Noah stared at the floating words, but his sight was drawn to the dropping HP bar. The stab wound had not been small, and he was rapidly losing blood. He doubted he’d be alive much longer. Any motion sent pulses of pain arcing through his entire body, freezing him in place.

He twitched, trying to breathe through the pain, but a familiar numbness from earlier in the Void began to return.

“You’ve… got to be kidding me,” he wheezed. “Dying… the instant I get here? What a cruel joke.”

Noah laughed, the act sending a wave of fire through his body. After curling up to fight against the pain, he closed his eyes. Anger and frustration filled him when he found the system notifications still floating in his vision. It was unreasonable, but right now, as he lay dying at the beginning of what was meant to be a brand-new life, anger was all he could feel.

Cold numbness flowed to his fingers, as sensation began to leave his body. Noah looked at the health bar, watching the number float into his vision.

Health: 7%

With nothing else to do, and scant hopes for surviving, he selected the Yes option. There was obviously magic in this world, perhaps he could find something that would heal him.

You’ve begun the Awakening!

A strange energy permeated through Noah’s body, flooding a part of his being that only now did he understand was his soul. The energy swirled around somewhere in his abdomen before reaching out to the rest of his body.

New words flashed.

You’re being transported to your Astral Space.

Nausea flooded him. The sensation of being whisked away, despite not moving whatsoever, left the world dizzy around him. With a snap, Noah found himself on his feet, standing in a dimly lit arcade shop.

Congratulations! The Diamond Premium Package has engaged a special event for your Awakening! You can select up to three Paths at once!

Neon lights flashed around him as various old and new machines shimmered and glittered with the classic musty and sweaty smell that permeated these places.

“Where in the world…” Noah mumbled, before his eyes widened at a creature standing near him.

At the entrance of the shop, behind the counter where the manager should’ve been, sat a ball of tentacles. It was like someone had made a ball of yarn, except with fleshy and slimy tentacles that stank like nothing else he’d ever smelled, and then decided to add a gaping maw at its centre, just for good measure.

“Oh, this is a strange form,” the creature commented in a garbled speech like the sound of shattering glass, lifting a tentacle up to inspect itself. Dark black goo dripped from it onto the floor, before it ate through the concrete within seconds.

Noah stepped back.

“Apologies. Allow me to pick a more appropriate form,” the creature said and curled up.

In a blink, a man stood where the ball of fleshy tentacles had, wearing a plain white shirt, a black blazer, and jeans.

“That’s better,” the man said. “Apologies for that display, though in my defence, it was your subconscious which provided me with that form. My actual form is far from that grotesque.”

“Who the fuck are you? And where the fuck am I now? I feel like it was minutes ago that I’d arrived in a new world.”

“Well, ordinarily it is not my task to guide a newly Awakened through their Awakening, but it seems like we have special circumstances,” the man said.

“I’m Dylan,” he tapped the name tag on the right side of his shirt. “Just Dylan, because once again, your subconscious did not wish to give me a surname. I represent the Void as a piece of its being, and I exist within your Astral Space as a part of your Astral Script, due to the Pact you made. As such, you have been allocated some benefits, one of which has assigned me, much to my chagrin, as the guide to your Awakening.”

“Okay… Dylan. Is this my Astral Script then? Actually, what even is an Astral Script? I remember seeing the word before.”

“The Astral Script is, in simple terms, a part of your soul. It is what connects the magic from the Astral Planes and allows it to manifest. This is the form yours has chosen to take, referred to as an Astral Space. Perhaps you are familiar with this place?”

At Dylan’s words, Noah took another look around. Walking through the store, he found a familiar old sofa, with his writing on it which he’d made as a kid. But what was different was a shrimp dispenser installed next to it, with an all you can drink soda machine that had an ‘everything’ option on it.

Noah smiled, feeling childlike joy he hadn’t felt in ages. He clicked on the shrimp dispenser, adding some whipped cream on top, then filled a cup full of the everything soda.

Somehow, despite the disgusting combination, the food tasted amazing.

“I think I’m in love,” Noah said, taking another sip of the fizzy drink, then biting into a barbeque coated shrimp.

After he’d had his fill, he moved through the rows of machines, finding a particular one among them. An old fighting game he loved to play as a kid, before they’d discovered his mom’s cancer and had to move away for her treatment.

Memories flooded back to Noah . Somewhere over the years between trying to find a treatment for his mother, and her death, he’d completely forgotten about this place.

Walking closer, Noah pushed the play button on the old machine, and it loaded with familiar retro music.

Welcome to Astral Fighter!

Assessing character…

Anomaly found. Integrating past life experiences.

Calibrating…

A myriad of texts exploded in front of him. From crying, to talking, to job hunting and algebra. Everything he’d ever done was listed in a long list that zipped past him within a second, yet he knew each and every word that had been on it.

One by one, every machine in the Arcade lit up, glowing brightly as the neon lights flashed.

New characters appeared on the screen afterward.

Please select at least one Path to proceed!

His face appeared and he wore all sorts of different attires. Beneath each name were Paths displayed in glowing words.

Path options:

[Warrior]

[Martial Artist]

[Pugilist]

[Brute]

[Thug]

[Mage]

…

[Prophet of the Void]

[Champion of Earth]

[Void’s Herald]

[Hellion’s Hero]

A myriad of options were spread out across the various arcade machines. The fighting game one had what looked to be combat related Paths, while others had different focuses. Merely scrolling through all of them took five minutes or so.

“I’m guessing I need to pick from these?” Noah asked, looking at Dylan.

“It is good to see you are not a complete fool. Yes, you need to select a Path. An Astral Script is the summation of everything you have ever done in your life, from every meagre task, to the grandest of accomplishments. All of which will allow you to pick a Path to walk upon,” Dylan said.

Noah realised that the guy never blinked. His stare was constant, and unrelenting.

“What do I need to know about picking my Paths? What should I avoid, and what should I look for?”

Dylan simply stared at him, and Noah wondered if something was wrong.

“You must know of the four Attributes already. Power, Constitution, Agility, Mystic. Each of these govern an aspect of your abilities. Paths will have grades, and higher grade Paths obviously provide greater rewards. That said, it is not always the correct option to pick the highest grade available, as it can lock future potential away. Ultimately, the purpose of a Path is to increase these Attributes, to allow you to grow stronger,” Dylan said, his eyes flickering to the side momentarily before he continued. “We like stronger.”

Noah nodded. “How final is my choice?”

“So many questions,” Dylan said, clicking his tongue. “You can change, but it’ll reset your levels, and you’ll have to Awaken again. Deities can do it for you without losing your levels, but you’ll have to pledge yourself to them for that.”

Noah frowned at Dylan’s reaction. Wasn’t answering questions his job? “So it’s not permanent, and I have multiple options but I shouldn’t get something random just for shits and giggles either,” Noah hummed to himself thoughtfully. “Are there any other options for Path changes without losing levels?” he prodded, feeling like Dylan was trying to avoid explaining things as much as he could unless explicitly asked.

“I don’t get paid enough for this,” Dylan said. “You have rank ups. Your rank upon Awakening will have a grade going from F to A. Your Paths will hinge on this grade, and to keep progressing you will need to rank up. The first checkpoint will be level 50, this chart shows the rank up points,” Dylan said, pointing to empty air.

With a chime, a chart popped up in Noah’s vision.

Rank F: level 1-50

Rank E: level 51-100

Rank D: level 101-200

Rank C: level 201-300

Rank B: level 301-500

Rank A: level 501-999

Ascendant: level 1000

“In these, there are a few important checkmarks. Level 100, 300, and 500. At these points, your Path can evolve and increase its grade. When you reach this point, you can return to this place, and change the direction of your Path.”

Noah nodded, satisfied as he returned to the slew of options. Scrolling through the screen with the many versions of himself in various attire, he went back to the start, and selected the first option.

[Warrior (Common)]

You have a gift for fighting, and that gift will be what forms your Path.

Requirement: Win a fight.

Rewards: +1 free Attribute per level.

An understanding filled Noah, of the nature of this Path, and the abilities it would unlock. A [Warrior] focused primarily on weapons and melee combat. Rather standard as far as Path options went.

Anew prompt appeared.

Would you like to try a training battle?

Yes/No?

Noah raised an eyebrow, before selecting Yes. An arena opened, with an enemy on the other side, as Noah gained control of his character. Muscle memory had him moving the character perfectly against the training bot, and he racked up hit combos upon hit combos. Each move and attack was accompanied by an understanding of how it would be in real life.

The image of him fighting against monsters and enemies came to Noah. He returned to the menu soon after, looking at [Martial Artist] and [Pugilist] next.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

[Martial Artist] was similar to [Pugilist] but with more varied moves involved. The same went for [Thug], [Brute], and [Boxer]. All of them provided 1 Attribute Point per level.

Noah decided to walk around, checking the different arcade machines with different options, when one caught his eye.

[Gamer (Common)]

You have enjoyed games, and at some point considered yourself a gamer. It is a path for those who truly wish to immerse themselves into the act of gaming.

Requirement: Play a game. Call yourself a Gamer at least once.

Rewards: +1 free Attribute per level.

Noah cringed at the requirement. He did not wish to be reminded of his dark teenage history.

[Speedrunner] was an interesting Path, where the abilities seemed focused around reaching goals at a fast rate.

“Shouldn’t the [Speedrunner] Path be a higher rarity? Like… breaking the system and completing the game in this context sounds like it would be broken,” Noah said.

“It’s merely a Path that allows you to progress faster, but the progression it provides may not necessarily be good. At a high enough rank, perhaps you will be able to do enough for the Path to be worthwhile, but reaching a given rank will be difficult with the rewards this Path provides. Next to impossible, if anything.”

Noah put aside the idea of breaking the game system. A shame, but perhaps he’d be able to manage it in the future. As of now, reaching the MAX level with a weak Path did not sound very appealing.

There were quite a few strange options in some of the machines, like [Accountant] and [Retail Worker], the latter of which gave Noah chills with how his avatar stood with a dead smile plastered on his face. He’d rather die again than pick that Path.

Noah looked at the [Gym Bro] Path, snorting. That one would be focused on muscle and body development, which was not the worst thing.

Noah continued going through the list, finding some not so nice Paths in the options as well. Things such as [Sociopath], [Thief], [Murderer], [Slave], and so on.

“Why is there… a [Slave] Path. Who would pick something like that?”

“Not every Awakening happens willfully. The [Slave] Path can also be forcibly applied to someone, due to its nature. Same goes with Paths such as [Murderer] and [Thief] and so on. Upon certain conditions, those Paths can be obtained even outside normal Awakenings,” Dylan replied.

“Does this world often employ slavery then?” Noah asked.

“I’m not aware. Mortal affairs are not something I keep track of, but it is likely for at least some empires to have slavery.”

The longer Noah looked at himself in chains as a slave, the more uneasy he felt. Not wanting to linger, he moved past them. The list continued, as Noah scrolled through faster and faster, until he found [First Aid Medic], which made him pause.

“Will I be healed after I select a Path? I… was almost dead before,” Noah asked.

“Normally, you would be dead by now. But part of the benefit of the Pact is that, for your first Awakening, time has been significantly slowed down. As long as you can heal yourself after returning, you should survive,” Dylan said.

It was unfortunate, but moments ago he’d already been resigned to death, so this was most certainly an improvement over that.

Realising what he needed, Noah began to sort through all the healing options. [First Aid Medic], [Emergency Medic], [Medic], [Cleric], [Healer], [Masseur], and [Potion Brewer], among others, appeared as his options.

None he selected seemed capable of saving his life quick enough.

After some more idle browsing, Noah discarded the common Path options, finding their rewards significantly lower than the others.

There were a couple that struck out to him within the uncommon options.

[Blood Ritualist (Uncommon)]

Willing or unwillingly, you’ve participated in a ritual of blood. Now become capable of channeling the Astral into your being to call creatures from realms beyond.

Requirements: Participate in a blood ritual.

Rewards: +1 Mystic, and +1 free Attribute per level

“Nope,” he whispered, seeing the robed cultist with a dagger in his hand and cut-off fingers forming a necklace around his neck. The Path had healing abilities, but it would require an arranged ritual. Noah doubted he’d have that kind of time. Plus, he wasn’t going to become one of the cultists.

Noah moved on from the sinister-looking options and found an interesting choice.

[Crusader of Helion (Uncommon)]

You have killed an Abyssal Cultist, pushing back against the encroaching Void beyond the realms. Join Helion, channeling her strength as yours in the war against the dark unending realms of hunger.

Requirements: Kill an Abyssal Cultist.

Rewards: +1 Mystic, and +1 free Attribute per level

Warning: This Path will violate the Pact.

A giant lock sign with a Cthulhu symbol on it closed the Path off to him.

“If you pick that Path, you’ll die,” Dylan said, his voice clipped.

Noah could sense the undertone of anger and moved on. He didn’t want to join any religious organisations either way, so that was fine with him.

After a time of sorting through the lists of [Healers] and [Medics], he found himself looking at a peculiar Path option.

[Exsanguinator (Rare)]

You draw blood from the Astral Realms, channeling it as you please. Draw life from the creatures you defeat, and channel it to heal or harm as you please.

Requirements: Understand how blood works. Having basic Biology knowledge. Ingest mana rich blood.

Rewards: +1 Constitution, +2 free Attribute per level.

“What about this Path?” Noah asked.

“A blood Path focused on drawing blood from your enemies. It can also be used to share blood between allies. Allows for good healing, while also providing an avenue for damage,” Dylan said, as if reading off some pre-written script.

Blood focus made Noah a little uncertain, but it definitely looked like the best Path he could select at the moment.

Moving through, Noah began to find some higher grade Paths.

[Astralwalker] and [Realm Traveler] both appeared to be similar Paths, based on his abrupt realm shifting experiences. Opening the two, he looked at their descriptions.

[Realm Traveler (Rare)]

You’ve travelled the realms and seen the interdimensional rifts for yourself. Now become capable of creating rifts through realms at your will.

Requirements: Travel the interdimensional Astral Rift without being destroyed.

Rewards: +1 Mystic, +2 free Attribute per level.

Noah entered the training arena, finding his character capable of creating portals. The fighting style was odd, cutting rifts in reality to generate shockwaves, pull out items and jump around with no regard for gravity or physics.

It looked like a powerful Path, and he added it to his list.

[Astralwalker (Epic)]

Floating through the interdimensional void, you have absorbed wisps of the Realms of the Astral. Find yourself connecting with the realms beyond.

Requirements: Have absorbed a part of the interdimensional Astral Rift.

Rewards: +1 Agility, +2 Mystic, +2 free Attribute per level.

Noah whistled as he noted the rewards for Astralwalker. The increase seemed to be incremental, with Common Paths providing one per level, Uncommon providing two, Rare Paths providing three, and Epic ones five.

[Astralwalker] was [Realm Traveler] on steroids. The Path lacked the ability to tear through reality like [Realm Traveler] did, but had more abilities for movement and teleportation directly ingrained into the Path itself.

Noah jumped around with the character in the training arena, teleporting all around his enemies as he attacked them through cuts in reality itself.

There were a few more Epic Paths, but most were either sinister with dark powers like [Cultist of Doom] and [Herald of the Apocalypse], which he did briefly consider, but blood sacrifice did not sound like his thing.

Then another Path caught Noah’s eyes.

[Void Hunter (Epic)]

You have a lingering hunger within you, and the instincts of a hunter. Find yourself channeling the Void to hunt anything that may come in your path.

Requirement: Have a natural instinct for hunting. Have a high Void Affinity.

Rewards: +1 Mystic, +2 Power, +2 free Attributes per level.

The Path felt powerful—drawing upon the Void as it cut through everything around it with ease. Noah watched his character tear through anything that may cross it’s path with raw power, sometimes enough to even damage himself. It was a pure DPS Path, sacrificing everything else to do damage.

Noah mentally began to form an idea for how he could combine it with Astralwalker. After taking a few more minutes to test it, he moved on.

As he reached the bottom, Noah stumbled upon one that burned his eyes. The Path glowed a bright golden shimmer, almost blinding him.

Noah’s jaw dropped.

[Champion of Earth (Legendary)]

A champion of a distant realm, now here to herald a new era.

Requirements: Save Earth in a grand sacrifice.

Rewards: +1 to all Attributes, +6 free Attributes per level.

His avatar wore golden armour, with a long flowing cape. The Path not only provided ten Attributes per level, but the abilities themselves that Noah could sense were downright ridiculous.

Noah looked at the requirement condition and frowned. It was referring to how he died, but despite his efforts, the blank regarding his death in his memory persisted.

“What’s up with this Path?” Noah asked. “It’s all golden and everything and with ridiculous rewards.”

“It’s a Legendary Path, and that one in particular is a bit more special than most. Like all starting Legendaries, it will provide powerful benefits, but at a cost. This one will tie you to an Oath, one which you cannot break, and will force you to adhere to a code of justice,” Dylan replied.

“Will I get to select the Oath?” Noah asked.

Dylan only smiled, and Noah took it as a ‘No’.

He looked at the Path once more and the rewards it offered. It was tempting, excessively so, but selecting it, Noah could tell the binding it would cause. He would be forced to be the ideal [Champion of Earth], and work for its cause whether he wanted to or not. He would have to fight for a cause, and he would be unable to deviate from it. It was a position of power, but little real choice of his own.

The thought still appealed to him, but he put the Path aside and moved on. There were two other Legendary Paths left.

The next one was dark, oozing with the energy of the Void.

[Void’s Herald (Legendary)]

A herald of the Void, here to bestow its unending darkness into the material worlds.

Requirement: Have a Pact with the Void.

Rewards: +10 Attributes per level. Cannot be assigned by you.

“You should take that one,” Dylan said.

Noah chuckled, ignoring him. The Path was horrible, seeing how it would leave him with no free will of his own. He would be a puppet of the Void, only there to serve as its representative.

Turning back, he selected the final Legendary Path.

[Hellion’s Hero (Legendary)]

Become the unknown Hero of the goddess Hellion and sacrifice your soul to strike against the master of the Abyss, and the end of creation itself.

Requirement: Have a connection to the Incarnation of the Void. Have heroically sacrificed your life before.

Reward: Your name will be praised by Hellion’s followers.

Warning: This Path will break the Pact.

“How did that—” Time froze as a burning golden light flashed from the arcade screen.

Noah stared at the Path, an intimate understanding of its purpose filling him.

Selecting this option would immediately kill him, using his soul to strike at the Void. Despite having no desire to die, the golden light showed him a visage of millions chanting his name, of his memory being immortalised into the realm, along with the righteous glory and heroic act it would be.

Noah grit his teeth, not letting himself be drawn in as he moved past the option.

With a snap, the effect faded as time resumed.

“—get here!” Dylan cursed, then looked around in confusion. “You didn’t pick… okay. Good. You made the right choice,” the man said, rather flustered. The expression felt odd against his naturally stoic attitude.

Clearly he hadn’t been meant to receive that option, but something presented it to him. Hellion, likely, if he had to guess. The fact he’d almost been pulled in to select against his wishes made Noah angry, but he breathed the emotion away. Being angry wouldn’t help him.

Reaching the end of the list, Noah scrolled back up before closing his eyes. It was time to pick.

No matter how he looked at it, he needed healing abilities. And as it stood, [Exsanguinator] was the only Path that not only gave him healing, but also offensive abilities. It was also the only Rare grade healing Path available.

“Which Paths do you think I should pick?” Noah asked.

“[Void’s Herald],” Dylan replied.

“Besides that one.”

Dylan clicked his tongue. “[Exsanguinator], at the bare minimum. It’s the only other one where you will not die immediately after returning and will allow you the chance of surviving what comes next. The rest you have the options to pick as you please, but a balanced distribution is optimal. If one Path is heavily Constitution-based, unless you purely want to grow Constitution, it’d be best to pick something that could bolster your other Attributes.”

Noah nodded, finalising his choices.

[Exsanguinator] Path selected.

[Astralwalker] Path selected.

[Void Hunter] Path selected.

Would you like to finalise your selection?

Yes/No?

After taking a shaking breath, Noah mentally selected the Yes option. A pressure rose from inside his abdomen as swirling energies flowed and collided, expanding outward.

The arcade machine began to glow, dizzying lights flashing while loud retro game music played in his mind.

The swirling energy began to grow, turning warmer and warmer, until it felt like someone had stuck a glowing metal rod in Noah’s gut. The energies ripped their way through his body and he writhed, unable to hold back his groans that soon turned into screams of agony. Every inch of his insides burned like a blazing fire, filled to the brim with something that threatened to explode from the inside.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. The process of your first Awakening is quite agonising,” Dylan said nonchalantly, as Noah twitched on the ground.

“Fu…ck… you…” Noah tried, yet his mouth stopped working as his spirit began to dissolve. The arcade machine jingled one last time with a cheerful melody.

“Good luck with surviving, Noah,” Dylan said, a sly grin widening on his lips as Noah’s spirit was pulled back into his body.