Chapter 5

Jay slowly woke up. Again. “Oh god. Where am I now?”

In a way Jay knew where he was however. He must be on Eden, in a computer generated world. It sure didn't feel like it was computer generated. Jay took a moment to feel the cool air on his skin as he raised a hand to ward off the sun shining in his eyes. It felt amazing and he was momentarily overcome at how normal everything felt. The air did smell a bit musty though. The place could use an airing out.

Jay found himself sitting on a chair in a room with a single exit. The floor, walls, and ceiling were entirely made out of a stone he wasn't familiar with. He actually was only familiar with a few types of stone, so this didn't surprise him. He was positive he wouldn't be familiar with pretty much everything from now on and for quite a while.

A metal grate in the high ceiling allowed a shaft of sunlight to stream in, lighting up the entire room. The ceiling itself was far too high for Jay to reach. It was bright and sunny outside from what he could see through the grating.

Jay stood up, dusted himself off, and took stock of himself and his surroundings. He looked at his clothing which included a tattered tunic that was brilliant white, a tattered pair of pants that was brilliant white, a pair of tattered sandals, normal color brown, and, after looking down his pants to be sure, brilliant white tattered underwear. Low quality but the color was amazing. Really white. It almost glowed.

The clothing had no pockets and he found nothing else on his body save for two small teal triangles on the backs of his hands stacked upon each other looking like the shape of an hourglass, like tattoos, but these weren't just regular ink but some sort of metallic analog. The triangles appeared to sparkle like glitter when he moved his hands, and they sparkled with no regard to the presence of light. They didn't smudge off when he tried with one of his fingers after licking the tattoo. “Must be a real tattoo then,” he thought to himself.

Jay looked around the room and found nothing else but the exit door so he hopped up on to his feet and walked out of the room, opening the door carefully first after looking for wires or any traps.

Jay shrugged. It was a game world, looking for traps on doors seemed like a reasonable thing to do. It did however look ridiculous, a grown man in tattered clothing squatting around the door waving his hands slowly. Because that is how Jay looked for traps. He didn't know any better, and truthfully, looking close for trip wires while feeling for any with his hands wasn't the worst idea he had all day.

The second room had a low table with a single item on it. A book. Jay walked over and picked up the book, sitting down on the table. “Guide for the Intrepid Traveler” it read in gold script on the front cover. Around the size of a college biology hardcover textbook, it was gorgeous with a thick brown leather cover and various details and flourishes worked in to the leather itself.

In the center of the front cover were two sparkling teal triangles, one on top of the other like an hourglass shape, surrounded by an almost glowing white circle. Along the spine were the same two glittering triangles, one stacked above the other. The book closed shut with a hasp that didn't appear to have any matching hardware. The hasp just folded over the book and stuck fast as if magnetic. Books aren't usually, as a rule, magnetic though, so what was going on was something much stranger than magnetism.

Jay tried opening the book with no luck. Looking closer the hasp actually had what looked like a stylized fingerprint engraved in to its surface. Jay had used his fingerprint to unlock enough devices back on Earth that this didn't even qualify as a puzzle to him. He pressed his fingertip to the hasp hoping it would work.

The hasp glowed and clicked open, the stylized fingerprint engraving fading while being replaced with a small, metallic teal triangle.

A window popped up at the top of Jay's vision where it wasn't distracting from the rest of his view. At the side of the window were notification icons, just like what he would find on his phone. It appeared he had several waiting notifications. He focused on the most recent one.

You have claimed a Mighty Book. There are many like it but this one is yours. Actually this is possibly the only copy in existence so really hold on to this one. New permissions set for object Mighty Book. SoulBind attempt failed. Player missing required ability. An additional SoulBind attempt may be made by the player after the missing ability is gained. Automated defense protocols initialized.

“Ok. That means something.” Jay said to himself. Talking to himself was fast becoming a comforting habit. From his gaming days Jay knew that permissions usually referred to who could use an item. He could use it but probably no one else. Soul bind usually referred to the binding of an item to a player so it could not be removed from them, even in death. Finally, automated defense protocols sounded like bad things would happen to whoever tried to take the book from him. “So am I the triangle? Or did somebody else mark me with a triangle? Not sure what that means. Might be important.”

As he said “Might be important.” the guide glowed momentarily. He would have missed it if he hadn't had the book open. Jay turned to the very last page where the glow had originated from and found a neatly typed page. A notification also appeared in his waiting queue.

Find the meaning behind the Teal Triangles was now written on that last page.

He tapped the most recent notification.

Quest Journal system unlocked. You will now be able to find, take, and be rewarded for quests. You may share quests with Companions.

Looking around Jay saw that there was nothing else going on. There was nothing pushing him forward, no danger nipping at his heels. Just a door at one end of the room he needed to eventually exit through. He could afford to take a moment and look at the book.

Opening up to the first page there was a page of contents with all of the lines showing ??? instead of actual chapter and page numbers. He continued past the table of contents and found the Introduction.

Welcome Traveler to the Guide for the Intrepid Traveler! In your hands you hold magic beyond your wildest dreams! Carry more than should be possible! Walk farther, further, faster! Find traps and uncover and decipher ancient languages long lost! Find treasure where everyone else sees only ruins! Gain access to areas long forbidden! Do all this and more!

This adventurer guide is designed for new Travelers and will adapt to you as you advance in knowledge, levels, and power. This guide is YOUR guide, and you shouldn't hesitate to make your own notations alongside the words that have been prepared for you.

As a level 1 Adventurer you have been awarded your first Core Ability unlock, Quest Journal. Quest Journal is an ability for Adventurers that is not possessed by other residents of Eden. It allows for the identification, tracking, and most importantly rewarding of quests granted to and completed by you. Other residents may be granted tasks, but only Adventurers and their Companions may be granted quests.

Congratulations Traveler!

Jay checked the book and found a section just after the introduction that he could read. Everything else in the book was unintelligible to Jay. The new section gave him a list of mind commands. Words that he could think of and focus on that would create a certain effect. He tried out one.

STATUS, he thought. As he did so a transparent window appeared in front of him.

Name: Jay, Prophet of Gaia

Classes: Adventurer (1)

STR: 2

DEX: 1

INT: 2

WIS: 1

CHR: 3

Boons:

Core Abilities:

Traveler's User Interface

Quest Journal

Skills:

n/a

“Ok those are some really low numbers. I'll want to get those up sooner rather than later. If that is even possible.” Jay muttered to himself. A light glow came from his Guide. Opening it up he found a new line at the back of the book in the Quest Journal section.

Raise all of your stats to level 10 was now listed. “Sure,” Jay said, “I'd love to, but HOW?”

The book remained silent.

“Ok, well the prophet part is a little worrying,” Jay thought.

“I'm sure it will work out just fine,” Jay said out loud chuckling darkly.

The next room didn't have a door before it but just an open doorway. Inside the next room Jay found a bed and side table. Jay had just woken up so sleepy time was not on his list of things to do at the moment. Walking out of the room he found a four way hallway. It appeared that it was now time for a maze. Jay hated mazes. He had nothing to write with. He opened his book and tried to find a blank page to use as something to write on but all the pages already had text. He'd need a full blank page to use.

Finding nothing useful in the book Jay hit another snag. He could barely see. Thinking back to the list of mental commands he thought of his options. He had no way of making fire. The only light he had found so far was from the ceiling grating and.. the Book.

Jay held the book and focused on it in his mind. “Light.” Jay thought.

“Flash.” he thought harder.

“Illuminate.” he thought, getting tired of this. Jay felt like an idiot. He didn't even know if this would work. He was just trying out guesses. One more try.

“Glow” he thought as the book lit up in a beautiful full room glow. It wasn't blinding but instead made the room glow in a soft light as if the light did not have a source.

“Well that was helpful. I wonder what else it can do. But I'm not waiting around to find out.” he said out loud to absolutely no one.

Having tackled the lighting problem Jay started with the left hallway. As he walked the glow followed him, making it easy to see everything. The hallway curved downwards for a few minutes before opening up in to another four way intersection. Jay again took the left hallway which again curved further downward another entire floor in to the ground. At the end of the hallway was a large oak door. Or a large pine door. Or a large cedar door. Jay really wasn't sure about the wood but it looked solid so he decided to just call it a solid door after thinking about it a moment.

The door had a view-port in the upper center and Jay could make out shelves and what appeared to be books on the other side. The door was also however locked. The lock looked like it would be easy to pick if Jay had anything to pick with. It was a simple lock designed to keep honest folk away. Jay, finding the temple he was in abandoned so far didn't feel like he was doing anything too dishonest, but still couldn't think of any way to open it using the tools he had on him. Which were none. He had no tools.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Giving up Jay went back to the intersection and tried the corridors he hadn't chosen before, all of which ended in locked doors. Those doors had view-ports as well but no lighting to see, so Jay had no clue what might be in there. The locks also appeared quite complicated.

Jay walked back to the first intersection and found a large hall with many decaying chairs. At the front of the hall was what appeared to be an altar. Jay had never been very religious but this altar was fancy. This was not the block of stone you normally pictured but a mixture of wood and metal worked by skilled craftsman and studded with jewels. It looked incredibly expensive and he felt a feeling of reverence coming off of it in waves.

Jay thought back to the original description of Eden he had been given.

Start in a world ruled by mortals and occasionally gods.

So gods might still be around in some capacity. The word gods was also not capitalized which seemed odd to him if they were referring to all powerful beings. Regardless, they had more power than Jay, so messing around with an unidentified altar was absolutely not an option. As he thought this his book glowed briefly.

“Damn it what now,” thought Jay. He opened his Book to the end and found his Quest Journal now had a third entry along with the first two.

Raise all of your stats to level 10.

Find the meaning behind the Teal Triangles.

Discover the purpose of the altar near where you were reborn.

“Reborn, huh?” Jay mumbled. He supposed he was reborn technically. New world, new body, close enough.

Staring at the altar didn't do anything. It felt like it should, it really felt like something should be happening but nothing did. Still, it was on his Quest Journal so it must be important. It seemed like the Quest Journal was perfect for keeping track of quests he was currently too weak or simply unable to complete. Not something to focus on at the moment.

Jay tried the other various hallways but they all led to bedrooms of various sizes, all empty of anything other than simple furnishings. All but one, which turned out to be a long rising hallway that ended in a guard room which itself led outside through a trap door that opened like an iris when he approached it. Jay scurried up the ladder, clutching his Book in one arm which made climbing awkward. The door shut again with a loud click behind him. It left nothing but a smooth looking platform behind which Jay would never have found if he hadn't just exited it.

As Jay exited the temple he found himself at the top of a raised area looking out over a town in the far distance. City? Jay wasn't sure but while it looked large it didn't look big enough to be a city. Jay however had no idea what city and town sizes would be like in Eden. Jay decided to take a look around his exit spot and eventually came upon another altar. This one simpler. On top of the altar was what appeared to be a walking stick made out of a straight five foot tree branch that had been worked to remove all the smaller branches off of it. What remained was what looked like a walking stick wrapped in white bark, smoothed to an almost glowing white shine.

It appeared to have been there for some time, and was obviously left there in the distant past by a creature at least sentient enough to work wood. Jay had a long walk ahead of him if he was going to make it to town, and he had no idea how much time was left in the day. Most likely being out during the night would be a bad idea. Judging by the size of the walls around the town far off in the distance they must be used to protect against something, or many somethings.

Deciding it was too helpful an item to pass up, even with it being placed upon an altar, Jay grasped the walking stick and took it. It came away without any resistance and there was no explosion or crazy trap. Remembering that traps are a thing Jay grimaced. “I really need to be more careful about just grabbing and taking things. At some point I'm going to run in to a problem otherwise.”

Having set himself up as best he could Jay had one last thing to do. He picked up a rock and began scratching marks in to trees as he walked towards the town. Although it would look like just random scratches to anyone else Jay would be able to follow them back to the temple should he find the need to do so. Who knew if he could even find a place to stay in town? He had no money, and his few belongings were certainly not items he would ever sell. He had a book and a walking stick. Strangely, he felt as if he loved both, even though he just picked them up, and had no plans on parting with them any time soon. That might leave the small bedroom in the temple he had just left as the only reasonable place to sleep later that night.

As Jay walked the sun moved across the sky. Jay found himself glad he hadn't found anything else in the temple. In one hand he held the Book. In the other hand he held the walking stick. He had no pockets and no more hands to carry anything. Worked out perfectly in his opinion. Passing a small pond Jay looked at his reflection and laughed.

His hair had grown out long. It was at least six months since he last saw himself and it appeared that his avatar on this world started out with long hair, or his hair had grown out long on Earth and the AI just copied that when his new body was created. He had a long beard that was new as well. He was thin and could certainly use a meal or three it appeared. His outfit glowed white softly in the reflection. He decided to get a haircut first thing after all the other things he was supposed to be doing. Become Immortal for example. Easy peasy.

Jay didn't try to be stealthy during his journey. He had no other option. Between his clothing and his walking stick he practically glowed when he walked. When he stopped moving it wasn't so bad, but there was no way he could be stealthy in his current outfit.

Jay eventually came out of the wilderness and stumbled upon a wide road that appeared to run straight towards town. Jay walked for hours and the sun hit what he assumed was noon as it hovered directly over him in the sky. He heard a clopping behind him and found a man driving an empty horse drawn cart along the road towards the city. The man eyed Jay with a strange expression. Not impolite, more like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. The cart came to a stop besides Jay as he turned towards the driver.

The two men eyed each other a moment, Jay unsure what to say. “Hello?”

The man kept quiet a moment as if unsure what to do while mentally weighing Jay up. After a moment longer than was comfortable for either of them the driver appeared to make a decision and stepped out from his cart and walked over to Jay. Bowing his upper body the man spoke.

“Honored.. Sir, I greet you. I am Henri.” The driver's voice sounded off, as if he were unsure of the words he was speaking. “I would be grateful if you allowed me to give you a ride to town,” he continued, rising from his bow and looking at Jay strangely.

“Pleased to meet you,” Jay replied with a smile, “I'm Jay. And I would love a ride to town. I'm quite new here so I've a few questions if you feel up to talking along the way.”

Henri was tanned as if he worked the land for a living. Strong muscled, he looked as if he could snap Jay in half if he chose to do so. Yet Henri was strangely polite and appeared almost in fear as he waited for Jay to climb in the back of the empty cart before he returned to his seat, giving the reins a light snap with a “Hyup.”

They rode in silence for a time, Jay just enjoying not having to walk after hours of trudging through the forest. Henri looked as if he was internally struggling with something, going back and forth in his head between two extremes. After a time he finally made a decision. Without turning away from looking straight ahead at the road he said, “You should know I'm Faithful,” he said.

Jay heard the capital F in Faithful but wasn't sure what it meant. “Ok.” he replied not sure what to say.

“I still follow the old ways,” Henri continued, looking confused when Jay didn't say more. Henri fished around under his tunic and took out a tiny pendant that looked exactly like the marks on Jay's book and the backs of his hands.

It was quiet once again for a time before Jay decided to say something. “Look, I'm.. not from around here,” he started.

Henri again didn't move his eyes or body at all but mumbled, “You'd have to be.”

Jay paused, “Have to be what?” he asked.

It was silent another moment before Henri answered. “Not from around here.”

“Right,” Jay nodded, the man not being able to see Jay behind him in the cart. “I'm really new here. Assume I know nothing. Would you be willing to help me? Give me a little information about what things are like around here?”

Henri nodded decisively. “I will help you.. Honored Sir.”

Jay made a raspberry noise with his lips. “Ok. So first thing. I've called you Henri but you haven't called me Jay. You keep calling me Honored Sir. I'm dressed like a poor refugee, I feel like I'm pretty far from an Honored Sir right now.”

Henri harrumphed to himself, “I am Faithful. I worship Gaia, even after The Fall. Just because the Goddess no longer speaks to the common man does not mean that She has abandoned us. Also, you look exactly like an Honored Sir,” he added, “Sir.”

Jay made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Ok. Thank you for telling me that. I'm just not sure what to do with that information.”

Henri nodded, “She'll tell you what you need to know when you need to know it I'm sure.” The clop clop of the horse continued as they rolled along the wide road, no other people in sight. “That is Her way.”

Jay felt like he had just gotten a lot of information he couldn't do anything with. Deciding to end this line of questioning he moved on to something more concrete. “How about town? What is the name of the town we are going to?”

Henri got quiet again before looking at Jay, turning his head for the first time away from the road. “Seriously?” After he asked the question he looked afraid, as if he had said something he shouldn't.

Jay, trying not to be upset, visibly calmed himself before responding. Taking a deep breath he said “Yes. Really. I do not know the town name. I'm sure it must be weird talking to someone who knows nothing but here we are. Might as well try to make the best of it, you and me, yes? So lets try again. What is the name of the town?” Jay pointed to the town off in the distance.

“Chos'n” Henri said. “Its a religious city, and was the home of Gaia when she resided on Eden.”

More time passed as they quietly sat as the cart moved slowly along the road. Henri continued “She's not there now, but her temple remains. The town is run by a governor, who works closely with the Church seeing as the Church buildings take up most of the town as it is.”

Jay felt like he was finally getting somewhere, “What else is in the city?”

“Town,” Henri corrected, looking at Jay quickly to make sure he hadn't offended him with his correction. Finding Jay nonplussed he continued, “not big enough to be a city. Its got a market, a couple of inns, and by a couple I really mean two. A small Adventurer's Station is there as well, but its nothing like what the stories described them as, so don't get too excited.”

Jay nodded. “What stories?”

“Old stories.” Henri stated. “The world was once full of adventure, before the gods left. Some things don't work like they used to, some buildings lost some of their functions, others stopped working entirely.”

Jay wanted to ask how a building stopped working entirely but decided it wasn't important at the moment. That thought caused Jay to really think about what was important. Gaia was Alice, of that he was pretty sure. The two triangles reminded him of the dress she had been wearing. So some AI was revered as a Goddess here. Made sense considering she was all powerful in this world. So maybe going to Church would be a good idea. Maybe someone there would know what his next step should be.

“I think,” he started hesitantly, “I would like to go to Church.”

Henri seemed to become slightly agitated at that, but not in a negative manner. Jay felt like although they weren't friends, they were at least polite acquaintances. He felt he could trust Henri enough to get him to church.

Henri nodded, “We were heading there already, so that works out perfectly.”

Finally, they arrived in town. The gates were open, but almost no one was on the street or out and about. As they rolled through the town unchallenged he finally asked Henri, “What gives? We've been moving through town for a few minutes and it looks like no one is here.”

“Church.” Henri stated. “Everyone is at church. I told you it was a religious city.”

They eventually pulled in to a large square set out before a massive temple. Henri parked his horse and cart along a number of other horses and got down off his seat, stretching out his muscled frame.

“Honored Sir, we are here.” he said as he stretched his arms over his head.

“You know you really could call me Jay, I wouldn't mind,” Jay offered.

Henri looked at him as if he was insane, “Many others might. I'd rather keep my head attached to my body thank you.”

Jay shook his head but shrugged as he climbed off of the cart, his skinny frame landing on the ground lightly. “Ok. I'll leave that up to you I guess.”

The two walked up too many stairs to count until they came to a set of double doors. The doors seemed stuck. Jay could hear someone preaching inside, reciting scripture. He could tell it wasn't just someone chatting by the way they were speaking. The doors suddenly came unstuck as if an unseen force that had been holding them shut suddenly stopped doing so.

The doors were yanked open with a loud crash. Henri hid behind Jay as every person in the church turned towards him as the priest finished his sermon in a deep resounding voice, his words like gravel.

“And the First Traveler shall appear unto you as a brilliant beggar. He shall carry my Words, my staff supporting his burden, and you shall know him by my Mark!” the priest finished with a shout, his arms held up to the heavens, his loud voice carrying across the congregation to the square outside.

Every eye was on Jay as he stepped in to the church. In one hand he cradled the Book, its cover blazing teal. In his other hand he held the walking stick, now glowing white. The backs of his hands glowed teal, the tattoos bright. His tattered clothing lit up blinding white as he stepped over the threshold of the church.

Everyone was talking loudly. Jay tried to get a word in edgewise, “Hi, I'm Jay!”

Someone screamed. Another shouted “The Prophet!”

After that it was pandemonium.