Chapter 1: And So, It Begins

Erik blinked as the world seemed to blur around him, the fabric of reality warping and twisting until suddenly it stopped, and he found himself somewhere entirely different than before. For a moment, his mind was frozen by the shock of it, briefly unable to process such a sudden and complete change in his surroundings. Gone were the familiar surroundings of his local gym, replaced by a large grassy field which formed a riotous green carpet underneath his feet. In the distance, Erik noted the edges of what appeared to be a vast forest, but he was unable to make out much detail due to a deep veil of fog.

But what truly captured Erik’s attention and which reinforced the strangeness of his surroundings, was what his eyes fell upon once he’d turned his gaze from the surrounding area to the field in which they stood. The field itself was relatively flat and devoid of anything save thick green stalks of grass but at the center of the field, a wide set of stairs had been carved from a boulder, forming an oddly uniform platform which surrounded the base of what appeared to be some sort of massive monolith. The dark stone length of the monolith entwined with the warped and twisted trunk of a massive tree that rose into the sky alongside it. The stone obelisk came to a point roughly fifteen feet up, but the warped tree stretched higher, its branches and boughs spreading out into a glorious green crown that towered above the field and the stone spire entwined with its trunk. The highest reaches of the tree’s branches were shrouded in mist which clung to the air high above Erik’s head. Looking away from the tree but keeping his gaze to the sky, Erik frowned as he tried to look through the thick veil of mist which seemed to maintain a constant distance from the ground, a white and wispy shroud drawn over the sky to conceal it from prying eyes.

Turning his attention back to the monolith, Erik examined it once again. As he did, he witnessed a brief flicker of light as sigils carved into its surface suddenly burned with an eerie blue-white light. These sigils swirled and moved, their forms wavering and flickering across the surface of the stone, seeming to bend and warp into different shapes the longer Erik payed attention to them.

It wasn’t until he heard a gasp as someone else noticed the same thing he had that he realized, wherever he was, he wasn’t alone. Soon following that, Erik heard the mutter of conversations occurring all around him. Now that it had caught his attention, Erik took note that there were quite a few people in the clearing with him, many of them clothed in work clothing of various kinds or simple every-day attire as they puzzled over their surroundings.

Sweeping his gaze across the crowd, Erik estimated there were probably over a hundred people present, of all shapes and sizes and varying age ranges. Many of them had clustered together in groups, gesturing wildly as they frantically tried to ask others around them if they knew what was going on. Erik had to stifle a chuckle as he watched one obviously well-endowed blonde-haired woman wave around a frying pan—with eggs still in it, no less—while she clutched the opening to her bath robe. For a moment, he was given the impression some sort of blonde angel had somehow gotten caught up in this mess, for her face seemed almost inhumanly austere and beautiful. The notion was immediately shattered moments later as the woman turned and slammed the frying pan into a man’s face when she caught him leering at her. “More a Valkyrie than an angel, then,” Erik chuckled to himself as he observed a substantial portion of the men gawking at her become suddenly and intensely interested in looking anywhere but at her.

Still laughing, Erik watched as she seemed to snarl something at the man she’d struck, who was now on the ground clutching his face, and stalk furiously away. Erik’s laughter was cut short as he realized the woman was heading right for him, the crowd of people between himself and her stepping out of her way as she hurriedly moved forward, muttering angrily to herself. She stopped when she realized that there was a decent amount of space between her and the rest of the crowds of people and then seemed to freeze when she spotted Erik, who stood there gaping. It occurred to Erik in that moment that if everyone had been brought here wearing the exact same clothing they’d been wearing beforehand, he was now standing in front of the woman in his gym attire which consisted of a workout shirt with the sleeves ripped off, a pair of basketball shorts, both of which reeked of sweat, and an over-size pair of beat-up sneakers.

It had been hard to overcome the sense of humiliation conditioned into him by all the body-shaming he’d had to endure throughout the years due to his obesity—among other things—but once he’d started to push himself to get in shape and realized his weight and size could be an asset rather than a burden, he’d begun to feel more comfortable with himself. Realizing the nature of his eating disorder meant he couldn’t fix his weight problem had been the most important part of that process. Instead, he focused on shaping the massive excess of fat which had led to his ridicule in the first place into brawn instead. And it had worked. Erik had gone from being repulsively obese to broad and imposing, though he still found it difficult not to criticize his self-image due to the years of body-shaming he’d endured. His eating disorder had even become an asset to his exercising, supplying his body with much-needed calories. He wasn’t entirely satisfied with himself yet, not by a long-shot, but he had at least started to feel like he could accept the rest of the bad cards life had dealt him now that he’d well and truly overcome his obesity. But now, in the midst of wherever the hell they were and with his mind still trying to process all that had happened so far, Erik felt the familiar heavy weight of ignominy settle onto his shoulders once more.

His face burned red as he thought of the blonde-haired woman throwing disgusted looks at his body, laughing at him, and engaging in any number of other cruel activities that he’d once been victim to. Erik was thankful a considerable portion of his face was hidden by his thick and glorious beard, one part of himself he actually took pride in. Rooted to the spot, Erik found himself unable to move as his mirth shriveled up and died a sudden death, mortification sweeping through him. What truly alarmed him though, was what stirred alongside those feelings. He watched with intense trepidation as the woman’s ice-blue eyes raked over him and she blinked in surprise. Erik waited for the anticipated response of disdain, the disgust at his overly hairy arms and legs or the thick tufts of hair peaking out of the collar of his sweat-stained workout shirt, the revulsion at the evident expanse of his gut, or the repugnance at the brutish, almost savage cast of his features. But it never came. Instead the woman quirked a single white-blonde brow at him. “I’m not going to have to whack you like the last idiot, am I?” She inquired, brandishing her frying pan.

Avoiding her gaze, Erik shook his head. “No,” He said, the low bass of his voice almost surprising him as he responded. It was a wonder he’d been able to bring himself to respond at all. Usually when talking to people, particularly those who were clearly exemplary standards of more classical beauty and physical appeal, such as this woman clearly was, words seemed to flee his mind’s grasp and he quickly and awkwardly aborted the conversation out of embarrassment. But the word had sprung from his lips almost unbidden, like it had a will of its own. A lifetime of torment at the hands of pretty faces like the one this woman wore had taught Erik to be wary, and yet he found himself far less reticent about talking to her than he might have otherwise. He still felt awkward and unsure, of course, but it was nowhere near the usual debilitating intensity. And even more oddly, it seemed the darker currents beneath his shame and humiliation which were normally what drove his intense, driving need to avoid interaction with people, had vanished, like waves fading away on the surface of a suddenly still pond.

The woman’s lips quirked, and she brushed the long wave of her blonde hair out of her face, making Erik realize she was even more alluring up-close. “Good, because I’m not sure it would do more than piss you off and I’ve had about all the stupid I can handle for the day.” She tucked her frying pan under one arm, extending the other out in front of her. “My name is Helena, but my friends call me Lena,” Helena said. Carefully, Erik reached out and shook her hand, his massive paw easily swallowing her more petite hand. “I-I’m Erik.” He replied, feeling another flush of embarrassment as he cleared his throat to cover up his stutter. Nonetheless, he steeled his courage and pushed on, deciding to ask the question at the forefront of his mind. I can’t let my old insecurities stop me from moving on, Erik chided himself before speaking. I need to push myself if I’m ever going to learn how to actually interact with people. Things are different—especially now—and I need to remember that.

“Aren’t you—umm—I mean, don’t I make you feel…uncomfortable?” Erik finished awkwardly, not meeting her eyes as he scratched the back of his head nervously. He’d almost used the word revolted but he’d refrained. There was no need to plant ideas in her head if they weren’t already growing there, after all. After asking his question, Erik only became more aware of the size disparity which had become evident after they’d shaken hands. Erik was over half a foot taller than her and probably outweighed her more than thrice over. And yet she didn’t seem fazed in the least.

Helena frowned. “Not really. I won’t lie and say you aren’t at least a little imposing but out of every other guy here, you’re the only one who hasn’t eyed me up like a starving wolf seeing a piece of juicy steak. That gets you a hell of a lot of points in my book. Besides,” She shrugged, her expression becoming light and playful. “Some people happen to like the hairy gorilla look.”

Though he normally might have felt a flush of shame at being referred to as a ‘hairy gorilla’, Erik could tell she hadn’t meant it to sound mean or cruel, and he felt too embarrassed and distracted to allow his mind to jump to its usual conclusions. Flabbergasted and struggling to force words to his lips to talk to this woman who seemed entirely unintimidated or phased by his appearance in any way, Erik felt his embarrassment settle slightly and opened his mouth to try to respond only to have his voice cut off when a thunderclap of noise shattered the air in the field they stood. The words dying in his throat, Erik turned his head to what he believed to be the source of the noise and saw with shock that there was now a figure standing on the platform by the monolith.

“Did you see that?” Erik heard someone nearby whisper, their voice carrying over the unexpected hush of the crowd.

“Lightning struck that weird-looking pillar and then that guy just appeared out of nowhere!” Someone else whispered back.

“No way, you’re out of your fucking mind. That’s—” A third person furiously replied, their voice rising in shock and denial only to be hurriedly shushed by a fourth person.

Looking back at the platform, Erik saw the figure patiently awaiting the attention of the crowd. Inspecting it, Erik note that the figure on the platform seemed unusually tall and was wearing a set of flowing robes that almost subtly concealed some form of armor, the metal of which was a dull black. When Erik tried to find more details to latch onto, it seemed like the figure’s form blurred, becoming indistinct, and Erik’s attention slid off of it and away, unable to fully focus on it. He couldn’t see the newcomer’s face since it was hidden by a deep cowl which seemed to be part of the robes they were wearing but for a moment, Erik felt its eyes lock with his, as if they knew Erik was eyeing their attire curiously and trying to figure out how to describe it in his memory.

The force of that gaze fell upon him like the weight of ages, holding him immobile. In that gaze, Erik glimpsed a mere reflection of the infinite array of possibility exposed to the man’s vision, the awareness and indescribable anticipation of knowing the precise and certain outcome of millions of strings of fate connecting others with an endless multitude of decisions made and choices yet to come. That mere glimpse was enough to terrify Erik and he felt his mind try to flinch from the attempt at comprehending it, knowing that only sheer and utter insanity lay down that road. In that solitary moment, in which he gazed out into the Abyss and the gaping maw of madness that was the Abyss in turn gazed back at him, he did not allow himself to look away. He would not accept this madness as truth, for he knew the lie it tried to conceal.

Erik had once believed that his misery was an inescapable and cruel twist of Fate and it had taken him far too long to realize that allowing himself to wallow in such a fatalistic view was only perpetuating his own anguish. He couldn’t change who and what he was, so rather than wallowing in despair, he instead chose to use the tools he’d been given and deal with the lot he’d been dealt as ably as he could. That conviction had kept him going when others had disparaged him, when despair had clawed at his heart and told him his dreams were an unattainable delusion. It had awoken something in him, a determination to cast off the misery and self-loathing that others had conditioned into him. A multitude of cruel people had attempted to convince him that his wretched existence was all that was left to him, but he had cast their aspersions aside and discovered the truth. “My Fate is what I make of it, and I will not let someone else take that from me.” Erik filled the words with more iron and conviction than he’d ever done, feeling the veracious steel cloaked in the words as he spoke them, and the figure looked away, releasing them both from the spell they’d been caught in.

“Are you alright? You zoned out there for a minute,” Helena asked.

Erik glanced at her momentarily before turning his attention back to the man standing on the stone platform. She seemed concerned but not alarmed so she likely hadn’t felt anything amiss other than the prolonged staring contest. It felt like an eternity, but it must have only been a few seconds or else she might look more disturbed, Erik thought before replying.

“I’m fine,” He answered, his voice slightly hesitant as his mind was still trying to process…whatever it was that had happened. “I think we’re about to get an explanation for why we were all dragged here.” Out of the corner of his eye, Erik noted Helena’s frown as she seemed to mull over questioning his curt response and obvious deflection. Before she could, however, the man on the platform began speaking, projecting his voice above the low murmuring of the crowd.

“All of you are probably wondering why you were brought here,” The figure spoke and paused, his voice quiet and measured but unmistakably male, easily heard by everyone in the crowd.

“My name is Janus, and I brought you here to this place—known as the Proving Grounds—because my world needs your help. This world, this entire universe, is vastly different from the one you knew. It’s universal laws and the fundaments of its reality are rooted in what most of you would probably consider a game and are guided by specific, unchangeable rules dictated by what we call the System. An ‘RPG’, as it were,” Janus paused once more, his eyes scouring the crowd.

Erik expected there to be some outcry, denial of the words, or a refusal to believe that this was anything more than a complex hallucination for a dream. But Erik felt it and could see it in the faces of his fellow abductees, just as Janus could—their attention was rapt, focused on the being who claimed to have deliberately brought them here, and they all somehow knew he spoke true. There were too many small details and intricacies for this to be a dream or a wild hallucination. A part of them wanted to deny it all but each of them pushed it down. A larger part of them had always wanted to believe that there was something more, something else beyond the veil of reality, a deeper world they might eventually become a part of. This was merely a dream coming true and they had no desire to wake up and return to the nightmare of their old world, the so-called reality.

“But that is not why you were brought here. My brethren and I, like all life in this universe, came to be because the System willed it so. From the moment of our creation, we were commanded to watch over this world, known to us as Terra. We soon discovered that we could influence the people of this world, many of whom we shaped into our own likeness,” Janus crossed his arms behind his back and began pacing back and forth across the platform. His voice continued to wash over them, and Erik could feel the pride and contentment remembering these events evoked in Janus.

“They worshipped us as gods and called us the Titans, for though we were limited by the System, our powers were beyond mortal ken and we were larger than life. As time passed, our worshippers spread, creating new kingdoms and conquering new lands and we granted them all that was within our power. When there was suffering, we brought succor. When Chaos grew stronger, spawning monsters and driving the creatures of the land mad with rage, we empowered our worshippers and sent them to smite the threat. We healed the sick and fed the starved and poor,” Here Janus paused once more, and when he began speaking again, the warmth in his words had faded and been replaced by a cold weariness.

“But there came a time when my brothers realized that we, powerful though we were, were alone in this world. Forbidden by the System to walk among the lands of men, we were forced to watch them from afar and they hungered for the companionship our followers had in abundance. And so, they sought to end our solitude, and in doing so committed a terrible mistake,” He waved his hands and bands of mist hanging high in the air above the crowd twisted, shadows and light warping and twisting together with them until a life-like illustration of Janus’s words came into fruition, shifting and twisting as the story unfolded before them. The crowd watched as several massive figures, sitting in thrones carved from the heavens themselves, gazed down upon a world that stretched endlessly beneath them. Grim solitude etched across their faces and resolve firmed their features. As one, they began to glow.

“I warned them against it, for many times had I seen the consequences of what they would do spread like a plague across the world, but they did not listen to my counsel and by the very nature of my own power, I was not able to act to stop them. They split a great portion of their power from themselves and molded it into beings that they likened as their own children. They were smaller in stature, but they carried the same power within themselves and they soon proved their equals in many respects. They joined my brothers and became known as the Gods, collecting worshippers of their own and urging them to spread across the lands,”

The colossal entities above the crowd’s heads suddenly stopped glowing, only now before each of them crouched a much smaller being. These beings stood and turned their eyes to the world below. Scenes flashed by as they gathered followers, built temples, and garnered influence among the world. The proud parents stood watching, their faces alight with pride while a lone figure lurked in the background, sorrow cast upon its face.

“Time passed, and they felt content, for all seemed to be going well. Perhaps they did not want to believe or were simply too blinded by their desire for fellowship, but the rest of my kin did not heed my warnings and came to believe that I had cast doubts upon their dreams out of jealousy, for I was not able to sunder a piece of myself to create a child of my own as they had. All came to pass, of course, just as I had known it would, and soon they came to realize the same terrible truth I had foreseen,” Janus made a sharp gesture and Erik and the rest of the crowd watched as bits of shadow and darkness seemed to eat through the light of the smaller Gods, spreading throughout them like a plague. Whereas before they had seemed to stand aside the Titans as equals, solemn and content, now their eyes jealously followed their creators, an unsettling hunger burning in them.

“You see, these children, these Gods birthed by my Titan brothers and sisters, were not immune to the corruption of Chaos as we were. We, the System’s crowned embodiments of Order, were the sole beings in existence that were fundamentally immune to the corrupting touch of Chaos. My brethren’s creations, though they each carried a half of my brethren’s power, were not. They became twisted and hungered for the power their creators possessed, believing it to be their birthright. When they discovered they could not steal that power, they instead sought to destroy it and so they waged a war to exterminate us. In the heavens, they fought my brothers to a stand-still as below, their agents sowed strife and instigated war on a scale never seen before,” Janus intoned gravely.

The image above Erik’s head shifted once more, showing armies marching forth and burning glorious stone temples, brutally cutting down anyone who stood in their way. A montage of bloodshed and death played out before the eyes of Erik and his fellows, an endless march of doom as figures clashed in the skies above the world, lightning and divine power creating a heavenly cataclysm.

“Evenly matched, my brethren could not defeat what they had created, and neither could their creations defeat them, in turn. But it mattered little, for while they fought, months passed below, and their people died in droves. In desperation, my brothers turned at last to me. They knew that they could not call upon my aid to save them without a cost, so they sacrificed a portion of their power to me, which in turn gave the upper hand to their creations. In that moment, they managed to wound and weaken my brethren where they had utterly failed before. But in that same moment, my own power fell upon them and they were no more.”

The being waiting in the shadows, ever watching as the conflict waged on, suddenly crooked his hand. The Gods froze in the wake of attacking the felled Titans, and when the waiting figure clenched his fist, they cried out in torment before they shattered like glass, disappearing from existence itself. The mist, light and shadow composing the image above the heads of the crowd seemed to implode upon itself immediately after and they all turned their full attention back to Janus once more.

“Their defeat, however, was not without further consequence. The War of Immortals, as it came to be known, had sundered the land and its people, and new kingdoms arose from the ashes of what they had once been. My brothers were forced to slumber to regain their power and have yet to awaken. In their absence, and in the wake of what the Gods wrought, Chaos has become stronger than ever. The people are at each other’s throats, consumed by their hatred of one another and there are no longer any Titans to help them beat back the forces rising against them or halt the corruption keeping them divided. Monsters plague the land, beasts are becoming more aggressive and running rampant, and there is worse yet to come. I brought you here to stop the coming storm, to restore the Balance and unite the people.” Janus stopped his pacing, turning and facing the crowd once more, his demeanor grave and serious.

“I cannot use my own power to intervene directly, and until my fellow Titans fell into slumber, I was forbidden to acquire followers and recruit champions. Without any means of finding what I needed in this universe, I sought help from beyond it. I have chosen you to be my instruments to restore the Balance upset by the absence of the Titans. The road will be fraught with danger and death but here, you have a chance to be something more than you were before. Terra and its people call upon you to be their saviors, to bring Balance back to the world, and heal the land.”

In that moment, Erik heard the muttering of the crowd start up again, but he wasn’t paying attention to them. No, he kept his focus on Janus, because Erik could have sworn he’d felt the man’s—the Titan’s—gaze on him when he’d spoken those last words.

“Those of you willing to undertake this quest, long and arduous as it might be, need only accept the System’s invitation. Anyone who refuses will be returned to your home, with no memory this ever occurred.” As he spoke, Janus laid his hand upon the obelisk on the raised platform upon which he stood and once more, eerie blue light flickered across its surface. Only, this time, it steadily grew brighter and brighter until a blinding flash erupted. Erik closed his eyes and moments later, felt a wash of energy crackle across his skin. Then, it appeared, visible even behind his eyelids, etched out on an opaque screen in grey-scale and as vivid as anything he’d ever seen.

Greetings, Erik Thayne. You have been invited to join the System. Do you Accept?

Yes – No