Age of Summoner

“What’s all this?”

His voice was filled with amazement while his iron-colored orbs were staring around at the unfamiliar images that left him agape and tongue-tied. He was still sitting in the Online Center’s room 18 just a moment ago; but in just the blink of an eye, it seemed like his body was sucked into a different dimension at great speed. In a split second, it felt as if a huge gust of wind whacked against his face, taking him by surprise.

“So, this is… Arcadia?”

Joke uttered as he caught sight of a vast grass field, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Turning around, he saw a large blue crystal floating midair, which rendered him bewildered.

“This crystal… is floating in the air.”

He then looked up at it in curiosity. It was a gigantic clear blue crystal with a size of approximately four meters.

“This is the crystal used as the journey’s save point.”

A pleasant-sounding voice came from behind him. Joke stopped short, and once he turned around, he saw a young lady in a white cloak draping over her thin figure and a pair of comfortable-looking knee-length shorts. Her black hair was tied up into a ponytail that rested upon her left shoulder. She looked pretty adorable, especially with her bewitching smile.

“You’re Rin?”

“Of course. We met just a few minutes ago; did you forget me already?”

Rin asked, smiling at him. The truth was, there was no way he could have forgotten about a person he had just met (especially a person this beautiful), but he was not used to her changed clothing, which he was not used to.

“Oh, these clothes?” Rin smiled broadly as she glanced down at her clothes as if she knew what he was thinking about. “These are the clothes I wear in the game. When you’re transposed into Arcadia, your clothes will be changed. Yours has already been changed too, actually.”

Joke halted. Once he looked down at his clothes, he discovered that he was wearing a grey short-sleeved shirt with three buttons near his neck area—which its fabric seemed similar to thin linen—along with a pair of knee-length shorts and cheap-looking closed-heel sandals. This appeared like the clothes a villager in a western fantasy novel or animation would wear… But the point was, how long had he been in these clothes?!

“As I told you before, the two of us have been transported into the world of Arcadia. Both our bodies and clothes are now completely separated from the outside world,” She explained while spinning around momentarily. “Like the clothes I am wearing now; these are average-level clothes, not too expensive. And what you are wearing is the attire for summoners in training who enter the game for the first time.”

Joke nodded as he moved his body around. When he lightly slapped across his arms, the sensation his body felt was extremely realistic—including the breeze that swept past him, the clothes draping over his body, and the smell of grass reaching out to his nose.

Everything seemed so real.

“Extremely realistic, isn’t it,” Rin asked with a smile. “This is Arcadia, a land where summoners like us can journey on an adventure in the world of AOS.”

The unassertive look on the young man’s face started to change. Those iron-color orbs glanced around excitingly. This was his first time playing this type of online game. He had to admit that the realisticness he experienced was extraordinary. His enthusiastic demeanor caused the young lady in front to giggle at him.

“You’ve never played an online game apart from AOS before?”

“No,” he shook his head. “The only games I have played are those stupid puzzles or farming games on my phone.”

Upon hearing that answer, Rin giggled at the awkward gesture of the man before her.

“Follow me this way, then. This is the starting point for every new player. I have just quickly teleported from another spot to pick you up. I’ll take you to a starter town for beginners. It’s a short walk from here.”

Joke simply nodded and looked along with her finger to the opposite side where she pointed. He then caught sight of a little town far away ahead of him, along with a small canal across in front and a wooden bridge for crossing.

“AOS is a card game that incorporates an MMORPG gaming style,” Rin explained. “Every player in this world is known and called by the term ‘summoner’: a person who ventures out in the world of Arcadia, which is filled with various adventures for us to encounter through these cards that connect the outside world with Arcadia’s. Hence, we can use these cards from both inside and outside of the game.”

“MMORPG is a gaming style that contains a narrative for us to take on an adventure, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve seen those pro players competing in an international tournament; and what about those?”

“That is the duel system, which is AOS’s strong suit.”

“Duel?”

“It’s when two summoners battle each other,” Rin smiled. “The game is divided into two parts: Arcadia, which is the world where every summoner goes on an adventure to collect experience points and fun with the game, and the outside world where tournaments are organized as summoners’ duel battlegrounds. Actually, we can also duel in Arcadia, but people usually prefer dueling outside because it can be done anywhere and the Duel Simulate device is cheaper than the Online device.”

Joke nodded as he tried to make sense of it. Because a regular card game was all about selecting a deck of cards and playing it with an opponent in turns, he was currently confused about how an RPG gaming style could be applied to it.

“Okay. We’re here. This is Lovera, a starter town for new summoners.”

Once they reached the town they had previously seen, Rin immediately began to introduce him to the place. It was a small town with fences low enough that the town’s inside could be seen clearly. The buildings appeared to be made out of stone and seemed old-fashioned like those suburban towns in a fantasy film.

“And what are they lining for over there?”

Joke asked as he pointed at the town’s entrance, which consisted of over thirty people lining up to enter the town with an armored soldier blocking them; this was very similar to an immigration checkpoint.

“Those are all new summoners that log into the game for the first time,” Rin smiled. “As every new summoner has to register their account with an NPC so they can explain the rules and details of the game, they are all lining up to register with the starter town.”

“Oh....”

Joke drawled as he looked at the line that was moving up as the player in front of the line vanished before the soldier who was checking on immigrants. He assumed that they were sent on a tutorial with an NPC for registration.

“If so, do I have to also go line up?” Joke asked.

“Oh, you don’t have to. That line is only for new summoners who enter the game without any guide. You can come with me; I’ll lead you inside the town.”