Darkness clouded my mind, but beyond it I sensed time pass. Faces, places, and voices flash in and out of my awareness and call to me. I don’t really understand what they’re saying, but some appear to be in need, so I reach out to support them however I can. It’s not very effective, given my lack of focus, but I try nonetheless. Others send their gratitude, I’m not entirely sure why, but I accept it all the same as it would be rude to turn them away, and besides, it’s just a dream.
This continues for what feels like forever, then my dream goes deeper.
Finally, I awaken a while later. A sense of place and time return to me. Strength fills my limbs, breath my lungs, and I go to open my eyes. It’s totally dark, and bits of something, brushed by my eyelashes, falls down and forces me to close them again. I want to rub the irritants away, but my arms, along with the rest of my body, are held in place by a solid all encompassing barrier. This sucks, but what’s restraining me?
I ignore the burn in my eyes, and consider what to do about my situation. Then, realization strikes. I was in a hole when I fell asleep! I must’ve been buried! Strangely, joy, rather than fear, finds me. For whatever reason, I can still breathe, and I’m not particularly hungry or thirsty so I’m in no real danger, but I’d really rather not have to wait for rescue or a chance to clear my eyes. And that’s assuming there’s anyone around to rescue me in the first place.
Determined, I sit up with all the force I can muster. I feel the soil burst to either side to accommodate me, then I reach up with both arms and begin to worm my way out. Since the sky was above me when I fell asleep, that should still be the case, so all I need to do is dig up!
It takes a little bit, but with my millennia of experience I quickly burrow into what has to be grass roots, and then the warm light of day pats me on the back as I flop free from my earthen tomb and finally clear my eyes of the dirt that haunted them.
After allowing myself a moment’s reprieve, I glance around and take in the vibrant green grasses, purple-leaved trees, and blue bushes with ripe rich fiery colored fruit beneath the majestic blue sky. I sigh. “I’m not dreaming anymore. I know this. But… What are the odds that everything became like my dream?” My eyes bulge. “No way… D-did God plagiarize me? Or did a bunch of aliens probe my dreams and genetically engineer everything to match?”
I shook my head to throw off those foolish thoughts when a warm female voice spoke in my mind.
I waited for her to speak again, but she remained silent, so I checked the quaint little clearing I found myself in once more, but found no trace of anyone. “Strange. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that was the voice of the Game Master in some role playing game… So does that mean aliens programmed everything after all? But for what reason? Entertainment?”
A pleasant electric shock spread through my brain and I instinctively knew my Comprehension and Understanding Abilities had just activated. Instinctively I grasped that the female voice that just spoke was the voice of the system that governs magic and abilities for everyone in this world. The system was apparently created by God, no identifying name or religion given, but runs on its own, and acts as a simple way to assess one’s self, environment, and capabilities so that danger can be avoided and growth more easily achieved.
So it really was God then… But why’d he have to go and copy me? Why am I a part of all this? And what kind of growth are we talking about? Spiritual? Mental? Physical? But to what end? Is there some kind of moral or lesson to be learned from all this? Well, it is God, so probably all of the above in some form or fashion, but then what was the point of making it RPG-esque?
Another wave of shock nearly stopped my heart. “D-don’t tell me he did it because of what I said in my dream! Don’t just go making my stupid whims reality!”
I sighed and let my head hang limp. “It honestly doesn’t matter how things got this way. I just gotta make the most of it and hope I can survive.” I took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. “Alright, Ms. System Lady, I need information, and if you’re in charge then what’re my stats? I’ve gotta have stats right?”
The system didn’t answer, but another pleasant tingle in my brain informed me that my newly acquired Understanding and Comprehension Abilities would give me what I seek. And they did so in the form of a tablet-sized main window that appeared before my eyes and several smaller windows that branched off its sides, but oh what a headache reading them turned out to be.
-Name: ???
Race: Human?
Age: ???
Height: 6’?
Weight: 182lbs?
Titles: Soul Survivor; ??? Wanderer; Excavation Emperor; ???; ???; Dreamer; Awakened
Soul Survivor: A Title awarded to the last person. As a consequence of this Title ??? has been acquired.
??? Wanderer: A Title awarded to one who has wandered the world for an ???. As a consequence of this Title the: Mind Magic, the: Body Magic, and the: Spirit Magic series of Abilities have been acquired.
Excavation Emperor: A Title awarded to the one who has elevated the act of digging into an art. As a consequence of this Title the: Divine Unearther ability has been acquired at the highest level.
???: ???
???: ???
Dreamer: A Title awarded to the dreaming ???. As a consequence of this Title the: Essence Magic series of Abilities have been acquired.
Awakened: A Title awarded to the newly awakened ???. As a consequence of this Title the: Understanding, and: Comprehension, Abilities have been acquired.
Status: Health: Healthy; Mana: Full; Endurance: Full; Strength: Able; Agility: Able; Speed: Able; Toughness: Able; Spirit: Maximum
Status Conditions: None-
Unable to look at the windows anymore, I clamped my eyes shut, and shouted. “How does the system in charge of everything not even know my name!”
My yell echoed out into the world, but went unanswered by the system, my abilities, or the birds, who incidentally stopped the pleasant tune they were singing.
I tried to calm down, then froze. “W-wait… I– I don’t even know my name… I forgot it while I wandered the barren Earth. I guess the system has its limits since I don’t know my age either, but what kinda offensive piece of crap goes and calls someone human with a question mark right after?”
I managed to get over my indignation when I remembered just how strange my existence was before I fell asleep, then I examined my arms, legs, and torso. It said I was 6’? and 182lbs? Even if those values are questioned, I most certainly was neither last I checked. Let’s be honest, I was a shriveled sack of skin and bones, so when and how did I change height and mass and become healthy?
“Does it have something to do with all those impossibly vague stats? Who am I kidding, of course it does. And what’s with those Titles that have or are question marks? Are they like in-game achievements? So the question marks indicate ones I haven’t fully unlocked? And how do I have Titles from before this system even came into effect? The explanations on the side are kinda nice but most don’t tell me much of anything aside from what abilities I’ve gained. So is it all based on my knowledge and memories? No, it has to be, why else would my name and age be blank?”
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I look at my Titles and their descriptions again, and frown. “I really wish I knew what those question marks are hiding…” Then a sudden rush of excitement washed away my worries, and I shouted. “But hey! I’ve got magic! And lots of it!”
I close out the window about my Titles and scroll down to the Ability section under my stats. “O-oh… Oh. Headache number two.”
-Abilities: Beginner Mind Magic; Beginner Body Magic; Beginner Spirit Magic; Beginner Essence Magic; Divine Unearther lv: 100; ??? lv: 15; ??? lv: 12; ??? lv: 11; ??? lv: 35; Insanity Immunity lv: 100; Understanding lv: 5; Comprehension lv: 5-
Disciplines:
Mind over Nature Magic lv: 1
Mind over Mind Magic lv: 1
Mind over Matter Magic lv: 1
Mind over Body Magic lv: 1 Disciplines:
Body Transformation Magic lv:1
Body Sensory Magic lv: 1
Body Fortification Magic lv: 1
Body Empowerment Magic lv: 1
Body Recovery Magic lv: 1 Disciplines:
Spirit Summoning/Bonding Magic lv: 1
Spirit Communion/Trapping Magic lv:1
Spirit Healing/Harming Magic lv:1 Disciplines:
Essence of Fire Magic lv: 1
Essence of Earth Magic lv:1
Essence of Water Magic lv: 1
Essence of Air Magic lv: 1
Essence of Light Magic lv: 1
Essence of Dark Magic lv: 1
Essence of Lightning Magic lv: 1 Essence of Ice Magic lv: 1
Essence of Space Magic lv: 1
Essence of Time Magic lv: 1
Essence of Order Magic lv: 1
Essence of Chaos Magic lv: 1
“I knew there’d be a lot of magic from my Titles, but these side windows are ridiculous! And that’s not even mentioning all the accursed question marks!” I grip the sides of my head and press my forehead into the dirt. “To think there’d be so much I still need to discover about myself after all this time. Oh well, I guess I’ll figure it out later, right now, I need info on Magic and my other Abilities! Understanding! Comprehension! Do your thing!”
I felt the two Abilities activate and decided to think of an abridged way of referring to them while the information I wanted about magic compiled into another window. “After all, it is a pain to say or think Understanding and Comprehension every time. That said… Understanding… Comprehension… U and C… U and C… U C what I mean? No… U C less? Oh that’s not even true! They’re synonyms, so how about I just give them one name. Like, uh, Oh! Uriel! Like the angel of wisdom! Since God’s the one behind the system, and the Abilities come from the system, that should more than make sense.”
With that out of the way I skimmed over the new window and learned that magic is divided into four elements, Mind, Body, Spirit, and Essence. Each element has subcategories or disciplines, as they are apparently called by the system, and it seems to be normal for people to awaken to, or be born with, an affinity for one or more disciplines of the various elements, which makes me a special case since I apparently have access to all elements and their assorted disciplines. Which is good! And bad… very, very, bad.
Apparently, there are more than a few magic disciplines that are heavily restricted if not outright taboo. For instance, Space Essence magic is perfectly legal but so rare and highly coveted that any nation would be all over anyone who has it. Additionally, Mind over Mind Magic and Spirit Harming and Trapping Magic are, though more common, still heavily monitored and restricted lest the users abuse the power they possess. Dark and Chaos Essence magic on the other hand are outright banned as they are considered evil due to their inherently dangerous nature. While Time Essence Magic is largely thought of as a joke wielded by eccentrics, and Mind over Nature Magic is practically only used by nomadic outcasts. Basically druids, I guess.
“So all I have to do is avoid telling anyone I have those specific Abilities and I’ll be fine. Right?” A chill ran down my spine. “Unless there are ways for other people to forcibly view my status.”
The next window revealed that Essence Magic, specifically Order Essence Magic, is the most common type of magic people use and its practitioners are what most people think of when someone says mage or wizard. The other essences apply to those names too, but Body Magic is almost unilaterally the realm of warriors and other physical combatants, while Spirit Magic is the domain of priests, summoners, and other well… spiritualist types. However, Mind Magic doesn’t fit any one group and is used mostly as a supplement to the other disciplines, for instance Mind over Matter plus Order Essence Magic is apparently how you do alchemy.
“My biggest problem is that it says that in order to use any of my magical abilities I need to learn how to sense, control, and shape magic. Which I naturally have no idea how to do given that it’s all just been dropped into my lap…” I sulk for a minute, then sigh. “I guess I won’t be using magic for now, but what about my other abilities?”
I turn Uriel’s insight onto itself and the other remaining entries on my status since they didn’t immediately offer side windows with descriptions of their features. Then again, the magic abilities didn’t readily tell me what they do either.
Unsurprisingly, the question marks yielded only more question marks, but I learned that Divine Unearther allows me to dig through just about anything at unparalleled speed and precision while keeping my Endurance virtually untouched. “As for Insanity Immunity, it should be self explanatory, though the description was so utterly depressing that I’ll just banish the thought to the deepest recesses of my mind, thank you very much!”
Now then, Understanding apparently allows me to gather information from the system about anything regarding me or the things I can see and then display or absorb that information however I choose, which is apparently why I have so many game hud windows open right now. I guess I could just take it straight in, but where’s the fun in that?
Finally, Comprehension is an Ability that lets me, well, comprehend information. “So it doesn’t matter what kind, be it language, math, the mechanics of the magic that I totally can’t use, or all the stuff that Understanding gathers for me to read, Comprehension is my all access pass to getting it. Get it? Great! Me too.”
“So in the end, I am a nameless, poorly understood, magically diverse yet powerless, all discerning, completely sane, hole digging expert stuck in a new world that totally wasn’t ripped straight out of my last dream with nothing but the rags I was wearing an eternity ago to see me off into the wild slightly brighter blue yonder.”
But before I got too deeply lost into that thought, the bushes rustled behind me, and when I turned around, several armed figures stepped out and surrounded me.
Some were men, some were women, some were hard to tell. A few had animal tails, others wings, but all were armed with fancy metal spears and clad in shiny armor ripped straight out of a fantasy story, and totally furious with me, the hobo looking lunatic out in the middle of the woods.
I could barely bring myself to meet their gaze when I realized, for the first time in God knows how long, that my clothes were highly inadequate to meet anyone, let alone a bunch of armed soldiers. Heck! I could tell based on their expressions that if they didn’t have to keep their eyes and spears trained on me they’d literally be doing anything, and I do mean anything, else. Geez, I must’ve gotten uglier during my extended dirt nap. What a pleasant thing to wake up to.
At long last, the awkward stalemate was broken when one fine gentleman with a glorious pair of rabbit ears somewhere in his mid thirties broke the all too uncomfortable silence and shouted. “Kai ranther el? Bek hal geth!”
I blinked twice, and hit the side of my head a few times. Come on Uriel! Now’s not the time for a nap!
To my surprise, a surge of sparks and warmth filled my brain and the system announced.
Great!
I glance back at the bunny-man in charge, and offer an apologetic smile. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”
He frowned, as did his comrades, but he replied with yet another, louder, shout. “I said, what’s your name? Identify yourself!”
Oh crap. Son of a biscuit eating bulldog, I don’t even know my own name, so how in all of God’s totally not plagiarized green Earth am I supposed to tell you? I gulp. Okay. Deep breath, you got this, anonymous as I am, I just need to think of a name, any name, he’ll totally buy it, he has no way of knowing otherwise.
The leader snarled and the spears pressed closer. “This is your last chance to identify yourself and tell me why you’ve dared to desecrate this sacred place before we scrub away your filth with your blood!”
My eyes widened. If I’m filth then how would my blood– oh forget it! Name, genius! Now!
“I-I’m…”
“Well? Spit it out!”
“Anon! Anon Amos!”
Suddenly the system spoke.
...
I felt the strength start to leave my knees.
Wow… I completely blew it… Way to go me.
The leader scrunched up his face and his all too pink rabbit nose wiggled adorably. “A strange name, heretic, now tell us why you’ve dared to desecrate sacred ground with your presence.”
His underlings closed in even more, to the point where their spears were mere feet from me. I shuddered, and dropped down to huddle in fear. Nobody’s ever threatened me like this before! I just woke up, dang it! How was I supposed to know someone decided this place should be holy? As I neared the point of tears a strange calm overtook me, as if my emotions were just a drop in a vast ocean. Freed of my panic, options filled my head, and I knew I needed only to choose. How do I get out of this? Do I try to fight this unfavorable battle? Risk sounding like even more of a lunatic and tell the truth? Attempt a lie and hope there’s no way for them to detect the truth? Or maybe… Hop back into my hole and dig?