I sat there in darkness for who knows how long. Darkness just enveloped me for months? Years? Days? I don’t know, at some point I'm pretty sure I went crazy. It's hard to tell, all I remember from that time was laughter and not the jolly kind the kind that makes the Joker’s seem like a giggle. Even that, I'm starting to forget.
“Alright it’s your turn, man that line was long” I heard a voice say, not in my ears but right into my head.
I felt a tug and a loud snap echoed out followed by pain that I couldn’t begin to describe.
“Oops there goes part of your consciousness, lets just fix that”
I felt a sort of suction then the pain disappeared like it was never even there. Though something felt off but I couldn’t tell what.
“Yeah that should work”
“Where the fuck am I” I finally whispered out.
“Oh you spoke, interesting save your energy we’re almost there”
I wanted to ask where but before I could there was a blinding light then I was standing on a platform of white concrete? Looking around all I saw was white and a smile?
Focusing in on that smile a form came into focus yet I couldn’t make out its details.
“Hmmn, not panicking, that's unusual, probably has something to do with the piece of consciousness that I filled in” the thing said.
“What?” was the only response I could give but it ignored me.
“Welcome to the space between spaces my name is too hard for you to pronounce so you can simply call me spectacle” it spoke with some amusement.
“What are you talking about?” I asked , still dazed from the darkness.
“Well anyway we're here to talk about your future, you see i'm in charge of reincarnating or transmigrating souls to other worlds merely for our entertainment”
“Our?”
“Finally a worthy question worth answering, I ment we as in the gods, diety’s, supreme beings however you want to call us, we watch over the billions of dimensions within our sight”
“Okay?”
“Don’t interrupt me” spectacle spoke, dropping the smile for the first time before it put it back up. “Anyway certain rule’s keep us from directly interfering with our own power though it doesn't stop us from using our power on miscellaneous souls on their way to the afterlife”
“That’s where I just was?” I spoke before feeling the threat of death emanating from it.
“If you interrupt me again I will shred your consciousness” Spectacle calmly said.
I was about to retort when it again continued speaking.
“Anyway we will be imbuing you with random powers or gifts then send you off to a random world for our entertainment” Spectacle waved his hand and a few wheels appeared and a table with some dice “Now spin for your power”.
Before I could even speak again it waved its hand and I flew forward only stopping when I was next to a giant wheel with hundreds of different words on it that I couldn’t make out.
“Now spin”
Remembering the feeling from earlier I quickly grasped the party wheel and spun. Around it went until it landed on a single word that I could finally make out “Ori”. a game I never played but was recommended but by who?
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The figure moved to the other side of the wheel it’s smile getting wider “Interesting very unique, here roll the dice”
The wheel disappeared and a table took its place with a single twenty sided die on it. Reaching out I picked up the dice and rolled.
“Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha” Spectacle kackled “A three, that is some terrible luck, here” it handed me two pieces of paper. “Choose three from each list. The first list is just to start, you can gain the other abilities, the second list can’t be improved no matter what”.
Taking the two lists from what I can only assume was it’s hands I brought the first up to my face and read through the abilities.
1. Kuro's Feather, While airborne, glides freely or rides wind currents.
2. Spirit Edge, a sword that Ori can use to defeat enemies up close or enemies a few steps away.
3. Double Jump, jump, then A again to go even higher.
4. Regenerate, spend Energy to recover Life
5. Spirit Arc, will automatically snap onto enemies in sight. When you're ready to fire
6. Dash, Dash ahead, even in mid-air
7. Bash, launch off of hanging items and projectiles.
8. Blaze, set enemies on fire.
9. Sentry, spawn a Spirit Orb that attacks nearby enemies.
10. Spike, throw a spear of light at enemies.
11. Spirit Smash, smash down with a powerful attack
12. Spirit Star, throw a star that boomerangs back to them.
13. Water Breath, breathe underwater.
14. Grapple, grapple hook-like abilities.
15. Flash, create an aura of light that damages enemies. Drains energy.
16. Swim Dash, Dash ahead, or near the surface to launch into the air.
17. Light Burst, lob an explosive sphere that's great for melting things
18. Burrow, move through sand like it is water.
19. Launch, launch yourself in any direction.
20. Ancestral Light, Your attacks will deal 25% additional damage.
“Just so you know the abilities will change to fit a more real life world then the game world they come from” Spectacle spoke with that weird smile still up.
I tried looking at the other paper but it was blank. “You need to pick three first,” it advised.
It took me a while, all had their benefits but as it said they would change and I don’t know how so I will have to pick ones that are more straightforward. “I choose Spirit’s edge, Light burst, and double jump” The last one was a gamble but in every game double jump is one of the most useful abilities.
“Alright remember these will change effects slightly and you can acquire the others through different means though you don’t get to know what they are” Spectacle said while waving his hand.
The paper I was holding lit up and the word disappeared, replaced by the adjusted abilities.
1. Spirit Edge, a sword that is made of light about four feet long that can be summoned and unsummoned.
2. Blaze, launch a ball of fire that has a small explosive reaction on contact.
3. Double jump, with concentration you can make a four by four inch wide square to launch yourself off of.
“Quickly the other paper. Choose and let's move on” Speciticle demanded, dropping the smile yet again.
Quickly drawing my eyes to the second paper it listed out skills or spirit shards however you want to call them. It had everything from Magnet that has items float towards you to Turmoil which has enemies spawn faster? In total there were thirty one skills to choose from.
After looking through all the options I made my choice. “I want Sticky, Life pact, and Resilience”.
“Unique choices, let me just remake those”
The paper lit up again and the descriptions changed from the game ones to the new real world effects.
1. Sticky, allows you to stick to surfaces and items like a spider
2. Life pact, when your energy magical or physical is depleted you can use your life force to replace it but life force takes longer to heal.
3. Resilience, your skin becomes tougher not only increasing your defense but also your strength by a small amount.
I was looking at the descriptions when Spectacle interrupted “Now spin the next wheel for your body i'm starting to get bored”.
“Wait what? My body!” surprise evident on my face. I could not even comprehend what he was saying.
“Yes your old one was destroyed so you get a new one completely at random”
“Isn't that a bit overkill? We're talking about my bo-!”
“SPIN THE WHEEL NOW!”
Feeling the boomed of my voice I turned to the newly summoned wheel and spun it as fast as I could. I saw it spinning reading the different words that I could make out. Goku, Thor, Frog, Xenomorph, until it finally landed on a word that I recognized. Ori.
Naturally I only had one response “Fuck”
“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, I can’t believe it. It happened again, Hahahaha”
I waited for him to stop laughing but it ended up going on for a long while I tried to talk a few times but all I got was it raising what I can assume is a finger silencing me.
His grin grew wider as he said “Okay, okay of course your new body comes with a few perks, you'll instinctively know how to use it and sense your a spirit you'll be able to speak their language the rest you’ll have to figure out yourself” in a mischievous tone.
“Well that’s good I gue--”
“Okay let's get you in there”
Suddenly the form of Ori appeared in his hands. It was a white creature with a human-like stance or maybe a bunny if it stood on its back legs, I think? The head was a bit more catlike with an angular face just more smooth. The eyes were black with completely white pupils that seemed to shine. It had two hornlike protrusions from between its eyes and large ears that almost reached the middle of its back and stood up yet dropped at the same time.
That was all I got to see before Spectacle grabbed me and thrust me towards the body in his other hand. I felt a crushing pressure as I was smashed into the body of Ori. It just kept increasing until I once again felt the pain of my mind breaking.
“Oops not again, I’ll just patch that up” was his only response “there we go”
I expected a lot of things but Specticle rearing back his arm and throwing me into the distance was not one of them. I felt the wind roaring past me till I hit some sort of a wall and passed out.