The First Retainer
The VR equipment arrived in a large box that Hades quickly had Briares bring to his room to set up. Inside the box was a large egg shaped container with a comfortable looking chair inside. It also came with a manual that Hades quickly scanned through. With Briares' assistance, he soon got the chair set up. Excitedly, he sat down, putting on the VR helmet.
Hades blinked in confusion. As soon as he put on the helmet, it felt like he had been transported into another world. Surrounding him was a large library, stocked to the brim with books written in a foreign script that he could not read. He ran a finger over the spines of some of the books, surprised to see that the leather covers felt as real as they would in reality. The technology was quite impressive.
"Greetings brave adventurer! I am Themis, your temporary guide to the world of Olympus." A glowing ball of green light floated in front of Hades, hovering right at his eye level. Its voice was cheerful and clearly feminine. "First, let's start with your appearance." The green ball of light transformed into a full body mirror, reflecting Hades' actual appearance. A holographic screen appeared in front of him with options to customize his avatar.
The first of the options were the races. Hades flipped through each of them, watching how the different races altered his true appearance.
The elven race made him even taller, with pointed ears and a fair complexion. It gave him an air of elegance. The dwarven race made him shorter and far broader, with callused palms and a grizzled temperament. The fae race was quite similar to the elf, but more childlike, with an air of innocence. The beastkin race gave him a pair of animal ears and a tail, and had sub-options for different beastkin species, such as wolf, cat, bunny, deer, and bear.
But out of all of the races, one in particular caught his eye. The demon race. Despite demons having evil connotations in most mythologies, he found himself drawn to his demon race form.
As a demon, he had a pair of silver horns that almost resembled a crown. He had a long tail that ended in a sharp point, along with sharp nails that were almost talons or claws. The sclera of his eyes turned pitch black, and his irises brightened into a silvery-grey color.
Reading the description of the race given to him by Themis, Hades noticed an important factor of the demon race.
[The demon race is known for its power and aggressiveness. Choosing this race will allow the player to increase his/her power at a greater rate, but NPCs will automatically fear the player if they are aware of his/her race. This will result in higher prices, or even being banned from an NPC's shop.]
In a game where NPC relations were important, not many people would chose a race that was discriminated against by the NPCs. For a couple of minutes, Hades stood in front of the mirror, debating whether to choose the demon race or not. On the one hand, it looked cool and was very strong. He probably wouldn't have to worry about being bullied if he chose the demon race. On the other hand, being feared by NPCs would make it harder for him to build an empire.
[Are you sure you want to be a part of the Demon race?]
[Yes/No]
After deliberating, Hades finally decided to go with it and selected yes. If need be, he would just find a way to disguise himself to hide his race. He didn't bother to change anything else in his appearance, since no one knew him in real life, besides his family members or the servants who worked in the mansion.
[Please enter the name you wish to use in Olympus]
"Hades"
[Creating avatar {Hades}]
[Randomizing base stats]
[Because {Hades} has a luck stat higher than 15, 2 random lottery tickets will be granted to player upon starting]
[Selecting random class]
[Class {Necromancer} selected]
[Selecting random starting location]
[Location {Evergreen Forest} selected]
[Player will be spawned in 3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[Welcome to Olympus, Adventurer!]
A steam of messages appeared before Hades and he barely had time to read them all before everything went black.
Suddenly, the sound of chirping birds filled his ears and his vision, at first blurry, began to focus. He had appeared in a forest clearing, with bright sunlight streaming down through the gap in the trees.
Hades was once again amazed. He could feel the grass and fallen leaves beneath the palms of his hands. He could smell the fresh air, feeling a breeze flutter through his hair. He pushed himself up into a standing position, marveling at how strong his body felt. Normally, his body felt like it would fall over at the slightest breeze. But now, he felt like he could run forever.
He began to move around the clearing, testing out his new body. Even though he knew it was all virtual, it still felt amazing. It felt bit odd to walk, since he now had a long tail that sometimes seemed to move on its own, but eventually he figured out how to control it and use it to balance himself.
Once he was done testing it out, he decided to check on his status. "Status." A glowing screen appeared in front of him displaying his information.
••••••••••
Name: Hades
Race: Demon
Class: Necromancer
Title: None
Level 1: 0/100
Potential Points: 0
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Strength: 16
Dexterity: 9
Intelligence: 10
Constitution: 10
Charisma: 3
Luck: 16
Passive Skills:
^Deadly Commander
^Demonic Aura
Active Skills:
^Demonic Possession Lvl 1
^Summon Minion Lvl 1
••••••••••
Hades tapped the skills list and it expanded to reveal the descriptions of each of the skills.
••••••••••
Passive Skills:
^Demon Commander: As a commander of demons, your death troops gain a boost. Increase 10% Damage of all 'Skeleton' minions. Increase 5% Damage of all 'Zombie' minions. Increase 15% Damage of all 'Demon' minions.
^Demonic Aura: As a Demon, you naturally emit an aura that discourages anyone weaker than you from attacking you.
Active Skills:
^Demonic Possession Lvl 1: Summons a demonic spirit to enhance your body. Temporarily increases damage done to all opponents by 50%. Lasts X minutes, where X is equal to the skill's level. Once X minutes are up, temporarily decrease health by 1 per second for x minutes or until only 1 health is remaining. Costs 10 MP
^Summon Minion Lvl 1: Summon a random minion. Minion level is rarely higher than the skill's level. X% Chance to summon a rare or higher leveled minion, where X is equal to the skill's level. Cooldown: 24 hours. Costs 25 MP
••••••••••
"It looks like the Demonic Possession skill is meant to be a last resort. Let's try the other one then."
Hades held out one hand before speaking the name of the skill.
"Summon Minion"
The ground began to tremble, and Hades nearly fell over from the shaking. Suddenly, the ground began to swell up into a egg shaped sphere. The ground also began to crack, almost as if it was actually an egg.
From inside the earthen egg, he could see what looked like a tall and muscular young man clad fully in a matte black armor emerge from the ground, brushing off the earth that clung to his armor. His pitch black horns that stood out against his pure white hair marked him as a demon, and he bore a sword scabbard at his waist. The young man immediately kneeled in front of Hades, holding one fist to his chest as he introduced himself.
"I am Thanatos. I pledge my loyalty to my liege."
A screen appeared in front of Hades with an interesting message.
[Thanatos, Bringer of Death, wishes to initiate a contract with you. Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
Hades immediately selected yes. Thanatos was an impressive figure, and he instinctively felt that he could trust him. He held out one hand to help Thanatos up. "I accept your allegiance, Thanatos, Bringer of Death. Rise, and be my sword."