“Programming? Systems?” Benjamin managed to ask as he walked through the door. “Does that mean—”
“Sorry, I have more important things to do than explain these things to every. single. group. Every night and every batch, it’s always the same questions.” the mage answered with a heavy sigh.
He snatched the phone from Benjamin’s hand as he walked by and started fiddling with it. Benjamin would have loved to stay and watch as the lock screen started to fill with strange green characters, but he couldn’t. As badly as he wanted to see what this asshole was doing to his phone, he felt the need to obey the last order he’d been given and keep walking with everyone else.
The group slowly assembled in three rows of ten or fifteen people, and as far as resistance went, the most that his friends had managed was to stay together in the front row. That was it. None of them had any more luck at telling this man off than he did. All they could do was stand there in the richly appointed red canvas tent and admire its opulence while they waited for whatever was going to happen next.
Benjamin would have never believed that this had been summoned into existence moments before if he hadn’t actually seen it, which made all the little details that much weirder. From the thickly carpeted floors to the brass oil lamps and the incense censers — it looked thoroughly lived in rather than being some cheap special effect or procedurally generated monstrosity.
“Alright,” the mage said, setting Benjamin’s phone down on a table in front of the assembled group, “You have many questions, and some of you are probably afraid. Don’t be. We will take good care of you since you share our humanity. Even if you come from a backward world and require enlightenment, people as flawed as you can still do your part.”
Benjamin felt his worries melt away, even if, logically, everything the man said should have intensified them. Benjamin’s eyes flicked from the mage’s ageless face to the younger man, who was obviously his servant or apprentice, and then over to the mage’s guards and back again.
There was something wrong with all of them, but he had a hard time deciding which detail horrified him the most. Each was inhuman in some way. The guards who stood there like robots were ugly and misshapen with dead black eyes, the apprentice’s face was twisted by a perverse glee about whatever was about to happen next, and the mage who seemed to be in charge was so calm that he looked bored despite everything that was going on. He was handsome, but despite his words, he seemed completely disinterested about whether any of them lived or died.
It was clear that every last one of them was a monster, but it was impossible to say which was the worst. However, there were only seven of them. The campers outnumbered them by at least five to one. They should have been able to fight back, but they didn’t. Benjamin didn’t understand that, but that was only one of the many mysteries he struggled with while he stood there.
“I don’t have the time to explain all of this,” he continued. “But I’ve summoned a familiar into one of the little talismans that the people of your world seem to love so much, and it can explain everything to you while we start separating the wheat from the chaff.”
It was only when Kitsune Miko-chan suddenly popped out of his phone that his heart rate finally rose in embarrassment. In his stable of waifus, the sultry little fox girl was currently his number one best girl, and now she was standing only a few feet in front of him in a slightly translucent form that was so detailed it was practically real. She was right there in front of him, and her tight Chinese dress that showed off her ample curves was about the only thing that could distract him from the several tails that swayed together in a hypnotic rhythm behind her.
On any other day, in any other place, Benjamin would have thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Today, though, he could only wish that he could curl up and die of embarrassment at the idea that all of his friends were seeing this.
Fuck, he thought to himself. I hope no one notices how much she looks like Emma…
Even dying of embarrassment couldn’t stop him from listening to her as she smiled broadly and interrupted the downward spiral that his thoughts were becoming, “Thank you all so much for coming to help us! As my master said, we couldn’t continue this war without the brave men and women like you who come to Aavernia every day to bolster our numbers!”
“War?” Raja asked, “I don’t want to fight in anyone’s war!”
“And I don’t want to hear another word out of you, ever again,” the bored man in charge said offhandedly, silencing his friend effortlessly.
“Now, now…” the fox girl said enthusiastically, “Don’t be that way! Let’s have a big round of applause for the bravery you’ve shown by coming to our aid against all the wicked spirits trying to snuff out every trace of humanity on this lovely world!”
There was only silence for a few seconds as she seemed to wait for a round of applause that never came, and then she looked over to the man in charge, and he said, “Fine, fine - do what she says.”
The tent erupted into cheers and clapping as soon as he spoke, and even though Benjamin wasn’t quite sure why, he joined in immediately with more enthusiasm than he generally showed about anything. He tried to analyze these thoughts, but they were almost immediately swept away on a tide of gratitude for the men who had brought them here.
Kitsune Miko-chan’s smile broadened to the point where it became more than a little predatory, and she curtsied slightly before she continued. “On your previous world, you might have been planning to be a scholar or pursue one of the crafting professions. You might even think that you don’t have the skills necessary to fight angry trees or eight-foot-tall wolven berserkers, but in a few minutes, you will! I promise you that!”
As she spoke, a ghostly stat sheet opened up beside her. It listed several attributes divided between mind, body, and soul. Skills followed that, and though he didn’t recognize the precise system they were using, he was fairly sure it would have fit right in with half the RPG games in his library.
“The runic magics that underlie the system will make you stronger and faster than you’ve ever been,” she said, gesturing to the glowing window. “Each category of your stats has an offensive and defensive ability. Not only are resistances derived from this, but it will also determine what abilities you can purchase when you level up.”
“Well - what abilities can be purchased for you,” she corrected herself. “The Summoner Lords of Rhulvin know best, and they will help you. Based on the Mind and Soul stats, I can see that some of you should become war mages or healers as best suits your talents. But almost all of you will become soldiers in our great war because that’s what we need most right now! Isn’t that great?”
She said that last bit with a smile so twisted that, for a moment, it really was great. For a few seconds, Benjamin couldn’t wait to become a soldier. Even as he felt the hum of magical energy slowly building inside of him and saw his interface panel beginning to populate with nearly nonsense phrases like ‘Incorporating soul ID,’ ‘installing common tongue,’ and ‘calculating etheric optimization,’ he realized that the very last thing he wanted in the whole world was to become a soldier with a gun or a sword or whatever.
That was why he hadn’t joined the Army to get money for college. He’d held his nose and taken out loans because it would be a lot easier to pay back that money after he got a job at one of the big tech companies than it would be to heal from a bullet wound or PTSD. He’d been right, too.
Two of the guys he’d graduated from high school with were beyond messed up now, and they’d only enlisted for a couple years. Benjamin couldn’t imagine what such a fate would do to him, yet, for a moment, he’d actually been excited about the prospect.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
For the first time, he found himself struggling against the magic, or whatever it was that was making him feel this way, and he quickly found out that it hurt to do that. A lot. Judging from the grunts and hisses of pain he heard from those around him, he was sure that he wasn’t the only one either.
He struggled mentally against the dissonance but without success. Wrestling with the part of his mind that was certain that becoming a soldier in someone else’s war was a great idea felt like wrestling with a live wire, and he was losing.
His waifu kept droning on and on about the war to come and how, with the help of all the new arrivals, they would finally be able to achieve victory, but as soon as Benjamin’s character sheet populated, he began to tune her out because he finally understood why it was he couldn’t seem to resist even the most terrible ideas she was telling him.
NAME: Benjamin Newsome
RACE: Human
CLASS: Crafter(Programmer)
LVL: 4
EXP: 9542/10,000
BPs: 20
Mind
INTELLECT
9(7)
WILL
7(6)
MANIPULATE
4(3)
Body
AGILITY
5(4)
STRENGTH
6(5)
APPEARANCE
4(3)
Soul
ANIMA
5(4)
SPIRIT
7(6)
CHARM
3
RESOLVE: 22/28
HEALTH: 24/24
MANA: 28/28
STATUS EFFECTS:
Summoned: Resistance halved vs. your summoner. 24hrs.
Charmed: -10 Resistance to resist orders/spell effects. 1hr.
Integrating: -20% to all stats while system is installing.
SKILLS
Athletics: 9
Craft (programming): 52
Profession (office): 37
Lore (video games): 88
Knowledge (Academia): 63
Knowledge (internet): 82
Driving: 34
Diplomacy: 34
Team Work: 10
Medicine (first aid): 16
Seduction: 8
Leadership: 12
Resist (Social): 21
ABILITIES
Obstinate: +20% resistance to social attacks and charm magics
Quick Study: +10% skill points for each build point spent
EQUIPMENT:
None equipped
INVENTORY:
Salvaged clothes, demon possessed smartphone (grade 3)
His character sheet was a bit of a mess, but one thing was clear: he was at a serious disadvantage when trying to resist right now. Benjamin wasn’t entirely sure what everything meant, but he was pretty sure that the loss of resolve had something to do with all of this. Some effect was taking place, and even though he struggled against it, he was losing.Benjamin managed to turn his head enough to look to his left and his right. Matt was still trying to fight it, obviously, but Ethan’s normally cool demeanor seemed to have been replaced with something darker. He was gazing at the beautiful Kitsune with an eagerness in his eyes.
It was the sound of a distant horn that pulled Benjamin back into the present moment as his mind raced.
“See,” Kitsune Miko-chan said, gesturing excitedly enough to make her breasts bounce as her clothes were suddenly replaced by a set of busty samurai armor. “The wildlings are coming now. That could be your very first chance to strike a blow for humanity everywhere!”
“I think not. Half of this lot aren’t even fit to be soldiers. We’ll take them back with us just the same, though. Some will make for fine laborers, and the dross can be used as sacrifices,” the mage said dryly, somewhere behind him. “Waste not, want not, especially regarding blood magic.”
“There will be no fighting then?” Kitsune Miko-chan asked with a tone of exaggerated disappointment.
“No, violence is inevitable, I think,” the mage countered, “but we’ve already killed all the Throne’s trolls and most of her treants in this region, so unless she opts to join the hunt herself for once, I’m sure that the centurions I’ve brought can handle whatever dregs they’ve mustered while we get the rest of this group initialized.”