《The Point Legacy》 Begin I open my eyes to the bright but intangible rays of sunlight. My hands are in front of my eyes, blocking all but the dimmest light to penetrate. Looking around me I find myself in a small clearing in a verdant (DEFINITION: green with grass or other rich vegetation) forest. Suddenly blue screens fill my vision, almost superimposed (DEFINITION: placed or laid over something else, typically so that both things are still able to be seen). Lines of characters fill the screens, notification sounds ringing in my head. I shake my head and pinch myself ad nauseam. (DEFINITION: used to refer to the fact that something has been done or repeated so often that it has become annoying or tiresome) The screens resolutely refuse to go away. I laugh to myself, have my dreams become that realistic? Deciding to read what the screens have to say, I look towards them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome Your race, among others, has been sent here to fight out war on behalf of the gods. This is a land of prosperity, a land of never-ending power. You are tasked with growing stronger and eventually with the help of your race wipe out the other four. Language shall no longer be a barrier as all shall speak and all shall understand. We have restored you to optimum condition and all ailments from your past have been healed. Each human has now awakened a Point Cloud. This is a form of ''levelling up'' where you will have to use energy to link these so-called ''Points'' and thereby gain power and level up. An infinite number of Points exist so theoretically your growth has not an end. To help you on your journey, we have provided an Assistance Template, short for System. Good luck and may the best race win. Klomptus, God of the Infinite Seas --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I sit in confusion, my mind bewildered, I don''t think this is a dream anymore. The sensations are so realistic and I''m considerably sure my subconscious mind is not that creative. Heck, my most vivid dream was a snowball fight. I laugh at myself bitterly, looks like it''s true, my last few memories were not fake, the huge figure in the sky, the booming voice, it was all real. I close the message, not with my fingers but with my will, weird, but possible considering I''ve been shipped like a parcel by an almighty being to a different world. Another screen pops up, showing what I would consider to be my status. <> Name: Ashwin Title: None Level 0 <> "Huh, it''s pretty small isn''t it," I say to myself. What are all these screens doing anyway, are they the ''System'' mentioned in the message. I am on a different planet and most likely everyone from earth has been sent here too. Help will not be coming. Tears slowly filled my eyes, I have no idea if I will be able to survive in the wilderness, my survival skills are non-existent. Is this going to be my final resting place, an unexplored jungle? Suddenly, I feel pain in my leg, a sudden electric shock and my leg goes numb. It loses strength and I fall to the ground. Glancing around me, I see it. A small dog-like creature with electricity coursing over its back. It snarls at me, it looks like I was attacked by it. It is coming for another attack. I get up on my feet, stumbling, adrenaline flowing through my veins. If the creature is going to attack, I will kill it. My mind hardens at the thought, I am not going to be the same person anymore. A small part of my humanity crumbles, I never thought that I would kill another creature, but to survive, I will do anything. My fists are in front of me, I copy the traditional boxer stance. The creature runs towards me and jumps at the last moment, the small horns on its head must be its attack method. I punch upwards, my fist connecting into its chin with a satisfying crunch. It flies and lands in a patch of thorny vines. I wait for it to stand up, unable to see its movement, I walk forward cautiously.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. A few notifications have popped up, I must have ignored them before. Opening the notifications I find out the creature is known as a Quaffar and this particular one is some sort of a variant, called a Lightning Quaffar. The quaffar is unmoving, still laying in the vines. Going closer, I find the quaffar is still alive and breathing, its eyes are red with rage and its mouth is foaming. It must have landed in some sort of paralysis herb, causing it to lose control of its muscles. I laugh, thanking my luck. Readying myself to kill the creature, I raise my fists and "puch, puch, puch" I continuously punch the creature, letting out all my anger and frustration on it. Only when I see another notification do I stop my endless strikes. It instructs me to touch the corpse and think of looting it. I do as instructed and a small crystal manifests. I learn that the crystal is called a Soul Crystal and will come into reality when a ''user'' kills their first creature. This crystal holds the currency of the world, something called Energy Points. This crystal is tied to a persons soul and cannot be lost, they will manifest in reality whenever a ''user'' wills it. I think I understand what the System refers to as a user, all of the races that have been brought to this world. These Energy Points are used to level oneself, by absorbing the points into their bodies, us users can get stronger. When I touch the crystal, understanding of its contents dawns in my mind. It currently holds 5 Lightning Points. Wait, wasn''t it supposed to be called Energy Points. I shrug, all my doubts will only make me more confused, it is very unlikely that I will find answers right now, only god knows where I am. I sit down and try to absorb the Points in the crystal. This is a very long process, as absorbing foreign energy into your body is a very difficult task to do. Turning my concentration inwards, I try to sense where my Point Cloud is. The Soul Crystal is in my right hand, as soon as I hold the crystal, I can feel a different presence throughout my body. Tiny blue lines are present in my veins and a multitude of dots are in my chest area. When I hold the crystal, I understand what I have to do, drawing the energy from inside the crystal, the so-called Lightning Points, into my palm, the blue lines very slowly accept this energy as I forcefully shove it inside. The energy gushes through the blue lines, bearing towards the cluster of dots. As soon as the energy reaches the Point Cloud, it heads towards one of the infinitesimally small dots. Slowly the energy integrates with the dots. An unknown amount of time later, I open my eyes, traces of lightning visible in them. One of the dots has been opened and it is quite distinct from the rest, with it being the only one to have electricity zigzag over its surface. I feel refreshed almost like the feeling after a relaxing bath. Looking towards the cluster of notifications in my vision, I ignore them for now. The light is waning, dusk approaches, it has been a long day and rest is called for. My back against a tree, I close my eyes and very soon, the only sound that can be heard are my soft snores. Moving Waking up, I rub my bleary eyes, it is dawn and the birds are chirping, rather loudly too. These are the sort of things you don''t notice in the bustling cities, the melodious tones of the wildlife around. I smile at the thought, not a bad way to wake up every day, isn''t it? Standing up, I perform a couple of stretches to get my blood flowing, my back aches after sleeping against the rough bark of the tree. I wonder why I am not beginning to get hungry, maybe the pile of blinking notifications on the display of my System will help me understand better. I peruse through the messages quickly and I gain a superior understanding of the past events. Lightning Points are a super rare variant of the Energy Points any Energy Point that has a different name is much rarer. Normally, it is impossible to absorb these Elemental Points unless the first Energy Point (will be known as EP henceforth) you have absorbed is an Elemental Point. As my first EP was a Lightning Point, it was possible for me to integrate with it and successfully absorb it, the chances of death in that scenario were much more likely than me absorbing the Lightning Point. Lesson learned, never ignore notifications, I did get a warning but I never read the message. Henceforth, I will be able to absorb and integrate with Lightning Points as well as normal Energy Points. Also, as a bonus, I don''t have to eat or drink for sustenance anymore, something along the lines of fusing with nature. Governments all over Earth tried to solve world hunger and now magically almost as if it is not a feat to rejoice about, the System informs me that I do not have to eat anymore. I shake my head, words cannot describe my feelings. I feel anger at the Gods that pulled us to this world, anger at not giving us the choice of whether we want to go, but, at the same time, I feel a small amount of happiness as the very same Gods knowingly or unknowingly evened the playing field for all humans, by placing everyone in prime condition both physically and mentally, even the most deprived in our previous world can rise to the top now. It is also a cause for concern as prisoners have also been released but that is a worry for another day. Suddenly, I can no longer see the screens, they have disappeared as soon as they appeared. Deciding not to dwell on the mystery of the blue screens I continue on my way. My plan, for now, is to keep walking and try to find other humans, what can I say, humans are pack creatures, they never feel safe alone. I must be careful too, I might run into a pack of those dog creatures again, the quaffars. I take a last look around me and then start heading in a random direction. I walk carefully, try to make as less noise as possible. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Whenever I hear a sound that might originate from a dangerous source, I turn and walk in the opposite direction. This way, my path is a zigzag and not a straight one. I hear the sound of water flowing, looks like my hearing improved. I walk towards the water body, eager to clean myself. Upon reaching the stream, I push my hands in and bring out the glimmering water, splashing some on my face is very refreshing. After washing myself, I look around to see where I am, I see a flash of something silver at the edge of my vision. Looking closer, I can see the edge of the thing being blocked by the tree. Alarmed I try to not make a sound, in case if it is another monster, I will not get as lucky as the first time. After waiting for a few minutes, the thing still doesn''t move, I decide to get closer to investigate. Trudging through the water, I reach the other bank and slowly head towards the thing. Edging closer to a tree I look over the side of the tree and see a long pillar of metal, it emerges from the ground almost naturally. The top is flat and it shines in the rays of sunlight. A notification pops up and informs me that what I am seeing is called a HUB. It is a metal canister but much longer. Placing my arm on it, a sensation blooms in my stomach, something I only experience after high drops, like the ones on rollercoaster''s and then "whoosh", my surroundings change. "Again, " I say to myself, "another teleportation?" I shake my head, words cannot express my annoyance. Looking around, I find myself in a long hallway, doors lining its white and pristine walls. "Oh hello there and who might you be, we have never seen another for many long years. Why, just the other day, Garulf was talking about the sights that he had seen and the people he had spoken to and imagine the feelings of jealousy that welled up in me. Once upon a time, even I was like you, ..." "Enough, " I say to the garrulous little dwarf. He looks at me questioningly and then almost shamefully he says, " rude aren''t we." At that point, I almost lose it, but remembering some childhood advice, I close my eyes and take deep breaths. Finally, in a huffing manner, I ask, "what is this place?" Almost expecting him to start singing and dancing like in a musical, I take a few steps back. The dwarf lets lose a merry little spin and says condescendingly, " You are currently at the HUB, did you just teleport in without thinking about it? Presently, you have only unlocked the Shop and the Exchanger, so you are pretty low level, right?" I have had enough of this rude little dwarf, so I ignore him and start walking, "Wait, " he screams, "I can help you." I stop feigning interest and when he starts talking I turn and walk on, ignoring him. Walking down the hallway, only two doors can be seen, I stop at one of them and open it, almost magically a sense of wonder emerges within me, the sights within are majestic to behold. The room inside looks like a world of its own, with countless things, cluttered all around, I can see old rustic weapons that have a certain bloodlust to them, old books with withering pages and herbs and plants galore. I hear an amused snort and find an old dwarf grinning at me. "First one and looks young as a pup, " he says to himself. He turns to me and says, "Confused aren''t you, well let me give you a little explanation, " he says while rubbing his hands as if prepared to narrate a long story, a small smirk lining his wrinkled face. The HUB The dwarf leans his wizened shoulders forward and then looks at me with bright eyes, "As the first contestant to enter The HUB, I will give you a briefing about this world and answer all your questions to my level best. Of course, you have been granted a handful other advantages that will be revealed to you later, first of all, you are in the World of Lohmar, more of a universe than a world really but that will be revealed to you in time. Long, long ago, Lohmar was nothing but a barren landscape, we had no sentient race of our own and my race, the Dwarves were but primal beasts, knowing nothing but to eat and reproduce. With the occurrence of a series of natural coincidences, the System was born, through nothing more than an infinitesimal chance. Our race was forcefully assimilated into the system along with a few others and from then on, each successive generation has had to buy their freedom from the System. The Gods that have brought you here are not as almighty as you think, the System is undergoing an evolution right now and these Gods are capitalizing on this chance, to take control of the System at its weakest. If the Gods fight among themselves, their glorious battle will last billions of years before a victor emerges from the bloodshed. By then, the System will be more powerful than it ever has been, the Gods losing their opportunity. So, a solution was devised, choose a race to represent you and make them fight against the other representatives, the race that wins will allow their God to wrest the Systems power. You might be wondering how I know all of this, well, some things cannot be revealed even with the threat of certain death. So, any questions?" He says the last part with an uncanny resemblance to an impatient teacher. I stare blankly at him, the torrential downpour of information is something my brain can not handle. "How do I wake up?" I ask somewhat timidly. The Dwarf guffaws, tears coming to his eyes," I assure you young one, you are very much awake, almost too awake even," he says while looking at my bloodshot eyes. After ruminating on my experiences, I decide to believe him, the past day has completely turned my life upside down. "So what is this place?" I question the still chuckling Dwarf. "This is the HUB, a place that expands to the infinite, anything and everything is available here, from shops to hotels to training rooms. Think of it as a place for everything, you need something, come to the HUB, you have questions, come to the HUB," the dwarf boasts. I chat with the dwarf for some time and learn a lot of useful information. "Does that mean I can exchange Energy Points for anything in the Exchanger." "No, the Exchanger is akin to a random chance machine, based on the number of Energy Points you use to enter, you will be allowed to select what you want. For example, you might want a weapon but will use only one Energy Point to enter the Exchanger, so, the item you draw out will be random and might not even be a weapon. Instead, if you use a hundred points to enter the Exchanger and ask for a weapon, most of the other categories will be filtered out and your chances of gaining a weapon will be much higher.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I nod in understanding, if I use too many Energy Points to try to get an item, even if I get it, I will make a loss as the amount of Energy Points could instead be used to buy the item directly from the Shop. "Sounds pretty fun, I would like to try it." The Exchanger is a hulk of a machine, it is shaped like a doughnut and coloured black, a soul-tearing black. The hole in the middle giving the machine a likeness to a portal to another world. The dwarf grins, "take out your Soul Crystal and decide how much you would want to bet" I will my Soul Crystal into existence and touch my Crystal to the dwarfs proffered one. As I have nothing else, I bet the Lightning Point and will the Point to go to the other Crystal. The dwarf''s eyes widen in shock, "An Elemental Point, young one, where did you find this, such a valuable thing..." I raise my eyebrows in confusion, "I killed a monster and obtained two of them." The dwarf takes a deep breath and says," These Points are very rare and very valuable, are you sure you would like to bet this, you would receive a mighty artifact, but some people might offer you a lot of Points in exchange for this Elemental Point." I nod in acceptance, even if I would gain a lot of Points in exchange, which in the long term might be more beneficial, living to see tomorrow would be the better deal. The dwarf starts up the machine, I feel a question prod at my mind, understanding what to do in response, I will my answer towards the machine. A bright light shines suddenly and just as quickly it''s over. A small box pops into existence, the dwarf reaches out and hands it to me quickly. "Open the box at your convenience, your item will be stored in there." "Bye, "I say to the dwarf as I latently remember to ask for his name. Next time, I think to myself, I will find out his name next time. I continue with my exploration of the HUB and I soon find myself in a field full of tents and other structures that I cannot identify. Nearly all of the tents have dwarves or other species inside of them, polishing their wares or taking a nap. Inching my way toward one of the tents, I hear a high pitched voice. "What do we have here, a challenger at last?" A female dwarf stares at me while leaning on her weather-beaten staff, a gleam flashing in her eyes. "So what would you like to buy," she asks in a questioning manner. I stare at her, confused. "This is the Shop, you buy what you want at a shop. Did I say anything wrong," she says challenging me. It dawns on me that this might be the so-called Shop. "Oh, I am not here to buy, just looking around." "Well, you can look around in my shop," she says inviting me in. Then, she turns around leaving no room to doubt. I shake my head in acquiescence, what is with these dwarves? Finding Others A few hours later, after Lu lets me leave almost reluctantly, I find myself heading towards the exit which is basically a glowing white orb, feels pretty cliche. I shudder to myself at the thought of the dwarf and her endless marketing schemes. Yes, the dwarf''s name is Lujadin, also known as Lu. Her name sounds kind of fantasy wannabe, well who am I to judge, cultures are different and our names will be strange sounding to them. Well, back to the present... As soon as I place my hand on the luminous orb, my vision flashes and I''m back to the forest, the strange metal canister in front of me. I hear a low buzz followed by some high pitched shrieks, soon enough I spot someone running in my direction. A swarm of insect-like creatures chasing him, "Don''t lead them towards me, turn around," I shout to him. The boy runs even harder in my direction, all the while anxiously screaming. "Help me please, I will reward you with money. My father is a very rich man and will surely appreciate this gesture." I turn around and run towards the river that I had crossed to get here. Maybe, the insects will not attack in the water, just maybe. I splash into the water and prepare to sink as soon as the swarm come close, I know that the boy will certainly follow my steps and jump into the water. The gushing water is slowly but surely carrying me away, I decide whether to let the current take me with its flow but I feel it might be too dangerous as the current might suddenly turn rough and I might drown. I hold on to a rock that is in the middle of the river, my arms tightly wound around it. The flowing water constantly hitting my face and causing me to take deep gulps of it. The boy jumps into the river, landing with a splash, his head is under water. The swarm stays above the waterline for some time but quickly get uninterested and fly away. A head exits the water, "help me," the boy sputters. I sigh in regret, why must I attract these weirdos. I let go of the rock and slowly make my way towards him, as annoying as he is I will not sit back while a life can be saved. As soon as I reach him, I realize the problem, his arms are wildly flailing about and I might be injured if I try to help him. I kick him and quickly take hold of him and pull him to the river bank. The boy drags himself up and starts coughing out lungfuls of water. "Are you okay," I ask, more out of pity than care. "What the hell man, why didn''t you help me when I called you and what was that kick for," he asks, his face red with anger. "What? And risk my life for a stranger, no thanks. I kicked you to get your attention or would you rather drown," I ask in an annoyed tone. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.He huffs angrily and says, "I will tell my father about you, then you will realize the mistake that you made." I shrug and turn around, starting to walk away, I would rather not deal with this. How ungrateful can someone be? He must be some rich brat. "Stop, the least you can do is help me," the boy says "Help yourself," I say and ignore his next words. "You will regret this boy, I will make you pay." I walk back into the forest, hopefully, I will never meet him again. I don''t look back to the boy and ignore the chills running down my back, I know he is looking at me. "Whump" I trip on a knot of grass and firmly implant my face in the ground. I hear laughter and jeers from behind me, "aargh." Now of all times? Just when I was making a sufficiently cool exit. My hands close around an object, without thinking I place it in my pocket. What feels like hours later, I hear a flurry of voices from in front of me. Deciding to choose the safer alternative, which is to hide, I crouch behind a bush. A minute later, I can see them, the group comprises of 3 men and 2 women. All of them are chatting amicably and share the same crest on their flowing robes. The group does not give me a feeling of danger so trusting my gut on this one, I come out of the bushes, surprising them. Two of the men immediately pull weapons out while one of the women jumps back and draws out some kind of ranged weapon. They look at me warily but upon realizing that I am just a kid, their guard lowers slightly. "Who are you," says one of the men, "Why did you jump out like that." I realize that I might have alarmed them through my actions and in a placating tone, I start explaining my circumstances. The five nod as if my story doesn''t sound unbelievably crazy thereby making me question their sanity. "We are from the Grayps Clan in the Elder City. It is pretty close by, would you like to come with us?" "Sure," I nod. Anything to get back to civilization and away from this dreary jungle. "You might get prosecuted for trespassing in the safe zones without a permit but because you are a challenger you should be acquitted." I sigh, the tangle of legal proceedings lay powerful even in another world. "So, have you found others like me," I ask. "No, but there will be many of you who will be found, when a challenger appears, he never comes alone," answers one of the women. "I am Ashwin," I say. The group nods, looks like their names will not be forthcoming. Either they do not wish to share their names or they missed my obvious cue. "So how long will it take to return," I ask. "Not more than a day or two," answers the same women, which makes me wonder if she is the group''s speaker. Their definition of soon could sure use some changing. Then again, life in the big cities is always more hectic and fast-paced, for us even a few hours is a lot of time. The same amount of time in a rural village is not a lot, given that they have the patience to grow crops which take months to a year to fully ripen. "Shall we begin?" I ask the terse lipped group. "We shall." Battle At Elder City After walking in the same environment for hours, everything becomes dreary. When you are so utterly bored, its the small things that you take notice of. Like, how you can''t hear the birds chirp or the fact that the other five in our group don''t seem even a bit tired after hours of speed walking. It even feels like they are purposely slowing down so they can match my pace. Slowly, I draw my weary hand and wipe away the endless stream of sweat that threatens to fall into my eyes. "Break," I call out somewhat raspily. We slow down until we come to a halt and I plop down to the ground, my back against a tree, I heavily pant and draw a wheezing breath. "Are you guys superhuman?" I ask in an envious way. The man laughs and says, "No, everyone grows stronger one way or another, as a contestant, you will have a system of getting stronger too, maybe one day you will be stronger than all of us put together." I smirk at the thought, just imagining me lifting all of them with one hand while yawning cracks me up. Today marks the fourth day since we left which makes me wonder how these guys travelled this distance in a day or two. I accept that I am not the fittest person around but I would say that I am above average, having completed a few treks at thousands of metres above sea level. So, not to flex or anything but I am not completely useless. A few minutes later, I have recovered enough energy to start walking again. It is pretty weird that we have not encountered any monsters so far and the rest seemed to share my views. The atmosphere turned graver as we neared the city. The five quietly conversed with each other, their expressions turning heavier. After a few minutes, the woman turns around and says to me, "Can you complete the rest of the journey yourself, we feel something is happening in the city. We will be rushing there." "Sure, just tell me the way," I say. After telling me a couple of directions, the five start jogging and soon, their figures vanish. Wondering what could have happened, I slowly increase my pace, curiosity and a sense of danger wells up inside of me. An hour or two later, I suddenly hear something, a low din of battle and screams reaches me. Startled, I quickly become wary of my surroundings. Choosing to climb up a tree to survey, I choose one which is rough enough to provide me with some grip and deftly I climb to the top of the tree. Dusting off my now rough palms, I survey the neighbouring ground. In the distance, I can see the dark stone of city walls and a mass of dots are arrayed in front of the gates moving erratically. It seems like there is a fight going on, which would explain the strange reactions of the group I met.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I decided to head closer so as to get a better vantage point which in turn would afford me a better view. The one aspect of humanity that is common to all of us is curiosity, it is present in every one of us, however much or little. It decides whether we head toward the flickering lamp even though we know that there will be a ghost behind it. Curiosity could very well get us killed, but it could help us too. No matter how much we force our curiosity down, it strikes back even harder. My feet strike the coarse earth with a low thud, my eyes are wary of my surroundings, I spot the small wolf pup before it spots me. Immediately I crouch behind a tree, my eyes peeking around it. The pup slowly drags its tired body forward, its expression is one of sadness, its eyes are constantly twitching as if searching for something, maybe even someone. I sigh in resolution, I will have to kill it or at least incapacitate it, no sense in leaving a potential threat alive. Slowly, which crouching I tiptoe toward the sluggish wolf, tears streak down my face, I almost don''t recognize the ''me'' of today, I would not believe it if someone told me I would be killing a wolf pup. I raise a curled up fist when suddenly, the pup loses its balance and stumbles, falling to the ground, almost dead. I stop my motion, I can''t get myself to finish the task, knowing that I could get killed for this, I gently lift the limp body and carry it with me. The pup is not very big and I lift its upper lip to look at its canines, they are not very sharp, indicating that it should be about 4 weeks old assuming that this world follows the same rules of nature as my previous world. I feel pity for the pup, its body is weak and starved indicating that it must have lost its mother. I slowly walk onwards, the wolf cradled in my arms. Approximately, half an hour later, I find myself much closer to the battle, the sounds are much clearer, the clash of metal against metal, the screams of pain and anger. Shielding the wolf, I bring him closer to my body, in the past few dozen minutes, unknowingly, I have grown fonder of the little ball of fur in my arms. The wolf pup gently opens his eyes, and I almost drop him in shock. The pup is stirring and so I gently lay him on the ground and back away. While the pup might be harmless, I do not want to take unnecessary risks. The pup weakly stands on its legs, looking at me curiously. It does not look like it is afraid of me nor does it want to hurt me. Slowly, very slowly, I walk back towards the pup, my hands out in a placating manner. The pup seems to have caught the smell of something. As soon as I draw closer, the pup walks towards me, its nose in my direction, constantly sniffing. As soon as I am a few feet away, I drop to the ground, sitting. The pup comes closer and inserts his nose in one of my pockets, drawing out the object that I had pocketed a few days ago. Quickly, almost hungrily, it eats the object, which looks like a glass shard. Suddenly, I feel something in me, a bond which I cannot explain. A bond to the wolf???... Taming Beasts Startled, I sit on the ground, quite doubtful. I felt like I had tamed a Beast. A type of monster that wouldn''t attack until it was attacked, unlike normal monsters, Beasts could be tamed and could eventually fight for their tamers. I feel a cool sense of delight pervade through me, I always wanted a pet and now I got one who I could not only play with but it could help me if I was ever in a situation where imminent danger drew near. The object the pup had eaten was called a Taming Stone, one of the only ways to tame a Beast, apart from the Beast surrendering to you. I laugh at my good fortune, some would say too good of a fortune, but, I knew that good luck never lasted and bad luck reluctantly left. With a series of bullseyes, I was bound to mess up, or if we continue the darts example, maybe even poke my eye out. I shudder in fright, a sense of helplessness filled me, when indomitable suffering was coming and I couldn''t stop it, what else would I feel. I could only hope and pray that I would be powerful enough that I would be able to push through it, maybe even successfully vanquish it. I look down at the wolf, its bright eyes stare back at my own, a look of pure innocence on its face. I resist the strong urge to cuddle its furry body, but eventually relent, holding it next to me and squeezing it. The wolf yelps in an effort to get away and I gently put it back on the ground. The wolf is still gazing at me, but now more tentatively. I stand up, dusting my clothes off, eager to set off for the last leg of my journey when I realize that the wolf is quite tired, and looks very weak. I pick it up, more carefully this time, and carry it to a small stream I had seen nearby. Setting the pup down next to the flowing water, it slowly licks the running water and starts drinking joyously as it realizes that the water is safe to drink. I smile at the furry behind of the wolf as I realize that I don''t know if it is male or female. It sounded quite male so I assume that it is male. Another thing strikes me, I haven''t named it yet, I decide to put off the naming for a different time. I snap my fingers twice, catching the attention of the wolf, I gesture towards him to follow me and he reluctantly leaves the clear stream of water. I decide to avoid going closer to the battle, now that I have a pet, his safety is also my responsibility. I constantly turn back to make sure he is following, after some time, I start trusting that he will follow. I search for a good place to rest, the moon is making its debut and I will not move in the night. Finding a small clearing with a patch of snug grass, I lie down, my weary legs happy for the pause. The wolf curls down next to me, his fur brushing against my face, I sigh and deliberately move him away, although I am pleased for the company. I didn''t realize how empty I was feeling these past few days, the tiny wolf making up for a deficit that I wasn''t even cognizant of.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. In the middle of the night, I wake up to low growling and an aggressive snarl. Two small creatures are standing a few metres away from me, the wolf is the only thing keeping them at bay. The creatures must be blind as they seem to be scared of the small wolf, they are hideous two-legged things. With a smooth, oval head, hairy ears and knobbly feet, they are the stuff that makes nightmares. Their features are grotesque and they stand little over 4 feet tall, their skin a pale grey. I slowly stand up, cautious to not make a sound, I silently thank the being watching over me, if not for the wolf, I would have died. I rapidly think about what to do in this situation, escaping is near impossible, my only option is to fight back. I have no weapons on myself, looking around, I find a branch nearby, it does not look too heavy nor is it too flimsy. Perfect for the situation, I tiptoe towards the branch, gently picking it off the ground. Suddenly, I rush forward, past the wolf and clipping one of the creatures on its head with the branch, "Smash", a satisfying crunch sound is heard. My momentum takes my branch past and I almost drop the branch, the other creature responds quickly and jumps towards me, its mouth wide open to reveal razor-sharp teeth. I start to jump away, but I react too slowly, the creature is on my thigh, chomping down hard on it, "AAAAH, " I scream as blood starts to seep into my clothes. I quickly bring around the branch for another hit on the creature, I successfully smash into its body, it goes limp and I extricate myself from it. I hear a whimper and see my wolf tussling with the other creature, I run towards the fight in a limping gait, anger raging within me, "Don''t pick on my wolf!" With my momentum, the branch swings crazy fast and clips the creature on its shoulder, the creature flies through the air and hits a tree, blood flowing from its mouth. A notification pops up in my view, ignoring it I bend down to the wolf, searching for any wounds. Thankfully, the wolf does not look hurt, in fact, it looks quite exhilarated, thrilled for the fight. I laugh, as relief floods through me, the wolf wags its tail, clearly excited because of my laugh. I calm the wolf down by stroking his fur, my leg still bleeds but the pain is dampened by my happiness. I feel my leg for anything broken, but, thankfully nothing was. Apart from the bite which still bled, I was in fine condition, I would limp while I walked but that was manageable. I whistled twice to the wolf who was loitering around some bushes, catching his attention. He tromps towards me, his tongue hanging, I resist the urge to cuddle him. "What about Alpha for a name, huh, boy?" I ask. The wolf looks at me questioningly and then wags his tail twice. I take that as a sign of acceptance and say," Alpha it is." A Battles Aftermath After looting Points from the two creatures, which I am going to call Goobers, I nap until morning, why do stupid creatures attack while you are sleeping? A few hours later... A good night''s sleep will leave you energetic in the morning, sadly, I did not have a good night''s sleep, I woke up very lazy, my back aching, my muscles stiff, how could anyone sleep on the ground? I missed my bed already. Alpha was still sleeping, so I quietly stood up to walk to the stream nearby to clean myself. As soon as I moved, Alpha started stirring, he looked up at me quizzically and stood up to follow me. Whelp, there goes all my effort in trying to not wake up Alpha. Alpha follows me to the stream where I clean myself up, Alpha does not go in the water, only licking it. Looking at his brown fur, as opposed to his pristine white fur when he is clean, I decided to clean him. Knowing that Alpha will not like getting wet, I sneak behind him, something that he ignores, foolishly, and push him in. He yelps in surprise and frantically starts pawing the flowing water, a couple of seconds later, he is out of the water and starts barking at me. I laugh heartily at his betrayed expression. Alpha turns his nose up at me and ignores me for the next couple of minutes. Sighing, I give up trying to draw his attention and start walking away. I hear an annoyed huff and the plodding of feet, I smile to myself, my ploy worked. Its been almost a day since the group from the Grayps clan left me, I deemed it safe enough to go to the city. Walking along the path, I look behind to see Alpha lagging, I decide to carry the pup. He struggles but I gently stroke him and his resistance dies, I walk faster as I don''t have to slow down for him anymore. I see the smoke first, the ash grey cloak choking the blue sky. As I get closer, my eyes start watering, I am shocked by the impact of the battle. I can see the burning ruins of what must have once been a majestic war. Hundreds of figures swarm around the ravaged wall and screams of despair rock the atmosphere. I run forward as fast as I can, though it will still take me an hour to reach the city. As I get closer, I notice that the ground is charred black as if a huge meteorite had struck near the cities. Bodies of monsters and humans lay strewn like garbage at a landfill. Hugging Alpha tighter, I make my way to what used to be the city gates. I hold my head up high, trying to ignore the blood and gore. I feel weak in the head, I never thought I would see a sight like this in my life, the stench of rotting corpses pervaded the air. Unconsciously I cover my nose, holding Alpha with only one hand now. "Well, what do we have here? A newbie?", a loud, booming voice sounds towards me. Looking towards the sound I see a man wrapped in layers of gleaming metal, though it isn''t metal of a kind I have ever seen. The metal gleams purple in the sun, with something that looks like veins travelling down its surface. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Are you mute boy? Who are you?", he asks again. I don''t fully trust the man, so choosing not to reveal anything about myself I say, "I am looking for the Grayps clan, where can I find them?" "Here," he says pointing to himself, "I am Ferdinand, the current leader of the Grayps clan." "Oh,'''' I say unsure of what to say next. Thankfully, I spotted one of the people from the group I met, I shout over to him and he looks startled and comes over. When he sees Ferdinand next to me, he looks ever more shocked and hurries over to us. The man leans in and whispers something to Ferdinand. Ferdinand nods at the information and finally says to me, "so you are a contestant huh?" "I''m not sure I understand the word," I reply Ferdinand laughs and says, " three times before, 5 races have come to Lohmar to battle in a legendary spectacle, the members of these races are known as contestants. We are the descendants of the winning races, we cannot grow very strong as we cant absorb infinite points, but we still have a grasp on Lohmar, some of our very strongest are very far down the road. We are called citizens, the descendants of the previous winners, and you are the current contestants." "Wait, but I thought I was brought here by the gods," I ask in bewilderment Ferdinand guffaws, "the gods are not as strong as you think they are, the five current gods are the leaders of the five families, instead of fighting amongst themselves, they have decided to bet on the result of this competition. The system has brought your races here, the gods are only spectators. They wish to use the result of this competition to decide their leader, then I assume they will work together to take over the system." I am very confused so I continue to question the man," why did the system bring our races here then?" "The ways of the system cannot be explained by us, mere ants to its power." Still unclear of the entire situation, I decide to leave the questioning for another day. What is more important to me right now is my fellow humans from Earth. "Have you heard of any other contestants, people like me?" I question "Yes, in fact, I have," replied Ferdinand. "I can help you find your race too." "I am sensing a catch somewhere," I answer somewhat cautiously. "Perceptive aren''t you? Yes, there is a catch, you must join my clan and be a part of it for the next ten years." "What does joining your clan entail?" "Oh not much, you will have to fight when we are at war and you must complete at least 1 clan mission a month. The rest is up to you." "Can I take some time to decide?," I ask tentatively. "Sure, give me your answer by tomorrow evening, just come to the clan headquarters and ask for me. Explore the city in the meanwhile, make sure to avoid inns that feel dodgy. Take some Energy Points, enjoy yourself," he said as he pulled up his soul crystal and asked me to show mine too. Touching his soul crystal to mine, I could feel as he transferred over some Points to me. Thanking him profusely, I smiled in happiness. Maybe it won''t be such a bad idea to join his clan after all. I look towards his retreating figure and start walking towards the ruined city gates. An adventure awaits! The Beast Sanctuary The bustle of a street market is the same wherever you go, the sound of noisy vendors screaming their wares, of customers bickering over prices and of the odd dragon roar. Wait, a dragon??? Excitedly I make my way over to the caged creature that bears a striking resemblance to a dragon. Alpha seems unperturbed over the noisy atmosphere but as soon as he heard the creature, he perked up. He seemed to be looking around, searching for the creature. Everyone around me seemed unconcerned that I was holding a wolf pup in my hands, very odd. "Come one, come all, see the magnificent spell casting lizard," said the thin man standing beside the cage. Seeing me rush towards the creature, a man stopped me. "Relax, it is not a real Sylverra, it is only a Dragon," he said nonchalantly, almost sneering at the man beside the Dragon. BUT ITS A DRAGON, I screamed in my head, but staving off my curiosity I asked the man what a Sylverra was. "Did your school not teach you anything? A Sylverra is the mightiest of Beasts, one that can perform spells, much like us humans, no other tamable creature can perform spells," he boasted his knowledge. Pushing down my urge to question him about spells, I say," what does a Sylverra look like?" "Oh it can be anything, a Sylverra is not a particular Beast but is a Beast with the capability to perform spells." "So why cant that Dragon be a Sylverra?" I question "That man has been coming here for 10 years, the so-called Sylverra has never shown any of its ability, all of us know it is not a real one. If he actually had a Sylverra, even people from further down The Road would come to forcefully take it away," he replies with ease. "The Road?" I ask confused. He looks at me suspiciously, "You don''t know what The Road is?" "Uhh, I didn''t pay much attention in school," I reply, hoping my very weak excuse doesn''t fall in shambles. He looks even more suspicious but he decides to explain," The World of Lohmar is not shaped like many other planets, instead its territory extends straight down, it keeps going on and on, we call it The Road. The further you travel down The Road, the stronger you have to be to survive. Sylverras are very rare, even much stronger people from further down The Road would kill to get one. I thank the man and I continue to walk to the Dragon, Alpha is staring at the massive creature, I think he is impressed with it but I might be wrong. The man next to the Dragon sees me approaching and motions me to come closer. I stand next to the man and ask him if the creature breathes fire. He smirks and says, "it does what you want it to do as long as you can pay up." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.I roll my eyes and answer resolutely, "I am not paying for anything." The man, now thoroughly annoyed, tells me to screw off. Alpha growls at him and I take the very obvious cue and leave. After asking around, I am redirected to the Beast Sanctuary. It is a massive compound with different buildings placed around the area. A huge forest is situated in the middle and the view from the entrance into the Sanctuary is breathtaking. If this is only one of the cities major attractions, how big is this city? Alpha seems really excited by the place, I wanted to come here to find out information on raising a Beast and what I should give it to eat. I stroke his furry head and tell him to relax. "Stop, are you a member of the Sanctuary or is this your first time here?" asks a commanding voice. I turn to the figure next to the gates and say," Member? Do I have to be a member to enter?" "No, but you will have to pay a fee every time you enter the Sanctuary. The fee is 2 Energy Points, if you want to become a member, you will get lifetime access for free. The membership fee is only 5 Energy Points." Not wanting to pay a one time fee every time, I opt for the membership. Quickly paying 5 Energy Points, I get handed a metal card with my name and picture on it. He took a picture of me using some sort of scanning device, it looked very sleek and futuristic. Thanking the man, I enter into the Sanctuary, I am astounded by the sudden amount of noise I hear. The shrieks of shrill birds, the trumpeting of towering elephants, and various noises of animals I cannot identify blend into a magnificent cacophony. I look around to see numerous Beasts littered around the huge plains of the Sanctuary. My jaw slackens in astonishment, the sight is a spectacle to behold. "Close your mouth kid," a female smirks as she speaks. "What is this place? It seems like a haven for animals," I respond still in shock. "This place? Why this is the Beast Sanctuary," she answers with obvious pride. The woman is sitting on an ostrich-like beast with a long tail, it seems to be pawing the ground, excited to run. I push down my excitement and ask her the question I came here to ask. "What is that creature?," I ask in amazement "Its a Taich, its pretty harmless actually but its used as a mode of transport, it runs very fast and can pull a lot of weight. My name is O''Lam by the way." "Mine is Ashwin, nice to meet you. If you dont mind my asking, what is the Taich called?," I say as politely as possible. "This Taich responds to the name March. What have you in your hands, is that a wolf?"she asks with increasing curiosity. "I think so, I found him in the woods near the Elder City," I say rapidly. "I dont think there are any wolves in Elder Forest, we might have to check its species later," she responds. "I have a lot of questions about rearing and feeding Beasts, do you time to answer my doubts?" I question "How about you come into the lodge, lets sit down and have a little chat," she says. "Sure, lets do that." Questions And Answers The warm room provides a cozy atmosphere conducive to a long talk. Alpha and I sit next to each other with him occasionally scampering off to explore what he can see. O''Lam laughs at his antics and informs me that he can be left free, all the Beasts here are domestic and will not attack unless told to and Alpha is too small to cause harm on his own. "Do I have to feed him anything specific?" I ask O''Lam. "Not really, a Beast usually eats any kind of meat and plants as long as they aren''t poisonous. As long as there are monster corpses around, your Beast will be fine," she answers decisively. "What about anything I have to keep in mind while raising a Beast," "Well, it depends on the type of Beast so as soon as I determine the species of your Beast, I will be able to give you more information," her tone sounding cautious. "How do you determine something like that?," I question. "We take a sample of blood from the Beast and compare the blood to samples of blood from various species, your Beast will most certainly be a wolf but just to be sure we can always check." "Thanks for all the help, I will explore the city for a bit and I will be back tomorrow to give you an answer." "Sure, come back whenever. Do you have a place to stay for the night?," O''Lam asks. "No, do you recommend any place in particular?" I respond. "Stay at the Twilight Inn, tell them I sent you, they will give you a couple nights for free, " she says proudly I thank her wholeheartedly and assure her that I will stay safe. I walk out of the Sanctuary waving adieu to the guard, he smiles at me in acknowledgement. First, I head back to the market I saw in the morning, where the Dragon was. After browsing through some stores, I chance upon a bag that supposedly reduces the weight of items in them. That sounds amazing! "How much are they?" I question the shopkeeper. Looking at my clueless appearance, a trace of cunning flashes in his eyes. "Usually 50 EP, but for you I give at 25 EP." 25 EP for a bag sounds like a great deal to me but I try bargaining to see if I can reduce the price further "I will give you 15 EP," I respond with. "Deal," he says immediately. Now I am very nervous, I know that I just agreed to a very bad deal, but if the man pressures I wont be able to do anything but cave in. I am not very good at fighting back or holding my position. Nervously I counter with 10 EP. The mans face turns red and he explodes with anger, "I thought 15 EP, you said 15 EP." "Ok, ok," I say placatingly, "I will give you 15 EP." Suddenly he is back to normal and he smiles at me and says," Which colour?" An hour later I am done with all my shopping, I don''t regret purchasing the bag as it reduces weight by 50 percent, that is awesome. I bought some food for Alpha for him to eat over the next few days while we stay at the city. My Soul Crystal has a lot less EP in it than a couple hours back and I can almost feel that it is lighter, which isn''t possible.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. I wonder what happened to all the notifications I used to get, they must have been some sort of tutorial as I no longer receive them. Its almost night now, the blazing sun slowly being replaced by the coolness of the moon. I look up to see splendid sight, the numerous stars laid out like splatters of paint on the canvas of life. Taking in a deep breath, I breathe in the fresh air of the world. The city seems beautiful at night, it seems to have come alive, things that weren''t there when I was walking around in the morning were now omnipresent. I ask a passerby where the Twilight Inn is located, she points me in the direction and takes off, walking faster than before. It seems like she is running out of time and needs to be somewhere, shrugging my shoulders I walk in the direction she pointed me in. Alpha seems to not minds being carried anymore but to give myself some respite, I place him in the bag with only his face sticking out of the top. I see the sign before I see the door, it seems like an unassuming little inn and doesn''t look very special. The words Twilight Inn are printed on a block of wood placed above the entrance. Even the sign does not seem to stand out, the whole place looks like it doesn''t want to draw attention. Pushing through the unadorned door, I walk into a lively inn, the shouts of the drunk and angry is deafening. I walk over to the plump man at the front of the bar, "Howdy! What can i do you for?" he asks pleasantly. "The name is Bjorn," he says immediately after. "I would like to stay here for a night or two," I reply. "The cost depends on the room, but looking at you, I think the bare minimum is fine," he says without a trace of derisiveness. "And why do I look like I have no money?" I ask genuinely wondering how he can tell. "The absence of armour or weapons can tell a lot," he replies matter of fact. I nod in acquiescence , "O''Lam sent me here, she told me I could get a couple of nights for free." "She did, did she, well I guess I could give you a couple nights off," he says reluctantly. "Thanks a lot," I say in happiness. He grunts in acknowledgement, "Yuri, take him to his room," he says while throwing the young girl a set of keys. I greet the girl and she tells me to follow her. Leading me to a modest room, she hand me the keys and tells me that breakfast is free of charge, I don''t tell her that I have no need for eating yet I nod in understanding. The door closes behind me with a low thud and I survey the room. Not bad I think to myself, it is adequately clean and I am grateful for the free room. Gently removing Alpha from the backpack I place him on the ground for him to explore the place on his own. I collapse on the very soft bed and fall asleep in mere seconds, I have massively underestimated how tired I was. I fall asleep to the feeling of a warm, furry body next to me. The Grayps Clan Headquarters I wake up to a piercing pain in my hips. Wincing considerably, I get up and sit on my bed. I reach towards my hips and feel something solid placed against it. Suddenly I remember, it is the box I got from The HUB. Excitedly I open the lid of the semi ornate box, inside all I can see is a lone scroll. Reaching inside, I pull out the scroll and to my dismay there is nothing else in the box. I sigh in disappointment, I had hoped there would be something apart from the scroll. I try to pull open the scroll, but it seems to resist my pulling and as hard as I try I cant seem to get it to open. The seal refuses to break despite my fastidious attempts. I give up on tearing it apart, concerned it would get damaged. Somehow Alpha remained asleep while I was groaning when trying to pull it open. Slowly I shake him awake and he opens his eyes lazily, stretching himself out he gets up. I smile at the little wolf and make my way over to the bathroom. The bathroom is a simple affair and even has a shower, how that works I have no clue, as I had not seen an instance of technology in this world. The face that greets me in the mirror is a brown skinned face with dark hair falling into my eyes. My eyes were black, a kind of void like black absorbing all light. I cup a handful of water and splash it onto my face, I feel a lot more awake now. After getting ready, I realize that I have only one set of clothes with me. I now know my first stop, a clothing store. Walking downstairs into the bar, I find that the crowd is a lot more orderly and quiet. I make my way over to the counter and see Bjorn again, I greet him and he grunts in my direction. "Any place where I can buy some clothes?" I ask "Yea, go down the street and take a left, you will see it immediately," he answers. "You are not from around here are you?" he asks. "No sir, I am not. Regarding the clothes however, how much do clothes cost, I don''t want to get scammed again," I reply "You should get a couple of sets of clothes for 1 EP. What do you mean by scammed again," he asks with interest. Pointing to my backpack, I tell him how much I paid for it. A series of guffaws follows my statement, my face red with embarrassment I walk out the inn, ignoring his jeers. I buy a couple sets of clothes, noting the massive difference in style between what I am wearing and what the local wears. People here usually wear long flowing robes but I did see a couple of people sporting a tee. Making my way to the Beast Sanctuary, I try to retrace my steps seeing how much I could remember. After a while, I forget the route and have to ask someone for help, they point me in the right direction and soon I am standing in front of the gates again. There seems to be a different guard at the entrance and he brusquely asks me for my membership card. I pull out the plain metal card and hand it over to him.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He gives it a casual glance and nods me through the gate. As soon as I am through I leave Alpha on the ground and tell him to follow, he seems happy to be able to stretch his legs. I walk down the same path to the lodge in the Sanctuary, I don''t see O''Lam outside so she might be inside the same room. I open the heavy door to the room and hear a surprised voice. "Ashwin?, good to see you again," she says with a small smile on her face. "The pleasure is all mine," I reply as genuinely as possible. She snorts and asks me to stop with the pleasantries. "Well, I came here to talk to you about determining Alpha''s species," I say. "Oh yes I remember telling you about the benefits of knowing his species, its simple enough, I will just need some of his blood for this test." I agree and motion for Alpha to go towards her. Cocking his head, he looks at me confused. Sighing, I pick him up and hand him over to the sanctuary ranger. Quickly she pulls out a needle like object and inserts it into Alpha. One high pitched whimper later and we are walking out of the Sanctuary, Alpha looks at me betrayed. Snorting in amusement I ignore his behavior and look around the city. "Excuse me, " I stop a passerby who turns to me and looks in an enquiring manner. "Where could I find the Grayps Clan Headquarters?" I ask. "Ah, the Grayps Clan," he says knowingly, his eyes scrutinizing me like I am a cut of meat. Shrugging off his invading glance, I listen carefully to his directions and proceed in his specified route. Sometime later, I see the small but imposing purple banner hanging over a simple doorway. That was the banner of the Grayps Clan, the first thing their enemies would see before they were vanquished would be a flash of magenta. I am confused by the size of the building behind the doorframe, one of the four clans of Elder City had such a small headquarters? Knocking on the robust door, a scowling face greets me. "What do you want?" the woman says, somehow managing to make the words sound polite. "I am here to meet Ferdinand," I reply. She harrumphs and moves out of the way, gesturing me in. I walk into the building, the door closing behind me with not a sound. A small lounge area with a desk greets me, seeming much smaller than it looked from the exterior. Seeing my confused look, the woman smirks and motions me forward to the man sitting behind the desk. "Name," he asks brusquely. "Ashwin," I reply. "Ah yes, the contestant that Ferdinand met. Come on in," he says, suddenly a small hatch opens up in the floor and the woman pushes me into the darkness of the underground. The hatch opens into a slide that leads downwards. Stumbling from her push, I fall into the darkness of the slide. What seems like a dozen seconds later, I find myself in a small, poorly lit room. The door in front of me opens and I walk into the next room. The brightness of the room blinds me for a few seconds, my eyes unable to adjust from the darkness of the previous room to the radiance of this one. My eyes begin to water and a few seconds later, I can see a bit more clearly. In front of me stands Ferdinand and two others, a bright smile on his face. "Welcome," he beams. Meeting Alex, The Newbie Trainer Ferdinand hands me a small bundle of papers and asks me to imprint my mark on the front page. Confused, I tell him that I haven''t decided if I am going to join his clan yet. His excitement wanes considerably and quickly I say, "That doesn''t mean I will not join, it just means that I have not made up my mind." Nodding, his mood is lifted again. "I need to know if I will be able to leave the clan before the ten year mark," I ask in hopefulness. I do not want to be tied down to one clan for that amount of time, the only reason I considered joining is that the clan could provide a foothold for me, it could help me learn more about this world and would be very helpful for a newbie like me. "We don''t usually let people out of their contracts, but for our first contestant we could make an exception..." his voice trailing off, he appears to be thinking. The two men by his side seem surprised that he is considering this. "If you ever grow stronger than me then I shall null the contract, agreed?" he continues. Thinking over the proposal, I decide to agree. If what he said earlier was true then I don''t have a limit to my power whereas he can only grow strong to a certain point, which means that at some point in the future I should be stronger than him. "I agree," I say resolutely. "Splendid," the man says, overjoyed. The two men by his side seem to be laughing about something. He changes a few lines to the contract and gives it to me. "Now, just imprint your mark on it," he says. "Imprint my mark?" I ask, my eyebrows raised. "Sorry, I forgot that you were new. Hmm, how about you go meet Alex, he is responsible for the newbies, he will help you out on the first leg of your journey." "Sure, where can I find him?" "Visit the clan building, ask for Alex. When he says you are done, come back here and imprint your mark." "Isn''t this the clan building?" I ask "No, this is the HQ, only the top executives stay here," he replies I nod in agreement and turn back to walk out of the room. "Wait," Ferdinand says. "Catch," he says as he throws me a gleaming something. Snatching it out of the air I find a shining metal badge with the insignia of the clan on it. I thank him and walk out the door. In Ferdinand''s room, "The boy seems a little too green, you sure he would be a fit for our clan?" says a man beside Ferdinand. Ferdinand snorts but says nothing. The second man says,"I agree, I don''t think you should have granted him an exception. Like every other clan member, he should stay for 10 years at least. "I know," says Ferdinand, "but we must make an exception once so that other contestants know that our clan does not tie them down, we give them freedom." "I understand your reasoning, but this boy seems like the worst choice for us to accept into our clan." The talking slowly fades into silence... *** I arrive at a much bigger building, the same purple banner hung over its wide, overarching doors. A stream of people move in and out of the building, the whole spectacle seems busy and lively. The inside of the building is huge but the numerous people inside make it feel much smaller. I look around and find that the people working in the building sit in counters behind a screen of glass like material, not unlike bank tellers in banks.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I walk up to the closest person and stand in the short queue, soon enough I reach the front and look at the man behind the counter. "Yes?" he asks curtly. "I would like to meet Alex," I say. "Ah, a newbie he responds, Alex''s next ''tour'' is beginning shortly," he says as he pulls up a crystal and speaks a few terse words into it. The man instructs me on where to go and before I could thank him, he waves me on with a brusque "next". *** I reach the field where Alex starts his tour, it is a huge patch of ground with a variety of people training their fighting skills. I see flashes of light as people spar and huge balls of fire shooting from peoples hands. Wait... fireballs??? Abruptly, I realize, magic exists in this world! A huge grin plasters itself onto my face as I look around the field. I look around the dusty field bustling with sweaty fighters and spot a bright purple flag waving in the air. Found it, must be someone from the Grayps Clan else they wouldn''t be holding that banner. I walk through the throng of people, occasionally pushing some out of my way, making people stare at me with vengeance. Finally, I make it to the banner finding a tall, lanky man stare at me, his eyebrows scrunched in thought. I pull out the badge that Ferdinand gave me and show it to the man, he nods but his eyebrows still stay scrunched up as if in deep thought. There seemed to be other newcomers too and they all looked to the man in expectation. A few of the people seemed to be frowning in annoyance, how long has be been standing this way for people to get annoyed? One of the bigger men coughs out loud in the hopes of getting his attention. Finally, tired of waiting, the man walks up to Alex and shakes his arm. "Whoosh" the man flew back a few metres, flying through the air from the kick. "Patience" Alex says as he places his leg back on the ground, "is a virtue." "Don''t come back again, you are hereby expelled from the clan," Alex says to the fallen man. "Now, the rest of you, " he says while walking, "follow me." He walks to a relatively empty part of the field, people clear out of his way as he walks, avoiding him. I was impressed, maybe the clan was well respected or maybe Alex was pretty strong. He stopped and motioned for us to stop, I looked around at the dozen people staring expectantly at Alex. "So how many of you know about Energy and its relationship with magic?" Alex enquires. Every hand goes up in tandem, every hand except mine that is. The group looks at me with disapproving eyes. Alex sighs and says, "So you must be the contestant huh?" "Yes," I say. The faces around me widen in shock, every time The Games happen, mass genocide takes place, races are pit against each other. All this because of the contestants. Their shock is not without reason. "Think of it like the stuff that powers magic, it is a formless and intangible thing," he says. I nod as what he says doesn''t differ from my views about energy. "Now I am sure each of you has already opened at least one Bio Point," his statement sounds more like a question as his gaze was directed at me. I nodded in acquiescence. He sighed in relief and continued, "All living creatures contain something known as a Point Cloud, think of it like a 3D image made up of infinitesimal dots. The number of Bio Points in a Point Cloud differ from each person, but a contestant in The Games will have a limitless supply of Bio Points." The newbies around me looked at me in envy, some of them even with a tinge of hate in their eyes. "Don''t be jealous, although they might have an infinite supply, it only gets harder to open Bio Points as they get stronger. Getting stronger is inexorably linked with opening more Bio Points. Therefore as you open more, it gets harder to open the next one," he says to soothe their feelings. "For the sake of simplicity, most people refer to Bio Points as BioPs," he continues. "How about we continue the lecture in a different place?" he says. The Newbie Tour "How about we continue the lecture in a different place?" he says as he starts walking, not even looking back to make sure we follow. Scrambling all of us start following him. Alex walks briskly, with a hop in his step, he seems excited about something. Walking through the streets of Elder City, I realize how archaic and old the architecture looks, apart from magic, this world cant seem to live up to Earth in any other field. *** We stop in front of a grand looking building, it seemed to place pressure on a person just by them looking at it. It seemed like a majestic lion, untouchable by human eyes. Blue and black bricks made up the majority of the building and the arching doorway was a sight to behold. We walked into the building slowly, as if to pay respect to its grandeur. A stern looking woman sits at the end of the lobby, although there are many people in the building, the crowd isn''t unruly, they seem to be moving with trepidation. Under the watchful, hawk like eyes of the woman, no one acted out. They seemed like frightened kindergarteners shuffling about. Alex walked up to the woman and nodded at her. She did not look up from her work, surprisingly Alex smiled and gestured for us to follow him. We walked past the lady and through the door behind her. We walked into an even more ornate hall, small scrolls lined the walls. They looked oddly similar to the scroll I got from the box in the HUB. "These scrolls teach you skills, each of the scrolls you see in this hall are called Skrolls," he says excitedly. This seems to be a topic that he is very interested in. He starts to talk and doesn''t finish talking for a few ten minutes. I tried my best to pay attention and this is what I could glean. There are two ways to use magic, namely skills and spells. Spells are learnt by understanding the core concepts of how they work while skills are learnt by opening your BioPs in a certain order. While spells are much more abundant, they are very hard to learn while skills albeit rare are easier to learn. When holding a Skroll and infusing your Energy into it, you will understand which BioPs to open and in what sequence in order to learn the skill. The Skroll looks into your Point Cloud and finds the sequence of BioPs that will enable you to learn the skill. Take the millions of BioPs in your Point Cloud, a person will not know which one to open next in order to learn a skill, although it is safe to open BioPs randomly. Take the fireball skill, one must open their certain BioPs in order for the skill to be considered learnt. Whereas with the fireball spell, one must understand why Energy transforms into fire when let out of their hands. Although the power of both the fireball variants is considered similar, it is far easier to learn the magic using a Skroll as there will not be a need for understanding the inner workings of the spell.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Skills also have the added advantage of becoming stronger as more BioPs are opened, whereas a spell grows stronger as a persons understanding of it grows more profound. Both of these types of magic can only be performed by those with a matching attribute, which means that an attribute less mage will only be able to perform null magic. Whereas a Lightning Elemental such as myself will be able to perform both lightning and null skills and spells. The vast influx of information seemed to be too much for me to handle and I got bored quickly. Alex could sense our boredom and suddenly said, "Would you like to see a Skroll?" Swiftly, our attention was back on Alex the man chuckled and pulled something out of his bag. It was a small Skroll, a bit smaller than the ones decorating the walls. He passed it around the group, everyone felt the material and scrutinized the parchment. "No one else can use that Skroll anymore. A Skroll is a one time use item, as I have already used it, it is unable to be used again by anybody else," he said proudly. After feeling Alex''s Skroll, I am sure that the item I received from the HUB is a Skroll. My eyes light up in happiness, Alex smirks as he looks at my excitement, he thinks that I am impressed with the Skroll. Alex takes the Skroll back after everyone is done looking through it and puts it back into his bag. "I am what you call an attributeless mage or a null mage, my kind of mages make up about 95 percent of the whole mage population. To find a elemental mage here would be considered very rare, but further down The Road, you should be seeing more of them," he says, although his tone is bland; a trace of envy could be heard. "There is only one way to become an Elemental mage, that is by opening your first BioP using an Elemental Point," he continues. I nod and agree with his words, that is the same way I became an Elemental. His words seem to mirror what happened to me. I do not know if I can trust Alex enough to tell him that I have a Skroll, therefore I will be cautious and will not reveal it to anyone. I still do not know how to open a Skroll, but I will figure it out. "Before we disband, I will explain how to make your Energy flow throughout your body," Alex says. His brief explanation on pulling Energy out of the Point Cloud and force it out through the fingers is not very helpful, but a few dozen minutes later, most of us have managed to push Energy out of our fingers. Alex explains that we can use this method to sign on official documents. This is called imprinting you mark, once your mark is imprinted the document is binding. "We will meet one last time tomorrow, I shall help in picking out weapons suitable for each one of you, " Alex continues. We agree to meet tomorrow at a local weapon smith and bade goodbye. Yawning, I make my way over to the inn and enter my room. Alpha runs up to me, wagging his tail in joy. I smile and pat the soft fur on his head, he seems distressed, maybe he thought I had left him. I decide to bring him with me to the weapon smith tomorrow, but for now, I need some sleep. I crash into the soft mattress and drift into peaceful sleep.