《Those Born From Flames》


 The Light - Chapter 1

    Jeremy never really liked the way his world worked and always looked for ways to escape from the world around him. He thought of this world as lacking and boring because there was no incentive to really do anything other than trying to make his parent proud;he never really did anything on his own free will. He wanted to go to a world where he could feel emotion that he couldn''t feel on earth. Jeremy wanted to go to a place where he would have to live off his own abilities to survive and get a greater meaning out of life. This was his dream.


    That dream finally became true when a complete skill based vrmmorpg came out in the name of Hollow Online which gave the user almost total freedom that they could explore a world that no one has ever set foot on. The game was charted to come out later this year so many things weren¡¯t confirmed but the closed beta was set to come out in about 3 months giving the dev team ample time to change anything that was unbalanced or unfair in their game.


    Jeremy, a lonely junior in highschool, finally found the light in his pit of darkness. After leaving school, Jeremy rushed home to get on his computer to quickly sign up for the closed beta hoping that he could be one of the few 100,000 in the closed beta. Luckily he didn''t have to wait too long because after 3 long weeks of him constantly checking his email to see if he got in;he finally got the email he was looking for.


    To Jeremy Calista,


    We here at Hollow Entertainment would like to be the first to congratulate you on being one of the lonely few who will be able to test a new and upcoming technology that we are releasing. In the next 2 weeks you should get a call from a employee of Hollow Entertainment asking for you to drop by a nearby outlet of ours so that we can get basic physically and medial data on you.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Thank you,


    Terry Pratchett CEO of Hollow Entertainment


    After reading the letter, Jeremy couldn¡¯t hold back his excitement and jumped out of his seat and started doing a very poor jig. He left his room and entered the living room while attracting a strange look from his mother he dived into his dog and started to pet him happily. The dog not liking being so close to him started to mumble unhappily but didn¡¯t move because he still enjoyed being pet. While still in the kitchen, Jeremy¡¯s mother asked loudly, ¡° What are you so happy about to cause you to dance like such a idiot?.¡± ¡° What would you do if you could live out your dream before anyone else can,¡± Jeremy retorted back at her. ¡°Then I would have a million dollars.¡± She said while she took the pot off the stove and strained the noodles that were in it. ¡° Oh yeah we are having spaghetti tonight honey so I hope you are hungry.¡±


    Jeremy didn¡¯t respond because he was too preoccupied with furiously hugging his snow white American Eskimo that looked completely out of place with the carpeted floor that was filled with dog fur. The dog conveniently named Momo after the mo in eskimo didn¡¯t really do anything other than sit on his lazy bum and shed hair everywhere, but he never forgets to grumble whenever Jeremy tries to pet him. Momo seemingly upset at the lack of attention he was getting started to use his paw to hit Jeremy¡¯s arm to get his to pet him more. Enjoying the feeling of Momo¡¯s fur he continued petting him until his mom called him for dinner. He quickly ate while chatting with his mom then went up to his room to look up more information about his ¡°dream¡±.

 Setting Up - Chapter 2

    For the 2 day weekend that Jeremy had, he had spent most of the time looking up information on Hollow Online and found that there was very little to go off of. The first thing that he noted was that there was no class system or leveling system in the game. You had to actually go and learn how to do something rather than grinding levels so that you can create something better. Like for example if you wanted to create a weapon then you must know the ins and outs of smithing that weapon. This gives the user the utmost creative freedom to create whatever kind of abomination of a weapon that they want. Jeremy also discovered that there will be herbology and alchemy in the game while instead of using enchantments you make a amalgamation of a soul of the creature you killed and the weapon.


    After looking up some of the information on the game, his attention gets stolen by his phone which started ringing loudly. Silently curing in his mind jeremy picked up the phone to see who dared to disrupt his precious alone time with his computer. The caller ID on the phone read Brandon Dumvit who was a old friend of Jeremy that moved away 2 years past. Jeremy noticing who is was quickly put the phone to his ear and started talking with his old friend. Brandon much like Jeremy was a kindred spirit in being a loner. This allowed a special bond to form between Brandon and Jeremy no different to brothers if those brothers were like fire and brimstone.


    The first to speak was Jeremy who spoke as quick as a machine gun shot, ¡° Hey, Brandon did you see the new game that is coming how?.¡± It took a second for Brandon to register what he said then said excitable back, ¡°Yeah I just got home from a trip with my mother and I found this all over social media and forums.¡± ¡°So did you also get accepted in the beta?,¡± Joshua asked while he put his phone on his shoulder. ¡° Yeah I did and I saw that the game will randomly pick your starting location so we will have to find each other later. Also do not forget that we have to meet up again and fight just like old times.¡± That reminded Jeremy of a more happy time where they used to play games with each other as children until they eventually got into a fight and stopped talking for a day. Only to then start talking to each other the other day. Most people would describe this two as a love-hate relationship in its purest form. Jeremy quickly finished talking with Brandon and finally realised that it was almost 12pm so he jumped into his bed. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the bed.


    The next two weeks passed quickly as Jeremy went through his daily life and the day finally came as he drove himself to the Hollow Entertainment building that turned out to be one of the few skyscrapers in the city. Going through the front door, Jeremy waved at the receptionist as he slowly walked over. The assistant looked very clean and neat in her business suit. The white and black contrasted nicely and her nicely sized hips also add to her adult look. Sadly she didn¡¯t have much in the chest department but that didn''t take away to her full aesthetics.¡± Hello, welcome to Hollow Entertainment,¡± she said while shuffling a few papers around. Jeremy cleared her throat and quickly stopped ogling the lady. ¡° I won the lottery to get into the beta for Hollow Online and I was told to come here for the stuff needed for the game.¡± She smiled brightly at me and ushered me into a room that looked very much like a doctor¡¯s office. ¡° We just need to take some measurements of you and do some physical examination of your body,¡± She said as she handed Jeremy over to a male nurse that had way too much muscle for his job. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    In a very deep voice he said, ¡° Take off your shoes and get on the scale then I will take your blood pressure.¡± Doing as he said, he took Jeremy¡¯s weight and height then sat him down to take his blood pressure. He told me to stand on one leg then the other then lastly checked my vitals like my heart rate and checked to see if his lungs were clear. ¡°Well you seem fine to me so go back to the lobby and talk to the lady in the front to get to the next step,¡± He said while typing on his computer.


    Making his way back to the lobby, the receptionist called him over while she was going over to the other side of the building. Following behind her, they arrived at a small room that had small square white tiles all over the floor that allowed the cold to spread from your feet to your head. Moving to the middle of the room small lasers took measure of every part of Jeremy¡¯s body and sent that data to a computer near the entrance of the room. The receptionist looked over the information then nodding her head turned back to Jeremy and said, ¡° Alright, all things taken care of so would you please wait in the lobby for about 5 minutes so that I can get the unit ready for transport.¡± Jeremy nodded to her and watched her long legs walk into one of the back room before he slowly walked back to the lobby.


    Jeremy felt very antsy while waiting the few minutes. It was like he was back in his youth where he would have to wait for presents on christmas and this feeling of excitement that consumed his whole being. The receptionist finally came back and gave Jeremy a box about half the size of the receptionist. The receptionist was having trouble carrying it so Jeremy rushed over to take it from her. Taking if from her hands, he almost dropped it but managed to get control of it. He smiled at her which she returned before she left him to get back to her little computer while he trundled over to his car and shoved the thing into his backseat before his arms gave up. He quickly got into the driver seat and drove back to his house.


    Unlocking the door to his house, he walks into the living room with the large box and slowly makes his ways his way to his room. He sets the box next to his bed. Jeremy quickly rips off the duct tape that was covering it and slowly opens his precious treasure chest. Inside lays a machine much like a computer other than having multiple ports that Jeremy didn''t recognize. Briefly reading over the manual, he plugs in the various ports. The ports were very strange to him like some being called visual stimulus and auditory stimulus rather than just audio, but he just did as the instruction said without caring much about such trivialities. Finally getting the thing together he picks up the odd looking helmet and plugs it into the machine. He took care of his basic needs while the system was doing the startup then put on his helmet and pushed the button on the side to turn it on.

 The Graveyard - Chapter 3

    Jeremy sat in darkness for what seems like several minutes until a bright flame appeared in his vision. The flame quickly overtook all the darkness that surround him and seemed like it was ready to consume everything. From inside the bright flame a voice came, ¡°You are one of the few chosen to be a part of something bigger than you can ever imagine. My name is Ignis and I am here to guide you for the beginning of your long journey. One that will be filled with countless hardships that will try to sap out your hope, but if you can resist these hardships then you will see the world for what it truly is.¡± Stopping for a moment Ignis grows a little larger as his continues, ¡° In my world you are nothing but a wandering soul but I will create a body for you that will be allow you to interact and fight in my world.¡± Slowly a piece of the fire that was attached to Ignis floated over to Jeremy. The flame slowly covered the ghostly body that was Jeremy and skin started to slowly appear from what the flame has burned. ¡° The flame is what gives humans their humanity but you must always remember that where there is light there must also be darkness,¡± he told Jeremy before Ignis expanded to cover over all of Jeremy vision. Blinded by the bright light of Ignis, Jeremy quickly covered his eyes.


    ¡° Open your eyes so that you can see the world you will be traveling in for as long as you can survive the darkness,¡± Ignis told Jeremy. Jeremy looked around at the world around him. He was in a graveyard covered by many gravestones that were many times as tall as Jeremy that extended so high in the sky that you could barely read the names on the gravestones. One of the gravestones more decorated than the others had five lines engraved in it.


    Here lies one that lost faith in the flame,


    Only to have suffered from the rot that decays even the greatest of mind,


    Succumbed to the darkness that consumes even the brightest of flames,


    Father of all Giants,


    Magna the flamebearer


    Sitting atop his grave stood two large objects. One being a large church bell that even though it look very heavy was swaying in the wind. While the other was a bonfire atop his gravestone that seemed like it would never dim even if it ran out of fuel. The voice from the flame started to speak after it gave a minute to absorb all the information,¡± Many who have fought against the dark and lost have been buried here so that their flame could be used to ignite the next soul brave enough to fight the dark.¡± Ignis started moving over to one of the smaller gravestones that was surrounded by dead flowers and small black pools that were filled with insects. ¡° Recently diseased and past owner of your flame was this man who gave his life to research a flame that could be strong enough to repel even the strongest darkness,¡± he said as he pointed over to the smaller gravestoneThe story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Master of Pyremancy,


    Founder of the way of fire,


    Yet was defeated by the very thing he strived to destroy,


    Father of the Inner Flame


    Great Scholar Ipsum


    ¡°A man that tended to be by himself rather than with others and a man who had a burning passion for the flame,¡± commented Ignis. ¡° Sadly, such a man doesn¡¯t last long without learning how to deal with the fellows flames but enough about him more about you,¡± Ingis said like an afterthought. ¡° You seem to have talent in conjuring the flame since Ipsum choose you to carry on his flame. I hope that you can use the flame not only destroy your enemies but also to inlight others who do not know the wonders of the flame. Now look behind you at the settlement of the Kiln of the Giants because this is where all vessels start their tale. This is also where you, bearer of Ipsum¡¯s flame, will begin,¡± after finishing his monolog Ignis disappeared without any fanfare and the warmth of his flame left.


    Jeremy was wonderstruck by the realism of this place and all the little pieces of lore that he was getting from the small talking flame. He could only wonder of what kind of creature would be large enough to merit a gravestone of this size that could be akin to apartment building in his world. Jeremy shivered as the final warmth of Ignis finally left his body but then a new warmth started to fill him. That warmth came from the bonfire that sat atop the giant¡¯s tombstone. Yet somehow he knew instinctively that this warmth was not strong enough and that the flame of the giant while being enduring was weak. Looking down at himself, Jeremy noticed that not only did he looked identical to his normal self but he was also only wearing some soft cotton pants that went down to the middle of his tight. Looking around more he noticed a small stone located over the top of his heart. Looking closely at this stone for a few moments a notification hovered in front of his vision.


    [Core of the Vessel Jeremy]


    Formed from the combination of the soul and a fragment of the flame of one who tried to defend the flame and failed. It is the weakest point of any Vessel and if damaged can interrupt the interaction between the flame and soul making it impossible to use abilities of the flame. (Silences and 3x dmg)


    Reading over this Jeremy understood that the core is one of if not the most important place to protect on his body while also getting his curious about what are these abilities of the flame. Looking over to the Kiln of the Giants he saw a great gate made out of two gravestones that had lines of runes on them that Jeremy didn¡¯t understand. Seeing as that was the only way out of this graveyard Jeremy walked over to the gate and started started to push the gate open. The gate didn¡¯t even move an inch before flame overtook them and consumed Jeremy. Not understanding what was happening, He started to yell out in pain only to realise that the flame wasn¡¯t hurting him but somehow phasing him through the door to the other side where a dreary city made out of gravestones stood in front of him.