King Caligula had ordered that Garnet had to be watched every day and night until she awakened. The guards regularly rotated so that there was someone active at all times. When Garnet did awaken, the Wizard (Zedd) and the King were to be summoned immediately regardless of time of day or where they were. It took three days before the woman formerly known as Garnet woke.
"AHHHH," screamed the woman in bed. She was holding her head with her arms. "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts." She saw visions, images of people she never knew. Things that she never remembered doing yet had the knowledge of how to.
"Quickly, inform the Wizard and the King!" the guard shouted. One of the guards outside immediately ran towards the Throne Room. They had been waiting for this day.
The Wizard, Zedd, was the first to arrive. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Headache," said the woman in the bed. "Everything seems to hurt, as if my body and mind was being torn apart."
"Can you tell me your name?" asked Zedd.
"Riley," said the woman in the bed.
"Are you sure it's not Garnet?" asked Zedd.
"I think Riley is my name," said Riley. "I know that name though. Garnet feels vaguely familiar as well."
"Can you see something next to me?" asked Zedd.
"You're too loud," said Riley. She looked up at Zedd and that was when Riley saw something.
Name: Zedd
Level: 71
Class: Grand Wizard
Sub-Class: Summoner
Stats: ???
"You're some kind of magician?" asked Riley.
"Can you see words by my face?" asked Zedd.
"I see it, by your face, I see your name and some numbers," said Riley.
"Then it worked!" said Zedd. "After so many sacrifices and attempts, I finally succeeded!"
"Then you're definitely our hero!" said Zedd. "That's something that only a hero that has been blessed by the system can see."
"Hero?" said Riley. She was confused. "I'm not a hero, I'm a student, maybe a soldier."
"I used the body you are in to summon you from another world to save us," said Zedd.
"Body?" said Riley confused. Riley looked down at what should have been his body. There were bulges in the top that she was wearing. She touched it. They were soft. They were breasts. "Breasts?!?" Riley was shocked. "I need a mirror!" she screamed.
Zedd handed Riley a mirror. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was beautiful. Her skin was a bit pale. She had long black hair that had was a bit unkempt. Her face had a little spots of black here and there, but other than that, she was very attractive. She noticed that she even had a blue and a green eye. "Heterochromia," she said to herself.
Riley then felt her arms, her body, her legs, and then between her legs. There was nothing between her legs, Riley had definitely become a woman. "What happened?!?" shouted Riley.
"I know this is a lot to take in," said Zedd. "But I will explain in due time. What is important is that we need your help."
"How can I possibly help?" said Riley with a weak voice. "I have no idea what you are talking about. Like I said, I'm just a student."
"But the fact that you were summoned here and blessed by the system means you are our hero," said Zedd. "Please just see if there's anything you can do. Our kingdom needs your help or else it will fall."
"I'm not feeling very well," said Riley.
"Rest up," said Zedd. "You will need your strength." He laid Riley down back onto the bed and covered her with the blankets. "When you wake up, I will help you and in exchange, please see if there's anything you might be able to do to help us."
As Zedd was putting Riley to bed, King Caligula had arrived with six guards in tow. "Is our hero awake?!?" he shouted.
"She needs to rest," said Zedd.
"No, wake her now! We need her help!" Caligula shouted.
"That's not a good idea," said Zedd.
"I said wake her!" Caligula shouted.
One of the guards with Caligula pushed Zedd aside and began to shake Riley.
"What is it?" asked Riley. "I'm tired."
"The King has ordered has called for you," said the guard.
"Come with me," said Caligula. The guards pulled Riley out of bed.
Riley was still holding her head with her hand. It helped ease the pain just a little bit, but she was stumbling. She looked at the guard that had pulled her out.
Name: Lloyd
Level: 5
Class: Warrior
Sub-Class: Knight
Stats: ???
"Twice, now," Riley said to herself as she looked at the numbers. "It was not a coincidence." She then looked at herself. "And this I have no idea what to think of or how to deal with yet."
King Caligula brought Riley to the Observation Deck. "This is my kingdom," said Caligula. "It is dying and I need your help to save it."
In the distance, there were collapsed buildings. The outer walls of the city were in disrepair with obvious holes in it. The inner wall was in better condition. There was visible movement, a sign that numerous people lived within the city walls and it was densely populated.
Riley saw a white box with black letters appear in front of her:
New Quest: Save Antium
"I don't know what I can do," said Riley.
"You're the hero," said Caligula. "You'll think of something."
"Please," said Zedd. "She needs to rest."
"We need her to save my kingdom," said Caligula. "She is the only one that can do it."
"She cannot do it when she is exhausted," said Zedd. "If you push her too hard, she might perish before she can even accomplish anything."
"Then we can summon a new hero," said Caligula.
When Zedd heard these words, he immediately knew that King Caligula was mad. Zedd knew how much resources alone were spent to summon Riley. She was irreplaceable and the kingdom had nearly exhausted its resources to try to just summon one hero. On top of that, there were sometimes centuries between successful hero summons. "I have to do something before the King gets our hero killed, even if it only buys us a little bit of time," he said to himself.
"Your highness, I have a suggestion," said Zedd.
"What is it?" asked Caligula.
"I want to show our hero around the city so that she can see the problems first hand, is that okay?" asked Zedd.
"That is a most excellent suggestion," said Caligula. "See to it at once."
"I will bring my guards with me as well," said Zedd.
"Get to it," said Caligula. "I want to see changes to my city soon."
Zedd realized that summoning the hero to save the world was not what King Caligula had in mind. He wanted to summon the hero to preserve his kingdom, not to actually help the people living in it. Luckily, Zedd still had his old workshop in town and that was where he brought Riley.
"Rest up hero," said Zedd. "This is as much as I can do for you."
Riley was already out. She was weak when she woke up and was even weaker now because she was forced to move around while exhausted. The summoning process was both a physical and mental drain on the vessel and whoever was summoned from another world.
Zedd realized that he would have to help Riley escape from King Caligula's watch if she was to truly become a hero that could save the world. He could only think of one thing, magic. Somehow, he would have to use his magic to help Riley. He began to flip through his books, looking for something that might be able to help with Riley's recovery or Riley's escape if necessary.
Riley slept for a whole day before waking up again. She was still unwell. "Ugh, my head still hurts," said Riley.
"Are you feeling any better?" asked Zedd.
"It doesn't hurt as much and I'm not as tired anymore," said Riley.
"That's good, then you're getting better at least," said Zedd. "But I'm afraid that you will have to go out today."
"I don't think I should," said Riley with a groan.
"But you must, the King expects you to be looking at the condition of the town," said Zedd. "I cannot have him be suspicious of me or you. Two of my guards will accompany you to keep you safe. Just look around for a bit and come back when you feel tired. If you have questions, ask them, they should know most things about the city. I would like to accompany you, but I have other matters to attend to."
"Alright," said Riley as she stumbled out of bed. The two guards followed her from the back as she left Zedd's workshop.
Riley began to walk around the city. "What am I even looking for?" she asked.
One of the guards responded, "You are looking for problems in the city and how you might be able to fix it, sir," said the guard.
Riley looked at the guard and saw his information.
Name: Klarth
Level: 27
Class: Warrior
Sub-Class: Paladin
Stats: ???
From what Riley could tell, the guard was at least much stronger than the ones that were with the King. "It was probably why Zedd trusted him with my safety," Riley said to herself. "What kind of problems?" asked Riley.
"Everything that might be causing poor conditions in the city, sir. From theft to conspiracy," said Klarth.
"I thought I was supposed to be saving this city, not getting involved in political issues," said Riley.
"They can be one and the same," said Klarth.
"What problems do you think are the greatest in the city?" asked Riley.
"A huge portion of the population here does not have access to enough food," said Klarth. "It has caused illness, starvation, and because of this, there is simply just not enough people free to work on construction projects needed to rebuild the city."
"And you?" Riley had just asked the other guard. She looked at his information. He was almost just as strong.
Name: Kirk
Level: 25
Class: Warrior
Sub-Class: Knight
Stats: ???
"I think that it is the nobles who and their policies," said Kirk.
"That's slander!" shouted Klarth. "You can't say that."
"I think that is the truth," said Kirk. "I think the taxes on food is too high. Food that makes it here is not reaching the people because they cannot afford it, yet the prices continue to stay high. Even though there is work to be done, there are not enough able bodied workers to actually get things done."
Riley had been educated in Sun Tzu's Military Academy. A school for training future military leaders. They studied everything from military strategies to politics. Being able to supply your people and your soldiers with food was the most basic, but she had also heard about how Sun Tzu had to train concubines and Sun Tzu ended up executing a few of them to make the rest obey. Based on Kirk's words, the nobles probably used fear in some way to keep people from revolting.
"Does your King regularly execute people?" asked Riley.
"Yes," said Klarth. "They are usually people convicted of high treason against the crown or for plotting to kill a government official."
"That was a common accusation to eliminate enemies," thought Riley. "Does your King have high taxes?" Riley asked.
"Yes," said Klarth. "But it is necessary to maintain the defenses of the city."
Riley remembered what she saw at the Observation Deck. She had seen the poor state of the city from afar. It was clear that not all the taxes were not going to maintain the city. It was going elsewhere, most likely into the pockets of nobles somewhere. The city had numerous problems, but they would all have to be addressed one at a time. The problem right now was finding out how it could be done.
"What can you tell me about me?" asked Riley.
"How would I know about people from other worlds?" asked Kirk.
"I mean the person that this body belonged to," said Riley as she looked at her own hands. "I want to know about the person it belonged to before I took control of it."
"I am sorry, but I do not have that information," said Klarth. "Only Zedd knows. He was the one who ordered the collection of information and compiled it. All I tell you is that you were a slave because of the mark on your hand."
Riley looked at the flower with five petals on her hand. It was a brand. Something that was often done to runaway or disobedient slaves. "The so called hero who is meant to save the world is a slave, how ironic," thought Riley. "I must ask Zedd later," said Riley.
As Riley continued her way through the streets, she overheard voices talking about her.
"Hey isn't she that prostitute that was bought by the Wizard?" said a man.
"Yes, I heard that he paid 500 gold coins for her," said a woman.
"I wonder where they're bringing her now," said the man.
"Probably to some noble's house to be utilized," said the woman.
Riley recognized this as another problem. Human trafficking. Something that was built and maintained by the nobles in order to satisfy their sick and twisted desires. It often came at the expensive of the poor, where people had to sell their children into slavery in order to survive. The high cost of food was probably one way they did to ensure that there would be at least a few. The body that Riley had was probably one of those children that were sold into slavery and did not die during the years it was abused.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Riley made her way to the markets. She saw that there were a few stands set up, but the market was largely empty. She looked at the prices. It was five silver for a slice of bread.
"Are you hungry?" asked Kirk.
"No," said Riley. "I'm just looking."
"Alright, because if you need food, the cooks in the castle can make you anything you want," said Kirk. "We have plenty there."
"If there is so little food, how can the castle afford to make anything that I might want?" asked Riley.
"The King and the nobles are wealthy," said Klarth. "They can afford to bring in everything they need from outside of the city, even paying with money out of their own pockets if needed."
"That wealth had to come from somewhere," Riley thought to herself. When one person or group has wealth, it means they took it from somewhere. When the difference between the rich and the poor becomes too great, the poor can no longer even afford to buy the most basic of necessities. It was ripe for revolution if there was a leader or a giant welcome mat for invaders.
"Why are there so few merchants here?" Riley asked the merchant.
"It is expensive to do business, but some of us do it because we can sell our other wares to the nobles for very high prices here," said the merchant.
"Why do you not lower your prices?" asked Riley.
"If I lower them, then I will not even be able to provide anything at all," said the merchant. "I do it because the city needs food and the nobles are willing to pay more for the few luxuries that I bring in to make up the difference."
"How is that even possible?" asked Riley.
"There are taxes we have to pay to bring things in or take things out of the region and the taxes set by nobles are very high at the moment," said the merchant.
As Riley thought about this, she began to put everything together. The rich have enough to eat and the poor have to pay heavy taxes on everything they buy or make. The poor did have money from the things they made bought by nobles, but they were still unable to afford the things that they needed to survive.
There was definitely a high amount of corruption in the city. Sooner or later, the economy and the entire country would collapse. The problem was not the people, the problem was the leadership. The problems are all being caused by policies, not the people. The King wanted Riley, the hero, to placate the people, and preserve his kingdom, not to actually fix it. To the King, saving the kingdom meant saving his place on the throne. Riley's body was one of the victims of this system. If the kingdom wanted a chance to survive, the system would need to change.
To the upper right of her view, Riley saw a box with some text appear. "Return to Zedd's Workshop." "Did something happen?" she thought. Riley returned to Zedd's Workshop. "I'm back," said Riley. No one responded. Zedd was not there nor were his guards. "Did he go out?" Riley thought.
Riley sat down on the bed. "I need to rest, wake me when Zedd returns," she ordered the two guards.
"Yes, sir!" Klarth and Kirk responded.
As Riley slept, she had dreams and visions. She saw visions of herself being violated and beaten over and over again. She heard voices of the nobles who spoke about the things they were doing. It was the memories of Garnet, flooding into her head. And at the very end of it, all she could see was light, a painful, agonizing light that burned her and left her body aching all over.
It was dark before Riley was awoken by Zedd. Riley was sweating heavily. Zedd had finally returned and he brought food and some clothes. "Here you go," said Zedd as he tossed her some new clothes.
Riley went to change, her new clothes were slightly cleaner though not by much. It was loose fitting and the front was the shape of a V and revealed the top of her breasts. She felt uncomfortable looking at herself, even if it was just in front of a mirror. It felt like she was abusing someone else's body, after all, it was not her own. She had killed its original owner and taken the body for herself.
What followed was also the first meal that Riley had eaten since she woke in this world. After eating, she had many questions. "Who was I?" Riley asked.
"I don't know," said Zedd. "You were summoned from another world."
"No, I mean my body, who was the person who had this body before me?" asked Riley.
"She was a prostitute that was very popular and in high demand by the nobles," said Zedd. "I bought her because she was the most suitable vessel for calling a hero from another world."
"Suitable vessel? What do you mean?" asked Riley.
"In my attempts to call forth a hero from another world, I learned many things," said Zedd. "But I had to do things. Things that I was not proud of. But luckily, it succeeded, so I keep telling myself that everything I did was worth it if the hero could save us."
Riley saw that Zedd suddenly looked downward. He was ashamed. Zedd knew what he did was wrong, but he continued because he was desperate. The world was desperate for a hero to save them and Zedd felt like he was their only hope, so he did things that he thought was wrong, all for the sake of what he felt was the right thing to do because if he did not, the world would fall. Everything was riding on the fact that the hero sitting before him would be able to help them.
"For example, to summon a hero, a body with mana and a strong mind to resist is needed," said Zedd. "I bought her because she had both of the necessary requirements, compatibility with mana, and mental strength. She was so mentally strong that despite all her circumstances, I would still describe her as fierce. She often fought with her clients and even threatened to kill me if she got the chance despite being surrounded by my guards."
"What was her name?" asked Riley.
Zedd got up and retrieved a small book from his bookshelf, it was the book of all the people that he had to experiment on during the summoning. Riley could see that there were even pictures of each person. At the very end, was a picture, it was her. The last person Zedd collected information on was the person he found suitable as a vessel for the summon.
"Is there anything else you can tell me about her?" asked Riley.
"She was sarcastic," said Zedd. "Even moments before her death, she cracked a joke about what I was doing like she did not have any care in the world."
"Garnet," said Riley. "Similar to the color red, like her personality," said Riley. "Zedd..." said Riley. "From this day forward, I want you to call me Garnet."
"Why?" asked Zedd.
"Garnet gave her life so that I could have one here. If I do something great, it is only possible because of her, so if I become a hero, I want her to be remembered, I want her name to be the one that is shouted, not mine," said Riley. "She is the one who gave everything so that I would have a chance."
"Strange..." thought Zedd. "The hero wanted to adopt the name and personality of the body that they inhabited despite knowing its history. Was that the case for all of the heroes?"
"I will respect that decision hero. Then from this day forth, I will call you Garnet," said Zedd.
"Thank you," said Garnet. "Now I want to talk about those problems that I saw."
"What did you see?" asked Zedd.
"I saw poverty, human trafficking, and either high tariffs or high taxes or some combination of both," said Garnet.
"That is about right," said Zedd.
"Why don't you or anyone do anything about it?" asked Garnet.
"I'm afraid the King is the one who holds absolute power and the nobles follow him as well," said Zedd. "He controls most of the soldiers and weapons, he has a huge amount of influence where money is spent, but his closest advisers are the nobles who run everything else."
"Has anyone ever challenged them?" asked Garnet.
"Those who challenge them end up missing or dead," Zedd replied. "The King and the nobles decides what is done and how it is done.
Garnet needed to find a way to solve these problems without drawing attention. It would be extremely difficult as the guards mostly work for the King. They would most likely have firsthand knowledge about this.
"What about the nobles?" asked Garnet.
"Many of the nobles have their own armies as well to help keep the peace. These are the same armies that the king can call upon when needed," Zedd explained. "But they also manage their own areas under the name of the king."
"What about other countries?" asked Garnet.
"Some other countries are just as corrupt and do similar things, but if another country invades, it is the poor that get sent to fight and die," said Zedd. "The rich have their children serving as soldiers in the castle or houses of other nobles, far from the fighting."
"If there's nothing that I can do, then why was I even summoned as a hero?" asked Garnet.
"The King intended to have you placate the people," said Zedd. "But you are a hero, and you are better than that. In fact, you can do so much more."
"What do you mean?" asked Garnet.
"The heroes of this world are known for their greatness and making the impossible a reality," explained Zedd. "Heroes of the past have defeated powerful evils and saved multiple countries and the people who lived in them. Some heroes have brought together diverse groups of people to accomplish a single goal when it was thought that cooperation was impossible. The problems of this world extend beyond what you have just seen in this city. This is merely a glimpse at how far the world has fallen since our last hero."
Zedd continued, "Despite all of this, the King is not our greatest threat," said Zedd.
"What do you mean? The city is slowly destroying itself, how can it get any worse?" asked Garnet.
"There is one thing we have not told you about yet, the invasions," said Zedd.
"Invasions? From where?" asked Garnet. She had remembered that in the past, great civilizations fell due to problems from within, whether it be corruption or disagreements between nobles. This left the nation weak enough so that a foreign invader could finish them off.
"We don't know," said Zedd. "There are times, when parts of the world, like the sky cracks opens and from a sea as red as blood, terrifying monsters appear. These monsters are what caused the broken walls you see in the city. One of the reasons why people choose to continue living in these poor conditions is the fact that the city wall is one of the things that still work. During these invasions, the King also must send soldiers to the walls to defend when there is an attack otherwise the city will fall."
"But what can I do?" asked Garnet. "I don't have anything."
"You have a lot more than you think you do," said Zedd. "You have access to the Hero System, a gift that is granted to all heroes summoned from another world. It grants them great power that goes far beyond reason and the imagination of ordinary people. One man or woman can become a legend with its power. You just have to learn how to use it."
"Do you know how it works?" asked Garnet.
"Sadly, I'm afraid I cannot help you with that, only a hero has access to the Hero System and there is little recorded information about how it works," said Zedd.
"What kind of information?" asked Garnet.
"As far as I know, the Hero System mainly grants someone immense power," Zedd explained. "It is different what each hero receives, but it also guides them into doing certain tasks that help the survival of the world and allows them to see things that others cannot."
"Hero System huh?" Garnet said to herself. "That means I have to use it to solve all of these problems somehow and not anger anyone in the process. That is a very difficult task," she thought. At that moment, she saw an exclamation mark appear to the top left of her vision along with Health and Mana bars. A white box then appeared directly in front of her vision, there was black text that said "Introduction Complete."
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The headaches in the story and the name choice at the end are the result of a fusion of the Riley and Garnet identities. Though "Riley" is technically in control, there will be moments when the "Garnet" personality leaks through as a result of the combination of their identities.
So Book 1 is going to focus on just the city of Antium. I'm just making things up as I go along. Next chapter should take longer as I am still tweaking the main character's abilities.