“thy awakening shall commence in:
10 Years…
9 Years…
8 Years…”
And so on until,
“1 Year…
May the Cosmos bring thee mercy.”
Wes felt the briefest sensation of falling before coming to a hard stop as he hit the hard rock beneath him. Unprepared for the sudden movement, he stumbled as he tried to regain his balance while looking around wildly. He hit the ground, knocking the wind out of him. He struggled to regain control, but to add to the confusion was a deafening chatter of a hoard of animals. Surrounding him were dozens of what appeared to be giant blue and red squirrels. Each one was at least the size of a basketball, and they ran around him in a panic at his sudden appearance. It was pure chaos, and he wasn’t sure if he even needed to defend himself, but his question was shortly answered when one of them leaped onto him, clawing and biting.
The pain caused his body to clench, and he accidentally squeezed the trigger of the gun. The steel pellets tore through several squirrels, but there were still more than he could even count, especially with his mind distracted by the pain of the one attacking him. But it was not long before one turned into two and two turned into a dozen. They piled onto him, and he could only swing his knife wildly and pull the trigger of the revolver with blind abandon.
But it helped little, the little shits were too fast and there were too many. The sound of angry chattering filled his ears as pain covered his body. They were eating him alive, and there was very little he could do about it. He had never even made it to his feet, and by now he was too weak to even fight back. He hadn’t even had the chance to fire off all six shots before they overwhelmed him. But just as he thought he was about to die, crushed and torn to shreds, the squirrels scattered. Having the chance, he looked around weakly and saw several of the bloodied and mangled rodents around him, their bodies riddled with several holes each. The nearer ones even sported a few deep cuts from his knife, though he doubted that it was too effective.
His thoughts were interrupted by another of the beasts, this one even bigger than the rest. If the others were the size of basketballs, then this one was easily a beachball. No squirrel had any right to be that big. It hopped up to him, abandoning any of the natural caution the wild animals would normally have. It was confident and curious as it climbed on top of him. Then after sniffing at his chest for a few moments, it bit into his shoulder and ripped out a chunk of flesh. Wes tried to let out a scream, but nothing came out as his throat convulsed. The mutant rodent ignored his suffering, quickly scarfing down the man’s flesh before taking another bite out of him.
In a last will of defiance, he put every bit of energy and effort he had left in raising his hand holding the pistol. Fortunately, the shoulder the beast was eating was the one that had once held the knife. His arm shook, and it felt like the gun weighed 20 pounds, but he didn't give up. He would sure as fuck kill this damned squirrel, even if it took him his last breath to do it. It felt like an hour had passed by the time he got the gun up. But by then he had used all the strength he had left, and as he tried to point it at the beast, gravity took over. His hand fell, and the barrel hit the thing’s neck.
He would later reflect that this was probably for the best, as there was no way he had enough strength at that point to pull the heavy double-action trigger. As the barrel jabbed into the boss squirrel, it finally noticed his efforts to fight back. It chattered at him angrily, before arcs of electricity shot out from its body and into his own. He seized uncontrollably, causing his finger to pull the trigger so tight it would have been painful if he wasn’t already torn to shreds. The gun fired and the 9 steel pellets in his last shell tore through the neck of the monstrous beast at point-blank range. Instantly, the electrical arcs ceased, and the huge body limply fell on top of him.
His mind was a mess by now, he didn’t even really know or understand anything that had happened in the past several seconds. His vision faded in and out before he drifted into unconsciousness.
By the time he awoke, the world around him was dark, but he was no longer in so much pain. He still hurt, but it was not consuming his every thought, making it nearly impossible to focus on anything. He took a few moments to take in his surroundings. He was still underneath the huge blue and red squirrel and was still too weak to free himself. The other smaller squirrels were nowhere to be seen. But he was suspicious of them still being near, as most of his vision was blocked by the fluffy body on top of him, and the only light was from the silvery moon. Well, that wasn’t quite true. After several seconds of trying to figure out what he was seeing, he realized that there was what appeared to be a faintly glowing glass dome over him.
The last thing he noticed was that no matter where he looked, there was a gently pulsing shine in the upper right corner of his vision. It took him a long time to figure out how to look at it. Neither turning his head nor trying to point his eyes at it let him focus on it. Instead, he had to unfocus his eyes and put his attention on it, like trying to watch an animal that didn’t want to be seen.
Once he discovered the secret, a scroll unfurled down the right side of his field of view. Just like before, more words were written by an invisible hand, but the handwriting was different from before. The last message was written in cursive with lots of loops and flowing lines, but this time the letters looked like they came from a gothic manuscript with short, straight, broad vertical lines crossed with lots of thinner horizontal lines.
“Hearken unto the Proclamation of Triumph, as decreed by the Eternal Machina and borne upon the Aether itself.
The realm rejoiceth at thy triumph and thy deeds shall not be forgotten. Let the Following be known and rewarded.
Thou hast vanquished the Fox Squirrel Swarm Soldier: Bronze: Level 8, eightfold in number.
Thou hast vanquished the Fox Squirrel Swarm Soldier: Bronze: Level 9, fourfold in number.
Thou hast laid low the Aberrant Lightning-Attuned Fox Squirrel Swarm Noble: Iron: Level 9.
Thou hast slain thy first Aether Beast.
Thou art the first upon thy world to slay an Aether Beast.
Thou hast engaged and overcome thy first Aether Beast in lone combat.
Thou hast emerged victorious from thy first battle, bearing but five parts in a hundred of thy life’s essence.
Thou art the first upon thy world to slay an Iron-Ranked Aether Beast.
Thou hast felled an Aether Beast two ranks above thy own.
Thy first conquest hath been of a Beast two Ranks thy superior.
Thou hast triumphed over an Aether Beast two ranks above thyself, in solitary combat.
Thou hast slain an Aberrant Aether Beast for the first time.
Thou art the first upon thy world to slay an Aberrant Aether Beast.
Thou hast overcome an Aberrant Aether Beast in lone combat.
Thou hast slain an Aether Beast of Noble caste.
Thou art the first upon thy world to slay an Aether Beast Noble.
Thou hast conquered an Aether Beast Noble in single combat.
Thou hast brought down many Aether Beasts with but a single blow.
First Rewards Bestowed Upon Thee:
- Fox Squirrel Swarm Soldier: Bronze hath been inscribed within thy Bestiary.
- Said beast may now stand as a supporter upon thy Heraldric Achievement.
- Aberrant Lightning Fox Squirrel Swarm Noble: Iron hath likewise been recorded within thy Bestiary, and may serve in thy Heraldry.
- Thou hast Unlocked Heraldic Achievement.
- Shield: Copper Heater
- Battle Role: Unlocked
- All spoiles earned in thy virgin battle shall increase threefold either in quantity or in quality.
Spoils of War:
- Experience: 7345 ×3 (22,035)
- Fox Squirrel Meat: Bronze, Greater Quality ×12
- Fox Squirrel Pelt: Bronze, Greater Quality ×12
- Aether Crystals: Iron (Attunement: None) ×15
- Aether Crystals: Iron (Attunement: Lightning) ×9
- Aberrant Noble Fox Squirrel Meat: Iron (Lightning-attuned), Perfect, 12 kilograms
- Aberrant Noble Fox Squirrel Pelt: Iron (Lightning-attuned), Perfect, 9 kilograms
- Attunement Permanently Added: Lightning
Heraldic Honours Bestowed :
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
- Shield: Steel Tower
- Shield: Iron Dueling Shield
- Tincture: Bronze Ebony
- Tincture: Copper Crimson Mist
- Tincture: Runic Bronze Obsidian
- Charge: Iron Stag
- Crest: Iron Shattered Crown
Grand Achievement Earned!
For valour exceeding mortal bounds in thy maiden combat, wherein thou didst face a mighty Aetherbeast Swarm and bring low an Aberrant Noble unassisted, whilst securing myriad World Firsts, thou art granted the following boon:
- Heraldry: Motto — Copper Scroll: “Stand Against Tyranny Alone”
Thou hast ascended in station twentyfold, each triumph raising thee higher in the esteem of the Machina. Threescore Merit Points remain as yet undistributed. Let not such boons lie idle, for they are thine by right of conquest.
Tasks Proclaimed by Right of the Machina
Mandate I: Hunt and lay low the remnant Swarm of Aetherbeasts.
Remaining: 12
Reward: To be determined by the measure of thy performance.
Mandate II: Locate and lay siege to a rending of the cosmos, vanquishing all abomination within.
Reward: To be determined by the measure of thy performance.
Be it hereby declared:
By reason of the warrior’s grievous incapacitation, the rite of acknowledgment concerning the honours and rewards due hath been graciously waived. The Merit Points thus earned shall forthwith be bestowed unto the stat of Fortitude, and there remain apportioned until such time as the life of the Warrior standeth no longer in peril.
Thou dost yet possess three and fifty Merit Points unspent.
Shouldst thou now desire to proceed with the choosing of thy Battle Role, thou must make known thy readiness before the throne of the System, that thy path may be sealed in accord with divine ordinance.
Wes took a deep breath, more than a little tired of this fucking Machina. He was not in the mood or had the mental power to parse through all that while trapped under this stupid giant mutant squirrel. It was then that the dead monster moved. For a moment, Wes was terrified that it was still alive and was going to finish the job, but as he turned his attention to the thing, he found that not only was it still dead, but it had been skinned, gutted, and cleaned. Leaving only a soft fur blanket and paper-wrapped packages on him. With a groan, he could finally push it all off of him, not caring as the pile toppled across the ground.
He made himself sit up and took his time examining his injuries. He wasn’t healed, at least, not entirely. The many minor scratches and bites had closed, but the major injuries still remained, though they had closed, and he was no longer bleeding. If anything, it looked as though he had been healing for a week or two, but he doubted that much time had passed. He was hungry, but not that hungry. He pushed the mystery out of his mind and looked around the area from where he sat.
It had changed, and it took him a few minutes to be sure, but this was definitely the same spot that he was taken from. He recognized the drop off the rock shelf to the trail, and even the tree he was sitting on before was still there. But what confused him was how green and healthy all the plants looked. Colorado was a desert, and even in thick forests, everything was dry, and there were always lots of dead plants this time of year. But even assuming that he wasn’t in the same season, this was very different from what it was like even in Spring when there was the most water from snow melt. It looked as though the forest had turned into an alpine jungle, but the air was still dry as bone. On top of that, he was no longer looking above the tree line. The spruce and pine trees that had once barely reached the peak, now all towered around him and were easily twice as broad as they had been before. This was far more than 10 years of natural growth. Whatever this aether stuff was, the plants sure as hell loved it. Then thinking of how big those squirrels were, he let out a pained laugh. Not just the plants.
He reached up and put his hand on the barrier that surrounded him. It was almost definitely here to allow him to recover after that battle. The real question was if this was a one time thing or if this would happen every time he passed out after killing a monster. Almost definitely the former. He sighed to himself.
Not seeing any way out of the dome, he figured he was supposed to look through the message. He was feeling better now that he was sitting up, so it was easier to make out what it meant.
It looked like a reward log in a videogame, he even got quests and was awarded XP. It sounded like he leveled up and got stat points, 7 of which were apparently put into fortitude -which he figured was his health pool- to keep him from bleeding out. That was… nice? He didn’t know how he felt about that and again wondered if that was a one-time thing, not that he wanted to find out. He briefly wondered why the presentation conflicted with the videogame nature, but figured that was the thing that mattered least right now. What did matter, was that most of the rewards didn’t make sense. "The fuck is heraldry?" he muttered to himself. He looked around to see if there were any shields or broken crowns around him and to his surprise, he did find something that was not the furs and packages which he figured were the meat. A small silk bag sat on the ground nearby. Opening it, he found it filled with chunks of crystals. They were all white, but some crackled with static when he poked at them. These must be the aether crystal rewards, whatever that was.
But after another check, there was nothing else around him. So what the hell was all this Heraldry? Not seeing anything else he could do, he gave up trying to figure that out and did as instructed to get his Battle Role, whatever that was.
“I’m ready,” he said into the air, feeling more than a little stupid, but it worked last time.
At his words, the scroll rolled back up, and a book floated into view. It was bound in black leather with silver caps on the corners. The cover had a gold leaf image of what looked like Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man with the Tree of Life behind him. He only got a slight glance at it before the book opened and the pages flipped to the middle.
Let it be declared: Thou must now choose thy Battle Role.
The roles herewith presented have been wrought in accordance with the weapons thou hast wielded, and the great feats thou hast achieved upon the field of strife.
Role the First: Knife-Fighter: Copper: Standard
- For every rise in thy standing, thou shalt gain:
- +1 Finesse
- -1 Might
- Skills Bestowed:
- Stab
- Slash
Role the Second: Berserker: Copper: Greater
- For every rise in thy standing, thou shalt gain:
- +1 Might
- +1 Fortitude
- -1 Sagacity
- Skills Bestowed:
- Rage
Ah. Apparently Battle Roles were combat classes. He immediately dismissed the first two, a minus 1 to a stat every level just sounded like a terrible idea, even if he didn’t know what “Sagacity” was. He would have to spend his free points just to keep it normal. On top of that, Knife Fighter sounded too basic. Given the list of achievements, especially the greater achievement that earned him a motto (he hoped that was good), he was confident that he would get something better than “Standard” The Berserker was a step up in that regard, but he has no interest in it. He never played berserkers in games and didn’t like the idea of losing control of himself in a battle.
Role the Third: Anarchist: Bronze: Greater
- For every rise in thy standing, thou shalt gain:
- +1 Presence
- +1 Spirit
- +1 Might
- -1 Vigour
- Skills Bestowed:
- Rebel
Role the Fourth: Arcane Hunter: Bronze: Superior
- For every rise in thy standing, thou shalt gain:
- +1 Lightning Attunement
- +1 Spirit
- +1 Perception
- -1 Vigour
- Skills Bestowed:
- Aether sight
- Elemental Bolt: Lighting
- Elemental Resistance: Lightning
That was more of what he was looking for. He was still not ecstatic about the minus ones, but at least they offered much more to help balance it out. Though he wished he at least got some flavor text to help him figure out what exactly Rebel did, but decided it had something to do with the Nobility beasts. Unless something better was offered, he was certain that he would choose the Arcane Hunter. It looked like a magic class and was the most straightforward and easy-to-understand of the two. Not to mention that being able to cast lightning bolts would be unbelievably cool as well as useful to his survival.
But the next line halted any further plans from his mind and his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
Role the Fifth *scribble*
Hear this proclamation:
The Machina Eternal hath not yet discerned the nature of the weapon thou dost wield. Therefore, it now entereth a period of divine observation, to gather knowledge of its form and function.
To aid in this sacred process, thou art entreated to continue laying low the beasts of this world with said weapon, that its mysteries may be revealed through blood and trial.
If thou possessest any knowledge of this armament’s name, origin, or properties, thou mayst declare it henceforth, that the Machina might hasten its understanding.
Be it known: A Battle Role most rare and bespoke shall be wrought from thy deeds, and granted unto thee shouldst thou persevere in excellence.
Wes stared at the jagged, chaotic line of ink where it looked like the hand had a seizure for several long seconds. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was getting more and more frustrating. The fucking magic, reality-bending, multiversal computer program didn’t know what a damn gun was.