Epoch: A Berserker's Rise

[Welcome to Epoch! Please customize your character!]

Before he knew it, Adam disappeared from the sky he was in, and found himself back in that black space. In front of him he found a panel, on which he first had to choose his race, then his class and finally change his appearance.

In Epoch there were 12 playable races grouped in 4 categories. Each race would offer one passive and would distribute Attribute Points every level. Everytime a player levels up, they would get 5 Free AP which they can put to any stat, and another five from their race.

The four categories were: Humans, Elves, Beastmen and Mutants. Although Adam had already read about the advantages of each race, he still checked to see whether anything had changed or not.

[Humans]

- Northman: +3 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Endurance. Snow is cold: 50% resistance to frost damage and frost attacks are 50% stronger.

- Kartian: +2 Strength, +2 Endurance, +1 Agility. Potioneer: Potions are 10% more likely to be brewed.

- Islander: +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +1 Agility. Researcher: Skills are easier to learn.

[Elves]

- Wood Elf: +3 Agility, +2 Intelligence. Nature's Chosen: Mana regenerates 50% faster.

- Light Elf: +3 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom. Mana Body: Health can be used to fuel spells if the Mana is depleted.

- Dark Elf: +2 Strength, +2 Agility, +1 Intelligence. Preparation: The first strike on any enemy ignores 50% of his defense.

[Beastmen]

- Catkin: +3 Agility, +1 Strength, +1 Wisdom. Silent Steps: Moving makes less sound depending on the terrain.

- Foxkin: +3 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence. Magic Tail: Tail can be used additionally from the hands to cast spells.

- Lizardkin: +3 Endurance, +2 Strength. Hard Scales: Defense is enhanced by 20%.

[Mutants]

- Orc: +3 Strength, +2 Endurance. Sand is hot: 50% resistance to fire damage and fire attacks are 50% stronger.

- Dwarf: +3 Endurance, +2 Strength. Forger: Equipments have 10% more chances to be crafted/enhanced.

- Fae: +2 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence, +1 Agility. Friendly: Beings related to nature are friendlier towards you.

Because of the attributes and the racial skills, certain races would be more appropriate to play certain classes, but there was no absolute. In the end, even a pure magic race like the Light Elf could become a physical class fighter, and it wouldn't necessarily be bad if they are capable of getting the right skills and items.

To choose the right race, considering the class one would take was important too. There were a total of 10 classes in Epoch, each with their specialty.

-Monk, they use a pair of gauntlets and focuses on defense. Heavily focuses on defense.

-Knight, uses the spear and the heavy shield to defend their allies. Can either focus on defense or on attack.

-Paladin, a warrior of the church. Uses physical and magic attacks. Can heal small groups of people.

-Swordsman, uses swords to fight. Two fighting styles are possible, dual sword or lone sword with a possible light shield. A good mix between Assassin and Warrior.

-Berserker, use two handed weapons for a low attacking speed but high damages. Good defense, but weaker against crowd control effects.

-Assassin, stealthy and has high burst damages, uses daggers. Low defense and strength, but good resistance against crowd control effects.

-Cleric, low damage against the living, but high damage against the undead. Can heal and resurrect big groups.

-Elementalist, mage who wields one element. High damage and AOE. Low defense, health and speed.

-Summoner, user summons monsters to fight for him. Low damage and defense, and summons are unsummoned at the caster's death.

-Ranger, uses a bow to fight from far away. High attacking speed and range. Good control skills. Weak in close combat.

Adam did not even hesitate to choose his class, after all only one of those classes would allow him to fight with the weapon he had been familiarizing himself with, the Greatsword.

Once he selected and confirmed his class, Adam looked back at the races, and went for the Northman. For his class the two best races were Northman and Orcs, and choosing between the two wasn't easy as their passives were as useful as each other.

But in the end, Adam felt that evening Endurance and Agility was better than just having Strength and Endurance. Moreover, since he had the choice Adam would rather be human than orc.

Now that he had chosen his class and race, Adam had to personalize his character. The base character was his own body, which he would be able to some extent.

He had always been tall but because of his work he had been skinny in the past two years. However, since he absorbed the soul of Old Adam he got buffed, and he looked like a body builder now. His arms were bigger than his thigh from 6 months ago.

He also had short blond hair with a well grown beard. He looked quite fierce, and Adam smiled when he saw himself. He had always liked Vikings, and he looked like one now. He would even play as a Northman…

Adam decided not to change anything, he was fine with his appearance, and he would be in armor most of the time so it didn't really matter.

[No modifications done to the character. Please select a name.]

Adam input a name he had chosen for a long time, and was happy to see it was still available. However, he received another message telling him the game would only start in a few minutes, and that he had to wait until then. So with nothing to do Adam opened his status.

Name: Valiant Heart

Level: 1 (0/100 XP)

Title: None

Race: Northman

Class: Berserker

Rank: Iron

HP: 130/130

MP: 70/70

Strength (+3 per level): 15

Agility (+1 per level): 10

Endurance (+1 per level): 13

Intelligence: 7

Wisdom: 5

Free AP: 0

Skills: -Mighty Strike (E, Level 1/10)

-Charge (E, Level 1/10)

At the start of the game, every class began with two skills. The E meant it was Rank E, the lowest rank for skills in the game, and the level showed how much one uses the skill. The stronger the level, the stronger the skill.

Adam clicked on his skills to make sure of what they did.

Mighty Strike (E): Dig into your hidden strengths to deal 120% of your normal damage. Cooldown: 3 seconds.

Charge (E): Ram into your enemy to knock them over, stunning them for half a second. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

The skills were not very powerful, but it was enough for Adam. After all, they wouldn't give out the strongest skills at the beginning of the game…

Adam closed all of this and waited for the counter to hit zero. When it did, he received another notification.

[You are to be sent in a neutral kingdom. Generating a random beginner village… You will be sent to Rosewatch. Good Luck, Valiant Heart.]

Adam suddenly found himself into a white beam of light. When it disappeared, he was surrounded by players. He was in the middle of a village.

As he looked around, he saw the players split in several groups. Some headed directly out of the village to go hunt monsters directly. Most of the rest headed for the NPCs.

The village itself was quite big, with many buildings and facilities. Rather than a village, it would be called a Town. In the center, was the village chief's house.

Surrounding it were the different guard barracks. Seeing the level of these guards, no one dared to cause a ruckus in the village. They were all Level 5 guards. It would only take one hit to kill a player, or even multiple players if it were a mage.

In Epoch, there are 300 Levels, but they aren't the only thing that determines a being's strength. There was also the ranks: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Heroic, Legendary and Godly. Those ranks stood for both the players and the humanoid NPC, they were the class advancements.