BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BARK. BARK. BARK. BARK. BOOM.
I sat bolt-straight in my bed and glanced around the room frantically. A blur rushed across my vision followed by a rush of wind. I sprung up, pulled my wand from underneath my pillow, and pointed it forward: ready for anything. Something tapped the wall next to me, and a rush of wind rushed past me: the blankets billowed as if they were sails that caught headwind as a dark figure zipped by. Another darted across the ceiling, as quick as a bat on the wing. I sprung up and hurried across the room and threw the light switch on.
Shadow was hanging off the ceiling, and Clio was wagging her tail: sitting in the middle of the air about five feet off the ground.
“What the hell is happening.”
Master’s awake! Look what I can do!
“Patron? What’s going on?”
Mister, can you get this dog to stop chasing me?
I picked up Clio, and Shadow jumped off the ceiling. As soon as she entered into the shadow cast by the bed, she vanished from sight; only to appear as soon as she stepped into the light.
Well, they share your soul, so they share in your power in a way.
“So what? They level with me?”
Yes.
“...is that a good thing?”
Perhaps. Now you won’t have to worry about them, would you?
“But where did they get the spell?”
A wish of their souls to be manifested.
“What? Clio wished to be able to walk on air?”
She wished to be taller.
“Taller? Have you seen her legs? She’s plenty tall. How about Shadow?”
She wishes to hunt birds better.
“See, that’s a wish that makes sense.”
Clio hopped out of my hand, and the wind bent underneath her paws as she licked me in the face, and then climbed back down to the ground.
Why don’t you have them help you?
“No.”
Why not? You can teach them combat skills and form your own party.
“Do you know how many times I’ve almost died over the last three days? Dozens of times, probably. I will not expose these two to the same thing.”
Tsk.
“Did you just say, ‘tsk.’”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
No.
I checked my phone: it was 5 in the morning. I glanced outside, as rain fell from the sky and soaked the world with freezing droplets. Just the thought of walking into that right now sent shivers up my spine. I’ll wait until sunrise, at least. I checked war-efra.com and noticed that all the pictures I had posted on Reddit had been added to the forum with a few people discussing them.
“Where are these taken from?” Someone by the username, ‘Mirror,’ asked.
“California.” I answered, “The doors here lead to a large city that had once been inhabited by cat people.”
“Cat people! I want to see!” Someone else by the name of Swashbuckler responded. “Sage, are you level 10 yet? Get into one of those gates and ask for help!”
“The place where I’m at looks to have been inhabited by a bird people,” Mirror responded.
“Well, it seems like all of them are dead. I haven’t come across an alive one yet.”
“Same here…”
I pulled my Shard off my nightstand and opened up the map. The nearest, ‘gate,’ was underneath a nearby bridge and was level 25. Other than that, there was a level 30 in an old trainyard and a level 34 at the nearby college. I scanned the town, and only counted 30, ‘gates,’ in total: the lowest one being a level 15 at the museum, and then a level 18 at the graveyard.
“I am level 12,” I answered the question, “But the lowest one in town is 15.”
“That’s ok!” Came the reply from Swashbuckler, “Once my brother gets to 10, I’ll message you on here, and we can all do it together.”
“How’d you get to level 12 already?”
“He’s lying.”
I took out my Shard and opened up my stat table:
Name
Lawrence Able
Occupation
Novice Elementalist
Level (XP)
12 (40/1300)
Strength
20
Endurance
19(-6)
Speed
14(-7)
Reflexes
12
Perception
16
Charm
8
Intelligence
12
Creativity
25
Magic
28
And take a picture to post: blurring out my name.
“Wtf is up with your build.”
“Are you a crafter? Why creativity?”
“It’s useful.”
I replied. I was going to say that you can craft new spells with it, but I hesitated. Wouldn’t it be better to monopolize that information? No…
“You can create spells if you have a high enough creativity,” I answered.
“It doesn’t matter how many spells you have if you can’t do the damage. Why not just focus on one spell and level that to the max? That’s the smartest way to do it, and just dump all your points into magic and magic-related passives. EZ.” The user that had taken the name, ‘mage,’ stated.
“No.”
“Why tf would you need strength to be that high as a mage?”
“It’s useful.”
“How are u not dead yet.”
“Sheer determination.”
I closed the website and waited for the sun to rise by playing a single-player game that I had downloaded on my computer until about noon when a knock came at my door. I hurried downstairs, and pulled open the door: the technician from the internet company was waiting there.
“I’m sorry for calling in, I forgot what day it would be.”
“No problem: don’t really have a family.”
Fuck.
I set Clio and Shadow outside while he did his work, and tipped him 200 when he left. He thanked me, and he went on his way, and once more I was left alone. I went back upstairs and plugged in the internet, before launching the browser.
“What do I want to do…” I opened up League and started up a game.
I was doing fairly well: perhaps it was my increase in perception or my increased reflexes, but I was competing better than I had before, but I found myself losing focus about halfway through the match. What was happening? I had spent thousands of hours in the game since its release and had never once felt like this: as if it were a chore of some kind. Now? It just felt as if I were going through the motions. Playing the game, because that’s what I have to be doing.
I glanced out of the nearby window. The sun was still high in the sky, and the rain had stopped. Doors sat along the nearby road and sidewalk and in the yards of families celebrating the holidays. Perhaps it was a flash of the future, or perhaps it was my anxiety made manifest, but an image of mass slaughter, and of quiet streets flashed through my mind.
My armor sat on the ground by my mattress, and my staff was leaning against the wall by the closet. I sighed, and alt-f4’d out of the game, and threw on my armor, some fresh clothes, and fastened the gauntlets and sash, put the Shard into my bag with a few other things, filled up the bowls of my cat and dog, before taking up my staff, and heading to the door. My hand wrapped around the tarnished metal knob, and I sighed.
“...I’d probably draw too much attention right now.” I muttered as I took a deep breath, “But I can’t sit still…” I took a deep breath and held onto the door knob. “Then, until the sun sets...are there any level 10s asking for help?”
There are.
I took a deep breath. This would be a new situation for me, but…
“I wish to help.”
A rush of wind flowed underneath the door, and the light coming from beyond the three-spoked window at the top vanished.
“I’ll be back, Clio. Shadow.”
Master leaving?
“Yes, Clio.”
I don’t want you to! You come back hurt!
“I’ll be alright.”
Stay safe, Mister.
Shadow stepped into the apartment through the backdoor door and brushed against my leg.
“I will,” I said, as I swallowed the bead of anxiety and fear building up in me before pulling open the door and stepping into the blackness.