Jack Fletcher was sipping a beer on his sofa, watching the highlights of a football game on his fancy home theater set-up when his phone started buzzing loudly. With a small sigh in irritation, Jack gave his smartphone a glance and then decided to accept the call.

“Yeah Jeff? You got some good news for me?” Jack spoke, getting up from the sofa and heading outside for some fresh air.

“The commission you ordered? It’s done,” A middle-aged male voice with a thick southern accent came from the other side, with a tinge of satisfaction in his voice

“Which one? The Assault rifle or the hand gun?” Jack asked curiously, though he was unable to hide the slight tinge of excitement in his voice.

“The Shotgun, Jack. The one you ordered four months ago? With the golden-red paint job?” The voice on the other end seemed amused, but not surprised.

“Oh that one,” Jack replied, and his excitement waned a bit. That piece had been more of an impulse buy, and he hadn’t put all that much thought into the customization.

“Yeah, and that antique blade you had me look out for. Current bid is 10 percent over what you authorised. Still want it?”

“The Khopesh? How much is it going for?” Jack asked, because he still didn’t have a decent one in his collection up until now.

“7,700$.”

“Yeah, make that our final bid,” Jack replied, as he was pacing across the well-manicured grass of his fairly small estate.

“Sounds good. You want me to send the boys, or will you personally come for the pick up?”

“Hmm,” Jack seemed to be lost in thought for a second, before responding, “I’ll come pick it up. Be there around five thirty.”

“Alright, perfect.”

Jack cut the call from his end, feeling a pleasant breeze waft past him— it was surprisingly cool today, might be a good day for a small trek. But for now, Jack headed back inside. Going through the dining hall, past the home theatre room and then taking a right and walking straight for a minute— Jack found himself facing a reinforced steel door that was easily five times thicker than his main door, with a number pad on the side. Punching in the combination, the metallic door opened a loud creaking sound, and Jack descended onto steel reinforced concrete steps.

Another steel door impeded his way, but after another round of verifications he entered a well lit nuclear bunker with concrete walls painted over in pleasing landscapes. To his right, was his huge collection of modern and antique weaponry, proudly displayed on the wall. Semi-Automatic assault rifles, antique bolt action sniper rifles, his extensive collection of handguns that included a fully automatic, golden plated glock that he was barely legal- the thing kicked like a bitch, antique machine guns, modern shotguns and and other unique antiques. And lastly, a perfectly legal flamethrower sold by some whacky startup.

On the opposing side, was his collection of mediaeval weapons- swords, axes, maces, bludgeons, glaives, spears, bows and tens of knives from different eras. A special display table with a glass case contained some of his more valuable weapons— where he’d keep his Khopesh, if he managed to win the bid.

Jack first went to the weapons display, picking up a small handgun off the rack. Then he picked up a modern machete he’d commissioned from a famous bladesmith he’d found on social media. This thing was wicked sharp, but Jack hadn’t ever gotten to test it before. Giving it a few test swings just for the fun of it, he sheathed it and attached it to his belt.

“It really turned out well, huh,” Jack muttered to himself, admiring the bunker that set him back three hundred thousand dollars just for the construction alone. The room he was currently in, the main room, was good for safely housing his entire collection of weapons, but that barely took any space. The floor had a thick, comfortable carpet draped across its entirety— a huge reclining sofa, five refrigerators filled to the brim with food, a massive TV screen, and a PC setup in the corner, which made it look both appealing and ridiculous at the same time. There were four other rooms, one was packed to the brim with specially made vacuum sealed food, hypothetically enough for 60 years, one full of entertainment of all kinds- hard drives filled with movies, tens of gaming consoles and another PC and TV set up just in case the first one died, the third room had the toilet and a designer shower while the fourth was empty, a clear work in progress.

He had no illusions of actually surviving a nuke if it actually fell on his house, no, you needed to be a billionaire for one of those bunkers— but surviving a post-nuclear world? Some sort of plague? The collapse of the government leading to anarchy? A foriegn invasion? Jack was confident he’d at least have a fighting chance. Which was all he wanted.

Walking back out of the bunker and sealing it behind him, Jack exited only to see his estate manager laying down breakfast on the table.

“Good morning, sir,” His estate manager greeted him while remaining focused on his duties.

“Morning, Rob. Are those pancakes I smell?” Jack sat down on the table, as Rob was filling up his glass with water.

“Yes, sir,” He replied, taking the seat opposite Jack, but there was no food on his side, just a cup of orange juice.

A minute passed without conversation, as Jack dug into the pancakes with relish. “Tell me, Rob— Damn, these are some good pancakes,” Jack got a bit sidetracked, surprised by how good breakfast was today. “The new chef’s doing a great job. Anyway, Rob, what do you think?”

“Pardon, sir. About what matter, if I may inquire?” Rob replied, seeming to not understand what Jack was implying.

Jack chuckled lightly, then continued, “I might be making a presumption here, but I’m guessing that you don't get many clients that keep enough guns to outfit a small militia in their underground nuclear bunker. So, what do you think?”

“Sir…,” Rob seemed to tense up a little, blindsided by the question.

“Go ahead, Rob. I don’t bite,” Jack replied, quite ironically, as he took another bite into his buttery pancake with relish.

“Then sir, with all due respect— with the amount of money you’re paying me, I wouldn’t mind if you kept a pet tiger in the house,” Rob replied with his curt professionalism, though there was a slight tinge of amusement in there.

Jack broke out into a smile, appreciating the witty quip. “You know, this would be a lot less awkward if you just ate alongside me.”

“That would be unprofessional, sir. Though I am touched by your offer.”

“I can respect that. Anyway, the weather’s been pretty good this morning, so I’ve been thinking of going on a small hiking trip to Malanike,” Jack added, before taking a long gulp of water and washing his food down.

“I will start packing your hiking gear then, sir. Which car will you be taking? And will you require a tent?” Robert fired off questions in quick succession, and Jack was pleased by his efficiency.

“I’ll take the truck. As for the tent, sure why not?”

“Very good, sir,” Robert replied, getting up without dragging on the chair and calmly walking towards Jack’s equipment room.

Jack breathed deeply as he breathed the fresh air, gazing at the endless douglas-fir trees dotting the landscape— feeling grateful that nature’s great bounty was only a three hour drive away.

He’d pitched his tent around noon, alongside seven or eight other tents in one of the designated sites— Malanike National Park which was a famous camping and hiking spot, and he was familiar with the trail. Armed with a concealed pistol, machete attached to his belt and a rucksack on his back with essentials, Jack ventured deeper into the forest.

Enjoying the gentle rhythm of nature—the occasional chirp of a bird, the persistent low hum of crickets, the crunch of dead leaves beneath his hiking shoes, all blended together to give him an experience no amount of money could buy. His smartwatch showed that he was three hours into the trail, and he knew that the trail would diverge in two directions soon— one circling back to his camping spot while the other led right to the base of a small waterfall, which was a glorious sight nevertheless. Jack didn’t want to call it a day just yet, so he decided to head in the direction of the waterfall.

Another ten minutes passed peacefully, when Jack suddenly froze up for an instant, seemingly for no apparent reason— His left foot was still in the air, while his right acted as the base and allowed him to maintain balance. He initially believed it to me a muscle pull, but soon realized that despite willing his left foot to stomp down, he couldn’t make it to budge…. not even in the slightest. An eerie feeling swept over Jack when he realized that he couldn’t move a single muscle in his body— the only reasonable conclusion he could come to was that he had been poisoned.

He couldn’t even scream out loud for help, much less reach for his smartphone, and his facial muscles were frozen solid. Even more freakishly, he felt no muscle burn or pain from standing on one leg for what had been over a minute.

Jack had no words for the phenomenon that occurred next— the best he could describe it was as embers of… ethereal blue fire exploding in a massive firestorm all around him, and engulfing every form of life in its wake. However, what was even stranger was that it awoke an instinct within him that he did not even know he possessed, that hungered for the fire, wished the flames would engulf him whole.

As if granting Jack’s wish, he, his clothes, and his entire body was ablaze the next second, by a fire that seemed to be solid for one moment and transient the next. He did not feel any pain or terror from that fire, only warmth and… growth?

It ended as soon as it began, lasting only for a few seconds. He felt goosebumps all over his body when he realized the truth— this was no poison or plot against him, but the work of a being far beyond him, or any human. Nothing about this felt false, not even the most visceral of dreams could replicate a feeling unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

The next moment, everything went dark.

Jack gasped out loud as if he’d just come back to life, looking around himself in a blur- adrenaline pumping through his veins. It was a completely white room with no exits, and only three pieces of furniture that was perfectly white as well, blending in so well with the room Jack had to do a double take: the chair he was sitting on, the table in front of him, and the empty chair directly opposite him on the other side of the table.

He was in a fight or flight mode- without even thinking, Jack reached for his handgun and pulled it out in one fluid motion. He may not have any military experience, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t trained with guns all his life. Unfortunately, he found nothing but empty air when he reached to pull out his gun. He quickly reached for his waist, going for the machete- but even that had been taken from him. His body was reacting faster than his mind could think it through, but upon realizing its futility Jack took no further action, instead choosing to scan the room he found himself in.

His heart almost skipped a beat when he focused on the opposite side of the table, almost squinting to see past the odd distortion he’d caught in the corner of eye earlier.

He could now make out a four and a half foot humanoid entity sitting on the other side, draped in white cloth covering the entirety of his chest,legs and hands, with a hood and a face mask obscuring the rest of its features.

His first instinct was to get out of the chair and make a run for it— but he fought that instinct. The room had no visible exit, and Jack had no thoughts of harming an entity that had disarmed him but did not bother to restrict his movements. But the even greater question in his mind was— could this really be first contact? The being opposite him could plausibly be a human on the shorter side, and all this an elaborate prank or a lucid dream- but it felt far too real, and the being on the other side gave Jack an indescribable feeling, as if he was dealing with something foriegn to his space.

“Greetings!” Jack politely greeted, not leading with an accusatory or questioning tone— the being opposite him had not taken any hostile actions yet, after all. “I am Jack Fletcher. May I know who you are?”

The masked figure remained as still as a statue for an entire minute, causing a bead of sweat to run down Jack’s side, after which it spoke.

“I greet you on behalf of the system of the three realms, human. The divine system henceforth lays claim on this planet. Earth shall be integrated into the three realms, as its newest member,” The masked being spoke in a perfectly even tone and pitch, but there was a tinge of something ancient, something primordial in its words.

“I see. May I know what that means for me?” Jack tried to remain calm as he replied, but unbeknownst to even him— a small grin rested on his face, and his heart had started to pound in his chest. Every fiber of his being told him this was real— he wasn’t hallucinating. This was first contact— whether it brought calamity down upon their heads or an era of glory— his generation, no he personally would get to experience it. An experience that the greatest scientists of past generations would trade their lives to witness. He had never felt more alive than in this moment of revelation.

“Civilization shall return to origin. The world shall be whole again. The improper path you have been led down shall be corrected. Earth shall be given an opportunity to survive, to prosper and to even carve their names on the annals of history— true history. But that is a distant matter, for now— you must choose,” The alien replied, and Jack could swear that he felt a ripple of energy flow from it the moment it concluded the sentence.

“Choose?” Jack muttered after the alien, drawing a few possible theories from its words but nothing conclusive.

“Choose,” The alien entity once again repeated, and a stronger pulse of energy passed… through him, or at least that’s how the sensation felt.

Choose one:

1. Swordsman (Offensive): Choose a basic sword artifact (short, medium, long) and receive basic sword skill: Qi Blade.

Qi Blade description: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the sword and creating a sharp sword halo that increases sharpness and decreases wind resistance.

2. Swordsman (Defensive): Choose a basic sword artifact (short, medium, long) and receive basic sword skill: Qi shield.

Qi Shield: Most basic form of qi-usage , channeling non-elemental qi into the off-hand and creating a small circular shield that can block physical and Qi-based attacks.

3. Spear adept (Offensive): Choose a basic spear artifact (medium, long) and receive basic spear skill: Qi Spear.

Qi Spear description: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the spear tip and creating a sharp spear halo that increases sharpness and decreases wind resistance.

4. Assassin (All rounder): Choose a basic dagger artifact (curved, serrated, long) and receive basic movement skill: Qi Steps.

Qi Steps: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the feet and significantly increasing movement speed while muffling sound of footsteps.

5. Mace-Knight (Defensive): Receive a basic grade mace artifact and receive basic shield skill: Qi Tower Shield.

Qi Tower Shield Skill: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the off-hand and creating a tower shield that covers all frontal attacks. Note: Skill cannot be maintained while running or jogging.

6. Archer (Offensive): Choose a basic bow artifact (short, long), receive basic quiver and attack skill: Qi- Marksman.

Qi- Marksman: Most basic form of qi-usage, channeling non-elemental qi into the tip of the arrowhead, significantly increasing arrow speed and penetration.

7. Pugilist: Receive basic pugilist gauntlets and recovery skill: Heal.

Heal: Slightly intermediate form of qi-usage, cycling non-elemental qi through the body to recover light to intermediate wounds at accelerated speeds.