Darkness.
Everything was darkness. She couldn’t see anything, not even her body. No, that wasn’t right. She didn’t have a body, and there wasn’t anything around her. There was just a void, the infinite nothingness in the dark.
So, this is death, hmm? I guess that stuff about pearly gates was rubbish, then.
“Don’t blame me for that. You humans came up with that crap on your own.”
Suddenly, there was light. Well, not really light, but the empty void was no longer empty. She couldn’t see any one point of light, but an area around her was lighter than the surrounding darkness. She found herself standing next to a simple wooden table. Well, standing wasn’t really the right word for it. She didn’t have a proper body, but more of a… presence in the shape of a body. It was all very strange.
Sitting across the table from her was an old man, dressed up like one of the ancient figures of myth and legend. White hair crowned his head, and broad muscles spoke of power yet coursing through his body, despite his age. He was dressed in a simple white toga with a long cloak, and at one hand was an oak staff with a brass thunderbolt at the top of it.
What do you mean, we came up with ‘that crap’? Where is this, then? And who are you?
“I meant exactly what I said I did. Those tales of a single god above all, in all three of the religions and all their various sects that followed after were all things made up by humans. Yes, all of it. So those guys who killed a ‘Son of God’, and the people who followed that ‘Son’, and the people who tossed out half of that for a Prophet later on were all basically crazy, and the persuasive kind of crazy that got people following them. And there wasn’t anything we could do about it, you know.”
The old man sighed, and said, “Did you ever wonder why, in the past, there were so many stories of gods and goddesses in the world? Stories that continued and lingered on across the years? That’s because they were all real, child. Unfortunately, a couple bad decisions were made, because several of the damned trickster gods got together and thought it would be a lark to go and fool the whole damned pantheon of pantheons! Once the Sundering happened, we couldn’t get back and undo the damage, so you humans were on your own, without even the System to help you.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. She probably ought to say something, right? But what do you say when someone strongly hinted they were a god, while you were dead, and started ranting about… whatever happened that made gods not be able to affect the world?
The man must have noticed her dilemma, because he shook his head, clearing away those thoughts. “But you didn’t come here for that kind of talk. All right, from the top, then. You’re here because you’re dead. Normally, your memories would have been wiped, and you’d go back into the loop for another run through the cycle, especially since you didn’t exactly do anything worthy of eternal rest or damnation. But every few thousand souls, we give them the option of an ‘exchange program’. Basically, you’ll go to another world for the next cycle, live your life, and so on. Think of it like putting chlorine in your pool’s filtration system, to keep things from developing in a bad direction. Anyways, you’re getting to go to a whole new world, with your memories intact.”
Do I have to have my memories? I… I don’t want to remember everything.
The man sighed. “Well, I’m afraid the rules are pretty specific on that point. Transfers need to have their memories intact, because that is what helps freshen up the pool. I won’t bore you with the technical details on how. But we’re not exactly heartless, and there’s some precedent that will help you out. Most transfers are given a bit of an ‘edge’ in some way, because having them transfer over, die before they can walk, and get sent back into the pool is a waste, not to mention something normally reserved for a punishment when someone really did something deserving of wrath. So, anyway, you are going to have a few advantages going into your new life. First one being that you get to choose which world you go to.”
“Just pick one of the four, and we’ll move to the next step.”
Just pick one of the four. As if it were that easy! This was her new life, here! She couldn’t just up and decide it on a whim! Not after how her old life had been! No, this life needed to be better than the one she had before. She had to think about this carefully.
Necronica was out, that was certain from the start. Zombie apocalypses might sound like fun when you’re reading a novel or playing a game, but living one? No thanks. That was a quick way to getting herself killed horribly, and sent back to being dead. And there was the chance that she would get caught in that world’s cycle afterwards, meaning she’d be stuck in a death loop getting killed by the damn undead. Nope, just nope.
Semadra was also out. There were some people who tried to say that the ‘simple life’ was a great and wondrous thing, and that technology was the root of all evils. She privately thought that they were nut jobs, since they usually pontificated about that ‘simple, tech-free life’ in a Starbucks, or when they were talking about picking up enough guns and ammo for a small army ‘just in case’. Plus, she was rather fond of things like not getting plagues. So stone age was out.
The other two were harder to decide between. Did she want sci-fi or fantasy? Well, it looked like the sci-fi was more space opera than hard science, which could be fun, but she wasn’t really sure she wanted to live in a world where both magic and science disasters could happen, or build off each other. No, best go with Tarona. Besides, she’ll get to be a mage, maybe?
“Oh, good choice, there. Plenty of room for an adventurous young woman to make a name for herself. Now, for the next part, we’re going to see what your System stats are going to be. We could just set them, but the contracts require some randomness. Fortunately, you will have an advantage over others in the world, since you’ll be rerolling 1s to determine your stats, and again when you level up and find out what your new HP is. Trust me, that’s going to be important later on. Anyways, here you go. Just roll the dice, and let’s see how you do.”
Four six-sided dice, slightly larger than normal, appeared on the table in front of me. I didn’t quite get what the man meant by System stats, but I figured there wasn’t any point in delaying things. I picked up the four dice, and rolled.
The old man nodded appreciatively. “Ooh, that’s not bad, not bad at all. You should be able to take on pretty much any class you want with that combination of attributes. Not many people on Tarona have a spread like that, you know.”
What are these attributes?
“Ah, crap, I didn’t explain the attributes, did I? Well, I’ll give you a basic description, enough for you to decide how to lay things out for your classes. But don’t go setting them until you find out what classes you’ve got, because you can’t change them after that, and it’ll be a pain to deal with.”
Classes?
“Ah, basically your ‘job’. Everyone on Tarona is born with a Class, which unlocks when they hit puberty, except in certain very rare cases. Most don’t know their class before it unlocks, but Transfers like yourself will know. You’re the only ones who get to pick your class and assign your attributes. Most people have that set from birth. Anyway, attributes.”
I whistled softly to myself. How did I do that without a body? Probably the same way I was able to roll the dice. I thought it, so it happened.
The old man nodded. “Yep. Abilities are important, and don’t you forget it. Now, once you set your abilities, they’re set, and can’t be changed without some powerful magic. However, you can add to your abilities over time, or find items to augment your abilities. But like I said, wait for your class choices before setting attributes. Anyways, now we get to the first big choice you’re going to have to make: your new race.”
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