Felix's morning was as ordinary as it could get. His alarm blared at 6:00 a.m., though he hit snooze until half-past. He showered, tossed on an old hoodie, grabbed his coffee, and was out the door, heading to the same office cubicle where he spent every workday. The repetitive comfort soothed him, giving his life a rhythm that kept bigger dreams safely at bay.
After work, Felix stopped at a secondhand bookstore he frequented. While scanning the shelves, his gaze settled on a weathered, dark green book, hidden between a stack of thrillers. It was titled The Grimoire of Realms, and he couldn’t place why he found it interesting. Old leather cover, faded golden title. No price tag. He took it to the counter, but the shopkeeper waved it off, saying it was “on the house.”
Felix flipped through its worn pages at home that night, though nothing inside made sense. Diagrams, strange symbols, and passages in a language he couldn’t read. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and he slumped back, book still in hand.
When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in his basement anymore.
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The new surroundings were surreal—a small village square, surrounded by thatched cottages under a dusky, cloudy sky. Disoriented, Felix moved to stand but slipped, his hand sinking into something unpleasant. Manure. He scrambled up, taking in the unfamiliar setting, his heart pounding.
“What is this place?” Felix murmured, brushing off his jeans. He had no idea how he got here, but panic rose as he noticed people moving in the distance. He took a few steps toward them, hoping for some clue about his situation.
Then, a voice inside his mind—his own voice, yet not quite—began speaking words that weren’t his. “Mana Circulation Initiated.” The phrase resonated, echoing, and he felt a tingling sensation trickle through his body. As the sensation spread, he realized the Grimoire of Realms was somehow alive in his mind, unlocking knowledge he didn’t fully understand. The text wasn’t physically with him, yet he could sense its contents, hazy and incomprehensible, shifting in his memory like a half-forgotten dream.
With each passing minute, fragments from the Grimoire started to make sense, one phrase clearer than the rest: Mana Circulation Technique. Felix grasped onto this knowledge instinctively, and, with a moment’s focus, he felt energy stir within him, like a spark.
Just as he was coming to grips with the sensation, a voice startled him from behind. “You’re not from around here, are you?” Felix spun to face a young villager, eyeing him suspiciously. Felix tried to respond, but he couldn’t piece together any answers that made sense. He’d need a plan, fast.
Wherever he was, he was alone. And he knew he’d have to survive, somehow.