Chapter 2: 2 Mountains

Reeon was enveloped in golden light. The two massive stone doors now ajar, let in an abundance of radiance. Leaving the darkness, the dazzling beams blinded him for a moment. A bone chilling wind kissed his cheeks. A thick layer of snow had piled at the door. He took several steps into the unknown new freezing world before turning around to steal another look at his crypt.

'How long had it been since the inside of this tomb had seen sunlight?'

It's exterior made the interior's dreariness look quite resplendent by comparison. The outside walls were definitely made of a pearlescent stone, long since cracked and lost of any luster. Leading up to the entry way lay a set of descending stairs their sides hugged by the remains of mighty columns, though only their wide ivory bases survived.

The roof was a simple dome shape. Made of the same black material as his "Midnight" halberd and coffin. A hard abyssian metal. A portion of its entire right side seems to have been blown away and lost to time, however no snow or golden light from the pale grey sun ever seemed to reached its interior. 

The years weren't to kind to his grave site.

Surveying his environment it seems his burial lay atop one of 2 mountains. White sheets of ice blanketed them and light clouds rested well below their peaks. 

Spawning areas in Empryean's Call were mostly unique. Thanks to the advancement in quantum computing it allowed the game to produce a world supposedly 17 times bigger than our earth. Even with the games over 2 billion players its estimated only 1/10 of the game map had actually been explored. However certain spawn sites were more common than others, like the graveyards of Aleph or the mass grave outside Celeste.

Reeon however, had no idea where he was. From the month of research he had done online, nobody reported spawning around mountains and unfortunately maps were created by players and as a fresh spawn he only received a starting weapon. He had feared this. He needed to confirm the suspicion though.

Descending the snow covered stairs as fast as his 2 new legs would carry him. His eyes set upon it.

A small white rabbit. Reeon would have missed the creature if not for the piercing red eyes betraying its powdery slender silhouette. It seems to have noticed him long before.

Reeon licked his lips then drew his weapon. The "Midnight" was a standard halberd shape, a dark mahogany wood shaft ending in a spearing point and curved stygian axe blade. It stood out completely in this winter wonderland.

'I have to know for sure...'

For the first time in a 6 years Reeon felt the muscles in his legs contract and expand. An explosion of power as he burst into a dash. Bringing the deadly black weapon above his head he leapt into the air! Swinging down onto the innocent creature.

It didnt even flinch...

His blade dug deep into the ground. Long settled snow and ice was thrown into the air before raining back down steadily. It seems even a new player's blow had a decent amount of power. Looking down to find the remains of his quarry, Reeon's heart stopped. There the beast sat, mere inches from his axe's bite looking up at him. Its eyes burning. He had missed the thing completely!

However he knew the horrid truth. His blow hadn't gone astray. The damn thing effortlessly dodged at the last second. Reeon tried to retrieve his weapon to make some meager defense but the halberd was thoroughly stuck in something. His new power betrayed him.

The beast simply pushed back with its hind legs and preformed a quick jump and tucked its head. Slamming into Reeon's chin, before gracefully landing back in the snow. An intense vertigo overcame him. His new powerful legs started to feel weak and uncontrollable. His skull felt as though an iron rod had been rammed from under his jaw and through the top of his head. He produced three final steps before collapsing in the snow.

Reeon appeared once again floating in an empty void. His brow furrowed. A menu appeared before him.

"GODDAMMIT!!!!" Reeon shouted into the expanse. Arms raised and fists clenched.

This was the worst possibility. While nobody online had reported ever creating a character and spawning on 2 mountains it wasn't super uncommon to hear stories of players spawning into areas far above what a fresh character could handle. There were 3 options in this case.

Option 1 was to go online and beg for a more seasoned player to find and rescue you, based purely on descriptions and land makers. This could take some time however. The second option was to attempt to sneak away from your complicated situation. Not impossible but considering that higher ranked creatures had an advanced perception it would be difficult. And the 3rd option had actually already failed. Which was to fight your way through. If the difference in level wasn't that extreme it was possible to simply "get good" and carve a path to freedom.

As a new player there was no penalty on death, yet... But it remained a negative experience. Reeon rubbed his chin.

'How do they make it feel so real? I thought that little demon rabbit split my head in real life.'

Removing his hand from his face he pressed the continue menu. The infinite void he inhabited suddenly became cramped again but equally as dark. He was back inside his coffin. Back inside his tomb.