《The Aeternum》 Prologue The first sign came when Theodore was walking home from the library. It was an ordinary evening, calm and cool. The streets in the suburbs were poorly lit and no other humans were sighted nearby, altough Theodore could hear some kind of activity further away. The first sign was light. At first Theodore paid no mind to the increasing luminance of his surroundings. Assuming it was a car approaching from afar.However he realized he heard no car, even the sounds from nearbywas now missing. Turning his head and searching for the source of this light found him nothing. But the light was everywhere. Meaning the source could only be in... The Sky was alight, the stars themselves appeared to be falling. Huge tails of flame were appearing in the sky. Every second Theo watched, more would come. And then came the sound. An explosion the likes of seen only in films was visible in the sky, seconds later Theo fell backwards in pain as all windows in the buildings around him exploded. Pain was shrieking in his head, he could hear nothing else. Stunned, Theodore sat on the ground for a few seconds longer before he managed to gather this thoughts and look up. Above him the light was evermore blinding than earlier. Streaks of flame were flying out of a huge fireball akin to a sun in the sky. Then came the screams. Or rather, Theodore heard the screams. They sounded very far off, far further than the earlier activities. But they were clearly there. Standing up on crunching glass from a nearby car window Theodore looked around. There was noone else around. His own swallowing echoed through his Head together with a slight ringing sound. Must have broken one my ears? possibly both... Looking up, Theodore saw more .. meteors? falling down towards the city. Should i move? I doubt i can outrun a meteor if it falls towards me, and i cant for the life of me judge where they''ll land anyway.. Might aswell move towards the screams for now. Theres some safety in numbers. His thoughts were jumbled, he believed himself in a state of shock. Emotions seemed to come slowly if at all. jogging lightly to save stamina in case it''s needed later on, Theodore headed towards where he thought the screams originated. A minute later he came upon a group of people, anumber och which appeared to be bleeding from their ears altough none were otherwise hurt.Touching his own ears to check for blood, his right hand comes back crimson. Theodoreapproached the group while waving lightly, but then the Fourth sign came. Theodore first noticed how the faces that were turned towards him were scrunched up in horror, the bodies of the people tensing up like springs. That cant be because of me right? Theodore looked down his own body searching for any wounds he might have been too shocked to notice. He found nothing. When looking back up, one man was pointing at him.. no, past him. Looking over his shoulder he saw them. Bent over semi-Humanoid Figures. Their limbs looking like someone broke their arms believing this would give them a second joint. Clawed feet, Snarling faces, snouts close to that of a crocodile with 4 eyes. short hand-length spines jutted out of their backs. Just like a crocodile, they were covered in scales rather than skin. He was unable to tell the colour from this distance. They were running towards his group. No, to him and the group. Alternating between galloping on all fours and running on two legs as if they couldnt decide. Theodore turned his back to the creatures and started running. Past the gaping man still pointing towards the creatures. Past the women holding young children. Past a young teenager and his sister. he no longer attempted to spare his stamina. He just wanted to put this group of people between himself and the creatures. He wasnt panicking, he had a hard time feeling anything at all. But he knew he should be. Whatever was happening wasnt normal. This cant be real. this can only be a dream right? Right! It''s a dream. Nothing i''ve just seen could ever happen in reality, hah. For 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, he ran. Muttering to himself about the impossibility of his situation. Only when his stamina was dwindling did he slow down. He stopped in a park. Hiding in the shadows under a tree and keeping a bush between him and the direction he came from. As he tried to regain his breath he was listening, trying to hear if he was followed by anything. It was a pointless attempt. His broken right ear caused his rugged breathing to sound like jet engine, drowning out any other sound he might have heard. Fuck.. Fuck, What was that? Those weren''t monsters right? Some mutated reptile? he chuckled at the ridiculousness of the thought yeah right, as if a reptile could suddenly sprout arms and start running on two legs.. He sat down to recover from the excercise, his entire body undulating with every breath, a tear crawling down his face. I''m crying? But i''m not sad? As Theodore reached up to wipe away the tear another one fell, and another. But no more. Sniffling and wiping his tears away Theodore stood up. This isnt the time Now that he was calmer he attempted to listen for sounds once again. Nothing could be heard; not even the screams that were the last sounds he remember hearing. "Meteors, Monsters.. This cant be the apocalypse can it??" he mumbled to himself as he looked around. He saw no movement in the vicinity. Altough the foliage was covering a good portion of his vision. he could only see the buildings on one side of the park. The streetlights appeared to have blown together with all the windows. Light no longer came from the sky either, as the meteor rain appeared to have stopped. Now there was only the dark of the late evening. Seems i''m still in the suburbs So what now? Do i call the cops? Those meteors didnt look like a localized event.. they were covering the entire sky. I''m pretty sure the police is busy.. Perhaps.. oh crap, My parents! He was panicking, he knew. Searching for any one thing he believed could help him escape this nightmare. While scrambling to get his phone out of his pocket he nearly dropped it, his hands shaking like a rattlesnake. after a few attempts he managed to tap in the number to his Father, who should be home by this time. *Beeeeeep-* There was no other sound, just the beep. looking at his phone screen showed there was no signal. "Dam- damn." His voice now shaking from exhaustion. Dread replacing the panic inside him. He realized there would be no help. Placing his phone back in his pocket. he mumbled to himself "Where are all the people anyway?" I''m in a suburb, there are hundreds of buildings all around me. There''s no way they all decided to stay away from home at the same time right? Why is it so quiet..If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Theodore felt a shiver traveling down his spine as he realized how strange his situation was. He''d just run through a citys suburbs for 10 minutes, and never once can he recall seeing a single living person beyond that one group of people back there. The dread he was feeling was building up. Perhaps this wasnt the best question to start asking myself.. but his curiosity was now alight. Desperate for anything to keep his mind occupied he decided to start searching around for clues. Theodore Cautiously moved towards the closest building, trying to sneak as best as he could, avoiding the shards of glass that littered the ground and moving with soft, slow steps. While attempting to peer through a broken window he was given his first clue as to what had happened here, a strong smell of copper was lingering in the building. Definitively not the best option to keep my fear in check His hands were now gripping the windowframe like a vice. Unwilling to stop now, his curiousity always being one of his defining characteristics he fought down his own fear and clambered up the window and into the building. The smell was stronger in here. Much Stronger. Theodore was in a living room, a TV was on in the corner showing nothing but static. it provided some light to his surroundings. Taking the first step towards the next room caused the boards beneath him to creak lightly. Theodore froze and put all his concentration towards listening for any reaction to the sound. He heard nothing however. Either the building was empty, or whatever was inside was patient, and intelligent. He knew which option he would prefer... A quick but cautious search through the building showed little worthy of note, but as he approached a room towards the opposite end of the building from where he entered he gave pause. The smell was stronger here, seemingly emanating from the room infront of him. He heard nothing as he approached. Peeking through the doorway showed him nothing either. The room was pitch black. The light from the TV did not reach here. Bringing out his phone, he shined it into the room as an impromptu flashlight. Blood. He saw blood. The entire bed was covered in this substance. Suppressing his Nausea Theodore went inside for a closer look, fighting his fear all along. There was a body on the bed, well. Most of a body. One arm was near the wall opposite the bed. Whatever happened to the man was recent however. The blood was still dripping. The stomach of the body was ripped open, and not with any sort of finesse. Theodore wasnt sure what he was looking for. It was a dead body. There was nothing of use in this room. But in the back of his mind he had a feeling.. I''m going to be seeing alot more of this aren''t I? This was likely done by those creatures i saw earlier.. Perhaps the group i met is lying back there.. just like this guy... Stabilizing his breathing and calming himself down he turned around to leave the building. while leaving, Theodore picked up a cane he noticed leaning towards a wall near the normal entrance to the house. This has some heft to it, and it''s certainly better than nothing. The air outside had lost its previous chill. Theodore began searching the houses neighbouring his current one. In the first he managed to find a sports bag which he procceded to fill with food he ransacked from the nearby fridge. This house had no bodies, and the lack of upsetting smells reminded him he was getting hungry. The second building however had bodies, two of them. Only one of which was human. The other was one of the creatures he had spotted earlier lying on its stomach. It looked like someone had smashed its spine in and then crushed the neck. Presumably by stomping it. How someone managed to do that he wasnt sure. Slowly edging closer, Theodore used his cane to poke the corpse of the creature, attempting to flip it onto its back so he could see its face. What came into his view was disgusting. The eyes were sunken so far back that if the creature was a human; they''d be well insidethe brain. The Creatures teeth were many, too many. They barely fit inside its snout. Most teeth were jagged and broken but still looked very sharp.The head was quite large compared to its body; which itself was bent into a hunchbacked form making the entire creature look smaller than it really was. A sharp sound of crunching glass interrupted his investigation before he could consider wether he''d even be able to kill a creature like that or not. Raising his cane infront of him like some sort of shield he quietly approached the window closest to the sound and attempted to peek out. His face met with another face, a face filled with way too many teeth smelling like rotten eggs. Stumbling backwards, Theodore tried to quickly lift his cane up between himself and the creature but he was too slow, the creature was already lunging for him. Rather than getting up between them, the cane flung straight into the chin of the creature, snapping its mouth shut and causing a nauseating crunching sound to come from its mouth. The creature was still carrying its momentum however and crashed into Theodore sending them both falling to the ground, the creature ontop of Theodore. Theodore yelped, Pain shooting up his back as he landed on his sportsbag. The impact causing him to lose focus for a moment allowing the creature to rip into his left shoulder with its claw. This time the pain quickly brings him back to reality however and with a panicked motion Theodore moves his head away from the creature, Then swings it back up as hard as he can, aiming his forehead for its snout. The impact causes the creature to fall backwards off him, both its claws now covering its snout and yelling out with a surprisingly high pitched squeal. Why out of all things did i decide to headbutt him when i have free hands? Theodore quickly stands up now that the creature is no longer sitting ontop of him, rearing back his arm holding the cane to prepare for a strike. "St- Stay back, i know magic." The creature, reacting to the sound of his voice throws itself towards him without hesitation. Theodore however is prepared this time, hands still shaking from adrenaline. Out of fear or excitement; he did not know. But it did not matter, he could die here. Swinging the cane like a baseball bat he tried to smash the creature away from himself. The Cane struck the creature hard on its right ribs, throwing it off-course, sailing right past him and hitting the wall behind him. With all the dexterity of a drunken boxer Theodore spun on his heels and attempted to kick the creature before it could recover, he put all his strength behind the kick, wanting to end this fight here before he got hurt further. He misjudged the distance however, the kick flying into the creatures back toe-first. Blinding pain shot up through Theodores leg, through his ground and beamed out throughout his entire lower half. Theodore did all he could to ignore the pain and attempted to land another strike using his cane. This was more successful. The creature seemed to be stunned from the kick, unable to breathe. It didnt look up as Theodores cane struck it on the side of the head, nor did it resist when he pulled back to hit it again, and again, and again. The first strike knocking it unconscious. After the 6th strike Theodore toppled over, falling onto the creatures body, his right leg spasming from the pain that was still beaming throughout his lower torso. Ripping off his shoe and sock he looked at his foot; his middle toe was out of its socket, causing immense pain. But nothing appeared pernamentlybroken. Theodore took a few Gasping breaths while staring at his foot. Trying to prepare for the pain he knew had to come next. Ah fucking fuck why can i never remember how to kick properly Theodore Swore to keep his mind off the pain as he stared unseeingly towards the center of the room. Grabbing the toe that was out of alignment he took a deep breath, and Pulled hard before letting go, snapping the toe back in place and sending even more intense waves of pain shooting through his body. For the next few minutes he just lied there, allowing the pain to pass and coming to terms with what just happened. "I killed one.. I KILLED ONE." He laughed happily. Perhaps not the best thing to be happy about.. But now that the world seems to be ending, the ability to kill these things seem pretty useful. He laughed a little more, this time sounding a little more panicked than just happy. Wait, the world is ending isnt it? First meteors, then these creatures.. Or am i being melodramatic? Just this wouldnt end the world; the military can fight these creatures easily.. But with how many people must be dead.. things wont just go back to normal. Theodore spent another few seconds to catch his breath before standing up. I need a plan now though, If its just these creatures and the meteors.. Then others will be alive. I''m sure the Military has safezones somewhere already. It''d be great if i could reach those. I might find my family there too. Lets head towards the center of the city then? That seems the most likely location for people to gather. Not having forgotten his prior meeting with the creature Theodore grabs his bag and slowly creeps to a nearby window, glancing outside. The noise should had attracted anything nearby but you can neverbe too cautious.. right? There appears to be noone outside, but the surroundings are.. brighter again? More meteors? Looking up at the sky shows this not to be the case. After climbing over the window and out towards the streets Theodore looks around, trying to locate the source of the low light. it seems to be coming from all directions, all but one. Theodore quickly moves towards the park to climb a tree for a better view of the area. Placing his down bag and climbing the tree shows him a horrifying sight. The City is burning... Flames are devouring buildings as far as he can see, only one direction remains relatively unaccosted by the flames; The direction away from the city. Towards the woods. With little other choice lest he wants to become human barbeque; thats where Theodore starts heading. No other creature jumps him during this short travel. But he was alone, cut off from friends and family and possibly surrounded by murderous creatures. Things certainly werent looking bright for his continued survival. Chapter 1 Many hours later Theodore wakes up in a cave. He''d spent the rest of the prior day slowly sneaking through the woods, taking large detours around the few creatures he spotted. They hadnt been trying to hide so spotting them was relatively simple. What woke him up however, was the annoyingly bright glowing blue box now floating infront of his face.
Initializing System... Initializing Localised VI Subsystem.. Initialized. Calculating attributes.. Complete Proccessing recent events.. Judging recent actions.. Granting Skills.. Estimating Current survival rate.. Low. Local end user integration complete.
Welcome to Order. The last defense versus the chaos from beyond. The Order System is Thought-Controlled. Merely think ''Status'' to view your status screen. Other keywords will be made known to you once you register for your class at the nearest safezone Your planet is also being governed by an Advanced Virtual Intelligence. It has a database of responses to the most common questions new System Initiates may have.
The.. System? Is this what caused that meteorstorm earlier? and those cre-
Any events you may have experienced prior to System Initialization were not caused by the system itself. Rather, they were caused by the forces of chaos invading your planet. The System was designed to protect species from the forces of chaos, and so implements itself onto a planet once a chaos infestations have been detected.
Hah. So you''re saying you''re not to blame. Fine. I have other things to worry about right now.. What was the keyword again? Interface? Status?
Status
Name: Theodore Vance Titles: First-Wave Survivor Class: N/A -- Exp: N/A
Skills: Stealth lvl 1, Denial lvl 1, Improvised Fighting lvl 1
Available Paths: Free Stat points: 0
Health: 10/10 (1/hr) Internal Influence: N/A External Influence: N/A
Strength: 2 - Explosive physical power, Internal Influence cost/effect Ratio and muscle integrity. Vitality: 4 - Governs health Regeneration, General Bloodflow, Toxin Resistances and Internal Influence Recovery. Constitution: 2 - Governs General Tissue Strength, Disease Resistance, Healthpool and Internal Influence maximum.
Agility: 3 - Governs Kinestetic senses, flexibility and speed of the body. Perception: 5 - Governs external senses, and general awareness. Reflex: 3 - Governs automated responses, Reaction speed and non-conscious responses to attacks.
Focus: 6 - Governs how much willpower can be leveraged into mental attacks. Governs Effect of other stats on surrounding space. Intelligence: 4 - Governs Memory, Cognitive speed, and External Influence cost/effect ratio. Willpower: 2 - Governs Influence can be managed at once. Provides Resistance to mental trauma and attacks.
Affinity: 0 - How attuned you are to chaos. Governs Internal And External Influence Regeneration.
These stats.. make sense? I always knew I wasnt very fit, and school wasnt exactly challenging.. But come on.. 4 Intelligence? I feel insulted. So what else is there to see.. No class. Seems I get that later.. Skills? when did I get those..? so how do i.. Stealth? Stealth lvl 1: Increases light absorbtion of the user while active by 0.5%, passively reduces noise of movement by 2%. Active use requires Internal Influence Next we have.. Denial? Influence? I dont seem to have any. Guess I can only use the passive. Wait. Increases Light absorbtion? So it makes me darker? by a percentage? how does that even work? Wouldnt dark skinned people have way more use for this? Hell does it even matter if you have clothing covering yourself? GAH! I hate that I cant test this right now. Denial lvl 1: Deny reality, or part of the reality around you. reduces your perception of what is denied by 2%. Does not use Internal or External Influence. Effect Scales with Focus and Skill level ... No answer? is that not a common question? What the hell System. You said it was an Advanced VI not a piece of budget crap!What kinda skill is this? Reduces my perception of something?? What is the point of that? Isnt this basically just debuffing my own perception?? Why would I want a skill that debuffs myself? Hey System, Can I remove skills? Shaking his head in frustration Theodore looked towards the last skill he had. Improvised Fighting lvl 1: Proves basic ability to handle weapons or improvised weapons. Increases durability of objects used in combat by 5%. Before he could take a look at the rest of his status, another message appeared covering his status.This.. This seems pretty good? isnt this quite ridicolous though? 5% at level 1. Does that mean 500% at level 100? Could I break a rock using a stick? How does it decide wether an object is used in combat or not?
All Users integrated. Applying World Zone Template... Applied.
Wait what? Template? System what are you doing?
Your world is being remade to fit the battleground templates with the highest success rates versus the forces of Chaos.
Applying World Dangerlevel Template... Applied.
I dont suppose you have plans to revert that once the battle is over? I kinda liked the world.
Applying Safezones... Applied
And now you''re not even replying.. Are you being passive agressive? is that what this is? Is it due to what I said earlier?
Applying World Dungeon Template...
At this point Theodore felt the ground shaking beneath him as everything around him started glowing white. The walls, the floor, even the caves exit that was just a few yards away was now hidden by the everpresent whiteness. The light was only getting brigther and brighter. Feeling his eyes start to hurt Theodore clenched them closed. For the love of god please tell me this is just a coincidence and that the cave I found didnt suddenly get selected to turn into a dungeon. If this is about what I said earlier then i''m Sorry! I didnt actually mean it! Please dont place me in a dungeon!The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Applied.
You have entered the Dungeon: Winterfallow Caves(lvl 53)
Congratulations! As one of the first humans to enter a dungeon; you get a share of the reward! +2 Perception!
Congratulations! As one of the first humans to enter a Advanced-level dungeon you get a share of the reward! +67% increased Skill-experience for the next week! +100% Increased Experience in the dungeon that triggered this reward! +5 unallocated stat points!
He could see the notifications even with his eyes closed, and they brought him nothing but despair. Level 53?! I''m level 1! No. NO! This is NOT happening. I''m not playing your game system! I''m leaving! As Theodore yelled in his head at the system, he noticed that the notifications faded ever so slightly. Opening his eyes showed him that the light around him had faded ever so slightly aswell, as if someone had put very very weak sunglasses on him. But the light was still blinding, it hurt even with his eyes closed, the skill gave him some slight hope however. Sitting on the ground and closing his eyes tight again he starts to repeat to himself. There is no light there is no light there is no light there is no light By this point the light was tapering off, much more than could be explained by his Denial skill. Theodore Waits for another few seconds for the light to become mananageable before opening his eyes. This.. looks completely different.. and its cold, it wasnt cold before. Slowly he turns his head to look around. The cave is bright. Glowing moss appears to be growing all over the walls that are now covered in moisture. A stark difference from the previous dry and dirty cave-entrance. As he finished his scan of the surroundings he was struck by a thought. Wheres the cave exit? Did the system just remove the cave entrance? Fuck. It hates me doesnt it.. Theodore blinked and looked around once more. He seemed to be in a passageway in a cave. The walls on both sides were quite close to him. The passage only being wide enough to fit maybe 2 adult humans standing side by side. Beyond that the passage stretched far both to his right and left. Thankfully i''m not claustrophobic. But considering the moisture.. I''m down pretty deep in the caves arent I? The food I have in my backpack wont last me forever and i''m sorely lacking in water.. I might be able to find that down here. But I''ll need to escape this dungeon before I run out of food. Theodore started heading down the path to his right. He saw no reason to just wait around. As he was Traveling Theodore continued experimenting with his Denial skill. Denying the walls of the cave, His Fear of the current situation and even The freezing cold. It appears to work just as fine for physical phenomenon like the cold as it does for more abstract things like my fear. How does that even work? I mean, what is Fear, and how can I reduce it? I''m pretty sure fear consists of millions of chemical and electrical interactions going on in my brain right now.. am I somehow ignoring all those happening? that doesnt even make sense. Theodore started seeing more light coming from ahead just around a corner. Feeling some slight excitement and a large dose of apprehension he softened his footsteps and tried to stealthily peek around the corner to get a view of what was emitting all this light. What he found nearly struck him speechless. So many trees.. There''s an entire forest down here. And.. a sun? High High up in the ceiling Theodore saw the source of the light; it was too bright to make out any details but clearly it was huge, probably as large as a small buidling. Denying the light did little to help him withstand it. Looking away from the painful sun Theodore focused his attention on the Trees. He saw what looked Like palm trees, and yet right next to them were giant Evergreens. There were even Maple trees! All of them were Vividly green, even in this cold temperature. There were hip-heght bushes of some kind spread out over the ground and short grass was growing where there were no other plants. Looking to the sides Theodore could see no walls or end to the forest, plants stopping his vision from reaching that far. But even just what he could see was several football fields wide. atleast 6 or 7, the cave was utterly gigantic. Not seeing any movement amongst the flora Theodore procceded out of his small cave and into the larger.. Can this even be called a cave? The ceiling is atleast 50 yards up, there are trees and even a pseudo sun! keeping his cane close to his body Theodore cautiously walked further into the forest. This really is just like an aboveground forest.. Perhaps I''ll find a spring here and solve my water problem? Hah! there might even be fish. Feeling somewhat giddy now that he''d found open space Theodore kep walking with a slight spring to his step. Feeling the soft dirt beneath him easily parting for his feet and leaving highly visible footsteps. After a few minutes of searching Theodore managed to locate a stream. The increased perception didnt seem to help him noticeably, but he still managed to spot many animals while moving around. They all seemed more afraid of him than he did of them however. Running the moment he got close. He even stumbled upon a boar that got so startled it ran right into a tree trying to escape from him. Wasnt this supposed to be a high level dungeon? Why are there only common animals here? shaking his head to disperse that line of thinking he sat down next to the stream to quench his thirst. This could make a good camp-site while I explore the rest of this cave.. Interrupting his thoughts another Notification appeared.
World Initialization Complete. Procceding with Chaos Inoculation for Sentients
Welcome User. Do you wish to procced with Chaos Inoculation?
What? I dont know what that means..
Chaos Inoculation is the proccess through which living beings are granted resistance to the corrupting influences of chaos. The proccess is very painful, and in some cases will result in your demise. We advice you seek a safe area with others you trust to guard you during the proccess. Successful Inoculation will also allow you to use Internal and External Influence and gain skills pertaining to the two.
So what? what even is that Influence anyway? Why would I care about being inoculated?
Internal and External Influence are ordered versions of Chaos energy. Raw Chaos is extremely corruptive and often harmful to the user. Order therefore structures the chaos energy absorbed into safer versions of this energy for the user. Even these safer versions can be harmful however, and Inoculation is required to safely handle them.
And if I dont accept this?
Not accepting the inoculation will lead to being labeled a monster. You will become an enemy of the system and will provide experience and stat rewards to any user that later kills you
So it''s blackmail. huh. Not sure what I expected. Fine. I accept the Inoculation. As soon as Theodore thought his acceptance he fell over, his body spazming and his mind filled with white hot radiating pain. He could feel his blood pumping through every vein of his body like liquid lightning. Every movement he made caused his now hypersensitive nerves to go alight with even more pain. His vision shrinking from the intense pain Theodore realized he would soon pass out if he didnt do anything. Perhaps that would be fine, but he wasnt in a safe place, nor did he have anyone guarding his body. So he focused all the willpower he could manage and did the only thing he could think of: He Denied the pain. With all the willpower he could musterhe denied the pain before it could consume him. A few seconds felt like half an eternity. NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE