《Without Solitude》


 Chapter 1: A Talk With A Deity

    So I''m just sitting in the void with nothing around. I would try to open and close my eyes but I appear to not have eyelids, or anything else for that matter. From what I remember I recently died in the raddest way possible, I''ll spare you the details but let''s just say it involved a motorcycle, several explosives, a spatula and a plane mid-flight.


    "Yeah, that was cool. Not the absolute raddest, but it''s definitely in the top one hundred I''ve seen." A voice echoes around me with no point of reference.


    ...''Who are you and how are you reading my mind?'' is the first question on the fifty page list of questions that just formed on my mind right now.


    "in simple terms I am a goddess," The voice says nonchalantly. "And most mortal minds are completely bare in the Void of Death."


    I see, any reason your talking to me specifically?


    "Well, as it turns out, mortal minds are really fragile, and usually will just fall apart when they enter the Void of Death; however, there are rare instances of minds surviving the shock of death. These souls usually achieve this because they either have a well structured mind that is just that good or they have a will that is focused enough to hold their mind together. These souls would just drift around until a universe takes them in. So it has become a wide scale tradition for gods and goddesses to take in souls that still have their minds and give them a reward for surviving the Void of Death."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    So you''re giving me an award for just being alive? I hope it isn''t a metal or something, that would be a little useless if you ask me.


    "Well it isn''t. Worldly possessions are useless to us deities; instead, should you accept, you''ll get to live in my world and receive a power and a weapon of your preference, don''t think too hard on that part as I''ve already read through your consciousness and selected some stuff I know you would prefer."


    Alrighty then... Anything else I should know?


    The goddess pauses for a moment in thought. "Hmm... Other than that I have four things you should know. One is that I will summon you on a stone platform that I want you to destroy once you get there; necromancers are annoying as it is. Two, you will be in a wilderness somewhat distant from civilization; I don''t want anyone to find the platform before you destroy it and I also think the time there will aid you well if you decide to head towards civilization, although I don''t recommend it as language would be a large barrier in that effort. Thirdly just because you are entering my world doesn''t mean that you will immediately have a physical body, though with what I''m giving you that shouldn''t be too much trouble. And finally some time in the future I''m going to be interfacing my world to another''s for a friend whom''s civilization is going to make a ''VRMMO'' some time from now."


    Alright then, that sounds cool (although that just made my list of questions triple in size). I accept.


    "Wonderful! Now play well with your brother now!" The godess says in a smug tone.


    Wait a- and the void flashes white for a moment before I conk out.

 Chapter 2: Greetings and Mail

    She didn¡¯t even give me her name! And what¡¯s this about a brother!? I¡¯m gonna deal with all that later, too much headache!


    Besides, I''ve gotta take in my surroundings. The goddess said that I''d be in a wilderness and as it turns out she was right. Specifically I appear to be on a flat place on a mountain. More locally I''m floating above an odd yin-yangy platform made of the same stone as the mountain. I''m above one of the circles while a wispy cloud of black In a vague humanoid shape is floating above the other circle. He seems to be taking everything in as well... and now he''s looking at me.


    His voice seems to reverberate through the air while at the same time is high like an 8 year old''s voice. "So you were the one she was talking about."


    "And so are you." I reply with the same reverberation as his but with a higher pitch.


    After a short but awkward pause he tilts his head. "So... what''s your name?"


    "I... don''t know... now that I think about it I can''t seem to remember..."


    The cloud in front of me looks down and seems to sigh. "Me too, but this is a new life, so we might as well have new names." He pauses for a moment and then looks at me again. "How about I give you a name and you give me a name."


    "Alright then..." Okay, so he''s as black as obsidian so... "How do feel about the name Sid."


    "That sounds alright. So I''m Sid and you can be... Um... How about Iva."


    Hmm... I look down in thought and as I bring my hand up I notice that it''s wispy and completely white Like... I see what you did there. I look back to him and try to give the best smile a featureless blob can give. "That''s fine by me. Now because I think we''re brother and sister now we should share a last name like... Dumont!"Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    He tilts his ''head'' to the side. "Dumont? Why that?"


    "Well, Dumont is a French surname that means ''From the mountain'', and we came into existence on this mountain." I answer in an informative tone.


    "Ah, cool, that seems about right. So, with that settled, I think we should see what the goddess gave us."


    "Right¡­"


    Sid releases a sigh of exasperation. "This is gonna take while..."


    While we were thinking of how we would do that a flash of light appeared above us as a piece of paper floated down between us and settled in the middle of the slab. The paper itself looks like printing paper while the words on it appear to be handwritten while still legible from a distance. The words are as follows:


    "Hello you two!


    Sorry about the rough landing, but I''m rushed as it is, what with the whole game thing coming up. I already know it''s alright with you guys but I''m still sorry about it! Anyway, other than that here''s some important info that you should know before you do anything else:


    Firstly, I''ll list off what I''ve given you. To Sid I''ve given the power to quickly make blades out of any material and I''ve also given him the power to use an extension that sits behind a dimensional veil, and to Iva I have given a power similar to Sid''s blade power but with guns and finally Iva can also predict the effect of any action she takes perfectly, don''t underestimate this power, there are many who wish they had it. Also, these powers are weak now, but they will grow with you and may one day be unmatched.


    Secondly, the reason you two sound so young is because of the race you two currently inhabit: the spirit race! This race matures very slowly most of the time and gain immense power long before they become adults, however, they also have great difficulty interacting with the physical world without help; however you two have an additional power that few spirits ever acquire this early in life: manifestation! Just try to focus your fuzzy forms into silhouettes and your golden!


    And finally, right now you two aren''t strong enough to break the summoning platform, I could take care of it pretty fast, and settlers will be entering this valley in a month, but this is a test to see if you two can gain the necessary strength in that month of time. If you pass I''ll give you two a reward, if you fail I''ll just destroy it myself.


    And with all that said I bid you adieu.


    Sincerely, the goddess."


    And I still don¡¯t know her name!

 Chapter 3: Plans in the Land

    Me and Sid have been talking through the new information we''ve just received and have organized an order of the things that we''ll work on to get the goddess¡¯ quest over with quickly:


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Figure out manifestation ASAP.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Make a temporary base.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Figure out how to use abilities and their extent.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Train in any way possible, as hard as possible.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Make some good weapons.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Smash.</li>


    </ol>


    That¡¯s the gist of it anyway; other than that I actually like what the goddess picked out for me; nice and shooty, I¡¯m pretty sure I like shooty.


    Also while we were discussing the Strat? the message the goddess sent us crumbled to dust.


    Now that we¡¯ve talked about what we are planning on doing, we¡¯re actually gonna do it.


    Sid tilts his head down. "So... on the count of three?"


    Interesting, if generic proposal "...Sure."


    ""Three...""


    ""...Two...""


    ""...One!""Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Things seem to become more vivid than before as I focus my mind. I didn''t notice before now that everything was a little distant before we started focusing, and it made me feel no need to move for some reason, like my ''eyes'' were the only thing that needed to move.


    Whatever; anyway, while the world is coming into focus, I feel like I''m moving in a direction that doesn''t exist and, while I can''t perceive much else while I''m focused like this, Sid''s billowing cloudiness is solidifying!


    In short order, the world finally became as it should be and my ''brain'' finally decided that just sitting in the air was boring so I descended down to the intricately carved floor, Sid doing the same. Speaking of him, Sid now has a proper appearance, even if it''s just a messy haired black silhouette with glowing white eyes, it''s still better than looking like smoke!


    Sid just now jumped off the edge of the platform and is walking toward the outcropping that is supporting the platform while I follow curiously. He has reached the edge and is now looking down. I wonder what he''s thinking about.


    I follow his eyes and spot a medium sized valley nestled below our outcropping.


    I figured out the general idea before words even left his mouth. "Number two?" My voice seems more solid now that I''m manifest.


    He looks towards me and nods. "Number two."


    Well, since that''s settled I reach my hand out to him. "Shall we drop in?"


    He pauses a bit before grinning (at least I assume) and taking my hand. "We shall!"


    Hand in hand at the edge of the rock that had been our world for a short time, we tipped forward, and fell. Weirdly enough, I can''t really feel the wind rushing around me; instead, I''m just aware of it. Must be the fact that I don''t have a body.


    ...


    The ground is coming up fast so it''s probably a good time to stop pretending that I''m affected by gravity. I slow down and Sid picks up on that and slows down too. Our ''feet'' touch the ground in a clearing below the outcropping. Convenient, huh?


    Anyway, this is where the home base shall be! Why, you may ask? It''s simple: pure impulse!