TJ greeted the new world with a broken nose and fiercely muttered profanities. He’d been on a run with his son Junior in the jogging stroller, but before he knew it, ran into a wall that simply hadn’t been there just before. As he fell to the unforgiving ground, TJ reached out to the stroller, ready to calm Junior however necessary, but his hands touched nothing. Fiercely wiping at his watering eyes and blinking rapidly, TJ could see clearly once again.

There was no stroller, no Junior, and no Riverview Park where he’d just been.

“The hell is happening?” He asked himself as he pushed himself to his feet. Trying to clear his vision and headache, he pinched the bridge of his nose for a split second before gasping in pain again and forcing more tears to his eyes. Yeah, the nose was definitely broken, the blood dripping in a constant patter. He wanted to focus on feeling bad for himself for a split second, but instead and more importantly…

“Junior? Junior! Thiago!”

He was in a pure white room, an omnipresent light casting no shadows around him. The panic he’d tried to kill instead rose as he shouted for his son while the walls seemed to close in on him, but before true hysteria could set in, every emotion was suddenly washed from his body, leaving him cold, dispassionate, and docile. Words appeared before him on a screen not unlike a tablet’s while the same words echoed through his head in an androgynous voice.

Welcome to the integration of the Divine System.

Twenty millenia have passed since the Ascension. Now abandoned, the divine realm has grown stagnant, and once again, the Throne must be filled. Your planet has been chosen to serve as the proving grounds for the hopeful divines. Embrace your divine heritage and prove yourself capable of succeeding where your ancestors failed.

Bloodline: Kukulkan selected as Bloodline of Majority.

Tutorial location determined. Initial Class Quest initiated. Transmission to Tutorial grounds has begun.

There was a brief time for the words to settle before an additional screen appeared before him, the words just as forceful but somehow benevolent.

Participant Thiago Jorge Harris IV, do not worry about the wellbeing of Bystander Thiago Jorge Harris V. He is being kept safe until the completion of your Tutorial. Prove yourself capable of withstanding the pressures of the divine and worthy of ascending to the Throne and he will be returned to you.

For the briefest moment, TJ’s emotions were returned to him in an overwhelming wave, “What the fu–”

Before he could curse, TJ’s bodily autonomy was once again taken from him and his mind faded to blackness. An interminable time passed, and consciousness returned.

TJ sat bolt upright, looking back and forth, hoping to see that, contrary to the statement made by the stupid screen, Junior was nearby. A bunch of something pokey stabbed into his upper thighs and butt, and he pushed himself to his feet as he looked around. Not only was Junior nowhere to be seen, neither was his stroller, nor the familiar paths of Riverview Park. He wasn’t in Tempe anymore, but the mountains. Fighting hyperventilation, TJ tried to see what he could. The trees all around were pines, and, in an additional attempt to ground himself, TJ leaned in towards the nearest one and sniffed deeply. Same sweet smell as the ponderosa pines that made up the Tonto Rim forests. Plenty of pine needles on the ground, with scrub brush all around. Near as he could figure, he was still in Arizona, just up in the mountains somewhere. Maybe near Flagstaff or Payson? At least 100 miles from home. Whatever had happened was feeling more and more real, since the pounding headache wasn’t one of a hangover, and he’d laid off all alcohol since Junior’s birth. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the GPS, but the thing was dead and totally unresponsive.

As TJ gathered himself, he felt just how cold it was here. A warm afternoon in January in Tempe could reach as high as the mid 60’s and he’d been running in gym shorts and a tank top. The sweat still hadn’t dried, and the cold breeze through the trees set him to shivering. “Please tell me it’s a dream.” He muttered to himself, as he pulled his backpack off, the wet straps chilling in the air that he figured was just a bit above freezing. He had a light sweatshirt in the backpack and pulled it on, keeping the hood up. Even so, the chill had already set into his bones and TJ rubbed his hands together as, despite his best efforts, the wave of rage, confusion, pain, and everything else washed over him and stole away his rationality.

The bleary pain of his broken nose and the taste of blood in his mouth didn’t matter, because something, some worthless sack of sick had taken his son. He didn’t know where Junior was, but TJ was going to find him, and make sure that the toddler was safe.The only thing that could at least partially calm him was the nebulous, maybe believable reassurances from the random words. Yeah, no, he wasn’t about to calm down, but for now, he needed to make sure he didn’t die of exposure or something before he found his son, since he could feel the cold wind whipping through the loose shorts he wore.

He stuck both hands deep into the pockets of his jacket and shrugged up his shoulders against the biting winds while looking for the nearest peak. From there, maybe he could orient himself. Before he could, though, another one of the windows appeared before TJ and a diluted form of the artificial calm washed over him once again.

Beginning Tutorial. Class Quest initiated.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

All descendants of the divine will embrace the Path of the Zealot, the Acolyte, the Disciple, or the Neophyte. Before you can qualify to be blessed with your first sliver of the divine, you must prove your mettle, your determination, and your ability. For each of the paths, there is a different Quest to complete. Complete the requirements for one of the four Classes, and you will begin your path towards the Divine Throne.

Acolyte Class acquisition requirements: Slay five creatures within the bounds of the Tutorial Area with traps, a ranged weapon, or from a distance by any other way that you devise. Progress: 0/5

Disciple Class acquisition requirements: Heal, help, or support five creatures within the bounds of the Tutorial Area. Progress: 0/5

Neophyte Class acquisition requirements: Display the beginnings of the ability to harness your Divine Bloodline in a concrete manner. Progress: 0/1

Zealot Class acquisition requirements: Slay five creatures within the bounds of the Tutorial Area with your bare hands or melee weapons. Progress: 0/5

Again, his heightened emotions returned, and TJ pulled his hand out of his pocket and gently wiped the blood from the stubble above his lips, careful not to touch his nose. The ache of his nose drew his mind from his boy, wherever he was. For now, he needed to focus on this Tutorial. That was the only clue he had about how to find his son.

“I’ve played enough video games to kinda get this.” TJ muttered. “Four classes, each one different. Zealots are melee fighters, Acolytes ranged, Disciples supporters. But what’s a Neophyte? How’re they different from the others? What’s that requirement mean?”

Neophyte Classers focus on allowing the divine to change them, instead of them changing themselves into an approximation of the divine. The Neophyte Class acquisition requirement is deliberately nebulous, as embracing the Divine Bloodline is something that differs from one Participant to the next, as well as from one Bloodline to the next.

He was almost surprised, but a little glad to have the windows talking back to him. “And how do I know which of the Classes I’m best suited for?”

The primary attributes for the Acolyte Class are, in descending order Agility, Wisdom, Perception, and Intelligence. The primary attributes for the Disciple Class are Wisdom, Intelligence, Willpower, and Perception. The primary attributes for the Neophyte Class are, in descending order, Vitality, Endurance, Willpower, and Toughness. The primary attributes for the Zealot Class are, in descending order, Strength, Endurance, Vitality, and Toughness.

That… was actually a little surprising. TJ had assumed that, given the Class Quests, the Acolyte Class was a ranger of sorts, but they didn’t need Strength or endurance as much as Wisdom and Intelligence? There had to be something he was missing… but more importantly, before he made any choices, there was another question to ask.

“Ok, and which Class does the ‘Throne’ or whatever prefer? I need to impress it to get my son back, right?”

The Divine Throne is wholly unfeeling. The Divine System has no preference for what Class the next Ascendent follows, only that they prove themselves worthy of their Ascension. Previous Ascendents have come from every Class without notably statistical skew in any direction.

“Then what does it mean that he’s a ‘Bystander’?”

The Divine System searches for those who are most suited for Ascension to the Divine Throne. Those younger than the age of 15 are considered unsuitable. Those unsuitable are kept apart from the conflict inherent in the Ascension, though there are opportunities for them to join in the contest at a later date.

“And is someone taking care of him? Is he safe? He’s all alone!”

Bystander Thiago Jorge Harris V is not alone. He is currently being cared for by the Divine System.

“You don’t have anything else to tell me? What the everloving FUCK do you mean?” The System’s stupid words, forceful but still somehow kind, echoed in his head, but he didn’t care. He needed answers. Frustratingly, the Divine System didn’t give him any more information on his boy, and TJ, after waiting for another minute, held back another string of swears that would have set his mom’s slipper flying at him.

“Ok. Fine. I have to trust your word for now. How can I see which of the Classes is best suited to me?” There were no words that filled his consciousness, and instead, a page appeared before TJ’s eyes.

Status Sheet

Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV

Race: Human – lvl 0

Class: N/A

Occupation: N/A

Level of Divinity: Dirt

Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan

Health Points (HP): 100/100

Mana Points (MP): 70/70

Stamina: 80/80

Attributes

Strength: 7

Agility: 6

Endurance: 8

Vitality: 10

Toughness: 8

Wisdom: 8

Intelligence: 7

Perception: 6

Willpower: 9

Fixation: 1

Free Points: 0

Titles: N/A

Glancing through the status sheet of information, Zealot and Acolyte were looking the least attractive to TJ, since the “most important” attributes for both of those were the lowest he had. A part of him was slightly offended at how low his Strength and Agility were, but he supposed he was now 31, and nowhere near as fit as he once was. The stupid indignation that swelled in his chest was viciously beaten down. Why would he care at all about a stupid arbitrary number on a screen? Instead, he looked at the two remaining options: Disciple and Neophyte.

Disciple sounded ok, TJ liked helping people… but given that children were kept away from all this had him wondering if he wanted to be a supporter in the days that came. It’d been years since he’d been to church, but he could remember a couple of things from those Sundays spent in a chapel. God had his angels that healed people and whatever else the Bible said, but He also threw fire and brimstone down on the wicked. Or whoever it was that Nana and the preacher decided deserved celestial punishment that week. To get to his son, TJ would need to start throwing fire and brimstone.

And Neophyte was… different from the rest. And his attributes suited the Class perfectly. Assuming bigger numbers meant better. Right?

The larger the number next to an attribute in a Participant’s Status Sheet, the stronger or more powerful that Participant’s attribute.

Ok. As ass-backwards as all this was, at least that much made sense. It’d been years since TJ could spend any real time with a video game, but he could remember from the few MMOs he’d played before how important the first days were. The more people knew earlier, the better it would be for them. And for Junior, TJ would focus and learn whatever he could as fast as he could. So, with a decision made, he’d find the divine and force it to change him.

“Wait, what’s this ‘Kukulkan’ Bloodline thing mean?”