Overworld (Dragon Mage Saga Book 1): A fantasy post-apocalyptic story

by Rohan M Vider

  Being able to receive messages from the Trials directly through my mind was astonishing enough. But what those messages had to say was almost too spectacular to believe. I perused them as I walked. It seems I had been generously rewarded for my defeat of the orcs.

  Rewards like that can’t be normal, I thought. Was it because I was still an Inductee that I had received so many? Or because I had slain enemies so far above my own level? Whatever the case, I doubted my victory here was a feat I would soon duplicate.

  On Overworld I would not have the advantage of human technology. There, I would have to rely only on medieval arms and the strength of my own limbs.

  And magic, I reminded myself. Do not forget magic.

  I opened the first set of messages again. The Trials had judged my Magic Potential as extraordinary, and even through the overwhelming fog of my grief, I felt a spurt of curiosity.

  Just catching wind of my Magic Potential had made Kagan take foolish risks. Just how unusual was my Magic Potential? I wondered. And more importantly, how would it serve me, in my crusade?

  Because that was what I was embarking on: a crusade. One to purge Overworld of Duskar’s kind. It was a cause I would not give up on, not until they were all dead. Or I was.

  I cackled. Not entire sanely, I admit. Baby steps, Jamie. Baby steps.

  Looking around, I saw I was nearly at the gate. A very red gate. I took a second to study it. I was sure there were more orcs waiting for me on the other side.

  Not me particularly, but any human fool enough to place themselves in enemy hands. I wasn’t going to do that. I had learned my lesson.

  Revenge was best served cold.

  I would take my war to the orcs when I was ready, and not before. As long as I had any say in the matter, anyhow.

  No, it was not suicidal intent that spurred me to approach the orc gate, but rather the Orcsbane Feat—and in particular, one of its Techniques. I called up its description again.

  Repurpose: You may temporarily subvert orcish structures to your own ends.

  Could I divert the orc gate as the repurpose Technique suggested? I shrugged. Only one way to find out.

  Stopping in front of the gate, I considered the artefact’s immensity up close for the first time. The gate arched high overhead, many times my own height. The structure’s rim sparkled with alien inscriptions, and its depths swirled with the reddish shimmer of what I now knew to be a magical field.

  Here goes nothing, I thought and placed one hand tentatively against the gate’s metal surface. The metal vibrated faintly and was warm to the touch, but not uncomfortably so.

  Now what? I wondered after holding my hand against the gate for an interminable stretch of time where nothing happened.

  I knew from countless televised broadcasts that to enter Overworld I simply had to step within the shimmering magical curtain, but I was not willing to do that yet, not without confirmation that I could actually repurpose the structure.

  How do I subvert the gate? I wondered, scratching my head with my other hand. Almost as if triggered by the thought, I felt tendrils of energy reach out from me to the artefact as a new message from the Trials opened within my mind.

  This is gate forty-six between Overworld and the human planet, Earth. The current owner is the: Orcish Federation, and the allowed destinations are: any orcish settlement in the newly formed Human Dominion.

  You have activated repurpose. Do you wish to take temporary control of this gate? Doing so will allow you to change the portal’s destination to any neutral location in the Human Dominion.

  Ah, it’s that simple, is it? Alright, then, here goes nothing, I thought, willing my confirmation to the Trials.

  A second later, I screamed.

  My mind felt as if it was being torn apart as an unimaginable force battered me. I gasped and my knees collapsed under me. I would have fallen entirely if not for my right hand which remained fastened to the gate as if it had been glued there.

  What is going on? I had a second to wonder before lances of agony scorched my mind, destroying further thought. The pain reached a crescendo, and my mind was torn open, brutally so, while a conduit was forged between it and the gate.

  How I knew this to be true, I could not honestly say, but somehow I understood it to be the case. An image of the gate, pulsing scarlet as if bathed in blood, sprang to life in my mind’s eye.

  I knew what I had to do next.

  Thrusting coils of my will forward, I sent my consciousness racing across the conduit to the gate and blew away the shimmering red weaves of magic wrapped around it. Slowly at first, then faster, the crimson haze around the gate disappeared. Soon, I would have control of the gate.

  Then I felt the presence of another.

  The gate’s creator, I realised instinctively. The conduit which I had forged to the structure had temporarily bridged our minds. His thoughts, which I could somehow sense, roiled first with surprise before transforming into rage and fury.

  The gate’s owner rushed to stop me, to hold onto control of his creation, but he was too late. The last of the red weaves around the gate dissipated and possession transferred to me.

  “Who are you?” thundered the orc, his voice reverberating through my mind. He was another shaman, and one who seemed far beyond Kagan in power. I shuddered. This was not one who was I ready to face.

  A second later he answered his own question, somehow divining the answer from my own thoughts. “A human? How?!”

  I fled. I could not afford to reveal myself to one like him, not yet. Retracing my steps across the conduit, I sent my consciousness scurrying back to the safety of my body.

  “STOP!” bellowed the shaman.

  The strength of his mental command was terrifying and nearly petrified me with fear. But I didn’t let myself succumb. I kept fleeing.

  The shaman followed, pursuing me across the link bridging our minds. “Don’t think you can escape, human,” he whispered in a menacing undertone. “I know you now. I will find you. If not today, then another day.”

  Reaching the safety of my self, I thrust my consciousness back into its shell and frantically willed my mind closed. The echoes of the shaman’s wrathful voice faded as I sealed shut the gates of my mind and dropped back into the ‘real’ world.

  I sagged down, hands braced on the floor, head down and heaving in deep, lungsful of air. I had escaped. But how much of myself had the shaman seen? How much had I inadvertently revealed? Had he divined as much of me as I of him?

  He was high shaman Orgtul. Orgtul Silverbane.

  I rolled his name around my mouth. A second name to add to my list of targets. I straightened and staggered back to my feet.

  Stepping back from the gate, I studied it anew. Repurposing it had not been so easy after all. I chuckled with grim humour as I laid a hand again to the artefact’s rim.

  You have successfully repurposed gate forty-six. You will retain control of the gate for: thirty minutes, after which ownership will revert back to the Orcish Federation.

  The shimmering veil of red was gone, replaced by a soothing grey one. The slap of feet on concrete pulled my attention to my left. Turning, I saw some of the militia soldiers running towards me, hands waving frantically to attract my attention.

  But I didn’t let myself get distracted by them. My purpose was to kill orcs. And the orcs were in Overworld. It was there I had to go. I glanced back at the soldiers. Let them follow if they wanted.

  Stepping forward, I entered the artefact.

  You have entered gate forty-six. Beginning transfer to Overworld…

  …

  …

  … transfer interrupted.

  Your Initiation is incomplete. Entry into Overworld is not permitted. Redirecting Inductee to Wyrm Island. Transfer resumed and will be completed in 5 seconds.

  4…

  3…

  2…

  1…

  Chapter 9

&
nbsp; 12 May: 5 days to Earth’s destruction

  The humans show an uncanny aptitude for magic. Enslaving them will serve us well. —Orgtul Silverbane.

  I left one world and entered another between one step and the next. The transition was seamless and without the slightest misstep in my footing.

  I looked around.

  Earth’s bright blue sky and concrete buildings had disappeared. Replacing it was a wide-open beach of fine white sand under a storm-wracked grey sky. Green waves of water rolled in from the ocean and, in a spray of foam, crashed onto the rocks scattered along the shore. Mum would have loved it here, I couldn’t help thinking.

  As startling a contrast as the beach made from my hometown, there was nothing alien in the landscape. The beach I stood on could have been any one of a number of locations on Earth. I looked to my left and right, along the shore. Both directions appeared empty of life. I was alone, it seemed.

  I swung around to see what lay behind me, then jerked back in alarm.

  Standing patiently less than three feet from me and so very still that I would have assumed her a statue, if not for her lively and curious gaze, was an… entity.

  “Welcome, human, to Wyrm Island,” said the strange creature, seeing that I had finally noticed her. “I am Aurora, your designated guide for your Induction into Overworld.”

  “Uh, hello,” I greeted automatically while I surreptitiously studied the fascinating figure.

  Aurora was uniformly purple from her bare toes, to the tips of the long hair that fell to her waist. On her back was a pair of feathered wings, as still and unmoving as the rest of her. Whatever—or whoever—Aurora was, she was clearly not from Earth. But at least, she appeared humanoid. “What are you?” I couldn’t help asking.

  “I am forbidden from answering an Inductee’s questions,” Aurora responded primly.

  The petite purple figure—half my own height—flapped her wings and rose gently aloft until she reached eye level with me. “Now follow me,” she ordered. Turning about, she zipped along the ground towards the island’s interior.

  I rubbed my chin, perplexed by her behaviour. “Wait!” I called, but Aurora didn’t stop. She moved so fast I knew I would soon lose sight of her over the sand dune she was headed towards. “Damn it all,” I swore, and hurried after her at the fastest hobble I could manage.

  As predicted, I soon lost sight of the purple woman, but with no other choice, I kept limping in the direction I had last seen her. Reaching the top of the hill over which Aurora had disappeared, I saw her waiting at the bottom, foot tapping impatiently.

  Next to her was another gate, nearly identical to the one I had entered on Earth, except that this one was the same startling shade of purple as my guide. In the far distance, I could see where the dunes ended and the ocean began again. The island was far smaller than I had thought.

  “Well hurry up,” called Aurora, interrupting my inspection of the surroundings. “Don’t just stand there—we are on a time limit, you know.”

  “Huh? Where are we? What is this place?” I asked as I slipped down the loose sand of the beach dune to her side.

  “In twenty-seven minutes, the gate which you entered will revert back to orcish control,” Aurora said, steadfastly ignoring all my questions. “If you have not completed your Initiation before then, you will be forced out to a destination of its owner’s choosing.”

  I gulped. I definitely did not want that. But my guide’s response left me puzzled, since it implied I was still in the gate. Frowning, I looked around. Was this not Overworld?

  Before I could frame more questions, Aurora continued, “Our first order of business is to determine if you will retain your current form on entering Overworld or if you will choose an entirely new one, one created from a clean slate with none of your existing blemishes.” The purple woman glanced down at my hobbled foot, making the meaning of her words clear.

  My eyes widened in stunned shock. I could be free of my crippled foot? Never in my wildest dreams had I ever contemplated being whole again. The wiki pages I had studied had mentioned starting the Trials with a clean slate, but I had not delved much into what that meant.

  Joy, sharp and bittersweet rushed through me. I’d never expected Overworld to free me of the handicap that had plagued me all my adult life. Yet it was a tainted joy. Why could Mum not be here to witness this moment?

  I bottled away my conflicting emotions. Sort through them later, Jamie. Stay focused in the now and the choices you must make here. I heaved a deep breath to settle myself and opened my mouth to answer.

  Aurora’s waggled a purple finger in front of my face before I did so. “I advise you to review the information in the Trials windows before you answer, and to carefully study the consequences of both choices.”

  At my guide’s words, two translucent windows—shaded purple—unfurled and floated gently on unseen currents before my eyes. As Aurora suggested, I studied each intently.

  You have the choice between the forms: Clean Slate and Made-in-Earth. In either form, your Potentials will remain the same.

  In the Clean Slate form, your body will be refashioned to remove both negative and positive effects, including those of aging. Your Attributes, Traits, Feats, and Disciplines will be reset. In their stead, you will be provided with the same basic starting combination as other new players. This includes: twelve Attributes Marks, ten Discipline Tokens, one common Trait, and one uncommon Trait.

  In the Made-in-Earth form, you will carry over your expertise, strengths, and weaknesses developed during your time in Earth. These include: the lore Discipline, the scribe Discipline, the Crippled Trait, the Quick Learner Trait, the Orcsbane Feat, and your four newly acquired Traits.

  My heart sank as I saw the Trials information. Starting with a Clean Slate was not an option. If I chose it, I would lose the achievements I had earned from slaying the five orcs.

  Seeing the dawning realisation on my face, Aurora confirmed my suspicion. “If you choose to enter Overworld with a Clean Slate, you will lose your existing Traits and Feats. Twenty-six minutes remaining.”

  I didn’t hesitate. It was no choice at all, really. “I will enter Overworld as I am,” I replied.

  “Very well,” Aurora said. “Your decision has been recorded.” Waving her hand, my guide banished the two windows before me. “Next, you must select the Traits you earned through your recent actions.

  “There are six categories of Traits, and they range from rank one to six. Rank-one Traits, also referred to as common Traits, are the least powerful and most easily attained. Likewise, mythic or rank-six Traits are the rarest and nearly impossible to attain.

  “To begin with, choose your epic Trait from the options available to humans.”

  Another translucent window opened. For a second, I stared at the listed Traits in bemusement, struck by the strangeness of what I was doing, but I brushed aside my doubts. Events had already proved beyond doubt that despite how strange Overworld and the Trials seemed, they were all too real.

  Breathing in deeply, I settled my mind and scanned through the list. There were hundreds of Traits to choose from, and not nearly enough time to go through them all. I knew I couldn’t afford to dally. If I did, I would lose control of the gate. I repressed a shiver. It was not something I wanted to risk.

  Skimming through the list, I scanned only the titles and did not bother reading the detailed descriptions of each Trait. There simply wasn’t time for that, and I had already determined my strategy. My first priority would be to find a Trait that helped me disguise my Potentials.

  Kagan had perceived my Potentials too easily. His reaction had also suggested my Magic Potential was rare. How rare I couldn’t be certain, but, if I walked around Overworld with my Potential open to analyse, I would likely be too tempting a prize for most to ignore.

  It took longer than I hoped, but finally I spotted two Traits that seemed to fit my criteria.

  Trait: Mim
icked Core. Rank: 4, epic. This Trait grants a player the mimic Technique. It obfuscates a player’s Potentials. The deception will be immune to all forms of detection.

  Trait: Master of Disguise. Rank: 4, epic. This Trait grants a player the chameleon Technique. It allows a player to hide both their Potentials and identity. Foes of sufficiently high level will be able to sense the deception, but will not be able to penetrate the player’s disguise.

  I deliberated between the two. Mimicked Core provided the more comprehensive protection. Master of Disguise, on the other hand, allowed me to hide more of myself. From what I understood from the trait description, it would allow me to hide even my name from other players.

  “Twenty minutes remaining,” said Aurora.

  Damn it, I thought, this is taking too long. “I choose Mimicked Core,” I replied, sticking with my original intent and not allowing the added benefits of the Master of Disguise Trait to sway me. Better to have an undetectable disguise.

  “So noted. Next, choose your legendary Trait from the list of those available to humans.”

  Another window opened up before me. I rapidly ran my eyes through the list. Less than halfway down, I stopped. Two Traits had caught my eye. Given their nature, I felt further study of the list unnecessary.

  Trait: Twice as Skilled. Rank: 5, legendary. This Trait doubles the Discipline Tokens a player is awarded every level. The effect of this Trait is not retroactive.

  Trait: Twice as Talented. Rank: 5, legendary. This Trait doubles the Attribute Marks a player is awarded every level. The effect of this Trait is not retroactive.

  Considering that I was still level zero, I would derive maximum benefit from either Trait. But which one to choose? Disciplines or Attributes, I mused. Having more of either would significantly improve my power.

  My study of the Trials Infopedia back on Earth had led me to the conclusion that Disciplines were more important than Attributes, despite the fact that each Attribute affected multiple Disciplines. With more Disciplines, I would have access to additional Techniques, and they could make all the difference between survival and defeat.