Taboo Online

Chapter 8: Spellblade

Luke lay on his bed with the headset covering his face.

He had read the safety instructions twice before gathering enough courage to turn it on. Even then, his finger hovered over the button for several seconds.

Breaking the system would be bad enough, but the thought of somehow damaging his brain with it was even worse.

Eventually, he reminded himself that millions of people used the technology every day and pressed the button.

His room vanished.

The sensation that followed made him grip the bedsheets, though he could no longer feel them a second later. Darkness surrounded him while his body seemed to float away from the mattress.

When his vision returned, Luke found himself standing inside a bright white chamber.

He looked down and flexed his fingers. Everything moved exactly as it should, and he could even feel the floor beneath his shoes.

A translucent window appeared before him.

[Welcome to Powerforge Online.]

[Beginning neural calibration.]

The system instructed Luke to raise his arms, turn his head, walk several steps, and perform a few simple movements. Each action felt natural, almost as though he had never left his own body.

He tried jogging across the chamber. His shoes struck the smooth floor with convincing weight, but he felt nothing from the headset resting on his real head.

"This is actually real."

His voice carried through the empty chamber before fading into the distance.

[Calibration complete.]

[Please create your character.]

A flood of options appeared before him. Windows unfolded within other windows, presenting enough choices to overwhelm him immediately.

Luke could alter the shape of his face, add scars, increase his height, change his hair, or transform himself into an entirely different race.

After staring at the options for several seconds, he muttered, "I don’t even know where to start."

He tried making himself taller and immediately disliked the unfamiliar perspective. Broadening his shoulders looked even worse because the exaggerated body seemed to belong to someone else.

For a moment, Luke considered changing his face. A stronger jaw or a scar might make him look tougher, but the thought left him strangely uncomfortable.

Once he restored the original settings, he studied his familiar reflection.

He had spent enough of his life wishing he could become a different person. If he was going to grow stronger, he wanted to do it as himself.

[Appearance confirmed.]

Choosing a class proved much more difficult.

Powerforge Online offered hundreds of established options, but the advertisement had also claimed that players could construct their own.

The warrior classes caught Luke’s attention first. Their physical abilities appealed to him, especially the weapon techniques and defensive skills. Some wielded shields large enough to stop charging monsters, while others focused on heavy weapons and overwhelming strength.

Still, becoming an ordinary fighter inside a world filled with magic seemed like a wasted opportunity.

From there, he moved on to the mage classes.

The spells looked incredible. Some created flames, others summoned lightning, and several allowed the user to control ice or wind. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Most of those classes, however, were designed to remain behind their allies and avoid close combat.

Luke remembered lying helplessly on the pavement while three teenagers kicked him and stole everything he owned.

He never wanted to rely on someone else to stand between him and danger. He wanted enough strength to hold his ground.

After opening the custom class menu, Luke selected weapon mastery as the foundation of his fighting style.

A long row of equipment appeared before him.

Swords, axes, daggers, hammers, bows, and stranger weapons he could not name floated within reach. Each weapon slowly rotated, allowing him to inspect its shape and size.

At first, a sword seemed like the obvious choice. It was familiar, simple, and belonged in any fantasy world.

Luke selected one and gave it an experimental swing. The weapon felt balanced, but using it meant letting an enemy come within arm’s reach.

He tried an axe next. Its weight pulled at his shoulder, and the wide blade took too long to recover after each swing.

A bow offered distance, but Luke had no idea how to use one. Even after the system corrected his stance, his first practice shot missed the glowing target by several feet.

Then his attention settled on a long spear.

The moment Luke selected it, the weapon materialized in his hands.

Its shaft stood taller than he did, with a narrow steel blade mounted at the end. He adjusted his grip and gave it an experimental thrust.

The spear felt awkward, but its reach immediately appealed to him.

Using a sword would require him to let an enemy come close, while the spear could stop one before it reached him.

Luke imagined facing those teenagers again. With that much reach, he might have kept them away instead of being surrounded and beaten into the ground.

Carrying a spear through the real world was obviously impractical, but learning to control distance, react to an approaching enemy, and remain calm under pressure could still prove useful.

He tried another thrust.

The shaft wobbled in his hands, and the point drifted away from where he had intended to aim.

Luke tightened his grip and tried again. The second attempt was only slightly better, but he liked having something between himself and an approaching threat.

"This is going to be harder than it looks."

Even so, the spear felt right.

Luke confirmed the weapon.

[Primary weapon selected: Long Spear.]

The system then asked him to choose additional disciplines. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

He selected physical enhancement first. If the game allowed him to experience strength beyond normal human limits, he wanted to know what it felt like.

Elemental magic came next.

Luke hesitated over the available elements before choosing the broader category instead of limiting himself to one. Fire looked powerful, lightning looked fast, and wind seemed useful with a spear. He did not yet know which one would suit him best.

The final discipline he chose involved movement. It could help him close distances, escape danger, or reposition himself before an enemy surrounded him.

A warning appeared.

[Combining martial and magical disciplines may significantly reduce early progression speed.]

[Specialized classes will develop individual abilities more efficiently.]

Luke read the warning twice.

The class would be difficult to develop, but versatility mattered more to him than becoming exceptional at only one thing. Magic would not help if an enemy reached him before he could cast, and a spear might be useless against something steel could not hurt.

He wanted to be ready for either situation.

Luke confirmed his selections.

The windows vanished, leaving him alone in the white chamber with the spear in his hands.

A faint light passed over his body.

[Core motivation recorded.]

[Custom class available.]

[Spellblade]

Luke frowned at the name.

"Spellblade? I chose a spear."

A smaller notification appeared beneath the class window.

[The sharpened head of a spear is categorized as a blade.]

He examined the plain steel spear in his hands.

"I guess that makes sense."

The class description opened at his command.

[Spellblade]

[A versatile combat class capable of combining bladed weapons with magical abilities.]

[Warning: Broad development options may slow early advancement.]

The description seemed simple enough. Spellblade traded specialization for flexibility, which explained why its early progression would be slower.

It sounded useful, but hardly overpowered.

Nothing in the description suggested how broad the terms blade and magic really were. As far as Luke could tell, he had simply created a difficult hybrid class that suited him.

Satisfied with the choice, he confirmed it.

[You have created a unique class: Spellblade.]