Darkness. It is peaceful here, I think I like it. Floating here in an endless void most people would probably be panicking but I’m not. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a body? Wait… no body? Should I be concerned about that? At this point others would definitely be panicking but since I have no body for adrenalin to pump through and no heart to pound it just becomes a fact to me. Well if I’m going to be stuck in this void forever I’ll probably get pretty bored. I’m just starting to think about different things that a bodyless… what would I be in this state, eh not important… would be able to do when lines of thin golden script start to scroll themselves into the void.

…Initializing system

…Scanning host… scanning…

Critical error detected! Massive changes to host found in all areas of the soul. Soul stability at 23%!

Hmm, well that definitely doesn’t sound good does it. Is this the point where I should start panicking? I feel like this would be a good point to panic. As I am essentially a floating soul, being told that something has been changing me and that I am far from stable is extremely concerning.

Luckily before I can figure out what happens when a soul starts to panic more glowing script appears in my void.

Searching for solutions…

Solution found. Soul Lock creation in 3… 2… 1…

A vast pillar of golden light fills my void and streaks toward me. When it impacts an intense feeling of bliss fills me. The light twists and spirals all around me leaving ticklish trails of warmth everywhere it touches me. As soon as the light stops moving and the feeling of bliss leaves I realize that I feel much more… solid isn’t quite the right word since I am a soul after all but the word gets the idea across. Before the lock had set in I hadn’t even been able to tell how feeble I was. I think I like this Soul Lock. The warm light was also nice will there be any more of that?

Soul Lock created…

Calculating… soul will reach 100% stability in 85:256:19:33:59 years, days, hours, minutes, seconds.

Oh boy. That, that seems like a long time. Souls must heal really slowly.

Error corrected… scan recommencing…

No further errors found…

Beginning awakening…10…9…

Awakening! Wait what does that mean? To wake up I need a body!

…4…3…2…

Crap I’m going to die!

1…

The void vanishes and my eyes snap open as all the sensations of being in a body crash over me. My eyes dart from side to side trying to take in the world around me but my view of the room around me is blocked by a large floating green box.

Welcome to the game Reiza

As soon as I have read its contents the box disappears. Wait! I really want that box back! It had my name on it and said something about a game. What game? Where am I? Who am I? Wait no I know who I am. I’m Reiza. I’m from… from… no I grew up in… I don’t know. My mind starts to whirl as I probe my mind for answers to question after question just to come up with nothing. My memories… they’re gone.

At this point my attention is dragged to something much easier to deal with, my back hurts like hell! Tentatively I try moving my body. Starting with curling and uncurling my fingers and toes then moving to my arms and legs until after a couple of minutes I sit up. Ahh that feels much better. Looking down at myself I see that I have short slender arms ending in small hands, short thin legs leading to small feet, and a torso that is… Okay dam it I’m short.

Movement off to the right catches my attention. Swatting at the black furry thing elicits a yelp as a sharp burst of pain shoots up my… spine? No that’s not quite right the pain was in my tail. Tail! I have a tail! How could I have forgotten something like that? Reaching out slowly this time I grab my tail and hug it to my chest. Soooo soft. This is officially my favorite thing to do.

The sound of a small stone falling and bouncing across the floor jerks me out of the admiration of my tail and I finally take a look at my surroundings. I am currently sitting on some kind of raised stone slab in the center of a large hexagonal room. Walls of stone reach up to a ceiling that I can hardly make out in the darkness. One wall has a gaping black archway in it that leads who knows where but the wall opposite that is what catches my attention. It seems to be made of some perfectly smooth dark crystal and reflected in its surface is a young frightened girl… me.

Glossy black hair flows down over smooth pale white skin to near the center of my back. A long fluffy black tail wriggles slightly in my arms while two pointed black ears twitch slightly atop my head. The most captivating thing about my reflection is my eyes. Hopping off the slab I walk over to the crystal to get a better look. Set into a smooth and delicate young face a pair of luminous purple orbs stare back at me. The color is deep but somehow seems to glow with small bright dots scattered across the irises almost like stars.

After finally taring my gaze away from the reflection of my eyes I notice a leather cord hanging around my neck. Looking down I find that the cord attaches to a delicate looking metal ring suspended in which is a single large seed. Well at about the size of the top half of my thumb I think it is rather large for a seed. Curiously the seed doesn’t touch the metal ring at all but somehow floats suspended spinning slowly at its center. What is this? How does it float like that? Why do I have a seed?

My ruminations are interrupted as a soft bell like chime echoes in my mind

Ding…

Quest Alert: Growing Places!

You have discovered a seed that was given to you by the deity *********. It is sure to be something of great importance. Nurture the seed to maturity before planting it to see what it grows.

Reward: Unknown

This seed was a gift? If this message is right and it was given to me by a god I really should figure out how to take care of it.

Ding… Wisdom +1

Okay that seemed a bit like an insult but I can’t be sure. Well since I have absolutely no idea how to take care of a seed this quest will have to take a back seat until I can figure out what to do. Oddly enough the quest prompt doesn’t bother me as something deep inside me says that I have done one before. Quests are like tasks that I need to accomplish or something.

Looking back down at the seed hanging between my ‘breasts’ I notice something else. It is a black tattoo in the shape of a double spiral. At about 4 or 5 inches in diameter the ends spiral into a central line where they come close together but avoid touching.

Living enchantment – Soul Lock Lv. 1

Placed to anchor your soul to your body and aid in its healing. Studying the intracusies of your soul can increase the enchantment’s level and open new possibilities.

Now that is interesting but I don’t really know anything about souls so-

Ding…

Quest Alert: Baby Steps 1

Become a player in the game. This can be a daunting task but you are starting small. Make your way outside the temple and see what awaits you

Reward: Access to the Status page

This newest quest alert makes me frown. The tone of that message was definitely patronizing. I did have the full intention of finding a way out of this place but I want to explore a bit more first. Something about this place makes it feel important. Not sure what it is other than just a feeling. Dismissing the newest box to flash in my vision with a shake of my head I turn to the wall next to the crystal one and begin examining it.

The surface that had appeared to be smooth from the rooms center is actually covered in engravings of people. At the beginning there are two women. One is planting seeds in the earth that grow into people, while the other appears to be weaving people from the light of something far overhead. Following along the wall the people begin to create cities, one group growing them out of massive trees while the other builds them atop large flat hills beneath open skies. This is a story. But, who is it about? The thought feels right and something about the story seems familiar.

Now deeply interested in the story I follow along the wall watching as the cities grow and enter an age of prosperity. I look on in wonder as they develop new technologies and what I can only guess is magic. My heart clenches when war erupts, and the civilizations fight to survive. Hope kindles inside me as small groups split off from the cities and begin searching the surrounding areas eventually finding each other. The two groups seem to be friendly and quickly start to interact with each other. They work together on fighting monsters, establishing trade and delving into the mysteries of the world. The two groups come together to build a temple and preparations are made for something big. Coming almost full circle I reach the last wall and stop short. The mural here is destroyed. Huge pieces have either been chipped off or cracked apart.

Wha… what happened? How does the story end? They were obviously building up to something but what? Why did this all feel so familiar!

Angry, confused, and something else I rub the moisture coming from my face as my chest tightens. Wh.. what is this feeling? An ache that sinks deep into my chest buckles my knees and forces me to the ground. I… is this… sadness? Why would this broken mural make me cry? Why when I was so close to what feels like answers must they be out of my reach?

Ding…

Again the bell rings in my mind and I try to wipe the tears from my eyes so I can read the golden script that is flowing across my vision.

Hidden quest complete: Secrets of the Twilight Temple.

You have explored what remains of the Twilight Temple uncovering some of its secrets. The most important part of the information you found has been lost or destroyed but you now know what to start looking for. Go forth into the world and maybe you will find the rest of what was thought lost.

Reward: Wisdom +3

So this place is called the Twilight temple? If so who is it a temple to? Is it those two beings from the start of the mural? If so they must be gods, but which ones? Well like the quest prompt said there are no more answers here.

Letting out another sigh I pick myself up off the floor and start to make my way to the only part of the room I have yet to explore, the large open archway. Looking through it I see a long set of stairs descending into darkness. If I look really closely, I can just make out a faint light at what must be the bottom of the stairs. Hesitating only slightly I start to make my way down, and down… and down. Damn there are more stairs than I thought there were, this is tiring.

As soon as my foot hist the floor below the last step an all to familiar sound fills my mind and I brace myself for the bright flash of green to block my vision… but nothing happens. Confused I start looking around and finally notice a small blinking green dot in the bottom right of my vision. Focusing on it causes the box I had been waiting for to appear in front of me.

Quest Complete: Baby Steps 1!

You have found the exit to the temple that is only 1 room and some stairs! Good job.

Reward: Access to status screen

Humph, who is writing these things, because that one was condescending as hell. Also, what is a status- “Ah!”

As soon as I think the word status a new box appears blocking my vision causing me to let out a small shriek.

Status

Name:

Reiza

Classes

-

Level:

1

-

Race:

Beast-kin: Celestial Fox

-

Gender:

Female

Final Class

-

Age

14

Atributes

Strength:

7

Stamina:

30/80

Dexterity:

12

Mana:

LOCKED

Constitution:

5

Endurance:

8

Free stat points

0

Intelligence:

12

Wisdom:

14

Luck:

7

Okay… wow that is a lot of information to take in all at once. So it has my name and age, hmm no wonder I thought I looked so young I am only 14. The race Celestial fox does explain the tail and the ears although I’m not sure what the celestial part means. Curious I focus on that part of the box and will it to tell me more… nothing. Well I guess that is just one more thing to add to the list of shit I don’t know. Continuing down the table see the attributes and a bunch of numbers. Not quite sure what they mean I try to look a little closer and this time more information comes to me.

Strength: The amount of physical force you are able to wield. A high strength will increase your potential damage with physical attacks. Strength also reflects how much weight you are able to lift, carry, or move.

Dexterity: Your body’s ability to move quickly and accurately. A high dexterity will increase how fast you can move and improve your ability to do tasks that require precise movements.

Constitution: Often mistaken for health this stat actually represents your bodies ability to resist injury. A high constitution will make your body tougher and more resistant to disease, poison and negative status effects. A high constitution also increases the bodies regenerative abilities.

Endurance: The amount of physical energy your body possesses. A high endurance allows you to run longer or keep a higher speed for an extended period of time. Physical action decreases stamina so a higher endurance will keep you going longer. *1pt = 10 stamina*

Intelligence: The sharpness of your mind. A higher intelligence does not make you smarter but increases your clarity of mind and ability to recall information, so it helps. A high intelligence also increases your mana regeneration and makes your spells more powerful.

Wisdom: Your presence of mind. Wisdom is the knowledge of oneself and one’s surroundings. A high wisdom increases how aware one is as well as increasing the size of their mana pool. *1pt = 10Mp*

Luck: It’s lucky… maybe?

That was mostly helpful. At least now I know wat all of them do. So, with my current stats I seem to be strongest in wisdom, intelligence and dexterity. My strength and constitution are both pretty low though. That is probably because I am so young, but I will have to be careful. Luck also seems to be on the low side which makes sense with me having no memories and all but the nonexistent explanation on luck makes that hard to judge. I wonder how can I raise these stats. I did get a few bonuses to my wisdom but most of that came from a quest and the other well… I’m not sure where that one came from. Maybe if I do more of these quests, I can raise my stats. How else? I’ll need to consider that later.

Having finished looking over my stats again I turn my attention to the next part of the status page and focus my attention on the classes section.

Classes represent the roles that you play within the game. Once a class is acquired and leveled to 10 a new class can be chosen up to a maximum of three. They are numerous and varied. There is a class out there for everyone. *Each class has hidden requirements that must be met before it can be selected*

Final Class: This special class can only be attained once a person has collected all three of their classes. The Final Class combines the three previously obtained classes and generates a new and often unique class. *Warning having conflicting classes can cause the final class to generate either poor or sometimes even negative results so choose wisely*

This part is fairly straight forward. Doing certain things will allow me to unlock a class. After getting three classes I can combine them to form a Final Class. If I pick complementary classes then my Final Class will be better. This bares further thought but for a future time once I have done a few things to unlock more classes.

After contemplating my status sheet a while longer, I notice that my stamina has risen slightly to 47/80. That’s good so by resting I can recover stamina. Deciding that I have learned all I can from the status screen for now I will it to close before getting to my feet and making my way to the temple’s exit.

“Wow” … I let out a small gasp of awe as I pass through the arch of the entrance and take in what lies beyond.

Ding…

New Location discovered. Welcome to the Twilight Grove.