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Vanveiss
Chapter 1 - Awakening

Chapter 1 - Awakening

‘Ah yep, this is the shit’ he thought as he plopped himself down on his white bed. His sheets were pretty much dirty at this point. He didn’t care though, he couldn’t even care any less even if he tried.  ‘Hrm, let’s see here... ah, here it is’ he thought, clicking on the small link of the website. He wanted to read a few more chapters of his favorite xianxia character before going to sleep.

‘Aaah, why aren’t more characters in stories like him? Cold-blooded and just outright fucking cool? I can relate to him so well that I sound like a fucking psychopath.’ He thought with a hum. He was really into reading this certain xianxia novel. Not only were the protagonist powerful and witty, he also acted like he was above the law, the he could kill.

‘Hrm, but the morals in xianxia stories are more or less skewed in favor of the character, like, I can see why people can’t like them.’ He thought. ‘Hrmmmm... well, whatever. Less whiny assholes, the better.’ He added as he clicked the browser away. He always had a nice little background with a clean desktop. He hated it when people had a lot of unused shortcuts.

“Ah, fuck, you’re kidding me?” he said aloud. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I forgot about the report tomorrow, oh jesus fucking christ save me” he said and immediately powered up a presentation program. As he did, a cold sensation overwhelmed him and the last thing he saw was eternal black.

“......”

“rmm.... christ, that hurt.”

He opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the dense leaves in front of him. No light could pass through the canopy. ‘You’re kidding me? What the fuck? ARGH, FUCK MY HEAD’ his thoughts screamed inside as he held his head with both his hands. He rolled around for a while before calming down and rubbing the backside of his head.

“God, it feels like someone just took me off my computer, bagged me like some try-hard rapist, gave me a ride to who-knows where, threw me out like a wet bitch, and drove away to kingdom-fucking-come.” He said aloud, clearly voicing his frustration and irritation of the current situation. He clicked his tongue and inspected his body. He was wearing a simple white gambeson and brown leather pants and boots with padded joints. The leather boots were plated with iron. “Weren’t these worn by the soldiers in the dark ages? Why am I wearing these?” he said as he moved his hands around his body. He gave a sigh of relief when he realized nothing huge changed on his body.

He searched his person for his phone, but then realized how stupid he was for doing so. He was kidnapped, probably raped too, and pretty much lost all of his posessions. He gave out another sigh, this time, of animosity.

He stood up and looked around his immediate vicinity. ‘Man, this place is really fucking dark for a forest’ he thought as he looked on over the canopies. The leaves were thick and their height was absurb. He felt like was inside a jungle with the oversized trees.  “What even is this place?” He said as he dusted himself off. The ground was thick in dark greenery, even the overgrowth of this place was oversized to hell.

He explored the entire area with his eyes, only for it to land on a small leather sling hanging down from a branch. “Did those assholes mistakenly threw this off too? Well lucky for me then” he said in an excited tone. He felt like a child opening his new present, though this time it was just a bland, leather sling. He pulled it off the branch and examined it. It really was as simple as he thought it was. He could see the white string that tied it all together, there were even very small holes on the sides of it. It looked very well-worn like it had seen usage for more than a millenia. He furrowed his brows as he grew less interested in what it had to offer.

“Those guys have really bad taste” His thoughts slipped off his tongue as he held the sling bag. “Nothing to it, I guess, let’s look inside.” He said as he pushed away the leathery flap. Inside were an assortment of items that he hadn’t thought would be inside at all.

There was an old, unremarkable dagger with a faded crest on the flat, the blade was chipped remarkable well too. ‘Great’ he thought. ‘This is as useless as a plastic knife.’ There was also a few pouches of food inside that looked very tasteless and bland. There was a small, rolled up map inside. Upon further inspection, it was lazily drawn by a child with asperger’s. ‘tasteless joke’ he thought as he rolled it up again and put it back inside. There was also a book with letters and words he couldn’t understand. There was a bunch of 1s and 0s etched onto the pages sort of like a binary code system, though he couldn’t be sure since he never studied programming, he decided, in spite of himself, to carry it with him. ‘It might have interesting uses later’ he thought as he pushed it back inside. He also found a simple lantern a few number of oil flasks to keep it lit. There was even a match and striker along with it. Lastly, he found a simple note inside the side pouch. It read;

“Good Luck, Jorn.”

He sighed in frustration as he read the note over. He crumpled it and threw it to the ground after reading it. “You can’t be kidding me, right?” He said aloud, to no one in particular. “This isn’t some kind of reality TV shtick, is it?” He said, exploring the area with his eyes again, looking for hidden cameras or whatnot. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with furrowed brows. He didn’t expect a bunch of people would be shoving him to a life and death situation like a survival jig. He noisily scrathed his scalp in frustration. He was very frustrated of the whole ordeal. The least they could do was give better terms.

He reluctantly took the old dagger and tied the strap to his backhip. With no other choice left, he took out the map from the sling and rolled it out.

“So, right now, I’m in this forest called Blackwoods. Charming name. A few kilometers away from here is a place called Fellhood Grove. After that is an outpost, after which is the city itself. This is a pretty straightforward map, isn’t it?” He said aloud to himself. He did so to assure himself of the situation, to wake him up that what was happening right then wasn’t a dream. ‘I guess I should be grateful that they decided to give me a map in the first place’ he shrugged with that thought. ‘Doesn’t change the fact that i’m pissed.’ He added as he walked off, map in hand.

It didn’t take long for him to get exhausted. He was, after all, born a city boy. He didn’t have as much stamina as he liked. ‘After this whole ordeal is over, i’m going to do some cardio. Geez.’ He thought as he slumped himself down on the ground under a tree. ‘I wanted to cover as much ground as possible but my legs and heart can’t keep up.’ He added as he looked on overhead. The leaves still covered much of the sky.

He closed his eyes for a bit, remembering the sweet embrace of his bed, the sweet electronic light that bathed him every day, and the cool air that had enveloped him every day. He gave a wry smile as he opened his again, only to see the depressing situation he was in. “Haha... I’ve always wanted to get off the monotony of my everyday life, and I foud it! I finally did, but this is still quite a depressing situation to be in.”

He stood up from the ground and looked around. He thought that he might as well have fun while he was here. Having that in mind, he pulled out a tree bark from, well, a tree. It was hard to pull out too since it was pretty thick and dry, but he managed. Though sweaty and almost out of breath. He examined the tree bark and found it just the perfect size as a practice target. ‘This’ll do just fine, it may not be ballistics gel, but it can be fun regardless.’

He stood himself way out in the center, equally away from any of the trees that surrounded him. He contemplated for a bit about what to do with the bark when it hit him in the face. Literally, the wind blew hard and his grip of the bark loosened considerably and the bark hit him square in the face. He held the bark with one hand and rubbed the point of his nose. “Ouch...” He said without thinking.

With the bark in hand and the other tightly gripping the dagger’s handle, he threw the bark way into the air. He waited for a bit until it reached his effective range. In a swift motion, he was able to slide off the dagger from its sheath and managed to do an upward cut on the bark before it hit the ground. By the end, he was smiling as he was able to hit it the first time. He picked up the bark from the ground and saw the damage. The cut was shallow, but that was mostly due to the dagger being the way it was. Since daggers were made for thrusting and stabbing instead of outright cuts. He was still satisfied with the results nonetheless.

He did this game for a few more times, sometimes mixing it up by either punching or kicking the bark instead of using the dagger. He even managed to keep it in the air by continously slashing and hacking it upwards. It didn’t take long for him to lose all of his enthusiasm and energy, as did the sun as it went about to set the day in.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He laid himself down on the ground after that excessive amounts of slashing and cutting. He was panting pretty heavily because of this workout he devised. He was all smiles though as he had fun doing so. “Besides... it made for... a great cardio... workout.” He said to himself in-between breaths. He rested himself down for a bit until his breathing calmed. It was almost night out too, so he took out the lantern from the sling bag and lit it with the match stick.

With a deep breath, he stood from the ground. He held the lantern at arm’s length and moved forwards, looking for a place to rest his head. After a few hours of searching the area, he found a small opening on a rockface by the far corner of the forest. The opening was overrun with vines that made it hard to locate, thankfully, he had a lantern that made it easy.

He pushed away the vines the hid the opening and looked on over. The opening was small but the interior was spacious enough that he could probably stand inside. He set down the latern on the ground and  used the dagger to cut off the vines so he could slip in easier. He had a thought as he did. He took the vines he cut off and set them aside his sling bag. He crawled on all fours and entered the small opening. It was definitely more spacious than the opening lets on. He stretched his arm outside and pulled in the latern since he needed it to illuminate the cave.

‘Now, isn’t this a cozy little place’ he thought as he put down the latern on the ground. He then took off the sling bag and set aside the corner as a makeshift pillow of sorts. He was tired after everything that happened. ‘Tired is an understatement, i’m pretty swamped physically and mentally. I need a good rest’ He thought and slowly lulled himself to sleep.

“Okay, where am I now?” He said as his eyes looked around the area. The place was very pristine and white, with no blemishes on the walls. The side were lined with gold and silver, the ground a clear-cut marble. It felt like he had found himself inside a rich bastard’s abode. He stopped his perverse eyes when he found the only door of the room. It was also in pristine condition, with the doorknob made of clear diamonds on a golden metal mold. “Am I going to meet with a saw-face doll after opening this door? I hope not” He said with a laugh before turning the doorknob and entering the other room. There, he met a group of people robed in white and faces hidden under their hood. There was about fifteen of them in the room, all sitting themselves around the table. There was one spot left.

“Please, sit yourself down” One of the men gestured over the final seat.

He didn’t have much choice in the matter so he did as he was told and took a seat.  

“With all of us present, I’d like to start this meeting with our esteemed guest.” One of them started, gesturing over to Jorn.

“How do you feel, Hero?” Another man asked.

“Wait, don’t fucking tell me you sent me there?” Jorn asked, clearly very agitated.

“Yes we did, the Universe sent you there for a reason” One of the men calmly answered.

“What do you mean reason? Send me back to my home NOW” Jorn shouted and stood up fro his seat, with his hand slamming down on the table.

“Calm down” One of the men said. He motioned his hands and returned Jorn to his seat forcefully.

“Wha—What is this?! Some kind of magic bullshit?!” Jorn angrily bellowed.

“What if we said yes? It is magic, Hero, and we want you to calm down. We’re about to tell you the reason.” Another man continued.

Jorn’s eyes widened as he heard this. ‘Magic? Seriously? What kind of loopy-land have I come to?’

“We can see the confusion in your eyes, Hero, but all will be revealed soon. Second, if you please.”

One of the men in white removed his hood and showed his aged face to Jorn. “First of all, we’d like to apologize to the rough handling my associates treated you.” He said and motioned his hand, freeing Jorn from his restraints.

Jorn felt the pressure subside as the aged man. ‘It might really be magic’ he thought.

“Okay, fine, I forgive you, but you have to tell me why you sent me here” Jorn said, finally calming down. Even if he threw a tantrum here, it wouldn’t do much against this all-powerful magical beings.

The old man smiled and started talking about the situation.

“You see, Hero, you were sent here to this world with a reason, a very important reason too. You see, the Universe, at large, created and fathered many worlds. He is akin to a God that mortal men loved to worship. Now, the universe has decided to send you from Earth to Vanveiss.”

“Vanveiss?” Jorn asked, he could understand what the man was saying, but Vanveiss was a word he didn’t know.

“The world you now reside in. A world similar, but different, to the fiction of your world. Different races, cultures and supernatural abilities reside in Vanveiss. If I were to use a word from your world, it would be ‘Fantasy’. Vanveiss is that world.” The old man continued to explain.

“Then, let me ask you, why did the Universe send me there?”

“To be the champion of Vanveiss. To be the hero of the land, though what hero you become is of no concern to the Universe.” The man answered.

“To be a hero... huh, that sounds kind of fun” Jorn said, almost the complete opposite of what he was earlier.

“It seems you are eager, Hero.”

“Kind of, yeah, Its not everyday the Universe slates you as a hero of another land. This is similar to many of the popular fiction stories written back in my world. In that case, do I get a boon from you or what?”

“You already have one. Its the book within the leather bag. Once you’ve held onto it, we want you to activate the book by speaking Absorb. You will assimiliate with the book and will be given an ability unique only to you. We’ve already wasted enough time here. We will answer your questions at a later date.” He said, the other men nodding at his words.

“Good Luck, Hero” the words resounded as all fifteen of the white-robed men said this.

His vision faded as the world before him deconstructed.

“...?”

“hm...?”

“Ah... shit, my head hurts again.” He said, holding his head with one hand and the other pushing himself out of bed. His entire body was covered in sweat, it seemed like that dream took a toll on his body. It wasn’t anything severe, just pure exhaustion after waking up. He didn’t think a dream would tire him out so much. “Seriously” He said, one hand still holding his head. The headache was pretty bad, but not unbearable.

He sat upright from the ground and messily took the book of 1s and 0s from the sling bag. ‘What did the old man say again... oww... absorb, right?’ With his free hand, he took the book at arm’s length and said [Abosrb]. As he did, the book glowed an extreme white light and bathed the entire cave with it. The book steadily vanished inside his body, assimilating pages and pages of information inside his brain. He felt like his cranium would crack from the pressure. It felt as if numerous metallic tendrils pushing computer data inside his brain. It was a pain that could only be surpassed by a surgery without a single drop of anesthesia. It was a pain so great that he wanted to smash his head on the stone floor and kill himself. He held is head with both his hands and rolled around in suffering. He screamed in agony as he went through the pain. The pain was for only about a minute at most, but it felt like an eternity to Jorn. By the end of the ordeal, he almost seemed like he had taken a shower due to the immense amount of sweat. Jorn just laid there on the ground, breathless and panting heavily for air.

It took him an hour before he could fully calm himself down from the pain. he could still feel a trivial pang or headache, but considering what he went through, he didn’t even mind it anymore. After the headache subsided, he was greeted by a screen in his line of sight.

“Seriously?” He said in disbelief. “No way, you’re kidding right?”

[Acquired the following skills]

[Heroic Constitution] | [Absorb Knowledge] | [Inspect Item]

What he saw was similar to video game screen, not only that, but it also gave him very video-game like skills. ‘I must be imagining things’ he thought and rubbed his eyes and moved his line of sight left and right, but the screen followed it around. ‘You’re telling me this is the boon they gave me?’ he asked and laughed quitely, in spite of himself. Who would have guessed that the skill they gave him was similar to the games he played back in his own world. Resigned to his fate, he tried tapping the screen away and it did just that, though a new screen appeared.

[New Message Acquired]

“What the hell is this, a magical phone? Whatever” he said and tapped the screen for confirmation. A new screen appeared, he assumed it to be the mail system.

[Message from the Collective]

‘Collective?’ he thought ‘The group of white-robed men that I met in my dream? I hope they are, or this would be creepy.’ He added as he tapped the screen to read their message.

[Hello, Hero. If you’re reading this message, then the Collective can safely assume that you’ve used your absorb ability on our gift. That is terrific news. Hero, think of this new ability of yours as a codex for your adventures as the chosen champion. It will collect and display any and all information you acquire in your journey.

The codex will also let you communicate with us, the Collective, without having to invade your brain everytime you slept.

It also displays the skills you acquire throughout your journey. If you want more information on skills you’ve acquired, tap the name it will lead you to a screen detailing it. As you have seen when you booted up the codex, you were given three skills. [Heroic Constitution] was given to you by the Universe as proof that you are this land’s champion. [Absorb Knowledge] and [Inspect Item] are skills given to you by the Collective to help alleviate certain problems that you will encounter in your journey.

Lastly, if you require to open or close the codex, just pass a thought through your head and it should do as you will.

Good Luck, Hero.]

He gave out an almost tired sigh. He was expecting a fantasy-like skill. ‘A sci-fi codex like this really came out of left field. Like, shit, who expects that?’ he thought with a grin. It was a silly ability to be given in a fantasy-like world but it was useful, far more useful than a combat ability that he could learn in this world. At least what he had wasn’t something anyone could just get.

He stood up from the ground and used the hem of his gambeson to wipe away the sweat on his face. He picked up the sling bag and the unlit lantern from the ground and stuffed it back inside the leather bag and slung it around his shoulder. He took a deep breath before crawling himself under the cave opening. The day was as sunny as ever, but the area didn’t let any of it pass throug the thick canopies. It was depressing but he didn’t mind the cool shade anymore. He looked on over to the direction of the grove.

“Its time to start this adventure seriously” he said with a smile and took confident strides to Fellhood Grove.

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