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Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening
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"John, get some rest, we can finish it from here." John's coworker, Anthony, says as he looks at John's drooping eyes.
"Are you sure? Most of the bugs are fixed, but I can help beta test to make sure." John says in good nature, followed by a yawn.
"It releases in a month thanks to your efforts, but really, you work yourself ragged," Anthony says, looking at John’s tired face with sympathy.
Another voice spoke up, coming from the recreation room.
"You just put in a 14-hour shift, get your ass to bed." John turned around and saw that Jim, another coworker, was gruffly staring at him.
John laughed in good nature and picked up his jacket, and clocked out.
Today was a special day for John, being the lead developer for his company's new role-playing game.
John couldn't help but smile at the thought of all the hard work he had done. Sure, it was a tight deadline, but this project quickly became his passion. Still smiling, John stretched outside of the office and quickly made his way through the snow, to his car.
“Should get a new car.” It was an older model but still drove great. The only problem was the lack of heat. Having been through worse weather, John made his way home, slightly chilled.
"Home sweet home..." John says as he turns on the light to his apartment’s living room.
The apartment was a modest one, despite the good amount of money he made. He was always taught to live below his means.
Something he took to heart. He can't help but reminisce about his journey to where he is now. From a wild child in his youth to the respectable modest man he was now. All of it was thanks to his friends and family, whom he loved dearly.
"I'm pretty much living my dream," John says with a smile. And now that his deadline is over, he will also have a lot of free time.
Which he knew exactly what he would spend it on.
"The game of course," John muttered as he walked through the bedroom. Some may find that knowing everything about the game would ruin the fun.
For John, that couldn’t be more wrong. For some reason, being almost omniscient to a game and its mechanics was magic in its own right.
And John could back it up easily. Being a developer for the game had its perks
John sighed and decided he should probably eat before going to bed.
After he was done with eating a small sandwich he mechanically went about his nightly rituals, eager for the bed.
John flopped himself on the bed and was asleep seconds after hitting the mattress, not knowing they would be the last moments in this world.
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The first conscious thought John had upon awakening was how bright it was. Normally the light shined in from his bedroom window, but this was a magnitude greater. The next was the uncomfortable position he was laying in. John’s eyes shot open as he realized that he wasn’t in his bed anymore. He quickly looked around and leaped to his feet as he was now seemingly in the middle of a forest.
“What the hell!?” John yells, bewildered. Rubbing his eyes reality sank in. The towering trees, the dense foliage, the breeze, all was too real to be a dream. And then he panicked. Quickly sitting down he tried his best to understand what was going on.
“Think, think!” One moment he was resting his head in his soft bed, and the next he was waking up in a forest. He then looked down at his attire, a white tunic with brown trousers and leather boots. It couldn’t be a prank, someone would’ve had to pick him up without knowing and transported him far enough that the climate was completely different.
“This has to be a dream…” John said, frustrated. Pinching himself didn't work, meaning…
This was real. He then looked across the clearing and saw a mushroom that had a blue cap and white stem.
“A blue mushroom, in the middle of a towering forest…” It almost looked like a ‘mad-shroom’ from the game he was working on. John quickly sat in front of the mushroom, starting to realize where exactly he was. He then looked down at his hands, grasping and relaxing, trying to determine if this was real. Tears came to his eyes, as reality struck him in the face. Something inside told him that he was in the world of Aether, the RPG he helped develop. The other rational side had nothing to say.
John took a breath and found some clarity.
“I need to focus, survival is my priority.” He then swallowed and realized he was thirsty. He looked up to the sky and decided that it was midday. Every survivalist show he watched told him that he needed food, water, and warmth. At least he had a general idea of where he was.
“Judging by the climate and trees, I must be somewhere in the forest country, Realis.” He then focused and then took note of the various berries and mushrooms around the clearing.
“The blue one is ‘mad-shrooms’ and the red and white spotted ones are ‘Swallow’s’ One made you slowly lose your mind in an intoxicated state and the other is used as a delicacy. Gulping, he decided to trust his knowledge and nibbled on the Swallow mushroom.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Not bad at all…” John said, mildly surprised.
He then picked up and ate several more, filling him up. Looking at the red shiny berries, he quickly shook his head. Lore wise they made you have an effect similar to Dysentery, gameplay-wise they damaged your health a little bit. Not chancing it John continued to wander through the forest, this time in search of water. After finding a crystal clear stream a couple of minutes from the clearing, he quickly gulped down mouthful after mouthful. Seeing his reflection in the water, he sighed in relief. Short black hair and vivid green eyes, with a dusting of facial hair.
“I’m glad that I’m still me at least.”
Looking past his reflection he looked at a small glittering object in the stream. John sunk his hand in the slightly cold water and pulled out a necklace that shined gold. It had a braided gold wire with a black emblem, that almost looked like a bird. Words appeared in front of him, scaring the daylights out of him.
Fragmental Blessing of Thoth Received
Grants a novice spell, favored by the elder god of knowledge, also allows the use of ???
The words then disappeared, as quickly as they came. Dumbfounded, John stood there for a moment before his mind kicked into overdrive.
“This is a Relic Catalyst, attuned to Thoth.” The number of people in Aether who held an object like this could be counted on both hands. As for Thoth, the knowledge came to him crystal clear. Thoth was an elder god who was thought to be faded. In the game, you can find his shrine and do a quest for him. As for the spell… John chuckled at the spell that suddenly came to mind. It was a simple one, in the game it was a novice spell called Boreal Touch. The beauty of it is that it scaled to your level, making it powerful in the end game. It was particularly good at ‘rooting’ the enemy by freezing them solid. The other part was worrying, that wasn't a mechanic in Aether. “An unknown ability from a dubious elder god? Not good.” His mind focused on the spell he gained.
“All I have to do is figure out how to cast it…” Grinning he pulled up his hands and flexed them as he saw in other video games.
…
“Nothing, huh?”
He then shouted out
“BOREAL TOUCH”
…
Sighing at how silly that made him look, he finally sat down. His mind then went on to other things.
He was fed and watered, all he needs now is warmth. The spell can wait for later. Nodding to himself he looked at the sky and saw that the sun was lowering down, meaning he had a few hours left before sundown. He then decided to find a place to camp for the night. After walking a few feet away he saw a huge hollowed-out tree in the foliage in front of him.
“Sweet, just what I needed” He then gathered some moss around the tree and went out to get some firewood. After a couple of minutes of gathering branches, John tiredly sat down in the hollowed-out tree.
“Thankfully I practiced this in boy scouts,” John says thankfully as he used friction to spark up a fire. Not having luck John continued until night.
“Voila! Fire!” John says happily, looking at the now roaring fire.
John tiredly lays down on the moss, trying to get comfortable. The temperature was breezy, which is common in Realis. He then looked up at the sky, counting the stars, and realized that everything he had was gone. His family, his friends… his game. All gone.
“I should have appreciated my life more.” Now that he thought about it, isn’t this a dream for a lot of people?
“I guess the more you like your life, the less you want another.” He then shut his eyes, slowly drifting off.
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“Seeker of might, you have gained my interest.”
A voice said, rebounding through his mind. John looked around at the void around him.
“Is this a dream?” John thought in bewilderment. Black as far as the eye could. It’s almost like he's floating
“What’s going on here!?” John says in anger.
“For gaining my interest, information, payment can be spoken about at a later time.” The voice says again, seemingly amused.
“Is this Thoth? Why am I here?” John shouts in desperation
“An anomaly that knows too much. It’s all in your head.”
John tried forming a connection as to why he found the relic. Was this all planned? Was Thoth the one who brought him here?
“I need to know!” John yells again.
“Wake up and slay the mongrel who's out for your blood in my name, and I shall grant you knowledge.” The voice said getting softer until there was nothing but silence.
“Mongrel? Somethings trying to kill me?” John blinked and he was staring at the night sky. The breeze had gotten worse and the fire had died down. He then became hyper-aware of his surroundings due to the information from the voice. He heard some rustling in the foliage, behind the tree. His heart sank and he swallowed whatever saliva was left in his mouth. He wasn’t a fighter. All he had was a spell that only worked on physical contact. He also had no idea how to use the spell itself. What he needs is information. John quieted his breathing.
Realis was a level one zone. Most players would start here if they didn't know what they were doing. The most he had to watch out for were…
“Goblins.”
The civilized races mostly gathered in towns where it was safe. He should be okay unless a horde form. He then heard quiet grunting as the steps came around the tree.
Goblins are a small green, humanoid race. No magic, just primitive weapons. They also had a weakness in elemental magic. The beta testers would farm these in large numbers.
“I should win this in every scenario.” John thought. Looking at it like that would probably help.
The green face came into vision and John stepped out and tackled the creature to the ground. It grunted in an unknown language and went to stab him with a small wood and stone dagger. Thankfully John grabbed the small frail arm and took the dagger. The fight ended when John stabbed the goblin in the neck. John watched in morbid fascination as the goblin slowly gurgled and died choking on its blood. He finally looked away and slowly calmed his beating heart. John took the dagger and clutched it in his hands. He felt like the emotions were drained out of him. His mind then went to Thoth.
“How do I offer something to a god?” John quickly went through his options. Rituals in history offer the heart. In some, prayer is enough. He didn't want to cut out the heart, for obvious reasons. So a prayer it is.
“I offer this goblin to Thoth.” John says quietly, feeling silly. His eyes widened as the body slowly decomposed down to dust. John took a moment to breathe and glanced at the sky. He then sits down by the fire and looks down at the relic. Now that he really looked at it, the bird had to be a raven or crow. Ravens were supposed to be smarter and overall more intelligent.
“Fitting that Thoth, the god of knowledge, would have a raven.”
His mind kept going through the fight It was a lot easier than he thought it would be. Now he saw why they slaughtered them in droves. Physically weak, and having to rely on ambush tactics, there not very smart either. John then leaned back into the tree, watching the fire, before falling asleep, hopefully uneventfully.
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Chapter End
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