Enter the game

Short wooden houses and a cobblestone street slowly came into focus - a pretty common opening for this type of game.

A horse-drawn wagon passed so close I had to step back to avoid getting stepped on. The scent of the horse, its manure, and the dusty grain it hauled tickled my nose. All of it mingled with the smell of fresh air.

I stopped.

How the hell did they get the scent? There wasn’t anything covering my nose.

Honestly, I couldn’t even feel the chair I was sitting in or the front-heavy rig on my head.

I reached up and felt nothing except the longer hair I’d given myself. I turned my head quickly from side to side and didn’t feel the rig sway in the least.

The sun hung low in the sky, but I could feel its warmth on my face.

A few dozen people were visible, all seemingly going about their daily lives. People entered and exited shops. Others walked along the street. An older woman beat a rug with a broom, dust billowing from it so realistically I would have sworn it was real.

A translucent pop-up appeared in front of me.

That didn't seem all that out of the ordinary.

I looked around briefly before spotting a wooden sign dangling from a building at the end of the block. A stylized A and G were painted across it.

I made my way down the street, occasionally touching the people I passed. They…

…didn’t seem to like that.

But they all felt so real. The coarseness of their clothes. The firmness of their bodies. Even the warmth of their skin.

I shoved a man, just to see how far the sensations went. It sure as hell felt real.

The man stumbled, then rounded on me. “What in the thirteen hells is wrong with you!” he yelled.

I stumbled when he shoved me back.

Gravity sure felt real here.

“Get the hell out of here, hoodlum, before I call the guard!”

I held up my hands in a placating manner and apologized.

As he stalked away, I shook my head. This was incredible.

It didn’t matter that pairing the damned headset had taken five minutes or that the calibration had failed the first time. If this was the game in alpha, it was going to blow minds when it hit release.

I grinned and continued toward the building, marveling at the impact of my feet against the ground, the wind brushing across my skin, and everything else around me.

The interior of the building was cooler than outside, shaded from the sun. It smelled of oiled leather and something else I couldn’t quite place.

A man sat on a bench, apparently waiting for someone or something. Another stood studying a bulletin board. A young, blonde-haired woman sat behind a desk.

The walls were white plaster covered with banners. What looked like a tavern or pub lay beyond one door, while another opened onto a hallway.

The woman looked up at me, her green eyes sparkling. “Welcome to the Imperial Adventurer’s Guild. How can I help?” Her voice was bright and cheerful.

It occurred to me that I’d only seen humans so far, but I guessed that made sense considering I was in the human empire.

“Hi,” I said, trying to match her energy. “I’m supposed to report here… for a weapon? And some training?”

She blushed and gave me a shy smile. “Um, sure. Let me see if Master Cassian is free.” She got up and headed down the hall.

She was only gone for a few moments before an older man with steel-gray hair returned with her. He wore plate armor.

He was almost as tall as I was. His steel armor was polished, though not to a mirror shine, and engraved with the symbol of a burning sun. His eyes were almost the same color as his hair.

I guessed he was probably around fifty, but from the way he carried himself, I had no doubt he was a warrior. I didn’t even need to look at the armor of the sword hanging from his hip to know that.

He looked me up and down, then shrugged. “Let’s head back and see what you can do.” He didn’t wait for an answer. He simply turned on his heel and headed back the way he’d come.

I smiled at the blonde woman.

She smiled back, blushing again.

Then I followed Master Cassian.

He entered a side room off the hallway that looked suspiciously like a training room. He walked to a bucket at the far end and pulled out a sword. “You know how to use one of these?” he asked, tossing it toward me.

I wasn’t ready for it, so my hand came up too slowly. My fingers grazed the crossguard, knocking it even farther out of reach.

It hit the stone floor with a clang.

Cassian just shook his head while I scrambled over to pick up the sword.

Again, I marveled at the way it felt in my hand. There was weight to it. I ran my finger along the edge. It wasn’t dull, exactly, but it wasn’t sharp either.

Cassian drew his own blade. “Enough gawkin’. Let me see what you’ve got.” He adopted a defensive stance and waited.

I readied myself, and a pop-up appeared.

I dismissed the alert, readied myself again, and swung.

He swiftly parried the blow, then shoved me back. “Again.”

I did so, the blade somehow feeling more comfortable in my hand.

He parried again so easily that I started to question the skill point I’d put into Melee Weapons. “Again.” He sounded almost bored now.

I readied myself and swung again.

Yet again, he parried, this time knocking the blade completely out of my hands.

It hit the floor with a clang.

I blinked at the pop-up floating in front of me.

Okay. That was new. Not unwelcome, though.

“Pick up your blade,” Cassian commanded.

I dismissed the alert and picked it up.

He thrust his blade at me the instant my hand touched the handle.

I stumbled out of the way and waved my sword at him. My blade struck his before slipping from my fingers again.

The clang echoed through the room.

“Again.”

I grabbed the blade, fully expecting him to thrust at me the moment I did. My fingers wrapped around the handle.

He slashed.

I barely brought the blade up in time, but I was completely unprepared for the angle.

His sword struck mine, and my wrist twisted painfully.

I managed not to drop the sword, but it was a near thing. I backed away and adjusted my grip on the handle.

“Again.” That was all he said. He thrust at me once more.

This time I got the blade up in time and managed, somewhat clumsily, to block the blow.

He lowered his sword. “You’ve got a long way to go before that becomes more than a liability.” His voice was gruff, but not especially cruel.

He slid his blade back into its scabbard, then took my blade and put it back in the barrel.