If warmth and life and energy were taken out of the sun, school lights are left. Under hate and abuse school lights lose their glint, and they stop shining like they were made to.
If you inspect them closely, you’ll find a few light bulbs that have permanently burnt out. A lot of cobwebs hidden here and there but for some reason, there’s never a spider hiding. They are always covered in dust since they have never been dusted. Year old paper balls are stuck in odd spaces with rock hard gums are stuck to the edges.
Beneath these school lights sat a boy named Greg. He felt the paper balls hitting his head, his teeth gritted against each other. Through the rage, he tried his hardest to concentrate on the math teacher. He could feel his heart racing and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He would take the biggest risk he’d ever taken in his life soon.
Joy loudly laughed as he crumbled another sheet of paper and threw it at Jack. He kicked and pulled the chair from time to time, whispering, “piggie,” loud enough for the entire room to hear, and quiet enough for the teacher to ignore. He heard many different people giggle.
Suddenly, Greg stood up, pushing the chair back, and with a raised voice he said.
“Teacher!” She jerked backwards and looked at him disgusted, and annoyed at the interruption.
“What?” She asked, but it sounded more like a threat.
“Joy has been bullying me for the last two years. He’s burnt my clothes, put out cigarettes on my skin, hit me and abused me. I don’t feel well or safe, please do something. I don’t think I can take another year of this.”
“Why haven’t you done something about it?” The teacher said, startling Greg.
“He’s stronger than me and he has a lot more friends than me. He also has a knife a lot of the time, I can’t do anything. Can you help me?”
“A knife? Joy, do you have a knife?”
“No ma'am.”
“Of course he’s lyin…” Greg tried to explain before being interrupted.
“Greg it’s your word against his, bring proof next time you make accusations.”
“I can show you the marks, I swe…”
“Enough! Sit down, another interruption like this and I’ll call your parents,” she barked with a smug smile.
“But,” Greg was interrupted again.
“No buts, sit down, is that understood?” She said.
“Yes, Ma’am."
Defeated, Greg sat down. He felt especially heavy. The teacher turned around to continue drawing on the board and Joy leaned in towards Greg.
“Buddy, I’ll hurt you real bad today. I think removing another one of your fingernails will do. You’ll finally have an entire hand without fingernails!” Joy said as if declaring great news.
…
Greg tightened the rope and stood up. Tears made his sight cloudy, he brought a stool and stood up on it. He pulled his head through the loop. He looked at the dark room one last time, small cans of coke and dirt were everywhere.
He wondered as if he should do it, he wondered if it was worth it. He thought, “Will anyone miss me? Will I be sent to hell?” Suddenly, he heard his father scream from the living room.
“Your teacher called me for bad conduct, have I taught you nothing you bastard!” He screamed, and marched towards Greg’s room, his loud steps reaching Gregs ear. He kicked open the door with a belt in his hand, and stared at Greg in disbelief once he saw him.
“Don’t you dar..” It was too late, Greg had already kicked the stool. The second he fell down was both an eternity and an instant. His senses rose, he could feel everything. The warm air against his skin, the cigarette smoke in the air, the ache in his finger screaming from having his fingernail ripped, his throat raspy from all the screaming.
But the end he desired didn’t come. Instead he felt the splash of water and tumbled forward. He quickly raised his head, fully expecting to see his father, his heart beat quicker and louder then ever before. The atmosphere around him had changed completely.
He breathed in the cold, fresh, air and heard owls howling loudly within the trees. His father was nowhere to be seen. Everything around him was coloured light blue by the large blue moon.
He thought, “Where am I?” and stood up from the puddle, he could already feel himself start to freeze. A blue mist pouring in from all directions crowded him, it condensed until a shape formed. Finally, a blue genie with a red hat floated in front of him.
“Hello, my name’s System,” the genie said. Greg screamed and fell backwards, back into the puddle, rasping at the mud to get away.
“I know it’s bad, but it’s not that bad,” System said and leaned in, “come on, I’ve got no choice over it. Blame my mother for the stupid name.”
“What-what are you?” Greg managed to stutter.
“I’m a genie, your personal genie.”
“What?” Greg said confused, “one of those that give me three wishes?”
“No no no, don’t be silly that’s just a myth,” System said, “I’m like… an emperor's toy, anyhow, I’m here to help you out.”
“Really?” Greg asked befuddled.
“Yeah, let me summon the window, it’s really handy for this.”
The genie snapped his fingers and a giant game-like window appeared. Greg read the text that stood on it.
Welcome to the ancient magician system!
Quest gained!
Super easy quest ~ Start a Fire
Task: Start a campfire of any size before the night is over
Reward: Spell ~ Fire arrow
If failure
Punishment: None
The window disappeared. The genie stared at Greg, and Greg stared back; he silently debated if this was a nightmare.
He’d never remember his nightmares, all he knew was that he woke up all sweaty with his heart thumping really loudly. Sometimes he’d remember odd bits, like a rat running in a corner, but he could never make out the full meaning.
“Fire arrow? That’s like magic,” Greg uttured, still confused.
“No shit kiddo, magic,” System said, creating a small rainbow with his hands.
“Magic exists here?”
“Yup, a whole lot of it, and if you’re lucky, you’ll learn a lot of it,” the genie stated.
“But, I don’t know how to make a fire,” Greg said.
“Sounds like a you-problem,” The genie said before dissipating.
Greg was left cold and alone and wet on a dirt path in the middle of the forest. He couldn’t help but look at the darkness in the forest, the thought of anything being able to rush through and attack him scared him.
Salty tears formed and flowed down to his chin and dropped to the puddle. Clenching his fists, he jerked and smashed them into the puddle, making water splash all around. He heaved air as his sight turned blurry. He shrieked.
Why did things never go his way? Why couldn’t anything just be simple, why couldn’t things be easy? He really wanted things to be easy, he wanted to not think, he wanted to leave this cold place, he wanted a knife and his wrists and to be left alone.
His body felt incredibly warm, but his ears had frozen and cried in pain. It brought him back to his scenario. He looked around. Everything was still and silent; he could hear the blood pulsing in his ears.
He noticed that his hands didn’t hurt as much as he’d expected. He looked at them and realized that his fingernails had come back and he saw that the scars on his forearms had healed. He peered back at the water and noticed that it didn’t look anything like water.
It wasn’t dirty or dark or light. It felt more like quicksand and had the colour of turquoise and shone slightly. Greg smelled his hands, they were fresh as if washed in soap. He cupped a small bit and tried drinking it, his throat hurt the entire way.
The puddle was quickly shrinking. It didn’t take long before it had disappeared completely.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Greg laid down on the mud that was left and stared at the star-filled sky. The blue moon was a spectacle, something he’d never seen before, it was the colour of a sunny sky and he felt himself fall into it.
There was no point in trying to make a fire, he would fail either way.
The mist appeared again, but only a blue mouth formed.
“Don’t stare at the moon too long, it’ll suck the mind out of you, literally,” the mouth disappeared.
Actually, Greg didn’t notice how silent his mind had become. How peaceful it was, he loved the sensation. He looked away from the moon and towards the stars and quickly the dark memories came rushing back. His sight jerked back to the moon and they disappeared.
He could hear his breath, something he hadn’t heard in years. Minutes past and he didn’t blink, the silence was intoxicating to him. He had found his new drug.
For the first time this day, he had a moment to think. He’d heard of this but only in stories, to be transported into another world and given another chance. Perhaps this was the world's way of giving him a second chance, one he felt he had earned.
He was about to doze away when he felt someone kick his feet. His eyes jerked away from the moon and towards the two men standing around him, they were clad in iron armour. They looked down at him in befuddlement.
“Mate, are you alright? Staring at the moon like that is a sure-fire way to lose your mind.”
Greg sat up, in front of him there was two horses and a carriage, sitting on the carriage a grumpy man stared at him. One of the men offered his hand, and Greg took it, afraid to make him angry.
“My name’s Joe.” The man carrying a torch said.
“And mine’s Evan, you can hitch a ride with us back to the city if you’d like,” Joe said.
“S-sure,” Greg said.
The two men marched towards the back of the carriage, their armour clanging loudly. Greg hesitated for a moment about following, not wanting to enter a strangers vehicle, but the old man, sitting at the front of the carriage, gave him a heavy stare that made him uncomfortable enough to stumble behind the two men, wanting to escape it.
Greg felt the mud stick between his freezing toes, he couldn’t move them. Before climbing into the carriage he looked towards the forest, his eyes sticking to one spot, almost as if he made eye contact with someone. For a short moment, he was very glad for the carriage and quickly jumped in.
Bags of green watermelons filled the carriage, there was very little space and the two men had squeezed themselves in. the two guards sat across each other, Greg chose to sit beside Evan since he didn’t look as tough as Joe, he lifted a bag of watermelon and sat down letting the watermelon rest on his thigh.
It smelled really weird, almost like oil but spicier.
“So… what’s your name?”
“Greg.”
“Greg why the fuck are you sleeping out here and staring at the moon?” Joe asked.
“Umm, I don’t really know,” Greg said.
“Oh my, Greg, how long did you stare at the moon?” Evan asked.
“A few minutes.”
“A few minutes, it took us more than four minutes to break you out of it?”
“Really?” Greg said bewildered, he thought he’d woken up the second they touched him.
“You do know that you’re going to lose your mind that way, right?”
“This guy man, such a goddamn fool,” Joe said.
“Umm. I knew that,” Greg said.
“Then why did you do it?”
“It felt calming I guess. I know that’s stupid.”
“No, I get what you’re saying. That’s the danger behind it I guess, the peace you feel from looking at it,” Evan said.
“Peace? It just gives me anxiety, can’t look at the moon you bellands,” Joe said proudly.
“How long do you need to look at the moon?”
“A few hours I’d wager, I don’t really know, the danger is that once you start looking you forget about time. Hours pass like minutes. A dangerous thing I say.”
“Haha, reminds me of my old friend Jim. Guy would stare at the moon however long he wanted. He didn’t have anything inside his skull either way, so it didn’t affect him.”
“Haha”
Greg noticed a small flower wrapped on Evan’s finger. It was red and had small thorns on it.
“What’s that flower?”
“Oh, my nine year old daughter made that for me. She lives in the town we’re about to go to. I haven't seen her in a while, but I keep this with me as a way of reminding me of her. ”
“Ha, children, a pain in the ass if you ask me, is there a difference between a child and a parasite? If cumming inside a whore didn’t feel so good I wouldn’t have made any children.”
“You have a child?” Greg asked.
“No, no whore actually raises the child you belland, they all leave them out on rocks, for nature to take.”
“Huh,” Greg accidentally let out, he expected a slap but none came.
“Huh indeed. Cruel fate, I’ve heard they turn into vines, scary thing. But what do I care.”
“They do!” An old voice came from the front, it was both deep and dark, “the myths are true, I’ve seen it myself. The trees wrap their roots around them and suck them dry. What was a baby turns into dry skin. You’ll find them sometimes, won’t even realize that you’re walking over them, they’ll look like leaves, except they’ll have two holes for eyes.”
“A cruel fate.”
“A pleasant fate, no need to live through life.” Joe said and Evan chuckled.
“Aye!,” the old voice said, “anything you’ll be doing in… What’s that, ahhhhhh,”
They heard a beat, and a roar, a scream and the flesh being wrangled off. Chomps and bites repeatedly sounded, and blood splattered against the wood. The watermelons bounced and a little liquid came through. Joe and Evan quickly stood up, alert as hawks.
Joe shoved the torch he was holding into Greg’s hands, giving him a grim stare.
The silence ticked past. It reminded Greg of the last five minutes of a lesson, the slowest minutes of his life, he heard the clock alternating ticks, the spit sliding down his back, Joy’s tough hands gripping his shoulders.
A red claw flew through the watermelons, jerking to the side, hitting Evan in the temple. Evan flew into the carriage wall and passed out. A head with two horns popped through the watermelons. Chilly green eyes shining.
Greg’s heart raced up, and he crawled backwards almost toppling out of the carriage. The monster pushed further through the watermelons. Joe drove his sword into the monster. The monster bit through the sword and threw itself at Joe.
Greg toppled out of the carriage landing with his legs over his head. He clenched the torch out of fear, he could hear slurping noises. He quickly straightened himself, and kicked at the ground.
The chilly green eyes made eye contact with Greg. In complete fear, Greg did the only thing he could. He screamed, “piggy,” and contracted his entire body. The process ended up in the torch slipping out of his hands and flying into the carriage.
The entire carriage turned aflame, quicker than the blink of an eye. He heard the demonic shrieking that came from the creature. Greg felt warm. He saw the claw extending outwards before turning crips black.
The flame disappeared as quickly as it came, all that was left was a terrible stench. Greg felt suffocated from the stench.
(Authors note: The watermelons weren’t actual watermelons, hint hint)
He crawled away feeling all the strength in his body leave him. His pants we’re warm from the piss; it was a miracle he hadn’t shit himself. He cried and wheezed until his lungs forced him to take a deep breath.
“That’s sure as hell one way to create a fire,” the genie said, “I was thinking more of a small campfire but you like to style I guess. I respect that.”
He snapped his fingers and the blue window appeared in front of him.
Quest completed, Rewards given!
Greg felt the part behind his eyes burn. It quickly disappeared and Greg had knowledge he’d never heard of or thought of inside his brain. It reminded Greg of knowing the next page of a book without reading it.
The knowledge in his mind was of a different tier, it wasn’t a perception but almost objectivity, as if he truly knew something without any blur.
“You can now cast fire arrows,” System said, “you can only cast three as of now… about that. I need to explain a few things to you.”
“Like what?” Greg asked.
“How your progression works and how to level up and ho… a lot of things I guess. Let’s start with this,” the genie snapped his fingers and the window in front of him changed.
Strength: 0
Agility:0
Mana:
Magic:0
Stamina:0
Vitality:0
“You know games? You’re kinda stupid so we made this like a game. Each time you level up, you get three points you can spend here. What the points do is kind of obvious, so let’s skip that.”
“What level am I?” Greg asked.
“0,” System whispered, almost smugly.
“How do I level up?” Greg asked.
“You level up by killing, but that’s not all there’s to it. Your skills also have levels, and they are levelled up by being used. It’s a lot quicker if it’s in combat.”
“But didn’t I kill that monster back there?” Greg asked.
“It’s not dead... no need to look so scared, it can’t hurt you.”
“What do you mean, did you see it?” Greg stared at the carriage.
“Demons can’t be killed by fire, what you killed was simply the puppet. The little shit has probably already run away,” System said, “let’s get back to the original topic. Now you can only spend your skill points whenever you want, simply summon the window.”
“How do I do that?” Greg asked.
“Wave your hands as flamboyantly as you can, haha, I can’t believe your actually doing it, no, simply think my name and it will appear. I, on the other hand, only appear when I wish to,” System said.
“More on skills, '' System said, “you can either learn them or gain them. I will artificially increase your proficiency with those skills. Thank me by being stylish. Each five levels is a milestone, and it caps at level twenty.”
“At level five the skill will be cast at 100%,” System explained, “they will be easy and quick to gain, but after that it will become a lot more difficult. At level 10 the skill will cast at 200%, and at level 15 500%, and 20 2000%.”
“Is that strong?”
“Very. And, notice that the stronger the original spell, the stronger it will become. Okay, enough of this. Here’s another quest.”
Super easy quest ~ Reach the town Salioso
Task: Enter the general vicinity of the town Saliosos
It is currently 2.102 Km away.
Reward: Spell ~ Magic Hand
If failure
Punishment: None
“Good luck and goodbye,” the genie said before disappearing.