Mathxy groaned and rolled onto his side, only to roll off whatever it was he’d been sleeping on. Landing with a grunt and another groan, he struggled to open his eyes through the blinding pain slamming around his head. Status warnings flashed at the edge of his vision as he stared blurrily at the stone floor beneath his face. Maybe if he wasn’t pressed against the ground he could see better.
Mentally waving aside the warnings, he struggled to get his hands beneath him and leveraged himself into a kneeling position. The VR interface had never transferred this much pain before. Fragments of memory were working their way to the surface of his mind as he was finally able to take in his surroundings.
The room looked to be plain stone, roughly hewn into four walls. Most of the walls were unadorned, save for one that was carved to resemble what his brain was calling Auxidon the Dragon God.
Familiar groaning drew his attention to the stone slab in the center of the room. Marithra was struggling to push herself up into a seated position, muttering, “How much did we have to drink last night?”
Moving to her side, he said, “I don’t think drinking is what got us here. I’m leaning towards some type of new level of realism with whatever special event we landed in with the achievement.”
Marithra squinted at him for a moment before tsking. “So I didn’t dream that? Some giant dragon I’ve never heard of dragged us off into some new zone?”
Backing up and waving his hand at their surroundings, Mathyx shrugged. “You know as much as I do at this point. I just barely woke up as well. I haven’t had a chance to explore. The only thing I can see in the room at this point is us as the carving of the dragon.”
Marithra frowned and turned to where he’d indicated the carving to be. “Huh. I remember him being a bit bigger.”
A soft chuckle escaped Mathyx as he shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think he’d fit in here.”
The carving turned its head to regard the two of them. “Indeed, I would not.”
Mathyx ducked back behind the stone slab, reaching for his dagger. His hand slapped against empty cloth, not even a belt. In a panic he tried to bring up his inventory only to find it empty. A glance at this status at least showed him he kept his level. At least whatever expansion or event this was didn’t require him to start back at a lower level.
Turning his focus back to the carving, he frowned. “So how did we end up here? Is this supposed to be the entry point for the new event? I don’t even see a door.”
The carving chuckled, a sound like gravel shifting around. Color bled into the stone, black scales gaining a new luster. In a brief moment the dragon looked as it had when it had shown up, albeit quite a bit smaller. “This is not an event in your game, Mathyx. This is a new world.”
Mathyx scoffed. “Sure, I’ll play along. I think I remember you calling it Mindoria. Where is this new world? Off the northern coast?”
The dragon settled onto its haunches, spiked tail wrapping around its legs, leathery wings folding behind it. “This world was chosen from the countless ones floating in the infinite void. Given life by the System, it has been populated by those of us who know how to manipulate the System. There are no native sentient species here, though some of the creatures would no doubt reach that point sometime in the future. Perhaps they’ll join the System in time.”
Marithra sat on the edge of the stone slab. “The System? You mean Fantasy Quest Online? I haven’t seen any hints of them working on a new world? Not even a new expansion.”
Dragon jaws snapped shut on an annoyed hiss. “This is not Fantasy Quest Online! That was merely a test for me to find those with the dedication, drive, and personality to serve as my champions on new worlds. This is Mindoria, not Earth.”
Mathyx blinked. “Did you just say Earth?”
The Dragon’s max split in that familiar grin. It wasn’t nearly as intimidating without the massive fangs. “Indeed I did, Mathyx. You are no longer on your world, using a VR headset to access a digital existence. In fact, that body no longer exists. I’ve given you both new ones.”
Another blink. “Wait, what?” Mathyx focused his attention inwards, searching for the phantom pains that had been his constant companions since the accident at the restaurant where he lost his family and limbs. Reaching up, he ran his left hand down his right arm, The tactile feedback was more real than it had ever felt in Fantasy Quest Online before and the absence of that pain left him feeling slightly empty.
“Mathyx? You okay?”
Turning to look at his friend, he shook his head. “I don’t know? It feels different but… what does it all mean?”
“It means you have been given a new body, one modeled after your online Avatars. I’ve gifted you your abilities. They were already in the System, since I based the abilities for the game off the System. They’ll function as they did in the game. As does your interface. You’ll learn more here than was in the game, though, as the System is near endless.”
“I still have a hard time accepting that this is a new world rather than just a new level.”
That gravelly chuckle returned. “Then try and log out. When you can’t, you’ll have to face the truth. Once you’re ready, venture forth and explore this new world. You’re both bound to my Altar here. It is currently the only dedicated to me. I do hope you’ll fix that for me.” The dragon leaned back and suddenly it was stone again, matching the rest of the room.
They both stared at the carving before Marithra spoke up. “Well, that gave me even more questions than before. He’s right though, I can’t log out. I’m guessing you can’t either.” She hopped down from the Altar and stretched, running her hands over her familiar outfit. “At least I’ve got my clothes and my skills, even if I don’t have my daggers. Don’t suppose you have your bow?”
Mathyx shook his head. “Nothing in my inventory. Also, doesn’t look like my leathers give me any of the stat buffs.” He glanced at the familiar interface that spread across parts of his vision. The flashing icons of warnings minimized to the side. The health, mana, and stamina bar. Even the menu system functioned the same as he brought his status.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Looks like everything is the same as it was on Fantasy Quest Online. So other than not being able to log out, I’m not sure what’s supposed to be different?” Mathyx frowned as he worked his way through the skills, noticing they were mostly the same, with a new Identify skill being added to the mix.
Access the System to identify the object. This applies to animate and inanimate objects.
Turning his focus onto the Altar, he activated the new skill.
Souls may be bound to an Altar of Rebirth. Should a soul be separated from the body, the soul may choose to have that body recreated at the Altar, along with basic clothing. All other gear will be consumed by the System, along with the original body, to create the new one. Also allows for reincarnation into different races, should the appropriate item be used. A soul may only be bound to a single Altar of Rebirth at any given time. You are currently bound to this Altar of Rebirth.
That was similar to the system they had in Fantasy Quest Online, only you didn’t lose your gear when respawning in the game. It would suck to lose his gear, but at least he would be able to respawn. It wasn’t helping convince himself this wasn’t a game. He definitely needed more information.
“What do you think of all this, Marithra?”
His friend looked at him from the corner of her eye before returning his focus to whatever screen she’d been reading. “There’s a ton of information here. Normally you’d have to go to a website to pull up this kind of information, but I’m scrolling through menus that we never had in the game. Also, while I’ve got my combat skills, I didn’t keep any of my secondary skills. No skinning or leatherworking or any of the others.”
Sighing, Mathyx scrolled back through his skills. “Yeah, I’ve lost cooking and carpentry. However… looks like we can learn them here? Says we can learn them by just doing them? Does that mean we don’t have to find trainers here? How does that even work?”
Skills can be gained in a variety of ways. While finding and learning under another person with the desired skills, one can learn skills out in the world. The System tracks when abilities a person uses, whether in or out of combat. Should one’s skills advance to a certain point, the System will begin to assist with those skills. You can explore available skills by accessing the System.
Okay, that was too much information to dive into right away. “Alright, first things first. We need to get out of here and we need to find some weapons. I don’t like the idea of being defenseless wherever we are. New world, new zone, doesn’t matter. Don’t suppose you’ve found a way out?” He looked around the room, seeing only the Altar, blank walls, and a carving of a dragon.
Marithra rolled her eyes and pointed at the dragon. “You are the worst scout, you know that? Aren’t archers supposed to be good at tracking and things like that?” She stood up and stepped behind the dragon, appearing to walk through the wall. With only her hand sticking out, she beckoned him onwards. Or was it outwards?
“You know I didn’t take any of the tracking skills because we already knew trackers? I was always a deeply customized class anyway. Where would I have found room for those skills?”
“That’s just an excuse you’ve been giving us for the last few years. I think it’s just you being lazy.”
Mathyx grumbled. “I’ll show you lazy.”
Stepping through the wall revealed a passage of the same rough cut stone. He followed the passage until he came to another section of wall carved with the dragon. Reaching out, he pushed his hand through the wall, then quickly followed.
Blinking, he stepped into the light.
The chamber they had been in was hidden in a hill in a forested area. From where he was standing he could see an expansive forest, one that stretched to the foot of a mountain range in one direction, a body of water in another, and off in the distance, some cleared land with what appeared to be a castle.
Marithra was standing off to the side, arms folded across her chest, her own gaze focused on the castle in the distance. “At least we’ve got an easy landmark to shoot for. A building that size should hopefully have people. Even more hopefully they’ll be friendlies.”
Mathyx stepped up beside her, nodding. “One can only hope. I can’t quite make out the details from this far with
Marithra grinned. “Well then, we shouldn't make our new friends wait. Let’s mosey on down.”
“Mosey on down? Really? Since when do you mosey anywhere?”
“I’ll have you know that I’m always perfectly prepared to mosey. I just happen to prefer stealth.”
“That’s because you happen to prefer helping yourself to other people’s things.”
Marithra flashed him another grin. “And it looks like those skills transferred here. I think I’ll give them a shot!” Then she faded away.
Mathyx reached up to rub his face with his hands. “I just know this is going to end up being blamed on me somehow.”