He awoke confused with a chill going down his spine and a constant headache pounding in his head. He was having trouble focusing as his eyes darted all over the place. He eventually managed to sit up as his vertigo subsided, and when he did so, he gradually became aware of his surroundings. People were sleeping soundly beside him and along his sides.
"Urghh." He thought to himself before getting up to get a better look at his surroundings.The room enveloped him in darkness, yet his eyes had adjusted enough to make out the shapes and forms within. The amount of visibility he had wasn't as good as it was in the day but for now, it would suffice, watching his step, he walked over till he reached the source of the voice."Hey, you! Come over here." The voice called out again.Was approaching a foreign voice the wisest course of action in this situation, given that it was dark, he didn't know why he was here, and neither did he know who these guys were. The only thing he could value more than his safety was information, so he moved in the direction of the speaker.He made his way in the direction of the speaker while taking care not to trip anyone up. He mentally recorded the texture of the ground and the number of individuals he crossed as he walked in the direction of the voice. They were undoubtedly joined in the room by another fourteen persons if he included himself and the voice. At least, that's what he believed. He took a seat as near to the caller as possible."My voice isn't trustworthy enough?" The voice sighed, "Can't blame ya.""What do you know? Where are we?""Shhhh." The voice stopped for a moment as if trying to see through the darkness if anyone else had gotten up. "I dunno where we are or what's going on, but like ten minutes ago a bright light shined through that area over there." He pointed at an area in front of them. "Someone... something came and took some chick with it.""What do you mean?""Oh, where are my manners? I'm Gilbert. My friends... umm, call me Gin." The man finally introduced himself."I'm Finn." Finn looked around, not hearing anything rustle in the distance. "What do you mean something? Like what... A machine?""No no. It's very much human... looks... it looks human. It's not, however, that I can swear my life on." Gin spoke with subtle hints of terror in his voice."This is probably a prank or something, probably one of those hidden camera shows." Finn got up feeling around for a wall. "I'm gonna find the exit, every set has one, and when I'm out. I'm gonna sue them for everything they got.""Shut up." Another voice in the distance said. "This that, that this. Stop your whining.""I don't suppose you know what's going on here?" Gin asked, wondering why the voice could stay so nonchalant."You don't remember?" The voice laughed. "You don't remember the mixer?"Finn and Gin both cried out in agony as the word reached their ears, the sensation subsiding after a few fleeting moments, yet the lingering headache persisted. Finn clutched his head, and strangely, an image materialized in his mind—a bustling karaoke booth filled with people. Though he couldn't recollect ever visiting such a place before, he found himself uttering, "What's all this?""Who's this person I'm seeing?!" Gin shouted. "Explain, what was the mixer.""Quiet."A voice as loud as the blue phenomena in the sky spoke, its sound waves alone came with a ferocious intensity and anyone that heard it couldn't deny pissing their pants.Gin wanted to ask a question. A simple "What was that?" But his mouth couldn't open, as if sealed shut by a desire to live. Even though he didn't know it, he could feel it in his heart. "If I speak. I die."Everyone woke up once they heard the thunderous voice, but no one made a word. They all wanted to run but it felt as if their legs were separate organisms."All fifteen of you are test subjects. You will soon remember the fate you suffered but until then. You will walk through this door and into a new world." They all looked at the being that spoke to them and it was now Finn could understand what Gin meant. Regardless of its appearance, whatever it was couldn't possibly be human.Its presence alone brought light to the room, it had the figure of a man with an average build. Its clothes were white and lathered with what seemed like gold and there was an enormous sword on its back. "Your goal in this world is to defeat its supreme God, EA, of course you are not being forced to do this. However, you will be pulled in that direction for as long as you live. You will understand what I mean when you enter the world.""...." Finn tried to speak but he couldn't produce the words, he wanted to know what this was. What the mixer was, where he was but to no avail.The golden being stood in front of them until they all got up, all fifteen remaining people who slept in the cave now looking up at the god-like being that stared them down. "Step through this door if you would like a chance at a new life." The golden being said, his voice strong and his demeanor firm. "I am not forcing any of you to make a decision if you decide to walk through this gate." A giant vertical halo appeared behind him. "You will gain a new life in a new world. Make your decision humans.""And if we disagree." The nonchalant voice spoke again."You will be sent to your original destination. The bottomless abyss that is non-existence.""I'm in," The man who spoke about the mixer stood up and walked past the crowd going straight for the gate.Finn wanted to call out to him, he knew something that he didn't but his mouth wouldn't move and neither did his legs. "Damnit. He thought to himself."One by one each of them walked through the door with no one saying a word, Finn looked around him and he was the only one left. "What will your decision be mortal?"Finn took a deep breath, he needed to know what the mixer meant and it seemed the only way of gaining that information would be to walk through the gate. He took a deep breath in and subtly let it out. "I'm gonna make that bastard pay." Finn ran through the gate."Quite the kind guy aren't you? AE." Ueluies floated over the ground the humans slept on. "Wasn't the original plan for this batch to reinvent their souls? I mean they hardly seemed promising. Except for the red-haired one. That one I like.""Change of plan, they're expendable so why not repurpose them instead? Strong people are needed to tip the scales of EA." AE closed the gate he previously opened."Don't want to admit that you're too kind to rip out their souls and transmogrify them into someone else?" Ueluies laughed. "Despite being a supreme God you are surprisingly humble."Though it seemed like a long journey through a never-ending void, Finn eventually popped out into a room after he was subjected to what could be explained as "a rollercoaster through darkness." Finn held his mouth trying to push back the vomit he almost spewed on the all-white floors. "All white floors," Finn looked above him seeing nothing but white, the opposite of the last room he was put in."Choose your class." A blue panel popped up from what seemed like thin air.Finn stood there quietly for what seemed like minutes before asking himself if a floating panel just popped out of thin air. "I don't know how you did the last bit but the budget for this prank is insane.""Pick your class." The floating panel said again and Finn slowly walked toward it.Finn looked underneath the floating panel, passing his hands both above and below it to look for strings that might have propped it up. "Really, really... high budget." Finn looked at the blue panel and written on it was what he last
A man walked on a roof, his clothes tattered and torn and his tie within his palm. He touched the guard railing that prevented exactly what he wanted to do. "Fuck." He sighed. He hated this place. He hated his life."Wake up... wake up... goddamn it Sir, wake up!" Dusk screamed and Finn popped up from bed drenched in sweat."Christ." Finn held his head. "What is it, what do you want?""We have to test out your abilities.""Let's just do this tomorrow," Finn got back in bed but jolted back up when Dusk sent a shock through his body."I need to gauge your strength and class, that way we can hide it more efficiently tomorrow." "Aren't you my class or something, figure it out." Finn fell back onto the bed and Dusk shocked him again."I'm your assistant sir. "Dusk continued." We need to do this Sir, thats if you want to not risk being investigated for having stats above the humanly possible stat limit.""I hate when your right." Finn opened his eyes looking straight at the ceiling. "Let's
Slaying a quartet of goblins was the trial Finn needed to conquer to earn his adventurer's permit. "Umm. Emma. Shouldn't I have been the one to kill the goblins?""Oh, Yelan didn't inform you about my methods." Emma cleaned her hands. "You know Gales hasn't been having the best coppers in recent years.""Isn't Iron only two places above Copper?" Finn thought to himself, he dared not say it after seeing what she did to the goblins.[Air construct: Chair] Emma gracefully seated herself upon a invisible chair, inducing a slight chuckle from Finn, who swiftly regained his composure."Killing four goblins. Kill one Gui. Kill two Jinxes. These are monsters a group of villagers with a pitchfork can kill. At copper-5 you'd take stronger quests than these, so why set the bar so low?" Emma folded her arms. "I understand the Ianbris guild needs more talent but even still... Well, whatever you thought we were doing today it would be better if you removed that from your mind.""What do you mean?"
Although almost three hundred feet in the air, he could still hear the town of Gales. The townsmen danced and sang by the fire, cooking and celebrating what seemed like a festival. The sight was surreal and it made him look back at his past life, he couldn't remember much from it but he could vividly see himself constantly working at a dead-end job before retiring into the night- every night. He wasn't completely sure what he was feeling, it was a mix between hope and disappointment and he couldn't quite put it into words. The emotions confused his mind.Although it didn't seem like they were moving up, he could see the clouds slowly go beneath them as they rose above the floating water droplets. The feeling was serene and he almost felt himself falling asleep on the air bed. "What are you?"Finn snapped back up with haste and looked at Emma who asked him the question. "What do you mean?""You aren't a Crest-Angel I know that, how you got your name into the city registry is confusing
Mana was within everything, whether it's within plants, animals, humans, or demi-humans. Each entity on the planet possesses mana, although in varying quantities. Despite everyone being born with mana, the ability to transform it into an elemental form isn't universal.Elements vary from person to person but they usually revolve around the basic seven being Water, Air, Earth, Lightning, Fire, Yin and Yang. With Yin and Yang being raw applications of darkness and light.The existence of mana was said to have dated back to the beginning of mankind and although no one knows when it was transformed into an element, ever since a few centuries ago. It's been as rampant as dogs."I know training in an open environment is always better but why exactly are we in the middle of the desert?" Finn asked Emma who kicked her feet up on an invisible table."This 'desert' wasn't like this a hundred years ago, it used to be a city called Thyme. Good city even better people.""What happened to it?" Finn
Though the origin and discovery of mana weren’t known about, everyone still living knew that it didn’t come without consequences. The effects weren’t immediate, but as people began using mana for various tasks, otherworldly beasts, akin to monsters, started to emerge.Hagure, Jua, and Demons – among these, the most destructive was the first and most dreadful creature known as the Demon King. These creatures exhibited a clear affinity for mana; they descended upon villages, consuming anything that held even a trace of mana, be it livestock or innocent children. To combat their strength, cities established guilds, enlisting individuals who could wield magic to join their ranks and defend against the onslaught. Eventually, the reign of the demon king came to its conclusion, and his dominion came to an end. However, this didn’t mean that all the monsters that walked the Earth were destroyed, quite the opposite. They kept on coming, Quinx’s, Keepers, Seers, all the monsters that existed, r
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.The same ticking noise repeated over and over again, creating the only sound that could be heard in the room. Wind blew the curtains unleashing a ray of sunlight onto the bed and his eyes."Emma!" Finn burst up from sleep, looking around for his teacher."Calm down," Dusk said. "She's safe, you passed out and Hex brought you to a hospital.""Phew." He let out a sigh of relief. "The demons are really strong... you know I have no intention of fighting the demon king right? I'm not going to change my mind.""I won't force you.""Good." Finn tugged the bed sheets further toward his chest before going back to bed."But what exactly is your goal then sir?"Finn paused upon hearing the question, his past life flashing through his mind in rapid images. His sadness, anger and pain. This was a second chance at life and he wasn't going to make the same mistakes again. "I'll become stronger.""Stronger for what reason? As Madam Kilforhlm said, there are better-paying jobs
Gales was significantly larger than Finn had initially thought, he realised. As he wandered through its streets, he saw both scenes that were familiar to him and scenes that he had never imagined. Shops supplied rice dumplings, and tables had tungsten crabs for sale. These observations had people thinking about what had come before. Would he experience the same destiny as others who came before? He didn't want to think about it too much."Are you referring to the four cities or just Gales?" Kyla questioned."Four cities?" Finn's curiosity peaked in his voice."Are you some sheltered noble who recently lost their parents and inheritance?""Something along those lines.""There are four cities: Halestadine, Gales, Leigrix, and Rosso Horizon, all under the great nation of Vancrest.""I'm aware of that," Finn fibbed."So, what exactly would you like to know?""The location of BaneStead in Leigrix.""It's not too far from the main gates."They walked past a brothel, and silence fell between