Virgil’s eyes snapped open and he quickly sat up in his bed. His breathing was heavy and streaks of cold sweat trailed down his ochre skin.

He had not thought of that night in years, and he could feel his body still shivering. He took some time to calm himself, taking deep breaths and rubbing his eyes.

Sunlight illuminated his small bedroom through a single window near his bed.

The room was very basic, not much in the way of decor except a simple full-sized bed and a small wooden desk that sat against one wall.

After a few minutes of calming breaths, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and moved to the window at the end of his bed. He looked out on the place had called home for the last 4 years.

Miles of open, grassy fields stretched out from the wooden picket fence that surrounded the backyard. A wide stone rectangle that once surrounded a lush garden now sadly enclosed nothing but a large patch of dirt.

Two white lawn chairs sat idly facing the lush fields, and a twinge of pain rose in Virgil’s chest at the sight. He took another breath and stifled his emotions, not wanting to shed any more tears.

Virgil dressed himself in a plain white T-shirt and black jeans, and made his way to the kitchen. He checked the fridge and the cabinets for something to eat, but apparently he was due for a trip to the store in town. All he had left was half a quart of milk, which had probably expired, and a few slices of bread. He sighed.

“Guess it’s time to go shopping.”

Before leaving, he returned to his room to grab a worn, but intact, black backpack that he had for years. He kept a few survival essentials inside, in case of emergencies, but he hasn't needed any of them for quite a while.

Virgil walked out of the front door and towards the road that led into the nearest town. He stopped and looked back at his home. Sorrow memories came to him briefly before he shook away the feelings and continued on his way.

As he walked down the driveway towards the road, the sound of a vehicle echoed from down the road, and his path was suddenly cut off by a large black SUV.

The tinted passenger side window rolled down, and a man with brown, slicked-back hair and a cheshire cat smile faced Virgil.

“Good morning, young man. Sorry to bother you, but you wouldn’t happen to know the woman who lives in this house, would you?” The man gestured at the house Virgil had just left.

Virgil took a second to observe the stranger before responding. “Depends on who’s asking,” Virgil replied, keeping an impassive look on his face.

The man’s sketchy smile didn’t falter. “Apologies, allow me to introduce myself.” He removed the black sunglasses from his face, revealing narrow, ice blue eyes.

“My name is Mr. Wright. I represent a man who was formerly in contact with the owner of this…beautiful property. A woman by the name of Adelaide?”

Virgil flinched at the mention of the name, but he tried not to let any emotion show.

“She…passed away a few days ago.”

The man’s smile dropped, and a look of annoyance flashed across his face, before quickly being replaced by a sympathetic smile.

“Oh, I am very sorry for your loss. I understand this may be a bad time, but has she ever mentioned anything about our company, Dimond Incorporated?”

Virgil shook his head. “Never heard of it. Can I go now?”

The smile fell from Mr. Wright’s face. After a few moments of awkward silence, the man replied, his warm tone quickly replaced by a cold, calculating voice.

“It was Virgil, right? He placed the sunglasses back on his face and looked away. “We’ll be in touch.” And with that, the shady man rolled back up his window, and the SUV pulled a u-turn and drove away, disappearing down the road.

Virgil and Adelaide had met 4 years prior. After spending years on the road and mostly on his own, Virgil found himself in the town of Stillport. Adelaide met Virgil, homeless and hungry and digging through a dumpster. After treating him to a meal, Adelaide made him the offer of food and shelter in exchange for help around her home.

Tired of being on his own, Virgil hesitantly accepted. They spent four years building trust and sharing laughs. He would assist her with cleaning around the house, gardening and maintaining the yard, and she would provide three meals a day and worked hard to make sure Virgil was taken care of.

Things were going good, up until a few days ago. Adelaide was usually up at the crack of dawn, and Virgil normally awoke soon after. He assumed she just wanted some more sleep, so he continued with his usual day.

He completed all his chores within the next few hours and even made an attempt at cooking breakfast.

He went to check on Adelaide a few times , even trying to bring her breakfast in bed, but he was met with a locked door and barely audible grunts in response to any questions.

When it was past noon, he was truly worried. In the 4 years of knowing her, she had never slept in this late, especially without checking in on Virgil.

Instead of trying to break down her bedroom door, he circled around the house, and grabbed a ladder from the shed.

He set the ladder up against the house, right under Adelaide's bedroom window. He climbed up and peered through her window, expecting the worst, and his heart sunk.

Virgil shook the memories away, taking some deep breaths and wiping away the incoming tears.

“No sense in dwelling on the past,” he mumbled to himself. “Like she always said, ‘A man who swells on the past robs his future.’”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

He took a few more calming breaths before adjusting his backpack and continuing down the road towards Stillport.

After 20 minutes of walking, Virgil was about a mile away from Stillport. He spent a good amount of his walking time admiring the calm nature around him.

When he wasn't working on the farm, he spent much of his time wandering the forests, taking in the serenity and calm of the surrounding nature and creatures.

He spent a large amount of time surrounded by nature while growing up, and it felt almost like his second home. Though nothing could beat the comfort and safety of his current home.

He was lost in thought when he felt a shiver travel through his body, and soon after, his ears began to ring.

The ringing became louder and louder, and Virgil fell to the concrete in pain. He covered his ears and writhed with closed eyes as the sound became more and more intense, and after what seemed like a lifetime, the sound began to recede.

Virgil took multiple deep breaths as he laid on the warm concrete.

“What the hell was that?” he mumbled to himself, wiping away sweat from his face.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was suddenly much darker outside. The sun was now blocked by thick, gray clouds, and the fields and trees filled with animals and insects were now completely silent - the only thing he heard was the wind blowing through the foliage.

He sat up and scooted over to the grass so he wouldn’t fall victim to an unsuspecting car.

“What the hell - when did it get so dark out?” he mumbled to himself, looking at his hands and checking his ears and nose to make sure he wasn’t bleeding. He pulled a water bottle out of his backpack and took a long drink, suddenly feeling thirsty.

He put his bottle away and stood to his feet, taking in his surroundings. Stillport was still barely visible in the distance, and Virgil briefly wondered if all that just happened was a sign to stay away from town today.

Before he could make a decision, something really strange popped into view.

A floating, nearly transparent white box appeared about 2 feet in front of him. He stumbled back a bit, nearly tripping over a rock, and the white box followed his sightline.

After composing himself, he tried to touch the floating box, but his hand just passed through. A second later, text appeared in the center of the mysterious square.

“MANA LEVELS OF EARTH1213 HAVE REACHED ACCEPTABLE THRESHOLD FOR INITIATION. PLEASE WAIT…”

Virgil stared at the floating screen, confused about what he had just read.

“Am I supposed to know what this means?”

Moments later, the text on the screen was replaced by a new sentence.

“BEGINNING INITIATION. TERRAFORMING PROCEDURES INITIATED”

The sky suddenly lit up. Lights swirled above the clouds, mixed colors of blue, green, and white. Virgil stared up in wonder as he watched the light show.

The lights continued to swirl and mix for another few minutes before they began to die down. But as the last of the light began to dissipate, they instead began to coalesce into one point, becoming a point of bright white light above the clouds.

Instead of beginning to dissipate once more, the white light began to expand, becoming a bright circle in the sky.

A small voice, like a tickle in the back of Virgill’s mind, yelled at him to book it back to his house.

The hair on the back of his neck and his arms stood up, and Virgil’s legs shook in fear, but he was unable to tear his eyes away from the beautiful light show in the sky.

The circle of light in the sky began to grow brighter, before an eerie sound began to echo, like some giant machine whirring to a start.

In the next moment, a narrow pillar of white light shot down to the ground, making the ground around Virgil’s feet tremble.

The pillar of light then began to expand, growing wider and wider in the distance. The sight of the strange column of light gradually widening snapped Virgil out of his daze, and he began to run back towards his home.

“Shit shit shit shit shit!” he yelled, running like prey being hunted by predators. But it was useless. He could hear the deep whine of the ever growing light grow louder and louder as it crept up on him. Virgil peeked over his shoulder, and all he saw was white.

Virgil felt a wave of pain shoot through his body, starting from the soles of his feet, and spreading up to the top of his head. It felt like his body was on fire. The sensation lasted minutes, though it felt like forever.

After an unknown amount of time, the burning sensation faded, and Virgil felt a cooling, comforting sensation pass over him, like the heat was instantly swept away by a cool breeze. Moments later, or maybe hours - he couldn't tell, Virgil blinked open his eyes, and he found himself very confused.

As he turned his head to look around, the once beautiful hills of grass and wheat were replaced by impossibly tall trees that seemed to touch the sky, surrounding him in all directions.

The concrete road under him was still there, but it was heavily damaged, and patches of grass grew through a multitude of cracks and gaps.

Virgil sat up, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t just imagining things.

“What the-…where am I?”

He stood to his feet, not feeling any soreness or pain, and as he did, another white text box appeared in his vision, causing him to step back in surprise.

“EARTH1213 INITIATION COMPLETE. PLANETARY MANA LEVELS HAVE REACHED THE MINIMUM THRESHOLD.

WARNING: THE INFLUX OF MANA INTO A ONCE BARREN WORLD MAY CAUSE THE RAPID EVOLUTION OF INDIGENOUS BEINGS.

WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM”

After reading and re-reading everything, the white text box disappeared, and was instantly replaced by a blue text box.

“SURVIVAL IS THE DRIVING FORCE OF THE UNIVERSE. POWER IS THE MAIN PILLAR OF SURVIVAL.

YOUR PLANET AND ITS INHABITANTS HAS JOINED THE GREATER UNIVERSE.

DANGER AND WONDERS ARE SCATTERED ABOUT YOUR NEW PLANET.

FIGHT. GROW STRONG. FIND YOUR PATH TO POWER. SURVIVE.

“Uhhh...well that’s…worrying” said Virgil, after reading, and re-reading the strange message. He had no idea what was happening, but the last line of the message made him worry. Before he could ponder any longer, another message popped up.

QUEST: Trial of Initiation

You have been given the chance to make your mark on the universe.

Conquer this challenge, and begin your path of ascendancy.

OBJECTIVE: Kill 10 monsters

REWARD: Skill of choice

“What kind of RPG shit is this??” he exclaimed.

But before he could complain any more, a bush behind him began to rustle, once again interrupting his complaining. He spun around, and took a few steps back. His heart began to race, and he began to break out in sweat.

From the bush, a small figure jumped out. A small rabbit sat on its hind legs, staring up at Virgil with two bright blue eyes. Virgil let out a breath as he saw the small creature, and he let out a small chuckle.

“Ha, imagine getting scared by a rabbit,” he said. “ I wasn’t even scared, you little sneak.”

Virgil stepped up to the still rabbit, and went to pet the creature. As his hand reached forward, the small rabbit leaned forward and gave Virgil's hands a small sniff.

But before he could try to pet the creature, instead of it running away like most rabbits would, its mouth opened wide. Instead of the normal chompers of a normal rabbit, Virgil saw a line of sharp, vicious looking fangs in the mouth of the small creature.

Before he could pull away, the rabbit sprang forward, mouth wide, and chomped down onto the side of Virgil’s hand.

He yelped, pulling back as the carnivorous creature latched on.

“Gah, that hurts you little shit!” he yelled, trying to shake the creature off, but it held on, waving through the air. Virgil tried to use his hand to pry the creature’s mouth open, but couldn’t fight against the rabbit’s strong bite.

He looked around, gritting his teeth with pain, until he saw a rock the size of his palm nearby. He quickly went to grab the rock with his free hand, and without hesitation, brought it down hard on the skull of the small beast. With a crack, he felt the head of the creature break, and its grip loosened as Virgil attempted to remove its bite. He managed to pry the creature’s jaw open, and held the rabbit in one hand, before slamming it into the dirt.

With an angry stomp, Virgil crushed the creature under his heel. He felt the rabbit’s body crack, and it let out a small squeal before finally dying.

Virgil’s heart ached at the tiny, sad squeal the small creature let out, but the pain in his hand reminded him that the creature was no cute little rabbit, so he let the heartache pass.

Gripping his wounded hand, Virgil pulled off his black backpack, and opened it. He pulled out an extra t-shirt he kept inside, and using his teeth, began to rip at the shirt, tearing it into strips. He took one strip and wrapped it tightly against the wound. As he did, another textbox popped into his vision.

YOU HAVE DEFEATED: MUTATED RABBIT x1

50 ESSENCE GAINED

RANK UP!

YOU HAVE ACHIEVED:

RANK 1: BRONZE STAR

PLEASE SELECT A WEAPON:

SWORD

SPEAR

KNIFE

BOW