… I took a step forward, unnerved when my foot kicked a loose stone and I felt the movement, heard it clatter on the ground.
Jesus. This is all an illusion?
“Oh, it’s stuck again,” said Amanda’s voice in my ear, startling me. “Stupid loading screen–hang on.”
Scenes flicked on and off before my eyes, like changing television channels. Fields, mountains, cities. And then a gleaming square, like a computer screen, appeared in front of me. Menu screen. When I lifted my hand, it was like operating a touch screen, scrolling through a list.
Holy wow. Alber would love this.
Following Amanda‘s instructions, I navigated my way through various menus and screens, and set up a basic combat scenario. You could customise according to what kind of opponent you wanted to fight, whether you had weapons or not, even change the setting.
My heart drummed in anticipation as the wide corridors of the Passages unfolded around me.
“Pick your opponent,” said the overhead voice.
They must have every possible opponent from every universe logged in here, from humans to semi-humans to monsters. Rated according to difficulty level. It came as no surprise to find wyverns amongst the top level.
“Don’t overestimate yourself. Remember, this simulates a real-life scenario. It feels real, and it’ll take as much a toll on you as a real battle with one of those creatures would.”
I’d beaten a wyvern, but I’d fought alongside two other people and it had already been injured. I didn’t want to die, even in virtual reality.
“That’s not to say it’s impossible, but you want to get the most out of the experience. Don’t do anything you aren’t ready for.”
“I’ve fought these things most of my life,” I said. “I reckon I can handle this.” And I selected a certain pain-tripping concrete monster.
The Passages shifted, warping before my eyes. And there… was a monster.
A chalder vox towered over me, seven feet of concrete-like skin, four tree-trunk legs, and five brutish arms. Drool dripped from a mouth of curved tusks, and manic pain-crazed eyes spun, resting on me. A familiar scenario. I relaxed into the fighting stance that came naturally from years of practise. A dagger appeared in my hand, and although I knew it wasn’t real, I could actually feel its shape in my hand. But there was one thing I’d expected to feel even though rationally, I’d known I wouldn’t. Magic.
I missed it almost more than I missed my old life. But I couldn’t use it again, not after it had taken me hostage, used me, almost destroyed the Earth. I’d been learning to defend myself ever since I was old enough to throw a punch, magic or no magic. Besides, killing this particular monster was easy. Just get to the weak point.
“Remember it’s not real,” said Amanda, through the headset. “The simulation’s made for ground fighting. Jumping too high tends to confuse the system.”
Oh, crap. I couldn’t try my usual manoeuvre, not that I could jump six feet in the air without a magic boost anyway. Still, I had all the tools at the ready. As the monster lunged, teeth snapping, I ducked to avoid it. The sound and sensation of teeth just missing my feet was disarmingly lifelike. I crawled between its legs, forcing it to lumber around to find me. As its head bowed, I seized my chance to throw my dagger at the neck, but missed.
“Don’t throw away your weapon!”
Oh, crap. I’d
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