Marc felt like he had just woken up after a heavy night of drinking. Given that the last thing he remembered was going over to his parent’s place to celebrate with his little sister, he either drank more in one day than he did in years, or something else was happening. He opened his eyes, and saw that he was laying in some kind of cavern.
From his lying position, he saw the mouth of the cave he had apparently sheltered in overnight Outside was a dark green forest, making it impossible to tell what time of day it was from where he was. Deeper into the cave, beyond where the light reached, he heard a distant echo. A tremor seized the ground for a moment, like something heavy falling far away in a building. Eventually it all settled.
He stayed laying down, taking in his surroundings. The stone was brown, but thankfully dry. There were some mosses growing on the walls towards the mouth of the cavern, and a burned out campfire in front of him. Marc didn’t know how to even build a fire. “Where the hell-” Marc started, before something appeared before him.
SYSTEM LOADING. THIS MAY TAKE A FEW MINUTES.
OK
“WOAH! What the-?” he shouted, startled by the thing. It looked like the menu screen he’d expect from an old video game, looking similar to a gray granite, with the letters a dull glowing red. Beyond that, it was too perfect. The edges came to a perfect right angle, and as Marc reached out to press the only button, which said OK, it was smooth as glass. Button pressed, the stone disappeared from top to bottom. “This can’t be real,” Marc said, “Lets just. . .”
He decided to close his eyes and go back to sleep, hoping that doing so would bring him back to his bed.
The cave disagreed, a loud boom coming from further within. The ground shook once more.
Marc looked further in. He didn’t know what was happening, but it sounded big. If the place caved in, the best case scenario was that he was crushed, with the worst case being him trapped for 3 painful days.
He stood up, dusted himself off, and saw what he was wearing for the first time. His shirt was a dull blue-gray, as if its color had washed away, and ended in a rough cut just below his pockets. His pants were white in a yet-to-be-dyed way, and were held up by a thin cord for a belt. On his feet were a pair of sandals. He patted his pockets, hoping to find a phone that was not there.
“I’’ll, uh, be going?,” he said quietly. As he took his first step, he nearly tripped over a canvas bag with a strange pattern on the top. In a matching patterned scabbard, a long blade was leaning on the bag. He picked both up, and exited the cave.
He was in the middle of a dense forest, and further in with trees no more than 10 feet apart. There was a steep hill before him, and with the rain coming down it was soon to be a pile of mud.
Despite the canopy blocking out most of the light, from here Marc could see it was clearly day. What it did not block was the rain that was coming down in sheets. His clothing was already halfway soaked by the time he got to the first few trees. A few steps more, and another stone tablet jumpscared him.
CHARACTER DETAIL ACCESSIBLE
VIEW NOW
DISMISS
After his flinch, Marc looked left and right in case someone saw him. “If a guy gets spooked in the woods and no one is around, did it really happen?” he mumbled to himself, before tapping the View Now button. Anything that this dream would give him for more information would be worth it, at this point.
NAME: Marcus H. Green
RACE: Outsider
CLASS: Wanderer
LEVEL: 1/50
ECHELON: 1
HEALTH: Superior
ABILITIES:
RSL - 15
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
FCS - 12
MGT - 14
FNS - 7
LCK - 6
ACTIVE EFFECTS:
[SUMMONING SICKNESS (3)] (Esoteric)
Resilience reduced by 3
Focus reduced by 3
Finesse reduced by 3
* Affliction level decreases once per hour.
* Affliction effect halved by defensive ability.
BOONS
INVENTORY
REQUIREMENTS
Marc had played RPGs before, both tabletop and computer, so he knew how to read them in general. Even so, some things were off about this one. “Why am I not human? And what is summoning sickness?” Marc mumbled. Another loud noise echoed out into the woods, sending a new cascade of water onto Marc’s head as even the trees shook this time. Absent-mindedly, he grabbed the tablet, before realizing he could move it around like, well, a tablet. It hovered in the air when he let go, but not before bringing it under some more solid cover. He tried to press the Boons button, then the Inventory, but where previously the buttons had a perfect glide, now they were solid and set in place. “Is it. . . still loading?”
Another tablet popped up.
SYSTEM LOADING. THIS MAY TAKE A FEW MINUTES.
OK
He dismissed it.
He looked at the stats once again. Like in many games, they were abbreviated, and looking at Summoning Sickness, it seemed Resilience was RSL, Focus was FCS, and Finess was FNS. He’d guess that LCK was for Luck, which, given it was not reduced, meant he was twice as focused as he was lucky. Not exactly a great sign, given he wasn’t exactly someone who could sit still and read for more than a few hours.
On the right side of the Character detail tablet, he could see himself, or rather a third person image of himself. He still looked the same as before. A relieving sight, him not being some alien of some kind. At 5’9, Marc had never cut an imposing figure, but he was broad, a trait shared by all the men on his mom’s side. He looked over himself, same light brown hair, same green eyes, and the last bits of a summer tan giving way to pale. He wasn’t the most athletic, having done a bit of football in highschool, and some minor weightlifting before the lockdown. Since then though, he had done little to his figure besides losing muscle definition.
The rain was coming down harder now, and thunder crashed overhead. That left Marc with 2 options: stay where he was, and hope the noise in the cave wouldn’t affect him, or continue on through the forest, getting more and more soaked as he went. He drummed his fingers on the tablet as he thought. He looked at it. Pushing it under a stream of water from the leaves above, he watched as the water passed straight through it, as if it wasn’t there. Putting any weight on it caused the tablet to move.
Disappointed at his lack of a magical umbrella, and with one last look towards the cave, Marc began walking downhill, carefully avoiding the roots and slippery rocks. It was slow going, especially as Marc really didn't want to slip and bash his head on any of the myriad obstacles. He slipped a lot less than he expected, especially given his choice (well, not exactly a choice) of footwear.
Not 50 feet from the tree line, and another screen appeared, accompanied by another massive roar from the cave. Whatever it was, it was getting closer. The ground even shook with this one. Marc kept moving, bringing the tablet with him as he kept moving downhill, and the thunder grew louder.
BOONS
WANDERER BOONS
SIGHTSEEKER - 0%
For each [Large Distance] traveled, increase Might by [2]. If traveling unknown areas, [Moderate Distance].
Loses Potency after 30 days
Current effect: [0] / [2%]
SURVIVALIST - 0%
Reduces the effects of all natural damage.
Increases stability on non-magical terrain.
Able to loot [20%] of monster valuables.
MORE BOONS UNLOCK AS REQUIREMENTS ARE MET.
OUTSIDER BOONS
POLYGLOT
[Common] languages are translated automatically.
AETHEREAL RESISTANCE
Provides [Minor] resistance to Electric, Aethereal, and Spirit damage.
Reduces effects of {Summoning Sickness}.
Increases accuracy of Teleportation.
MORE BOONS UNLOCK AS REQUIREMENTS ARE MET.
HISTORIA BOONS: 0/2/3
All of the Wanderer Boons made sense to him, from a standpoint. Even the outsider ones made sense to him if he looked at it thought the lens of an RPG, and he was thankful that Summoning Sickness was something he resisted naturally given he had it. He noticed that Summoning Sickness was, itself, a button he could push, but knowing what it did, he decided not to. That said, he was hoping to not take much damage at all, let alone those resisted by his Outsider boon.
More noises rang out from the cavern, and Marc decided to leave the tablet floating in mid-air. If he needed it, he could go back and grab it. The terrain, despite his lack of slipping, was not exactly hospitable. As his vision went white and a boom rattled his bones, he realized that the weather wasn’t either. Lightning, at close range, was yet another first to add to the all-too-many of today.
After he could see again, Marc saw both the struck tree, maybe 30 feet from him, and that he had gotten a new active effect
[DAZZLED] (Natural)
Defenses weakened
Focus reduced by 1
* Affliction removed after 5 minutes
“I really don’t have time for-” Marc began to say, before the ground exploded upwards.
He tumbled over, barely avoiding a head-meet-rock scenario. There were shouts he didn't catch, and as he got up, he saw three figures running out of a newly made entrance to the cave system. And right behind them was a spider the size of a school bus.