Resurgence Of The Rogue Blacksmith

Soon, the employee showed up and unlocked the car from a distance, carrying two packages with visible strain. "Front seat should be fine, I'll be there in a second!" he said, as he opened up the back doors and started loading the two packages.

Raphael sat down in the front passenger seat and soon the employee joined him, both buckling up before the car started softly purring.

"Would you mind?" the employee asked, waving towards the small screen with a map on the dashboard. Raphael nodded and inputted his home address.

Ten minutes later, after a short and uneventful trip Raphael found himself home. He had even convinced the young employee, who turned out to be called Martin, to wait for him in front of a convenience store, so all of the daily chores were finally completed.

After properly storing all of the food - enough vegetables for side dishes and salads for at least 4-5 weeks, as well as a good amount of meat, cheese and eggs - Raphael finally found himself back in his bedroom. He quickly tore apart the packages and got to assembling the chair.

Most companies had stopped sealing premade goods long ago, so consumers nowadays had gotten used to having to assemble almost every single purchase they made. The Killsteal employee had even thrown in a special discount card at the last moment. Raphael even started suspecting that the shop's boss gave a percentage of each sale to his employees, but in the end it did not really matter to him. 7600 euros might seem like a lot, but compared to the prices of future hardware, it was a drop in the sea to him.

After what felt like an eternity, Raphael sat down in his brand new chair, the Jago v1 in his l.a.p, entirely content. He had set the helmet on even before he started assembling the chair, letting it download and unpack Origo within its internal storage.

"Finally…" Raphael said, as he felt utter bliss. He finally had everything he needed. It was 5PM, so he still had some time before he had to make something for dinner. After walking around so much all day, he was surprisingly not hungry at all.

With a few gentle movements and clicks, the chair reclined backwards, and Raphael was now lying comfortably, as the massage routine started up.

He placed the helmet on his head and activated it.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

A loading bar had appeared, which steadily climbed its way up to a hundred percent, before a scene slowly unfurled itself around Raphael. Pixels coalesced into a well-lit hall of a church, at the center of which stood a priest. With unhurried steps, he made his way and stood in front of Raphael.

"Welcome to Origo, traveler. I am Kayro, the Banished One. If you have any questions, please ask them now. If not, you are free to choose your name, position and class. There is also an option to randomize these. May the Gods aid you in your choices." he said, crossing himself in a weird fashion with his right hand. Instead of the typical motion, his hand had gone from his left shoulder towards his right hip, then to his left hip and back up to his right shoulder.

"May they forever aid me." Raphael solemnly replied, mimicking the priest's gesture. He looked around nostalgically.

During his previous life, he had decided to choose one of the frontier lands, which was mainly populated by the unpopular Orc race. Frontier lands demanded less upon the players and offered more freedom, as they were close to the edge of civilization and often required mercenaries to venture into the unknown for resources. This had enabled him to journey far, but it had also offered numerous restraints. Due to the passive bonuses and restrictions of each race, Orcs were inherently best suited towards being played as either an Infernal Paladin or as a Shaman Warrior. Due to the latter being a glass cannon, Raphael had been forced to accept the former, as the only viable way of achieving his goals.

Gazing at the church's stained glass windows, Raphael unhurriedly thought about what path he should take in this life.

The stained glass windows represented the six main classes, which every player would start with. Although each class would have different spells and modifiers, based on the race one chose, they still retained their names. For instance, a Paladin was always a Paladin, but he would be a Sacred Paladin if your chosen race was a Righteous one. Orcs were not a Righteous race, so naturally their Paladin was dubbed as 'Unholy'. Each variety would share a few common spells at the beginning, but as a player leveled up, the spells and skills he or she could learn heavily differed.

Besides the Paladin, there were five other classes. These were the Berserker, Thief, Ranger, Sorcerer and Cleric.

'Paladin is out of the question, as it means having to go either Dwarf or Orc, and neither of those are a fast way to earn money.' Raphael reminded himself. He had had great fun exploring in his previous life, but he had not managed to earn a lot of gold coins, hence he had always depended on selling information for a profit.

Choosing a class was very important, as it could define all of the paths ahead of a player. All classes had a few Basic Upgrades available to all players.

A Berserker could upgrade into a Knight or a Warrior. Knights were known for leaning towards a balanced build, allowing them to act both as a lighter form of a Tank, and as a damage dealer, depending on what was required. Warriors on the other hand were pure damage dealers, through and through.

Thieves could choose to either become an Assassin or a Rogue. Assassins concentrated on the arts of stealth and murder and were coveted by most guilds. After all, a good Assassin could change the tide of a battle. Rogues, on the other hand, were a versatile class that revolved around their affinity to traps, poison and detection skills.

A Ranger could choose to either upgrade into a Hunter or a Warden. Hunters excelled at ranged attacks, while Wardens were naturally attuned with nature, and had the ability to tame certain wild animals and monsters.

Sorcerers and Clerics were different, as they had a wider range of choices to make. Sorcerers could only upgrade into the Mage class, but they could also choose to form an affinity to a specific Mana Element. Based on the chosen element, they would gain a better understanding and use of spells connected to it. Similarly, Clerics could only upgrade into a Priest, but based on which Faith they chose, they could also branch out into numerous roles.

Aside from this, all classes could further unlock hidden Class Upgrades, which could either be Unique or available to all.

After cautiously thinking about all of the classes and the options that they offered, Raphael finally made a decision and turned towards Kayro.

"I choose Thief, brother Kayro. A Human Thief, in the Middle Regions."

The priest looked at him calmly, before reaching into his sleeve. His hand emerged, holding a small glass bottle, filled with a white substance.

‖ Emergence Potion ‖

▸ Unknown ◂

"Drink this and you shall find the way." the priest said, his mood having turned somber. He did not seem to be pleased with the choice. "What shall your new name be?"

"I shall be Lefevre…, Jiver Lefevre. May the Gods aid me in my journey." Raphael said, his lips slightly curling up, as he took the potion and unscrewed the topper, downing it in a single gulp. The Emergence Potion was known as one of the most vile-tasting things to have ever been coded in the whole of Origo,

Suddenly, Raphael's head started to spin, as a horrible spell of dizziness took over. Swaying from side to side, his feet buckled and he fell to the floor, knees scraping against the uneven stone floor. He valiantly resisted the urge to retch, one of his hands tightly gripping his mouth.

"Pray that they do, traveler!" Kayro's voice echoed in the distance, as the hall completely disappeared.