“Step forward, James.” TIME said as she bit into her index finger, tearing a rge chunk of flesh. She brought her bloody finger towards the page of the book she held open and drew an hourgss and her name on the page. She kept her gaze on James throughout the entire process. This boy has to be the one.
“James Von Berkshire, the st son of the Von Berkshire family. The only mortal to kill one of FATE’s scions. The first person to steal a book from the Grand Library, home to my beloved brother KNOWLEDGE. The man who escaped the tower, the vilest prison in the realms.”
James’s body began to shake violently as TIME spoke. It took everything James had to keep himself from falling over, but her eyes, her damn eyes, were not making it any easier for James. Her eye color changed to a shade of gold that resembled the sun, and like the sun, it gave off a bright light, which caused James pain just to look at her.
“James, your excursion to my brother’s home left you in tatters, causing pain so brutal that the ancient bloodline of Von Berkshire could not keep up with it. To make matters even worse, this damn prison drained the st of your power, sealing you off from the system that connects all life in the realms.” She closed her eyes for a second to relieve some of the pain they caused James.
“ If I start the ritual and send you back to the past in your current state, I can not guarantee you will live through the process.” Time exhaled before speaking again, “My father, the CREATOR, will punish me for even tempting the ritual, so helping you further can’t make things any worse.”
She dipped her bloody finger into the arm of the sand throne and let the blood and sand mix until a rge portion of the sand turned red from the blood. She ripped off a chunk of the blood-soaked sand and formed a ball. Time flung the ball towards James’s head.
The blood-soaked sandball made contact with James with so much force that it caused him to fall on his back. Once James was on his back, the spttered sand gathered itself up, forced its way into James’s mouth, and went down his stomach. During the process, James began to scratch violently across his stomach, trying desperately to tear open his stomach and get rid of the sand that was ripping his body from within.
James, you have to trust me and let my blood merge with you.
James bit his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut. Remember, you're doing this to save your family and the people you love. James took one long breath and y as still as possible.
Once James stopped fighting the situation, his body jerked and nded back down with such intensity that James swore he felt his spine crack. His body began to settle down, and just when James thought it was over, the rest of the bloody sand from TIME’s throne flew toward him, covering him in a vortex of sand.
The vortex of sand tore into James’s body, hacking away yers of flesh with each rotation of the sand cloud. After James's body was rendered into a skinless monstrosity, he felt the sand in his stomach spin in the opposite direction of the vortex. James’s body began to heal as the sand within him spun, creating new flesh. The sand was not just healing; it was remaking his body into a vessel that could once again access the SYSTEM.
James felt a familiar feeling coursing through his veins, and he missed it sorely. The Von Berkshire family's ancient bloodline had reawakened within him. The family’s bloodline enabled his ancestors to build the foundation of what became one of the eight ruling families of their realm. The same bloodline led the young, power-hungry scion to Von Berkshire's doorstep, ultimately ending the family’s destruction.
James had mixed feelings when he first activated the power of his ancient bloodline all those years ago. The irony was the timing of the scion's appearance at James’s home; if only he had arrived a few hours ter, he would've been present when the World’s System updated and awakened the bloodline within James. On that day, James made his solemn vow to hunt down the man responsible for the death of his loved ones, but found himself conflicted about whether he should use his newly gained power to kill the man. Should he give the bastard the luxury to witness the ancient Von Berkshire’s bloodline in action, or use the SYSTEM he finally gained access to and find another source of power to kill him with?
James ultimately decided to kill the bastard using the full might of the Von Berkshire’s bloodline. It was James’s duty as the st living member of the Von Berkshire to kill his family’s enemy with the very power that made their family a threat, to begin with. He was the first member of the family to activate the ancient bloodline in centuries, making him the first true heir to the Von Berkshire legacy.
James finally had his revenge. It only took ten years; the damn scion had a knack for hiding, but James tracked him down and let him feel every form of torture he used against James’s family, and once James had his fun, he finally killed him.
James salivated as a burst of energy surged through him, signaling that the bloodline had been activated again. He bit his lip, breaking the skin and causing himself to bleed. James began licking his bloody lips, savoring the taste of his blood. Like an addict, he began to twitch a bit as he ingested the blood.
SNAP
TIME snapped her fingers, and the sand vortex dissipated.
“James, I hate to cut your snack time, but we have much work to do.”
James got up and wiped the excess blood off his lips. “ Sorry about that. I just missed the taste of my blood.” James’s lip healed as he spoke, “That sweet metallic taste with a hint of basilisk venom.”
“Now that your body is back to its prime, we can continue.”
James became a FULL PLAYER when he was 135 years old. At that time, he was a weak elderly man who lived so long due to his status as a SEMI-PLAYER, which gave him a longer life expectancy. The day of WAKING activated the dormant bloodline within him and gave him the body of a man no older than 35; he looked as if he had been carved from marble.
Like a snake, he sheds his skin as it becomes damaged over time, keeping it pristine. James’s healing factor made him a force to be reckoned with, but that all changed when he reached a point where his special bloodline couldn’t keep up. Getting imprisoned in the tower made matters worse. Five years of torture and starvation drained the st of his strength and left him in an emaciated state.
Thanks to TIME, he regained his strength and felt stronger than he ever was.
He stepped forward while he opened his inventory panel from the system and clicked on an image of the basic clothes he had saved. A fsh of light covered James for a split second, and once it faded, he was fully dressed.
“It's a shame. I quite enjoyed looking at your naked body.” TIME said in her seductive voice.
“James, I need you to sign your name in blood in this book. Doing so will make you a member of my faction. I promise you once you join me, I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”
James grabbed the book, signed his name on the page, and returned it to her.
“You should feel proud, James. Unlike my siblings and their massive groups, you will be the first member of my faction.”
“Which of your siblings has the rgest group?”
She reverted to her younger, hot-tempered self. She screamed in a near-deafening voice,” That whore FATE and her beloved children blessed by the heavens,” she made a gagging gesture.” her damn scions make up the rgest group led by us siblings.” she took a few long dragged-out breaths before she changed back to her adult self who seemed to have everything under control.
“I apologize, James, for my outburst. That bitc— that woman gets on my st nerves. The second-rgest group after hers belongs to my brother, DESTRUCTION, the entity of war and conflict. His grand army consisted of his generals, the pyers with the most blood on their hands. The next group belongs to my beloved brother, KNOWLEDGE, the keeper of history and all wisdom in the known realms. His scribes record the significant events throughout the realms. These are just some of the groups that you will be up against when you return to the past.”
James made a mental note of all this.
“James, can you tell me everything you know about the SYSTEM?”
James took a moment to gather his thoughts. “ From what I can recall from my research. The ancestors who created the eight ruling families in my realm were PLAYERS who escaped their respective worlds and used their collective knowledge to connect their new home to the SYSTEM. Due to the nature of their new home being early in its development, they were forced to limit the ability of the SYSTEM that was introduced into the world.”
“Which meant the creation of new PLAYERS was limited. The easiest way for them to create new PLAYERS was to mate with the native people, ‘the humans’. The children born from these unions were born with bodies that could withstand the activation process that would connect them to the SYSTEM and turn them into the first native PLAYERS on Terra. Once they built the foundation of their families, they used the artifacts they stole from their original realms to turn some of the native popution into PLAYERS. Still, due to them not sharing DNA with the founders, many natives could not attain FULL PLAYER status and become SEMI-PLAYERS instead.”
James took a breath and continued, “Over time, the natives who turned into FULL PLAYERS had children, and most of the world's new popution were born with the potential to awaken and become PLAYERS. They just need access to an artifact. The Founders limited the artifacts to their respective families, and over time, the natives who became PLAYERS were either killed or ensved, which led to the Founders and their families holding the secrets of the SYSTEM and its abilities. This is how the founders created the eight ruling families that led the world behind the scenes, waiting for the day the SYSTEM would merge with the WORLD SYSTEM that connects the rest of the realms.”
“And why did the founders kill the natives that they made an effort to turn into PLAYERS in the first pce?”
“Well, from what I gathered from many ancient texts I found in my journeys. It seems like the founders used the natives they turned into PLAYERS as breeders and ensured the rest of the pnet’s popution could withstand the awakening process. This meant the founders had a vast pool of people to choose from if they needed a more diverse range of options. They could use them for their families and turn them into PLAYERS if necessary. For example, the eight ruling families fought over territories and supplies amongst each other, which meant many of the members of their families died in the process. To repce the losses, they could easily gather up some people and try to create new FULL PLAYERS to join their ranks.”
“So every human on Terra had the potential to become PLAYERS, but the beings that created the eight ruling families decided to keep the power to themself and only shared it when necessary.”
“That was the pn, but life has a way of messing things up. As the world slowly matured and the presence of PLAYERS emerged, the realms closest to ours became aware of Terra’s existence. Many tried to enter the evolving realm, create footholds, and spread their influence. Most of them died in the process, and by some miracle, their awakening artifacts were scattered throughout the pnet, but most needed specific instructions to work. Still, a few had one-time activations and created a few PLAYERS occasionally.”
“In the end, none of the founders' pns mattered because the SYSTEM they slowly introduced into the world merged with the WORLD SYSTEM and affected every being on the pnet and turned everyone into FULL PLAYERS, even the SEMI-PLAYERS got turned.”
“And that is all the information I have on the SYSTEM.”
TIME held out her hourgss and twisted off the lid. “Like most weak worlds throughout the realms, your world has a simir origin.” The sand from the hourgss flew out and formed an image of a small pnet and a few figures standing above it. “ The introduction of the SYSTEM is carried out by a few PLAYERS that escaped their realms because their realms were destroyed or they fled from a more powerful enemy.” The sand sculpture of the pnet exploded, and the figures flew toward a newly formed sand pnet.
“Once the PLAYERS arrived in the new realm, many decided to slowly introduce the SYSTEM into the world, like your ancestors and the rest of the founders.” The sand figures merged into a giant being who held the pnet between its hands. “Others decided to rule the native popution and live their fantasy as Gods.”
The sand gathered together, forming an ornate sculpture of a hooded man holding a tiny pnet in his palm. The only facial feature James could make out was a long beard; the hood obscured the rest of the face.
“Have you ever wondered what happens when a God grows bored?”
“Sorry, but I'm not a religious man. Especially when you factor in the SYSTEM, all forms of religion and concepts of Gods get thrown out.”
TIME ughed, “I should’ve expected that answer.”
“Now let me tell you about my father, CREATOR, the entity that created all the realms in existence. My father created the realms and the pnets that inhabited them; he spent countless hours designing each pnet. From the deepest valleys to the highest mountains, he was like a man who painstakingly built and painted miniatures; it was his passion in life.”
A new figure was formed from the sand; a stunning sculpture of a woman stood beside the figure of the Creator. “With the help of my mother, the first entity of DESTRUCTION, before she relinquished her power to my older brother, WAR, my mother helped my father destroy the worlds that became too overly designed or that he grew tired of.”
The two sculptures of TIME’s parents morphed into a pair of twins. “Once my father created his worlds, he needed to create beings to inhabit the realms. The oldest of my siblings was the twins, LIFE and DEATH. LIFE created sentient beings and animals into existence. DEATH was responsible for killing the beings who caused too much violence and chaos in the realms. My oldest bro, WAR, was created when the first life forms in the realms began killing each other.”
“The next pair of children my parents created was my older brother, KNOWLEDGE, and I. As the entity of time, I was tasked with making the concept of aging and the life expectancies for every living being in existence. The concept of aging gave my siblings some ideas, and they introduced new rules. LIFE decided to introduce babies into reality before all life was beamed into the world as full-formed adults, and now babies would age and grow into adults.”
“DEATH noticed the effect my powers had on the world. The concept of aging meant living beings in the realms would grow old and become elderly creatures. This gave DEATH the idea to make the rule of natural deaths; the life forms could now die from old age. My powers also meant dead animals and pnts could grow rotten over time; this led to the concept of death from sickness.”
The sand merged, creating a sculpture of a tall man holding a rge book. TIME couldn't keep her eyes off the figure. “My beloved brother KNOWLEDGE was tasked to record all history and wisdom the life forms created.”
TIME held out her hands, and the sand began to change into a rge sculpture of her parents and the rest of her family; she didn’t give information on all of her siblings. James figured their identities were not necessary at the moment.
“James, have you ever wondered why I have the appearance of a human woman, and the rest of my family, as you have seen in the sand sculpture, also have human appearances?”
“I just assumed you picked the easiest form for my mind to comprehend.”
“My father loved all the life forms LIFE created, but one group in particur he became fond of. Like everyone in existence, my father loved a good underdog story. The weakest race in the realms was Humans, home to a small pnet called Earth. On their pnet, Humans were the superior species in their world, but in the grand scheme of things, they couldn’t compete with the rest of the beings in the realms. But my father cared for them like they were his own.”
“My father decided to take the form of a Human in honor of those underdogs. The rest of my family and I joined him and also changed our forms.”
The sculpture of the CREATOR turned away from the rest of the figures.
“My father grew bored of his beloved Earth and had my mother destroy it. My father enjoyed nothing more than creating worlds and seeing how his children’s influence would kickstart life on the pnets. To him, the worlds he made were a form of entertainment; they were the best television show he could ask for. He could hop from world to world, viewing the native popution struggle and overcoming adversity.”
More sand flew above the figures of TIME’s family, and a dispy of pnets forming and getting blown to bits pyed out. “My father grew bored and began creating countless worlds, and eventually, he would have my mother destroy them to make way for more worlds. One day, my mother had had enough and relinquished her power to my brother WAR, and he became the new entity of DESTRUCTION.” The sculpture of her mother crumbled away.
“She hid herself in the Void, the pce between the realms—a pce you should be familiar with, James.” TIME turned her gaze from the sand sculpture and stared at James. “My brother’s library is located in the Void.”
James scratched the back of his head and looked down.” Sorry for breaking into your brother’s home.”
“Don’t be; you wouldn’t have stolen my book overwise, and the two of us wouldn’t have met.”
“Back to my story. My father created countless worlds, but his mind yearned for his beloved Earth. What he missed the most was a creation the Humans made; it was something called video games and a genre of game, particurly the RPG.”
The sand sculpture of the CREATOR changed, and now a game console was in his giant hands.
“As I mentioned before, my father was a fan of the underdog; he enjoyed the concept of leveling up and growing stronger. RPGS piqued his interest; he tasked his children to create the SYSTEM and introduce it to the realms.”
The sculptures of TIME and her siblings changed. They now held out their hands and pced them on a pnet.
“The system affects all living things: pnts, animals, and sentient beings. They all gained status windows that dispyed their levels, csses, and bloodline—” TIME coughed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t bore you with information you already have. I’ll continue with the story.”
“My father’s excitement sted for a while, but he missed the Humans, the perfect underdogs. So he decided to recreate Earth and the Humans, but before he could—” A new figure was formed from the sand in the form of a woman. “FATE was born from my father's need for excitement.”
“FATE stopped my form from recreating the Earth. ‘Why create something that bored you before? Let's create something new. Treat it like new game plus for the Earth.”
“This idea lit a fire within my father. He decided to take the life forms that called Earth home and plot them on a new world called Terra, the pnet you call home, James. “
“Wait, my pnet is just this so-called Earth with a new coat of paint?”
“Not exactly; Earth was smaller, with seven continents and a few isnds. Terra is double the size with 10 continents and countless chains of isnds.”
James sighed.
“With Terra created, my father decided to introduce the system to the world. FATE stopped him again and advised him to let her handle the SYSTEM for Terra. FATE has the power to influence the course of an individual's life. So, she affected the lives of the individuals who would become the founders of the eight ruling families that controlled your world. “
“The next step of her pn was introducing the concept of scions and dark scions into the realms. The scions would be blessed from the moment of their birth, and their lives would be filled with excitement and happiness. They were like the main protagonist of a movie. The dark scions would have miserable lives; in some twisted way, they were the heroes.”
“The scions kept my father's attention. But FATE was not done. She roped LIFE into her pns, and the two used their power to create MONSTROSITY, the entity responsible for creating unspeakable creatures that would turn up in countless worlds. These creatures would be the monsters facing the scions.”
“I faced some of these monsters while working with my best friend. He was a scion—” James shut his mouth.
“James, I would not think differently of you just because you are associated with some scions. You can not bme a child for who their mother is. Even when the mother in question is my bitch of a sister.”
James took a deep breath and continued, “Once, my friend and I battled a giant two-headed unicorn who shot poison gas from its mouth. Now, knowing that scions face monsters like that constantly for the amusement of some bored go— I mean, your wonderful father.” Nice save. “I’m gd I am not a scion.”
“I don’t bme you. Ironically, being a child blessed by FATE is not the best fate.”
“My father and FATE had a bst while they designed the WORLD SYSTEM. Before, the realms had their own individual systems, and once a person hopped to another world, they had to adapt to that world’s system. But with the WORLD SYSTEM, all the realms would use the same system. “
“Eventually, my father’s entire attention was on my sister FATE. The rest of my siblings were forced to help FATE with everything she wished. In the end, my pce as my father’s little girl was gone, and whenever I spoke out, I was punished. The rest of my siblings shunned me for fear of acquiring my father’s wraith. Because the system came first.”
“Wait, did you decide to help me because you hate your sister and want the attention of your family again?”
TIME changed into her child form and got up off her throne. She began to scream, “You dare, you ungrateful brat. I decided to help you because you remind me of myself and risk my life even speaking with you.” She brought her hand down in anger, and the sand sculptures colpsed.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to come off as ungrateful. I am just saying I can understand your desire to get your family’s attention again.” James stepped closer to TIME.
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I wish I could see my family again. I thought killing their killer would bring me peace, but I was wrong.” James sighed, “Every child wishes to have their family’s love.”
TIME reverted to her adult form and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“I am sorry, James. This is the first time I have spoken to anyone about my past, and I didn’t expect to get so emotional.”
“It's fine. I owe you my life for saving me. You will always be my savior, and I’ll do everything I can to help you.”
TIME smiled, “I need to get you back to the past and let you loose on those damn scions.” She leaned back on her throne. “That should put a wrench in FATE’s pns.”
TIME gathered the sand from the colpsed sand sculptures and had it hover over James. She held the empty hourgss in her hand and then tossed it on the ground. She tapped her finger on her throne, and the hourgss grew. Once it had grown, it was over 10 feet tall.
She snapped her fingers, and James found himself trapped inside the hourgss. The top of the hourgss had opened, and the sand started flowing inside.
“It's time to start the Ritual of Time. James, make sure you save your family.”
