“There, that is much better, don’t you agree?” she said.
Arthur just sat there with his mouth hanging open. Her sheer presence made it almost impossible to respond. She was so beautiful that it didn’t matter what part of her he gazed at. He would find himself stuck staring until he finally moved his sight somewhere else on her body and the process repeated.
“I do believe the phrase on your world goes, “If you don’t close your mouth, you will end up catching flies, but I could be mistaken. The general idea is the same, though.” She giggled.
Arthur felt his cheeks heat up and snapped his mouth shut. He finally managed to get a little composure to himself and displayed a shy smile at her.
“I do understand my visage can be distracting, especially to mortals such as yourself, but I do need to have a serious conversation with you about your situation.”
That caught his attention. “You mentioned that earlier, but if I am truly dead, as you stated, I am not sure what I can do to help you.” He replied, finally able to get words out.
“Ha, you silly boy, it isn’t what you can do for me but instead what I can do for you. I have a bit of a business proposal for you. Due to some fortuitous circumstances, you have some unique factors about yourself that allow me to interfere with your situation. Namely your parentage and how you were killed.” She said with a gleam in her eyes.
“My parentage? I never knew my real parents and my adoptive parents never mentioned any details about them, if they ever even knew any. What would my parentage have to do with a situation like this? This seems like a situation on a rather biblical level, not that I was ever overly religious.”
“I am rather aware of that, but since I am not a deity of your world that does not affect my actions in any way.”
“How would you be able to take action for my death then if you have no influence in my world? Not to try and cause any offense, but it seems to me there are at least some rules set down based on your earlier statement.”
“Well, I can say I am pleased you are smart enough to at least grasp that much based on the little conversation we had had so far. To answer that question is rather easy and I was hoping you would put it together yourself based on the two conditions I told you.”
He thought about what she said. The only two things she mentioned was his parentage and how he died. He would imagine getting shot by some random stranger wouldn’t have anything to do with it so that only left the ancestry.
“Well, the only things that would make sense is something to do with my parents, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how.” He said.
“I will give you that much since you were never aware of other planes of existence. The quickest explanation is that your parents were not from Earth originally and in fact, were born on a plane I do have at least partial reign of.”
“Wait...so my parents are aliens from another planet? Is that what you mean by another plane?” He asked.
“No, it is not. I mean your parents are from another plane. It is a bit difficult to understand. The planes are similar to what humans on Earth referred to as dimensions in their theories. I have no direct reign over the plane that Earth is part of, but since your parents were from my plane, then it gives me a chance to at least check in on you. The circumstances of your death allow me to extend an offer to you. Since you sacrificed your life to help save another, I have been given a chance for divine interference and allowed to give you a choice.”
“While I appreciate the sentiment, I only did it due to a natural reaction and not out of any sense of heroism.”
“I understand that, and it is part of why this offer is possible. You did it out of instinct and not trying to earn any favor or renown. The offer is both simple and complicated, though. I am going to offer you life, with some stipulations and conditions of my own though. First and foremost is that there is a time frame for your service to me which will require you to serve my interests for 5 years. Once you have completed these 5 years, your life is yours to do with as you wish.” She intoned.
“As long as you don’t expect me to become some kind of assassin or mass murderer, I think that would be fair. Since you said, that is the first stipulation what would be the next?”
“The next part isn’t so much of a stipulation as it is a warning. You are not allowed to try and betray me or our agreed upon deal. If you do try this, our deal is forfeit, and so is your life. This includes trying to partner with other deities without my consent to work with them.”
“So, be loyal then, got it. Anything else?” Arthur asked.
“There is so much more, but alas I am limited in what I can tell you. This world will be very different from what you are used to on Earth and yet much the same. The easiest way to summarize it would be to say that this world is what would happen if you took Earth and mixed it with one of the role-playing games that are commonly played there.” She said as she grinned at him.
“In what way? Are people going to run around with yellow exclamation marks over their heads, randomly run into objects, or get stuck on odd terrain from time to time?” I asked with a smirk.
“The plane of existence you are going to tracks your progress like an RPG. There are skill levels for almost anything you do over there. For instance, skinning, mining, leatherworking, and so on. This also applies to combat and magic skills as well.”
“Hold on a minute. There is magic there as well? As in real swords and sorcery type of magic from fantasy novels?” He said in surprise.
“It doesn’t work exactly like magic, you know of, though. As you should be aware, there are many different ways magic is described in those fantasy novels and video games you refer to, and each is different from one another. You will be able to get the hang of it rather quickly, I am sure.” She intoned.
“So you are sending me to this plane for what purpose?”
“I am glad you asked. As I stated earlier, I do not intend this to be anything distasteful although there will undoubtedly be some unpleasant things done by the end of your time there. I simply want you to help those you find and help make that world a better place. I wish for you to harbor goodwill among the citizens and eventually try and convert them to my worship. You will understand why this is important, the longer you stay there. The world itself is rather corrupt, and you will have to be cautious in some of those you help, but I have faith that you can do this.”
“All of that said there are a few little pointers I want to give you before I send you on your way. We are almost out of the allotted time, so I will make this fast. The first thing is that I will put you in a small wooded forest when you first arrive. I will outfit you with some basic items to get you started, but that is the best I can do. You must spend time in this forest getting used to the new way this world works. It is also important that you take some time to gain some levels and skills because you will be placed in the world at level 1. There is no way I can get around that, and quite honestly you will seem very odd to anyone there as a full-grown adult at level 1.”
“Wait there are levels in that plane as well?” Arthur asked.
“Of course, I told you it is similar to one of your RPG games.” She huffed. “Now do not interrupt me again. If I have any time to spare, I will answer a few questions. Where was I? Oh right, progress your skills quickly and preferably before you leave the forest. Hunt the small animals and things to gain your experience needed to level up. You have played enough RPGs over your life to understand most of the things you need to know for this. I just have to stress not appearing to many people before you raise your level a bit. Most people in that plane will be level five by their teens, and most of that is just playing around or learning skills around the house to help out.”
“You have one incredible advantage that others do not have. You know about the advanced civilization on Earth and many of its quirks. I have to stress this because it will be essential for you. This world is real, do not get sucked into thinking of it like one of your
games on Earth. You will die, you can be cut, stabbed, you can lose a limb and anything else you can imagine that would happen to you on Earth. Just because it has some game-style elements doesn’t mean it is that different. The thing I truly need you to remember is that because it is real, you can change anything in it. It isn’t governed by the rules of most of the games you used to play. There are no skills or items that are unable to be made. The world rewards ingenuity and will seamlessly integrate new skills if you develop them. This can be your greatest strength if you can make it work for you.” She explained.
“So consider mechanics like I am playing a game but remember that consequences are genuine, got it,” He stated flatly.
“In a nutshell, yes. There are many things that I wish we had time for me to go into with you, but our time is almost up before I have to get you on your way. Do you have any final questions for me?”
“I think I have a firm grasp on everything you said. I would ask though, what will happen on Earth with my parents and everything.”
She smiled at him sadly. “They will get the news from the local police force, arrange the funeral and all as normal. I am sorry there is nothing I can do in that regard. What I will do for you, since you have accepted my offer, is I will compel the young lady you helped to come forward and testify to the events as well as ensure she can help police catch the person who killed you. I will also make sure the story of your heroism makes it to your adopted parents, so they understand why they lost you. I wish I could do more, but, as I said before, I have limitations.”
“That will do then.” he sighed in resignation, “I don’t want to see them hurt over this, but at least they can have a little comfort in knowing it was due to trying to help someone. Maybe that can help ease the burden on them.”
“All right then, it looks like it is time to go. As I said before, I am going to drop you in a forest that is in a remote area, so you have time to acclimate yourself to the world a bit.”
They both stood up from their chairs, and she walked up close enough to where they were almost touching. One last thought came to Arthur when she got closer.
“What is the name of the world, anyway? Might be important to know?” He asked.
“Dravincia” She replied and then forcefully shoved him backward. He stumbled and fell into blackness.
Chapter 3
New Beginnings
Arthur woke and quickly checked his surroundings. He immediately noticed the fresh smell of cedar around him. He slowly pushed himself up to his feet and started to inspect his surroundings. It appeared to be as the Goddess Lianna had described to him. He was obviously in a forest. Some of the trees towered over him while others were the size he was used to around his old home. He idly wondered how those survived with the larger ones blocking out so much of the sun.
There wasn’t much underbrush around him to speak of. The occasional bush around him was to be expected. There was a soft layer of grass below his feet, but it was easy to spot the numerous game trails worn through the forest showing bare dirt.
“Well, I guess it is time to get started, the real question is where I should start,” He said to himself. “I guess I can start with what the Goddess suggested and try and find some local wildlife to level up.”
A small bag lying next to him caught his attention. He picked it up and was surprised it had a bit of weight to it. He carefully reached in and felt a sharp pain on the edge on one of his fingers.
“Ouch, damn it” He exclaimed as he dropped the bag. He heard some clanking noises from the pack as it hit the ground. Well, let’s try this another way.
He reached down and picked up the bag again. This time he decided to just hold it lower to the ground and turn it upside down to empty the contents. A small collection of items fell out, and he immediately noticed the culprit that caused the slight bleeding on his finger. A small dagger lay on the ground amidst the collection of items. He vaguely remembered Lianna telling him she would provide him with some things to get him started so he guessed this must be those items.
He picked up the dagger to examine it. The weapon appeared to be rather ugly. No real ornamentation or decoration of any kind. It was sharp and functional, but that was the extent of it. He studied it carefully, trying to find any issues with it and noticed something flash in the corner of his vision. He jerked his head quickly to his right to look in the direction he thought he saw something and found nothing but trees. He took a few moments to slowly scan the tree line and still didn’t see anything moving. He decided to chalk it up to his imagination and turned back to look at the dagger.
After a few seconds of looking at it again, he saw the flash in his vision, but this time he thought about focusing on the disturbance and not turning his head to look at it. To his surprise, what he saw was a floating, semi-transparent, window next to the dagger itself. Not only that, but the window had writing in it. He carefully looked through what it said.
Item:
Simple Iron Dagger
Attack: 3-5
Durability: 35/35
Rarity: Common
Quality: well Crafted
Weight: 0.8 kg
Slot: Main Hand/Off Hand
Traits: A simple dagger made out of iron.
“Holy shit” He exclaimed as he looked at the window. This must be part of the world that acted similar to a game as the Goddess referenced. He guessed items were supposed to have description boxes like this here. He wondered if creatures and people had the same. “Really? Has to be kilograms, huh? Can’t be good old fashioned American pounds.” He said out loud to himself. “Even other universes shun our system.”
On the ground beside where the dagger had fallen was also a leather sheath for it. It would figure the damn thing would have a sheath but not be in it just so he could cut himself on it.
He drew his attention toward some of the other items in a pile. The next thing he picked up was a small metal box that he couldn’t quite tell what it was. After looking at it for a few seconds, the ever-helpful window popped open to assist him.
Item:
Tinderbox
Durability: 50/50
Rarity: Common
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 0.3 kg
Traits: Contains a small piece of flint, firesteel, and tinder for lighting fires.
“Well, that should come in handy.” He mused as he read over the description. He was sure he could figure it out with some practice. While he had never used flint and steel to spark a fire before he had a general idea of how it worked, so he was not overly concerned. He then grabbed the next item, which appeared to be a waterskin.
Item:
Simple Leather Waterskin
Durability: 50/50
Rarity: Common
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 2.0 kg
Traits: Leather treated to hold liquids and sewn into a pouch.
Status: Filled (40/40)
It was good that the item would tell him the contents. He wasn’t sure how those numbers were measured, but it would be useful. The next thing he grabbed was a bundle of arrows. He pulled one out of the bunch and gave it a quick assessment.
Item:
Simple Iron Arrow
Damage Modifier: +1
Durability: 15/15
Rarity: Common
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 0.6 kg
Slot: Ammunition
Traits: Iron tipped arrow with feather fletching.
Those would be helpful, but he was a bit confused. They didn’t have a damage amount on them only a modifier. Then it clicked with him. The modifier must increase the damage stats on the bow. The bundle appeared to have thirty arrows in it. The thing was, he couldn’t use them without a bow and one didn’t fall out of the bag when he dumped out the contents.
He swept his vision around him. There was a tree ten feet from him and leaning against it; he saw a bow. He walked over and picked up the bow.
It
em:
Simple Ash Bow
Attack: 5-7
Durability: 40/40
Rarity: Common
Quality: Well Crafted
Weight: 1.5 kg
Slot: Main Hand/Off Hand
Draw Weight: 20 kg
Traits: Bow made out of ash wood.
Well, that at least solves that dilemma. Now that Arthur had both a bow and arrows, it should make hunting game a bit easier. As long as there are no large predator style animals such as wolves or bears, he should be perfectly fine.
He walked back over to the last two items on the ground. Both were small pouches tied tight with a string. He opened one and peeked inside. He found strips of dried meat in the bag and took it out to look it over.
Item:
Dried Venison
Durability: 5/5
Rarity: Common
Weight: 0.2 kg
Traits: Deer meat dried and ready to eat.
This was a welcome sight and gave him some time to get acclimated here before he had to stress over food. He put the piece of dried meat back into the bag and cinched the string tight on it. He opened the final container and took a peek inside. It was filled with a white crystalline substance that smelled vaguely familiar. He took a few granules of it and put it on his tongue. He quickly discovered it was salt. Salt was a necessity in the world. He would be able to put it to good use cooking and curing meats and hides if he could ever get the hang of the hunting out here.
He started to gather together his items in preparation for attaching them all to himself when he noticed something he had not before. He was dressed in completely different clothing than he was used to. He should have seen earlier, but he had been so captivated with the sights and then the bag of goodies that he didn’t pay enough attention. Looking down, he saw that he wore a pair of standard trousers with a small brown leather belt. The pants themselves were a brown color that was almost a light tan. He was wearing a white shirt with what he assumed was a green tunic over it. Arthur guessed it was a tunic that he was wearing based on some of the older pictures he had seen online from clothing.
Dravincia Page 2
