Axis

Chapter 1

A guttural roar shook the landscape. An immense orc stood opposite a young man, the orc stood savagely, holding two large axes, his orange skin glistening with sweat, and his thick black horns reflecting the orange sunlight. The young man that stood across from him kept a calm stance, holding his immaculate silver sword with two hands, and a buckler donning his left arm. Both figures stood staring each other down, sizing each other up, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

The young man knew the orc would move first, as they were a prideful warrior race, and would attack first in an attempt to gain the upperhand. He knew, because he'd fought many orc before, this was just one of many, and that was why he was able to keep himself calm and composed.

With a sudden rush the orc lowered his head and charged. The young man knew what to do. He began to run forward towards the orc, his chainmail hauberk rattling as he gained speed. The orc roared just as he was about to ram into the young man, but the young man gracefully jumped up, soaring over the orc, which allowed him to slide his sword into the back of the orc's neck, killing him instantly. In the same graceful motion, the young man slid the sword out of the orc, and landed on his feet opposite where the orc collapsed.

The young man gently flung his sword outward ridding it of the blood that freshly stained it. He slipped the sword back into the sheath by his waist, and sat down cross-legged.

"LEVEL COMPLETE!" An omniscient voice suddenly declared. The young man seemed unperturbed by this voice, and almost seemed more pleased with himself due to this announcement. "NEW PLAYER HIGH SCORE!" The voice added. In front of the young man's face a leaderboard of names, faces and numbers popped up, zooming to the top to show his face right under his rival. He stared at the board and frowned as anger began to bubble inside of him.

Alvrick - 515,617

J3richo - 515, 504

He'd made it to the final level of the horde wave, and in a timely fashion too, yet still didn't achieve enough points to beat Alvrick. He almost hated Alvrick, but he couldn't actually admit that. He'd never met them, and who knows what kind of person they were. He guessed that he more hated always being just below them, instead of ever being able to beat them.

Suddenly the landscape and even the armor he wore began to disintegrate, until he sat alone on a blue and black plane. In front of him stood various boxes that displayed the different game modes he could play and at the top stood in bright bold letters "Main Menu."

"Well guys," he said to seemingly no one, "I think that's all for tonight. I got school in the morning." He said as his character stood up. "Goodnight, everyone!" He waved to an empty expanse and said, "Log off."

----

James opened his eyes and gazed upon the inside of his Nexus Visor. This sophisticated headset is what allowed him to essentially become his avatar. This had become known as Immersion Gaming, and it quickly became overwhelming popular among gamers of all sorts. This incredibly nifty piece of equipment essentially allowed the user to play games using one's mind. The headset would consume all currents sent from a user's nervous system, and instead of their body reacting, their avatar would. This allowed for more sophisticated movement that a normal human body might not normally allow. It also allowed those who were disabled, to experience movement again.

There were many drawbacks and safety concerns associated with this new technology, like how it could affect the nervous system, would the user feel pain and damage they experienced in the game, etc. After years of trial and development, they released the now used Nexus Visor. The user does not feel pain or any part of the environment, such as rain or wind. To prevent damage to the user's nervous system the headset is designed to fry itself in the stead of the user in case of a surge, and is also equipped with many other various safety precautions.