As Adam and Josh got up from their sitting positions the library started to shake slightly. With their new bodies it was almost too easy to keep their balance as a bookshelf slid away into a wall. Behind the bookshelf was, what Adam could only describe as, a portal of swirling black and green magic. He could feel the power emitting from it.
“Guess that’s our way out,” said Josh.
“Yep, you ready?”
Josh looked toward Adam and a grin split across his face. “Hell yeah!” Then they were off rushing for the portal as fast as they could.
They both came crashing down onto hard packed dirt as they fell over each other. The sun was shining bright causing them both to be temporarily blinded by the change in lighting.
“Oh my god you’re so heavy,” groaned Adam. He was pinned under Josh who was struggling to right himself.
“Sorry bro.” Josh pushed himself up rubbing at his eyes. It took a moment but both were up and dusting themselves off. They looked around at their surroundings.
They were in the middle of what looked like a medieval festival without the festivities. There were small stone huts surrounding them with straw roofs. Most had wooden windows and doors. The gray stone looked like it had been stained by the sun for a long time. The houses were set up in a circle making the middle seem like the center of the small town. A little distance away there was a wall that rose up slightly above the huts, but it couldn’t have been more than 3 meters tall. It looked to be made of the same flimsy wood as the doors and windows of the huts.
Adam looked back at where they had emerged and found the solid rock wall of a hut. There seemed to be no people around, but Josh spotted a figure on one of the walls. He nudged Adam just as the figure put a long golden horn to his lips and blew. The sound tore through the small village. Without warning the place was in a frenzy. People appeared from every hut, most were rushing toward the sound of the horn. Some were ushering elders and children the opposite way.
Josh and Adam were wholly ignored. Adam looked over to his friend and they both shrugged moving toward where the horn had sounded from.
“What do you think is going on?” asked Josh.
“Probably some sort of raid. It looked like most of the people who were moving toward the wall had weapons.”
“Damn, they’re just throwing us right into it.”
Adam could only nod. As they weaved their way through the huts Adam felt like he hadn’t really taken a breath since he’d died. He was positive he hadn’t come to terms with everything that had happened, but he was grateful that he hadn’t had time to think too much. He knew it wouldn’t lead to anything good, but he also knew he would have to face it one day. Luckily, it looked like it wouldn’t be today. As the wall came into full view, so did the small group of villagers armed with all sorts of weapons. The man on top of the gate was holding his hands out to quiet the gathering crowd.
“—spotted coming out of the cave,” said the man. Adam and Josh had apparently caught him mid speech. “They took out some of our scouts and will be at the wall shortly. Prepare yourselves!”
The group of villagers looked ragged and worn. Most looked as if they hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a week. Others were visibly shaking with their weapons in hand. Adam and Josh weren’t the last to arrive though. A young woman appeared, walking out from between two huts to their left. She wore similar attire to Adam’s, a white linen shirt that was dirty enough to be brown at this point, brown linen slacks, and leather boots. Her raven black hair was pulled into a tight pony tail. She had eyes of piercing violet that looked up toward the man on the wall. In her hands she held a drawn sword and a round wood buckler. The villagers parted as she walked through the crowd.
Adam focused on her and a window appeared in his face.
Name: Mina Level: 2 Class: N/A
Another menu popped up right after that shocked Adam to his core.
Warning: This is your first time examining an NPC. The world of Ethera is a living world. All NPCs have their own lives, make their own choices, and grow along with you and the world. NPCs will have their own reaction to you. You share this world with them. Do what you will with this information.
That was something Adam wasn’t expecting. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he knew it had some major implications. He just wasn’t sure what they were yet. He was snapped back to the current situation when the man on the wall spoke again.
“Mina, what are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m going to fight,” she said.
“You will do no such thing! Go, take care of the children and elderly. Make sure they are safe.”
“No, father. These monsters have taken everything from me. My steel will taste their blood or the Earthmother will take me into her bosom. Either way I will be facing them today.”
“Please,” said the man on the wall. His head hung in dejection. “Don’t throw your life away.”
“My life? What life? I have nothing left. Now open the gate!”
“Damn, she’s intense,” whispered Josh into Adam’s ear. His whisper wasn’t as much of a whisper as it was a small shout with his new voice. He was still getting used to things. The whole group of villagers, mayor atop the wall and Mina all turned toward the two newcomers. Adam slapped his hand to his head trying to make himself as small as possible.
Josh just smiled and waved with a pointy toothed grin and tail waving behind him.
“An Overlord?” said the Mayor. “What do the war-folk want with a village like ours?”
“Oh,” Josh said. He was looking around. Adam thought he might have turned a shade redder than usual. “Um, we’re new here.” He pointed to Adam standing next to him.
“What is your business here?” said Mina. She moved toward us. Her posture made both Adam and Josh’s back go straight. They could tell she’d kill them without hesitation if they posed a threat.
“We,” said Josh backing up with his hands outstretched in a please don’t kill me gesture. “We, um, are here to help?”
Adam knew his friend and he knew that was most definitely meant as a question. He had no idea what to do. Adam couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. He looked up as Mina approached.
“We’re here to help,” said Adam.
“Why?” asked Mina. She was face-to-face with Adam. She looked taller before, but she only came up to Adam’s chin. However, the stare she gave him made her seem ten feet tall.
Adam thought for a moment then said, “because we can.”
At that Mina’s shoulders fell slightly. She sheathed her weapon. She looked closely at Adam staring into his eyes. Adam felt the pressure of her stare bearing down on him and he almost looked away.
“Doesn’t look like you’ll be much help, but we’ll take every hand we can get.” She looked back at her father atop the wall. “Open the gate.”
“Wait,” said Josh. “You got a sword I can use?”
She looked over her shoulder at the two new faces. “There’s some unused gear over there.” She pointed toward where she had come from near another bundle of stone huts. “Take what you need.” With that she walked away toward the gate.
Josh looked at Adam. “Intense,” was all he said laughing a little as he walked toward where she had pointed.
“I think she examined me,” said Adam as he followed his friend.
“What? Bro, she’s an NPC.”
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s like what we’re used to. Have you examined one of them yet?”
“Nope,” he said. As they moved through the crowd Josh examined one of the villagers. It was a boy that couldn’t have been more than fifteen. He had a short sword and a small wooden shield. They both rattled together as he shook with nervousness. The same warning Adam saw popped up into Josh's view. “Interesting, what do you think that warning is about?”
“I think it means they’re as real as us now.”
“What do you mean? They’re not human.”
“Neither are you now,” said Adam. “And we both died. We’re not technically alive anymore.”
“You think too much.” Josh waved his hands in dismissal as a table came into view. It was a small stone slab more than a table. It was made of the same material as the huts. Atop the table lay a plethora of weapons. Swords, spears, a bow, a giant battle axe, and more lay spread out. Adam examined one of the short swords as he got close.
Bronze Short Sword: A bronze short sword. Rarity: Common Requirements: Str: 3 Dex: 3
He checked another one.
Simple Wooden Bow: The simplest of bows. Rarity: Common Requirements: Str: 3 Dex: 3
Wow, thought Adam, these descriptions are really helpful.
“Hmm,” said Adam, “looks like I could use any of these. It doesn’t say it requires any kind of melee or ranged skill.”
“Interesting, I guess the books were just to give us an edge.”
Josh moved to the table and picked up a simple looking great sword. Its blade looked about as tall as Adam, but it was as thin as a normal sword. As Josh held the sword a new menu appeared in his view.
Would you like to equip Bronze Great Sword?
Y/N
Josh’s eyes grew wide. After he accepted the prompt another menu appeared showing a humanoid outline with slots for equipment. It looked exactly like the games he and Adam had played so much. He looked below and saw what he expected. An inventory. Once he saw it the knowledge of how to use it popped into his head. Like the world was waiting for him to discover it before it let him remember how to use it.
“We have an inventory,” he said.
“What?” asked Adam.
“Watch.”
Josh mentally moved the sword to his inventory and it disappeared from his hands. It wasn’t anywhere on his body anymore. It was just gone. He then equipped it again, but this time it was strapped to his back. At least it looked like it was strapped to his back. When he turned around Adam saw that the sword was not in fact connected to anything on his friend. Instead it seemed to float slightly off of his back as if it were being held up by an invisible force.
“Holy hell,” said Adam. Then the knowledge rushed into him just as it had with his skill book. Only this time it was much quicker. “I-I know how to use it too now.” Adam examined his inventory paged and noticed his tunic, pants, and boots were already equipped to a picture of a featureless humanoid. At the top he noticed three tabs that read outfit 1, outfit 2, and outfit 3. Below that there was a box with about twenty-five small squares inside. Adam knew what this was. That was his inventory space. He picked up a small dagger from the table and willed it into this inventory. The first space was filled. He took it out and put it back on the table. “It’s like we’re connected or something. As soon as you learned about the inventory it popped up for me.”
As if on cue, a new notification appeared in Adam’s view.
Would you like to form a party with Josh Weston?
Y/N
“Huh,” said Adam before he accepted. Josh then received the party request and accepted. Two small windows appeared the the top left corner of Adam's vision. The two could now see each other’s current HP and MP as well as the other’s names hovering below their own.
“Why didn’t we pick new names?” asked Josh. As soon as he thought about it, yet another window appeared in his vision.
Would you like to change your name?
Y/N
Warning: you may only change your name once within this world.
“Never mind, looks like all we need to do is think about it and we can change it.”
Adam thought about it for a second before the window appeared before him as well. He thought for a moment before choosing to accept the name change. He decided to change his name to just his first name: Adam. Simple, easy, and efficient. Luckily for them this new world seemed to work exactly like most games they had played. Except for the fact that they were physically there, most of the game systems came easy for them.
Josh ended up using only his first name as well. It just felt too strange to change their names to their game personas when it was actually them in the world, but using their last names also felt wrong. With all the new information flooding in Adam had wholly forgotten about the NPCs and the goblins apparently coming for the village until the gate started to open. The creaking wood bellowed across the village causing all the hustling and bustling of the villagers to quiet completely. Josh looked over toward the opening gate and unlatched his great sword from his back.
Josh’s stance instantly changed as he bent his knees and held the sword with practiced ease. He swung it through the air in an intricate combination of slashes like he had practiced his whole life.
Adam looked across the table. Nothing seemed to call to him until his eyes fell on a pair of gloves. He knew what they were without even examining them. He had trained with them for years, or at least the Way of the Fist skill book he used made him believe that. They were weighted gloves. These were made mostly of leather with an iron plate on each forearm. There were also small spikes on each knuckle that were sure to inflict some nasty damage. He ended up examining them just to see.
Pair of Simple Weighted Gloves: A simple pair of weighted gloves. Able to block some incoming attacks with forearms. Rarity: Common Requirements: Str: 3 Dex: 3
He pulled them on and flexed his hands. Surprisingly they seemed unencumbered by the devices. The gate finished its awful screeching and was now fully opened. Adam could see Mina at the very front of the group of about thirty villagers. Outside was a massive flat valley full of lush green grass. Beyond that Adam could see a mountain range covered from base to peak in forest. Even from so far away Adam could tell the trees were massive. From the peak of the mountain bellowed black smoke so thick it looked like oil. It was an ominous scene on its own, but it was made even worse as Adam saw dust rising from the valley at the base of the mountain. It must have been two kilometers away, but even from that far he could see the cause.
Goblins. A group of at least a fifty were racing toward the small village with weapons raised and battle cries upon their lips.
“Are those what I think they are?” asked Josh.
“Yep,” said Adam. “It feels almost like I know them instinctively. I can also feel their aggression.”
“Same, it must be something with the world.”
Adam and Josh stood watching the oncoming army goblins as they raced toward the village. Reality came crashing down on both of them at the same time. They were about to have to fight these actual monsters. If they didn’t they’d die. Again. Yet, for some reason Adam didn’t feel scared. Instead his body almost shook with excitement. He could feel Josh’s excitement as well. Something had changed and it was just starting to peek through both of them.
Before Adam had lived his life like everyone else. His life was predictable. Certainly unpredictable things could happen, but all in all the world was what it was. You worked, you lived, and you died. He could have become famous, joined the military, had a family, worked at a gas station for twenty years, or done a million other things. A million predictable, normal things. This though, this place was one where he would wake up everyday not knowing what would come next. There was suddenly no limit to what he could do, and he felt it deep in his soul, and when this was over he’d be able to do it all again, forever.
Adam turned to Josh and he saw it in his friend’s eyes. It was the same freedom that Adam felt. This was their world now, and they were going to see just how far they could go. Without another word they charged toward the oncoming horde.