《The Mansion》


 Chapter 1: Tour of the Mansion

    I had a dream about this so I decided to write it. The rhyming was unintentional, it just happened, sorry if it bothers you. This is more of an experimental chapter, so feedback would be awesomeXD


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    I looked out the window...where am I going?


    It was dark...very dark¡­


    The darkness was here, the darkness was with me...and it swallowed me whole...where was I going again?


    -screech-


    It stopped, it stopped. I must get off this stop...but why?


    I got off and the vehicle fled into the darkness like a fugitive would seek for refuge...what was I doing again?


    There was a mansion that loomed over the darkness. The mansion was bright but no one was near to see the light...except me.


    I felt myself step towards the light


    -step, step, step-


    Step after step I pulled closer to the mansion, like a moth drawn to candlelight...what was I doing?


    The doorway was ever so close...


    10 steps, 5 steps, 3 steps.


    I was at the doorstep...who am I?


    I was at the door¡­


    I saw my hand go to the doorbell. Before I rang the doorbell, there I saw it...a white ticket peeking out of my clenched fist...I don¡¯t remember this ticket...


    The bell rang, 2 times that night.


    A shadow answered the door. A shadow made by the dazzling light.


    He took the ticket in my hand and smiled at me...Who was I?...


    I blearily opened up my eyes and promptly saw my worst nightmare. It was a giant skeleton hand with piercing yellow eyes. The eyes were between the thumb and the index finger and between the pinky and the ring finger. When I noticed the eyes, the eyes also noticed me.


    ¡°Hey, he¡¯s awake.¡± the skeleton hand said.


    The skeleton hand drew away from my face and I was able to see the whole picture. It was not a skeleton hand monster thing but a person. Although he did have a skeleton hand on his face. It didn¡¯t matter, it would have freaked me out just the same. But my mind seemed to be in a complete shock.


    There were 3 people in total. I say ¡®people¡¯ but I¡¯m not really sure.


    First was the skeleton hand guy. There was a freaking skeleton hand on his face. It seemed like he was using it as a mask? Almost half of the hand was cut off to reveal his mouth. The mask was really scary but the way it was worn made it seem like the helmets in the medieval times. It was a really big hand though.


    Other than the mask, the man had dark neon green hair.(don¡¯t know if that made sense) His hair color made it seem to be able to glow in the dark. The man was also wearing a black robe that was in tatters. Without the hair color, he would look totally like a grim reaper(shinigami).


    There was another person in the room. He was a mountain(metaphor). I mean he was huge. He wore a simple t-shirt but his muscular body was clearly shown. If he tried flexing, without doubt the shirt would be ruined. He would definitely be able to snap me like a twig.


    His looks were also super-sized. He had a wide face and large nose but looked much more friendly than the masked man.


    The last person in the room was a huge contrast between the giant. He was significantly smaller than the giant and me. If you stand the two of them back to back, the giant would be twice his height if he bent his knees. This person looked rather young but had white hair in a crazy bed-headed style. He wore a lab coat with glasses and had a wild look on his face. He fitted the image of a mad scientist perfectly.


    ¡°WELCOME! YOU ARE AWAKE!¡± the giant boomed. Unfortunately his intellect was not as large as his body. Of course I¡¯m awake, my eyes are clearly open. And welcome to what?


    The masked man, obviously the smarter one, started introducing himself.


    ¡°I am Glave. This is Legion, and Ical.¡± he started as he gestured towards the giant and the mad scientist respectably.


    Knowing proper manners, I got off the bed I was sitting on and started introducing myself.


    ¡°I¡¯m...uh...I¡¯m¡­¡± Weird, I can¡¯t remember my name. I know I have one¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, give it a couple of seconds.¡±the mad scientist, no, Ical said knowledgeably.


    ¡°Oh! My name is Rue.¡± It was like a light bulb suddenly turned on and the wheels of my brain started to move.


    Ical started convulsing and it eventually turned into a loud cackling sound. He was a really weird person.


    Glave gave out an exasperated sigh. It seemed to be an everyday occurrence.


    ¡°This is the Mansion. I¡¯m sure you have questions but please wait until I have finished what I¡¯m about to say.¡±Glave restarted the introductions.


    After I gave an affirmative nod, he continued,


    ¡°Basically we are all people who came to this mansion. We came from many places, many worlds. We don¡¯t know why or how, but this mansion is a place we will live now. There are rules in this mansion. Rules we placed and natural laws of this residence. You will come to understand them later but for now; welcome to room 216, we¡¯re glad to have a new roommate, Rue.¡±


    All three of them began to clap. Legion had a huge smile on his face while Ical grinned creepily. I was still a bit baffled by the situation but I felt happy to be accepted.


    ¡°Now there are some important things you need to know here. Really trivial things but it¡¯s common knowledge around these parts.¡± Ical stated.


    ¡°Oh, oh, like the 1-meter-clothing rule!¡± Legion interrupted.


    ¡°Shut up! But yeah, that¡¯s a prime example of a natural law. Those clothes that you came in last night must be with you at all times. You must not have it more than 1 meter away from you.


    I looked down at what I was wearing. It was my school uniform. The idea of not being able to change clothes was...distressing.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. You can still change and shower, I mean, you can always carry your clothes in a sack.¡±


    ¡°What if the clothes are more than a meter away? What happens?¡±I asked, a bit scared to know.


    Glave replied, ¡°Nothing really, it just reappears back onto you, underneath whatever you¡¯re wearing at that time.¡±


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!¡°There are other rules you¡¯ll need to know, but you¡¯ll learn that in class.¡± he added.


    ¡°You need to leave now, your guide is waiting for you outside. I need to go to work now.¡±Legion announced.


    Guide? Class? Work? Everything was getting more and more confusing by the second. I didn¡¯t have a chance to ask all my questions before I was pushed out of the door. Luckily there was another guy outside that cushioned my fall.(unlucky for him)


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡±I mumbled as I helped him get on his feet. He seemed my age and rather normal looking. Except the glowing tattoos on his face, under his thick rimmed glasses.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Anyways, I¡¯m your guide, Caslo.¡± Caslo replied. He took a look at his clipboard and made a mark. Then he looked up and asked,


    ¡°What is your name? If you remember?¡±


    ¡°Rue...just Rue.¡±I answered.


    ¡°Okay Rue, I¡¯m going to give you a quick tour and then guide you to the administration office.¡± Caslo said as he wrote down my name in a hurry.


    And so, we started on our tour.


    One thing I¡¯ve noticed is that my roommates are not the only ones strange. There was weirder people around. People with blue skin, extra limbs, tiny bodies. Or people that were weird in general. I was not overwhelmed by the type of people but by the sheer amount of people. It was very impressive. And the mansion was equally impressive to house this many people.


    ¡°And this is Hallway 9...Rue, are you listening?¡± Caslo voice snapped me back into reality.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± I replied. Caslo had disbelief written on his face but he continued to explain the features of the hallway.


    On our way to the dining hall, Caslo approached a topic that piqued my interest. The existence of monsters.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you had monsters from where you came but there are monsters here. The basement, or what we call the Dungeon, is a lair infested with monsters. We haven¡¯t mapped the whole Dungeon yet, but we¡¯ve got at least 11 floors down. There are also monsters outside of the mansion. So it is very important for you to not venture outside and underground for the time being. Do you understand?¡±


    I nodded hastily. But I also took note of Caslo choice of words¡­ ¡®for the time being¡¯. What did that mean? I quickly understood the meaning of his words.


    On our way to the administration office, Caslo told me what I needed to do for the time being.


    ¡°The first week in the Mansion is what we call Newbie¡¯s Week. You will receive free lodging and food for this week only.¡±


    So it seemed that we had to pay for our own food and rent. That sucked.


    Caslo, seeming to understand what I was thinking, told me,


    ¡°Yes, you have to pay for your food and rent. Of course you can sleep outside the mansion, like somebody does.¡±


    Caslo scowled as if the memory of that person himself irritated him.


    I, myself, would rather not sleep outside and be devoured by monsters.


    Caslo continued, ¡°There are other necessities that require payment too. That¡¯s the reason for Jobs. The form of payment is...a bit peculiar...but you¡¯ll get the hang of it when the administration office assigns a job to you.¡±


    Caslo turned to a door that had a sign [Administration Office]. He entered the room and I followed in.


    The Administration Office was strangely spacious. There was a large counter in the center of the room and it used up most of the room. A few people behind the counter were busy writing things down, calling people, or sorting files. There was no one else besides an old man snoring on a bench on the other side of the counter.


    Caslo came up to a lady in a uniform that was writing things down.


    ¡°Excuse me, do you have the schedule ready for the newcomer at 8:30pm?¡±


    8;30? That was strange to call someone. Could it have been the time I arrived here?


    I glanced at the grandfather clock beside the snoring old man. It was already 10:30 pm.


    The lady thought for a while, then went to a few files sitting besides her desk, looking through the folders. In a few minutes, she looked at me and asked,


    ¡°Name?¡±


    ¡°Uhh, Rue.¡± I responded.


    She didn¡¯t spare me another glance and started writing my name down on sheets of paper. After she finished she handed the papers in a folder to Caslo.  And went back to writing as if nothing had happened.


    Caslo thanked her and took out a small slip of paper out of the folder for me. It was my schedule.


    Apparently I had morning classes at 9 to 12 in room 101. Then I would be having lunch immediately afterwards. I also had a job; cleaning at 2-6pm.


    ¡°The classes are self-explanatory. You go to room 101 and the teacher would cover basic knowledge, like rules and other stuff. The job is also a form of learning. You¡¯ll learn the way things work around here. By the way, you¡¯ll be meeting at the cafeteria for the job.¡± Caslo explained.


    He then handed me a silvery card with a neon pink sticker on the corner that said; New. There was my name, date, and other information written on the card.


    ¡°This card will let you have the free meals and stuff, but only for a week. You¡¯ll need to fend for yourself when this sticker comes off. Keep this identification card safe, it¡¯ll be troublesome to lose it. And also on your first week, you''re only allowed to be around the first and second floor. For your own safety of course.¡±


    I nodded. There was a lot of information stuffed to my head today but there will be more things to learn starting tomorrow morning.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be late to class tomorrow. Well, so long!¡± Caslo said as he sped out the office, leaving me behind.


    ...Crap, I don¡¯t know how to get back to my room...


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    I''m going to go more in detail about the mansion next chapter. The word ticket is going to be all around the story. It may give you an idea of what''s going to happen...


    Please point out any mistakes in grammar, story, etc. I can revise it that way


    Thnx for reading~

 Chapter: 2 Beginning of a new day

    I woke up on one of the 4 beds in the room. The room was needlessly extravagant. The bed sheets and curtains were made of the finest silk and the furniture were adorned precious stones. It seemed more like a 5 star hotel than a dorm.


    Oh right, this is a mansion.


    I looked around to see my roommates. Legion was snoring away on the bed in front of me while Ical was buried in a bundle of blankets on the bed diagonal from mine. Glave¡¯s bed, the one next to mine, was empty.


    He had been out the whole night, finishing his job. Who knew what that skeleton mask was doing.


    I leaped out of my bed and glanced at the clock next to me. It was still 7 o¡¯ clock. I had plenty of time to get ready for class. Then went into the bathroom to prepare myself.


    While brushing my teeth, Glave came back. It was as if he just walked straight out of a horror movie. His whole outfit was splattered with blood and his hair was practically red. It was like someone poured buckets upon buckets of blood on him.


    Glave noticed me and gave an awkward smile as I stared at him in shock.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± he murmured, walking into the bathroom. I continued to stare at him, my jaws hanging open, my toothbrush falling out.


    It was when he started taking off his mask that I shifted my attention from the blood to his face. One thing I noticed about the mask was that there were no straps binding itself to his head. As if the hand was intentionally grabbing onto his face.


    When the mask went off, I noticed Glave had charming features and a rather handsome face. His eyes looked less intimidating and his smile was more geniune.


    Poor man...He might have been popular without the mask¡­


    What I didn¡¯t know was that Glave with the mask was already pretty famous in the Mansion.


    ¡°Why do you wear that mask?¡± I heard asked him.


    Glave looked thoughtfully and replied,


    ¡°For one thing, this is my default outfit. The clothes I wore when I first came to the mansion.¡±


    I looked at his outfit. I thought my school uniform was troublesome to wear but Glave¡¯s clothing was even more inconvenient. On top of the mask and overly long robe he had to wear a few accessories, like the ring on his thumb and very hard looking slippers.


    ¡°And also, the mask feels very important to me. I don¡¯t get why but I feel comfortable when it¡¯s near me.¡± Glave shrugged.


    I kind of understood the feeling.  Like there was something missing. Something very important¡­


    ¡°Care to wake those them up up? I need to finish cleaning up but let¡¯s get breakfast together.¡± Glave said with a smile, gesturing the sleeping Legion and Ical.


    I walked out of the bathroom, not sure which one I should wake first.  I could wake Ical first and let him deal with Legion but¡­ Ical seemed like a night owl. He also appeared to be the dangerous type to wake up unnaturally¡­


    I decided to wake Legion up. I went up to his bed. The blankets were thrown askew and the bed creaked wearily whenever he shifted his weight.


    He sure has a bad sleeping posture, I thought to myself.


    At first, I wasn¡¯t sure how to wake the giant up. I resorted to poking his stomach with a stick I saw lying on the floor. When the stick came in contact with his stomach, he flinched, but went on sleeping. The snoring stopped though.


    I tried using the stick to slap his arm. It brought some interesting results. Legion rolled around and hid his arm under a pillow.


    Somewhat interested, I poked his cheek with the stick repeatedly, staying in a safe distance of course. This action made him wake up. Well, not directly, but it resulted in a success.


    Because of a certain annoying thing in his face, he started rolling more to avoid it. The rolling became a swinging, then,


    -Bam!-


    Legion fell off the bed on my side. Luckily, I was in a safe enough distance however the stick broke in half.


    Legion groaned loudly and stared at me. He blinked stupidly for a few seconds, then finally realizing who I was, he said in a loud voice,


    ¡°G¡¯D MORN¡¯IN, WUE!!!¡±


    It¡¯s Rue¡­ Well that was one down, one more to go.


    I heard the bathroom door click open and Glave appeared wearing casual attire. He still had the mask on, now clean of blood. He was now wearing a black long sleeved shirt and a white pants. He was also carrying an orange satchel, which was undoubtedly carrying his clothes.


    ¡°Ah, Legion you¡¯re awake.¡± Glave spoke seeing Legion.


    Legion grinned, ¡°Should I wake Icky up?¡¯


    Icky? Is that his nickname? That is a horrible name. I feel so bad for him.(Not really)


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±Glave said amusingly.


    ¡°IT¡¯S TIME TO WAKE UP!!!¡± Legion boomed.


    However loud Legion was it only resulted in Ical crawling further into his bed cover and blankets


    ¡°Hey! Wake up! We¡¯re GONNA have breakfast without you~¡± Legion teased unsuccessfully.


    Possibly no one else could hear, but I could hear a few barely audible insults coming from the mattress. I swear I heard Ical say something along the lines of ¡®I hope you get diarrhea and die¡¯. Yup, you can¡¯t mess with Ical.


    Glave sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Ical never ate breakfast before anyways.¡±


    Legion happily agreed. And so we left Ical behind for breakfast.


    ¡­


    The Dining Hall looked smaller than yesterday, possibly from all the people gathered here. I was still amazed by the amount of people present so I asked Glave,


    ¡°Do you know how much people are in this Mansion?¡±


    Glave thought for a moment and replied,


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure, but I guess around 1-2 thousand? You can check the records later.¡±


    I nodded, taking a closer look at my surroundings. The Dining Hall was actually a very beautiful room. Unlike last night, there were a lot more colorful tables and chairs. Light poured in from the huge glass windows that was covered last night and the pleasant aroma of breakfast drifted through the air. I could feel my stomach grumbled as I watched the large plates of bacon and eggs.


    I noticed there were several lines for food. The lines were labeled with stars from 1-10. Legion explained to me,


    ¡°The more stars, the better food.¡±


    Glave added, ¡°Since you just came, you can only get 1 starred food. Don¡¯t worry, if you work a bit harder, you¡¯ll get a chance for better food.¡±


    I must have looked obviously displeased but I guess every society had a ladder to climb. I noticed Glave and Legion were both holding on to something. When I looked closer, I saw that it was a meal ticket. There were also stars indicated on the ticket. I silently counted.


    1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9¡­


    9 Stars! And to prove my assumptions correct, they lined up at the star 9 line. Sulkily, I lined up at the the single starred line.


    There were few items to choose from. I took eggs, bacon, and toast from the trays and piled it high on my plate. Finished creating my mountain of food, I brought it up to the cashier.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The cashier lady eyed my tall pile of food warily and commanded,


    ¡°Ticket, please.¡±


    I panicked a little. No one told me how to pay for the food.


    ¡°Err, I¡¯m new here¡­¡± I said meakly.


    The lady sighed, and looked at me annoyingly,


    ¡°Your ID, please.¡±


    Oh yeah, my ID card. I turned up my pockets, searching for the card as the lady¡¯s gaze turned more and more suspicious.


    Found it! I turned my card to the cashier lady. She snatched it from hands and looked at it carefully.


    Done with the card, she looked at me with an interrogating gaze. After a full minute of being exposed to the pressure of her gaze, she let me pass.


    I let out a deep breath, and hurried to where Glave and Legion were sitting.


    ¡°What was with that woman!¡± I exclaimed reaching the table.


    ¡°The cashier lady? Can¡¯t blame her. Many tried to pretend they were new to get free meals.¡± Glave answered.


    I sighed. Then a sudden question popped in my mind.


    ¡°How do you get the meal tickets?¡± I asked eyeing them up and down. *cough* eyeing their food up and down. Glave had a wonderful omelette filled with ham and mushrooms. He also had orange juice to go with it.


    Legion had a variety of food for breakfast. There were waffles, turkey, toast, and fresh fruits. Suddenly my toast looked stale and my eggs looked raw. This was the difference between 9 stars and a single star¡­I bitterly gnawed my teeth against the bacon and ripped up my toast.


    ¡°You¡¯ll learn how to get those at your job. Are you doing cleaning?¡±


    I nodded as I picked at my eggs.


    ¡°That¡¯s to be expected, everyone does cleaning on their first week. Anyways you¡¯ll learn everything you need to know.¡±


    I scarfed down the rest of the food and was ready to leave for class. When I suddenly remembered or remembered that I forgot to ask something. I looked at them weakly and asked,


    ¡°Do you guys know how to get to room 101?¡±


    ¡­


    Hallway 5, first room in the corner...here it is! I saw the plate that held the number 101. Turning the door knob I went inside the room. Rather than a classroom, it looked more like a lounge. There were comfortable sofas and thick carpets. In front of the T.V. there was a whiteboard and in front of the whiteboard there was a man with glasses. Presumably the teacher.


    Aside from the teacher there were 4 other people, the students. They were all sitting around the sofas. Some were chatting, some were playing games, others were just idly sitting.


    I took my seat on a sofa to the side. It was occupied by another girl but there was plenty of room.


    The teacher seeing that everyone was present started the lesson.


    ¡°Hello everyone. We have a new student today. So I¡¯ll introduce myself again.¡±


    The teacher turned to me and said,


    ¡°My name is Soo-Mal. Most of this class covers basic knowledge. For those who has been here for a week would have heard my introduction at least 4 times.¡±


    He chuckled. His words made me think of a question. I raised my hand to ask,


    ¡°Excuse me, but how often do people come to the Mansion?¡±


    Soo-Mal¡¯s eyes brightened up at my inquiry.


    ¡°Good question. There are no exact time nor pattern in the way newcomers come to the Mansion but in the last 2 years, newcomers have appeared here on an average of 3 per week.¡±


    3? That was a lot...Something was wrong here¡­


    ¡°Umm...How long has the Mansion been around?¡±


    ¡°No one really knows for sure, you can check in on the history classes when you get a chance. But I can see why you asked that. If there were on average of 3 people per week then the how can the Mansion accommodate this many people?¡±


    I nodded. This was exactly what I was thinking of.


    The girl next to me made a giggling sound. She had curly blond hair and pink(?) irises. Apparently she was wearing pajamas. I wonder if she came to the Mansion by sleepwalking or if it was her normal outfit¡­


    ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t laughing at you but we had the same lesson two times already.¡±She whispered to me.


    ¡°Oh really? How long have you¡¯ve been here?¡± I asked back.


    She tilted her head to think and replied,


    ¡°4 days, I-¡±


    A coughing sound interrupted conversation. I looked up to see the teacher coughing to get our attention. We decided to push our conversation for later.


    ¡°As you were asking, how come the Mansion is able to hold this many people is because of two reasons. One, if you had noticed, the Mansion is actually bigger than how it seems from the outside. And two, some people can leave,¡±


    That got my attention. During the time I was here, I was under the impression that we were unable to leave. If leaving was an option, I would choose to leave. I had more important things to do¡­


    ¡°Residents of the Mansion may leave only by a special event, The Hunt. Before I go into detail of that, I want to introduce a new concept. Magic.


    Magic? I frowned at the unfamiliar word.


    ¡°Yes, we can use magic here. The magic here is only limited to control. For example, I¡¯m a Fire Magician so I can control fire. Fire can appear, expand, or dance in my palm if I wished. Fire is the third most popular magic here. The most important thing to magic is not power nor the rarity of magic but control and a bit of creativity. Every magic is control magic. Healing magic is a bit of a stretch but it¡¯s basically the other side of health magic.¡±


    ¡°Can you show us?¡± A boy seated in a different sofa asked.


    The teacher smiled and replied, ¡°Unfortunately no, as I said yesterday, Mansion rule #1; No Magic on Floors 1 and 2.¡±


    Boooo, the students cried out in return.


    ¡°Calm down, you¡¯ll be able to use your own Magic soon.¡±


    Magic sounded really amazing to me but there seemed to be a catch. There¡¯s always a catch. After All, there are no such thing as a free meal.


    The teacher continued, ¡°As I mentioned before, there¡¯s an event called The Hunt. During this event, you will most likely be able to unlock your own magical abilities.


    Another student raised his hand and asked,


    ¡°Ummm, what exactly do you ¡®hunt¡¯?¡±


    The teacher hesitated for a moment and answered,


    ¡°Traitors.¡±


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    World building has always been the hardest part for me to get through but this chapter introduced a ton of awesome things for later chapters.


    Things will start picking up in a few chapters(the Hunt) I really like the economic system even though it''s pretty inconvenient. I''ll start introducing it next chapterXD


    Try guessing Rue and other character''s magic. Hint: Rue and Glave both have a pretty interesting one~


    Thanks for reading~