Dax

  “Enough of that though, there is too much for me to explain it all right now. What you are here for is to help me maintain balance. My gift to you, as my champions, is to grant you affinity to the elements. Each of you had a strong presence of a specific element when you were transported here, and that same ability I used infused you with my gift. Dax, you have the element of land."

  “I bet I got fire!” Aiden's eyes lit up as he spoke in an excited whisper.

  “Water is the element you have been infused with actually.” Michael continued speaking as though the interruption never happened. “Fire was infused with Janet.”

  “And of course the airhead gets air." Heidi rolled her eyes as she grumbled. "Do I at least get to fly?" The irritation that was there just a second ago seemed to have vanished as the question left Heidi's lips.

  “Flight is possible for all of you. You just have to get strong enough to do so." Michael's tone was almost bored as if this was just a given that even children should have known. "Since you all seem to not need to listen though I will let you get started on your path." Michael had just finished speaking before he was gone. No flash, no movement not even a gust of wind. It was as if he was never there. A woman entered the courtyard a second later and walked over to us. She had half her head shaved with the hair folding over to one side barely touching the top of her ear. Scars could be seen as pale lines on the tanned skin of her shoulders and face with one looking as though she was nearly beheaded. She stood at least 7 feet tall and her muscles looked like she could have snapped most athletes on Earth in two with ease. A plain-looking cream-colored robe covered her body and he feet were bare. The image was of pure strength and power as she stopped standing before our group.

  “I am Urdo. I will take you to the armory to get you set up for survival.” She then turned and started walking away without waiting for any reaction from us.

  I looked at the other three and shook my head. "Damnable NPCs always acting like you barely exist." I gave a smile as I spoke, but no one else seemed to find my joke funny. With a shrug, I began to follow Urdo. "I got land? So I guess I'm the rock dude. I can't believe I have to be a tank in my real life too.” I couldn't help but complain in my head.

  We walked down the streets in silence. I was looking at the buildings again. It looked like every type of civilization and even fantasy worlds all crashed into one town. There was even a thick tree that had windows in the sides and smoke steadily rising through the branches. I couldn't help but immediately want some cookies when I saw that.

  We stopped at a building that was one of the less spectacular sights. It was a wooden shack by all appearances, and I suspected we were about to head into an oversized outhouse. The door flew open as if kicked by a horse causing us to all jump back except for Urdo. In the doorway stood a lizard on two legs. He was barely three feet tall and had little nubby horns coming out of the top of his head. The horns would have been a little more menacing if they didn't look as if one was too far back and the other a little too close to the center.

  “Well, come one, Nogge doesn't have all day to tend to children.” The little creature sounded like a grumpy old man who had his oxygen tank swapped for a helium tank. I glanced at the others we all apparently had the same confusion as shrugs were the only answers I got. I nodded my head towards the door and lead the way. If this was the armory Urdo spoke of, then at least we can get something to defend ourselves.

  The shack surprisingly seemed much bigger on the inside than on the out. This wasn't the weirdest thing I had encountered, but it was still another sign that my concepts of reality were being challenged again. Everything from small knives to long intricate bows lined the shelves. “I am not taking a shield even if I get stuck tanking!” I made the vow in my head because I did not want to be pushed around more than I already was. I moved further into the building and the weapons gave way to shields and armor. “I should definitely get some good armor though” I was reasoning with myself as I looked through what was available.

  "You can get geared up, but bear in mind, this is all beginner stuff. There are no living weapons or attuned armor in this stock. Now, hurry up so you can stop stinking up my space." Nogge barked at us as he disappeared behind a counter and pulled open a book. The little lizard looked annoyed that he had to work at all, and he seemed to hate people in general.

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  I found a chest plate that had some shoulder guards that looked as though they wouldn’t restrict my movement too much. Urdo stepped up and offered to help me get the armor on when she saw me struggling with it. “The pauldrons are not as easy as a cloth shirt.” She spoke as she cinched the strap to tighten the armor.

  “Thank you.” I smiled as I tested my mobility. The armor was nice, but the design confused me. I had to slide one arm in then the other, and the chest closed like a cabinet door. It reminded me more of a clunky coat than of the armored shirt I expected. I found some metal gloves and a pair of thicker cloth pants. With the heat, I figured metal pants would be a bit too much. Once I was armored up, I went to check on the weapons.

  I felt pretty confident with both my hands, so I was hoping for two weapons. I found a pair of weapons. They had curved blades to one side and the metal ran around the wooden handle, with the opposite side being thick and flat. I could use this weapon to cut stab or bludgeon. They seemed perfect for me after having seen how I handled fighting with the hammer earlier.

  “Armored breastplate, grieves, cloth pants, and two rejected kamas.” Nogge shook his head as he wrote down what I was taking. “Try not to bleed too much on that stuff when you die, I might be able to salvage it for someone smarter.”

  I waited outside as everyone finished up. Just happy to be done with Nogge. "I don't know why he brought a kobold to run the armory." Urdo spat as she walked out. "Nasty little things, rude and always trying to take as much as possible for themselves." This was the most I had seen from Urdo since meeting her and it made me laugh seeing that she also didn't like the little lizard man. I only half paid attention to her as she spoke though because a new system notice had popped up.

[Quest] Weapon Proficiency-Kama

Work with the kama to survive to better understand the weapon and how to use it.

[0%]

[Quest] Armor Proficiency-Breastplate with pauldrons.

Survive while wearing your armor to understand how to use it.

[0%]

  “Seems like the system knows I am a total noob,” I remarked quietly as I willed the messages to disappear. Janet was the next to come out, she was wearing brown cloth pants and what looked like a white linen top. She had a dark green cloak wrapped around her shoulders and a chain stretched between her hands. On one end of the chain was a dagger and the other end looked like a solid metal cylinder that ended at a point on the end not connected to the chain. She looked at me briefly before she took on a thousand-yard stare, letting me know she also received a message from the system.

  Aiden came out next and I was pleasantly surprised and very confused. Water affinity should have been stealthy, so a rogue build and gear are what I was expecting. Water flowing and being steady and can be silent all that. Instead, he was holding a tower shield in one hand and a war hammer in the other. "What's with the shield?" I asked relieved that I wouldn't be holding it but also bothered that we might have too many people filling the tank roll.

  "I suggested it," Heidi spoke up as she followed Aiden out. "He stopped to defend Janet when she fell, and I figured if he was going to do something crazy like that, he should be able to successfully protect instead of being an appetizer.” She laughed as she finished her reasoning. I joined her in laughing because it made sense and meant I didn’t have to carry a shield.

  Heidi took on the stare of reading the system prompt and I took a chance to see what gear she chose. She had a Bo staff and some lightweight-looking leather armor. With her smaller frame and young look, she reminded me a lot of an elf without the pointy ears.

  “Did everyone get quests based on the gear they chose?” Aiden looked around and we all nodded. “I hope I don’t have to do much fighting. Being violent is a sin.” Worry and fear overtook his features as he looked down at his hammer.

  “Have you not heard of the god-damned crusades?” Janet was shaking her head.

  “Not to mention, Michael already kind of explained you were following a…” Heidi began but I stepped up to rest my hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s a belief that he was born with. If he wants to keep it, let him keep it.” I looked at Janet with thinly veiled annoyance. “And despite the aggressive tone, Janet is right. Fighting is wrong unless you are fighting to help those who are being taken advantage of. Michael explained if we don’t fight, this whole universe will be destroyed.”

  Aiden looked from Hedi to Janet and then to me, before nodding. “That is true, this could be where I have to show I am worthy of being a…” The sentence was cut short as a loud crash sounded out by the wall followed by horns being blown in long low notes.

  “Seems the forces of destruction have found our compound. It was only a matter of time since they have one of their own so close by.” Urdo looked at as and waved towards the gate. “Well, Go! Fight!”