He woke up to the gentle caress of the wind, the feeling of swaying grass on his skin, and the warm sun on his face. The scenery was beautiful and almost enough to stave off the initial confusion.
Almost.
Wynst’s eyes widened in the slow way one might attribute to the realization of something very very wrong. First off, he didn’t know where he was, or… or who he was, save for his name. Second off, well, everything else.
The forest was unfamiliar in a wild way, overgrown and much too beautiful. Strange and untouched. He stared down at himself and found that he was naked, somehow that was the least of his worries. He didn’t recognize the landscape, nor the mountains in the distance, and had no inkling as to any explanation.
He made to look around, scout the area, find something, anything, to… he stopped.
There was a box. One wrapped with a bow and striped in a manner one might exactly suspect a present to be. In the midst of nature and nakedness, it was perhaps the closest thing to ‘normal’. Well, had it been in any other context.
He stared at it, of course. Something so jarringly out of place was bound to draw the eye.
New Item: [Reincarnator’s Mystery Box] (Legendary)
A box potentially containing everything from mundane supplies to useful artifacts, Articles, and more. Touched by the River of Possibility, it is possible to receive great boons and powers. A gift bestowed by the Gods to those lost to the realms and born once more. It is advised you open this quickly.
There were a few things to parse, not even including the sudden message that appeared before his eyes. “Reincarnator? Lost to the realms?” Wynst looked around. He didn’t recognize any plants, even the trees seemed foreign, but he couldn’t decide whether that was memory loss or unfamiliarity.
He read the descriptions again. “Gods?”
It is advised you open this quickly. He reread.
Did that have something to do with that Legendary tag? That had to indicate… what, rarity? He couldn’t imagine how many people received something similar, considering. Nor anything, really, gifted by Gods. And, did that mean Gods were real? He swallowed.
“Fine.” He tried to pull the string but it unraveled for him, unwinding itself.
The box fell apart, dissipating into motes of light. Various colors expanding in a ball, before floating, swirling, then rushing to him. In a blink, he was surrounded by a whirlwind of color he couldn’t comprehend.
Gifts, boons, powers.
Something changed. Within him, he felt an expansion, not one that was hurtful or uncomfortable, but simply new and free, like a large room. A new sense touched his thoughts, one that suffused his perspective in a way that suggested it had been there all along. And something else he couldn’t trace.
Then it was over and he stared at new messages.
New Skill: [Imagimancy] (Ancient)
The capacity to understand the flow of mana as it pertains to imagination and reality. Mana as potential unchained, limited only by the restrictions of the mind. Dreams and fantasy given shape.
New Trait: [Soul Dimension] (Mythic)
A personal space tied to the soul from which one may enter or exit. The volume of the space is directly tied to the strength of one’s soul.
New Item: [Omni Intelligence] (Epic)
An advanced magitech-wetware technology designed to enhance host capabilities and ensure survival. The unit boasts a wide range of self-diagnostics, a full analytical suite, and a myriad of other functions enabled by a deep integration with the host. It possesses the capacity to adapt and grow far beyond its initial functions.
He blinked at the new sensations, reading the new messages. “That [Reincarnator’s Mystery Box] is broken.” With a sudden strange understanding of everything he’d just received, he had a good perspective of how ridiculous it was.
It was only a Legendary Item. Only, he scoffed, which was blasphemous to say. A Legendary Article was something fitting of ancient historical figures, or living legends themselves. They were the type of things wars were waged for, that threw continents into turmoil and changed landscapes. Multiple landscapes.
And [Imagimancy] was rated even higher than that, or rather… the highest possible. Why… why did he know that? He shouldn’t have. But there it was, an innate understanding of rarity, no, Rarity and what it meant. A few seconds ago, he didn’t have the slightest clue about it.
What changed? He shook his head, regarding the Skill he’d just gotten.
An Ancient Article was like getting hit by a lightning bolt as a shark bit you during an earthquake on land, while something equally improbable happened at the same time, and that exact event also happened halfway across the world in a thousand other spots. And truthfully, it was probably more improbable than that.
In short, it was both impossible and irrefutably right in front of him.
[Imagimancy].
He had an instinctive knowledge of it that he couldn’t rightly believe. An innate talent that was as if it had always been. That was that new strange sense he’d felt moments before.
His first thought of magic was the quintessential bunny being pulled out of a magician’s hat. An image so crisp in his mind it was as if he could see it on stage. A bunny that moved as if real because it was real, a trick of the magician, sleight of hand, and misdirection. He’d only learned the trick after, of course, and even then—
Something brushed against his hand, softer than the grass he’d been pulling at in absent disbelief of the entire situation.
The bunny cocked his head at Wynst, sniffing the grass curiously. Wynst stared back, nearly mimicking the motion before going slack-jawed. Shock broke the image and the bunny tilted its head and disappeared as if it had never been.
Dreams and fantasy given shape. The words echoed in a mind baffled into emptiness.
And then what just happened struck him. He had just magicked a bunny into a false existence. The thought blew his mind and made his eye twitch. He knew how to cast magic. It was true! What else could he do? Could he shoot laser beams, fly into the sky? Magic his way back home?
“Stop, stop!” Wynst chided himself. “Just take a breath and just… relax, man.”
It took more than a breath and more than a moment. Magic. Dreams and fantasy indeed. He stared at his hand but his attention drifted inward, almost absently, as he traced something equal parts familiar and foreign.
Mana, he knew. A raw source of potential and power. He couldn’t pry his attention from it. Not just what he was sensing within himself, but what he knew he could do with it. What wonders he could bring into existence.
If only he could imagine it.
He pinched himself.
Nothing changed.
“Let’s move on from how incredibly ridiculous that is for the time being.” He said to himself, mentally placing the time bomb that was that off to the side.
He calmed down—tried to— and addressed the other Articles. “Alright, what else was there? I need to get my bearings. Magic; first thing once I’m done.” He listed. “What else did I get from that box?”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
His eyes twitched as he reread the other messages, flicking to the Rarity of both. How lucky was he, exactly? Epic and Mythic were the two preceding Rarities behind Legendary. He was sitting on a fortune, no, a treasure trove or something greater, albeit one that didn’t necessarily convert. Each Article was priceless. Beyond priceless, even.
And all of it had stemmed from one Legendary Item? That box had been something like a loot box. Had he just gotten insanely lucky? It had gifted him Articles beyond the Rarity of the Item which they came from!
Again, he breathed, focusing on what was ‘in front’ of him.
[Soul Dimension] could be nothing other than that sensation of space. A large space within him. He could… enter it? How was he supposed to step inside of himself? No sooner than he questioned that paradox did he have his answer. And more, he realized people would kill for something so convenient. Kill, raze, pillage, and conquer for it.
This wasn’t his world. That was obvious ever since he’d opened the box, some new knowledge filling him. This was a place governed by Articles and people in power. If it got out he was in possession of some of this magnitude… he’d be hunted relentlessly. Regardless of whether the Articles were even transferable.
That was another can of worms. “Another time.” He said weakly.
As for the last, [Omni Intelligence], he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. On paper, it seemed useful, but in reality, what did it mean? Where was it? He looked at himself. Still naked, uncomfortably naked, he should add, and there was nothing around as obvious as the [Reincarnator’s Mystery Box] had been.
He slumped in place. No memory of who he was, or where he was, and only a vague understanding of how he got here. What was it again?
Lost to the realms and born once more. Reincarnator? That about confirms it, he was plucked from his ‘realm’ and reincarnated somewhere else. But why?
Suddenly, a smooth voice spoke as if directly in his mind. Hello, Wynst. I am your Omni Intelligence. I have completed the initial bootup. It seems you have already passively accessed the basic information package.
Wynst swung around, immediately trying to cover himself until the words kicked in. “You’re that Article?” He asked suddenly.
Wait, intelligence? Basic information package? ”Are you the reason I know all these things?”
That is a result of our integration. Basic knowledge, such as the systems of the World Tablet are not intrinsic to [Realm Wanderers] nor to the native peoples until taught. With me, however, that information is at your fingertips. It spoke. This is, of course, only one of the many ways I may be of service to you.
Wynst couldn’t help but still glance around. “W-where are you, exactly? What do you mean by integration?”
I have already attached to your brain stem and mana reservoir. To answer your question, I have become part of you, active, and inseparable, as of one minute ago.
Wynst froze at that. Brain stem? Mana reservoir? The first one was understandably alarming, the second… shockingly shocking. Both were intrinsic parts of him. He was surprised at how invaded he felt. He was more appalled at the second detail than the first, which was something he shouldn’t have had the perspective for if not for the very thing attached to them both!
Have no fear, Wynst. I am a tool entirely devoted to your improvement and desires. Your will is my will. Your command is my purpose. If any of my functionality becomes uncomfortable you may disable and enable them at your leisure.
He breathed. Maybe it wasn’t the worst? How bad could some kind of symbiotic relationship be? “Can you—do you see the same messages I do? Or is that a personal thing? Does everyone see them? Wait, you called me a [Realm Wanderer]? What is that?”
The Voice of the World Tablet, are those messages you perceive. For every person, they are different, tailored to one’s individual experience and perspective. For one, it may be sound, or sight, others may experience touch, even smell.
It is a personal thing for most but as part of you, no different than another limb, I see it as well. I am simply another part of you, devoted to the wellbeing of the whole, that will forever be my purpose and has been since my creation and our integration.
Wynst tried to process that and gave up. “Uh, okay. Let’s… work on that later. And [Realm Wanderer]?”
Your Title, another type of Article. I believe you must have received it before our integration. I have no records of such a Title. It seems you are in possession of another such Title outside my records.
“Titles?” He asked, wondering.
May I suggest something before we discuss it further?
“Uh, sure.” He gestured, feeling dumb even as he did so.
I think it’s best you enter your [Soul Dimension]. The sun is setting soon and the dark can harbor predators and danger alike. It seems you already know how.
He supposed there really couldn’t be a safer place to gather his thoughts. “Right, good idea.” But it was easier said than done. Or so he thought. Right up until he shrugged, thought about entering his personal dimension, took a step, and was suddenly just… there.
It was a jarring transition from overgrowth, looming trees, an orange setting sun, and verdant grass to what was unmistakable a house. His [Soul Dimension] was actually not entirely blank.
In fact, it was ridiculously well-furnished and fleshed out.
He stepped into the foyer and his breathing sped up. He looked around, noting a fireplace, a leather couch, a large kitchen, and even electric lights! This was all his? How? Even his actual home—well, he couldn’t remember, but it couldn’t have been as nice.
“No way.” He said wide-eyed and smiling, immediately pushing forward to explore. Finally, some semblance of normality returned, it was at least more familiar than a forest, and that allowed him to relax for the first time since waking.
He took ten minutes just marveling at the amenities. There was even a bathroom and running water! This was an Article that would be fought over if it wasn’t already tied to his soul and probably even then anyways! The place was decidedly modern. The height of comfort. A granite island in the kitchen, tile where necessary, and a wooden floor when not. It was amazing!
Now, all he needed was—clothes!
He ripped into the closet—one in a master bedroom that was undoubtedly his—and came away with a jacket and joggers. Maybe he lost his memories but something about supreme comfort did speak to him.
He fell backward, alighting on a plush bed. If he had this—a home—maybe he wasn’t as stranded as he’d thought.
He stared at the ceiling. Reality set in.
“What the hell is happening?” He whispered to himself. Perhaps sensing the somber mood, his [Omni Intelligence] didn’t respond. It, well, it would’ve been weird if it did. It was rhetorical.
He wasn’t sure how long he lay there. The need for answers was what eventually made him do something.
He spoke into the air. “I need something to call you. Do you have a name?”
I have no designation as of yet. You may assign me one at your leisure.
A name for a helpful entity that was invisible, inside of him, and devoted to his whims? He supposed the [Omni Intelligence] was a bit like a ghost or spirit. He’d rather not personify it too much.
He thought about it and chose the cooler of the two. “How about Ghost then?”
Designation Ghost accepted.
“Do you know anything about reincarnation or [Realm Wanderers]? Or realms for that matter?”
I’m afraid I have no concrete information on either subject. However, I believe your Titles themselves may answer some questions for you. They are those which you earned, after all. Titles can only be earned from accomplishing extraordinary feats, their attainment is no small thing and you are in possession of two of which I have no records of.
At this point, he wasn’t surprised when the knowledge of how to check just that filled his mind. The messages, like the previous, appeared somewhere between his thoughts, his eyes, and every other sense he had.
New Title: [Realm Wanderer] (Mythic)
You are one who has traversed dimensions, planes, and realities. The forces which separate these realms are but a thin veneer for someone determined to cross them.
New Title: [Reincarnator] (Mythic)
You are someone who has been blessed with another life. The knowledge of another life grants you a unique advantage in your new reality. By some way or manner, you have been deemed worthy to live once more.
He read the Titles. “Beyond that, what do they actually do? Is there a point in having them?” He tried not to blink at the Rarities.
He could almost sense a hesitance from Ghost. If Wynst knew how improbable it was to have all these Articles, then Ghost did as well.
You are a unique host.
What was that supposed to mean?
Titles are more than the feats you overcame to attain them. Once a Title is earned there are a number of benefits associated with them. They may not be apparent, especially with ones so powerful, but they are there, if not immediately obvious.
“Well, I guess the [Reincarnator’s Mystery Box] would count, wouldn’t it?”
A hidden boon, yes. It may be that every reincarnate is offered some compensation as a form of a blessing.
Could his [Realm Wanderer] Title have affected the stuff he got from the box? Dimensions, planes, and realities were somewhat congruent with his [Imagimancy] and [Soul Dimension]. But did that mean every [Realm Wanderer] was a [Reincarnator]?
He blew out an exhale, stared at the ceiling again, and, eventually, started moving.
Days passed.