Xander woke up. This was normal, and something he generally did at least once a day. What was not normal was that he woke up in a blank space completely devoid of anything. He wasn’t even sure there was actually light in this space, yet he could somehow see his hands as he put them in front of his face.
---YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR TRANSLOCATION---
---INITIATING GODSMARKED TRAINING---
A thunderous voice boomed in the space, and at the same time as words appeared in front of Xander. Translocation? Godsmarked? What the hell was this shit? Some kind of weird dream? This didn’t have the odd dream feel of any dream he’d ever remembered, but maybe they only felt that way after waking up.
“Greetings, Godsmarked. I have been provided to you to assist in your training.”
Xander whipped around at the sudden voice behind him and beheld a figure clad entirely in plate armor. Not a single piece of skin was visible, and with the voice being somewhat androgynous, he couldn’t determine a gender.
“Who are you,” asked Xander “and where am I, and what the actual fuck is going on?” He eyed the plate clad figure before him. It was head and shoulder taller than him, though he wasn’t exactly considered tall himself, at 5’9”. He tried to get a glimpse of something, anything, through the minimal facial holes in the helm, but was met with blackness, as if a fabric was plastered across the inside.
“I,” reverberated the figure in plate “am called Estoc, and I am a servant of one of the divines. You are currently in… a space between things would be the easiest way to describe it, I suppose. As for your third question, you have been chosen for translocation. I cannot answer as to why, but for some reason -- be it for their own amusement or perhaps to avert some future disaster, you have been picked by one of the gods to be transported to another realm.”
“Another realm? What the hell is that supposed to mean? I don’t want to go anywhere! I have a wife and a house! Pets! I can’t just go places without them. Is this even real? This has to be some kind of dream!”
“Unfortunately, this is not a dream and I have no power over whether you are transported. I was simply created to provide travelers like yourself an insight into the realm into which they are to be placed. Though, if it is any consolation, I am sorry. This cannot be easy for you. However, our time is limited, and I have a task. To teach you how to call upon and use your status.” With that, the figure waved their hand and a portion of floating text appeared in front of Xander. “The folk of the realm you will be entering have access to a ‘status window.’ It shows them critical information about themselves and their classes, which we shall go over next.”
“What…” Began Xander, only to be cut off by Estoc.
“Please do not interrupt, our time together grows short and I have explained your situation as best I can. Now, as I was saying, the status shows one information about themselves. Their level of injury, magical power, various physical attributes, as well as any skills they may have access to from a class or a title. This will become clearer as you utilize the window yourself. As for classes, they are gained from life experience, training, events in a person’s life, or any other number of ways. Though it is uncommon for the average person to have more than two at a time, while an exceptional warrior or famed craftsperson may hold up to five. As one progresses through a class, it may merge with another class, and provide an immediate choice of another class. With this information provided, I now gift you the knowledge to access your own status window.” Estoc snapped their fingers, an odd metallic sound, and the knowledge was seared into Xanders mind.
“Ow, Jesus fuck what was that?!” shouted Xander.
“Knowledge.” Was the only reply he received as Estoc was swallowed by the nothingness of the space.
---GODSMARKED TRAINING COMPLETED---
---CALCULATING CLASS CHOICES---
Words again appeared in front of Xander, though this time they were contained within a window that he somehow knew he could call upon and close at will.
---CALCULATION COMPLETE. CLASS OPTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS. SELECT TWO---
-[Farmer]
-[Soldier]
-[Trader]
-[Smith]
-[Magus (Lightning)]
-[Artificer]
-[Criminal]
“What the hell…” muttered Xander as he stared at the window. He wondered how these options were calculated. And what they’d provide. Would any of them give him a way to get back home? Farmer, must be because some of his family owned a farm. Soldier he could attribute to his contract with the National Guard – oh God the government is going to want to know I went, he thought. Trader could be from a retail job? Lightning magic, hm, that could have been from his time doing electrical handy jobs. Artificer? He did like to tinker and build things. Criminal? He wasn’t sure, he’d never really done anything particularly illegal. Maybe anyone could be one? With such little information provided, he had some hard choices in front of him, though some could obviously be tossed out, in his opinion.
Right, farmer and criminal are out for sure. I don’t exactly know anything about smithing, and I’d need someone to teach me, and I’m apparently going to be sent to somewhere where I’m not going to know anyone. Which probably rules out magus, too, since I’d probably need to learn about it. As much as shooting lightning sounds cool.
In the end, Xander decided to go with the choices he felt like he at least had the most understanding of: Soldier and Artificer.
---CLASS CHOICES ACCEPTED---
---GENERATING CLASS SKILLS---
[ARTIFICER] Level 1
PASSIVES
[STORE] - [Analyze]d materials are stored for future usage by \[Creation\]
ACTIVES
[ANALYZE] – Determine the material and relevant properties of an object within 1ft of caster
[Creation] – Creates a [Store]d material. Mana cost depends on quantity, rarity, and other factors. Mana cost: Low – High
[Manipulate] – Manipulate the form of material that was produced by [Creation]
[SOLDIER] Level 1
PASSIVES
[ETERNAL MARCH] – Increased Endurance. Scales with level.
[WEAPONS OF WAR] – Additional proficiency with melee and ranged weaponry. Scales with level.
ACTIVES
[SHOCK AND AWE] – Inflict significant additional damage upon a successful strike. Mana cost: Medium. 3 minute cooldown.
[Sprint] – Increase movement speed. Mana Cost: Low
---CLASS SKILLS GENERATED. YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED TWO BOONS AS COMPENSATION FOR BEING REMOVED FROM YOUR LOCAL REALM---
---BOON 1 DISPENSED---
Title: [Godsmarked] – Imparts several passives on the title holder
[Heaven’s Bounty] – You may receive additional objects from defeated foes
[Speak in Tongues] – Proficiency in languages of new realm provided
[Quest] – Patrons may provide you with tasks and rewards
[Reformation] – Physical ailments and deformities have been healed
Xander paused reading as his vision became blurry, and he had to take his glasses off to continue.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
[Cargo Space] – Integrated inventory function in status window
[Titled] – You have a greater chance of receiving titles than normal
[Regenerative] – You heal more quickly than usual, to the point where, given enough time, you may even regrow a limb
---BOON 2 DISPENSED. CHOOSE FROM PERSONALLY OWNED ITEMS IN FORMER REALM AS EQUIPMENT. MUST FIT IN INVENTORY OR OWN PERSON---
This… was going to take a long time to calculate. A list of every item he owned began to fill the status window still floating in front of him. After an indeterminate amount of time Xander was ready. He had found out that the [Cargo Space] ability had granted him 10 spaces which he could place things in, though there was a size limit of roughly a large hiking backpack to them. More importantly, they were not limited to a single item, as long as they fit within another item, so he could load up bags and then store them. He was also very glad that he had decided to buy his own helmet and plate carrier, as anything that he had been issued during his National Guard contract that he was expected to return did not appear on the list of objects he owned. He had loaded up several bags with everything he could think of that would be useful, most of which ended up being camping and hiking supplies and medical supplies, in addition to a few guns and weapons that he owned--a 12 gauge shotgun, a .22 tube fed rifle, and a 9mm pistol with all the ammo he owned for them along with a small “combat ready” gladius he’d bought on a whim online, plus his ACH {Advanced Combat Helmet, for those of you not in the know} and plate carrier. He had also chosen the only books he owned that might come in handy: the boy scout handbook, and an old army manual on improvised explosives that he’d bought at a surplus store. He was grateful for the inventory spaces, as there was no way he’d be able to carry all of the things he'd gathered. Getting things into the inventory slots was as intuitive as simply touching them and willing them to get in the space.
---SECOND BOON COMPLETED. TRANSLOCATION TO REALM “TILLANIA” INITIATING---
Xander passed out.
This time when he woke up, it was dark. Actually dark, and not just some kind of void. He could feel the weight of his plate carrier and ACH, a bit of the scabbard from his gladius poking him as it hung awkwardly from the carrier and a similar feeling from the shotgun on his other side. He’d opted to also put on his army uniform as they were sturdy, bug repellant, and most importantly of all, had big cargo pockets on each leg. He dug in one of said cargo pockets and pulled out a flashlight as he stood up. Turning it on, the darkness was banished from what appeared to be a cave. Unfortunately, there was also a skeleton slowly lumbering towards him about 15 feet away. Xander froze, staring at it. That was all really happening. A goddamn skeleton was in front of him and it was coming closer. At 10 feet, he unfroze, dropped the flashlight, and scrambled to get the shotgun in both hands. He almost felt on autopilot as pumped the slide, shouldered the rifle, and obliterated a fist sized chunk of the skeleton’s ribcage and spine. The skeleton dropped to the ground as Xander dropped the shotgun, leaving it to dangle from its strap and clapped his hands over his ears, which were now ringing. “Shit that was loud!” he yelled to himself, as he wished he’d thought to actually put on the ear protection that was sitting in one of his inventory slots. His second thought was that tinnitus was actually no longer an issue thanks to the [Regenerative] trait that he’d received. That didn’t make the feeling any more pleasant, though.
Xander knelt down to pick up the flashlight he’d dropped, thankful that it hadn’t broken or turned off when he’d done so. Standing back up, he felt a slight… tickling, for better want of a word, in the part of his mind that knew now how to open up his status. So, after looking around for any more skeletons, he opened it.
---You have defeated an enemy---
---Bonus experience awarded for first defeat of an enemy of this type---
---[Artificer] leveled to 2---
---[Soldier] leveled to 2---
---Touch remains of enemy to determine if [Heaven’s Bounty] takes effect---
Upon this message, Xander cautiously sidled up to the scattered bones of the now un-undead and kicked one of them. He was amazed to see the bones begin to roll together and meld into a kite shield that looked to be made of rib bones. It was rather morbid, but a morbid shield was better than no shield. He picked it up and turned it around in his hands a couple times. It seemed to be sturdy, though he wasn’t sure how sturdy exactly, considering how well the skeleton had held up to a 00 buckshot, which was to say, not very well. He managed to strap it to his arm in such a way that he could still hold and pump the slide of the shotgun and slid another round back into the tube while he was at it. Back up to six, gotta remember to keep it full. He opened his status again and reviewed it more fully.
---[Artificer] Level 2 Skills---
[Measure] – determine exact measurements of an object that has been analyzed
---[Measure] and [Store] produce [Schematic]
[Schematic] – Store entire objects to be used with [Creation]
---[Soldier] Level 2 Skills---
[Effective Ordnance] – You may imbue an elemental effect into one attack. Mana cost: Medium, Cooldown: 3 minutes
Xander pondered the changes in his newfound status. Schematic seemed like it could be extremely useful, and anything that let him kill things faster and better in a world where skeletons existed was good. As soon as he got out of this cave, he was going to sit down and \[Analyze\] everything he had brought with him. Fortunately, the cave did not have many branches, and upon closer inspection seemed not to be natural in origin. Tool marks lined the walls, and small portions were gouged out of them. Maybe it was a small mine? After about twenty minutes of walking and a couple wrong turns to dead ends, Xander finally began to see sunlight. If this was a mine, does that mean there are people nearby? How will they react to me? God, I hope they’re not aggressive. A skeleton is one thing, but I don’t want to have to defend myself from someone alive. Another few minutes and he was out. He surveyed the area around him and saw… not much. Mostly just trees. He had come out the side of a moderately sized hill and seemed to be in some kind of forest. He’d rather have been able to see a town or something that indicated any level of civilization, but at least it wasn’t a desert, right?
True to his word, Xander sat down and began pulling all the bags he had brought with him out of his inventory space.
---Objects [Analyze]d---
Mossberg Maveric 88 12g Shotgun
12g 00 buckshot shotshell
12g slug shotshell
Improved Hot Weather Army Combat Uniform
Aluminum cook pan
Fork
Damascus Steel Gladius
…
This went on for the better part of two hours as Xander began to play with his skills provided by the Artificer class. He already had over a hundred materials [Store]d and quite a few items he could replicate with [Schematic]. Unfortunately, he was not able to store or use [Creation] to make food, so that was going to be an issue once he ran out of the food he’d brought with him. He knew the theory behind gutting an animal, but he’d never done it before. Guess he’d have to learn on the fly in a few days. At least the water bottle with the water filter built into it was able to be put in [Schematic] so drinking water wouldn’t be an issue. Though he’d probably still boil it first. Looking upwards, it seemed to be roughly noon, and he adjusted his watch accordingly. Might as well get walking. He didn’t see any smoke or anything else interesting to head towards, so he decided to simply head directly away from the mouth of the mine he had emerged from.
Another few hours passed as Xander walked. Anytime he saw something interesting, he would [Analyze] it.
---Objects [Analyzed]---
Hogweed
Ironbark Tree
Printap Flower
…
Eventually, he came across a road. Well, road wasn’t quite the word, more like a small, well-trodden path. It wasn’t quite late in the day, yet, but he decided that it would be a good place to set up his camp. Xander was surprised at how little the trek and stress of the day had tired him and marveled at the effectiveness of [Eternal March]. He could easily have continued to walk for the rest of the day but was hopeful that if he stayed near this path that someone might come along who could help him find somewhere safer to stay than in some woods that may or may not have skeletons. In the meantime, he figured he could play around with some of the skills that he had acquired. Anything to distract him from the fact that he was far from home and might never see his wife, friends, or family ever again.
He settled on [Creation] first. The skills from [Soldier] all seemed pretty straightforward in their application but using [Creation] and then [Manipulate] seemed like it had much wider application and nuance to it. A small piece of steel [Store]d from a knife was the first thing Xander opted to create.
---Stainless steel created---
---Created materials will begin to degrade when more than 5 feet from creator---
Xander looked at the message that had appeared on his status window at the same time that a small cube of metal had grown in his palm. It was unfortunate that materials he created weren’t permanent unless they stayed near him at all times, but it was still a massively useful skill. He’d never be defenseless as he could create a number of personal weapons and armor essentially at will. He also noticed a slight drain on what he assumed was his ‘mana,’ which was confirmed by another glance at his status, showing the bar that represented it as no longer being full. He’d have to be sparing with what he made for now so that he didn’t end up with no way to create something useful in the case he needed to. He decided to try out \[Manipulation\] next, focusing on the skill and willing the cube to turn into a sphere, watching with interest as the piece of metal smooth and flowed almost as if it were liquid for a moment before settling into the shape of a sphere. Unsure of what else to try at the moment, he figured it would be a good idea to see what the rate of degradation on his created materials really was and put the marble on the ground and walked a short distance away from it as he began pulling supplies from his inventory space and setting up a small tent and sleeping bag.
Once he was done, he walked back over to where he’d left the small marble and discovered it completely rusted and pitted as if it had been sitting in the weather for years, if not decades, considering it was stainless steel. He expected it would completely disintegrate if left for even a day, which meant that anything he created and needed to keep would have to stay on or near his person, or perhaps within his inventory space. Testing that theory, Xander created another small piece of steel and willed it into his inventory space. He’d check on it later. For now, he wasn’t sure what else to do but eat an MRE and maybe read up on some of the books he’d brought. After eating, Xander checked the created steel in his inventory and was pleased to find it still in good condition. He would at least be able to store materials he created in small amounts so that he could build up a stock of them. The marble he’d left on the ground had already disintegrated.
Another hour later and with the sun beginning to go down, Xander began to despair of meeting anyone on this path. Try to look on the bright side…at least there is a path to follow, right? I can just keep walking down it tomorrow. A few minutes after this bout of despair, Xander began to hear whistling; a jaunty tune that was slowly coming closer from the opposite direction of the setting sun. He tried his best to look at non-threatening as possible without actually taking off his armor or removing his weapons from his person. Which amounted to settling into his single camp chair and trying to appear relaxed. Eventually the mystery whistler came into view and was revealed to be what would be immediately recognized to anyone even passingly familiar with the fantasy genre as a dwarf. Squat, wideset, long beard, the works. Dressed in leathers, and carrying a bow, quiver, and axe, he looked perfectly at home in the woods.