Life is a Side Quests

Part 1: Alexander the Wizard

The Master of Earth was exhausted from all of the tragedy he had tried—and all to often failed—to prevent. There wasn’t much he could do now that his ability to interfere with events had been severely restricted. He hadn’t meant to throw the world into chaos at all. If he had known just a few of the potential consequences for his actions his choices would have been completely different. He would have taken the world on a much slower path.

If not for a small handful of odd ducks, Earth would have been completely overrun. As he thought of them he opened a window in space to observe them. Alexander the Wizard stood at the bow of his ship that soared thousands of feet in the air. On the bow were a tightly pact group of refugees from the last convergence to take place. A dormant volcano had erupted boulders of ice and never ending snow. The boulders, on impact, transformed into ice golems and the snow had cut off many escape routes.

The people—now safely bundled up in blankets—looked at Alexander in awe. He had rescued them from all manners of giants and monsters. As they saw Alexander the Wizard in the flesh they whispered the tales spun about the man.

“Well, I heard he single handily defeated an orc army of over two hundred strong.” A woman interjected.

“He hands out magic rings to every pretty woman he meets!” Said a hopeful young lady.

“He won his Wizard’s tower from a demon in a chess game.”

“I heard he fought and subdued a dragon within the first week he got his powers.” A gruff man muttered looking in the sky.

“He makes magic coffee!” A young boy said excitedly.

Everyone in the group looked at the young man incredulously and told him that was a ridiculous use of a powerful Wizards abilities.

The Master of Earth laughed for the first time in awhile, even needing to wipe a tear from his eye. Many of the tales had been wildly construed from far stranger true events, except the coffee. The unbelievable truth of the matter was Alexander denied and neglected his role as Wizard when he first learned of it. To the point the Master of Earth was concerned he had wasted his time.

Having a breath of air for the time being—and needing a fresh look on how earth got into this state—he opened a log and looked back on the ignorant, young fool he had been a just few years prior.

Chapter 1:

Harvey the Game Master of Earth

Harvey’s room was a mess. Yellow note pads, discarded snack wrappers, dirty clothes, piles of books stacked, spines cracked and pages bent. Some were fiction—mostly older fantasy books he picked up at yard sales or dollar bins—but the majority were source materials for the weekly tabletop role playing game he hosted.

Among his group of friends, he’d been the choice game master for over ten years now. In about 2 months they would be finishing up a year-long campaign. Naturally, Harvey felt the need to get a head start planning the next campaign. Nothing energized him more than building out a new world, figuring out the ins and outs of factions and races.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

His fingers rhythmically tapped his keyboard and he scrolled through the internet, gathering inspiration for his world map. Occasionally, he would jot something down on one of his yellow notepads.

He wrote. He scribbled it out. He wrote again. He tore off the paper, crumpled it up and threw it over his shoulder.

“Why am I using freaking paper?” Harvey said to himself for the hundredth time.

Feeling discontent with how things were going, he decided to take a break to find some new world-building software to help him stay organized. The next hour was spent on his computer, scrolling and clicking on different links. He wouldn’t lie. Sometimes he got distracted, finding himself shopping for collectables and 3D printable objects. The whine of the exhausted computer fan droned, filling the room with an ominous hum.

No matter how hard he searched, he found nothing that met his criteria.

“Paper it is,” he whispered, pulling the pad closer.

A ding sounded. A private message. A pop-up he didn't recognize. What app was this?

“Celeste direct?” he muttered.

Must be spam or a phishing scam.

He tried to close the window but the little X wouldn’t click. He tried again. Then, he decided to read the message.

I see that you are looking for a world-management system. I have been using an amazing one for a long time and I’m no longer qualified to use it. It works great if you would like to have it.

The way the message was written didn’t seem like the usual scams you'd find online. What did he mean by ‘qualified?’ Going against his better judgment Harvey typed out a response.

I have been looking for one unsuccessfully. Why can’t I just get my own copy, though? Is there a download link?

This system can only support one user at a time. I think you would enjoy it for awhile. If you, grow weary of it, you can likewise hand it off to someone else. Interested? Reply Yes or No and I will grant you access and let you get back to work.

Since when did scam artists ever offer to leave you alone once you responded? He was hesitant to think it was fully legitimate, however. Harvey stopped to consider it for a bit. It really only took a second to make the decision. His computer was too far gone for him to care if it got another virus. He could always see where it goes and stop if this weirdo asks for money, or something else.

With a sigh and a prayer, Harvey proceeded to type.

Yes.

Maybe he was too exhausted from staying up all night. Maybe the leftover kung pow chicken he'd eaten for dinner had gone bad, or maybe God had gazed down upon his incredible GM skills and appointed him the Chosen One. A panel of light fell from somewhere above and resolved into a blue, glowing, rectangle before his eyes—a screen set before him, hovering in the air.

You have unlocked a new title!

Game Master of Earth

You have unlocked a new ability: World Modification

”What in the world?” Harvey exclaimed as he tried to remember if the kung pow chicken had had a funny taste to it or not

He studied the floating notifications. This was real? He pushed his hand forward and it slipped right through the light.

He wondered allowed, “What is World Modification?”

A new window popped up. In its center, hovered a 3D replica of planet earth. As a kid, his favorite games were simulators: Sim City, Civilization, and Roller Coaster Tycoon to name a few. As the panel list resolved, a similar layout hovered before him. He gaped at the options before him. Pinching his fingers, the world zoomed out and revealed all the major cities, rainforest, islands, deserts… He could select things and see their status and history. It was incredible.

“Wow.” He muttered aloud to his empty room.

He mused over his options on how he ought to begin. His eyes followed the menu down. Reaching out, he clicked ‘add classes.’ A long list of classes appeared and he was pleased to see the more traditional choices at the top followed by a series of unfamiliar ones he would get to research. Unexpectedly, there was a limit to each of the classes. In fact the list was currently organized by limit number.

Wizards 0/5

He clicked on Wizard and a search bar came up with recommended parameters. High intelligence was of course one of them followed by loner, shut in, and much to Harvey’s amusement virgin.

“Lets make some legends come true.” Harvey cackled to himself as he rubbed his hands together, then entered the search.

A dozen people popped up after he narrowed his search and as he clicked on the first entry he found himself having another existential moment. A window into someones life was opened to him and he had immediate strong impressions of who was before him. It was god like power—or a hallucination—most of all it was depressing to look at this persons life. If anyone needed some excitement it was this guy.

So with the flick of his wrist he made him a Wizard.

“If we were ever to meet I’m certain he will be eternally grateful.”

As he returned to his new experiment looking on how to slowly get the players into their roles he knew one key rule he must always keep.

“The story is not about the Game Master. It’s about the players.”