《The Dream-Scape》 Welcome To The Dream-Scape ( Prologue + Chapter 1 ) What is it that defines reality? What is real and what is illusion? Is it nothing more than what our five senses tell us is reality? And if so, could an illusion be as real as reality? Even to the point that you can not really know if this, what you are experiencing at this moment, is reality or simply an illusion created by someone else. Think about that. ¡­.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... It all started simply enough, we went to sleep. Now in most cases that wouldn''t lead to trouble but in this situation it sure did. The journalists with their inane tendency to attribute catchy names to any big incident named it ¡°The Dream-Scape Phenomenon¡±. It was at first thought to be nothing but rantings and ravings of our society''s mentally deluded individuals, for after all, at first the incident happened primarily with our societies outcasts, drifters and the ones that tried to escape this life to one of pure fiction. But, after more and more people in different branches of society started experiencing it, it wasn''t as easy to ignore. Apparently what affected the chances of the phenomenon happening was ¡°Desire¡±, desire for change that is, not being happy with your lot in life, wanting more, desiring adventure, danger, change, conflict, all the things that modern society and its obsession in ¡°Keeping us safe¡± does not allow. Even the individuals that are apparently happy, are at times only displaying a mask over their true emotions. They want to fight, kill, and plunder; discover new things; risk their lives for a greater cause; but that is against our societies norms, therefore not to be done. At those times they find an outlet in things like fiction, martial arts, hunting, video-games, travel and all other things that have been created to satisfy the innate need for danger and discovery that a great part of the human race keeps locked up in the deepest recedes of their psyche. So what if they could actually be in a place without all the limitations of the modern world, a place without all the technology that does nothing but retard the evolution of humans, a place that is more primal, more free than you could possibly hope for in this life. That is what the dream-scape is. It is an escape. ¡­.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ¡°Where am I¡±, Connor asked himself while looking around the clearing. He felt afraid and confused, after all it is not every day that you find yourself naked and alone in unfamiliar woods, especially when the last thing you remember is falling asleep reading a book . What do I mean by ''unfamiliar'' you might ask? Well the woods in his area of the world are pine trees , these are regular old oak trees. As you might imagine this only made him more afraid as it meant that he was quite a ways from his home. While he looked around he became more and more confused, for besides the trees there where other equally obvious indicators of the distance that he was from his home. For one there was the temperature, sure it was chilly here but in his home it would be well bellow freezing at this time of the year, definitely not a time to be naked outdoors. He didn''t know where he was, what he was doing there or how it happened but he didn''t really care as his fear was suddenly overwhelmed by anger. Anger at his situation, anger at whoever brought him here, anger at the world for allowing it to happen. His heart started hammering in his chest like it was trying to get out, the blood pumped through his veins spreading heat and wrath. His vision clouded by a red fog of pure unbridled emotion. He felt powerful, competent, worthy, as if he could destroy all those that dared to stand in his way and stand over their empty bodies. Then it suddenly stopped, and he was surprised at himself. That was the first time he had felt an emotion so intensely. His personality was mellow almost to the point of being emotionless. He had never felt something like that before. That hot, pulsing anger that had him teetering at the edge of self control and absolute destruction of his surroundings. His heart-beat slowly calmed down and his vision returned to normal. Once he finally settled down he decided that probably nobody that he knew would find him here in this unfamiliar place, hell for all he knew he was dead and this was the afterlife. In other words all he had to rely on was himself and his skills. When he examined his surroundings with clearer eyes and an unclouded mind he realized they weren''t as empty as he originally thought. There where clear signs of an old foundation that had long outlasted the building that was built on it. And much to his happiness a metal trap-door in the middle of said foundation that could possibly lead to a temporary shelter from the elements, as there was signs of an impending storm approaching from the distance. Obviously the first thing he did was try to open said trapdoor. But even though there was a ring in it to lift it up it wouldn''t budge an inch from its closed position. He tried to lift it with all his might and it still didn''t budge. After a while of trying to lift it he felt the unusual anger resurfacing from the depths of his mind. Feeling the power of the emotion, he again attempted to lift it and it came as easily as a feather from its recess in the foundation. He was surprised at himself, just getting angry shouldn''t make any difference in the weight that you can lift. He came to the conclusion that it must be one of those rare ''mind over matter'' occurrences that are so often scoffed at by the general populace. Anyhow, the occurrence was filled in his mind for latter examination. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Looking into the hole he only saw a ladder going down into blackness except for a small speck of light far down the hole. He decided to drop a small rock into the hole to see how deep it was. Calculating the amount time it took to hit the bottom, he estimated it to be 50 feet deep. Looking up he saw that the storm was approaching faster. Now you might think that getting wet was preferable over going down into a mysterious hole but then you would be forgetting that he was completely naked and that hypothermia was a very possible scenario for staying outside, so he obviously went down the hole into the unknown. 50 feet down he found his rock, unfortunately it wasn''t the bottom of the shaft. The rock had landed on a ledge protruding from the wall of the shaft. He was undecided about whether to continue down or risk the wet and cold above, but decided that it couldn''t be that much further down so continued climbing down the shaft. ¡­.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... He didn''t know how long he had been going down, but the shaft just continued on and on. He took occasional breaks on the ledges that protruded from the wall every 50 feet or so. The only thing that kept him from turning back was that the light that he had seen earlier as only a speck was slowly getting bigger as he got closer to it. He could only assume that it was the bottom of the shaft and so he kept on climbing down towards the light. He had lost track of time so he did not know the exact amount of time it took him to reach the bottom of the shaft, but if he had to estimate he would say it took him somewhere along the lines of five hours. His arms felt like lead weights at his sides and he was panting from the exertion¡¯s on his body. He felt extremely warm. The temperature had been steadily rising as he went down the shaft, and now that he had reached the bottom it was most definitely uncomfortable. Upon reaching the bottom of the shaft he almost collapsed before he saw a much shorter tunnel stretching in front of him. He groaned inwardly at the thought of walking anymore, but he had a strong feeling that he should continue on. He wiped the sweat off his brow and plodded ahead. Along the way he noticed a change in the material that the tunnel was made out of, it changed from being carved through solid rock to what looked to be one extremely thick wall. Once he reached the end of it he stud in a huge brightly light cavern that was the source of the light he saw from the top of the tunnel. It looked as if the walls themselves where glowing with a eerie green light that was refracted everywhere by the huge crystals that surrounded the room. After looking around for a minute, he noticed something interesting, in what he could only assume was the exact center of the cavern there was an altar an in the middle said altar there was........ a book. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ The book was a simple leather bound book. Not having any particularly distinguishing markings or symbols. It was covered in a thick layer of dust and looked to have been here a very long time. All in all, if you had found it in a bazaar you would have probably have just glanced at it. But this was not a bazaar. This was an under-ground cavern, and the book was laying in the middle of a pedestal. This book practically screamed its importance and upon examining in closer It seemed to pulsate with an aura of age. The kind that you get from things like fossils and ancient ruins. Connor felt all this, and he knew. The book was calling him to it, he could feel it. He started walking towards it with shambling steps, almost tripping every other one, until he finally reached the altar. He stretched his trembling hand out towards it. And finally....... touched it. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ He felt immense pain as his mind was almost ripped apart by a great influx of information. While only seeing occasional flashes of the information that was brutally drilling itself into his mind, he felt as if he was living several lifetimes all at once. There was no conception of time for him, there was only the pain and the knowledge in him. He wanted to let go of the book, but it was almost like his hand was glued to it, forcing him to absorb the knowledge of thousands of people. He couldn''t have any conception of the time that passed, but to him it felt like many lifetimes had passed, when as suddenly as it started.......it stopped. He immediately collapsed onto the ground in a heap, welcoming the warm embrace of mother earth upon his mentally and physically shocked body. Then to his immense relief unconsciousness finally overtook him. Unexpected Answers And Changes Hey people, I should have probably put this in the last chapter but I didn''t (slaps himself). Like most people in this site this is my first non-school related writing project and I am not originally an English writer (saying writer because I did grow up speaking english :). Anyhow I appretiate any comments, suggestions and ratings (please point out any plot holes or errors) and will probably slowly keep on adding chapters *slowly*. I know this chapter is slow on progress but I wanted to develop the characters a little bit. Promise some action in the next one. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Connor awoke to find himself on the floor of the cavern, drenched in cold sweat and sore all over his body. He tried to get up and only succeeded in falling a little bit further from where he collapsed making a clattering sound as he fell. Groggily opening his eyes at the sound he noticed something that he overlooked in his addled state the previous day. There where bones. They where everywhere around him and they where all humanoid in nature. There must have been thousands of them. He was in shock. And that is when he heard her for the first time. ¡°They where the ones that couldn''t handle it¡±, said a female voice. He almost passed out from fright upon hearing it. Looking wildly all around him, he realized that there was nobody there. ''Am I going crazy,'' was his first thought. For after all, he had come to the conclusion, with the help of what the voice said, that the bones where the remains of people that had under gone the same trial that he had, and it would come as no surprise if what killed others made him go insane. It was just the sort of luck he had always displayed. Then he heard the voice again. "You are not insane, I am Rothia, one of the great spirits of knowledge. And you appear to have become my chosen," the female voice said. Upon hearing the voice a second time he realized that the voice was coming from no external source, but rather from inside his own head. It was as if the thoughts of another person were being put into his head. "Yes, you are correct. I unfortunately do not have a body too call my own. Therefore I need to make use of your body to store my spirit and knowledge, while still remaining a separate entity from you" ''Oh great, I''m going to be a human memory bank. Doesn''t get much better.'' He thought as he sighed. Then he heard giggling in his head. "Do not worry, this is anything but a one sided deal. Actually to be totally honest, you are getting more out of this than me." "What do you mean?" "Well, for one you will be able to do some things with my help that would be impossible without it." "Like what?" "Here, let me show you¡­.." Out of the air in front of him appeared a window. It showed a frontal view of his body with different symbols around the edges. He was so surprised he jumped back a few steps. He had no idea what was going on, he had been in a sort of state of shock ever since he woke up, then he started hearing voices in his head and now he is seeing things. He didn''t know if any of this was true or if it was only a figment of his imagination. "Uh¡­. I think now would be a good time to tell you that I can hear your thoughts." She said in what sounded like a much more sober voice. "And I am slightly confused as to why you are so confused. I mean it is only a bit of illusion magic. Not that big of a deal." ''What is she talking about'' "What do you mean ''What is she talking about''." She sighed "This would be so much easier if I could access your memories." She muttered. "Oh! Wait, I can access them! How could I have forgotten something so simple, I am in your head!" She said in an exited manner. "Now this should be relatively painless but slightly uncomfortable. Be ready!" Then an extremely disgusting felling washed over him. It was like being naked in front of a group of laughing people, and knowing that their laughter is directed at you. That is what someone sifting through your memories feels like. It most definitely is not an experience that you want to live twice. "Now sorry about that, I didn''t realize that it would be that bad, but it needed to be done. If I hadn''t had done that I would have never understood who you where or what you are. For yes they are different things. You are not who you used to be any more. The second that you got here you changed and kept on changing, now that you have me even more so." She said in what sounded like a sad voice. Connor''s had been in a constant state of confusion since waking up and it seemed like he would finally get the answers he was looking for. "Well¡­. you will get answers. Though they are not the ones you are hoping for. You see, you are not in your own world anymore. Heck, this one is not even similar to yours, from what I was able to get from your memories this world took a completely different evolutionary path." "In what way is it so different" "Wow, you are actually able to ask questions. I thought you would be in shock after I told you this." At this the only sensible thing that he could do is laugh. He laughed like a madman and kept on laughing until it finally lessened into fits of giggles and then finally subsided. "Oh you are so wrong," he said still giggling a little. "I have been in shock ever since I got here. It''s becoming my constant state of being at this moment, but like the mad hatter would say "welcome to the madnes"." He giggled a little bit. "I thought that would be a good quote since I obviously have either gone completely mad or gone down the rabbit hole." As he finished he broke into another fit of giggles, and now be certainly did look mad. "Oh boy," she said. "I better solve this or my container will become unusable," she muttered. Then Connor experienced a feeling of calm wash over him. It was as if everything was alright, he was home and he was safe. But at the same time he was here in an underground cave paved with bones. It was an unsettling feeling to say the least, but it did calm him down. "Better now?" "Yes," he said feeling unsteady. "Good, couldn''t have you break, now could I?" "Speaking about that, what happens to you if I die?" "Well¡­.. I can''t die. If you died I would only be dispersed for a century or so. Then I would come back together in a place like this and wait for another person like you to come to me. Then I would acquire more knowledge across their life time until they died and then repeat the cycle." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "So in other words, I''m disposable." "No, on the contrary. You have no idea how rare it is for someone to survive the transfer," she laughed. "Actually you probably do. I mean look around you. All of them use to be strong people in their own right. But in the end they were all weak." And indeed when he looked around he could still see the remains of hundreds of people. It was unimaginable how so many of them ended up here. "I told you I was desirable," she said confidently. He could almost imagine her chest sticking out in pride. As he looked around more and took stock of his surroundings he realized that while he was still drenched in his own sweat, but he did not feel either too hot, like he did before, or too cold. His body temperature felt perfectly normal. "Uh, yes about that," she said answering his unspoken thoughts. "Remember that I told you that you no longer are the same person you where before. Well one of the ways that you have changed is that you are no longer so easily influenced by outside forces. That includes heat and cold, which respectively affect you by speeding up and slowing down the vibration of your molecules, therefore damaging your body." After considering that for a minute Connor asked, "so what you are telling me is that I am less easily affected by anything that directly tries to interfere with the natural rhythm of my body?" "Yes, that is exactly it" "In what other ways has my body changed?" "Hmm, well the list is to long to tell you in one sitting, or standing as it is, but rest assured that the majority of the changes to your body are entirely for the purpose of making you less easy to kill. Therefore saving me the trouble of finding a replacement for you." "I suppose that is acceptable," said Connor. "But I would still like to know what the other changes are" "I could easily show you the changes that have happened to it," she said. "But I will have to repeat what I did before. You know that window thing that popped up, the one that freaked you out." "I want answers, do anything you need to do to give them to me." In that instant, in front of him appeared the same window as before. Now that he was calmer and could analyze it closer he realized that it was slightly transparent in nature while still having a clarity of image. It was like an incredibly detailed work of stained glass that was seamless in it composition. But even more impressive was the fact that it was floating a one and a half meters off the ground. Connor had never been one to read fantasy novels and only occasionally played games finding them way too easy. He preferred things that were more serious; more real. But if he knew one thing it was that this was magic. As much as he hated to admit it there was no other way to describe what was happening at that moment. He should have probably have come to that conclusion a long time ago; but his brain would not allow him to come to that conclusion. It insisted that there was another answer. Something that would fit view of his own mundane, boring and non-magical world. But there was not. ¡°Yes you are right, this is magic. One of the driving forces of this world, or the equivalent of technology in yours. You see, your world and this world have many differences but some of the main ones are that Mana exists everywhere and that the inhabitants of this world have focused on individual power rather than things like technology that can be used by everyone. Which only makes sense if you take into account that there is no limit in potential of what a human, or any creature for that matter, can achieve if they put their mind to it,¡± She said. ¡°The reason this happens is that Mana will constantly change any creature to take full advantage of its own capabilities. Its like getting stronger from exercise or smarter from reading a book except that there is no limits. The more you strain your body the stronger you get until you can crush boulders. The more you read the faster you can read and the more you can remember, until you can read a page at a glance and remember it your whole life.¡± She hesitated a for a moment here. ¡°You have had a bit of a jump-start in this world from having me. Don''t think you are too strong though, because you are not. There are individuals out there that are infinitely stronger than you; but you could overtake them if you chose to. As I said before in this world your only limit is your determination.¡± ¡°I''m sorry to disappoint you, but I have no interest in fighting and thank you for the explanation of the world, it only makes me want to leave it more. A world like what you described this one to be would be chaos, the strong would rule with an iron fist over the weak. Anyone possessing more power than someone else could order them around or kill them and nobody could do anything out of fear. It might sound like it is fair, everyone having a chance, but evil can have more determination than good at times and in this world that would spell catastrophe.¡± ¡°You don''t have much of a choice in the matter,¡± she said with a serious tone. ¡°whether you like it or not you are in this world, and if you like to live you will become strong. About the system of this world being bad, it is not so. The gods interfere with anyone who gets out of hand too much. Not directly but through their followers.¡± ¡°Anyhow, we are getting off track here. The way to view the changes to your body are as follows. Touch any part of your body on the window and it will show you a detailed status of that part or simply touch the box that says ¡°overview¡± and you will be able to see a simplified version of what has changed. It will appear in a game like format as from your memories I gathered that this would be the easiest for you to understand." As Connor heard this he touched the button to show an overview of the changes that have happened. And was astounded by the number, as he read the changes he actually started to feel them. His vision became sharper, he felt lighter, he could sense his surroundings better. All the changes made themselves felt as he became aware of them. Then he saw one of the last changes and he smiled. ''I might just be able to fit in this world better than I thought'' "Yes you will", she said. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Hahahahahahaha. I always wanted to do a cliff hanger *sighs*. Will add the tables next chapter *curses coding* they will contain the answers.