[Choose your combat specialty]

  The words filled the void of her mind. This was it. The upload had worked, it seemed. Now she was getting to pick a few things for her NPC. That was nice. Maybe she’d be an ally to the players or maybe even a boss for them to fight. That would be cool.

  There were 6 options laid out before her:

  [Melee Fighter], [Ranged], [Offensive Magic], [Defensive Magic], [Healing] and [Stealth].

  This one was a no-brainer for Ash. Though she had experimented with the others, finding healing fun on occasion, she had always found most enjoyment from being a powerful spellcaster. In the previous version of Novus, she’d most loved her fire mage build but had also tried a psychic-based one as well as a healer with defensive ice magic. She thought about selecting [Offensive Magic] and the option glowed, then vanished.

  [Now, choose a secondary skill to boost]

  A few choices were highlighted in a box marked ‘recommended’. [Elemental magic] was there, expanding into the list of elements when she considered it. [Kinetic magic], [Psychic], [blood] and a few other interesting options were also laid out.

  There was also a small box labelled [Advanced]. She focused on it and the prompt ‘Explore all options?’ appeared. She clicked [yes], and the list opened up.

  She scrolled through the huge selection, shocked at just how much choice there was. The displayed skills were mostly combat-related. Presumably any crafting specialty would be chosen later, or maybe, like in the previous game, she would simply be open to learn any crafting discipline. It seemed to be sorted alphabetically, but the order could be changed. She switched it to sort [by affinity with Offensive Magic]. The skills recommended before appeared again at the top.

  She scrolled down the list, curious to see just what was at the bottom. Heavy melee weapons was down there, along with ranged weapons and heavy armour. She could see why they weren’t recommended. Magic users typically didn’t have that stats to devote to strength and bows seemed pretty redundant when you could just throw fireballs.

  Still, it was interesting that you could choose them. Maybe someone could design a character that specialised in magic-imbued arrows or something. There were always people who would go for some kind of wacky creative build. They were fun, but never as competitive as the more synergistic options.

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  She hovered over the [Heavy Weapons] option, seeing it expand into a list of two-handed swords, battle axes, lances and Great-hammers. Any of these would be ridiculous to pair with a magic specialty. Magic was typically channelled with your hands, so you would have to hold an unreasonably heavy weapon with one hand in order to even cast anything!

  There is nothing great about a Great-hammer in that situation! She thought

  The option for Great-hammer glowed. Then all options vanished.

  [Customise your appearance]

  What? No! Go back!

  A portrait of her appeared along with a list of stats.

  It showed her as she was, sickly and emaciated, head shaved to a thin, patchy stubble. The sight momentarily distracted her from her horror at the previous choice.

  Did I really look that bad now? She thought unhappily, No wonder people get that awkward, sad expression whenever they see me.

  Strength: 1

  Wits: 10

  Constitution: 1

  Reflex: 2

  Were those stats based on my real body as I am now? Ash remembered in the previous game everyone started at around 5 in each stat. By that count, she was weaker than most starting characters! That didn’t seem fair.

  Well, she could deal with that later.

  Go back! She demanded mentally, scanning around for any way to return to the previous menu.

  Nothing happened. She was forced to stare in frustration at the frail shell she’d become.

  This is stupid, she thought, but maybe there’s a way to review at the end? Worst come to worst I’ll just have a few points in a useless skill. Probably not the end of the world.

  She decided that, for now, she could at least make herself look more like she had been, before the sickness had ravaged her body.

  There were options for hair, so she gave herself some back, playing with the colour options. Green would be fun. She’d probably just go with her normal hair, this was meant to be a memorial to her after all, but it was interesting to see what could have been. Still, she would get a better idea if the rest of her looked more normal first. She left her hair on white and moved on to the next option, eye colour.

  The options menu flickered.

  “You should not be here,” a voice suddenly said from all around her.

  She looked around for a source but found none. What the fuck? She thought, pulse spiking. The devs must have found her! Or her mother-

  “I am not your mother.”

  You can hear this? She thought again

  “Evidently.”

  Oh shit. I’m sorry! I’m just trying to pick these options. I’m not going to damage anything!

  “Why should I let you?”

  Because… I… Ash hesitated. What could she say? They couldn’t just take this from her. This is all I have left… once I’m gone.

  Silence. Tangible. Heavy. It was almost stifling.

  Finally, the response came.

  “Very well.”

  Really? Well, in that case, can I go back? I didn’t mean to pick Great-hammers-

  “I will allow you. But it will only be as you are.”

  But I won’t even use ham-

  “AS. YOU. ARE.”

  There was a rumble around her. The character design box glowed, then shifted to [Name Choice].

  Ashley was already filled in, glowing.

  A [Finalise Choices] screen appeared. [Yes] was instantly selected.

  Then all was white once more.