《The Grand eGress》


 The Grand Egress -(Chapter 0) - Spiral In

    Paradox sent me here  ^^)


    This is the prologue. Chapter will be putt on https://tggln.wordpress.com</a> first.


    If anybody is interested in helping with editing let me know. I could really use the help.


    _


    The Grand Egress ¨C Chapter 0 ¨C Spiral In


    ¡®So I just hit this button and I¡¯ll be in the game? This is kinda scary¡¯


    Jeremy Tellum was sitting in his dorm room feeling nervous. The university campus was in the middle of Seoul on a well known mountain. Expensive as it was, the school provided plenty of opportunities like the one sitting in front of him. ¡®


    The spiral shaped device read, ¡°The Grand Egress¡±. He was trying to work up the nerve to press the start button but was having second thoughts. He ran his hand through his hair and looked up at his room mate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much, this is a state of the art console. Billions were spent on making sure it was safe.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­..¡±


    ¡°After the first time you won¡¯t even notice the nanos¡± The young Swedish man always had his salesman smile on.


    ¡®But, you say I¡¯m going to be one of the first people to even try it?¡¯


    Jeremy let himself fall back onto his bed. He was about to become a guinea pig. If he didn¡¯t need the money to stay in the dorms he would have turned this, ¡°trial run¡± down as soon as he saw that creepy smile on Axel¡¯s face. He knew that look! Axel frequently used that look to take international freshmen to eat weird food. He took his latest victim to a cow tongue restaurant.


    After Axel dropped a cabbage roll* on the common table he had to try to ignore that smile. It is not everyday that someone drops a million Easties on you and tells you there is more to come. So he followed Axel back to their shared room and the Swede pulled out the spiraling-table-ornament inspired game console.


    ¡®What is with that wierd shape¡¯  Jeremy couldn¡¯t help but thinking.


    Axel told Jeremy that all he had to do was press a button at the base of the spiral and then inhale the microscopic nanos that came out with his nose. He wanted him to inhale tiny robots up his nose! The nanobots were going to attach to his brain and launch him into a first of its kind VR game.


    Axel was excited beyond anything Jeremy had seen before, that creepy smile just kept inching towards the ceiling. The nanos weren¡¯t the only problem. To get the money he had to let Axel watch over his body while he was inside the game (creepy), He also had to write regular status reports on his in-game progress.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Until the game was released internationally he would be the only Weigo* in the game.


    Jeremy was a transfer student from the United American Complex. As a second year culture student he was sent to a small country in the Far East Conglomerate . The goal was to become an expert in that countries¡¯ ways and land a teaching job at First University of the UAC. At least that was the goal dictated to him systematically.


    The UAC was the government that came to power after World War III, making all the countries in the northern and southern American continents into a single unified entity. The devastating war reduced the population by millions and inspired the survivors to focus more on culture, communication, and technology.


    Jeremy was a product of intensive training in the UAC systems, ¡°Social Improvement Plan¡± From a young age he was putt on plan E3165 which was loosely called, ¡°Plan E¡±. The E stood for exposure, exchanger, or explorer.  Cultural themes from all sorts were crammed into his brain non stop until he became a buffet of skills, history and language from all over the world. This exchange program was the last step in Plan E before they would enroll him in the teacher trainer plan T211.He had 5 goals to accomplish in order to graduate from the plan.


    E3165 Completion Requirements for Jeremy Tellum


    1. Learn the local Language to fluency


    2. Master a martial arts form


    3. Master a local music instrument


    4. Pass all exams and reviews


    5. Become a ¡°friend for life¡± with a local.


    Jeremy was given this assignment after completing the first year of advanced placement in the First University E3165 division. He was not given any options, a computer A.I randomized and selected where he should go and then computed what he should do once arriving. Basically the rest of his life was decided by a machine.


    Jeremy was a little angry, feeling a bit rebellious at having his fate so arbitrarily picked. He decided that he was going to play this new game and perhaps he could accomplish those requirements even faster. After all didn¡¯t The Grand Egress offer complete immersion?


    Thinking about his past Jeremy activates, the console sitting in front of him:


    ¡°You know what Axel, Lets do this!¡±

 The Grand eGress - (Chapter 01) - Spawn Burn

    The Great eGress ¨C (Chapter 01) ¨C Spawn Burn


    Jeremy leans over and presses the button on the spiral. Following Axel''s instructions he keeps his eyes on the red light that appears. Without warning a gray mist is instantly sprayed in his face. Right away his eyes sting and his nose burns as when snorting water at a swimming pool. His ears start to itch crazily, the vein at his temple throbs. His arms go numb and then all ten of his fingers twitch.


    He can only hear his heart beat.


    There is nothing but the sound of a large drum surrounding Jeremy. Only a second has passed. Jeremy remembers to breathe but instead of a deep inhalation he gasps heavily letting air into his lungs.


    To use the word  ¡°Surprise!¡± would be an understatement and very possibly evil. This is exactly what Axel says to Jeremy at this time.


    The experiment subject Jeremy, wanted to reach out and strangle the roommate turned mad scientist sitting across from him. He couldn''t do it. He couldn''t do anything but squirm in terror as he felt the nanobots spread throughout his body


    He burned, He itched like crazy everywhere!


    Jeremy was no longer Jeremy. There was only a flesh bag of bones, blood, and pain. At times like this a persons perception slows as adrenaline flows. This only made the pain greater and last longer. If Jeremy could think straight his thoughts would be filled with murder, and self loathing.


    He didn''t even ask if it would hurt!


    It was too late now. Too late to find out that he would essentially be 1 of 10 Beta testers from outside the country. Too late to find out that he would be one of the first out of 1000 beta testers to actually enter the game wireless. The only thing it wasn''t too late for was wishing he could pass out and get away from the pain.


    The bag of pain named Jeremy wasn''t currently capable of having that thought, but when his vision blurred and darkened he knew it was over.


    It wasn''t over, he couldn''t see but the pain continued. Fortunately it did dull quite a bit. His tremors slowed and then stopped. His pain turned into a relatively comforting soreness. The overwhelming sound of his heart throbbing became relaxing until it turned into a pierce ring that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere.


    His thoughts returned and he could finally let out a curse! He wanted to scream, he wanted to tell Axel where he could stuff this game. Except he could not hear his voice, he couldn''t even feel his mouth that he tried to use to scream. Jeremy panicked. The fear of being blind deaf and mute after a failed experiment resonated in his mind.


    What had Axel done with him? Would this last forever or would it wear off? Was he asleep, did he enter a coma , was he dead!?


    Jeremy wasn''t dead but something strange did happen during his booting sequence. The game was about to start. Usually it isn''t nearly as painful, at most you would only feel the nanobots enter the head area and then almost instantly enter this void space.


    Although  the Loading Sequence was a shocking experience to the other Beta testers and the players to come, this sequence of events Jeremy experienced went above and beyond the pain tolerated by the safety boards commissioned to review this game.


    A total of 5 seconds had passed. Axel knew nothing of the torture that he putt Jeremy through. He only scribbles something about perspiration and the expected, ¡°frozen¡± state.


    The Voice Space was preceded by the piercing bell Jeremy heard, the sound slowly turned into a hum. At this time Jeremy started getting the feeling in his ¡°body¡± back. Starting from his pink fingers, moving up his arms, through his chest, down to his legs. He felt his breath come back! At last, he could feel air going into his lungs. Then he distinctly felt himself floating.


    There was a sharp rising feeling in his gut as if he just dropped down the steep part on a roller coaster. Jeremy felt himself spin slowly in weightlessness. Then his eye sight seemed to come back.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    He could see again? No, only there appeared to be a light far away in the distance. Jeremy sighed in relief.


    The light pulsed and changed color in a pattern. It also brightened and appeared to shift swiftly  towards Jeremy.


    When it reached him he could see that the light emitted from a sphere. The sphere pulsed the same 6 colors over and over again.


    Green Blue Purple Red Orange Yellow


    There was a flash as the sphere neared Jeremy. The sphere split into 6 balls, one for each color. Then seemed to lose form and then turn into words.


    ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONAL


    LOADING SEQUENCE INITIATED


    The words blinked twice, returned to spheres, then separated into more spheres. The number of colors doubled.


    LOADINg SOUL CARRIER


    LOADINg HUD


    BOOTINg LOG


    BOOTINg BRIEFING


    SOUL CARRIER INITIATED


    Once again the words flashed and changed color and then split into words, but now there was only a bright feathery white light emitted.


    BUILD YOUR SOUL CARRIER


    CHOOSE A PURE BASE AURA


    The original 6 spheres reformed. In two flashes they increased to an enormous size. They were each the size of a 10 story building . They began to move around Jeremy and then he himself seemed to float towards them. Then in  a heartbeat he was passing into the first green sphere.


    Before Jeremy could even get used to the harmonious feeling he felt inside the green sphere it changed to something darker. He felt like it wasn''t enough.


    Then he found himself in the Blue Sphere. There was truth to be found there but also a distinct sadness. In the red he felt excited and then angry, in the orange he felt that everything would be fine but then he was in the yellow and was weighing that emotion against reality.


    Two flashes and again 6 spheres.


    Jeremy had an idea on what just happened. He was suppose to pick a color  that represented a certain personality. Each choice came with a positive and a negative trait.


    Jeremy was right but it wasn''t the only thing he was choosing. As a beta tester (or test subject depending on how you look at it) he was meant to figure everything out. Later this log-in sequence wouldn''t hold as much mystery.


    Unfortunately for Jeremy he didn''t get any kind of preparation for this. Axel wasn''t a very informative guy and Jeremy by nature wasn''t great at asking for information. That being said, Axel didn''t know or care about what was actually happening in the game. He was only tasked to monitor Jeremy''s body and collect a written report at log-out.


    So Jeremy had no idea that the A.I of this game was observing him in extreme detail to initiate his choice promptly.


    He ended up staring at the green sphere a moment too long while he was deep in thought.


    After all green is easy on the eyes.


    HUD INITIATED


    Two flashes and all the colored spheres vanish except for the green one.


    Two flashes and the green sphere shrinks into a little ball.


    Two flashes and then the small orb shoots directly into Jeremy''s left eye.


    Two blinks and Jeremy''s vision tints slightly green on the left side and a small ghostly screen appears in front of him.


    <HUD LOADED


    <--''TREANT'' LOADED


    The ghostly screen wavers like a water reflected image. As Jeremy watches the image grows more solid. Green lines shoot from the bottom shape into 4 roots almost the size of Jeremy''s legs. Out of the root legs grew a torso instead of the expected trunk. The torso did seem to be wearing a bark shirt. Out of the torso grew arms and a attractive neck. On top of the neck was a beautiful young woman''s head and face.


    ¡°WELCOME TO eGRESS!¡± said the Treant


    more at tggln.wordpress.com


    need to find a couple editors

 The Grand eGress – (Chapter 02) – Scout & Treant

    The Grand eGress ¨C (Chapter 02) ¨C Scout & Treant


    I will keep uploading the unedited chapters. I am still not used to wordpress or working with a editor so this will be how I will go on until I am ready to share this blog to the masses. By the time most of you read this it should be edited and I should have at least 5 chapters uploaded. If not  *sigh¡­¡­¡­¡­.*


    The Grand eGress ¨C Chapter 02 ¨C Scout & Treant


    ¡°WELCOME TO eGRESS!¡± said the Treant.


    Jeremy started, he was surprised and relieved. He didn¡¯t know what to expect from this game but so far it had been so bizarre as to be traumatizing. Just seeing this friendly face in front of him was enough to ease some of his stress. In front of him stood a a pale green creature with the top half of a human and the bottom half of some kind of plant. She had long rough looking hair and was wearing a shirt made out of thin bark.


    ¡°Oh! Don¡¯t stare at me like that, its embarrassing.¡± The shadowy treant in front of Jeremy had a bit of color on her cheeks. ¡°In the future I hope you don¡¯t scan girls with your HUD so easily. Nobody wants their privacy violated, but girls are more sensitive.¡± The treant raised her arms and spun around releasing a ruffled sound. ¡°Of course I¡¯m your soul carrier maybe I shouldn¡¯t be so shy.¡±


    Jeremy realized he could now speak.


    ¡°What are you? Whats a Soul Carrier do exactly?¡± Jeremy¡¯s voice came out in a rough cough.


    ¡° A soul carrier is the one closest to you at all times¡± The treant smiled. ¡° We live on in your Aura growing strong with your soul as its guardian. Without us you would be defenseless to magical attacks against the soul. When we are strong enough we may materialize and defend your physical body too. This process takes a lot of hard work. You must find a way to cultivate your power, find some way of refining energy to increase our strength.¡±


    Jeremy understood, this treant was like a summons or a pet. Only certain requirements must be met in order to fully utilize it. He supposed that if he gained enough levels he would be able to bring this girl out to fight for him.


    ¡°That¡¯s good but what is this HUD thing. Those spheres? The green aura?¡± Jeremy was curious and he knew that information was power, especially in new games like this.


    The treant twirled again.


    ¡°Once your soul and body align for the first time it will undergo a dramatic change. The universe at large will connect to you granting you a pathway and a soul carrier. At this time you are called a scout. Only by following a pathway to its end may one merge with its soul carrier and become immortal. Each path way has branches offering different skills and knowledge, if one follows a good branch the path will continue but a bad path leads to a dead end.¡± As she talked the treants hairs waved around as if wind blown, but there was no wind in the void space.


    From this Jeremy understood that this game had skill trees. It would be important in the future to learn what these branches were and how to make sure he didn¡¯t end up on a dead end. He didn¡¯t need to ask to know that dead end meant DEAD end.


    ¡°As to the green aura sphere, you were very wise to make that choice then.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Jeremy was surprised. Did he get lucky? After all his choice was a complete accident.


    ¡°Yes! You chose one of the only auras able to utilize all 4 of the grand pathways. The green aura is the aura of balance and harmony.¡±


    ¡°Grand pathways?¡±


    ¡°Right all the pathways and all the branches those encompass require certain affinities to traverse. The grand pathways are those that will make the most powerful immortals. Only those whose pathways are of vibration, life, space and force can be called the strongest. Only the green and red aura have affinity with all 4.¡±


    ¡° So I¡¯m wise for choosing green aura? Is this also why I was given a plant?¡± Jeremy smiled.


    ¡° A plant!¡± yelled the treant.


    Stolen story; please report.¡° I¡¯ll have you know that of the possible soul carriers you could have summoned I of the treants am atleast in the top 3 of all the green and at least in the top 10 of all soul carriers. Hmph! We treants are legendary and rare, the only plant life in the universe to become soul carriers after our extinction and before we were the first to gain sentience. We were called the, Vital Tree People.¡± The treant turned to the side and hugged herself.


    ¡° Sorry I didn¡¯t realize. You said. ¡®treants¡¯ so there was more than one of you. If so what do I call you? I can¡¯t very well call you Treant now can I?¡± Jeremy laughed again but it was a bit half hearted.


    Her species was extinct? So all soul carriers use to be alive?


    ¡° I thought you would never ask!¡± the treant said while turning back to face Jeremy. ¡°You the scout who reached the universe and summoned their soul carrier must name them and himself before they can leave the void.¡±


    ¡°Name myself and You?¡± Jeremy thought for a moment and realized this must be where he chooses his in game name. Though he had little time to play games before he still had managed it. Never before in a game did he get a pet first thing. So he usually had an idea of what his pet should be and what to name it when the situation called for it. Now though he still wasn¡¯t sure what this game was about or how it would play out.


    Jeremy only knew that the ultimate goal was to be at the immortal, ¡®level¡¯ if you could call it that. SO far there had been no mention of , ¡®levels¡¯. He assumed the refining and cultivation would take the place of the grinding and farming aspect of the other games. In his left eye words came into focus.


    <¡ª¡®TREANT¡¯ naming sequence initialized


    Jeremy thought for a moment, His aura was green and his soul carrier was a talking tree girl. He was thinking about names like Apple, Seed, Stem, Leaf etc. Then he remembered that this game was being beta tested in the FED. To not stand out too much he needed an eastern sounding name. Then he thought about it and couldn¡¯t force himself to just conform. He would utilize his training and chose one of the dead languages he was trained in.


    ¡° You will be Palma it can mean branch and also victory. I will be Ambro, short for ambroscius an immortal.¡± His left eye blinked twice and information scrolled down.


    << SCOUT name confirmed >>


    << ¡°TREANT¡± name confirmed >>


    ¡û Treant Identified


    <¨CPalma


    ¡°Palma Palma Palma. Thank you Ambro I love this name and your name sounds good too. Now I think you are ready to reenter the world. Remember only you can see me while scanning until we get stronger. Also you should know, its best not to let strangers know what your soul carrier is until you can trust them. Just refer to me as Palma. I will always be there protecting your soul.¡±


    Two flashes and Palma¡¯s form blurred and she swiftly turned into a green sphere.


    Two flashes and the sphere flew into his left eye.


    Jeremy felt his body grow hot but it wasn¡¯t painful. It was warm and soothing. He could feel something moving from his eye to his head and then felt a small chill as it settled in his chest on top of his heart. Whatever it was felt at home there so he did not panic.


    The void around him started to brighten. When Palma had returned to his body she had taken all the surrounding light with her. He was once more floating alone in this , ¡®Void Space¡¯ in darkness. Now thou the darkness was very quickly disappearing. As if the sun was rising everywhere at once. All too soon he was in a white void that kept growing brighter and brighter until he was forced to close his eyes.


    The light was so intense it bled through his eye lids but instead of the red he was expecting a bright green appeared. The light formed words he couldn¡¯t shut out.


    BRIEFING INITIATED


    UPLOADING AMBRO


    UPLOADING PALMA

 The Grand eGress - Chapter 03 - Pointed Briefing

    TGGLN ¨C (Chapter03) ¨C Pointed Briefing


    This will be the first, ¡°official¡± LN chapter. I will be honestly writing this one with my tiny phone. ^_^ Computer crashes suck but I shall not be stopped.


    Was also posted on my birthday on the tggln wordpress


    _______


    Jeremy felt his weight return to him. He felt like he was dropped into a swimming pool full of air he could swim in. As his weight returned so did his vision. He found himself in a small room filled to the brim with people. The room was circular and he was crammed with people in the center.


    On the outer edge of the crowd Jeremy could see a couple meters of space in front of him. Taking a step forward he found himself repulsed by something. There was a force surrounding the crowd restricting their movements. There were a lot of complaints on all sides.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys move over a little bit¡±


    ¡°Get off my foot!¡±


    ¡°Where the hell are we? I want to start already!¡±


    ¡°Its Impossible to move from here!¡±


    ¡°Why does the star gazer on the ceiling move around so fast?¡± This last complaint came from a young purple haired man standing next to Jeremy.


    Jeremy looked up at the star gazer. It covered the whole ceiling of the small room . Jeremy felt he could touch it if he could move. Usually star gazers are placed in classrooms or large exhibits. What kind of person would place one in this small room.


    Star gazers were anything but cheap.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking but that is not a replicated image.¡± Shocked Jeremy pulled his head down. Right in front of him in the repulsive space stood a person.


    Shrouded in a bright blue cloak the deep voice person continued to speak. The voice was powered by something those gathered there could not yet understand. Impossible to ignore the voice continued leaving them with no chance to speak and little chance to think.


    ¡°Also there is no barrier restricting you. You all are merely trapped by this vessels gravity well. If you had some training in the universal elements of Space or Force then you might be able to resist.


    ¡°Now I will keep this brief and when I am done we shall be at our destination and all of you will disembark. ¡± The blue cloaked person paused and stared down everyone driving home his point.


    To Jeremy it seemed he was being singled out, after all the man was standing right in front of him. What he didn¡¯t realize yet was that this person  appeared  to be front of everyone.


    The entire crowd of people were surrounded by this man. Every person in the room was looking right into the eyes of the blue cloaked man.


    ¡°You have all reached out to the universe and acquired your soul carriers. This and only this attracted my attention and brought you here.You are now all considered Scouts on the mystical road found in eGress. Only scouts who just ascended were pulled on to this vessel. If you regret your future curse your own luck. Why I brought you here will only be important if you become strong enough to ask me for an answer. You can not move, You can not talk and you can barely think. None of you are qualified to know.¡± The blue cloaked man smiled to himself. This was the first batch of scouts he was delivering to eGress, he had to make a strong impression.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°There are 3 things I will tell you.¡± At this everyone felt their soul carriers respond. With a blink of Jeremy¡¯s eye he found letters forming with the blue cloaked mans words.


    ¡± 1. You will all be sent to eGress, a mystical planet. All mystical planets  are populated by a large amount of experts on the mystical road. These people are aggressive and  if you don¡¯t become strong you will most likely die.


    2. Scouts are the opening step on the mystical road and Reveniens are the closing step. To advance past revenence is to become a god.


    3. Only upon reaching revenence will you be able to ask me for answers but only gods can demand them.¡±


    The words projected by Jeremy¡¯s HUD formed into Palma. She was also restricted here and could not speak to Jeremy. She was worried for Jeremy. Palma had never heard of this happening before. Unlike Jeremy she could sense all the projections of the blue cloaked person. There was an unfathomable amount of power coming from all of them. Seeing that the treant was worried Jeremy couldn¡¯t help but wonder in awe at this game.


    Palmas emotions felt so real and he was already completely attached. This situation was extremely tense for a game introduction and this cloaked guy almost made him wet his pants. After this was over he planned to log out and beat the life out of Axel. Jeremy didn¡¯t know if he could actually give this game up.


    As long as he didn¡¯t have to go through that pain again.


    ¡± Consider yourselves informed, soul carriers you have also been told. I wish you all luck. It would not be a very pleasant thing if none of you returned.¡± The blue cloaked man looked up at the star gazer that was not a star gazer.


    The stars that were whizzing by up until now slowed and swirled around smoothly. The blue cloak man and all his duplicates reached into the air with one hand and snapped his fingers. On the star gazer everything seemed to be magnified in an instant. It was like bringing the individual pixels into focus on picture very quickly.


    Before Blue Cloak could drop his hand a huge planet covered the star gazer.


    ¡± Ah! Right on time we have arrived.¡±  He looked directly into each individuals eyes.


    ¡± You two will be getting off over here.¡±


    Instantly Jeremy regained control of his body. Flinching and looking away from those cold eyes he looked around to find¡­.


    This chapter was short so I will go ahead and upload chapter 4 here  now too

 The Grand eGress -Chapter 04 - Star Stone Formation

    The Grand eGress ¨C (Chapter 04) ¨C Star Stone Formation


    ^-^


    The Grand eGress ¨C (Chapter 04) ¨C Star Stone Formation


    In the time it took Ambro to blink he was transported off the Star Gazer vessel. Stunned for a moment he found him self standing in the middle of yet another circle. There was field of  large star shaped stones surrounding him now. The sun was rising and yet the stone in front of Jeremy cast shadows like a four story building.


    This stone set in the middle was clearly the largest and had at least 16 points. All the surrounding star stones were sitting in a circle shaped constellation. They all had points but none of them had anywhere close to as many.


    Ambro decided to take a breather. He sat down with his back against the cool and damp star stone and closed his eyes. Breathing deep he ran his hands through the grass next to him.


    This game had left him without a chance to collect his thoughts. He was in a game that required him to breathe in nano machines and experience hell. If Ambro was just your everyday guy it wouldn¡¯t be strange if had passed out or died then.


    Ambro had a significant amount of physical and mental discipline. H made many gains while completing the martial courses in Plan Exposure. Never satisfied with regular completion ratings, Ambro went out of his way to seek out masters of the arts. Pain Centering was a technique he picked up from a street magician. It was a hand me down trick to help performs to endure until the show was over.


    Practicing those mind tricks helped him survive that crisis. Even if he couldn¡¯t think at the time he subconsciously used them.


    Something had to have gone wrong with the hardware or programming for eGress. There is no way the developers could avoid a mass lawsuit if everyone had to experience that torture. He already decided that regardless of where the fault lied Axel would have to experience some of the pain he went through.


    After all he was supposed to be gathering information on the game. Words? No. Language would not be the form of communication he would use to describe his experiences.


    After centering himself for a moment he got up and stretched. Deciding finally to leave this spawn zone, he walked around the star stone. He had taken a few steps and ducked under a large point on the star stone when he ran into something. He fell right on his butt.


    ¡°What the hell!?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know!? Someone yelled back¡±


    Turns out what he bumped into was the purple haired guy from the star gazer ship. Recognizing the voice he let the thought distract him from the pain and stood back up.


    ¡° Its you! You were sent here too? Where is everybody else?


    ¡° Wait, wait wait.. agghh this hurts so bad. Your head must be made out of iron kitchen wear.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­.¡±


    It turns out that when the scary cloaked man said, ¡°You two will getting off over here.¡± He had been talking about Ambro and the purple haired young man called Cassidy. After knocking each other othey had introduced themselves. As it turned out Cassidy was also a Beta Tester for this game.


    ¡°Hey Cassidy how did entering the game go for you?¡±


    ¡°You mean that cool void space intro?¡±


    ¡° No I mean when you breathe din the nano¡¯s.


    ¡° That? What could I feel except excited? My head got kinda itchy and everything went black. Then I was standing in the pitch black room where you get your soul carrier assigned. Why was yours different?¡±


    ¡° You could say that.¡± Ambro filled Cassidy in on what happened.


    ¡°Somebody really messed up if you experienced any kind of pain just logging in. This game won¡¯t be pain free. Only healthy adults will be able to play it but from what you told me that¡¯s way over the top. What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°First I will have to deal out punishment to my roommate. After grilling him for questions I¡¯ll decide on the next step.¡±


    ¡° Well you have to let me know what you find out. Nano bot VR is still way too new and risky, if this goes bad I want to know early.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Mulling things over again Ambro got lost imagining the things he could try out on Axel.  He was trying to figure out what could inflict enough pain on Axel to make him understand. Doing that with out killing would be difficult.


    ¡°Hey Ambro have you activated the quests yet?¡± Cassidy saw that Ambro was deep in thought. He  knew that the other players situation was difficult but he wanted to go on with the game. He couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°The quests man, wake up! Has your soul carrier found any quests yet?¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Oh sorry, no she hasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°She!? You mean you get to log in to a pretty face from here on out?


    ¡° So I¡¯m guessing your soul carrier ended up being some macho man huh?


    ¡°Ugh..you knew?¡±


    Cassidy told Ambro what he expected the quests to be like as they left the star stone field. They headed into the nearby forest. From rumors he believed that quests would appear randomly. The soul carriers would be the ones to hand them out.


    How this would all work out he didn¡¯t quite understand yet. To get ahead of the competition he thought it best to head into the more ominous looking environment nearby. He hoped that they would run into a beginner monster and initiate an instant quest.


    Not having any better ideas Ambro decided to accept the invitation to go explore the forest. He wanted a clear idea about what he would give up if this was his first and last time playing. As soon as he had a feel for eGress he was logging out to spend some quality time with Axel .


    ¡°Ok stop it with the creepy grins¡± Cassidy gave Ambro a look and continued to lead the way deeper into the forest.


    There wasn¡¯t much to look at but they would occasionally see things scurrying at the corner of their eyes.


    They hadn¡¯t gone too far when suddenly Ambro had a thought and stopped Cassidy.


    ¡°Hey Cassidy?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡° Um when we run into something how exactly do we fight?¡±


    Cassidy gave Ambro a incredulous look. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder on how he managed to become a Beta tester. Wasn¡¯t it the basics of basics to get as much information as possible?


    ¡°Wait you can¡¯t mean that your soul carrier doesn¡¯t tell you anything?¡±


    ¡°Oh right.¡± Ambro who was obsessing over how to beat up Axel ended up neglecting his Soul Carrier. He had yet to get around to really thinking about game mechanisms. It only just now occurred to him that he didn¡¯t know anything.


    Ambros left eye blinked and heard a sweet displaced voice. It sounded  like a young women was talking to him using a speaker function on a phone.


    ¡° Ambro? The trees here are boring.¡±


    ¡°Uh forget that for a moment, can you give me a short intro for eGress?¡±


    ¡°Hmm That¡¯s this place right? I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never been here before.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know.¡±


    Puzzled Ambro turned to Cassidy and gave him his best impression of a puppy begging for food. Cassidy couldn¡¯t help but laugh*. He was starting to suspect that far from being an elite beta tester maybe evem calling Ambro a gamer was a stretch.


    ¡°What did she say?¡±


    ¡° She says she doesn¡¯t know¡± Ambro continued with the pitiful face.


    ¡° How could she not know!? Just cut to the chase and demand a weapon or something¡±


    ¡° A weapon?¡± Ambro directed this question to both Cassidy and Palma.


    Cassidy said nothing. Then Ambro¡¯s left eye blinked and he found himself holding a long wooden staff. It ended with round knobs on both ends that seemed to be made out of tangled plant roots.


    ¡° Just like that?¡± Both of the young men were surprised.


    ¡°Ambro, I thought you said she didn¡¯t know anything?¡± Now Cassidy was feeling a little bit foolish. Could a beginner time a joke like that? Cassidy had yet to get his soul carrier to produce a weapon. He wasn¡¯t even sure it could.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, she said she didn¡¯t know.¡± Ambro turned his thoughts to Palma. ¡°What¡¯s going on, you don¡¯t know about eGress but you can spit out weapons anyway?¡±


    ¡° I said I don¡¯t know about this place but weapons? Top tiered green aura soul carriers can usually provide weapons from the start. This simple staff is just what I can give you now but later? Hahaha you will love me.¡±


    Ambro didn¡¯t have to see Palma to know that she  was swirling on her roots.


    ¡° Oh you¡¯re quite confidant, and I have to say this will work for me. Whats this staff called anyway?¡±


    Ambro twirled his new staff around and got into a low stance. Then in  an instant he used  the three most fundamental and powerful movements for any long weapon.


    Stab. Sweep, Roll.


    ¡°Oh that looks good¡±


    Watching on the side Cassidy could tell that Ambro wasn¡¯t just messing around. He could actually use that staff.


    ¡° Ambrosious this staff is my first gift to you it¡¯s called a branch.¡±


    Palmas voice was filled with pride.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±


    p.s Jeremy = Ambro, he started thinking of himself as such without realizing it...will be explained later

 The Grand eGress - Chapter 05 - Soul Branch

    The Grand eGress ¨C Chapter 05 ¨C Soul Branch


    Read ahead?</a>


    When Ambro received the long staff from Palma he was excited. To be told a second later that the, ¡°special¡± summoned weapon he received was called a branch made him unable to laugh or cry. *


    Now instead of thinking he was swinging around a cool treant staff he would be forever reminded that this thing in his hand was a branch.


    ¡°Whats with that look?¡± Without being able to hear Palma , Cassidy asked the same question.


    ¡°This weapon¡­its a branch.¡±


    ¡°And? You looked real happy with it just a minute ago¡±


    ¡°No its called a Branch.¡±


    ¡°You mean its name is branch? I don¡¯t get whats wrong with that it is made out of some kind of wood right. Problem?¡±*


    ¡° You don¡¯t get it? Its supposed to have some kind of cool name. I will feel like some ancient school teacher disciplining his students in every fight.¡±


    Cassidys face went through a couple of transformations and then he started laughing. Not the gentle kind of laugh. The infectious rolling in the dirt and tears falling out of eyes laugh.


    Ambro dug his own hole. Without the imagery perhaps Cassidy wouldn¡¯t have found it so funny. Now Ambro had to stand there hands wringing his staff waiting for Cassidy to calm down.


    A long time later. The two young men traveled quite far and developed a strange pattern of behavior. Occasionally Cassidy would look over at Ambro holding his branch. Ambro would see Cassidy looking and his expression would change.


    Seeing the depressed look on Ambros face would make Cassidy laugh every time.


    ¡°Look Ambro if the name bothers you so much you can just tack on the soul title in front of it.¡±


    ¡°You mean Soul Branch?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Soul Bra.. wait¡±


    Cassidy saw something out of the corner of his eye. His right eye flashed and he was able to see a floating flame flying at him at high speed.


    He turned and pushed Ambro as hard as he could letting himself fall back at the same time. Something with a decent amount of weight rushed between them.


    Cassidy felt himself getting angry. A burning heat built below his chest. Conditions had been met. Now his soul carrier was granting him his first ability.


    As Cassidy struggled to his feet Ambro never fell. Using stable and swift footwork he shuffled backwards and threw Soul Branch into the ground behind him.


    With quick reflexes he pushed against the ground and swung the staff up in a crescent roll. The move was aimed in the space in front of Cassidy. Not a second after extending his weapon there was a loud hollowed bell sound. Something emitted a garbled scream.


    Seeing the downed Cassidy the opponent had not hesitated and made a second dive. Only it couldn¡¯t have anticipated the quick reaction speed of Ambro.


    When it had almost reached its prey a staff appeared in front of it. Surprised it still expected to power through to a meal. It was met with the repulsive knobbed end of the staff that swung up and blew it away. Speed was its best attribute but it had only a little  durability. It instantly broke apart.


    Ambros left eye blinked.


    >Defeat all of the ley guardians. 29 life forces detected.


    ¡°Ambro down!¡± Cassidy saw two more flames converging on Ambro.


    Pure fury had built up in Cassidy. His face twisted in a scowl he extended his hands and a small ember orb appeared in front of him. Shouting internally Cassidy forced the ember orb to blast the nearest opponent.


    The ember launched with frightening speed. It whistled with a high pitched squeak until it hit. Then a blaze erupted in the air behind Ambro. Immediately Cassidy readied another ember but he wouldn¡¯t get it off quickly enough.


    Ambro jumped up spinning Soul Branch from behind his back then swung it out  in a short arc. A green streaked flashed. With a loud hollow bong sound the opponent slammed into the ground.


    Three more enemies appeared to Cassidy enhanced sight. With no time to lose he shot another ember orb. The foremost opponent he aimed at saw this and dove low avoiding the ember. This made Cassidy furious. With no thoughts but to pummel the one that got away he ran forward.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Ambro still had not landed from his last attack. The three opponents this time had appeared between him and Cassidy. When the ember orb missed it flew within range of Ambros staff.


    Leaning so he would fall on his side. Ambro chocked up on one end of Soul Branch and swung at the ember orb with all his strength. Acting on instinct he made it so that the knob on the end didn¡¯t touch the ember.


    ~Ping~


    Rebounding with force the ember curved and slammed into an enemy on the flank. It burst into green tinged flames and fell.  That the opponents Cassidy faced was brought down from 3 to 2 didn¡¯t faze him. He was still seething with irrepressible rage and focused on his goal.


    Charging with all the speed he could muster he once again summoned an ember orb. This time  instead of forcing it away he held onto it. As he ran he compressed it as much as he could. When it felt like he could no longer hold onto the ember he swept both hands out wide.


    The ember orb shattered and spread in front of him peppering the remaining opponents. The two attackers shuddered and crumbled to the grounds their remains smoking.


    ¡°Its not over Ambro!¡±


    Feeling blood thirsty but somewhat passivised Cassidy charged  passed Ambro. He ran further into the forest eyes on his next target. Ambro not  missing a beat moved to follow but stopped as he sensed something.  There was more of the enemy rushing up behind him.


    Feeling a chill down his spine  he punched soul branch into the ground. Vaulting straight up its length with his head towards the ground he stretch out. As he reached the crest he forcefully pulled soul branch up with him.


    Now in the air he saw the motion blur of the opponent flash below him. He just managed to dodge the attack.


    Ambro was feeling calm, calmer than hes ever been before. His focus was enhanced as were his senses. He could feel the life energy in this opponent. He could  also feel the one coming in fast from his right. His left eye blinked and turned green.


    ¡°Ambro find the source and call my name¡±


    ¡°PALMA!¡±


    After shouting the soul branches two knobs glowed bright. He swung the staff and it picked up tremendous speed. The enemy before him tried to dive quickly to the left but Soul Branch was relentless.


    >skill activated Seed Fall


    Soul Branch locked on to its targets life force. Every move  Ambro made with his staff would putt it in position to do damage. The fast but fragile opponent didn¡¯t stand a chance it crumbled to the ground.


    Not pausing to check Ambro spun on the spot. Soul Branch held tight against his waist. He hopped into the air and kept spinning. Immediately taking another attacker out as it failed to ambush him.


    > 20 Ley guardians life forces detected


    Ambro ran to catch up to Cassidy. He ran past 2 more piles of ash before he caught up. Cassidy was standing front of a what appeared to be a small ancient out post. It¡¯s walls were made out of large stones. Weeds and vines were slowly breaking the place down in this gloomy forest.


    Cassidy was looking left to right his eyes blazing.


    ¡°Ambro there aren¡¯t anymore in the forest I think the rest are inside.¡±


    ¡°You can feel that too?¡± Ambro didn¡¯t know that his senses were fundamentally different from Cassidy¡¯s


    ¡°Feel it? No. I can see some of them up there but nothing left in the forest.¡±


    Ambro frowned In confusion. See? In front of them was a stone fort with no windows. How could Cassidy see them? Ambro also wondered why Cassidy seemed so mad but just summoned it up to the adrenaline rush.


    ¡°Heat I can see the heat their cores generate. Its like a small burning flame.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡±


    ¡°Just Oh?¡±


    ¡°Well ok, its kinda cool?¡±


    ¡°Just kind of?¡±


    Before Ambro could grudgingly lay more compliments on Cassidy. The hole in the fort in front of them filled up with silhouettes.

 The Grand eGress - Chapter 06 - Zong Ley Point

    TGG ¨C Chapter 06 ¨C Zong Ley Point


    ¡°Lets finish this!¡±


    Seeing an opportunity to try something out Ambro immediately followed Cassidy. Ambro was a laid back and observant person. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that Cassidy was a beserker. That being the case predicting what Cassidy was going to do at this stage was simple.


    Ambro was a skill enthusiast in-real-life. One of the skills he always wanted to try was the  Pride Shadow technique. Deep in the heart of the African Conglomerate nation existed an ancient tribe. This tribe came up with this technique in order to survive.


    Long ago before the AC united. Long before they began mining the precious zurinium ore they were utterly poor. Plagued with food shortages, drought, famine and disease they were in dire straights. One tribe with  a long history in that continent dared to steal food from lion pride.


    A small hunting group from this tribe would take their blessed long spears and line up sing file. With their spears pointed out at the same angle they would creep up on a lion pride in clear sight.


    Interestingly enough they would imitate the way a lion would stalk its prey. Instinctively the lions would perceive this and believe that they were being hunted. Confused and frightened the lions would all run away!


    This is the technique the Pride Stalker originated from. As times got harder and bush meat scarcer the lions were no longer willing to just run away. The hunters were even more desperate. Fights between humans and lions broke out. Then technique used to thieve turned into one that was just as effective in killing.


    The speed pace and timing increased. I hunting group must breathe as one to bring down a lion.


    Finding the rhythm Ambro centered himself. Left eye flashing he seamlessly stepped into Cassidy¡¯s shadow. Even he was surprised! The green aura he was granted allowed him to precisely sense Cassidy¡¯s life force. This made Pride Stalkers effect a hundred times more efficient.


    To the enemies at the door Ambro simply vanished. All they could see was a maniac charging them who seemed to have two  auras. Even gods didn¡¯t have two auras. They hesitated in their confusion.


    In a blink the red and green aura fiend was upon them. Coming to their senses the ten lower level Zong Ley golems charged forward clearing the door way. They ran head first into the Shatter Shell flame.


    Cassidy was only given one way to attack by his Soul Carrier. The Flying Flame Orb was currently his only means of attack but there was no restriction on how he could use the orb. The Flying Flame Orb was only limited by his own imagination.


    Having a  somewhat dramatic personality he from the very beginning decided to shoot it like a gun. While there was no limit to how he could use this power there was a limit to how much he could use it. There was a delay between summoning an orb and firing it.  There was also a  limit on how many he could summon. Currently Cassidy could only summon and fire one at a time. So he was a in a bit of trouble. When they were hit with his Shatter Shell the Lower Level Golems did not crumble away.


    These golems were different from the simple Scouts that were guarding the forest. These golems were elementals that were at the peak of the Scouts plane*. They were this Zong Ley¡¯s*  second layer of defense. If they weren¡¯t subservient to the master upstairs they would be free to go kill their juniors. Absorb their energy would soon allow them to reach the Ranger plane. Absorbing their own kind to get stronger is a common trait of elemental beasts.


    The Peak scout golems didn¡¯t crumble instantly but they were still stunned. Realizing his mistake Cassidy had for the first time thought to retreat. Thou he absolutely refused to turn around and run, he would need a second to finish summoning his next orb. Slamming his foot into the ground in front of him. Cassidy leaned backwards to both avoid a counter attack and gain some time. He needed some space to release another Shatter Shell.


    Just then he saw a green shadow pass not even an inch above his head.


    Ambro had just an instant to change his rhythm from Beserker-in-retreat to full on attack. His timing was perfect. As Cassidy slammed his foot he hopped forward twisting his body sideways. His branch was unleashed at the same time. There were multiple targets but in this instant they were not moving.


    ¡°Palma!¡±


    There was no significance to him shouting his soul carriers name but it did give him a bit of extra energy. As he made his swipe all he had to do was make sure the knobs on the branch skimmed a weak spot on the already vulnerable golems.  Cracks had appeared after receiving damage from the shatter shell. This Ambro did not fail to notice.


    All ten golems fell to the single strike. As the golems crumbled away they could not rage or curse. Simple shock at how fast they were defeated stained their minds.


    Ambro who was now standing up in front of Cassidy looked back.


    ¡± Heh, my branch is kinda cool huh?¡±


    ¡°Now you can call it a branch?¡±


    ¡°Soul Branch or branch. What does it matter what I call it when its this cool?¡± Ambro was smiling now.


    ¡°Great now that you have that goofy grin on I can¡¯t be mad anymore. Don¡¯t look at me right now.¡± Those of thered aura could be moody. This effected their strength.


    ¡°Haha I knew you were a bezerker.¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Hey Ambro did you notice?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t get any experience or loot or anything after that rush.¡±


    ¡°True but that was¡­ so much¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know what you mean. Have you ever been happy you were pissed?¡±


    ¡°What? ¡±


    ¡°I was so full of rage and power¡­but I was having fun¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s cus you¡¯re  a perve¡­ ouch¡±


    ¡°Ok that does it! I¡¯m going to go kill some more of these golems.¡± Cassidy was an avid gamer so he could tell those were golems from the start.


    As Cassidy charged into the building  Ambro spun his staff and followed.


    ¡°Man what happened to fighting pigs or slimes at the beginning? First the very fast floating golems and then these fat ones at the door. Whats next a stone dragon?¡±


    Up ahead Cassidy caught what Ambro was saying to himself.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even joke like that. If it really is a stone dragon I¡¯m going to hit you with a fire ball and then I¡¯m going to log off.¡±


    > 10 Ley guardian life forces detected


    There were 10 more of the peek scout  golems inside. Ambro and Cassidy did not spend anymore time on these than for the ones at the door. The Beserk fire slinger and branch wielding shadow combo worked with extreme efficiency and speed.


    The crumbling bodies piled up on the stairs of the fort as the duo climb them.  On the top floor they found a large empty area. Ambro looked around  in wonder.


    ¡± Cassidy the sights you can see in this game are awesome. Look is that some kind of summoning circle.¡±


    ¡°Hmm no it looks too big to be a summoning circle.¡± Cassidy took in the room with his pro gamer eyes.


    ¡± See its almost covering the whole floor. Any  summoned by a circle that big ould probably need more head room.¡± At the top floor but not on the cat walk on the roof their was very little head room.


    ¡°Hmm doesn¡¯t look like my jumping attack will work here. Whats that in the center?¡±


    Before Cassidy could answer both young men blinked as they received a new quest


    > Defeat Zong Ley Guardian Lapshi


    ¡± Ambrocius, Ambro that¡­ that beast there in the center has reached the ranger plane!¡±  Palma¡¯s projection had appeared in front of Ambro.


    ¡°Ranger Plane?¡± Ambro had no idea what she meant.


    ¡°Yes on the mysterious way.There are¡­levels to things. As we get stronger we have access to more energy. After refining a high level of  energy at the scout stage you can break through and have access to a second stream of energy. The second of 5 mortal planes of energy the Ranger Plane.¡±


    ¡°So basically what you¡¯re saying is that thing there in the middle of this magic circle has twice as much energy as me and Cassidy.¡± Ambro accustomed to trying new things did not take long to understand things.o


    ¡°Right master, you¡¯re smart. But.¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s not a magic circle or summoning circle. That¡¯s a Zong Ley point!¡±


    ¡°SO what exactly is that?


    ¡°A  Zong Ley Point  is a hole in the world. Out of this hole, energy from the mystical way planes seeps through in vast amounts. If you defeat that thing you may be able to reach the Ranger Plane or at the very least sense it¡±


    ¡°Ok got it.  Beat the boss, grab the point, level up. Palma do you know anything about  Lapshi?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s a Lapshi?¡± Ambro  frowned and stared at Palma. Wasn¡¯t she the one giving these quests? He let it go so he could quickly learn more about this opponent.


    ¡°The Lapshi is a green aura elemental with a high level of defense. It has very accurate counter attack. Its not very fast but like all higher plane green aura beasts they are extremely good  at guarding an area and themselves. This one probably uses the stones in the fort to block attacks.¡±


    After listening to their soul carriers both Cassidy and Ambo faced each other.


    ¡°Ok Ambro how do you want to play this?


    ¡°Me you¡¯re the pro gamer here. Don¡¯t you want to lead?¡± Ambro was surprised. He did not at all expect Cassidy to defer to him.


    ¡°You trying to tell me you¡¯re not a pro with those moves you used? We¡¯ve been playing for a just a few hours and you¡¯re already on a killing spree.¡±


    ¡°Me on a killing spree? You¡¯re the one raging through enemies.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and thats kind of the problem. In this game once I get moving I have only one setting: Kill Mode. I¡¯m not in control yet and the things I can do will be limited until I can think up some new ones. I may have one  moretrick in me but thats it for now.¡±


    ¡°Oh. well I don¡¯t see anything wrong with what we¡¯ve been doing so far. Lets go with that.¡±


    ¡°What. That¡¯s it? This is a next level beast we are about to face..¡±


    ¡°So. The ones at our level take us how long to beat? ¡±


    ¡°Yeah ok. You have a point. Jan Jabi get ready.¡± Cassidy¡¯s right eye blinked in response.


    ¡°Err?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ was talking to my soul carrier.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh ok. We¡¯ll go nuts on three. Or should I say you¡¯re nuts and ill Join you on three? Ouch!¡± Cassidy popped Ambro on the head again.


    ¡°One¡±


    ¡°Two¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­


    .


    Zong Ley ¨C An energy well used by those on the mysterious way to train.


    Plane ¨C The ¡°level¡± of egress. SO far Scout and Ranger are revealed. (the planes will stop sounding familar after those 2 fyi)

 The Grand eGress – Chapter 07 – Ranger Plane p1

    Tggln.wordpress.com for more.


    This chapter may need more proofing any crits are welcomed.


    The Ranger Plane  p1


    ¡°Three¡­¡±


    With Ambro shadowing him closely Cassidy charged towards the lapshi.


    The splotchy earthen colored aura beast locked its eyes on them and roared. As they charged forwards the floor started to shake violently.


    ¡°Careful¡±


    Ambro could feel that some of the lapshi¡¯s life force had been embedded into the large hexagon patterned stones in the floor. Cassidy already in berserk mode had yet to take real notice of the lapshi¡¯s opening move. The floor was shaking, so what? Just like before he had no thoughts of retreat.


    Right before Cassidy could step on the trap Ambro stabbed back and down with Soul Branch. He accelerated for a moment when the staff hit the ground behind him. Pushing Cassidy forward before his foot could fall on the hexagon shaped stone probably saved his life.


    The Hexagon jumped up behind them with force. At the apex of its jump it began to spin rapidly and then six even sized triangle shards broke loose from the hexagon shooting in all directions. In mid stumble Ambro found his center of gravity and rose Soul Branch up to block.


    ¡°Cling~¡±


    ¡°Keep going Cassidy that lapshi can putt its life force in the hexagon stones. We have to stop it before it gets too many going.¡±


    ¡°That would be annoying¡­.really¡­.really annoying¡­ kill¡­it!¡±


    Stumbling forward before gaining his balance Cassidy once more charged forward. 2 more hexagons shot up and off the floor. The flying shards did not just fly in a straight line. They were controlled by the lapshi¡¯s life force skill on the ranger plane. Seeming to home in on the two invaders these enhanced shards curved and swooped until they ran into something solid.


    The further one went along the mysterious way the more control over universal forces one would have. This Lapshi had gained the second plane on the mysterious way.. To compare a lapshi on the first plane could only spread its life force to one other rock form animating one layer of defense and attack. Now as a ranger this lapshi could animate 5 layers.


    Raising his hands Cassidy released his first attack and immediately started his second fire orb. The first orb flew fast and skimmed the side of the lapshi exploding from behind it. Pushed forward and badly burnt the Lapshim wa sstill mostly unharmed by the explosion.


    Batting away to more triangle shards Ambro urged Cassid forward.


    ¡° Come on we¡¯ll have to get closer to it and fast! ¡°


    Looking to the sides two more hexagons were beginning to rise. Cassidy roared with fury but to Ambro he wasn¡¯t moving fast enough. With an additional two hexagons about to split and the threat of more flying around, Ambro made a frantic decision. He would have to kick this beserker.


    ¡°Sorry about this Cassidy, if you¡¯re mad take it out on the Lapshi¡±


    Ambro drew back from shadowing Cassidy. Just hopping up a few inches off the stone floor he twisted swinging his center gravity forward. Using the momentum he held on tight to Soul Branch and rammed it into the ground while swing both feet forward.


    Cassidy felt himself pushed suddenly between steps. When his foot landed he found himself eye to eye with the Lapshi. Screaming in its face he drew a fire orb into his right hand and thrust it forward into the Lapshi.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The red hot hand struck the Lapshi between the eyes and melted its way to the Lapshi¡¯s core. When Cassidy brought his fingers together grasping the core the Lapshi screamed and fell to the floor. The Lapshi like the stone it putt its life force in floated to move around. Now that core was taken and burned it could no longer live.


    All the Hexagons and shards flying around also fell to the floor.


    >The Zong Ley Guardian Lapshi has been defeated


    > Access to Zong Ley Point: Stone Forest has been granted


    Gaining acces to a zong ley point was the equivilant of handing in quests for experience in other games. Only in egress this wasnt so simple.


    If this was a typical vr  game you woulf start out in a town pick up some easy quests turning them in for a little experience. Those starting out on the mystical way in eGress would have to search for these zong ley points which were all guarded jealously by diffrent types of beasts. In the begining there would bw no other way to advance to the next plane.


    Ambro and Cassidy were very lucky to find a zong ley point they could use. For one thing they are rare so to find one immediatley is lucky in itself. Then there is the fact that they found one suitable for becoming a ranger and also guarded by a ranger.


    Zong ley points are guarded by and correspond to various levels on the myserious way. So even if you find a zong ley point you may not be able to defeat whatever guards it. Even you manage to defeat the guardians you may find that your training on your path is not enough or that the zong ley point is to weak.


    That bieng the case Ambro and Cassidy are the first two to clear a zong ley point. They are also one of the few duos droped from the star gazer ship to actually stick togethere. Beta testers tended to be loners. Even if one or two others were as lucky they were alone and could not overcome the ranger plane guardians.


    ¡°Ambro this¡­ this zong ley point is perfect for us.¡± Ambro had just sat down in attempt to meditate on the zong ley point when Palma appeared.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°We of the green aura have a natural affinty for the life and force universal paths. This zong ley point is in sync with those paths and that is why the Lapshi chose to stay and defend this place. Earth elementals use exactly those two paths.¡±


    ¡± So what happens now?¡±


    ¡± You must train here. Use this zong ley point to better absorb life and force energy from the universe.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­Ok, why not.¡±


    Ambro closed his eyes and easily entered the state of meditation. He stopped short of astral projection because he wasnt sure how that would work while playing this game.


    Once he was completly calm he felt something near his stomach clench and opened his eyes. Ambro found himself inside a large green orb again.


    Words appeared in front of him.


    PLAYER AMBRO


    CURRENT PLAYING SESSION TIME


    6 HOURS AND 23 MINUTES


    TOTAL REAL TIME  SPENT IN eGRESS


    52 SECONDS

 The Grand eGress – Chapter 8 – Ranger Plane p2

    <blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>This Chapa! may also need a bit of proofing. Any crits are welcome. Be gentle (O.O)</blockquote>


    The Grand eGress ¨C Chapter 8 ¨C Ranger Plane p2 (unedited)


    Seeing that he had only been in game for less than a minute. He thought he might as well push on for awhile longer. He would feel silly waking up after 5 minutes of playing a game only to beat somebody to a bloody pulp. No though he was calm on the surface he was still hot inside. No he figured he would wait until his anger grew cold. A logical, well reasoned beating is what he would deal out.


    After absorbing the shock for a good long minute. He was still in a daze. No matter how he thought about it he couldn¡¯t figure out how that was possible. 6 hours and 23 minutes were somehow compressed unto 52 seconds.


    IIf this was true then eGress would no doubt be the numbder one game in the world. There was no precedent for this kind of time compression. Gamers would flock to this and live within on a level not seen since Macrocosm Of Massacre. Only this is on a whole other scale. Lunch break at work would have a completely different meaning. After all you can play just by reclining a bit.


    In front of Ambro some words shaking him from his thoughts.


    Continue you session?


    You have chosen to continue return to a Zong Ley point to exit.


    You now own this Zong Ley point. Activate?


    Not hesitating a moment Ambro activated the Zong Ley point. The green orb surrounding Ambro glowed and pulsed forcing him to shut his eyes or get a headache.  He felt humid air flow around him and moisture started to collect on his skin. For the first time he actually felt some sensation besides sight in this place. (an:need to back read to make sure)


    With a sharp tug to his stomach he began to absorb the energy from the ranger plane.


    Ambro¡¯s eyes flashed and palma appeared next to him. He rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly. Palma was no longer transparent.


    The soul carrier sighed.


    ¡°Finally with this, you can see and hear me all the time.¡±


    Soul carriers grow more substantial with each elevation on the mysterious way. All those on the mysterious way must absorb energy from the different planes in the universe to improve and grow. These planes are seperate and the pones with more intense energy exist ¡°on top¡± of the others.


    The process of absorbing energy to reach the next plane is called escalation.There is no way to skip planes.To aquire the energy from one you must have access to all planes below.


    Seated in a meditative form he learned from a fellow E Plan he began to absorb the energy of the ranger plane. The E Plan student  from back then specialized in ancient European societies. His favorite subject was Druids. He would go on and on about their Ogham alphabet and their divination and their meditative techniques.That student talked a lot.


    Naturally he picked up a few things. Even if he didn¡¯t want to.


    He usually went for asian centric studies but wouldn¡¯t ever fail to pick up some free knowledge when offer


    Though it probably wasn¡¯t necessary seeing as this was just a game. Ambro couldn¡¯t help but feel doing this here and now was appropriate. He was in a green orb sucking up energy from a Zong ¡°LEY¡± point while his pet tree watched on after all.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Feeling the ranger plane energy slowly soak into his skin he tried to focus  on it. Reaching his senses out and overlaying his image with that of a small tree he started to build an image. Starting from the top most little leaf and slowly building the image down to the roots where his feet rested he created his tree.


    Just picturing that calmed him down and slowly he could feel all the mist around him gathering around his feet.


    Now he pictured the trees roots reaching as deep as they could into the ground after  a long rain.


    The absorption rate of ranger plane energy sped up but Ambro wasn¡¯t done yet.


    Imagining his tree growing he forced the energy to enter him and slowly flow up and down his body with each pass he would slow it further. Ambro let the excess energy continue to build at his feet. Then when he felt a pressure near his diaphragm he chanted a rite to further focus the energy.


    Deep peace of the quite earth to you


    Encircle the eternal loom


    Up  it flows and down again


    Jera Berkano Leguz


    He really didn¡¯t expect much to happen but after chanting just three times he got results. Passing the image of those three runes at the end in his mind a third time made his whole body shiver. All the built up energy was immediately absorbed.


    He felt a new power coursing through him and standing near him he could not only see but some how feel Palma. Ambro couldn¡¯t wait to find out what he could do now. Maybe he could get Palma to upgrade his staff.


    As the last of the mist was absorbed into his body more messages appeared in front of him.


    Zong Ley Point Depleted.


    Zong Ley Point Plane Insufficient  For Escalation


    Gale Plane Access required for Escalation


    Ambro opened his eyes


    He immediately jumped back in surprise.


    Cassidy was crouched right in front of him both his eyes glowing a fierce red. To ambro it was like waking up to a nightmare.


    ¡± HAHA! Got yah!¡± Cassidy jumped up and down in joy and shot off a couple of fire orbs randomly.


    ¡°Hey watch where you¡¯re shooting those!¡± Ambro was instantly ignored.


    ¡± AH it feels so great to be a ranger! Why is it, ranger anyway? Oh? OH!?¡±


    ¡°Hey hey who are you talking to and what¡¯s it saying I want to know to!¡± Ambro shot up off the ground and stretched to get the stiffness out of his legs. pondering on how realistic this game felt.


    ¡°AH Jan Jabi says that scout and ranger are the first 2 very weak mortal planes! He says we are puny now and need to atleast surpass the 5 mortal planes. Apparently the names get cooler¡±


    ¡°Wait wait wait what?¡±


    ¡°I said the names get cooler.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all Jan Jabi had to say?  ¡®You two puny get stronger cus names get cooler¡¯ ? ¡±


    ¡°Basically¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡±