Spending my retirement in a game

chapter 3

"Whoa, whoa, young lady! Can you slow down a bit? Could you explain what those 'Attribute' things do?" He asked with a soft frown, although keeping his overall gentle demeanor. Ari apologizes and slows down a bit. "Hmm... I'll explain it for your most probable playstyle, alright~? Which is something Craftsman related, right? Well, the more strength you have, the stronger you are, duh! Working with certain materials requires a certain amount of strength, just to be able to shape them! If you keep your strength too low, you won't be able to put even the slightest dent into metal during blacksmithing. With a higher endurance, both your defense increases and your stamina! You can work longer and your body will experience less of a backlash when working too hard. Agility will increase your overall speed, but also your dexterity, so you can do more detailed work! Intelligence and Wisdom are Attributes mainly related to Magic, so I'm not sure how useful they'll be to you... but well, Intelligence increases the efficiency of anything mana-related you do, and Wisdom will increase the amount of your mana and how much basic control you have over it!"

"I see... thanks. Most of these seem pretty important, but I'll have to find out if Magic will have any use to me." Benjamin muttered to himself, deep in thought until Ari continued explaining. "Your occupation and skills will depend on your actions! Depending on what path you go, you will unlock certain skills, and some professions will support the effects of some of them. A Magician can cast stronger magic, a Warrior has stronger attacks, and a Craftsman can craft finer items! Simple, isn't it? Most of it is self-explanatory while you play, don't worry~!"

At last, with an excited expression, Ari jumped up from her chair and walked next to Benjamin. While he is wondering what she's about to do, she waved her hand and a mannequin appeared in front of them.

"This is the base for a Human character! There are many races in the World of Magic, and some of them have strongly different bodily structures, all of them are humanoid though. However, I suggest that you play as a dwarf! They are the race that is best at working with their hands! The best blacksmiths, tailors, and artists! I think that fits with you! Although..." Ari waved her hand once more and the mannequin shrank significantly as if someone pushed the person from before down. A big head, broad shoulders, thick but short arms and legs, and a height at least half a meter shorter than what Benjamin is in real life.

"...they are kind of short..."

Benjamin sighs. The dwarf's explanation sounded perfect for him, but this really was a problem. It would take a long time to get used to a body this short, especially since the size difference was even greater due to his normally big build. But all his worries were swept away when Ari continued talking.

"So usually that may be a problem, but Papa allowed me to give you special rights in your character creation~. With those rights, I can make your race a halfling of something that normally wouldn't exist! My suggestion is..."

Waving her hand once more, but this time with a big smile on her face, the mannequin grew in size significantly, standing even taller than the human before then. The general build of the dwarf stayed in the mannequin, broad shoulders and thick arms and legs, but its limbs were significantly longer than before. In short, its build already looks a lot like Benjamin's.

"...A Giant-Dwarf Halfling! You get all the advantages from the Dwarf race without the bodily... shortcomings. Usually, this Halfling race isn't available to players, even though it does exist very rarely in the game world amongst NPCs. As far as I know, there is only a few dozens of them!"

"Young lady! This is perfect for me! I'd be more than happy to be this in the game!" Benjamin stands up happily and walked up to the Mannequin. To Ari who was standing next to him, it looked like two Benjamin's already! So, with a snap of her fingers, she turned the Mannequin into a real representation of him.

"Now, the only thing left is your name! Do you have an idea already?" Ari asks at last. And actually, yes, Benjamin had been thinking about a good username together with Rover while waiting. So with a soft grin, he looked at Ari and told her what he wants to be called.

---

After walking Benjamin through everything, Ari also went to talk to four other people that seemingly helped out the game in a similar fashion to himself, although in different fields. Then, after waiting for around 15 minutes, they all came together in a big hall, somewhat similar to Ari's room in its setup with Marble constructs everywhere.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Ari yelled out cheerfully while standing in the center of the five people.

They were all wearing the same clothes, pretty boring brown and beige clothing, and each of them had a black and red coin around their neck as a necklace, each of their patterns different, however.

"I'll introduce you to each other quickly, alright? First, the Original of Magic and a High-Elf, Xenia!"

Ari pointed to one of the two women standing in the group. She had long deep-black hair and eyes, and skin as white like snow. The only thing that seemed different to a normal human were the pointy ears on the sides of her head. If he was about 50 years younger, he may have tried to flirt with her, but since she was about as old as his oldest granddaughter, he quickly refrained.

"Next, the Original of Combat and a Demon-Orc Halfling, Brody!" After pointing to Xenia, Ari pointed to a tall grown man with dark-green skin that nearly faded to black. He had short black hair and two curved horns sprouting out of his forehead, as well as two big tusk-like teeth coming out of his mouth. Next, Ari turned to the second woman in the group. "This is the Original of Artistry and a Human, Evalia!" She had bright blonde hair and glowing blue eyes. Her lips were dyed deep red and her bust seemed far too large for her body, possibly to overcompensate for something in real life.

"And that over there is the Original of the Living and a Monkey-Beast-Person, Jyuuk!" This man was also relatively well built and most of his visible skin, with the exception of the palms of his hands and his face, was covered in thick orange fur. Most of his features looked like that of a monkey's and a person's mixed up, and his face was framed with his fur as well. From his back, you could see a tail extend outward.

After introducing the other four people there, Ari turned to Benjamin.

"Lastly, the Original of the Mechanical Arts, and a Giant-Dwarf Halfling, Eisen!"