“It’s just a terrible dream; I’m not insane. This has to be a dream. It can’t be real.” Everything had changed in mere moments; the immense and abrupt storm, losing Alan so suddenly, and now these blue screens obscuring her vision. “Yeah, it’s a dream, just a dream. I’m going to wake up any minute now.”
[Preparing for transport]
[10…9…8…]
“Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!” Sarah began frantically shouting as she repeatedly tapped the sides of her cheeks with her hands, hoping she’d snap out of the dream she had to be in.
[5….4…3…]
Sarah gripped the rail of her sled in frustration as she fell to her knees, her demeanor progressively shrinking as she whispered, “Please, just let me wake up from this nightmare!”
[2…1… Transporting inhabitants]
Sarah was blinded by a radiant golden light as she found herself in an entirely different environment. The transport had happened nearly instantaneously; she hadn’t even had time to blink as she was suddenly blinded by her new surroundings. She had been huddled down on her sled, but her eyes had still been open. There hadn’t been any other indicator that her surroundings had changed. Not even her body weight shifted, which was disturbing considering she was no longer on her sled but resting in a field of grass in the same position she’d been in. What in the world is going on? Rubbing her eyes to clear her vision, Sarah got her first unobstructed view of her surroundings.
It was a beautiful change of scenery, from the cold desolate landscape of Antarctica to a majestic utopia packed with life. Sarah was starstruck as she gazed at what she could only attribute to an elven paradise with magnificent golden brown trees taller than any she’d ever seen, nearly twice as tall as a mature redwood. The crown of the trees held the most vibrant foliage, with a deep green color that contained flickers of gold in direct sunlight as if the leaves were absorbing the sun itself. Scanning her eyes across the canopy, she noticed an elaborate network of buildings built with wooden bridges spanning the gaps, forming an enormous city in the trees that looked to be able to hold millions of people.. How do you get to the top? I don’t see any stairs or ladders to climb up.
Sarah slowly rose to her feet, spinning in a circle to take in her surroundings. The city in the trees encompassed a vast meadow, large enough to hold several football stadiums, where she currently found herself near its edge. This place is gorgeous! Looking toward the meadow's center, she stared at a lone tree that reached taller than all others as if it were trying to bridge the gap leading towards the sovereignty of the heavens to seize its place amongst gods. Its’ leaves were a golden purplish hue as if declaring it was the monarch of the area, and all that lived here was by its good graces.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Hard to believe this is all really happening. You seem slightly more disheveled than most around me, and I assumed you could use some company. I apologize if I’m overstepping.”
Startled out of her trance, Sarah spun to face the sudden interruption locking eyes with a handsome young man. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties with a height of around 6’2”, with golden blond hair and startling emerald-green eyes. He had a charming smile and seemed to exude a calming aura.
“Huh? Y-yeah it’s beautiful. It doesn’t matter, though; this is just a very imaginative ni-nightmare. A re-really b-bad one…” Sarah's eyes began to mist as she cast her head down.
“I just need to wake up, and everything will be okay.”
“Um, ma’am, I know this isn’t the news you want to hear, and I hate to make this worse for you as it seems like you’ve just experienced something traumatic, but… this is real. It’s actually happening. This place is real, regardless of how hard that is to believe. I don’t know what happened to you, but the only way to survive is if you know this is real and can focus on what is coming next.”
Sarah began to cry, her hands rising to cover her face, tears streaking down her arms. Her legs slowly gave out as she collapsed to her knees, her head dropping towards her lap as tears fell faster and faster. Her body began to rock as she gasped and wheezed for air.
“N-no, t-that can’t be true. This has to b-be a dr-dream. He has to be alive!”
Sarah felt the calming aura intensify as her head came to rest on something solid. She realized after a moment that someone was stroking the back of her head as she was wrapped in a gentle embrace.
“It’ll be okay. You need to take deep breaths. Everything will be okay. Can you try to take those deep breaths for me?”
Sarah looked up to see it was the blond man comforting her. He was looking down at her with a caring smile, his eyes so full of hope. She couldn’t figure out what it was, but something about him gave off a sense of life and happiness that drew her out of her thoughts.
“There you go, just breathe. I’m sure it hurts, but you need to be strong. If you’d like to talk about it, I’ll be here to listen for as long as you need.”
Sarah looked up at this strange blond man with a sad smile, “I’d appreciate that, but I think I need some time to process everything before I can talk about it.” With a slight pause, Sarah took a deep breath and asked, “I appreciate the help, but do you normally care for strangers like this?”
“Everyone needs help once in a while. We all go through loss differently, but it’s always better to have someone there to help; I sure wish I had had the company. So I don’t see an issue with helping those in need. I completely understand if you’d rather be alone; just let me know.”
“N-no, that’s alright. Thank you. My name is Sarah, by the way.”
“My apologies; rather rude of me to not introduce myself first. My name is Charles, Charles Beckham, but my friends call me Charley. ” Carl stood, reaching down to offer her a hand up.
Sarah stumbled into Charley as an intense gust of air swept through the meadow toward the tree standing at its center, creating a vortex that climbed to the tree's crown, where it imploded, sending a shockwave throughout the area.
Sarah took a few steps away from Charley with a slight blush as she pulled the loose strands of hair behind her ear, “Sorry about that, and thanks for catching me.”
Charley gave her a big smile, “Anytime, don’t worry about it.”
Sarah looked out towards her surroundings, noticing for the first time that it was packed with people, with most having fallen and in the process of standing back up or helping others back to their feet.
“Holy shit, how many people are here? This place is packed. Should we go check and see if anyone needs help?”
“You’re just now noticing how many people are here?” Charley chuckled, “Yeah, let’s go help.”
Before they could go far, the ground began to lightly shake, bringing them to a sudden halt as they looked toward where the shaking came from. What met their eyes was the most unbelievable thing Sarah had yet to see.
The giant tree in the center of the meadow was moving. After a few more shakes from the tree, Sarah noticed it oddly looked as if the tree was stretching as if it was a person waking from a deep slumber. With one more quick shake, the tree finished moving, revealing a stunning woman who gazed down at everyone standing in her meadow.
“Welcome to my abode. My name is Priscilla, and I am a goddess of nature. I am responsible for hosting this instance of the integration’s tutorial, which just so happens to include you lucky few. Those who have found themselves in this tutorial have been deemed by the system as having their highest affinity residing somewhere in the aspect of life. I will need you all to make your way toward the meadow's center, where my people will assist in administering your stay. They will assist you in utilizing your time well in the tutorial to allow you to reach your potential. Now, as a current system representative, I welcome you to the multiverse.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Priscilla disappeared in a great flourish of leaves, leaving an inert tree towering over the clearing once again.
“Well, shall we head to the center then?” Charley asked.
“Yeah, let's go before we get stuck behind everyone else. It would be hours before we get through if we’re stuck at the end of the line. But what was that thing about opening our Status?”
As soon as she thought about opening her Status, the strange blue box she had seen before suddenly returned to fill her vision.
Name
Sarah Gardner
Race
Human (F)
Titles
A New Beginning
Class
N/A
Profession
N/A
Level
1
Stats
Strength
7
Intellect
11
Dexterity
8
Wisdom
10
Endurance
8
Will
8
Vitality
9
Charisma
11
Perception
7
Luck
9
Free Stat Points
0
System Currency
0
“Um, I think I figured out what she meant, though, I don’t understand what any of it means. What are titles, and what does having a class mean? I understand what a profession is, but I don’t know why the system would bother adding it to our status screen.”
“It seems to be tracking our progression, whether it’s our physical fitness or mental capabilities. And you can select to view your current titles, just focus on wanting to view that portion, and it should appear for you. I’m unsure about the class or profession; it just notifies me that it's locked until I reach level 10. Maybe the administrators will be able to tell us.”
Sarah did as Charley suggested, getting a new screen to appear before her.
Titles
A New Beginning
A Title given to all system-integrated sentient inhabitants of the multiverse. Allows for participation in a system-generated Tutorial.
All Stats +2
Checking class and profession produced the same locked screens as Charles said he received, telling her it was locked until level 10. Hopefully, I’ll get some answers soon.
----------------------------------------
It took nearly two hours before they finally reached the center of the clearing. Sarah had thought it would’ve taken longer until she noticed the six other lines that all led inside the center tree.
Charley smiled at Sarah as he said, “Seems like it’s our turn to go in. Are you ready to find out what comes next?”
“Don’t you find it disturbing that everyone will be walking inside Priscilla’s body?”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about. This probably isn’t her actual body. She did say she was a goddess of nature, so I’m sure she just projected herself through the tree. I’m not sure what a god’s or goddess’ power entails, but if it's anything like our mythology, I am sure they are capable of more than what we could imagine. I doubt we will ever see her real body.”
“I don’t know; I still find this unsettling.”
“That’s probably because you haven’t accepted this new reality. Nothing will ever be the same as it was. It would be for the best if you could learn to accept that fact sooner rather than later. Now let’s go before we get in trouble for holding up the line.”
Stepping inside the tree revealed a large carved-out room with multiple podiums that held a clear crystal ball. A slender woman standing next to one of the crystals directed her to come forward.
“I guess I’ll see you after we’re done here?”
Charley gave her a gentle smile as he said, “I would love to continue accompanying you. If you’ll have me, that is.”
Sarah blushed as she began walking away in a hurried shuffle, as she turned her head and waved, “I’ll see you later then.”
Walking towards the woman, Sarah noticed she had a willowy figure with platinum blond hair held behind longer-than-average ears that ended in a point. Oh, my gosh! Is that an elf!? Elves are real!
“Welcome, I am Rasha Ra’el. I am one of the administrators for your time in the tutorial. Feel free to ask us any questions you might have throughout the tutorial; just know we are only allowed to provide basic information, as access to any additional information is outside our purview. Now, please step forth and place your hand on the crystal orb. It will assess your affinity for the four basic aspects and the advanced aspects and will inform you of which you can use and how strong of an affinity you have with each. The higher the affinity, the stronger your power will be for that essence and the ease with which you will gain inspiration. Simply focus on affinities to view your results after the process is complete. If you have any questions about affinities, please ask them after completing your assessment.”
Stepping forward, Sarah tentatively placed her hand on the clear crystal orb. At first, nothing changed until the crystal began to create a clear golden hue that began to spin within the orb. Looking intently at what was happening within, she noticed other colors mixed throughout the golden hue. There was an earthy brown, a semi-transparent blue, and she could barely make out a flicker of white before the orb stilled and cleared once again.
Wanting to pull up her affinities, she did as the lady had told her, popping right up in the familiar blue boxes she was beginning to get used to.
Affinities
Life
76%
Earth
21%
Water
34%
Light
27%
Turning towards Rasha Ra’el, Sarah froze as she noticed she was being stared at with startled eyes.
“Is everything alright?
“You, you have an affinity for Life essence!”
“Y-yeah, isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s miraculous to have such a high starting life affinity! You ar–”
An enormous pressure descended on the inner room of the tree, causing Rasha to stop in her tracks and bow her head as she and all the other administrators on the other platforms greeted Priscilla.
“Goddess.”
Invitation Received
You have been invited to Priscilla, goddess of nature’s domain. Do you accept?
Accept?
Decline?
“Accept?”