Chapter 19 [Elijah]

Elijah’s eyes snapped open. The sound of the strange voice peeled back the heavy curtain of sleep that had been draped over him. He yawned and stretched his arms while blinking rapidly in an all-out attempt to fight off the warm embrace that threatened to drag him back to his dreams. In one swift motion, he tossed off the blanket that had been wrapped around him like a cocoon… and found that he was completely naked.

Did… I wet the bed? Elijah’s cheeks warmed. He hadn’t messed up in a long time but since his clothes were missing, that was the only logical explanation. His clothes had to have been wet, so mommy or daddy had to take them off to wash them—and him—and forgot to put new clothes back on him. That must be it. Wait… where’s my bed? Where’s my Cthulu? Where’s my Tiamat? My dragon?!

Panicking, he felt around wildly, searching for his favorite stuffed animals—he never slept without them, and he knew his mommy and daddy wouldn’t take them away. In the middle of his crisis… he saw it—an old brown book, floating in the air just above his lap. He squinted at the strange book.

That wasn’t there just a second ago… where did—

“Congratulations to all of you on your Awakening.”

Elijah looked around—the surprise of realizing he was in the center of a tent overshadowed by his interest in trying to find the source of the voice. It wasn’t loud, yet at the same time, it seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once. The voice was a man’s… an old man’s. The man sounded scratchy, kind of like his great grandpa—mommy always said it was because he smoked too many cigarettes.

There’s Maeve!

He saw his sister by the tent’s entrance and was going to crawl over until the smokey old man started talking again. Elijah stayed where he was and listened closely to what the voice had to say. His great-grandma always mentioned talking to a man he could never see—and how important that man was—so he thought it best not to ignore it, just in case.

Those of you who are just receiving your Systems will receive a separate transmission, through them, at the end of my address. Myself—along with the rest of the Council—debated for many hours on the least jarring method of disclosing your situation. In the end, it was decided that the best approach is to be as candid as possible. In other words, to lay it all on the table.

Long ago—before the birth of the worlds you knew—the Sentient Races gathered on one world… Pangaia. Pangaia was a world of opportunity and vast amounts of resources, which led to it becoming a melting pot for all seven of what we call the Sentient Races—each of the seven being a species originating from other galaxies.

As one would expect of a planet full of such diversity, it became fraught with strife. Wars raged between the Races as they squabbled over Pangaia’s greatest resource, its very essence—Ether. This substance—harnessed by all Races throughout the universe—was so dense on Pangaia that it could not only be seen, but handled and shaped.

Time is short but I feel it pertinent to touch on the importance of ancient history and the Ether so that, perhaps, you may understand your current predicament. The discovery of Ether led to intergalactic travel. The study of Ether led to the revelation that it could be harnessed in capacities beyond the technological. It could be used to increase the longevity of any of the Sentient Races as well as grant capabilities that were once seen as nothing but fantasy.

Ether, however, is not a resource that can be freely mined without repercussions. As the Ether was stripped away from the various galaxies, the laws laid down by the universe that allowed them to thrive were unraveled. Fauna withered. Habitats were crippled. Whole planets broke apart as the stars that once gave them life turned into nothing more than crystalized husks of their former selves.

Civilizations with the capability moved on from their former galaxies, chasing the Ether toward its source—draining many systems along the way. Thus, over many eons, those civilizations converged on Pangaia, a paradise where Ether seemed to spill out of its atmosphere and give life to its surroundings.

The wars fought over the Ether awakened… something. Something ancient that stirred within the Ether itself. The Ether changed and began creating new beings—the Feral Races—that hunted down members of the Sentient Races without remorse, consuming them and returning their essence to the Ether.

For the first time, the Sentient Races came together to combat this cataclysmic threat. Their efforts proved enough… for a time. The tear caused by millions of years of hate and bloodshed couldn’t be mended overnight. As the infighting began, the Ether pushed forward, bringing all of civilization to its knees. In the end, the Celestial Race—the oldest species and the first to find Pangaia—made a pact with the power, creating a new magic that sacrificed the other Races to ensure their own survival.

The other Races followed their example, sacrificing others for their own gains. The Fiends were the quickest to act, followed by the Dragons, then the Fey, the Giants, the Undead, and finally, the Humanoids. Pangaia split, and with it, the universe that it created. The Races and the species within them were separated into each of these new universes, each with their own supply of Ether—distributed based on the terms of their pact.

As the last Race to agree to the Ether’s pact, the Humanoids were granted pieces of Pangaia that produced little to no Ether. Those species that first bowed to the Ether received the most productive, while the Humans who refused the pact entirely were given nought but a patch of earth and enough Ether to stimulate growth.

Much of that history was lost, along with the terms of the pact… until the abeyance ends, three years from now. Three years from today, the Ether holding the Humanoid pact breaks down and the divided realities become one. The mayhem caused by this sudden convergence of worlds ends with the near extinction of all Humanoid life. More than eighty percent of Humanoids perish in that event—either from the sudden merging of lands or lack of preparation for the re-emergence of the Feral Races—even ending some species in their entireties.

Three years after, the seal holding the pact of the Undead breaks, bringing another reckoning, and another disaster for humanity. Every three years after, another pact breaks until all but the Celestial beings on their half of Pangaia remain sealed. The Fiends—a long-lived species—prepared for this moment since the creation of the pact.

After their convergence, the Fiends murdered and enslaved billions rather than fighting back the hordes of Feral creatures throwing themselves against civilization’s borders. It came to light later that they sought to obtain the Ether for themselves to prepare for the eventual convergence of the Celestial world.

After nearly a millennium of resistance and a general lack of camaraderie between the Sentient Races, the Feral Races pushed the Fiend’s leadership into a state of panic. They began to slaughter everyone with an ounce of Ether in order to gain the strength to combat the Feral menace.

In order to combat this corruption, we of the Council—the last members of the Sentient Races not aligned with the Fiends—discovered a new… or perhaps forgotten method to manipulate the Ether. The spell not only forced a redo of the current Instance, but also allowed us to alter the beginning. We forced a breakdown of the pact’s boundaries, causing the worlds to merge sooner… but in a more controlled fashion.

At the end of this transmission, the Domains will open and the natural Feral Race spawns that are being held back will commence. I’m sorry that we couldn’t buy you more time. The walls between Regions will remain for three months, allowing the five Humanoid Races on each planet to acclimate to the world and the System.

In three years, all of the Humanoid planets will converge—be prepared. Due to our efforts here, it should not be as catastrophic as the first Instance… but it will still cause much destruction. The Domains hold the answer to surviving this event, along with every convergence to come.

Many of you—if not all of you—may find fault in our decision to do this. Unfortunately, there was little choice. Were it to happen naturally, many billions would die. There will still be death… but in this Instance there will be understanding, assistance, and hope. Lastly, I need to go over—

What do you mean we’re out of time? We still haven’t finished placing the Information Runes. Whatever shape the System takes will need—

The Intelligence Runes are just that. Without the Information Runes, the System will be a blank slate. Sigh. They are going to hear this. Now stop interrupting the transmission, and don’t worry about the shaking, we accounted for—

Wait! The Ether did wha—

…

…

Gods help us all…

The sky remained silent. Elijah looked up and around the tent curiously, his eyes eventually coming to rest on the book floating in front of him. He wasn’t sure what to think of the old smokey man talking to him from the sky, but it had mostly been too complicated for him. In fact, whatever the man had been talking about sounded an awful lot like one of the long chapter books his dad liked to read to him before bed.

[Name?]

Name? My name? The book’s name? How am I supposed to…? Elijah frowned. He didn’t have a crayon or anything he could use to write on it. Forget the crayon. I need pants!

“That… was something…”

Elijah heard his mom’s voice and his excitement bubbled. He ignored the book and pushed himself to his feet.

“I reckon we oughtta move away from the center here. Set up there by the tunnel and away from that there hole. Look… It’s open.”

Dad! Elijah felt a bit off balance, but he stumbled forward anyway. He almost tripped over a pink blanked and he managed to catch himself on Maeve’s shoulder. She yelped and turned to face him.

“Elijah! You’re awake!” She jumped up and gave him a hug.

At the same time, the tent’s canvas peeled back and an already crying Leah stuck her head in. She fell to her knees and crawled forward swiftly, then wrapped her arms around them both.

“Elijah. Oh, my gods you’ve had me so worried. Are you alright?” she asked through a few held back sobs. His mom let go of them both and grabbed him gently by the shoulders, spinning him this way and that while looking him over.

He groaned inwardly and gently placed one of his hands on hers. She was always like this. Always worried, always babying him. He was fine. Despite her fretting over him, he was happy to see her. Elijah gave his mom a thumbs up and flashed his trademark goofy smile.

Wrong move.

Her eyes started to water again, but before she could pull him into another long embrace, a large hand reached out and tousled his hair. His dad knelt beside her, grinned, then looked off to the side where Elijah noticed another floating book next to his father. After a quick look around, he also saw that his mom and sister had them as well.

“He’s alright, honey,” his dad spoke softly, then laid a hand on his mom’s back. “How’s about grabbin’ our clothes an’ I’ll catch him up? Elijah an’ Maeve can help with movin’ camp while we’re chattin’.”

Elijah cocked his head to the side, wondering what his dad wanted to talk about. Maybe why we’re not at home?

He saw Maeve rush out of the tent, eager to help like always. His mother seemed reluctant but gave in and nearly sprinted out of the tent. Why was she moving so fast?

“Let’s hop to it, son. Gonna need to hurry it up.” His father stood tall, then reached up and undid a piece of twine holding the tent’s canvas to a tall pole in the center. “I’ll hand ya the poles here an’ let ya drag ‘em over to the tunnel while I roll up the rest. Best set up over yonder so we can get out quick if’n we need to.”

Elijah’s brow furrowed in confusion, but he nodded like he understood and accepted the two halves of the pole from his father while they worked their way out of the collapsing fabric. He noticed that his dad didn’t bother folding up any of the blankets or grabbing any of their things from the tent’s floor.

Why are we in such a hurry? What’s with the books? Why is everybody nakey!?

His father must have noticed the look on his face. The man paused briefly and patted his shoulder.

“Reckon I oughtta tell ya somethin’. Hmm. How to go about—ah!” His dad snapped his fingers like he’d had an idea. “That show we been watchin’. The one with the blue haired fella in the glasses an’ white cape ya like. Well, ya know how they got stuck in that new world? I reckon this is kinda like that. Except ya ain’t comin’ back if ya die.”

Elijah’s eyes shot open, and he almost failed to grab the tent pole his dad held out to him. He recovered quickly and they moved to the next corner while his dad kept talking.

“Prolly best to let yer Grimoire break it down for ya. They got this way o’ talkin’ in a way that fits whoever they’re attached to.” His father’s grey-blue eyes darted back and forth along the open page of the book floating next to him—Elijah took note that his father’s book was much nicer than his… and had a lot more pages. “Ah. Ya gotta tell it yer name, son. An’ don’t worry, you can just think at it an’ it’ll handle the rest.”

Elijah gathered the last set of rods from his dad, then followed along behind the man while he dragged their entire camp across the smooth stone floor of the strange place they were in. He looked up at the man and frowned…

Daddy didn’t have all those cuts before… And he looks so tired. His father dragged along the heavy tent with no apparent struggle, but Elijah could clearly see the large man’s eyelids drooping every so often. The man remained silent, though he did glance between Elijah and his own book each time his eyes fluttered open. Oh! He’s waiting for me. What did he say…? Think my name at it?

Elijah studied his book again.

[Name?]

Doing as his father asked, he concentrated on the page and thought at it. Elijah.

[Anomaly detected. Host deemed too young to make appropriate choices to ensure survivability. Checking protocol. Initiating System Contingency Protocol 14. Searching memories and local sources for suitable caretaker. Search complete. ERROR.]

…

[Anomaly detected. Host Tier higher than all Humanoid lifeforms in current Region. To ensure survivability, Host’s caretaker should not be of a lower Tier than host. Checking protocol.]

…

[Re-initiating System Contingency Protocol 14. Searching memories and local sources for suitable caretaker. Search complete. Two potential caretakers found. Per System Contingency Protocol 14, supervision has been passed to the higher Stage individual. Per System Contingency Protocol 14, Grimoire customization to be powered by System Essence. Revising speech patterns. Per System Contingency Protocol 14-1, due to Host residing in a lower Tier Instance, experience received from all outside sources will be halved. Revisions complete.]

Despite being young, Elijah’s mind was well-developed. He knew it. His parents knew it. His Nani knew it. He was only four years old—though his birthday was in a few weeks—and he could already read, write, add, subtract, and do some simple multiplication! If it weren’t for him not being able to talk, his parents would have tried to get him in school at the same time as his sister.

Still…

Elijah was completely lost, and worse yet, he didn’t have the dictionary his dad had given him to look up words he didn’t understand while he was reading the bigger chapter books. What does all of this mean? The old smoky man said some of these words. Maybe I can show—

Before he could get his dad’s attention, the wall of text vanished and was replaced by another paragraph—this one much easier to read. As he read, he nearly tripped over the tent fabric that had suddenly stopped moving.

[Ah! A bit late, but you’ve finally Awakened. Hmm… Perhaps you were Awakened right when you were meant to be… No matter! Happy to meet you, Elijah. I hope that we can work together to achieve glorious things!]

“Well, I’ll be…”

Elijah looked away from his book and straight into his father’s eyes. The way his dad was looking at him was… odd. Like he was confused… but proud.

“Son. Ya mind askin’ yer pal there to flip o’er to page two?” he asked.

Elijah nodded and thought at the book again, the same way he’d done when telling it his name. Surprisingly, the page turned on its own… to reveal a new page full of words and numbers. But this time, he was familiar with what he was seeing—it was just like in the games that he and his dad played, or the picture books he stole from his dad’s shelves late at night, or those really cool cartoons they always watched together where the people fought with swords and did magic! They were stats!

[Elijah | Stage 1]

[Race | Humanoid]

[Genus | Human]

[Tier | 4]

[Exp | 4/100 | 4/cycle]

[Health | 140/140 | 5/cycle]

[Energy | 139/140 | 5/cycle]

[Mana | 140/140 | 5/cycle]

[Resilience | 5 +]

[Vigor | 5 +]

[Vitality | 5 +]

[Force | 5 +]

[Intuition | 5 +]

[Acuity | 5 +]

[AP | 5 (Attribute Points)]

[AAP | 1 (Active Ability Points)]

[IAP | 1 (Innate Ability Points)]

[Note: Attributes are not a direct representation of Host's capabilities. One Attribute Point in any Attribute equates to a two percent increase in Host's corresponding traits. It is up to Host to determine which Attributes influence which bodily or mental functions. Attributes chosen may heavily influence Host's available options in the future. Choose wisely, as there is no going back once a decision is made.]

[For the first 48 hours after the transition, the amount of experience earned from slaying hostiles is increased by a multiplier of two. Time remaining: 23h 56m 03s.]

[Overseer detected, Kyle. Host may distribute points, but Overseer must approve before Points can be applied.]

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Note: I changed Rowan's name to Elijah to avoid any confusion or immersion breaking for those who read this and ASA. Will be heavily focusing on ASA for the next couple of weeks.