Adam felt a rush as he plummeted towards the Earth. The closer he got, the odder the planet looked, too.
I shouldn’t be so surprised that it seems different. It did break apart not too long ago.
As he approached, his sight slowly faded as he felt… something?... happen to him. For the first time, he noticed a change in his surroundings as he was sent to a new location by the system. It felt as if he somehow knew that he had been moved through space.
After spending the last while going through his status sheet, he was pretty sure that this feeling was due to his Instinct stat. It seemed as if the stat allowed him to develop almost a sixth sense about his body, instinctively knowing that something had happened even if he didn’t fully understand what or how.
The last thing that Adam saw as he “fell” was the image of the changed earth and what looked like a bastardization of North America. The coastlines seemed off and water was in different places than it should be.
He felt the space around him stabilize, as if the light egg was being set in place, and with a nearly imperceptible sizzling sound, the egg began to dissolve around him.
Adam’s heart was pounding as he waited for the shell of light to disappear. As it slowly became opaque he noticed that the area he was in currently was too bright to be indoors.
I thought it said we were being returned to the same place we left? He thought nervously. Despite the fact that he had survived the “Beast Gauntlet” trial, or the-worst-experience-of-Adam’s-life as he called it, Adam was still basically the same person. He had gained some perspective about how the world would be changing, but he hadn’t become a completely new person in just a couple hours. This entire situation was still scary and he wasn’t sure he would be ready for what was ahead.
A wave of euphoria coursed through him as he gained the bonus stats from his new Forerunner of Earth title. The primary stat that he felt a difference from was his Instinct once again, bringing a general awareness of his surroundings to the front of his mind. He instantly knew that the area he was in didn’t have any major threats. How convenient.
The egg slowly dissolved into nothingness, leaving Adam standing in a partially destroyed building. A rush of stale salty air assaulted his nostrils, reminding him of his close proximity to the ocean once again. The floors were gouged and all of the furniture was moved and piled against what had been the eastern wall of the Student Center.
Everything in the building showed signs of severe water damage, reminding Adam of the oceans being forced across the surface of the fractured planet during the start of the terraforming. Clearly, ocean water had flowed through the campus during that period. Somehow the buildings had survived such an onslaught. Mana probably had something to do with it. When in doubt: magic, I guess.
A loud clattering made him jump and he felt something else turn its attention towards him. “Shit!” he muttered as he jumped away from the noise.
Adam was shocked and mildly amused by what he saw. A human skeleton was spread across the floor where he had been standing. The leg bones were broken in multiple places and the ribs on the left side were cracked. His bones that had been replaced had come back with him.
Morbid curiosity led him to pick up what had once been his femur. It was broken at one end but was sharp enough to be used to stab something if he needed too. His movements felt slightly off though as he realized once more that his body was not the same as it had been.
“Adam?” a voice whispered from off to the side. He whipped around and saw, about 20 feet from him, Otto, staring at Adam with wide eyes. “Is that you dude? What happened? You’re skin and bone!”
Adam glanced down at himself and was able to fully see how he had changed. What was left of Adam’s clothing was sagging off of his frame. It looked as if he hadn’t eaten in months and while he hadn't gotten taller, his frame made him look more… solid. Definitely thin, but still solid. Regardless of how great he felt, his skin had a hint of a jaundiced yellow tone to it as well.
Damn… I look kinda washed out.
He scanned Otto and whispered back, “Of course it's me! What happened to you?!”
Otto didn’t have much room to talk though as he had clearly undergone a trial of some kind as well. If Otto had been big before the integration, he was huge now. Adam’s bookish and buff friend had transformed into a towering and imposing figure. All of his clothing had torn slightly, as he had gone from 6’5” and 270 lbs to what looked like 7”5” and 325 lbs. Not only had he grown exponentially, his features had taken on an otherworldly aspect that was hard to describe. Faint teal runes pulsed across his skin and if you focused on Otto’s eyes behind his long black hair, you could see that his previously green eyes had streaks of glowing blue that caused them to emanate a hint of teal light as well.
“Why do you look like some kind of god?” Adam grumbled, “How is it fair that I look like some kind of addict, but you come back looking even hotter than before?”
Now that he was actually talking, he realized that some of his words were a little jumbled due to the presence of his new tusks.
Otto bashfully scratched at the back of his head, “I was selected to undergo a Trial by some group called the Nephilim's Haven. While I was with them they…”
He was cut off by a message from the system.
Welcome back to Earth!
As Forerunners, you have been returned earlier than the other inhabitants of your world.
Forerunners are meant to lead a world's inhabitants into the future, helping the other denizens get accustomed to the changes in your reality.
Other inhabitants will start returning in 60 seconds.
WARNING
Humanity has been absent from Earth for 8 months (in Earth relevant time scaling). The wildlife of the planet has grown and adapted to survive in this new world. An influx of humans back into any environment may cause an influx in mana infused animals.
As they read their message, they both realized that this wasn’t the time to swap their stories. They weren’t safe yet.
“We should make sure the area is safe for when the others come back.” Otto suggested. They quickly looked around for anything in their vicinity that could be dangerous, but found nothing of note.
Adam was sure they looked ridiculous, walking around dressed the way they were. Adam’s shredded clothing hung off of him like some kind of halloween decoration, while Otto looked like an adult that squeezed into a child's sweatsuit.
“So, what did you select?” asked the massive man, “I went with the highest compatibility option for myself and chose Path of the Academic. Although, I am not sure how much that will help right now.”
Adam blinked in surprise, “Wait, you look like that and you're an Academic? How does that make sense? I assumed you were some kind of Warrior or something since you are so big now.”
He chuckled, “Warrior wasn’t even an option for me. My… new body is from my sponsorship.” Otto clarified, “I was given a Physique. Apparently, beings from other parts of the multiverse can just do that. Gift someone with the ability to alter their body, changing them to slowly become more like a new creature altogether.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As he talked, Adam got the feeling that Otto was incredibly interested in this topic. Well, looks like Physiques might be a new hyperfixation for him. His big friend continued, “Anyways, I got a Titan Physique, which I guess is technically a half-angel, according to Hrueltrix.”
Adam just stared at Otto. A titan was the same thing as a half-angel? And Otto just… kind of is one now? This was going to take a while to get used to.
“You are going to have to explain that to me later cause that doesn’t make much sense to me.” He looked at his jaundiced arm questioningly. Well… I think I will have to do some explaining as well.
They continued to move away some of the rubble, opening up the space for the eventual arrival of their friends, when two of the eggs appeared near the edge of their cleared space.
Adam made his way to where the eggs were forming, looking around to see if any others were coming back and sensed that another was appearing farther across the building. Must be one of the security guards.
Watching the light eggs dissolve from the outside was interesting as he could see the particles of light dissipating into the atmosphere. However, rather than disappearing into nothingness, Adam could faintly sense the energy as it faded. Oddly enough, he felt like some of the energy seemed to be moving towards Otto. The runes on his skin would emanate an infinitesimal amount of light as the energy brushed against him. No… was absorbed by him. Interesting.
Out from the two eggs came a redheaded woman and a lanky brown haired man. Sylvia and Henry were back. They appeared very close to one another and the two Forerunners quickly moved towards them.
Adam smiled at both of them, “Welcome back guys, this is all so crazy. Otto and I–” he was cut off by a fist attempted to slam into his face.
“ORC!” Henry yelled, “Sylvia, get behind me! I think we have to kill it. Did you get any skills to fight?”
Before Adam got a chance to even reply, Henry was throwing a series of punches towards Adam. Luckily for Adam, his new stats allowed him to dodge the majority of the blows. Surprisingly, the ones that did manage to land didn’t cause any real damage. Henry was no boxer.
“Dammit dude, would you stop?! It’s me, Adam!” The words took a second to sink in but recognition spread across his face.
Otto chuckled from the side causing Henry to acknowledge him next. He froze as he scanned up towards his friend's head, blood draining from his face. “What the fu….” his anxiety turned to realization and then to jealousy as he glanced between them, “How come you guys got to change your race and I didn’t? I totally would have made myself an elf or something.”
“Firstly, we didn't get to change our race like a video game,” Otto responded while giving Sylvia a side hug, “We can talk about this more later, we need to make sure that we are safe while we wait for the others.”
Sylvia spoke up for the first time, “The system said monsters might be close when we returned, we should check the rest of the building.” She always had been pragmatic.
“We did a quick sweep of the room before you guys came back, but we haven’t been outside just yet,” said Adam.
He wasn’t particularly keen on rushing outside without the others, however, they needed to be sure that the area was safe. While he had been looking through the rubble previously, he had found a couple of bags against the far wall. Among them was Jessica’s purse and Henry’s club bag. Considering the way that the world was now, he figured that Henry’s bag would come in handy. The bags and rubble all had the same saltwater bleach stains across it. Hopefully, Henry’s gear wasn't ruined.
He tossed the bag to its owner, “I found this while we were looking around. Based on your reaction to seeing me, I assume this will help?”
Henry grinned, “Thanks Adam, this will help a lot.” Once he had his bag, Henry’s entire demeanor changed. He felt more confident and looked at ease. Adam on the other hand registered his change in demeanor as something else: danger. Henry felt distinctly more dangerous than he had before. Getting used to these instincts is going to take some time.
The four friends decided that Sylvia and Henry should be the ones to greet the others since they didn't have any changes to their appearance. As the next light egg appeared, Adam and Otto waited a couple steps away and kept watch.
During the time it took for the others to catch up with Adam and Otto, Adam had sensed the “security guard” sprint out of the building. The fact that he would run out without talking to anyone made total sense to Adam.
I would rush out too if my family lived nearby. Most YCC staff members lived in the area and he was most likely heading back home to find his family. His quick disappearance had taught Adam that his new senses were not infallible though, as by the time the man had passed through what remained of the entryway of the building, Adam lost track of him with his new Instinctual senses. He could still faintly hear his footfalls but his presence, for lack of better word, was out of his sensory range.
The new light egg turned out to be Emi. She was just as startled by the changes in Adam and Ottos appearances and reacted in a bizarre way. Looking at Adam she pulled back and muttered a phrase in Japanese that none but Henry could understand. While he couldn’t speak the language, he was enough of a weeb to understand a lot of phrases.
“Emi, that's just Adam. He isn’t an Oni,” he laughed, “Your reaction is better than mine though, I thought he was an orc and tried to attack him”.
She looked mildly chastized and then looked up at Otto and blushed. Adam had noticed that Emi and Sylvia both blushed a little when they looked at Otto’s new form. He couldn’t really blame them though. His large friend was a specimen of a human before he added all of the otherworldly elements. Not that he would ever notice their appraising looks. Big guy was even more clueless towards women than Henry.
About 5 minutes had passed since the planet's Forerunners had returned to Earth and Adam was starting to get nervous. The system claimed that groups of people returning would cause monsters to appear. So it only made sense that the longer they stayed in one place, the more likely it would be for a monster to come find them. He decided that while waiting for Jessica, he would move some of the rubble from the wall to make a barrier of sorts. Hopefully, it would obstruct any creatures that showed up while they were waiting.
They all talked while they waited. Henry led the conversation and wanted to know what Pursuits everyone had picked. Unsurprisingly, he had chosen the Path of the Warrior. He was part of the fencing club at the school and had trained in various forms of martial arts growing up but had always pursued sword forms above all else. Henry now had his fencing foil on his hip and a Chinese jian across his back. The jian was something new as he had started meeting up with Professor Greymore in the mornings to do tai chi. Being the cringeworthy sword nerd that he was, Henry had seen that there were tai chi sword forms that you could do and decided he wanted to practice that instead of normal tai chi. Needless to say, having two swords in this situation, even if they were blunted for sports and training, was a blessing.
Sylvia and Otto both had selected the Path of the Academic. It seemed that they both were highly compatible with that particular Pursuit and were hoping to be able to learn magic.
Emi showed that her choice of Path of the Crafter was perfect almost instantaneously, as she helped Adam with the correct placement of materials for the barrier he was making. She also snagged Henry’s jian and was attempting to sharpen its edges while directing Adam.
Once Adam said what he had chosen, Otto turned to Adam while he helped him move a large piece of what was once a concrete wall. “What is the Path of the Beast? Is it an animal control focused Pursuit? I didn’t know you liked animals so much.”
“Honestly, I’m not positive what this Pursuit is going to do for me,” he said, “I had the highest compatibility with this Path and all I really know is that it directly connects with a person's Physique.”
“Did you get any active skills from it? I got Strike with my choice. It lets me empower any attack I make, which makes sense considering I am a warrior now,” Henry asked from beside Emi. He was almost vibrating with excitement over being able to use his weapons. “Maybe the skill you got will help you understand it?
Unsure what else to say, Adam began to explain his skill, “So, my skill is kind of… scary? At least it is to me. The idea behind it is awesome but it's the kind of skill that comes with drawbacks.”
Adam looked nervously at his friends as he continued, “It says that when I use it too much it could have negative side effects. Well, it actually says that the longer that I have it active, the higher the chance of there being negative effects. So, I am a little–”
His danger senses flared in a way that left him shivering, his friends looked at him in a confused manner as he whipped his head around. Nothing seemed to be present until a dreaded system screen appeared.
Integration Complete!
All surviving members of Earth have been returned to their starting point.
Two percent of your world's population were selected to undergo the Forerunners Trial. These individuals have earned Sponsorships from various Factions of the Multiverse.
While some conquered their trials and came back as Forerunners of Earth, others perished during their trials.
They return to you now as your first challenge.
The Multiverse is a dangerous place. Survive and join the rest of existence.
“Wait, what about Jessica? She isn't back yet?” Otto was confused.
Adam reread the message and felt his heart break. He and Jessica had been together for almost a year and he really loved her. Jess always had a smile on her face and was so willing to give her time to help others. She was an amazing woman and they were even looking at buying a house together.
As his friends continued to try and question the system, Adam felt the hairs on his body start to rise. His pulse quickened and once again, he began to sweat. Something dangerous was coming. He could feel it.
Surrounded by a newly built barrier, Adam realized that he might have doomed his friends, rather than helped them.
With a pulse of energy, a new light egg appeared among the group of friends. This egg was a sickly green and black color and gave off a feeling of decay.
Worst of all… the egg was in the same place that Jessica had been.