Jim reached the top of the precariously built spiral stairway. A mezzanine floor stretching the length of the warehouse opened out in front of him. Bunks, hammocks and chests lined the wall as far as he could see, with a thin walkway backing onto a railing on the opposite side of the room. The floorboards creaked with each step, making Jim feel questionable about the construction of the building. Taking in some of the details of the floor, it was definitely pieced together, repaired and remade in a lot of parts. As he continued farther down the room he assessed the bunks and hammocks to make sure he took one that was free. He looked over the edge of the railing seeing a straight drop down to the crates and barrels below on the warehouse floor.
Nearing the end of the building he found a hammock that looked unoccupied of any belongings. Next to the hammock space was an open chest with no contents, which Jim comfortably took as a sign that it was available to use. The chest was worn and beaten, with a covering of lacquer giving it an easy shine. Above the chest were two wide wooden and brass shutters, clasped together with a metal hook and slider. He slid the mechanism open and the light of a morning sun began to peak through the small crack that was created. Opening the shutter wider the world in front of him opened into a breathtaking view.
A seascape, a beautiful coastline view and a distant city were perfectly framed in the new open space. Fresh, breezy air hit Jim’s face and the smell of the salty ocean washed across his senses.
“Ooh that’s the stuff” He said, exhaling a long deep breath.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and felt the heat of the morning sun cross his face.
Leaning on the edge of the open shutter space, he looked down to the seaside town that he was in. A large dock, maybe half a mile long, edged into the ocean with only one small skiff in its many ports. Other smaller buildings were bustling with life. Carriages, boxes, animals and wagons were busily being packed and unpacked from transit to the buildings.
Away from the hustle and bustle of the obviously very busy docking side of the town, large green spaces with walkways, sculpted gardens, homes and small shops were built out in a semi circle away from the dock. Jim immediately appreciated the effort of design and care that went into the planning of the town. The central hub, the dock, fed out into the rest of the town as if it were its whole essence, its heart.
Away from the sea on the other side of town, a railway ran along the bottom edge of a monumentally tall cliff wall. From Jim’s view, the top of the cliff wall was covered in a faint green outline, a forest of dark green haze flowing in and out of a roof of clouds . Back down at the base of the wall the railway track reeled round and through tunnels, over bridges and between forestry. Jim could see the track running far away into the distance, towards the city.
It was difficult for Jim to make out much detail of the city. The only real details were some clear towers on the topmost section, what looked to be several tiers of other minor towers and a clear white wall running around the base of the structure.
With this changed world in front of him Jim’s mind turned to his family and what had become of them in the calamity he saw unravel. Were they still alive? How would he even find them if they were. The continents, countries, cities, and towns were all different. He’d never heard of Kaldoria before and this world felt alien to him. He knew it wasn’t his Earth.
It looked to Jim as if the people here were oblivious that any change had happened only a short time ago. Looking around this new world from this window, it seemed to be prospering just fine. It’s as if the monstrous devastation he saw never even happened. This world seemed settled, they had trade after all and that doesn’t just happen a few days after your continent moved and collided with another.
“This feels so real, but makes no sense.” He said to himself as he twisted a notch of hair in his beard.
Leaving the shutters open he kicked off his shoes and lay down into the hammock, the view of the morning sky nicely picturesque and in view for him.
“At least the sky looks the same” He said to himself, as he gave himself a little nudge on a support beam and started the swing of the hammock.
“Lens, open the Game Guide please” He said.
In a trickle of purple dots and dashes the lights in his vision began to form into the graphical user interface of what he recognised as the Hololens view.
***
The sounds of a steam whistle woke Jim with a shock. His arms swung out trying to steady himself while his whole body flipped in the hammock lining. With a thud he hit the floor.
“Ouchhh”. He said as he rubbed his forearms and slowly got to his feet. The room was darker now and the view out of the shuttered windows showed the similar town landscape filled with campfires and lampposts.
A steam whistle rang throughout the warehouse, followed by the voice of Mae.
“All hands to the dock, arrival of the Cariba, Sanguine and Weaver in 20 minutes. 150 tons, overtime payment approved.” with a second whistle Mae’s voice was cut off.
Jim stretched his body, arms, neck and back.
“Right, let’s go see this world in action then”
He turned his wrist over and accessed his storage. He flicked through the options available and started to select the checkbox next to items from his storage bay.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equip:
Dwarven armour boots: Common - Set: Incomplete
Dwarven armour bracers: Common - Set: Incomplete
Human leather padded body armour: Common - Set: Incomplete
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Thief’s pocket pants: Uncommon
Weapons: Rotary hammer: Rare
Equip these items: Yes/No?
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With a press of his finger in the air at the heads up display a wind of dust gathered around Jim. His currently worn clothes he watched in deep concentration as the mass of material began to break apart into the purple cogs of magic. The cogs clicked apart and began to transform into the liquid auroras of light. From his watch he saw fresh brighter light wash up his arms and over his body, finding its place in the location of the items he’d equipped.
The lights began the reverse journey, turning from floating liquid like mass into solid cogs and settling into place. Jim felt the slight pinch of magical materials locking into place, the cogs rotating and binding together. The outer shell of the materials began to manifest and his new clothes appeared on his body.
“So cool!” Jim said in a fascinated tone.
Ding!
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notification
Ability advancement!
+100 experience
Mana-optic: Novice 5: See the underlying Mana routes and blueprints of common rarity mana created items, armour, weapons, augments, buildings and creatures.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Jim closed the message, another Ding! happened.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notification
Quest gained: A quick study, knowledge is power after all.
You’ve shown enthusiasm and ability for understanding the formation of magical items.
Seek out a mentor in Verastor who can help you understand magical formation and manipulation to advance your knowledge.
Rewards: Mentorship with Escanor the Forgemage.
On failure: Find another way to advance your knowledge.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim was used to closing down the visual displays of notification by now. His study of the game guide and his 50+ backlogged notifications from the starting trial had meant his muscle memory was already acting on his behalf as he finished reading. Before he’d fallen asleep he studied the guide back to front, twice over. For the first time throughout this whole ordeal he finally felt he had a grasp on at least the basics of the world he was in, and how it worked.
This new world was a giant game, with levels, quests, careers, guilds and wars. It had a structure, paths to follow and power to be grabbed at opportune times. His class, a thief, may lead him down a slightly darker and risky path, but for now at least he’d decided on a goal, to get stronger. To do that, he’d need to advance his skills from the Novice ranks, through to the next tier, Student. He’d then hopefully start trying to figure out what happened to Earth, and more importantly find his family.
He descended the spiral stairs, his new Dwarven boots hammering the wood with metal stomps. The stairs felt a lot tighter of a squeeze to navigate down, his new armour and weapon clanging off of the support railings. The warehouse was much busier now and Jim could clearly hear voices and shouts as steam engines chugged and wheels moved.
With a huge gust of air Jim ducked in place as a Kurura glided over his head to hover in the middle of the room. Once hovering Jim noticed the hardhat on the creature's heat, and the clipboard, and the hi vis vest.
“Jamie, move the loader from bay 4 over to dock 2, we’ll need all the wheels we have.” It yelled, whilst filling in its clipboard.
The Kurura noticed Jim on the stairway and with a sharp flap of its wings made its way over to him.
“You, who are you? It said with its piercing eyes locking on to Jim.
“Hello, I’m Jim! I'm new!”
The talons of the Kurura clasped on to the railing with a scratch of metal and clanging of gears and steam. The whole thing shook as it leant in closer to Jim.
“Hmmmm, Dwarf?”
“No, Mul” Jim said.
“Ha, good at sod all then, go grab a hardhat and help out at dock 2, ask for Jenk when you get there” The Kurura pointed to the far left corner of the warehouse.
“I’m Drexel by the way, the foreman. Don’t break anything, drop anything, kill anyone or get killed.” He said dismissively.
As he finished Jim noticed Drexel’s talons. One foot looked normal, like the foot of a hawk or owl. The other however was a construct of metal tubing and what looked like pistons and gears. Before Jim could get a proper look the bird man let go of the railing causing another shake and wobble of the structure. He dropped through the air around 20 feet in a free fall before spreading his wings widely and gliding down to the centre of the warehouse.
Jim realised he’d just seen his first Augment. The game guide explained the mechanics behind them to what Jim thought was quite a light depth. Augments were permanent physical changes to your character to grant extended abilities. They could be enchanted with magical elements, sculpted to specific classes and could only be removed by what read as a nasty process involving rituals and heavy level losses. Jim gave extra attention to this part of the game guide, as when on his Character Screen he noticed he had an Augment of his own. The Hololens. It showed an error however on the details, so he couldn’t get a full dump of information on it.
“That was awesome, I totally should have picked.. something… with… wings” Jim gasped for air between words as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
His new boots and armour were heavy and Jim’s low level was more than likely the culprit for how unfit he now felt. As he took a breath another whistle rang out across the room.
“Attention all. Vessel Cariba medical flag hoisted, medical team to dock 2”
With a dash of speed and now wearing a full set of light red armour and long green cape Mae shot out of her office at full speed, followed by a large sabretoothed green and blue hound.
Jim took a deep breath of air and started to jog after them at a slow clanging pace.