Hero looked in the direction of the light, wondering what to say. Could I trust this stranger?

Hero didn’t know. For all he knew the nothingness where he lived was a safe haven, the light was really a terrifying place elsewhere.

For all he knew this old man was going to eat him, piece by piece, or use him to fulfill some dastardly scheme in the process.

For all Hero knew, which very little was, this old voice was a disguise, really the voice of a Goddess preparing to bring him back to where ever he was to be. But if he was supposed to be somewhere, why wasn’t he there in the first place?

“Oh voice of the light, I don’t have a name.” Hero called out to the light. He knew his name, but distrusted this distant figure. Being alone in the void for all eternity and suddenly something comes out calling for his name? I have to be an idiot if I fall for this coincidence.

“Wait. What?” The ancient voice on the opposite side seemed to be confused, as if it expected something else. “You don’t have a name?”

Hero thought hard, deciding to continue further. “What is a name? Is it what you are called, or what you call yourself?” Philosophy is sure to trick up this old fogey!

“Who are you? A scholar? Hmm…” The old voice began to think, the void returning to its silence. The light rays seemed to flicker with strength as he began to reply.

“A name is not what you are called. If you are called worthless, then is your name Worthless? Likely not so. That or you have had terrible parents.”

“A name is not what you call yourself. You can call yourself a Box, but does it mean you are a Box? You might not be a Box, simply calling yourself a box.”

“A name, then, cannot be either of those. A name must be something else…” The old man continued to speak, Hero not actually listening. He actually took it seriously. He can’t be evil. He’s too dumb to be evil.

“And so, a name is nothing but the total representation of thoughts that one’s nurturer gives, and one later accepts. It can also be something one changes to, to better explain the wholeness of oneself.” The old man spoke with a hint of pleasure. He seemed to like these questions.

“Wait a minute, I was asking for your name! Not for what was a name!” The old voice remembered before his tangent he was talking to the spirit of the void.

“You said you have no name, but you seem to like philosophy. Henceforth you shall be Minervus, and you will come with me.” The old spoke to Hero, his voice steady and clear.

“What if I don’t want to come?” Hero waited for a reply. This person can’t be serious.

“Too bad. I don’t care. I want you, and you are coming with me. Hahahaha!” The old man cackled, sucking Hero towards the light.

“Wait! This is kidnapping. You shouldn’t do this, you--” Hero disappeared, leaving the void behind.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Hero opened his eyes again, looking at where he was. Below him was a circle with a 21 pointed star and he was standing in the center of the two. In front of Hero was a middle aged man with a greying beard. In his right hand he carried a tome with runes inscribed across many of its pages.

“Success.” The middle aged man spoke, looking at hero with expectation. “Congratulations, welcome to Ebus Hill, Minervus. I have summoned you from the Void of Souls to help me with a quest.”

“A quest? Who said I would help with the quest?” Hero gave the old fellow an angry glare.

“You will. Otherwise I will kill you and use your soul to feed my Soul Magic. I summoned you, and using your soul will at least help offset the costs.” The middle aged man closed his tome, glaring at Hero.

“First of all, your name is Minervus. Second you have to choose a class, but more on that later. Now I will explain the quest.” The old man cleared his throat.

Fine, my name is Minervus. But if this old fogey thinks I am going to be his servant, he has another thing coming. Minervus waited for the old man to speak again.

“The great dragon, Deeptooth the Wise, once had obsidian scales and claws the color of ivory. He was a splendid dragon, and an old friend of mine.” The old man had a trace of sorrow in his words.

“Why was he called Deeptooth?” Minervus waited for an answer. Did he have diamond like teeth that left deep scars?

“Well, to protect the reputation of my friend I will not go further. Now the problem Deeptooth had was--”

“Tell me, old man. I want to know.”

“First of all, I am not an old man. My name is Silex the Mage. Second of all, I will not tell you the history of Deeptooth. You could never understand the sadness of his life. Understand?” Silex frowned as Minervus tried for an answer.

This old man. I’ll let him have a piece of my mind. Minervus was feeling a need to satisfy his headache in this manner.

“First of all, you don’t even look like a mage. You look like a lumberjack that just traded your axe for a book you can’t read. Fix that first.” Upon hearing this, Silex’ rage grew.

“Second of all, who ends their child’s name with X these days. Your name should be Silek, like how you pronounced it.” Minervus the Hero’s words cut into Silex, who took it as shaming his parents. His anger only burgeoned further.

“Finally, if this dragon buddy Deeptooth is so great and wise, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me knowing what his name if for. Is it because during mating season he bit far more than he could chew and was thrashed by the other dragons? Seems like it to me.” Minervus looked at Silex, finding the old man abnormally silent.

“Wait, don’t tell me he actually was called Deeptooth because he tried mating with the wrong dragon and was thrashed? And his name has ‘The Wise’ after it? Was that to hide his fiery youth?” Minervus looked to the silent Silex, who finally blew his top.

Silex couldn’t stand Minervus any further. Why of all the Souls in the cosmos did I have to bring this guy?

“Shut it, you weakling. Deeptooth is his name for another reason.” Silex spoke, correcting Minervus.

“Oh really? Then what is it for?”

“Well, it’s because...It’s because one day he took a bite incorrectly and his tooth got stuck in deep in his jaw.” Silex voice grew quiet as Minervus heard him speak.

“Let me guess. Our quest is to free him of his toothache?” From Silex’s silence, Minervus was able to tell he was correct.

“Then why aren’t we near your dragon friend then? Shouldn’t we be there instead?” Silex felt a bit of shame when he heard this.

“We are on Ebus Hill because the cost of Summoning Magic is enough for me to summon you here. Back in Deeptooth’s Den, I couldn’t because I had used up almost all my Mana.” Silex saw the expression of Minervus, one filled with pity.

Sigh. I know this isn’t going to end well. “So how far are we from Deeptooth’s Den?”

“About that. We are about 3000 miles from the Den. Right now we are in the beginning adventurer lands and will use it to train you. Now back to--”

“3000 miles? So we have to walk the way back. Great.”

“Just answer my question!” Silex felt a migraine coming on. “Which of the five classes do you want to be?”

“You can be one of five classes. a Healer, a Knight, a Mage, a Thief, and a Craftsman. Choose?” Silex waited for Minervus to speak.

“Wait can I be an Archer? Or a Doctor? Or a Blacksmith? Why just five?” Minervus felt it a bit unfair.

“Just choose.” Silex began to massage his head. The migraine had came after all.