Patriarchs of Madacon (2800 words)

Hello PokeCommunity,

I've always been a huge fan of the idea of Virtual Reality Gaming, the idea kept burning in my head all day and an idea of a book came into my head. This chapter is not the first its more like the fifth chapter, Its starring a Prideful Jock who wants to be the best at everything.

After being outdone in a sparring match against a nerdy kid on a brand new virtual reality game, he acted if it meant nothing and it ate at him. He decides to secretly buy this Online Virtual Reality game that the nerd had and he and his awkward friend Logan start to play.

Here is the chapter, Please give me feedback, I am completely open to all critiquing, its the reason I wanted to post this. Give me your opinion ;)

Genre: Fantasy


Porter opened his eyes to complete white; white walls, white floor, white ceiling. In a room that was lit with no source of light, no windows no doors. What did I get myself into…? He thought as he stood in the clear room. Seconds felt like hours as he waited nervously on the unknown of what he cursed himself with. So am I supposed to do something? Logan why didn't you tell me what to do before we started!

Suddenly, a female voice was heard throughout the empty room, "Welcome to the online game Patriarchs of Madicon! Please wait while we contact a Game Manager to start your personal Character Creation! The voice startled Porter as he turned and looked for the source of the voice. Before he could respond back, he turned and found a Female standing in the room now staring straight at him. Porter jumped back and was struck dumb by the woman. "Sorry to startle you sir, I am a Game Manager for Patriarchs of Madicon, I am here to assist you in starting your game. Due to confidentiality of both In-Game and Out, You may refer to me as Game Manager or 'GM' " The woman said. Porter stood staring at the woman frozen not knowing what to do.

The woman looked around his age; she stood with a perfect posture with an emotionless face. She had solid white hair that was pulled back in a bun, her body type was small, standing around five feet and also being thin. She was also dressed in white futuristic looking clothing. She had very blue eyes that sparkled as if made by crystals. Everything looked so real, as if she was actually physically next to him. She looked completely human, except her ears. They were a little smaller in width that most ears and they extended out and came to a pointed tip. The woman looked at Porter curiously and asked, "Is anything the matter sir? You looked puzzled." Porter smirked as his Ego started to kick in and replied, "Well I'm quite surprised that a lovely young lady like you would be in such a strange game."

"M-my personal career and life does not matter at this time Sir! I am here to help you start your character, nothing else." She cautioned Porter as she looked away with a flushed face. Porter smirked and said, "Fair enough, so what am I to do from here?" The GM returned to her stance that she started with and stated, "Patriarchs of Madacon is a virtual-reality game, meaning many of your senses will be in effect as you play, much different from past gaming. As you see I look very real, as you wave your hands through the air, touch the ground or even move around, it will feel real. This is all due to new technology that our company created, The Visor you put on to play this game, when you put it on and started this game it put your body into a state as you were asleep, making all your movements in-game not happen in real life."

"So kind of like a dream"

"Yes, very close to what a dream is like. The only difference is that things in-game affects each sense your body has; sight, scent, touch, taste, and sound."

"Okay that all makes sense, so that also includes pain right?"

"Correct, as you read in the waiver that you signed to play this game, pain does occur. But we would like to remind you that this pain is psychological. Anything that will happen to you in-game will not affect you outside of game."

"Okay got it, so what do I do from here?"

"Computer, start the application: Race Choice" Shouted the GM. After she said that, the room dimmed down to darkness for a matter of seconds and then returned back to its original white. All was the same except now there were 8 small white pedestals, each with a different type of Human-Like Creature each in different poses. "Race Choice application finished loading" The room echoed. The woman smiled and continued, "These creatures are the playable Races that Patriarchs of Madacon lets the User choose from, each with their own appearance and personal racial bonuses. Please approach any Race that you feel Interested in playing as and the computer will provide information regarding that specific Race." Porter stood looking at each figurine, puzzled on knowing what to do; he read each name that was inscribed on each pedestal:
Man some of these creatures are extremely ugly! Madacon thought as he looked down towards the last three, The Orc was a dark green color wearing a loin cloth with two hand-axes in his hand. The Beast is a Werewolf-Like Creature with its hands stretched out howling towards what would be the moon if there was one in the room. The Reptillian is a lizard man with dark clothing on with a guile posture. "Well the odd bunch down at the end don't shout my name, Gimli and Frodo sure don't suit me either." Porter declared with his egotistical smirk. He decided to start with the first pedestal; he read the inscription Human and studied the statue. There wasn't much strange about the statue, it was a Knight with his hands rested on the hilt of his sword in front of him with it staring forward without a helm and a tower shield on its back.

When he stood in front of it, the Voice announced to the empty room, "The Human Race, based on our actual appearance in Real Life, the Human is the average Race, with its stats being completely even, it's the most customizable race for any class, though some may see this as a disadvantage due to certain classes needing not certain stats. The Human Racial Bonus is Spirited. The Spirited Racial bonus gives an aura that increases each stat in his or her party by one percent"

"Well that doesn't sound like much!" Scoffed Porter, The woman turned and replied, "That may be true in a small party, but with a party with ten or even twenty Humans, the racial becomes even more powerful."

"Ah, that's actually not bad then." Porter muttered, embarrassed by his remark. He steps back from the first pedestal and approached the second. Elf is what it read, it looked much like the GM's race, pointy ears, small, and very smooth skin. The statue was posed with the Elf in a tree looking out, with a forest green tunic and a bow on its back.

The Computer started up again, "The Elven Race, a Mystical Race. Looking much like the Human Race, they are not to be mistaken by them; elves start at birth and age much like humans, but once they reach the age of 25 their bodies enter a state of Immortality. Other distinguishing characteristics: Pointy ears, extending further and pointing at the tip. Blemishes, elves skin is constantly smooth, radiant often appears as if glowing. And finally, facial hair, elves do not grow facial hair for a long span of their lives, the time is different to each elf. The Elven Racial Bonus is Silver tongue. The Silver tongue Racial bonus gives the ability to gain the advantage of conversations at ease with both Users and Non-Playable characters."

"How is it possible to influence Users if the User himself has no idea even how to say hello to a stranger?" Porter questioned with disbelief. "The human mind is a complex thing. It constructs words, phrases, even sentences subconsciously, what Patriarchs of Madacon does is probes the part of our mind where we construct these sentences. When you play the Elven Class the game will proofread our speech and make it more persuasive. But in order to keep the game to its fairness, it will not make you a perfect talker; it calculates an equation to make your speech craft only five percent more appealing that it would be." The GM replies.

Man, I never thought that games were this complex… Porter Thought as he backed away from the Elf Statue. He approached the third statue and read the Inscription, Half-Elf. The Half-Elf has a very similar appearance as the Elf statue, with pointy but not very long ears and smooth skin, but had a broad body type like the Human. It was wielding two long swords and looked as if it was staring at you with a half-smile.

"The Half-Elf Race, a Mysterious race. At first this race was considered an abomination since both races felt more superior to the other. Overtime, more and more of this Race came forth and with it brought the Human and Elf race together in a strong alliance. The Half Elf race shares mixtures of both of its ancestor's appearances, From the Elf it gains their smooth skin and pointed ears but they are normally much smaller. From the Human they gain their early facial hair and Broad type body. The Half-Elves also age but at a very much slower rate, ranging from four to eight times longer than the average Human. The Half-Elven Racial Bonus is Leadership. The Leadership Racial Bonus grants the User the Aura and Speech craft to both uplift and convince both Users and NPCs to follow him." The Computer finishes as Porter steps away. He turns to the GM with his smirk and stated, "I'll choose the Half-Elf. I fit its description to a T."

The GM showed amusement and replied, "Understood, Computer, User chooses the Race Half-Elf. Launch Application: Appearance." The room once again started to dim down to darkness for a moment, then relit the room. The pedestals that held each Race were removed from the room and were replaced with one large pedestal with nothing on it. Then, the Computer announced, "Initiating character replication sequence, please hold still while a scan is done to you. The game will base your characters appearance mainly to your personal appearance, aside from what your Race will change. We will also increase your Body's athletically appearance by a total of twenty-five percent to fit more of scene the game is portraying."

"That's sad to say the mankind is not fit enough for a game." Chuckled Porter, the GM sighed and replied, "Our Company had a heated discussion about the topic. The CEO of our Company wants to use this to promote Users to exercise in order to have their character more fit. Our lead developer argued that people should play how they feel. As you can tell, the CEO won."

Good, we need less overweight people in the world! Porter thought to himself. "Character replication process has completed, please standby as the User's character will be displayed on the pedestal." Finished the Computer. The pedestal started to glow and slowly a figure started to appear. Porter stared in awe as he looked at a copy of himself was presented in front of him, his face look exactly the same, aside from the glow of the skin and slight pointed ears of the Elven blood. Suddenly, Porter turned to the GM in fright and asked, "Is there any, and I mean ANY way of changing my face to not look, well, like me?"

"What a strange question coming from someone like yourself, why do you ask?" The GM replied, giving the same smirk that Porter gave to her. Porter dropped his head in shame and said, "I don't want to risk the chance of meeting someone in the game that may recognize me. I have my Reputation to hold and ANYONE finding me play a child's game would destroy it in a heartbeat." The GM, still smirking replied, "Unfortunately for you we do not allow any deviation of character appearance." Porter's heart dropped. Not good… I might to tell Logan that he has to play this game by himself, there is no way I'm risking this. He thought to himself.

Suddenly the Computer made a chime and started talking, "Error: User's athletic enhancement is unable to fully execute, the character was capped with only using fifteen percent of the bonus enhancement." Porter's Ego lifted his spirits as his picked himself up and responded, "Impressed?" The GM turned away as she started to blush and responded. "I-I Have never had this happen before. Please wait while I discuss your… situation, to the Game Board."

After she said this, there was a flash where she was standing and she disappeared. While she was gone, Porter paced around the image of himself. Every time he looked at himself, his Ego kept swelling inside. Bet this Council never had this problem before, someone too fit to have an enhancement to his muscles. He thought with a smirk on his face.

After a short while, the GM reappeared with a flash with a slight smile, she stated, "After discussing with the Council, they started to discuss of a reward to give to you for your achievement for being a part of the more athletic group of users."

Well there goes the idea of being one of a kind.

"While they were discussing, I remembered your question on the change of your character's appearance. They were intrigued in your request and decided to give you the choice of either the normal reward of stat bonuses is your chosen class or the change of your appearance." As she finished, Porter's heart leaped with joy. He quickly responded, "I'll most defiantly choose the appearance change." The GM nodded and said, "Computer, Initiate Error's Code three, "Other".

"…… Error Code Understood. Initiating character appearance randomization…… Complete" Replied the Computer. When Porter and the GM looked back at Porter's character, the body looked the same but the face was completely different. The hair changed from the slightly curly brown hair to short blonde hair. His eyes changed from a greenish-hazel to a blue, much like the GMs. The chin changed from being squared to being more rounded with a slight point. The cheekbones were more rounded. The GM turns to Porter and asked, "Are you okay with the transformation?"

"Well… It's okay, is there any way that we can make the baby face… less baby faced?" complained Porter as he looked at his character with mixed emotions. "Unfortunately it looks like the Council gave the code only one randomization. You get what you get" snickered the GM. Porter kept staring at his character, I'm really going to play this game, there is no turning back now. "That's okay then, I'm ready for the next step."

"Okay then, Computer, initiate Game Start!"

"Understood, loading Patriarchs of Madacon, please wait" responded the Computer. Porter jumped and looked towards the GM in shock. "Wait what about the 'Class Picking Application' thing or the 'Starting Location Application' I don't think I am ready to play the game yet!"

"You will be fine; your starting area is the learning stage of the game. You will not be permitted to leave until the Computer analyzes you fighting style to determine the top three classes that fit you. Just walk around, meet people, and use your 'remarkable' charms to figure out the rest of the game." The GM said as she started to fade, she walked closer and whispered, "I also play this game, my character looks a little different to keep my GM a secret, I would love to get to know you"

I knew she liked me Porter thought to himself as she faded more. The room started to shake, and in a quick moment, the walls busted away and in replacement a vast land of colors. Porter was in the air above the land as if he were flying. He was amazed by how he felt the air as it flew by, how he could see and hear the birds chirping, the slight of the ocean that was to the right of him. I must say this is quite amazing. He thought to himself. He started to float towards a small town where he could see other people, all different Races. He thought to himself. Well, this is it. I'm going to play some game that I don't even know a thing about, all because of some nerds that beat me in a fight on it. And, well, the mere chance that Logan, my dork of a friend, is right and that Amber, the girl that I can't get my mind off of, may have started to play this. No turning back now, time to make something of myself in a make-believe land.