Soldier of Fantasy

Prologue:

System message. Year 4275.

Time online. 2270 years.

System warning. Extraterrestrial threat identified.

System Warning. The extraterrestrial threat is imminent.

System message. Enacting Dues Ex Machina protocol.

System engaging temporal paradox drive.

Congruous Historical Target Identified.

Simulating historical impact.

Timeline impact minimal.

Contemporaneous Location Identified.

Simulating coeval exposure.

Coeval exposure within acceptable parameters.

Actuating temporal relocation.

Temporal relocation success.

Chapter 1: Before The Fall Year 2030

Jake Sanders looked out over the valley. It was late summer and the trees were preparing to shed their leaves. The river was rushing below and nature was creaking, blowing, chirping, and cawing. It had been weeks since he had left behind civilization. He did not miss it as there was nothing there for him anymore. He would get by on the training and survival gear he had accumulated over the years. As for the people that belonged to that civilization; well after the service he was never comfortable around them. They were too disorganized and chaotic. He knew with the ticking time bomb in his brain he wouldn't have much time left anyway.

The diagnosis was a fatal interoperable tumor. Sure He could lurk around the VA, go to support groups, or continue to veg out playing RPG Video games. He just didn't see the point anymore. If the pain got too far out of hand... well then there was always the 9mm solution. He always wanted to go out to the wilderness and just survive off the land and this was the only opportunity he would have left.

Jake went to check his traps and was happy to see a squirrel in his tripped figure four deadfall trap that would be dinner soon. He would have to get back to camp to clean and cook it up soon, as he only had a couple of hours of light left. He could have hunted it a lot easier as he had more ammo than he would need; however, that wasn't in the spirit of this final journey.

Jake tracked back to his quad and fired it up heading back to his campsite. He soon came into view of his six-person quick-deploy tent. He thought to himself that he could have gone full survival mode and made a shelter out of tree limbs and branches but he was not a fan of waking up to ticks and other creepy crawlies. Those survival shows tend to romanticize bushcraft but he knew better. Just like he knew he could spend an hour rubbing sticks together accumulating blisters or he could just spark up a lighter and have a fire in seconds. As he carved up dinner he cracked open a beer and thought of old-time running missions across all the worst places on the globe. There was The desert, the jungle, the snow, and burned-out cities. He missed those days at times like this. Sure at the time it was hell but he had comrades and a sense of purpose. There were guys he would die for and who would, and in some cases did, die for him. He shook off those melancholic thoughts and checked the squirrel. It was medium well so dinner was served.

As Jake lay down in his sleeping bag listening to the forest at night he thought again “This isn't so bad; we all have to go at some point, right? There's peace to be had and comfort for a little while longer.” With those final thoughts passing through his head like a cloud across the starry night, he drifted into sleep.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Chapter 2: An apparent Summoning gone wrong. Year 4260

Deep in the Nightmare Glade, the yawning portal of a damp cave stood. Voices echoed from the depths as shadowy figures spoke in low voices. It was pitch black in the cavern a the spooky atmosphere was suddenly shattered by a loud curse:

“Gods Dam it Steve, I can't see shit down here just light the fricken torch.”

“No way Brad we could get caught, you know the penalty for demonic summoning!”

“Steve, you know my father owns a horse dealership! At worst, we would just get a stern talking-to. Besides we are like a million miles from town. No one is out here.”

“...Okay fine I'll light it... Hey, where's Dawson?”

“He was just here...”

“You lost him?”

“No, I didn't, you lost him!”

“Whatever forget it, let's just do the ritual and get out of here, This place gives me the creeps.”

“Your mom gives me the creeps.”

“Shut up, let's just do this.”

“We can't do the ritual with just two people, we need Dawson.”

“I'm sure it will be fine, that's just the suggested caster amount.”

“Dude, no way it specifically says three casters required.”

“Dude don't you want your very own succubus to command, If not I'll just do the ritual myself, and you can just keep dating Rosy Palm and her five sisters!”

“Fine, whatever let's just do this.”

Chanting ensues and an electrical storm lights the sky.

Chapter 3. Night Time emissions. Fall 2030

The pain had started to get worse and the headaches were non-stop. Jake knew time was running down. He was starting to have waves of numbness throughout his body. He had been upping the dosage of painkillers but the effects were not enough any longer. He finally decided he would see one more sunrise as he sat down to a rabbit for his last supper. Either nature would claim him in the night or parabellum in the morning. He would still sleep strapped though. Even if he was going to die he didn't want that death to take place in the jaws of a bear.

Jake was crawling through the jungle and he was surrounded by enemy paramilitary. There was a storm raging and lightning lit up the sky. He was separated from his squad and the host nation troops were already KIA or fled. He was sure that one of them had ratted out their location for a quick payout. The country was poor and the paramilitary had those narco bucks. It was a recipe for treachery. So with nothing but his sidearm, he continued to crawl through the vegetation towards the rally point. Just then a boom of thunder rang out and he could hear strange chanting. It didn't sound like the native language though it sounded like Latin. It must have been a catholic service or something... in the jungle... at night. Just then shots rang out and he knew he was spotted. Everything was black and he could see silhouettes backlit by torches. Jack trained shooting from every position including prone on his back so he had no problem drawing a bead and dropping the pair of backlit figures.

Chapter 4. Last rites. Year 4260

Two figures in dark robes chanted and cut themselves with ritual daggers. As they chanted they grew increasingly excited. They were doing it, it was working! As they chanted a circle of lightning formed in a dome between them. The Chads started to frown though as they expected fire and the smell of brimstone. Instead what they saw was what looked like a large woodsman's tent. A very nice tent, but not a scantily clad demoness. Just then Lightning and thunder rang out as the electrical dome dissipated. Steve and Brad each dropped to the cave floor unmoving.

Jake came to awareness shaking off the last remnants of sleep and nightmare. He realized he just shot a bunch of holes in his tent and there was a fire burning outside. He was sure he put out the campfire. He rushed to unzip the tent flap. As he stepped out into a cavern he was extremely confused. First, he was dam sure he didn't pitch camp in a cave and there weren't what appeared to be some kind of cultists there before either.

“Dam,” he thought. I'm hallucinating now. As he stood there the apparent hallucination got a thousand times worse. A metallic silvery mist poured out from the two corpses. His heart pounded as the mist started in his direction. Alright, Jake had seen some shit in his life but this was too much. He tried to make a tactical retreat but slipped on a fallen torch. His feet went up and he went down hard. Blackness took him.

Interlude.

System message: Subject integrating. Admin Acquired. Run system familiarization protocols.

Chapter 5 Something Strange

Jake woke up with a start. He was in the dark except for a screen floating in front of him it appeared to be a video game screen. He thought “Huh, I must have fallen asleep playing. The game looked sort of familiar but not something he had played before. It read Welcome to the system. You have slain the level 23 summoner. You have slain the level 22 summoner Level up is suspended until the class is chosen. Think or say choose a class. Jake instead said “Lights on.” Nothing happened. He repeated, “Lights on.” Still, nothing happened. Just then memories came flooding back but nothing was making sense. For one he was not in any pain. That was strange. He hadn't felt this good in... well ever. He felt like he was in peak physical condition. No pain and his thoughts seem to be in overdrive. Was this what it had been like before the tumor? No, even then there was always some pain somewhere and he could breathe clearly. He could smell the dankness of the cave and blood... Oh right! He looked around but it was pitch black. Maybe he was still hallucinating but there was zero pain. Maybe he was dying but he felt amazing. It was like all the wear and tear on his body was just gone.

Jake took a look at the screen. It seemed pretty simple. It was much like a hundred games he had played before... except it said “Think or say.” How could it know what he was thinking voice commands sure but thought commands? Just as he thought “Choose class” a new screen replaced the old and it said, “Choose a base class: Caster, Fighter, or Hybrid. For further information on classes think or say class descriptions.” Jake's inner gamer surfaced and intrigued he said, “class descriptions.” Basic class descriptions as are follows:

Caster: physically weak the caster's strength lies in casting spell-like powers using mental attributes. Depending on what path they take a caster can become a powerful summoner, or healer, cause damage over a wide area, or cause mass damage over time to single targets with curse-like powers. They may also shield or buff allies.

The fighter is physically focused depending on physical attributes. Depending on what path they choose they may be a defender carrying a large shield and weapon, they may carry a large weapon to break those within their reach, they may focus on ranged weapons dealing death at a distance, or they may be the sneaky sort going unseen and dual wielding.

Finally, There's the Hybrid. A hybrid mixes magic and martial prowess. Be warned however this comes at a cost. While you may be able to augment your physical abilities with spell-like powers to exceed your fighter counterparts, and like a caster you may also be able to cast some spell-like abilities with better durability, these buffs are short-lived and you will have to recover your energy over time or with consumables before you may use the buffs again. Also focus will be split between physical and mental attributes Making point allocation difficult..

Further Sub-classes are unlocked at level 20. Be advised this decision is permanent. Good luck!