“So, Lad, you say you were like a god and now you are not. Well, ain’t that a shame!” The bartender repeated once again to me with a mocking smile. I lifted my head up with more effort than I would have imagined it needing. My head seemed to be suffering from a terrible and potent spell called intoxication. Ok, so it wasn’t an actual spell like magic spell but rather me getting my butt drunk off beers. Sadly, it was only from two beers. Even more sadly, I was not even finished halfway with the second.
“Yeah,” I answered back after some time. I turned my head and slowly looked around. Yup, I was still at the same crap hole in the wall tavern, and this was not just a bad dream.
I had indeed held nearly the power of a god. I came to this world over two hundred years ago from THE earth that had no magic but instead had computers, cell phones, and the internet. Or maybe it did have some magic because how else could anyone explain the Kardashians becoming so rich and powerful without any talent.
I wasn’t sure how it all happened but somehow in my old world, when people died of a traumatic event not related to war or disease, there was a chance that their soul would get caught as it was leaving the body. Not sure who or what was doing the catching, but after that soul was caught, it was placed in a new physical form on this planet that exists in an entirely different dimension. Same age, gender, whatever they had been in the old world. The new form was referred to as an avatar. And that was not just a name but the race itself that was called an avatar. That person was no longer just a human but rather, a human avatar.
There was much that was special about Avatars. They typically had some significant ability that was unique to them. A power you could say that normal people would not be born with and one that would grow with them over time. I did as well in my old body when I first arrived here but this new me, doesn’t.
Anyways, when I died on my old earth, my soul was caught after my death and placed into the Avatar. I found out that this world, not only had magic and monsters but also gods and demons and just about all else you could imagine in a fantasy world. In this world I learned that all magic related things stemmed from an energy, a force called The Essence. From this Essence, came The System. The System (not sure who named it originally) could best be described as the rules or governing force of The Essence. If light from a light bulb could be considered The Essence, then the bulb itself, the wiring, the switch and even a dimmer that controls how much intensity would be considered The System.
The amount of magic a world contained depended on how close it was to The Essence. My old world was about as far as it could be from this Essence and thus had little magic. This world is much closer and so has a stronger connection to The Essence and thus has a lot more magic in it than my old earth. There are worlds out there that have an even stronger connection than this world. The closer a world is to the source of The Essence, the more magical energies reside in it. A long time back, maybe hundreds of thousands of years ago, some beings were born in a world that was extremely close to The Essence. These beings gained more power in time and started calling themselves gods. They had so much power, The System even assigned them specific roles as the Gods of this universe. Many beings have gained power overtime to become gods over thousands of years though none have held the power as the old original ones. Speaking of ‘gods’, there are probably more than a thousand gods that exist in this world. Only a fraction of them are worshipped as deities and have assigned roles or domains in this world. Most others are beings that have gained power over time and ascended to become powerful like a god.
In this world, there are people that cast spells, have special abilities and even individual attributes like strength, constitution, intelligence. Connection to The Essence has created a game like interface where people could see their various attributes and abilities like information on a screen. The amount of information that a person can see on their interface is also dependent on how close a connection they have to The Essence and if they choose to live a life based on leveling. Farmers or everyday workers for example don’t have much use for such information so they typically do not have an interface available unless they develop a stronger connection to The Essence.
This world is also similar to my old earth in many ways. This world has plenty of ‘ism’ like racism, classism, fascism etc. Though, racism is not the same as the old world where people were prejudiced against other humans; here it’s between actual different races like humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, and many others. Same as in the old world, there is always someone trying to gain power and land. There are rich and the poor, powerful and the weak. There is poverty, war, and famine. This world also has the same land masses, oceans, and continents for the most part. There is an area that would correspond to Europe, Asia, north and south America. Though what I learned is there is no area where we would have had central America, and the North and South continent are separated by an ocean. Originally, when I was ‘reborn’ here, I was in an area that would have been considered Spain in the old world. This time from what the bartender had told me, I am likely near the southern coastal California area. I had traveled to many different lands in those 200 years but never here. I suppose you can only see and experience so much even if you live for centuries.
This region is called Barram from what the bartender told me. The capital city, which is a little less than a week of travel distance away from here is known as Barrambas. I imagine the two were probably named after the original king or whomever found it or some other ruler. All these kings and rulers love naming their nations and cities after themselves. Most normal folk just do that to their privates and call it a day.
This nation has a ruling king much like most of the nations in this world but also has a senate which helps govern, which is unusual compared to other nations. I am in a small city that was founded at the edge of their territory. It was situated at the bottom of the southern side of a mountain. I didn’t bother asking what the mountain was called but the city came to be once they found a precious jewel mine in the mountain.
The other strange thing about this world was that it had many things that we did back in the old world like certain foods, ways of talking and even certain items which one would not have expected like certain types of clothing and items. I was surprised when I first saw a duke wearing a tuxedo in one of the nations I had visited during a Royal ball. A while back, I also learned that there was coffee being served at restaurants in big cities. I don’t know for how long people from my earth had been coming here but I suspect they are likely the ones introducing a lot of these things that may have been considered out of place here. That might not make sense as one would wonder how can there be things here for hundreds of years that may only have been discovered some decades back on the old earth and that was because time worked differently here. Won’t go much into that now but just briefly say that time here does not go in the same linear fashion that it does back on earth.
When I had died in my old world, I had left behind family including my daughter and my wife. After getting over the initial depression of being trapped in this world and missing my family, I tried to get as powerful as possible so I could get back to my original home. I kept getting stronger, but I was not able to get back to my family. I spent over a hundred years trying but all I could manage to do was get back to the earth temporarily but in a much different time than when my family was alive. I continued to look for a way to get back to them when I had left them. I continued to gain power, even ascending during this time.
Ascension was when a person gained so much power, they developed a closer connection to The Essence. Each level of ascension brings forth more power and in time, people can even rival gods in strength. My last ascension brought me enough power that I could be considered a demigod. Unfortunately, this state was short lived. I was not certain what happened, but something caused me to die. And then suddenly...boom, I somehow ended up here outside of this bar back to the beginning. Back to not having any special abilities; with all my spells gone and level back to 0. Back to having basic stats like an average human.
“And you don’t know how you ended up here?” he asked disrupting my self-deprecating thought.
“Uh Huh!” I nodded. I continued to stare at the mostly unfinished mug of ale that seemed to never end.
How did I end up here? More than two centuries of memories and now I was having trouble remembering things except for just some broken instances. Why were the old memories fresher in my mind and the newer seem so fractured? I remember my life before I was brought to this world 200 years before. I remember my wife and her forgiving smile even when I was a dumbass. I remember my sweet little girl. My sweet perfect girl and her eyes full of love and life. Two hundred years and I had never found my way back home to them. Did I give up hope trying to get back to them? Was I afraid? Of the person I had become. Was I afraid they would not remember me or love me the same?
“Just woke up this afternoon outside this bar and decided, hey I’m not a ‘god’ anymore so I think I will go get a drink!” The dwarf asked, breaking my drunk ass from my thoughts yet again.
Did this dwarf roofie me? Nah, he was a bastard but not that kind of a bastard. Still it was odd for me to be so intoxicated from such little beer.
“Yea that about sums it up.” I replied. I took a deep breath and gulped down some more. The glass was spinning now or maybe it was the room. I wasn’t quite sure at this point.
“You gonna empty that mug or marry it?”
My eyes were glazed, and speech slurred. Surefire signs of intoxication from what the bartender could tell but I did not appear to be lying but then again Grimlock Axebringer had no idea how to identify a liar from one that was not. He had owned the bar Beers and Brawls for over a decade now and half the people that came in were elaborating on the importance of their lives or what was more commonly known as diddling their daddles.
I took another smaller gulp of the ale. I probably should have stopped drinking a long time back. But this was a strange experience to say the least. And ale was not something that could ever be considered ok to waste. Even if it tasted as bad as this did.
“That may be one hell of a story you had just told me. Now I can’t see how you were once like a god, but I said the first beer would be on me if you could tell me an amazing tale and you have din just that. So now that I squared the payment for your first beer, mind telling me who will be paying me the copper for the second? Certainly a “god” should have none a difficulty producing a coin,” he said with a smirk.
I was surprised that I had become so inebriated with just two drinks. Sure, they tasted like absolute crap, but the bartender had warned me of that before I even started. He in fact had told me that he likely had the worst tasting ale in the whole city, but they were cheap, and they were strong. Something that the dwarf found to be a compliment and a thing to boast about.
“So, here’s the thing, I have no money.”
The dwarf bartender let out a chuckle and his bright red overgrown beard feathered in the air, “Ha, I like you little godling so I’m gonna let you pay me back next time you’re in here. But next time, you better bring the coin before you even sit down at my bar and if you don’t, you will learn why this place is called Beers AND Brawls and not Beers and deadbeats.”
“Well, I’m just glad you’re not a woman,” I blurted it out without thinking.
Grimlock tilted his head and raised his eyebrow, “And why would you be glad for such a thing?”
I looked grimlock in the eyes and said, “Because all women with ugly clown hair the same color as you are evil as hell. Especially the ones with beards.”
Grimlock’s nostrils flared, and he took a deep breath through his mouth as if I had just insulted his mother. I probably had. His hand gripped the mug that he was holding which was just freshly poured and drained it in a second. He slammed the mug down on the bar and leaned forward to stare me down. One of his neck vessels was swollen and pulsating.
I couldn’t believe I had just said that. It was something that I would never have thought of or even have said before. And now I just blurted it out and insulted a dwarf, his beard and probably most of his kin. I wondered if a quick death from this dwarf may still be much better than a slow one from the terrible ale.
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The dwarf then broke out into a deep boisterous laughter right from his belly, “You be right in that lad. My mother was evil as fuck.”
“I guess, I’m gonna head out before I say something else about your kin without meaning to” I mumbled to the dwarf.
I took my time getting up from the worn-out stool that squeaked with any change in weight and took a slight stumble but caught myself before introducing my face to the dirty cement floor.
First, the dwarf and now the floor; my face might just be looking to get smashed like the rest of my body.
“hey godling, what’s your name?” the dwarf asked before I stepped out the door.
“Gatsby Lark!”
“Ok Gatsby Lark, the godling, come back again but bring some coin and another good story for this old dwarf.”
I walked to the door and stepped out to find the nearby empty street as the sun was climbing down. How did I get this drunk. I could drink gallons of the strongest ale before and barely feel anything. My constitution must be at a pittance.
I continued to walk for a while and at times tripping without falling. I didn’t know which direction I was headed. All these streets were new to me. The city I didn’t recognize any more than the people in it. Eventually coming to the edge of a bright yellow single-story building with windows that were broken and a door nearly coming off the hinge, I sat on the ground, falling asleep in just moments.
I woke to a scream from around the block. There were several voices at the same time with most of them belonging to men. MY head was pounding like the worst hangover ever from the watered-down poison that was somehow called an ale. I slowly crept up to the edge of the wall. Four men had circled a woman with three of them laughing at the fourth who was crouched holding his head gushing blood, likely the culprit of that loud feminine scream. All looking like grade A jerkoffs.
“Harrick, if you can’t defend yourself against a tiny girl then maybe it’s best you stick to stealing nightly sweets from your sister!” the one resting a big club on his shoulder said resulting in a chuckle from two other ones. The one with the club was a few inches taller than me and had a broad back like a bodybuilder.
“Just like the rest of the town!” another one added, resulting in all the men except Harrick laughing. Harrick continued to groan in pain while cursing at the girl.
I watched them for a brief moment to assess the situation. I knew that I couldn’t leave the girls to these jackoffs. As much as I was overmatched against these clowns and I was greatly overmatched given my lack of class, level, weapons compared to these guys who had all these and the numbers. I would have loved to have walked away but I couldn’t, I was never that cold or heartless. The one thing I had going for me was the element of surprise and their backs to me.
Four of them and one of me. And not just one but a level zero nobody. At least one of them looked to be a mage with his stupid looking bright purple robe that seemed as if it was bought at the I am looking for more attention clearance aisle. The others likely fighters of some type. I just hoped they were low leveled. Ok, Gatsby you can do this…just sneak on up and hope for the best.
I needed to be quiet and quick. With their backs to me and in the dark, I had something to work with. Would have been nice to have like a dragon or powerful spell that kills them all in one shot but of well.
Out of the four, the one called Harrick had been carrying a sword which he had put down so he could hold back the bleeding. The one to immediate left of him laughing the loudest was a bald, fat man, unshaven and smelling like rotten bleu cheese as if bleu cheese could smell any worse. He was gripping a mace with a ball and spikes on one end. Then there was one holding the enormous club that had made the comment to the one named harrick, clearly trying to compensate for some shortcoming. The one that stood behind them all was clearly the leader and a mage from the way he was dressed. It spoke loudly towards his fashion sense which though loud was still not as bad as his fellow dirtbags who looked like reject barbarians.
“She’s not just a girl, she’s a Ranger but it won’t matter once I’m done with her,” the bleeder Harrick grunted out.
“Easy boys, we need her alive. First, we need the information and then I will let you all have your turn working her”, The tall one in a robe spoke with a very stereotypical villainous high-pitched voice. His comment made me want to smash his head in even more.
The mage would be the first target be at this point. He stood the farthest back from the girl and closest to me almost begging to be beat up first. The good thing about most mages was that they tended to be glass cannons. They could cast powerful spells to hurt armies but did not have the health to take on a dog bite. At least that was the case for most of them and I hope for this one as well.
“The first one to come near me will be the first to get their manhood removed!”, the defiant young girl spoke brandishing a knife she had pulled out of her left boot.
No one would accuse me of being a gentleman, but I was certainly not the type to think that four on one was a fair fight either. The girl, though small, looked as if she could handle herself but against such odds and especially if one of them was a magic user, she was most definitely in trouble.
I looked around to see what could be used as a weapon. Certainly, at one point in time, taking on a few thugs would not even have required the minimum of effort but now that I was back to level Zero with all my skills, spells and stats gone, I would need to improvise quickly.
Plenty of loose rocks and rubble were derelict in the alley and I decided to pick the one that fit my hand the best; one with a nice and big pointy edge to it. The point was nice and enough to split open most heads easily. I felt the weight of it and gripped it tight. Did a couple of practice swings to make sure it was not too heavy.
“You are not going to make this easy are you, young lady”, the robed man spoke while moving his arms to cast a spell. His fingers were bony thin and looked almost warped, likely from trying to use spells over the years.
“Yea, put her to sleep and then we will see the fight she has left in her!”, the bald one spoke leaving the mage to roll his eyes and wonder how got stuck with these idiots.
I slowly and carefully walked up behind them all. My lack of proper or rather any footwear made it easy to make the least amount of sound possible. I could have sworn I had shoes on before I passed out on the street.
I gripped the stone tightly again and rushed forward to the magic user and swung the rock at the head which made a large sound like a watermelon being crushed. A surprising amount of blood sprayed out for the first few seconds like from a tarantino movie. I must have hit a major vessel.
I pivoted quickly before the one on the left could react and slammed the same sharp edge onto the shoulder of the tall bald one making him drop his weapon. I would have preferred another head shot but the man was tall as well as fat making the reach a little more difficult and even if I could at least just disarm him quickly enough, well then that would just have to do.
The girl had been slightly crouched and was able to react quickly when she saw me make that first swing. She dug the knife into the meaty thigh of the man holding the club causing him to bend forward in pain. Without wasting a second, she pulled the knife out and swung out at his throat. The man was able to just move back enough to not get his throat slashed completely but he still got his chin split by the blade.
Harrick, grabbed at his sword but before he could act, his face was met by the same stone thrown by me. My throwing skills were terrible but at such a short distance and such a big target, I was not going to miss.
I immediately picked up the Mace with the point bits. Pointy bits were always a good counter to squishy flesh, and I was happy to introduce their flesh to it. It weighed more than I had expected it to; not to unexpected given that not too long ago I had the strength where I could pick up an elephant with one hand and now, I would be lucky if I could out bench napoleon dynamite.
The swing was awkward with the mace making me wish I had stuck with the stone. I didn’t attempt a kill shot with it but rather aimed for the biggest area on the man, his torso and managed to connect with the guy’s hip. Despite my lack of proficiency in the item, I was able to make the weapon work for me given the size of these guys, their lack of armor and my surprise attack.
The big thug, despite having a destroyed arm from the stone and now the hip, was no slouch when it came to fighting. He was unarmed but weapons were just a tool, and his fist would work just fine for someone like me. His knuckles flew out towards me and connected with the left side of my face. The blow nearly took my head off and dazed me for a moment. But I knew that if I stopped for a second, I would not make out of this alive and so I just pushed forward against the pain.
My head felt like it had flown off my neck and I fell back on to my knees towards the ground still being partially dazed from that strike. When I looked up, I saw the big man about to pound me down some more. I had to act, and I blindly reached out and grabbed at the sword that was dropped by one of the thugs and swung it wildly not knowing what would happen.
The big thug stood there for a moment then collapsed as blood gushed out from his new abdominal wound. His innards spilling out in front of me.
I stood up and looked around. The body of the mage was still on the ground with the side of his temple caved in. Harrick was quickly coming to his feet, but I closed the distance between myself and Harrick and stabbed the man. I stumbled back from pain realizing that as I had stabbed Harrick, he had also stabbed me in turn with a dagger that he had on him.
“We don’t have much time. We have to hurry, or you will die,” the girl said to me.
I was trying to stay standing from the blood loss. On my home world, I would have gone into shock by now or even may have died but, here things just worked a little different. I never completely understood why that was just as I did not understand much else about this world such as how a screen could show the numbers of my physical and mental aspect. How it could show a variety of different things about an individual and how people could “level up” by gaining experience but then again there were many things that this world didn’t have either like advanced technology. Was It all because of The Essence?
It’s possible that since this world had so much magic, there was never a need to advance technology as it was back on home earth. On Earth, there were ways to be able to see the temperature of a human body using a thermometer or the pressure exerted by his blood as it moved through the body but that was not the same as a video game like screen indicating your specific condition, skill, abilities, and such.
I leaned against the wall trying to keep my eyes open as the blood continued to come out of my gut wound. The wound looked bad, but I had survived worse; much much worse and many more times than I could count. I had survived for over a century against demons, dragons and all kinds of other indescribable dangers but now I could die from the dagger of some random low-level fighter in an alley.
The girl, as concerned as she seemed moments before, wasn’t just running off but rather going one by one through all the dead bodies, picking them off for any loot she could fine.
The pain was bearable. Almost minimal at this point, which to me was not surprising. I had been stabbed, burned, beaten and many other worse things in the past and survived them all.
The pain sensation here in this world was not the same as it was in his old world. It was dulled by a considerable amount, and I was always glad for that. The people here in this world felt pain but to a much lesser extent. They would suffer grave wounds that would have crippled the strongest-willed individuals back in our home world but here they would continue to fight.
She ended up picking up a few trinkets, I couldn’t make out. None of the weapons or armor on the dead bodies seemed like anything special and she left those. Though perhaps, I should have grabbed the sword just in case. It may not have been magical, but a weapon is still a weapon and certainly much better than my bare hands. She finally settled on the head mage appearing guy. He could have been something else but his cloak and the way he seemed to be casting a spell certainly most like made him some type of spellcaster type. She quickly pulled off the robe and stuffed it in a bag along with a few other items she found on him.
Where did she get the bag? Had she always had that bag?
My wounds finally caught up to me and I slid down the side of the wall onto the ground. Where was my focus? Why had I not been able to pull up my status page up yet to look at my health? I had been able to glimpse at my status briefly yesterday why I found myself outside the bar and then nothing. As if the system was shut off to me suddenly. Not that it would have mattered as I was going to die in a short while unless I could stop the bleeding somehow or got some healing. I didn’t have much hope for either. The girl could have helped but if she could have then why had she not already? She didn’t seem like the cleric healer type either. She could go look for help but finding a healer in time will likely not going to happen and it was doubtful that anyone would spend the gold for a decent health potion for me.