I laid out on the slab with much trepidation, I could feel the cold through my clothes while I waited for them to place the device on me. I really should call it more than that, it consisted of a part that appeared to strap against my head, with lots of attachments but not for wires, it looked more like small tubes than what you would consider seeing at a hospital like for an EKG or something. The technicians started by placing the piece over my head which also had lenses that covered my eyes, once my eyes were covered I could only see darkness.
“I thought I was supposed to see my son through this, why do they darken everything out?” I asked.
The elder replied, “Once the device starts up you will be able to see properly. First, we need to finish connecting you for that to happen.”
“OK,” I said. It’s not like I could do anything about it at this point anyway.
I could feel them placing the tubes against my body at various points, once they finished they called out in a language I could not understand, and I felt the table respond by shifting slightly. Then I could feel my hands and legs being restrained. I started to fight against this, but by then it was far too late. A chest band and waist band surrounded me, and I was held against the table. I started yelling, but then they placed one of the tubes against my mouth, so I tried to seal my mouth closed. Then it really got bad. The tubes were not just tubes, it felt like teeth ripping my body open at the locations where they were placed, and then at some spots, it felt like liquid fire was entering me and others it was ice cold. I could not keep my mouth closed at this point and when I opened it the tube invaded my mouth and worked its way down my throat. This was a timeless period for me in darkness and pain, it could have lasted hours or seconds, I have no real way of knowing now, but eventually, I passed out.
The technicians have finally finished laying out the tubes getting the inductee ready for the procedure, so I watch as he is restrained. I don’t particularly like tricking these people, but we need them loyal, and without stripping their memories they would never give us the devotion that we need to overthrow the other two factions. Luckily we have done this enough that it’s almost a science now.
“Start the process” I call out and watch as Chris finally goes limp. On the display we now see his readings and statistics, and unfortunately, they will not do at all. “The age is much too high, why was he not found before now?” I wonder out loud, in a louder voice I call out “Start the genome process, set his age at 18 years of age, and adjust his body accordingly. Make sure you adjust his appearance so that it looks like he appears non-human, maybe elfish, I want him to think he belongs somewhere else so if he does remember anything other than what we leave him, it will appear to be dreamlike instead of something possibly real.”
They make several changes on the computer until finally I am satisfied, then the slab lowers Chris into a liquid bath just below the floor level, it dissolves what remains of his clothes then with what the tubes are pumping into him starts the modifications on his body. While that is happening, I have other people going through his memories, erasing anything other than those things having to do with education, though writing and language are changed so that no one realizes he is not an elf. Anything personal, anything that identifies him, or someone that he cares about we take so that he is pretty much a blank slate when we are done.
Once he was elevated to the surface and the restraints retracted, we allowed the headgear to come alive for him, inserting the system called Odyssey into his mind and allowing him to interact with his statistics and to learn magic and other skills. The technicians also remove all the tubes and gear placed over his body which will allow him to awaken and begin his training.
I awaken on a table and am immediately confused. I do not remember any of this. I don’t even remember my name. I start to get upset and sit up to hear from off to the side of me. “Relax, it's ok. I know you are confused right now, but everything went fine. You are fully integrated now and part of our family. No longer will you be an orphan on your old world, we will take care of you. My name is Elder Takien, and I will make sure that you are well taken care of while you learn what is necessary to help us all.” The old man continued, “Now being this is a new start for you, what would you like your new name to be?”
I ponder this question, and my memories seem so confused I pick out the first name that comes to mind. “Alain,” I say.
“Welcome Alain, now please put on this robe, and I will escort you to your instructor who will then provide you with everything you need to get started.” Elder Takien says.
I do as he says and follow the elder from the room down several hallways and then outside the building. The sun is shining down brightly from overhead, and it feels quite warm out. We head across the plaza towards an area where I can see some people outside swinging swords at each other. There are other people shooting bows, and some also appear to be casting spells. So since he spoke of training, I guess that this is the place.
We go inside the building and upon the walls are various banners and trophies whose purpose I am unaware of, though they do look impressive. We end up at a room near the back where a man sits behind a desk, he looks up as we walk in and addresses the Elder, “Hello Elder, this is the new one I’m assuming?”
The man is wearing glasses and appears to be about five feet five tall, he really does not present himself as a trainer but more of a number cruncher in appearance. So I am confused as to his purpose.
The elder replies “Yes Daniel, this Elf is Alain, and he just underwent the induction. I have not told him anything or started his initiation process yet, so I will leave that up to you as well as discerning his disposition and assigning him a trainer.” He then turns to me, “Alain this man will help you to understand everything that is going on. You are young still, so you have plenty of time to learn and grow into your duties. I will get back to mine.”
As the elder leaves, I heave a sigh of relief because for some reason I just can’t be comfortable around that elder. The man Daniel snorts upon hearing the sound and says to me “I know what you mean, don’t rightly feel I can do anything right around him. Either way, my name is Daniel Fax. I am the master of training here. That does not include swinging dangerous items around, but just over helping newcomers to figure out their roles and make them aware of all their abilities.”
“Thank you, Daniel, my name is Alain, and this is all confusing, what was I inducted into, what initiation. How do you figure out this stuff?” I asked.
He responded, “Don’t worry, we will have you straightened out in no time. First, we will handle the testing your skills to see what roles suit you best, then we will handle the initiation. That will actually explain a few other things to you during the process. What you will need to do first is think to yourself some key words. Once you get into the initiation process, you will know better what you want to select for yourself as you go through everything. Now come with me to the testing room so we can check your aptitudes.”
“OK” I reply and follow him out of the office and back down the hall towards the exit. We take a side door about midway down the hall and enter a room with an orb on a pedestal. Daniel walks towards it and goes behind it and presses some keys that cause the orb to light up and the walls to start going through a color sequence.
Daniel then says to me “Once this finishes warming up you will appear to be in a room, you should exit the room and try your hand at anything that appears and see what you like best, and what likes you best. You may like singing, but other people may not like your singing is what I mean. This orb will measure how well you do at whatever you try, and once finished you will appear back here in front of me. Now keep in mind that this does not set you on a path, even if you do not have the aptitude, you could still select a path that you like and build the skill, it would just take longer. Do you have any questions?
I shake my head no, and Daniel presses another key. Instantly the room erupts in a riot of colors, and I close my eyes. When I open them, and my eyes adjust I find myself in the same room just no orb. I turn around and walk out the door which now leads outside. In front of me, I see a training area that holds a sword and a shield leaning against a dummy. I pick them up and put the shield on. The training dummy then starts to move. It takes a swing at me, and I bring up my shield but instead of using it to deflect the blow I take the hit straight on, and it knocks me back and hurts my arm. I try taking a swing back, and the dummy side steps the blow. This goes on for a couple of minutes before I am absolutely worn out.
The dummy then steps away from me approximately two dozen feet. I notice a bow and quiver sitting next to me. I replace the sword and shield for the bow and arrows and immediately notice that I start feeling better and less fatigued until I am back to normal again. I take the bow in hand and already feel much more confident than I did while trying to use the sword. I begin to aim at the dummy and let fly and manage to hit the dummy in the arm when I was aiming for the chest. I knock another arrow and try again, this time I account for the wind and hit the chest within a few inches of where I was aiming. I knock again, and the dummy starts to move around. I shoot over and over again, most of the time I hit something, but a few times I hit nothing.
After I empty the quiver, the dummy bows to me and disappears, I look around and find a book and a globe laying on a chair I had not seen before now. I pick them both up and sit in the chair to read the book while the Orb sits in my lap. The book has instructions on what to do next. It says that I should hold the orb between both hands and close my eyes and feel inside myself for a place that feels warmer than the rest of me. Once I locate that warmth, I should try to push it from that location towards the ball in my hands. Once I think I have done it, I should open my eyes and look at the orb. It takes a while to locate the warm feeling, and even longer for me to get it to move to my hands and into the ball. The instructions were not clear on whether I should continue to push at this point or just stop, so I keep pushing until I suddenly start feeling tired. At this point, I look at the orb, and it is glowing brightly in my hands, It is bright green with some white and shades of blue and black around the edges. Once I notice this the orb fades away.
I then hear a growling sound. I turn my head, and a huge dog is inside the fence surrounding this training area just a few feet away from me. I seem to remember as a child that if you look less threatening animals sometimes calmed down and would let you pet them, so I again faced away from the dog and kneeled down, so I was not quite so big. I also stuck my hand out behind me palm up so that the dog could sniff me without me looking directly at it in a way challenging it. The growling continues, but eventually, I feel a cold nose nudge my hand and some sniffing sounds. I still do not move and allow the dog to get used to me before slowly turning my head and looking at the dog. It watches me warily but is no longer growling, so I turn my hand over and attempt to pet the top of its head slowly. The dog accepts this, and I start bit by bit turning my body to face the dog as I build up trust with it. Once I turn fully around there is another flare of lights and when I reopen my eyes, I am back with Daniel.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Daniel says “Well you have some decent aptitude with both animals, magic, and archery. Sword skills are very low. I did not allow the test to continue into the more rogue-like skills such as pickpocketing and daggers, though I could send you back for that if you feel those would be better fits for you.”
“No” I replied, “those do not sound like skills that would suit me. I really enjoyed the archery, and maybe if I could get some dogs, I could use them to help me hunt or something.”
“Son don’t sell your self short with dogs. You could tame beasts with enough skill to help you in many situations. It’s a good skill and will take you a long way. I would actually recommend taking all three of those skills eventually. You have high aptitude with nature magic, a smaller aptitude with cold and water, and finally a little bit of aptitude with light and dark magic. “
I nod my head and reply “That actually sounds pretty good. Can I learn to heal using that magic?”
Daniel replies “Definitely if you can find someone to train you in it. The thing is… Well, I am getting ahead of myself first let’s get you initiated. When you get in there now, you know your aptitudes. You will be able to select a single skill and spend five statistic points. Just from how you were raised and your body type you will start out with some base stats. The way these stats work is that strength affects how much you can carry and how much damage you will do when you swing a sword. Stamina affects how far you can run before becoming winded, as well as the amount of health you have before succumbing to death. Dexterity affects dagger and bow attacks, as well as your ability to dodge, or parry attacks. Intelligence increases your overall mana, and finally, wisdom increases your mana regen and increases how quickly you progress in your skills. It has been argued that there are some hidden stats that affect a wide range of things referred to as luck and charisma, but as far as it’s known they are unchangeable and the only way to ascertain their value is to head to a bar and try to pick up some ladies.” And with that, he barks out a laugh.
“My recommendation if you want to go with pets and using a bow would be put points in Dexterity, Stamina enough to live or to run away to fight another day, and then Intelligence and Wisdom to keep you in mana once you learn some spells. Any questions before you start?” he asks.
“No, you covered it fairly well so far,” I said.
“OK, what you need to do is think to yourself the words start initiation.” He said.
I thought the words start initiation and right in front of my eyes a box appeared.
Personal Information
Name
Age
Class
Level
Faction
Alain
18
N/A
1
N/A
Health
EXP to next level
Mana
21
100
28
Statistics
Strength
Stamina
Dexterity
Intelligence
Wisdom
4
3
7
4
4
Magic Affinity
Nature
Cold
Fire
Water
Light and Dark
8%
5%
1%
4%
3%
Skills
N/A
Stat points remaining
5
Skill points remaining
1
I heard Daniel say, “Once you think that line your status box should appear. If in the future you wish to review this information all you need to do is think Status. Next to increase your base statistics you just need to think something like Increase Stamina by 1 or whatever you wish to change. Go ahead and set those stats now, and say when you are ready to continue.”
I think about what he told me and decide to follow his advice. I go ahead and raised my dexterity by 3 points bringing it to a total of 10, then increase stamina to 5. I do not have any magic yet, so I am not going to worry about it this time. After those changes, my Status page changes to
Personal Information
Name
Age
Class
Level
Faction
Alain
18
N/A
1
N/A
Health
EXP to next level
Mana
35
100
28
Statistics
Strength
Stamina
Dexterity
Intelligence
Wisdom
4
5
10
4
4
Magic Affinity
Nature
Cold
Fire
Water
Light and Dark
8%
5%
1%
4%
3%
Skills
N/A
Stat points remaining
0
Skill points remaining
1
Based upon this it looks like I will get 7 health for every stamina, and the same for mana and intelligence as well. I have no way to test mana regen yet, so I do not know how much effect wisdom will have on everything, but since it helps skills to level I am guessing it’s going to be worth investing in.
“I’m finished with that” I inform Daniel.
“OK,” says Daniel, “now we move to the skill point. Skill points work differently than Stat points. Stat points you will get 5 every level, so they are important. Skill training points you get only from three ways. You will get a skill point at level 1, 2, 3, and then 5. After that, your next skill point from leveling will be every twenty levels starting at level 20. The second way to gain a skill point is from completing certain hidden quests. They could award a skill or a skill point depending on who is offering the quest. Finally, Skill points are available for purchase from the Odyssey store. They cost more than a cruiser class space ship, so you definitely will not be buying skills anytime soon. I hope this impresses upon you the importance of your skill choices. When you are ready to think show skill list, and the list will appear. I am going to again suggest with your aptitudes selecting either beast taming, or shooting skill first, as healing will not help you until you have a way to kill something.”
I go ahead and bring up the list and it spans three columns, there are skills like piloting, flying, riding, even fishing. Page after page of skills and lots of it I did not test for. “Why are there so many skills listed, a lot of it is technology based like explosives, and gun handling? What’s the deal with the use of technology and the use of things like bow and arrows? Wouldn’t a gun be better than a bow?” I ask.
Daniel replies “The system and the factions have rules in place for planets where we hunt and train, I will cover factions later on, but for now technology is only able to be used on certain planets. There are some areas where technology is outlawed other than shuttles back and forth to space stations. The reason we are focusing on low technology is that all the starter areas are limited to low tech. It allows you to learn and skill up in less danger than starting you out where the baddies are shooting at you with laser rifles. Plus you cannot afford technology yet. Get some quests done, gain some levels, and eventually, you too can afford your own personal ship from your Odyssey points, which again I will go over later.”
“Makes sense” I replied and go back to hunting through the list. I go back to the first page and decide that I can still shoot a bow without having the relevant skill, but I might not be able to tame a beast without that skill, so I choose that for my first skill leaving my stat page as
Personal Information
Name
Age
Class
Level
Faction
Alain
18
N/A
1
N/A
Health
EXP to next level
Mana
35
100
28
Statistics
Strength
Stamina
Dexterity
Intelligence
Wisdom
4
5
10
4
4
Magic Affinity
Nature
Cold
Fire
Water
Light and Dark
8%
5%
1%
4%
3%
Skills
Beast Taming
0%
Stat points remaining
0
Skill points remaining
0
“Ok, I am finished,” I said.
He replied “Good, I am ready for something to eat so let’s do that for now and continue after lunch. To get rid of the status screen for now just think Exit."