This was one of the things made possible by Eve, an AGI. She could run the game’s NPC’s and make them no different from any other human. Every single one had a history, a life, and their own thoughts and feelings. In fact, she had generated this universe from start to present, letting it run along its course in order to give a backstory to even the smallest details. Not even specks of dust were randomly generated. They were there due to time, dust, and the shedding of dead skin cells.
And the significance of the Immortals, the players, wasn’t conveniently ignored by the natives. Just as the players were curious about this world’s peoples, the natives were curious about the players.
According to the lore, the Immortals were prophesied to come during the end times. They would mark the beginning of the end, and what they chose to do would determine the course of history, the rise and fall of civilizations and factions, for better or worse.
At first, the Immortals were hailed and even worshiped. They were seen as divine, even though they weren’t attached to any one deity. They were immortal, after all. They couldn’t die, and they were people who just randomly spawned into the world through the Holy Spawning Temples.
But over time, the initial reverence died down. The natives figured out that the Immortals were normal, if not eccentric, people. They started off weak, at least the majority did. And most importantly, they could be worked with.
And so the two parties studied each other, the natives gradually entering a symbiotic relationship with the Immortals as the two parties learned to take advantage of each other.
Deathless warriors were too powerful of a card to play for the natives. It was guaranteed that they would be able to reach great heights so long as they had the talent and dedication. Most other soldiers would die before then, but Immortals didn’t have to worry about that.
This meant they could do things unthinkable to the natives. They could throw their lives away constantly before simply reviving and doing it again.
Of course, the players had a system that incentivized survival. Die too many times, and you would be forced out of the game for a certain amount of time. But the natives had discovered those kinds of rules after enough observation, so the strategies involving their Immortal soldiers grew in complexity accordingly.
These strategies included rewards. The Immortals were driven heavily by incentives. Give them money and items, and they would give their life for you. There were some who would do things out of charity and curiosity, but money was still the standard. That, and opportunities. Most Immortals wanted to get stronger in some way, achieved fame and Glory. They couldn’t do that without opportunities.
But that didn’t apply to everyone.
In the end, this was a game, and the players knew that. They had come here to live different, better, or more interesting lives. They wanted their entertainment, and a battlefield wasn’t always the most interesting place.
Some people wanted to try new things, even something as simple as cooking. Others might want to become a chemist in the Technical Faction, mixing all kinds of elements together and designing biomachines and complex weaponry.
The natives tried to encourage the Immortals as much as possible to fight on the frontlines. They did this by offering combat related classes, making the process streamlined. And in a sense, because many wanted to become more powerful, the system itself did most of their job for them.
Still, when Hugo left the temple, he could see players as far as the eye could see, all of them looking like they held different professions.
Food vendors, smiths, enchanters, beast tamers, and more. There was plenty to do and the players were more than happy to try it all.
The exit from the Celestial spawning temple led Hugo out to an outdoor plaza. From there he could see a decently sized city with some average-height buildings made of stone brick. The detail that caught his eye though was the dark sky, which seemed to have no atmosphere. He could see the stars above, as if he were looking directly into the depths of space. There was no light scattering to speak of.
But there was still a sun in the sky, one that brightened the land around them. For the most part, everything like the stone that composed the streets and even some dirt was black or gray, but there was also some purple, a color that primarily came from the few plants like trees that dotted the streets.
“New Immortals! Over here!”
Suddenly, as Hugo descended the stairs, people were flagged down by a man in a cloak.
Some went up to him while others walked off with their own objectives. Hugo decided to linger and hear what he had to say.
“I’m the recruiter for the Celestial Armed Guard. You can think of it as the military. I would simply like to provide you all with information on where you can find the training grounds to acquire your first class. For those interested, take this pamphlet which contains the directions to the training grounds.”
“Hm, interesting.”
Hugo watched, most people taking a pamphlet and getting directions.
He wasn’t going to do that though. Instead, he sensed a sharp gaze, swiveling his head until he locked eyes with Moses in the crowds.
The two smiled, approaching and clasping hands.
“You’ve made it.”
“Indeed. I see you really are powerful.”
Hugo looked Moses up and down.
The man was already huge, but his presence made him feel even more like a monster.
He was currently in some casual wear covered by a long coat so as to not draw attention. But some of the features on his body made it obvious that he was in the Technical faction.
There were lines across his exposed skin, like circuits, and some body modifications like metal joints on his elbows, knees, and knuckles.
This was what the Technical faction was known for. With their magic, they could seamlessly integrate machine and body using blood as a conduit. Not only that, but they used relatively high tech weaponry, primarily things like firearms and the like.
Moses had no need to improve his body since he was already at the top of the superhuman heriarchy, just short of the Martial Ancestors. So he decided to join the Technicals and become something like a gunslinger. His class was a Special one.
All the Heads had special classes. How could they settle for anything less?
Moses nodded to Hugo.
“Celestial, huh? Well, it’ll no doubt suit you. Come, the others are waiting.”
“Where to?”
“We all have an estate we bought together inside of a neutral territory, a special place for storage and refuge. We keep it secret from all of our in game friends so it acts as a safe house. We also prepared it for the day you would come and bring us together.”
“I see. How smart. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’ll be a bit before I catch up, and even then, having assets behind enemy lines would be more valuable.”
“Hehe, how cunning.”
Moses grinned as they walked through the city.
This city wasn’t the capital or anything like that.
The Origin Plane, the place all players are brought to, is a massive continent on which all humans and humanoid races exist.
That was another thing. Humans weren’t the only races. In fact, the class you chose would not only determine your skillsets, but could also allow you to change your species.
Evolutions were required in order to allow the body to accommodate increased power. And humans, being the most versatile species, had the ability to evolve into other types.
But besides that, when all players were dropped into the Origin Plane, they were randomly distributed between some cities within the territory of the faction they chose. And each faction territory had a capitol city. Between the faction territories were also neutral territories where those of differing factions could intermingle. These neutral territories had been massively expanded due to the presence of players since most of them wanted to be in different factions, yet wanted to cooperate. So they were now considered mostly Immortal territory.
The place that Moses headed to was one such neutral city, known as the Oddbird’s Rest. It was one of the few neutral cities with a functioning teleporter, making it a major landmark.
The two didn’t talk much, simply walking to the city center nearby and utilizing a teleporter. It cost money, but Moses had plenty of that.
After that, they were teleported to Oddbird’s Rest.
The sights were one that even had Hugo impressed.
After emerging from the teleporter, Hugo was greeted with a single massive Spire that rose over 500 meters in the sky. This Spire was made of something that looked like obsidian bricks, making it shimmer under the sun.
And around that spire floating at its highest level were three Octahedral structures, like diamonds. They simply levitated there, no indication of propulsion. He also couldn’t guess their utility based on the outward look. They simply looked like massive obsidian diamonds, each one being around 100 meters from top to bottom.
Hugo nodded at the sight, concluding that magic must be incredibly versatile if they could pull of feats like this.
Surrounding the Spire were miles of populated infrastructure. Another thing Hugo noticed was the fact that the normal blue sky was back. It seemed Celestial territory had a special thing going on with their atmosphere.
From the teleporter, Moses called a carriage that took them down smooth stone streets, moving away from the city center and toward areas where the buildings weren’t so tall.
They maintained their silence while waiting. And soon enough, the carriage rolled to a halt.
“Let’s go. Everyone is inside.”
“Mm.”
He nodded, the two climbing out to see a 6 story structure before them.
It was rather inconspicuous, away from the busy main streets. There were only a few dozen people within view of the building’s entrance.
There weren’t any markings on the outside either, making it unassuming.
The two entered through the single door on the front, seeing an empty lobby.
“Keep this in mind for when you come here by yourself.”
Moses said that as he walked over to a corner of the lobby room.
Once he stood on a certain area and stamped his foot twice, a magic formation lit up underneath him, making his body disappear with a flash.
Hugo’s brows raised as he walked over and did the same thing.
*Woosh*
He felt a bit of disorientation before he appeared in a lush living room.
“Hugo!”
Stacia called out, drawing Hugo’s attention as he looked around.
All the Heads were there, each one dressed in their own gear which denoted their faction quite clearly.
George was dreaded in dark, slim armor while Aurelia had on a set of thick blue robes. Like Moses, Tanya had some subtle biomechanical upgrades around her body. As for Stacia and Alexander, as part of the Ethereals Faction, they had on what many would consider to be generic gear. Stacia was a knight with thicker armor, and Alexander was dressed in a rich suit.
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Hugo waved, noticing that their faces, while similar, were also a bit different from their original faces. That helped them maintain enough of an identity for the other Heads to recognize while making them different enough not to be noticed by anyone else.
“How is everyone?”
“We’re good. How are you? Chose the Celestials?”
“I did.”
“Fitting.”
Stacia nodded expectantly.
At the same time, Tanya walked over and grabbed Hugo’s arm.
“I want to give you some information. Come.”
“Okay.”
Hugo smiled and followed her to a table nearby. The others rose from their couches and chairs as well, surrounding them.
Gathered around the table, Tanya took out two maps.
“This one is for you. Go ahead and claim ownership. You do that by grabbing it and accepting the prompt.”
“Sure.”
Hugo grabbed the 2x1 foot piece of parchment. It was high quality, being completely white with embroidered ends.
Once Hugo grabbed it, there was in fact a prompt.
“Yes.”