Leo woke up to find the infinite cosmos laying out before him.
He had a pounding headache, a vague memory of driving back to his apartment before swerving away from a blinding flash of light, and no idea what he was actually standing on. An invisible platform that gave way to the great expanse of space all around him, no sign of who or what brought him here, and no absurdly fantastical activity that would imply that this was all some sort of elaborate dream. He looked around, running a hand through his dark, wavy hair as the headache began to subside.
Then the light came back. Gold and radiant, too radiant even. It looked the same as looking directly into the sun, only the sun had placed himself right in front of his face. He turned, eyes burning and vision red under his eyelids as he closed them. It wasn’t just the light, either. An ear splitting blare accompanied it, like every trumpet in the world had gone off at once. He covered his ears at the risk of immediately going deaf from the noise.
A moment passed, and he saw the light flash against his closed eyes again, and the loud noise blared, barely muffled by his palms over his ears before he began to hear something else. Something almost quiet. A low hum that seemed to come from all around him. Then something touched him, almost. Not physically, as he opened his eyes and looked around him to make sure, but he definitely felt something come over him, affecting his body. A second later, he heard a kind of ‘ping’, though ‘heard’ wasn’t the operative word. He felt it in his mind, and along with it, a small flash as a holographic blue screen with words appeared in front of his face.
[Rank too low to speak directly to the Divine. Interface created from your memories.]
An interface from his memories? Thinking on it, the screen kind of looked like something from some of the games he liked to play, and it followed him, hovering in front of his face as he stood up.
Before he had time to ponder what was actually happening to him, the words on the screen changed.
[???: Leonell Bolden, welcome! You have been chosen as part of a select few people on earth to join the Great Labors! Your participation and progress along with the others will determine if the gods will invest in Earth when it comes time for the whole planet to join, so we have high hopes for you!]
“Okay, wait, hold on. That’s way too much information to process at once.” Leo said, rubbing his temples. This gave him so many questions that he found it hard to start. “What are the ‘Great Labours?’”
[???: It’s the name for our war over creation. From forces on the dark side of and beyond our reality, competing for control. Those who stand at the peak of reality cannot fight without destroying all that is, and so, brave heroes like you fight on countless worlds as our proxies.]
Alright, that answered one question, but conjured up about 20 more. “‘Our proxies? Are you a god?”
[???: Yup! I’m here to give you a smooth transition, and to bestow upon you a blessing that you may cultivate as part of your integration into the Labors. You’ll need one in order to survive, since you humans seem to have a fairly low rank.]
Very chipper for a god, he thought. “Er, if you don’t mind me asking, which one?”
[???: Not one that you’ve heard of, surely! Unless any worshipers have snuck their way onto earth these past few centuries. Unfortunately, I cannot speak my own name aloud to you. Your rank is too low to even hear my voice directly. To use a phrase that you will understand, I might literally ‘fry your brain!’]
“Okay. Forget I asked. Another question then - do I get a choice of blessing?” Of course, his first thought was something along the lines of ‘can I go back?’ But he had a feeling that he couldn’t or that he didn’t want to if he was one of a few people chosen to represent earth. “Wait, before that, what happens if I refuse?”
[???: I will use my power to send you back, bereft of memories from this entire affair! We cannot select any more from earth without tipping the scales and bringing it into the attention of the outsiders - our fated enemies - early, so sending you back will make it less likely that earth will have our support, and will instead be left to the outsiders. As for the choice, I have an idea of what to give you already, but if you have a suggestion, we can conduct a short interview to see if there were any aspects of you that you believe I might have missed. Above all, I want nothing more than to bestow upon you a blessing that you’re suited to.]
He didn’t have an immediate reply to that - and that seemed to be enough for them to start the interview.
[???: Alright, your first and only question! Who are you?]
“Er…I’m Leo. Leonell Bolden.”
[???: That’s your name, but who are you? Don’t worry, I know mortals have a problem answering this question, so allow me to answer for you.]
[???: Your name is Leonell Bolden, you are 24 earth years old. Your parents died when you were young, and you’ve been passed around between aunts, uncles, and your paternal grandmother for the entirety of your childhood.]
Leo’s eyes widened, even more so as the next text box popped up.
[???: Your grandmother died while you were 17, just before you were to go to her in the summer, but you earned the ire of your entire family when she left you her ancestral home, and a notable inheritance in her will. You lived the next seven years with next to no contact with your family, aside from the occasional insistence that you sell them the abode. You jumped between a myriad of occupations and careers, but you’ve mostly lived off of your dwindling inheritance. Have I got that all right?]
All he could do was nod. Knowing all of that, he couldn’t tell why they decided to pick him of all things. That should have told them that he didn’t have anything in particular that he was suited to. He never had any plans of joining the army, either. He wasn’t particularly ‘good’ at anything, just possibly mediocre in a lot of things. With that in mind, there was no way he was the best candidate for being thrown into any kind of war - especially if it determined earth’s survival as a whole.
Either the god talking to him could read his thoughts, or he’d taken too long to respond, as the screen changed yet again.
[???: Not everyone is meant to be a soldier, the Divine are well aware of that fact! The blessing chosen for you will allow you to become whatever you choose to be, after you complete the tutorial. You can become a hero in any way you desire, but personally, I have high hopes for you. You’ll also be able to collect more blessings as you rise in rank.]
“Thanks, I guess.” He replied. He wouldn’t lie, having a deity tell him they had high hopes for him felt better than it should have, given the circumstances. After taking a deep breath, he sighed. “Sure then, give me this blessing.”
[???: And so I shall. I hope we meet again. Maybe next time, you’ll be able to behold my majesty, and I’ll be able to speak to you through something other than a screen! Perhaps you’ll have some majesty to yourself as well!]
A couple of things happened at once after Leo read that final message from the god. The first was that he felt the absence of something, the grand presence of the god who stood before him vacating the area. The second was the feeling of being affected by something once more.
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[Bestowing Class. Class Name: Mixer. Class Element: N/A]
[Transporting user to Tutorial Area on selected world: Heom: Rank C - Disfavored.]
Mixer? He thought, before his eyes quickly read the second box that appeared. Not a second later, he felt the most awful thing he’d ever experienced in his life. Like falling down through the space he was so carelessly standing on just a moment before at the speed of sound. All of the various stars and nebulae that filled his vision blurred together until everything went white.
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Moments later, he found himself standing on solid ground. His vision slowly returned, the blinding white giving away to dull browns and grays. An odd ringing filled his ears, though a feminine voice cut through drawing his attention. “...ey. Hey, rookie, are you all there?” As his vision finally returned fully, he spotted a clawed hand snapping its fingers right in front of his face, which drew his gaze toward the source, someone who was definitely not human.
His eyes widened as he took this person in. A woman who stood at least six and a half feet tall, yet that ended up being one of the less striking parts about her. What drew far more of Leo’s attention were the dark gray, wolflike ears and tail, a scar over her right eye, the very pronounced canine teeth, and the great sword she had strapped to her back in some kind of metal sheath. “I really did just get fucking isekai’d, didn’t I?”
“What was that?” The wolf lady asked, causing Leo to remember she was standing right in front of him.
He cleared his throat and swallowed hard. “N-nothing, are you here for the tutorial?”
“I’m the guide, weren’t you listening?” She asked, shooting him an annoyed look.
“I literally couldn’t hear anything until you started snapping in my face, sorry.”
“Hmm, teleportation sickness, probably.” The look softened a bit, and she briefly glanced back to a couple of other people that Leo only just noticed were in the cave they all stood in, as his eyes finally adjusted to the pitifully low light from glowing, runic symbols on the walls. One was a woman with long, white hair, pointed ears, and eyes that had no iris or pupil, with fully black sclera and off-putting to Leo. The other was an older man, with graying hair and a salt and pepper beard - maybe mid to late fifties if Leo had to guess. All he carried with him was a walking stick. “I’ll ask you again, then. You went through the gods’ whole spiel about the Labors and got a class from them, yeah?”
“I think so. Pretty sure I did.” He answered
“Then tell me what it is.” The Wolf lady asked. “It’s bad form to ask usually, but I’m going to need to know what you can do to help you get through this trial.”
“Uh- how do I-? Oh!” He had the thought of ‘I need to see my class,’ and a status screen appeared in front of his face.
Name:
Leonell Bolden
Stats
Title
-
Fortitude: E- (0/10)
Class
Mixer
Reflex: E (0/10)
Element
-
Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank
E
Intuition: E (0/10)
Status
Health 100%, Mana 100%
Will: E- (0/10)
Skills
Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage
Luck: D (0/10)
“Seems like I’m a Mixer.” Leo told her. The look she gave, and the way her ears drooped told him that he didn’t give her the answer she was looking for. “Is that bad?” He asked.
“No- not usually. It’s just not a combat class.” She glanced back at the others. “That makes two of you not suited to combat - and this tutorial area has a higher rank than it should be.”
The older man looked at her and grinned. “Oh, you need not worry about me too much young miss. I’ve been around the bend a few times."
Leo thought about it for a moment - since thoughts seem to bring up this interface that he had access to - and willed information about the tutorial to show itself.
Quest Title
Tutorial Dungeon - The Caves of Oorden (Rank D)
Objective
Reach the end of the dungeon and defeat Oorden
Reward
D-Rank Unrestricted Karma (2)
Next, he decided to look at more information on his skills.
Skill: Combine
Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials.
Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer)
Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer)
Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill affect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer)
Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
He could glean a basic idea of what the stats meant, though he wasn’t entirely sure what the difference between Intuition and Will was. As for his skills, he guessed that by ‘not a combat class’, she meant that it didn’t give him any skills that actually helped him in a fight.
He thought about his storage skill, and another screen came up detailing the space and the two items he had inside. With another thought, he willed them to come out, and a short sword and shield appeared in his hands. “Guess I can fight with these.” He didn’t have any formal training using shields, but he’d tried a couple of different martial arts out as a hobby.
He looked to the wolf lady, thinking that he didn’t know her name and he should probably try to figure it out. That seemed to be enough to activate the Appraise skill.
[Warning! The difference in rank is too high! Some information is restricted.]
Name:
Axilya Krisgol
Class
Titanic Warden
Element
Metal, Earth
Total Rank
C
“Axilya, huh?” He read aloud. As soon as he did, Axilya’s ears twitched, and the wolf-girl’s head snapped to him immediately.
“Right, Mixers usually get some kind of appraisal skill.” She said, looking briefly like she had some other choice words to give him, but calmed herself down. “Word of advice. Looking at someone’s blessing like that is extremely rude. I’ll ignore it this time since you’re new. If you’re going to do it, don’t let anyone know.”
“Sorry.” He’d just wanted to see how his skills worked. He didn’t have any raw materials on him to use [Combine] on, and [Auto Loot] was self-explanatory. He also didn’t want to give Axilya a hard time, it seemed like she was going through a lot. Since she said she was a guide, he guessed that she had some kind of quest to lead them through the tutorial. “I don’t think I introduced myself now that I think about it. You can call me Leo.”
“Ah, if we’re doing introductions, I am Mada.” The other woman said. “I also have some experience with the magic that my class focuses on, so I’ll be able to pull my weight.” She brandished what looked to be some kind of wand, and Leo gave a raised eyebrow in response.
“Koren.” The older man added, gesturing toward Leo with his walking stick. “And since I believe he is equipped, we should get going. Don’t want to take too much time here, I suspect.” Leo resisted the urge to appraise the other two, curious as he was. He had too many questions about his own status window to think about snooping in on the others in this group.
“Okay.” Axilya nodded. “Axilya, if you didn’t already hear. Koren’s right, we should get going. I’ll try to answer questions after we clear out a room, but while we’re moving between them, you should try to stay quiet.” She quickly took the lead, having everyone move quietly behind her as they finally left the clearing they were in, and began to move through some sort of tunnel.
As they made their way through, Leo took one final look at the clearing they left behind, as it also felt like he left his old life behind.