These energies surround us, yet we never truly notice that fact until they are readily presented before us. They have done so since the conception of time and space and will continue to do so long after we fade away to nothingness. Is it not astounding that such power has always been within our grasp yet so few are capable of ever taking that first step?

Augments: The Abridged Study.

**

“BROCK!”

Carrie awoke with a start, dozens of images flashing before her eyes in a matter of seconds: falling, Brock, death. It all came crashing back to her like a tidal wave, haunting her mind and tearing apart her sanity. All too vividly could she remember the sight of her co-worker’s head beginning to splatter across the pavement as she began to flicker and eventually disappear.

Sobbing as the tears rolled down her cheeks, Carrie slowly sat and was taken aback by what surrounded her. Contrary to the claustrophobic city with its dull colours and heavy sounds, she found herself laying in a vast field of lush, emerald grass, the low hum of the breeze tickling her ears pleasantly. Idly, she noticed that the sky above her was a soft shade of gold, not blue.

It didn’t take her long to realize that she wasn’t the only person in the endless fields, with thousands of people slowly waking up around her, panning their shocked gazes over the rolling hills in the distance. Carrie’s inner turmoil began to quell, if only slightly, when she recognized the familiar faces of her other co-workers sprawled around her.

Several meters away, she even recognized the kid that worked at the Subway near their firm. Though it made her grimace when she remembered how much Brock used to like the kid.

All around her, she identified more and more people she knew or had at least seen working in businesses adjacent to their office. It seemed like everyone in their area was here, transported by some mystically strange phenomenon.

Her chest was still quaking wildly from the racking sobs she tried to keep under wraps, but Carrie quickly crawled over to her nearest colleague, Kim, who was sleeping peacefully, unlike many others. Absentmindedly, the crying woman gazed at her friend’s luscious black hair, a colour she had always wanted to dye her own, but never found the courage to go through with it.

Lightly, she shook her by the shoulders, the girl soon waking up and glancing around them in weary surprise. Carrie had to wake her up a second time when she tried to go back to sleep, thinking it was all just a dream. Carrie had pinched herself several times beforehand.

She knew it wasn’t.

“Car…” her words were separated by a yawn, “Carrie? What’s going on? Where are we?”

Kim was looking about frantically, trying to make sense of the place stretching out around her.

“Jeez, I knew I was hammered, but where the hell did I wander off to?” she muttered under her breath a few seconds afterwards.

And although she was being asked, Carrie herself had no idea where they were nor what was actually happening. As she glanced around, she knew that no one else did either. Many had burst into tears, terrified by the confusion of what was happening, while others began to wander off through the fields, looking for some sort of way out.

Carrie though, she just wanted to spew her guts out to Kim, her closest friend. To tell her that Brock was dead, that it was her fault. That if she had only held on better, that if she had only been stronger, that if she didn’t fall off with Brock. That he would still be alive, waking up around them.

She was left unable to, however, as she felt a massive surge of something wash over her, originating from far behind. Almost reluctantly, she turned her head around and gasped in shock as her eyes were met by the appearance of two towering beings. Ones that were decidedly not human.

“Welcome, Humans.”

The gathering of people became dead silent as they gazed at the newly appeared duo standing out the front of them all, their hands clasped behind their backs. It was only a vague sensation, but Carrie could feel ebbing waves of boundless power fluctuating from within them. It made her skin tingle pleasantly, even at this distance.

Everyone was left speechless as they gazed at the strange beings in unison. They possessed hulking frames, easily several heads taller than most people Carrie knew. But that wasn’t the most glaring feature. No, it was the fact that they seemed to be formed of interwoven roots speckled with gold, giving them the look of the ancient and powerful.

From the few gaps in between the root-work weave of their bodies, Carrie watched as goldish-green energy pulsated softly within. They appear mostly humanoid, something that at least gave her and several others some solace, if only a little. Their heads were more alien in nature, however, possessing neither eyes nor a mouth, just a plane of flat roots and the highest concentration of the pulsing emerald-gold accents.

Sitting where she was far in the back, Carrie didn’t have all that great a vantage, but she managed to notice a mane of vibrant leaves running down their backs and ruffling gently in the breeze. The chime-like noise they made seemed to house a hidden truth, one that felt just barely out of her grasp.

“The hell are you!?” Carrie heard someone yell from ahead of her, and she saw several others gearing up to follow suit. She could practically smell the fear in their shaking voices.

No matter what they all felt, however, it was rendered irrelevant as a sudden weight settled over the area and pressed down on everyone present, quenching any ideas of disrespect. Carrie gasped as the presence in the air seemed to beat down on her savagely, threatening to maul her with the passive fury of nature. Though, as soon as it appeared, it was gone, leaving everyone stunned.

“We,” the root creature on the left gestured to both it and its companion, “Are Greater Treants, and will be your acting overseers for the duration of this Tutorial.”

They paused for a second afterwards, expecting a flood of questions, but soon nodded in satisfaction as none came forth. Carrie saw people biting their lips in restraint, aware that no one wanted to risk experiencing that oppressive weight again. It was beyond unpleasant, to say the least.

“The next month of your lives will be spent here, as the two of us guide you through the basic functions and intricacies of the Great Root. Or the System, a concept I’m sure you humans would be more familiar with.” The one on the right spoke this time, his voice markedly deeper than his companion.

Carrie was left reeling at what she was being told. Treants? From what she knew, they were some sort of human-tree fantasy creature. And the System? She had never heard of that term beyond what was used in computers. Was it like some sort of universal operating system?

A prompt flickered to life before her eyes, answering her churning questions instantly.

[Initializing firmware…]

…

[Welcome to the System, Carrie Duncan.]

A surge of gasps made its way through the gathered crowd as the same prompts appeared in their vision also, many immediately trying to dispel them with a hand or rub their eyes in an attempt to verify the efficacy of their sight. Though no matter what anyone tried, it didn’t seem to work, and they wouldn’t disappear.

The leftmost Treant once more began to speak as he cleared his non-existent throat to the people listening, “Now that you’ve seen the prompts, you have at least a basic understanding of what to expect going forth.”

He nodded to himself after a brief pause and continued.

“The System, the Great Root, the Heavens. It has many names. No one truly knows its original purpose, nor intention, though there are speculations. Indisputably, however, is the fact it grants the myriads of races throughout the Multiverse a chance to grasp upon perfection.”

As the Treant finished, the other waved its hand dismissively and a white crystal flickered into existence in front of Carrie, along with every other person present. A strange violet fluid occupied the inside of her item, and glancing around, Carrie could tell that it seemed to be somewhat different for every person involved. Some crystals contained a red fluid, or an orange or any other from the plethora of colours she bore witness to.

[Please use a Shard of Awakening to be granted full access to the System.]

[Shard of Awakening used: 0/1]

Another prompt appeared and she stared down at the crystal in confusion. Is this a Shard of Awakening?

As though they had already dealt with this exact scenario beforehand, the Treants spoke out in unison, regarding the group slowly, “The items you see before you are known as Shards of Awakening. Only those who have consumed one are granted access to the functions and benefits of the System, you merely have to crush the Shard and drink of the fluids within.”

“Although, these are just placeholders for now. They will limit you at the tenth level and can be exchanged for one of a higher quality once you are outside and back on your planet, but only once.”

Silently, Carrie considered the information the two beings had just dumped upon them, and whether accepting their preposition of drinking the odd fluid was at all a good idea. Along with basically everything else they had mentioned prior to now.

It was all insane. She had pinched herself several times, yet could she be sure she still wasn’t dreaming? Even after all this? To think that such a nonsensical thing would be happening today, that she’d be brought before creatures of flora and told that they were part of a Multiverse. On a Monday no less.

The idea was ludicrous.

Some other people seemed to think so too, as they stood up in outrage, “I am not drinking this shit.”

Other things were spat around, but that happened to be the tamest of them all.

Carrie didn’t even have time to brace herself as the weight once more settled into place over them, this time almost twice as heavy as before. It wasn’t painful perse, but she felt as though her insides were being numbly torn asunder just by its prolonged existence. It only persisted for a few seconds longer, however, and finally disappeared without a trace.

Those standing fell to the ground immediately, trembling wildly with fear.

“There seems to be a misunderstanding,” the rightmost Treant growled, “We are not asking you. We are telling you.”

Gulping, Carrie looked down at the strange crystal once more and regarded her options, namely, none. Beside her, Kim squirmed anxiously as she met her friend’s eyes. They were positively laden with worry, and Carrie could tell the woman was barely keeping it all together in this situation.

“What… what do we do Car?” she whispered.

The woman in question didn’t have an answer for several long seconds until she finally shifted her grip on the crystal and gave her friend a shaky smile. Breathing in deeply, she clinked her crystal onto Kim’s own, one with a green fluid sloshing within, and brought it up to her face.

“We drink.”