“Greetings! Welcome to the long black train. My name is Lance. Are you ready to hear the rules?” Lance said before falling down onto the floor.

“Rules?” Seth asked nervously

The man named Lance, appeared to be in his mid forties. He had medium-long dirty blond hair, hidden behind a dark felt covered cowboy hat. He wore dark black grieves and leather armor with a bow and quiver on his back and two swords at his belt. His goatee covered a pointed chin capable of cutting glass. Seth could not feel a single ounce of mana in him either. As a light healer, Seth was capable of feeling if a person was magically adept or not. Seth felt that this man could hold his own in a room full of magically adept if forced to. This guy radiated badassery.

“Yes, Mr. Ravensword. We need to explain the rules before you go filling people with shiny light magic.” Lance said

“Ho..how..how do you know my name?” Seth asked worriedly

“I know all the things that occur on my train. Just like I know that a particular glider is still hanging haphazardly from the roof.” He said judgingly before smiling and moving on.

“Now onto the rules.” He continued walking around the other four and gently brushing his hand around their shoulders. The others stood there with impatience as well as complete and total rage, but did not dare make a move.

“I assume everyone knows why they have chosen to come here to the long black train of Gridarnia. I am going to assume you heard the rumors, and stories, and may have even seen one of the many flyers that some asshat named Ricardo Filimenta Chaveza, may your groin always stink and your feet decay from goblin rot, might have handed out that one time in the capitol. “

Seth, quickly crumpled the flyer he was holding and shoved it down his pants pocket.

“At the end of this one way trip is “The Line” also known as “The Grand Protector” or as I like to call it, “The Big Ass Wall that keeps all the bad stuff away. To step foot on my train means you either have a death wish, have nowhere else to go, or are certifiable insane. Sometimes we are all four, and I am not here to judge.I am here to assist you” Lance said looking deeply at each of the passengers in turn.

“What if we fell in a crate that accidentally was loaded onto this train?” Fiz asked “Can you pull over and let me out at the next station?”

“No can do Fizzarunno. You are here. No refunds. No cashback. No leaving the train.” Lance said to the half gnome before moving on.

“The problem is, I only have a few tickets to give out to this section of the train. Five to be exact, and there are one..three..four..carry the five..minus the two..He’s dead right?,,,Yes..definitely dead.. divided by forty-two..which equals twelve ... Twelve occupants are here!” He yelled out the last number with excitement.

Seth counted himself, Atiyah, Fiz, and the other four. He watched in horror as three more men came walking from the door that lead to the next cart. Atiyah touched Seth’s arm and he looked behind him to see a boy with dark hair and a girl with long blond hair walk out from behind the crates. Those crates were opposite from where they had been hiding and he wondered how he never noticed them. Seth thought he recognized the boy, but he had never seen the girl. She was pretty but very young. Seth guessed nineteen maybe. The boy looked to be early twenties. Seth decided to be courteous, and walked forward to greet them.

“Hi, I am Seth.” He introduced himself by putting his hand out.

“Carl. This is my sister, Grace.” He said, shaking Seth’s hand.

“Lovely, Now we have about three hours before we get to the end. I don’t care what you do. I don’t care who you kill. These doors are now locked and only five of you will be walking out. Do with that as you will. I am going to go over here and eat a sandwich. Stubby promised this one had pickled relish. You'll meet him later..Maybe. Wait or was it Picard...Anyway..Have fun!” Lance said before walking over to sit on one of the crates. He took a sandwich out and started examining it before taking a bite.

“So are any of them, yall’s friends?” Fiz asked the two newcomers.

“Not even a little bit.” Grace said. She was deeply grossed out by one of the men who was eyeing her.

“Would you like to team up? Hi! I am Atiyah.” Atiyah said, putting her hand out for Graze to shake.

“Call me Fiz. Do any of yous actually know how to fight?” He asked hesitantly

“A little bit. I just graduated from Beta.” Carl said. He pulled off his bag and took a small collapsible bow and quiver out before equipping it. Seth noticed his matrix lighting up in purple and black sequences. He guessed he might have void or dark mana affinities.

“I can’t do magic. I am sorry. I am a decent healer though. I can make potions and enjoy growing different plants and herbs.” Grace said, trying to be more enthusiastic about her being completely useless in this situation.

“Fiz, what about you? Can your fingers do anything more besides create sparks and tinkering with things.” Seth asked.

Fiz jumped off of the crate onto Seth’s back. Before Seth could protest, Fiz connected a thin cord to the matrix on Seth’s shoulder and started inputting bursts of lightning mana into the core.

“Hold Still. I think I can fix it.” Fiz said, as Seth tried to wiggle him off.

There was a flash of sequences in Seth’s mind and he hit the ground with one knee. Closing his eyes he unwillingly focused on his connection. He felt a rush of mana enter his body, followed by a piercing static before. Nothing. His mind was clear.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Matrix “Glitch”

Reboot initiated

Recovery mode initiated

Recovery progress: 15%

Vocal Recovery: 100%

Stats, inventory, and rewards unlocked

“Master Seth, Can you hear me?” Glitch said, sounding very much like his grandpa Chester.

“Glitch, Is that you?” Seth whispered.

“I am here. I do not know what that young half gnome did, but I appear to be recovering. I am sorry that I have not been of much help. You are currently level thirty-five, with seventy attribute points out of the one hundred and five total obtained from leveling. I recommend spending these points before the battle begins. I have connected with Master Carl’s Matrix and have activated the party system. Experience will be shared equally amongst all party members” Glitch said.

“Fiz, What did you do?” Seth asked, letting the gnome down and standing up to stare at himself.

“Your matrix was broken. I started a recovery program. He is not out of the woods yet and we will need some additional time after this to fully records him. We should prolly hurry and kill these guys before he runs out of juice. I might can fix him completely with enough time though.’ Fiz said enthusiastically

“Are you okay?” Atiyah asked, walking up to stare at Seth.

“Yeah. I think I am.” he said with a new vigor about himself.

He was going through his status screen and seeing things he had never seen before. Weapons, gear, level-up rewards. Graduation rewards. Military experience and many years of training and school were finally accumulating in front of him. His body glowed from the vast amount of light and water mana that began accumulating inside his internal reservoir. He started sensing water molecules in the air and his body fat was transmuting into muscle? Seth gasped as he watched a small bit of fat melt off of him. He felt lighter, sturdier, and good.

Seth turned to face the five enemies and was suddenly flung back by a gust of wind. He hit a crate in the middle of the room and looked up to see the middle man drawing his sword and holding a ball of air in his hand.

“Kill them already.” He bellowed and the other six moved in to attack.

Seth stood up and quickly allocated twenty points to strength, defense and agility. The rest he put into health hoping it would be enough for this battle. Seth selected a sword, shield and a small battle armor gear set from his inventory, before dashing forward to slam into the one of the guys. The impact threw the man forward hitting the shorter man with the pipe and throwing them against the far wall. Seth ignored the pop ups in his periphery and moved to strike one of the other men. Atiyah ran forward pulling out a pair of small daggers and imbuing them with ice mana before slashing at one of the swordsman's thighs. She circled around making shallow cuts and dodging his strained attempts to hit her with his large two handed sword. Carl grabbed Fitz and Grace and retreated to the back of the cart. He focused on the female dwarf and started slinging arrow after arrow in her direction. The female dwarf took cover behind some crates with another man and they began shooting blindly back toward the other three. Fiz opened up a nearby crate and found a selection of swords, knives and daggers. He muttered something in gnomish and electricity formed around his fingertips arching out towards the stack of weapons. With a flick of his wrist, the weapons lifted up into the air and moved to hover over Fiz who could barely see over the crate they were hiding behind.

“Grace, can you do me a favor and point towards the bad guys. I cannot see.” He said in the sweetest voice he could muster.

Grace looked over the crate and started pointing out directions as she saw movement. Fiz fired off volleys of weapons towards the enemy, shoving swords, knives and other heavy metal objects deep into the wooden crates. A sword managed to lacerate one of the men who was not paying attention. His corpse lay there on the ground and Seth stepped over it as he was still engaged with another taller man with a sword and a knife. A few more swords went into the wooden crate and Seth heard the grunting and gurgling of the other man. He wasn’t going to make it. The dwarf kept firing, not noticing her comrade next to her drowning in his own blood.

“Master Seth, please duck.” Glitch said suddenly.

Seth dropped to the ground as a quick volley of arrows pelted the man in his chest. Seth looked back to See Carl aiming more towards the next target.

“Carl!! A little warning next time!!” Seth yelled at him before jumping back up and running toward the man with the wooden pipe. He was stirring and getting up slowly from the wall.

“My Matrix told your matrix. Did you not take “Matrix Tactics 101” Carl asked with a bit of confusion on his face.

“I did, but my matrix never worked until today.” Seth yelled back before slamming his shield and hitting the man with the pipe across the head.

“Shit. He is right. I have a functioning matrix now. I need to try and remember what the compound taught us.” Seth thought to himself.

“We have new skills and abilities sir.” Glitch said

“We are going to have to sort through that later buddy. We have three more to finish and Atiyah is starting to get tired.” Seth said to his matrix

Seth lifted his hand up and pointed towards Atiyah. He focused on his light and water mana and let the skill activate

“Quick Heal,” Seth said, before ducking to miss an arrow that was shot from the female dwarf.

Atiyah felt her body rejuvenate. Her health and stamina recovered as she danced around the large man and his two handed blade. She muttered a spell and a rush of wind gust forward pushing the man upward, crashing into the ceiling of the train. Seth watched in wonder as she lifted the man up and held him in place. He noticed the man with the pipe get up and take a dagger out of his tunic looking to throw it in Atiyah’s direction and Seth’s heart stopped. Timed seemed to slow as the knife left the man’s hand and with what had to be imbued wind mana flew through the air towards Atiyah. Seth focused as much mana as he could throughout his body and asked for a miracle as he let loose the spell.

“Sir, At this time I am activating a barrier. Thank you for the mana.” He heard Glitch say before going silent. The warm feeling in his back began to dim as the matrix went into its usual idle state.

“Light Barrier” Seth said, focusing his intentions on Atiyah.

A thin bubble formed around her just before the blade interred her space. With a glance the dagger deflected to the side and slammed into the nearby wall. Seth took his sword and ran forward to stab the man up from his belly and deep into his heart. Seth looked the man in the eye as he twisted the blade to deliver the final blow. Behind him he heard a grumble as the female dwarf fell down to the ground. Arrows, swords, and knives were sticking out of her in every direction. Fiz, Carl, and Grace were in the back watching in triumph. Seth looked to Atiyah and saw that she had stopped her wind spell. The man lay on the ground with two ice daggers protruding from his back.

Lance looked up from his sandwich as if nothing had been going on. He looked around and smiled.

“Congratulations. You five have won yourself a ticket. Care for a sandwich?”