Evan found himself in a white space. The only other person in sight was an old man. Something seemed false about his appearance but Evan dismissed the feeling.
“Hello there boy, come over here so we can speak comfortably.” The old man spoke in a calm quiet voice. Evan faintly realized that he shouldn’t be able to hear the old man from this distance, again Evan put it out of his mind, he was on the edge of panic and any unneeded thoughts could mean the difference between a controlled adrenaline rush and a mad panic.
“I won’t hurt you boy, I’m hardly real anyway. This is entirely within your mind. This is the space between realities. Most would call me a god, but I suspect you would think of me as an angel of sorts. You were involved in an accident that you had no chance of avoiding.”
“You were involved in a summoning ritual from another reality. Usually I stop any such thing from occurring, and we fake the result by creating a hero from scratch.” The old man shook his head…. Evan realized he was expressing an emotion where someone would have shaken their head. The old man, a false image his mind conjured up, didn’t move. “Usually all that happens in your world is that an echo of the spell inspires someone to write a story. No harm done.”
“Well boy, let’s get you squared away. First, I can’t return you to your Earth. Your soul is moving with too much momentum. I can nudge you so that you end up somewhere relatively safe. Unfortunately none of my options are ideal for you. I’ve picked a place where you are unlikely to die a horrible death and where you are least likely to die within your first day. There are no good options boy.”
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The old man waved his hand and a crystal appeared, floating in the air between them. “This is a Stone of Origin, a divine treasure from the world I will be placing you in. I’m borrowing it to give you a leg up in your new world. Go ahead and touch it.”
Evan pressed his hands to the crystal. After a moment a panel of light appeared before him. Evan Meyers, Human, Mana 500, Skills: Alchemy, Analyze.
“Oh, innate skills, interesting.” The old man smiled at him. “Let’s see… Alchemy and Analyze. A good pair of skills. Difficult to acquire as well. Let’s see here…. You need a component to activate your skills…. You should have a barrier skill…. The local language…. Your Mana efficiency is excessive…. Oh well. Now what am I forgetting…. Eh, I doubt it’s important. Let’s see then…. You are finished growing, no reason to regress your age either…. Ah…. Let's lock down your sex, one of the administrators that I might have to hand you off to might just make you a girl for his own reasons…. Ah, your harem potential is going up…. Let’s lower that too, trust me you don’t want that. Ah, I was forgetting to give you an energy pool. It wouldn’t have been too bad, you could have acquired the needed skill elsewhere, but life would have been needlessly difficult until you managed it. While we’re at it, let's tweak your luck a bit. I think the other administrators like watching people lose their minds when someone with anything special shows up subverting the so called “commonsense” Well that should do it. Ah, I should give you a primer on alchemy. Well that’s all good luck…. I’ve got to go stop another summoning.”
The old man pointed to a door that appeared out of nowhere and Evan walked through it.