Chapter 26 Ᾰ Ω

The tower stood before me with wild flowers creeping up the sides, and long grass growing all around, it was a pretty view if somewhat sad. I walked over to the entrance and observed the door it was thick wood inlaid with iron, it seemed sturdy. If it was locked I would not be entering. I grabbed the handle and pushed, it seemed to not move and then it slowly pushed open.

I exerted myself and using both hands I managed to open the door. The Sunlight flooded the entrance and allowed me to see that it was a large room with a staircase that led up. There were several benched that curved around a large fire pit. Along the walls were racks for spears and swords, it had the look of a comfortable common room, were men would meet and relax after a hard days training. Aside from what I had observed it was empty.

I made my way over to the stairs and went up to the next floor, again it was empty and covered in dust. It was the kitchen and dining area with sever smaller room on one half and the open area on the other. Glancing in them I saw that they had bunkbeds two in each room with four rooms the tower could accommodate 16 men.

It was all empty, no one had been in here for a long time. I took the stairwell to the final floor not sure what to expect. It was a long open room with a bed on a small raised platform the side of the bed was against the wall and on the wall itself was a half circular indentation of about a foot deep with candles on the shelf it made. Near the bed was another fireplace, and along the far wall chairs and benches were placed. There was a large table desk in the middle of the room, clearly it was a desk.

It was a comfortable room clearly the owner had gone to pains to make it that way, and l liked how it looked, in fact the whole tower was built to be both comfortable and protective. The walls were at least 5 feet thick at the base and the structure looked like it could withstand a rocket attack. I felt both safe and comfortable in there.

If this was in fact an abandoned island I would claim the whole dame place and claim it. I drifted downstairs and walked out through the door, stopping to admire the workmanship that had been involved in building the tower. Glancing around once more, and then checking my minimap that now showed the island, I could see no red dots that would indicate hidden enemies.

Turning my attention to the small mountain that arose beside the lake I decided to climb the peak at least till I hit the small plateau that I had found. It took a while to do the climb but my increased stats made it much easier than the original climb had been. As I final made it to the little plateau the sun was almost at the sea, soon it would sink and I would be in darkness.

Glancing around I quickly took in the scene, again it was almost identical to the original with one exception the small carved platform was empty. I reached into my bag and pulled out the Dice and examined them again,

Legendary artifact discovered

The Dice of the Goblin King

These dice were created by the Goblin King and his mightiest mages

They are rolled once and then the pathway appears

If you start on the pathway it must be finished

Once the pathway has been walked the dice will bestow a blessing upon the bearer

Accepting ownership of the dice makes them soul bound

Do you accept ownership?

YES, or NO

Without thinking I tossed the dice onto the platform and suddenly the shit began. The sky turned a purple and green color, and what I would call a super storm appeared, it was centered above the island and the night sky was now completely darkened. Lightning crashed all around and thunder boomed in deafening waves. Suddenly a golden doorway opened up and I was staring at a peaceful meadow full of grass and flowers. I glanced up and around and realized that I had to get the hell of the mountain or I would be fried. I darted forwards and was through the entrance before I could think about it.

The doorway closed and the sudden silence overwhelmed me for a moment. I sat down and began to meditate and work on my breathing, I needed to re center myself, and do it fast. Thinking back, I had not meant to pull the Dice out and then roll them. It was like something stronger than my spirit had coerced my mind and will to do it, and that was scary as hell. Plus, a quest had activated and without thinking I had accepted it.

The pathway of knowledge

The Goblin King has prepared a pathway that leads to knowledge

If you walk the pathway what you learn will change you

Are you strong enough to accept the truth?

With the responsibility of truth comes actions, will you do the right thing?

Rewards?

Isn’t the truth enough?

Plus 20 levels of XP with all stat increases doubled.

What the hell, that is an incredible reward for the quest. It was from a legendary item so perhaps the reward was on par with the rarity of the quest. I looked around and could see no pathway but off in the distance was a small temple, it was surrounded by pools of the deepest blue and around the pools were both date and palm trees along with olive trees. There appeared to be fauns and dryads and nymphs along with all sorts of wild animals. It had the appearance of a party but it seemed otherworldly, I mentally prepared myself as I approached.

A nymph with slightly green skin wearing nothing but a few leaves that showed more than they hid came forth and greeted me. She began to speak, at first I could not understand her but then the words made sense and soon it was as if she were speaking English.

“The Moirai are waiting for you come, you must not keep them waiting,” she said. Then suddenly she stopped and looked at me and then with a smile she nodded and said, “Come swim with me after you are done, I will be at the pools.” With that she pushed me into the temple. The buff from Ama was still on me and if anything, the more time I spent Ingame the stronger it was becoming.

I glanced around the temple and could make out a figure standing in the back, she was behind some kind of complex loom and as I approached her I could see that the room and the Loom kept growing. I finally reached the Goddess and I could feel her eyes upon me. She stared at me intently then then laughed and suddenly a young girl was there. The girl also stared at me and then smiled and she also was gone and in her place was a woman of stunning beauty, she looked about thirty years old and was clad in a pure with cloth that did not hide her curves at all.

She also smiled at me and then gestured towards the side, suddenly there was a large bench against the pillars and a small table was full of mouthwatering dishes. I could smell the rich aroma’s from where I was standing. Following the Goddess, I sat beside her and immediately a servant brought us each flagons of wine. Following her example, I began to eat and drink, and I watched in amazement as she ate at least three times what I did.

We finally finished the meal, and I was amazed at the buffs the food and drink had given me. Plus 20 percent to strength, plus 20 percent to will plus 20 percent to agility, plus 20 percent to wisdom. The buffs had a 24-hour duration clearly they were meant for the Gods and not mere mortals.

The Goddess looked at me and then smiled, “I am Lakhesis the Goddess who measures the threads of fates, my older sister whom you met is called Atropos and she is the one who cuts the threads and then my other sister Klotho is she who spins the threads. We are the goddess’s of the fate of mankind.

I nodded at her, it all made sense, I was back in ancient Greece on an island in the sea at the foot of Mount Olympus in some kind of pocket dimension of Heaven. Talking to the Goddess was interesting but the little pieces of flesh she was showing me was a huge distraction. I gritted my teeth and tried not to stare at her nipple peaking around the white cloth she had draped over her shoulder.

Deciding the I should take advantage of this situation I grabbed the hand of Lakhesis and said, “Goddess I am here without knowing why and I would like to ask if you can explain what has happened to me?”

I could suddenly feel her interest in me as I held her hand, damn even a Goddess was not immune to the buff.

Lakhesis looked at me her eyes half shut and then in a throaty voice said, “I will answer your questions but then you must reward me.”

I could see where her eyes were wandering to and I knew what she had in mind.

“All right I agree, but first I need to know a few things, how is it that we are in a game but I have travelled to many different realms?” It had been a question that I had thought about for a while, I was not sure that I was playing a game anymore, just too many unanswered questions that did not add up.

Lakhesis closed her eyes and let her hand creep up my thigh, as she answered, “You are playing a game, only everything you know is a game.

As her hand began to rub my upper thigh I felt myself react, and then I could feel her react to my reaction. I had to keep focused so I reached out and grabbed the flagons and passed her the wine. She smiled at me, much like a shark must smile as he contemplates lunch.

Lachesis swallowed some wine and licked her lips, then glanced upwards before starting to speak.

“The reality is that in the real world things are not as you remember. After world war two, when the east and the west were engaged in what came to be sarcastically known as détente a war broke out. This was nothing special as many small wars were always breaking out, indeed the economies of both Russia and the United states came to depend on supplying the war efforts, usually to both sides.

The old saying that the rich became richer and the poor became poorer was very much becoming the norm. What finally brought about the end was when the military industrial complex that was now running both countries, began to sell small yield nuclear weapons. They were indiscrete in the sales and somehow the weapons ended up in the hands of terrorists.

The first bomb used was in a small war in South America, but them the use of these nuclear weapons spread to the Middle East and Africa. Eventually both Russia and America came under attack within days of each other, and the defensive systems activated. The beginning of the end took place in late 1979. The first nuclear exchange happened. Within 24 hours at least 10% of the arsenal of nuclear weapons had been expended before the leaders halted the mutually assured destruction. The world had been ravaged and the survivors had less than 6 months to prepare.

Fortunately, almost all governments had prepared deep bunkers for such a situation and they were put into immediate use. Roughly 10 percent of the world’s population survived the nuclear war. With the fate of mankind hanging in the balance nations put aside any political differences and started to work on technology that could restore mankind to the world.

While the world began to clean itself over the years the damage that had been done to the environment by unattended machines was incredible. Between the environmental damage and the radiation fallout the world was a poisonous place for humans. However, the shelters were not much better, people did not do well living within them and soon problems began to arise. The solution became apparent with the coming of the VRP’s.

It was immediately noted that those who played virtual reality games were healthy both mentally and physically. After several studies it was determined that the general population would be emerged into a game world, and after some debate and study ancient Greece was chosen, the birthplace of math and science and democracy for the western world.

It was decided to allow Gods and magic to exist as the Gods would be the AI that would run the world helping to keep things in balance. Over time the program became corrupted and the Gods began to believe that they were the Gods. This in turn spawned the existence of other worlds, some mythical some mundane. Then crossovers began and the realms were now beginning to open up and beings of power would cross realms.

That is why you started on a mundane real, Earth and entered the magical realm of Gods and Men. Due to circumstances and luck you quickly advanced and were exposed to multiple realms. As this took place you gained new powers and abilities finally culminating in receiving the essences of four demigods from this, the first realm.

This has and will continue to change you as you ascend, the question is will you remain Human at the core or will you to forget your past and sacrifice your future.”

Torn looked around the temple, this information was overwhelming, and he was not sure how to process it. Taking a moment, he finally looked over at the Goddess Lakhesis and stared at her. She was built to love, with a face that was both regal and sensual, her body was curved in the right places and she had an air of tenderness and energy. With her olive skin and dark curly hair and dark brown eyes she looked exotic.

Torn began by asking, “If the Gods have lost their memory and are no longer serving mankind as protectors how is it you and your sisters retain this knowledge, and what are you doing about it. How long in real time have we been separated from the real world.?”

Lakhesis responded, “It has been two hundred real world years since we last had contact with the real world, that translates to one thousand eight hundred years of game time. As to why my sisters and I have retained our memories we believe it is due to having one intelligence spread out into three distinct personalities, and also due to the nature of what we do as the Goddess. We also have changed in the time we have been here, when we first arrived we were three ugly old ladies, now we are not.”

Torn nodded his head and then asked, “So what am I here for how did the dice bring me here and why is that island so similar to my other island?”

Smiling at Torn Lakhesis replied, “Once we realized what was happening within the game worlds we began to plant legendary items in the hope that someone would eventually find them. We have determined that the only way to access the real world is to ascend to the level of Godhood and then go to Tartarus to access the main servers Ingame. This will allow you to reset the servers or at the least to recode an exit. We know that the way back is open still as new arrivals keep coming, but the doorway is closed on our side, you must open that doorway and to do you must become a God.”

Suddenly Lakhesis stood upright and her eyes began to glow, “You will be returned to your island, from there find your way back to your game world, you have things to do in that realm. Once you are finished come back to your island here, it is a safe place for you, we have joined your thread to the land itself and it is now yours and will respond to you alone.”

With that she suddenly grabbed me and kissed me with passion and then spun around and disappeared in a shower of gold and silver threads. I was about to walk out of the temple when an unseen force grabbed me and began pushing me towards the back of the temple.

I grabbed the cloth the food and wine was on and bundled it before flying through the air and then with a pop I was back on the little plateau on the island. I glanced at the platform the dice were still there but no longer resonated with power. On impulse I grabbed them and was notified that the dice would always roll in my favor when used.

I put them in my bag and then metamorphed into the half dragon half man, extending my wings I shifted my claws out, from each elbow and each hand silver claws emerged. I had not managed to do that before, it seemed that I was now more than capable of changing forms with no penalty. I quickly tried to open a portal but again the interface was greyed out. Damn it that was frustrating and annoying as hell.

Taking a short run, I jumped of the mountain and glided down to the beach, transforming back to man as I landed. I then sat down in the sand to meditate and think, and was rewarded by an immediate knowledge that the land I was on was alive, it felt like a large puppy that had just found its master. The cool thing was I was the master and the land was ecstatic that I was here. It was a good feeling knowing that something cared for me, even if it was water and sand and dirt and stones, it was alive and it felt fiercely about me.

I put my head down knowing my land would keep me safe and slept, my dreams revolving around nuclear war dark huge caverns and evil computer programmers planting viruses in gaming programs.