Noah fell asleep shortly after he closed his eyes and woke up in a white world.
"This is Eternal Dreams?"
He lifted his hands and observed various body parts as he moved them. Arms, legs, eyeballs. He pinched himself. The sensation was real, but not quite the same. There was a slight lag accompanying every one of his movements.
His brain was telling his body to move, but the response was slightly delayed compared to usual.
"I have to get used to this."
Noah walked forward, but there was nothing aside from the white eternity. Soon, a black portal opened, seemingly out of nowhere, and a girl stepped out of it. Her porcelain skin was perfect.
She resembled a beautiful doll rather than a human. Her black and white idol costume, paired with the white headphones and black eyes, made her a true trendsetter. Noah looked at her, knowing what was coming next.
[Welcome to the world of Eternal Dreams. I'm Yue, the lone seer. It is my sole responsibility to guide the new heroes and help them take their first steps. Please state your name o spirit of a great hero.]
Noah pondered how he should name himself. He wanted to try something new. This was a new start after all. He needed a good-sounding nickname that he wouldn't regret later.
"My name is Miro."
[Miro, a name indeed worthy of a hero! Please choose one of the four beginner classes:]
[Warrior]
[Mage]
[Assassin]
[Renegade]
Noah checked the classes one by one. It was something he knew from the videos he studied while waiting for his Dream Pod, but checking it twice was never a bad idea.
Warriors had high health and high strength. In exchange, their intelligence was low, and their dexterity was rather average.
Mages had high intelligence and average dexterity paired with low strength and average Health.
Assassins possessed sky-high dexterity, but their health was the lowest. Their intelligence and strength were average.
Renegades were different. They were average in everything, including luck. The other classes started with low luck, but renegades exchanged their talent for a higher crit rate. This made them a jack-of-all-trades kind of class.
"I will choose Renegade."
[Renegade class confirmed! Please choose one of the two empires as your starting location:]
[Grevell Empire]
[Draevir Empire]
The renegade class was something that Noah had already chosen once he watched the tutorial videos. It seemed to be a hard class that had the potential to be incredibly strong under the right hands, and Noah believed that this class fit his style the most.
Starting locations, on the other hand, were difficult. The Grevell Empire and the Draevir Empire are located right beside each other on a continent called Paradise. Each of the two empires had completely different styles, monsters, and everything.
In the end, Noah decided to choose one without thinking about it. He avoided learning too much about the game on purpose, so he could discover everything by himself.
"The Grevell Empire"
[Congratulations, Player Miro! May you have unforgettable adventures!]
Yue disappeared into a dark portal, and the white world cracked, revealing a small village. Noah fell from the sky, landing right in the middle of a dirty training ground.
[Amberhelm Village]
The blue, almost transparent text reminded him that Eternal Dreams was a game as he landed. Amberhelm was the starting village of the Grevell empire. It had a tutorial quest and a few shops where new players could equip themselves with food and other important items.
Coincidentally, Noah landed right in front of the trainer, who gave the tutorial quest to new players, such as himself. No one knew the name of this trainer, but the reward for his quest was 20 gold coins.
It was important for players who started with nothing but an armor or robe and a weapon. Noah looked at the giant man in front of him. The trainer looked at him with an irritated expression on his face.
"Yet another one of those lousy heroes. The capital sent me to watch over these useless idiots, but none of them are worthy of my time. Are you any different, young man?"
"I'm Miro, please teach me how to wield a weapon!"
Noah said, hoping that this was the right answer. The trainer looked at him with an expression that made it clear what he thought of the heroes who were supposed to change his world.
"Come with me boy, I'll help you out a little if you prove your worth. However, disappoint me and I'll feed you to the pigs for wasting my time."
Noah followed the trainer toward one of the training dummies. It was almost the same height as a normal human.
The wooden dummy started moving as Noah tried to approach it. The dummy stepped back and froze in place.
"These are magic dummies. They react to you if you get close to them and try their best to dodge your attacks."
"Your job is to kill this dummy twenty times. Use a weapon or your fist. I don't care as long as you don't give up."
The trainer stepped aside to let Noah fight against the dummy. It was only now that he noticed how hard it was to move his body in full leather armor.
He looked at the rusty sword in his hands. It was the sword that all players of the renegade class received as their first weapon.
[Name: Default Sword]
[Damage: 2-5]
[Description: Nothing more than an ordinary sword of average craftsmanship]
The training dummy had one health point. Killing it should be easy, but Noah knew that killing it twenty times was different.
The sword itself was heavy, and Noah was weak. He swung his arm toward the dummy and the attack successfully landed on its chest.
[-0]
"What?"
The trainer coughed to grab Noah's attention.
"I forgot to mention it but the training dummies wear an invisible armor. Half-assed attempts won't get you anywhere against them."