While Aura had never had any lucid dreams before, she had heard about them. The ability to do as you please when you become aware was a childhood fantasy for many. Sadly for her, no matter what she tried it became apparent that this was not a dream. What it was, however, she had no idea. Although her mind was clear, as if she were awake, she had no physical sensations. In a way it was merciful that the dull aching pain that had been bothering her since the fight against Maul was not there. But at the same time, it was disconcerting as well.
So, all she could do was remain stationary and watch as more wispy figures gradually filled the seats of the amphitheater. On appearing they remained as stationary as herself. And given how they were blinking into existence but not out, she was able to come to a quick conclusion.
These… they are all other players. So that means that more than just our group was brought to this world. But how many… and for what reason?
Thinking on that, she did her best to try and count as many wispy figures as she could. It was an exercise in futility for a couple of reasons. First, she did not know where exactly she was positioned in this place. There could be a great many more figures behind her that would go unaccounted. Secondly though, was that while there was space between each figure they still blended against each other. She had to start her count over multiple times out of questioning herself, and the best she got too was around one hundred.
Still, Aura was determined to get an accurate count at least. Before she can resume her count though the atmosphere of the place changes. The already dim lighting goes down further, making the wispy figures harder to distinguish. At the same time though, a light seems to shine behind the curtain on the stage. The curtain, which begins to slowly pull back as if for dramatic effect. When it pulls back fully, she can get sight of a figure standing there.
Standing tall and with his arms clasped behind his back was what looked like a middle-aged man. His hair was a short and blond color, and his face worn but clean shaven. His face is rather plain in all honesty, looking like what could be just another face in a crowd. Though, with him being the only face visible here he surely had all the attention on him.
However, he was a bit of a contradiction as well. While his face was plain his clothing was not. Constantly shifting in colors, he wore what looked to be a business suit beneath an open set of robes. Focusing on the constantly shifting colors of his clothing was enough to draw a headache, though trying to lock onto his eyes would do the same. After all, they were constantly shifting as well. And without any eyelids of their own to close in this strange wispy state, every player here was subject to the mysterious man’s headache-inducing clothing.
He has to know that we can’t look away. Whoever this is did this intentionally.
Feeling a headache without a head was odd, but Aura pushed past it. Instead, she did her best to focus on parts of the mysterious man’s appearance that was not constantly shifting. Pretty much doing as much as she could to distract herself from the headache he could induce. And, luckily enough, an excellent distraction would soon be made.
“One hundred and twenty-six. That is how many of your fellows have passed in this first week. I ask that you all calm your thoughts and be silent as we take a moment to acknowledge their passing.”
The man’s voice was deep, and though whispered, it carried through the otherwise soundless amphitheater. His declaration would have probably silenced a crowd were they acting up, but in this space, it was simply eerie. Despite the questions and theories that were bubbling in her mind, Aura did do her best to quiet her thoughts. Giving respect to those who had passed was something she had to do occasionally, as was delivering the news. So, focusing away from the man and to the other wispy figures, she allowed her mind to quiet out of respect.
After what is probably a couple of minutes, the silence is broken once more as the man speaks again.
“To the remaining eight hundred and seventy-four of you remaining, I believe now is the time to welcome you properly. While this may not be as you intended it to be, you are members of the alpha test of Chronicles of Souls. And, despite what some of you have believed over this past week. This is not a game that you are in anymore, no this is your life now. And I advise you get used to it.”
Still in a whispered voice, the man’s tone has shifted from the respectful one when speaking of the dead, to an almost excited tone. The contrast would be enough to send a shiver up Aura’s spine if she had one right now. So, all she could do was settle for the weary thoughts that start to come to mind.
I’m honestly not surprised that some people still thought this was a game or something. Plenty of anime and the like start off with this kind of premise, though I think they have fallen off in popularity lately. That aside though, given the number of dead and living that puts us at one thousand people having been brought here… And I’ve only met nine others.
More and more questions and theories started to bubble inside of her mind. Where had all the other players been sent to? Why were they sent to separate locations? Why were only one thousand of them chosen when she could recall that the alpha test had spots for more than that? And, most importantly of all, who was this man that was speaking to them right now?
“Now, I understand you all have plenty of questions. That is one of the reasons why I have brought you here in the state you are in. In this way at least, only I can hear what is going on inside of your minds. Rest assured that plenty of your questions will be answered. For that is what tonight is all about.”
The man on the stage, who Aura realized at this point still had not introduced himself, claps his hands. Then, like something out of a sci-fi story, two holographic images appear. One of them is spherical, a large portion of it blue while the rest is varying shades of brown and green. While she had never seen an actual image of it from this perspective before, it was easy enough to recognize it as Earth. The other image though, was quite different.
It was smaller for a start, smaller than the likes of any of the continents at least. Without a closer look it was hard to tell, but it was maybe the size of Britain. That though, was the least worrisome thing. Compared to Earth, which was rounded, the second image was far flatter. It looked like how fantasy movies sometimes had whole islands lifted out of the water. There was mass on the lower part of it, showing that there was some underground system. But the top had maybe one mountain, and a ring of trees for a forest surrounding an open plane. There were no oceans, no great landmarks, just a floating mass.
“While I wish it did not need saying, it seems that some of you are of a certain belief. Yes, the image of the round planet is of Earth. No, it is not as flat as you believe it to be, and this is not a trick. These images are of the place you all came from, and the place you are now. This world has a name, Ouro. And, as you can tell it is rather small in comparison. There are reasons for that, but that is neither for here nor now. Instead, I want you to take a good look at your new home. Perhaps you can pick out where you landed, or perhaps not.”
While his tone was somewhat annoyed initially on clarifying that the Earth was indeed round, it became almost fond sounding as he stated the name of the small landmass. And while it was good to know the name, Aura was more concerned by the size of this Ouro.
If this was still just a game, then it would make sense to not make it as big as Earth. But this isn’t a game anymore. Something must have happened to this Ouro, but it doesn’t sound like we are going to find out here…
While she was annoyed that some information was not being told, a part of her was excited as well. While video games had been a bit of an escape for her, the lore of them had always been something she looked forwards to. So, this kind of mystery was right up the alley of things she enjoyed. Of course, said enjoyment was dulled somewhat by the fact that she was experiencing it all for real. With all the dangers that came with such a thing. As she ruminates on this, the man lets out a sigh before shaking his head.
“I can understand the impatience you all must be feeling, and I can hear the questions that you are asking. Being rude will not get you anywhere as far as getting them answered. Some will be answered here and now, while others I will leave for you to figure out for yourselves. I suppose though that I should tell you why exactly you have all been brought to this world.
The simple matter is, Ouro is a dying world. I’m sure some of you have seen evidence of it, the settlements you have started in being small. The lack of communication, of transport, of growth. Yes, this world is sadly moving towards a slow death and that is not something that I wish to see happen. There is potential for that death to be averted, but the people of the world are stagnant. A catalyst was needed, and so I sought one out. Which is when I found all of you. I brought one thousand individuals to this world, in hopes of you being catalyst enough to help reverse the course of fate. Or, at the very least, to slow it down for long enough.”
That revelation was enough to freeze Aura’s racing thoughts. Even with the stress of everything that had happened over this past week, there had been a lingering question in the back of her mind. To know exactly why it was that she and the others had been brought to this world. And while a cynical part of her thought it was for the amusement of some higher power, or powers, a part of her had hoped it was to put a stop to a greater threat. And while that was not exactly what was going on, the reasons for being brought here were great indeed.
That being the case though, how exactly are we supposed to do that? I don’t know about the other players, but where my group ended up there isn’t much chance to grow strong. And even if it isn’t about growing strong and is more about making changes, you need to be strong to affect things in Fortress.
There was of course the issue of exactly what kind of changes could even be brought about. Technology, sure she knew the basics of some things, but it was not enough to replicate anything. Infrastructure, while she could probably help with figuring out how to build a secure house, she was not an architect. And even if she was it was not like there was an abundance of materials to use. Sure, she did not know what kinds of lives the other players in Fortress had lived, so it was possible one of them may be able to help. But then, that left her wondering just what her purpose was.
“Of course, as some of you have surmised this will not be a quick task. In fact, I do expect it to take years for any true change to take place. Calm down, calm down. Yes, I said years, but it is not something you need to worry about too much. The flow of time between Earth and Ouro is quite… extreme. I will not tell you the exacts though but merely give you an example. The one week that you have all spent in this world. Over the course of it a little over eight minutes have passed on Earth.
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All of that aside though, the passage of time is not something you need to worry about too much. I am shutting this down now because I can already see some of you thinking of ending your lives to try and get back to Earth. That will not work. Should you die, no matter what circumstances it is under, you will not return to Earth. There is no game over with you waking up, it will simply be the end.”
Once more, words are spoken which would probably lead to a deafening silence. As it is, given the satisfied smile on the man’s face Aura can guess that many of the others have been silenced by the declaration. While she had not considered taking her own life to return home, she was very close to losing her life. The fight with Maul had been far riskier than she had guessed it to be, and with her health still not being full it made the upcoming monster hunt more dangerous.
…I’m going to need to speak with Violet. Given how she reacted when we all first woke up in this world, I can’t imagine she will be taking this news well. Damn it, now more than ever we need to meet up so we can talk things out. I don’t know if it is a blessing or a curse that this meeting thing is happening now.
While she was quite concerned about her fellow players, with her friends being the top priority, she could not help but continue to wonder. Everything that was being said seemed to be done for a reason. The man had let on that he could read all their minds. Especially with that last bit of information, it felt like he was heading things off before they could get too bad by making sure that nobody would take their own lives. Which just made the question of who he was grow more.
“That of course, is not to say that there is no way for you to return to Earth. Though I do ask why you would wish to do so? Yes, this world is dying and can be quite harsh. However, it is also so much more than your own world. You can be more than the person you were back on Earth. Your bodies are fresh with youth, and you all have the potential to be great. You have the potential to be heroes, to change the world itself for the better.
And as I said, time is flowing far faster here than on Earth. So, take some time to think on the matter. Do not throw your lives away in hopes of returning to your formerly dull existence. Instead, be the catalysts you were brought here to be. Bring change to the world, save it from its death. Who knows, if you do so properly you may be able to shape how this world will be.”
Once more, the man’s voice changes. This time it is almost reverential and given what he was saying it made sense. He was trying to appeal for those things that almost everybody wanted, fame and power. It was a whiplash to Aura considering the previous topics, and if she had eyes, she would be narrowing them right now.
There is more he is not telling us. Maybe he will do so later, but I get the feeling that he won’t. He wants us to remain in this world for some reason. Is there another reason that we were brought here beyond just being change? And speaking of that, he still hasn’t mentioned what kind of change we are supposed to bring. Outside of keeping the world from dying, which how are we even supposed to do that?
Despite her own growing frustration at her growing questions, the man’s smile seems to grow. He must be getting some positive response from most of the other players. And it had to be most of them, because Aura did not believe that everyone was falling for the performance he was putting on. There was something deeper going on here, she just had to figure out what.
“Now then, while I am sure you are satisfied with some of the information that I have given you I am sure you all have plenty more questions. And while I could answer them all that is sadly not what is going to happen. I will not be leaving you without some answers though, so here is what will happen. I want you all to think of a single question. Regardless of what the question is, if you think it then I will personally tell you the answer.
There will, however, be three exceptions. The three of you who come up with the most unique question I will answer aloud. I am under no delusions that you will not be sharing your answers with the other players that you meet. And I do in fact encourage such behavior. Still, I also encourage you to think hard about what it is you wish to have answered.”
Following that statement, the strange man moves his hands behind his back and assumes a pose as if he is simply observing them all. Which given what he said is probably what is going on. For Aura meanwhile everything, especially his last statement, has her mind racing.
He’s going to answer a question… any question we may have. I still don’t know if we can trust him, but he’s something far beyond all of us. He’s obviously the one who brought us all here, given that he outright said such. The thing is, I kind of doubt that the reason he gave was the only reason. I mean, preventing the world from dying is a pretty big task to entrust us all with, especially when I doubt any of us know how exactly to do that.
So, that could be a question to ask. But I’m sure other people are thinking of that to. I mean, there are hundreds of us and theoretically we are all gamers to some degree. Getting that kind of information is probably on a lot of people’s minds. But, then again, I’m sure a lot of them are also worried about getting back home as well. He hinted at how it was possible and was practically inviting us into asking questions on the matter.
In fact… it’s almost as if he wants us to waste our questions. He waited until the end of this whole thing to even bring it up. After he’s given us all a lot to think on with little time to process the information. And he is in our heads as well, so I’m sure that if anybody even thinks of a question, he is going to answer it. Which means I need to be careful here.
While she did not have the ability to do so, Aura does her best to imitate the state of mind that comes from deep breathing and calming down. Overthinking things would only lead to her possibly wasting this opportunity, so she instead reviewed everything that had been said. And while it was a lot, she was able to narrow things down quickly enough.
It was in that narrowing down of her memories that she caught something that could mean something. He mentioned shaping the world in the part of his speech dealing with them trying to ignore returning to Earth. It was also during that when he kept hammering them in as catalysts for change as well. The two things could possibly be connected, and it was with that connection that she had her question. Thinking it towards the man, she waited for a response. When nothing comes right away though, she smirks mentally.
“Alright, that is all but three questions having been answered. As for those three remaining, we shall begin. The first comes from Kai who asks, ‘I know that more than one thousand people signed up for this when it was still a video game. So clearly there is something special about us since we were chosen to come here. So, why are we special?’ Honestly speaking, I am not surprised that only one of you asked me that. Oh, I could tell some of you were wondering if there was more to you all being picked, and there is.
The truth is, that while I did choose you all to be catalysts to stop this world from dying, that is it. None of you were particularly remarkable back on Earth, fated to do great things. Rather, it was the fact that you were unremarkable that made you be chosen. You see while I do want this world to thrive, I do not want it to become a copy of yours. So, I picked those who would not cause it to be so. There are no geniuses among you who can replicate modern technology, no savants that can change the world quickly. No, you are all just average or worse people, who now have the potential to be great.”
While the words were said with a smile, even Aura could tell there was some degree of smugness in the man’s voice as he answered the first question. Even she was left reeling from the answer itself. To be told that you were not remarkable, to some that would be considered being called a failure. It stung for her because she had been told such things in pursuit of her career as a firefighter. Thinking about how it may affect some of the other players, she just hoped that they were taking it well.
“Now that was a bit of a downer answer, but perhaps this next one may give you some hope. This one comes from Aura who asks, ‘You are trying to get us to forget about returning to Earth by mentioning that we can shape the world itself. I’m betting those two are connected in some way so answer me this. How can we do either of those two things?’ To be clear I was not trying to make you forget about returning to Earth. It is very well possible, but I was planning on revealing this to you all later. After all, the chances of one being found early is slim.
As for what I am referring to, I am sure that some of you have obtained a Quest at this point. It is something that is unique to all of you as players and serves as motivation for you to grow. It can provide things not normally obtainable, from items to skills and stats. It is not a Quest that will get you home or allow you to shape the world, but a Grand Quest.
Grand Quests are, for the lack of a better term, quest chains. They will involve uncovering a great mystery of the world, defeating something that threatens it all, or accomplishing something thought undoable. There is no set limit to the number of Grand Quests, as new threats and the like can appear at any time. However, any given Grand Quest can only be completed by one person. And, to the one person who completes a Grand Quest they will be given a choice in their reward.
They can either choose to return home to Earth, or they can change something about the world itself. A great deal of power can come from completing a Grand Quest, but great danger awaits as well. After all, some Grand Quests involve you delving into the mysteries of Ouro. And some mysteries do not like to be solved.”
The man’s voice goes ominous as he finishes his statement, though even that is defeated by exactly what was said. Aura is a little worried that her name was announced in such a way, but having her question answered out loud is worth it. After all, whereas the answer to the question posed by whoever Kai was probably inspired dread, this one may have inspired hope.
“Now then, onto the last question before I send you all back. This comes from Luka who asks, “So, I know that you brought us all here in these wispy forms because you didn’t want us talking over each other. But is that the only reason?” A rather simple question, but sometimes simplicity can shine brilliantly as well. For indeed, there is another reason why I brought you all here in your current forms.
Outside of a handful of exceptions, all of you changed your appearances when creating your avatars when you thought this was a game. In being brought into this world, your bodies have taken on the form of those avatars. As it currently stands your body, mind, and soul are all in a state of flux as they adjust to your new states. I could not bring your bodies as this is not a place you can physically exist at. So instead, I simply plucked your minds out and brought them to me here.
Of course, I also did not bring your souls along for the ride either. The reason for that is two-fold. Firstly, your souls are still adjusting to the new world you have found yourself in. Taking them away from your bodies would cause more damage than I would care to repair. Secondly, doing so would cause the gods of the world to try and follow to see what is going on. And we can’t have that.”
The last bit of his statement is stunning, and Aura scarcely has time to process it. He, spoke of gods in the world, but isn’t the world dying? Unless those gods are evil, in which it makes sense for them to be left in the dark.
Or he brought it up to leave us all with even more questions. Who or whatever he is, I will find out.
“Now then, that is all the time we have for this evening. I do wish you all luck in your new lives here on Ouro. Remember, you are all the catalysts that will save this world from its demise. So, try to bring about change where you can. Do try to survive though, as I’m sure the next meeting in a few months will be more informative.”
With a smile and a last statement, the man raises his hand and snaps his finger. In an instant, Aura’s vision goes white before she can fully process what he said.
Hazel eyes snap open, and Aura wakes in her bedroll. The room is still dark, but she can hear others stirring nearby. The aching pain from before returns shortly after she awakes and combined with the lack of fatigue, confirmed that it is likely morning. Before she can process that though, something else takes her attention. A sight that is becoming very familiar, a floating window in front of her vision.
