I bolted upright and screamed. I was on a cold, hard floor in a pitch black room. It felt like polished stone, or maybe tile. I caught my breath and tried to figure out what was going on. The last thing I remember was being in intense pain. I wasn't watching where I was going and got hit by a truck. I laid in that ditch in excruciating pain for a least five minutes, but after that? It's a little hazy.
My legs weren't in pain. I pulled my feet toward my chest and checked them with my hands. No broken skin or blood. How long had I been out? I tried to crawl to a wall. A wall would have a light switch, or maybe a door. I only got a few feet when felt a sudden drop off. I tried to feel over the edge for something, a step, a floor. There was nothing. I was on a platform. It was a little less than foot thick and cantilevered out so far I couldn't find a support underneath it within arms reach of the edge. I scouted out the perimeter and found it to be a square about nine or ten feet per side.
After searching the platform, I could find nothing on it but me. I sat down near one of the corners and sighed. Was I dead? Was this hell? If it was, someone had to be running the place.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
A light, baritone voice with a slight reverb effect said, “Yes, I am here.”
“Who's there?”
“I am Celestium.”
“Uh, can I see you?”
“It is possible.”
OK. It was gonna be one those types. What should I expect from someone who leaves me naked and trapped in some kind of darkness dungeon? Trying to sound polite, I asked my captor, “May I see you?”
A column of bright light lit up a separate platform about thirty feet from me. There was a man in white robes with golden trim standing on the platform. He had gold hair! I don't mean blond hair, I mean hair that looked to be made out of gold, and...and white, feather-covered wings! They...moved. As if reading my mind, the man smiled, gave a small bow and quickly extended them to a wingspan of a little over twenty-five feet. Upon closer inspection, I realized he wasn't a man at all! He had pointed ears and fine features. He was an elf! An elf angel!
He only held his wings in place a for a few seconds, before pulling them back behind him. I stared, dumbfounded for awhile. He didn't say anything. Finally I asked, “Where am I?”
“You are in the spiritual foyer to the world named Elfandrael.”
“Elfandrael?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“What is Elfandrael,” I asked, starting to get a little impatient. He was giving me answers, but was anything but forthcoming.
“Elfandrael is a world that has a System implementation. Unlike Earth, the gods assist you in determining your destiny with feedback and Paths.”
“System. You mean like levels and classes?”
“That is one way to think about it,” He said nodding with an enthusiastic smile.
“Have I been Isakaied? Did I get killed by Truck-kun,” I shouted.
For the first time his friendly demeanor evaporated. He admonished me sternly, “That is very rude. The term 'Truck-kun' is considered a profane statement among the celestial realms. You would do well not to repeat that word. Yes, you have been transported to another a world as result of being killed by a possessed truck.”
“Wait. I can't call it...what you said not to call it, but that's a real thing?”
He deflated and then began explaining. “Earth is supposed to be a dismal world. The odds of succeeding there without turning [Evil] or giving up hope are almost non-existent. The rewards for surviving a place like that are huge. People like you, who are killed through an error in the System have not earned the right to full rewards, but through no fault of your own you have been deprived of your rightful opportunity to earn them. Cases like yours require a substitute reward. You are being given Honorable Hero status on Elfandrael. It is a more forgiving world, but with hard work you can earn almost as much as you could have on Earth.”
“It seems oddly specific. All the manga and anime where someone is killed by a truck and that just happens to me. It can't be a coincidence.”
He said nothing. Why did he not want to give me information anymore? Wait. I made a statement. I didn't ask a question. “Is it a coincidence?”
He pursed his lips and then explained. “No. Magic and mystical things are not suppose to happen on Earth. Certainly not possessed trucks. Any type of Magic might inspire hope, or even create a rallying point based on fear of some monster. It is not allowed. A certain fallen angel, who shall remain nameless, introduced an STD that is responsible killing young men in violation of the System protocols. Occasionally young men are returned to Earth and report the 'Isekai' phenomenon.”
I panicked. “I died of an STD! Do I still have it? Did Emma give it to me? Was it Becky?”
Celestium calmly explained, “It's not a sexually transmitted disease. It is a spiritually transmitted disease. A spiritual being posses a truck, kills a young man, and then escapes by jumping into the soul of someone nearby. It is a very well crafted virus that has been eluding all efforts to eliminate it.”
Whew. I'm not diseased. But there was hope! “You said that sometime guys like me make it back to Earth. Does that mean I can get back?”
He winced before saying, “It is possible but it is not like it will help you. The young men who return to Earth do not return there as a result of trying, but more as a consolation prize for screwing up badly. Would you rather be a Wizard in a world with Magic or draw manga about a Wizard in a world with Magic?”
I nodded. I liked the idea of becoming a Wizard. But something was still bothering me. “What about friends and family. Doesn't someone want to go back sometimes?”
Celestium answered with a question, “What about you? If you had to chose between being a Wizard or giving up your friends and family which would you choose?”
“I...I don't know,” I said with some embarrassment. I wasn't close with my parents. Dad was always around, but somehow we could never connect. He was all into hunting and fishing and I was into video games and books. He was dead now anyway. Mom was always busy with her clubs and social parties. I think I have more fond memories of babysitters than I do of her. My sister was too young for me hang out with her much. My grandparents were all dead. I had a few gaming friends, but sort of lost touch when I went away to college.
“That's not an accident. The virus chooses young men with few connections, decent potential, and young enough to not have established themselves. There is a lot demand for that.”
“What do you mean demand?”
“For Wizards. Intelligent young men willing to travel. Heroes. You would be surprised how hard it is recruit Wizards for adventuring. Most people as smart as you don't want to risk dying, much less pain. I had to wait six years for you. Two of those years were after I got to the head of the line.”
“You want me to risk my life! For a job!”
Celestium just stared at me.
“Do you want me to risk my life for a job?”
“It's not as bad as it sounds. When you die you can be resurrected.”
“So death's not permanent. Does that mean no one can ever die, like for real?”
“Death is still real. It still hurts. Every time you die you loose one point of Spirit. As long as you have two points of Spirit and an extra life, death is not permanent. You can die of old age or run out of extra lives. Normally you have to have someone cast [Resurrection] on you. As an Honorable Hero you will be able to come back to life when are needed at one of my temples.”
“So you're like my guardian angel,” I said. When he didn't answer I asked, “Why do I have to ask you questions? Can't you just answer me?”
“You have not accepted my invitation to Elfandrael. If I gave you something of value it would be deducted from your Karma. I will not bestow a Boon upon you until you enter my world.”
“Ok. So what am I suppose to do here,” I asked.
“Ask questions. Determine if you want to come to Elfandrael.”
“So what's the best question to ask,” I started flippantly.
“I will not answer that question. The best question to ask would require me to use resources and powers beyond what the Karma of your soul can afford.”
I pursed my lips and squinted, so much for that. “So what are limits to the type of questions I can ask?”
“You may ask anything you would find out in one waking period after entering Elfandrael, or anything you might learn from our discussion here before you enter Elfandrael,” he answered.
I squinted again. “So you can't use divine power to tell me your best answer, but you can tell me my best answer,” I asked.
“Yes,” he smiled confidently. “That is why I chose you. You are very quick.”
“Ok. So what's the most important thing I think I need to know about Elfandrael,” I asked.
“You need to select a Boon before you enter the world.”
“What's a Boon,” I asked.
“A Boon is blessing of a god. You may acquire a Boon at every Level. As you are Level 0, you are eligible for a Boon from the Karma you have earned on Earth,” he answered.
“So what Boon would I choose if spent as long as possible asking you about it?”
“You would choose [A Chance at Greatness],” he said.
“And what does that do?”
“It allows you to exchange half a level of Experience for a base 50% chance to increase a selected [Statistic].”
“And why would I think that's that so good?”
“Many reasons. Statistics follow the more is better rule. More powerful Classes require you to [Limit Break] some feature or ability. [Limit Breaking] a Statistic is when that Statistic exceeds the Level Limit for that Statistic. [A Chance at Greatness] makes it much easier to [Limit Break] a Statistic. [Limit Breaking] a Statistic always provides a Class Point that will further increase an Ability or Skill. The most important benefit of using [A Chance at Greatness] is that it can slow down your Leveling. If you Level too quickly without earning Karma you might miss the opportunity to purchase a Boon before you Level.”
“I sound pretty smart,” I said smugly. Oddly enough, he smiled and nodded his head in agreement. “So how do I select this Boon,” I asked.
He instructed me on how to open my [Status], and quickly a box popped up in front of me. “Oh. They really are little blue boxes,” I said in surprise.
[Status] Name: Eric Niall Swindall Title: Honorable Hero Health: 13/13(100%) Race: Human Stamina: 4/4(100%) Class: None Mana: 5/5(100%) Level: 0 Chi: 22/22(100%) XP: 0/1000 Attribute Statistics
3 Free Points Strength 4 4 Constitution 4 4 Dexterity 4 4 Charisma 3 3 Wisdom 5 5 Intelligence 8 8 Luck 5 5 Spirit 5 5 Willpower 4 4 Alignment [Lawful Good] Magnitude: 17 Path Amplitude Magnitude Karma Points [Good] 15 12 4903 [Balance] 5 0 4895 [Evil] 3 0 2139 [Law] 17 13 6892 [Temperance] 3 0 1799 [Chaos] 4 0 2349 [Boons] [Skills] [HUD Options] [Abilities]
He further instructed me to select
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Please designate the Boon you would like to pre-select for Soulburn upon entering Elfandrael.
You have designated [A Chance for Greatness] as the Boon you want. This is a Greater Boon and will cost 1,000 Karma. Is the correct
I touched
Select the amount of [Law] Karma you which to designate toward your [Law] Amplitude. You may select between 100 and 1,000.
I looked up at Celestium and asked, “So what is this? [Law Karma], [Law Amplitude]. What am I suppose to do here?”
Celestium took on an lecturing tone and said, “When you select a Boon it costs between 100 and 1000 Karma points. Burning a Boon into your soul will subtract the amount of Karma from all categories, effectively burning off part of your soul. After you burn off your [Karma], you can select to increase your Path Alignment by up to 1 point for every 100 Karma you have spent on the Boon. In this case you have suggested to yourself that you will increase your [Law] and [Good] Amplitudes by 10 and your [Chaos] Amplitude and your [Balance] Amplitude by 1, because 1 is the minimum amount for an [Amplitude] increase.
The nature of [A Chance at Greatness] is one of probability and hence [Chaos]. Because I am [Lawful Good], it will require burning [Good], [Law], and [Chaos]. Burning the two opposite [Paths], [Law] and [Chaos], at the same time requires increasing your [Temperance] Amplitude by a matching amount. You have suggested to yourself that you will increase your [Chaos], and hence your [Temperance], by the minimum amount.”
“And why would I choose the minimum like that,” I asked.
“Your Amplitudes deducts from their opposites when calculating Magnitudes. You subtract your [Evil] from your [Good] to get a final result for [Good] or [Evil], in your case you would subtract a [Evil] Amplitude of 3 from your [Good] Amplitude of 15 and get your [Good] Magnitude of 12. As long as your [Good] Magnitude exceeds your [Temperance] Amplitude you will have a [Good] Alignment, otherwise you would acquire a [Neutral] Alignment. By minimizing your [Chaos] Amplitude you are increasing your [Law] Magnitude and your [Lawful Good] Magnitude, which is composed of the square root of the sum of the squares of your [Good] Magnitude and your [Law] Magnitude. Your Alignment Magnitude can affect everything from how people interact with you to how Abilities and Boons work.”
I studied the screens for a few moments. “So if it's like 1,000 points for a really good Boon, and I have less than 7,000 Karma. I'm going to need to earn some more. So how much do I have to do to earn what I already have? Like how much to get that 6,892 Karma Score in [Law].”
“You spent about 7,892 hours abiding by the principles of [Law] to earn that. Keep in mind reading all those gaming rulebooks does counts toward that.”
That raised my eyebrow. I knew I wasn't that good of person. Who knew playing Pathfinder was good for the soul? “How did I spend 3,139 hours doing [Evil]. I know I played a lot of violent video games, but that seems excessive.”
“You spent about 4,139 minutes doing [Evil]. [Evil] Karma is much easier to accumulate if you are a [Good] person, That number already counts the 1,000 Karma you need to burn off to get [A Chance at Greatness],” he clarified.
“So, the System isn't just for how I interact with the world. It judges me too.” His silence prompted me to ask, “Does the System Judge me? Does it decide what kind of person I am?”
“It does not define you who you are or tell you what do. You still have free will. It helps you measure who you are so you can better choose who you want to be.”
I thought about what he said, and followed the prompts to set up the Karma the way he...the way I suggested doing it. I studied my [Status] some more. “Why do I have the same number twice for my Attributes and my Statistics.”
“Your Attributes represent your Body, Mind, and Soul, outside of the System. They are your natural state. That little paunch on your belly is because of your 4 in Constitution. Your [Statistics] and your Statistic Limits will increase as you work to Level up. Your Attributes won't.”
I grabbed my gut a little self consciously. It wasn't that bad, but I definitely didn't have washboard abs. “So I'm stuck like this? Are you saying my Attributes won't change?”
“No. I said they won't change from the Experience mechanisms used to Level up. Your Attributes can increase from Quests, Boons, and personal growth. Elfandrael will cause you to lead an active life, so you will loose that spare tire fairly soon. Your Attributes can go down too. Damage to your Body, Mind, and Soul may be reflected in a change in your Attributes.”
I looked at the 3 free Stat points and asked, “So were do I think I need to spend my 3 Statistic points at?”
“You do not want to spend them now. You want to save them until you hit your first [Limit Break]. [A Chance at Greatness] can [Limit Break] a Statistic Limit but it's much less likely to succeed than a normal Statistic increase. You'll want to save at least 1 Statistic points to [Limit Break] Luck or Spirit. Luck will increase the chance of both the Statistic increases and the [Limit Breaks], and Spirit will make the [Limit Breaks] of other Statistics more likely. Until you get your first Class you will be limited to a number of Skills equal to your Intelligence. Skill selection can influence Class selection, so you might want to save some Statistic Points to add to your Intelligence after you [Limit Break] it for some leeway in your choices. You are probably better off being very selective about what Skills you take until you choose a Class.”
“This is starting to get complicated. Am I going to be able to ask you questions like this when I go to Elfandrael? You're gonna be, like my guardian angel, right?”
“It is possible for us to converse like this in Elfandrael, but I doubt it will happen very often, if at all. It would be very expensive for you. You would most likely communicate with me through the members of my church or some device. It is somewhat cumbersome and slow, but also practical, fair, and even-handed. I am not your guardian angel. I am the god Celestium,” he replied.
He looked like an angel, but it's hard to trust someone claiming to be God. “So do I have to worship you?”
“The gods of Elfandrael do not require your worship, but some of us do not discourage it. I only seek that you follow the Path you have already chosen. I am the god of the Path of the Honorable Hero, what you can call [Lawful Good]. It is the Path you are already on. It is why I chose to invite you Elfandrael,” he explained.
Indignantly I snapped back, “Naked on a cold floor in a pitch black room doesn't seem like an invitation!” After a second I asked, “So, if there are other gods out there, could I follow their Paths or something? I don't know...like the path of a nutty-crunchy, nature-loving hippy, or what about [Evil]? Could I be [Evil]?”
“Following Gaia's path of [True Neutrality] is not always one of love, even if she represents some aspects of nature. Her followers are not brutal...indifferently harsh might be the best phrasing.” His face screwed up I little as he continued, “You could follow an [Evil] god. Would it make you happy though?”
“I guess not,” I said sheepishly. I really wasn't in to doing [Evil]. GTA-5 was about as dark as I was going to get.
“I doubt you could even bring yourself to serve the other gods of Good. You are too reserved and studious. You are going to have enough problems learning to kill goblins.”
“So I can kill goblins. Their not sapient are they,” I asked.
“Semi-sapient. Their language skills are very primitive, but they can plan and organize,” Celestium replied.
“They can talk! Am I suppose to kill stuff that can beg for it's life? How am I supposed to stay [Lawful Good] if I'm acting like a murder hobo?”
“Hitler, Stalin, and Mao could all beg for their life, but you would have been justified in killing them,” the god retorted.
“Yeah, but I know what they did. How am I suppose to know if a goblin is mass murder or not?”
“All the goblins who will attack you on this world are murders,” Celestium replied. My jaw dropped as I was literally dumbfounded, while he continued, “[Good] and [Evil] work differently on Elfandrael. What do you think the purpose of [Evil] is?”
I took a moment to close my mouth before collecting my thoughts and answering, “I guess to be a contrast to [Good]. If there was no [Evil], we wouldn't know what [Good] is?”
“That is not correct. [Evil] can be both the desire and methods to allow yourself or others to suffer needlessly. The absence of suffering could be called [Goodness]. Accidents and natural catastrophes could provide a contrast to [Goodness]. The purpose of [Evil] is to vent overwhelming suffering. When a soul reaches a certain level of [Evil] Karma, redemption seems impossible, hopeless even. An [Evil] soul does more [Evil] to accomplish two basic things. The first is to feel normal, and accept themselves for who they are. The second is to signal to others that they want to end their suffering or their life. When the-”
“Wait! The soul is real? You can prove it,” I interrupted excitedly.
“Eric you died, and now you are about to continue your life in your next world. Do you not think that proves the soul exists,” Celestium said snidely.
“Oh...yeah,” I said quietly.
“Do not feel bad. You spent your whole life without evidence of the soul. You just acted out of habit. Back to what I was saying. The System is intended to make everything easier. Whenever you want to do something [Evil], such as murder or steal, the System will let you know whether it is [Evil] or not. Try it out. Shake your fist at me and think about trying to kill me?”
I gave the angel-god a little side eye. “You want me to kill you?”
“No. I want you think about killing me and manifest some intent to do so.”
I thought about how dude was holding me a dark cell. He probably deserved to die for something. I shook my fist at him, and suddenly-
[Measure Soul, autotrigger]infinite lives, attacking such a noble soul is the highest order of [Evil]
I felt nasty! It was like I was covered in oil and mud. I tried rubbing it off but it would budge. “How do get this off of me?”
Celestium replied, “Just admit to yourself you don't want to kill me.”
After making me feel like this, it took a concerted effort, but the moment I was OK with goldilocks living, the grimy feeling went away.
He smiled and continued, “Whenever you manifest killing intent against a [Good] person that is what you will feel. When attacking an [Evil] creature you will feel an inner light and sense of righteousness.”
“Why are goblins inherently [Evil]? Don't they have free will,” I asked.
“Not a very strong one. Goblins are creatures that were made to be shock troops by an [Evil] Sorcerer. They have a natural bloodlust. They're not very bright. As semi-sapient creatures they can basically use words, but not grammar. Even when speaking a whole sentence, it is not anything more than a single simple idea. For example, if a goblin copies its victims and says 'Please, do not kill me,' It is really just asking for mercy. They can copy basic intent, but have no higher thought processes. They cannot debate or discuss specifics. Think of them as a cross between and green ape and a parrot. It is not hopeless. The System provides opportunities for goblins to a have a life and grow beyond their limitations, but it takes lifetimes for a goblin soul to advanced to the next level. Until then, it requires Adventurers to cut them down so they do not overrun the world.”
I winced as I said, “That sounds brutal...and disgusting. Is it really necessary?”
“Enlightenment is highly unlikely. It requires living many lifetimes, even for humans. Living many lives requires dying many times. Think of it as performing a service for [Evil] creatures. Cutting them down increases the chances they can redeem their souls. They are probably going to die brutal deaths anyway. Goblins kill more goblins than Adventurers do. The reason they get to keep coming back is because of the [Evil] done to them by their [Evil] neighbors. Victims are owed another chance. Don't worry. You will get used to the killing. Slaying goblins is not as difficult as killing humans and elves,” he said off-handedly.
“You want me to kill humans? How are you supposed be [Lawful Good],” I asked. The trepidation in my voice was thick.
Celestium shook his head and said, “I do not want you to kill humans. I want you to make good decisions. Sometimes killing an [Evil] person is useful for the purpose of following the Path of [Law] or being [Good]. Sometimes not killing a [Evil] person is useful. If you charge a goblin nest and fail to kill them all, you might enrage them and destroy and innocent village. You might have been acting as a [Lawful Good] person attacking the goblins, but it was a stupid decision. Elfandrael makes it easy to know if you are doing [Good] or [Evil]. It is learning how be a better decision maker that is the most important thing to learn. The purpose of the Skill for judging an action I just showed you is so that you can know the easy stuff and focus on the difficult questions.”
“So it's just like humans, elves, and dumb monsters. If I don't want to kill the humans or elves, I don't have to, do I,” I asked sheepishly.
“There are intelligent monsters also. You do not have to kill them, even if they are going to kill you,” he said warmly. “But it is not just humans and elves. There are plenty of other races. Dwarves are almost always assholes. They make it easy to want to kill them. Most [Evil] gnomes are creepy mouth breathers so people can usually work themselves up for that.”
I took a moment to collect myself before responding. “Can't you just talk to people about not being [Evil]?”
“That is the hard way. The only way to do things back on Earth was to seek forgiveness and practice penance without knowing how much you had to do achieve redemption. Here you can just do some Quests until your Alignment changes. The System makes everything easier. It is easier to be [Good]. It is easier to be [Evil]. [Evil] can be transactional on Elfandrael. If you are frustrated with your life because you are not rich, or beautiful or famous, just be [Evil], get what you want and then go back to being [Good].”
“That sounds like indulgences, buying your way out of hell,” I said uncomfortably.
“No indulgences were not just for what you did, but also for what you would do. It is not quite as simple as I made it out. People have free will. If you turn to [Evil] and die a final death, you will be punished for what you did because you did not pay back your debt. You have free will. Doing [Evil] is a calculated risk. If you fear eternal damnation for even the simplest sin, it is not [Goodness] that saves you, but fear of an unknown punishment. On Elfandrael it is easy to know what the punishment is. There is nothing so beautiful as someone who follows the Paths of [Law] and [Good] because that is who they want to be. For you look at the price of getting what you want, a price you can pay, and still turn away from [Evil] and injustice, that is what my goal is. I cannot tell if you will pass my test if you never take it.”
We talked for hours. We talked about Elfandrael. The people, the geography, the politics. We talked about beautiful women who stayed young forever. We talked about the System. The rules, the Classes, the Magic, and the technology. We talked about the best build for me. We talked about my soul. We talked about giant Magical robots, devils, demons, and angels. We talked about the Virtues, the Oaths, and the Temptations. It was like talking to priest about what to put into a gaming wiki. Celestium answered almost all my questions. Apparently it was against the rules to tell me anything a mortal couldn't find out for themselves in Elfandrael.
In the end he told me I didn't have to go to Elfandrael. I could choose to wait for someone else to offer me a world to go to. He said I probably wouldn't find a better fit for me than Elfandrael. He also said I probably wouldn't find someone willing to give lengthy explanations like he was. I believed him. I asked him how long I could ask him questions. Unless I told him I didn't want to enter Elfandrael, when I fell asleep I would be in my new world. I talked as long as I could. I don't know if I fell off the platform or not. I do know I will never let my balls sit on a cold floor that long again.