“…It’s today…” I woke up early (roughly six in the morning) on the day mentioned by everyone, two days after Red Sky Day (03 December 2018), and I felt practically ready for anything… that would be a lie.

I honestly wasn’t ready for whatever would come. Be it an invasion or even mass teleportation, I was not ready for whatever would come next. I could feel the anticipation, and the knowledge that something was happening today stayed, but I could honestly say I wasn’t ready for what was coming.

I easily slipped out of bed, or I would have if I might not have stepped on someone… so I angled my foot and used the edge of the other bed to jump off the top bunk and land softly on the small portion of floor. I barely heard a faint mumble coming from Michael as he shuffled a bit, the shuffling moving a bit of blanket off of Alice, which I adjusted softly.

Since Red Sky Day (as it was now known worldwide) I’ve been staying with Michael and Alice (their parents and younger siblings had moved to live with more family, Michael and Alice stayed because of me apparently) and they have been really helpful to me… I was being babied though, and that was annoying.

Despite the babying though, I’m thankful for it… Michael is my best friend, and while he isn’t my first, he is still the person I trust most currently.

Still, I can’t remember much of my younger childhood before age eight so I don’t know if I might have had another friend before then, but Michael is my best friend now.

I quietly drank some water, followed by making some cereal, and eating in the quiet silence… normally I’d try to sleep in after waking up this early, but today just wasn’t a day for such actions… I simply got my phone out (a very old model that I never bothered changing, an Android phone though) and went on the internet…

I can’t tell how many times people have asked me to ‘friend’ them on Facebook… mostly because immediately afterwards I’d laugh at their question and pretend it was never asked… I don’t do most forms of social media seeing as I’m a recluse in most forms (Michael had nearly two hundred contacts on his phone, I think I had nine… maybe).

That was beside the point though… I checked the internet to see if there was any information on what was happening today… it was also currently seven in the morning… if that thing, Chronos, is going to do anything like he did last time, he’d wait till twelve to do it…

I would probably be wrong though. I mean, what kind of villain does bad things at the exact same time every time he tells you he is appearing? If it was me I’d probably do it early in the morning or very late in the evening. One catches the enemy of guard, and the other would make the enemy paranoid for the entire day…

Wow, I really shouldn’t become a villain… anyway, after seeing some instances of news from Japan, which was roughly at two or so in the afternoon, they have apparently already seen what it is that Chronos is doing… and quite honestly, I thought Chronos an idiot after seeing it.

It was apparently granting power to humans as well as creating doorways which would hold his forces, bases… and it granted the power in the form of supernatural weaponry and abilities to people, and that while many had similar or even the same abilities, it seemed to be slightly tailored to the user.

There were posts from one person who mentioned getting a long sword and another had the ability to teleport short distances; known as ‘Blink’ which immediately caused warning signals to burst for me… Chronos… seems to be very well versed in human culture… World of Warcraft moves are becoming a reality?

In addition, the bases were all easily found, taking the form of a block of black stone, with a small pedestal in front of them. Some have entered (against the will of the government, but some might just be trolling) and say monsters exist inside, and they aren’t Centipedes like before… strange…

They appear to be small blobs of jelly, easily killed no matter how they are hit… again, isn’t this Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest?

Chronos seems to be referencing a lot of video games of the RPG genre… and it got even worse when I read the next post…

The next post mentioned levels. Human beings can now level up by killing said monsters, and grow stronger as they do, the level is shown by a tattoo on the left wrist on the inside, showing LEV followed by the level of the person.

In addition to this, ranks are also assigned, although at current everyone is currently rank L apparently… going by rankings commonly seen in games, we might reach till SSS or just A… I don’t know though.

Still, the idea of having a level, having bases, and fighting what amounts to Slimes… is Chronos a gamer? This… this doesn’t make sense, at all. Chronos said it wanted to invade, it wouldn’t show us where its bases are… unless it is so bored it wishes for a challenge, and thus gave us the chance to fight back…

The manner of fighting back was disturbing me though… a lot. I mean, other than reading and just relaxing in peace and quiet, gaming was another favourite of mine, and Role Playing Games were something I enjoyed a lot… the fact that Chronos was making the real world a video game of all things just didn’t sit right with me.

It will just have to be accepted though… I mean, what can you do to go against that? Nothing much… I’m reading too much into this…

I’m also very insulted that Chronos would actually try to fight the world using game-like themes to even care… it wouldn’t detract from my revenge against the bastard though…

I closed the webpages finally, before stepping into the kitchen to make a few cups of coffee, knowing that Alice and Michael needed their coffee in the morning, as well as mine. I absently wondered which ability I would get, I mean, I enjoy the thought of swords and bladed weapons, but if I’m given a nun-chuck what then?

I guess all I can do is wait really… though I’m totally expecting Michael to get a bow of some kind, his obsession with ranged weaponry and my obsession with knives and bladed weaponry are well known. As for Alice… I don’t know honestly… I can’t see her sitting back flinging spells (someone apparently learnt how to shoot fireballs already) but I can’t quite imagine her destroying enemies by flinging them at each other.

Hmm… I’ll just stop thinking about it and be excited to destroy enemies later. I soon finished the coffee, noticing light footfalls signifying that it is likely Alice who got up, as I turned, handing her the cup with a nod. “Good morning Alice.” I greeted as she just nodded sleepily, taking the cup, taking a sip, nodding again, and moving to a one seat couch and plopping down in her pyjamas (a shorts and tank-top, I’ve long since stopped caring though)

“Good morning Arthur… any news?” she seemed to only now realize what was happening as I nodded, before I knocked on the bedroom door hard enough for me to hear Michael shoot into standing position, before he promptly knocked against the cupboard while standing, making him off balance as he walked out quickly… he seemed to always wake up in funny ways…

“Here man, have some coffee. I got information.” That was enough to wake him before he even took a sip, he and I had a weird understanding that he was more suited to be a soldier and I was more suited to be a tactician… so when I said ‘I have information’ he usually focused… whether that was because I actually had something to say, or because I used a big word so early, well, that was for him to know.

“Right, today’s the day that demon said he’d attack… so what is it?” Michael asked, sitting on the two-seat couch while I decided to just sit on the last one seat couch. “Well, that thing has placed bases for his forces to invade us apparently, and, due to how bored it is, gave us a method to fight back.” They both blinked owlishly at this and took a sip of their coffee (for all that their personalities are very different, they sometimes acted very similar…)

“And, what are we being given?” Michael was on full ‘report’ mode apparently, though Alice seemed to just be enjoying her coffee while listening in. I timed her next sip to give my answer. “The Role Playing Game load out of swords, magic, skills and levels.”

I enjoyed seeing her almost spit her coffee out at my words… though if it was Michael it might have worked though… damn… next time for sure.

“…Say that again?” Alice asked and I nodded. “You heard me… that thing is apparently making the world similar to an RPG, I mean, if we count the bases of his forces as Dungeons, we get classic RPG right there.” I admitted making both look at me as if I were retarded… were I not being serious, I would have burst out laughing at my own words.

“…Is Chronos really thinking this through? I mean, yeah, fighting in real life and in a game is vastly different, but people who play a lot of games, like us, would be at an advantage here…” Michael noted as I nodded, but then I paused… actually-

“Maybe not, stereotypically people who play a lot of games are unfit and fat, it’s a stereotype and not always true, but it is typical, at least in America… so people who play a lot of games might be knowledgeable but unable to put that knowledge to use practically, I mean, the amount of ‘gamers’ who play RPG’s and do Karate aren’t as high as to make a huge difference for example.” I stated making Michael realize our unique situation…

See, all of the people in our group were fit, even John who might be the laziest amongst us, and Alice who didn’t exercise at all really other than running when late for High School…

We were in a unique position to become extremely strong using this method, but then again, that depended on our group…

“Arthur, a plan please.” Michaels words got me thinking quickly, I usually deferred to Michael but he came to me for plan of action moments. In this case, I thought about the ideal set up for a party to enter a ‘dungeon’ with, to clear it.

“Well, obviously we’ll need close-range fighters, and rear-fighters, and a possible healer. I’m not sure on the ‘party’ size, but parties in RPG’s typically range from just two people to as many as eight if it’s a big game. Let’s work on a comfortable assumption of five people, this means two would be front attackers, one healer, and one rear-guard.”

Michael nodded seriously, Alice obviously fighting back a bit of laughter due to understanding how serious this was. “Now we can divide the roles even further, ignoring the healer. One front attacker should be a tanker, a damage absorber, however in real life… who would want to be hit?” I asked making Michael frown, before I continued.

“The other would obviously be a damage dealer, quick powerful attacks designed to drop and destroy enemies. This might get attention though, so the damage dealer should at least have a few defensive skills for protection.” Alice nodded here, having played Diablo 3 with Michael and I, I typically played a barbarian and she saw how effective it was, but required something similar to health steal.

“For the rear, one should use magic predominantly, but we do not know much about how magic would work really… it might be words, it might be calculations, who knows, but we shouldn’t count on having a magic user.” I admitted making Michael frown (he played wizard when we played Diablo 3… mostly because Alice took shadow hunter before he could)

“The other rear-guard should be an archer really; they are indispensible for their critical hits and ability to mess with anyone from the back. Michael, should we form a group I recommend you be this.” He nodded in agreement, already knowing that his skill with ranged weaponry should be put to use.

“And you, where do you see yourself in this?” asked Alice as I frowned… honestly I’d like to say damage dealer, but I have the feeling it might not work out like that… “Rogue I guess, a damage dealer with emphasis on critical hits, maybe a bit of dabbling in magic if I can…”

Honestly my ‘play style’ was weird in RPG’s which allowed flexibility, as I always dabbled in a bit of everything if possible, while focusing on one key group, usually melee combat.

“Hm… but with that set up, if we count the three of us in, we have a damage dealer, a ranged fighter, and I would like to be up front, thank you… that leaves us with finding a healer and a magician type.” Alice mentioned as I frowned at that thought, while Michael chimed in.

“What if we have more, or even less people?” that was a good point… if it was four, we could combine the healer and magician into one role, or possibly have a healer tank, either way. If it was six though, that would be even better, three in front and three at the back possibly, and an extra damage dealer.

“I’ve worked that out… but still, for all of our theorizing here, we don’t actually know what we’re going to get… I mean, there was a post about one guy who wanted a sword but ended up with a spear, we might not get what we want.” I bore the bad news as we frowned.

We continued ambling around in limbo until Emilia knocked on the door, and then she joined the ambling after getting my explanation. She seemed comfortable with the idea of fighting up front though, so I might be dropped to the back line? That sounds horrible for me… maybe not; my pain threshold wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either.

By twelve, we had already discussed so much RPG knowledge I felt like I was preparing to start an online guild in World Of Warcraft rather than fight to destroy an enemy from a supernatural dimension designed to torture sinners…

Wow, the fact that I could think something like that, and be serious, is messed up.

But, I could say with confidence that we could all tell when twelve rolled around… oh it was very obvious to us.

Even as we were sitting and discussing, we all froze… we paused in our motions, before suddenly feeling… changed.

The very act of feeling the wind on your skin, the sunlight, the smells, the vision, and the things you heard and tasted… everything a person could feel, became more…

And immediately after, it was gone, and I could feel my wrist on my left arm burning, I quickly noted the LEV 01 tattoo on my arm, before something ‘materialized’ in front of my eyes.

Arthur Clive Level 1 (Rank L) 10 exp to next level

Anima: Traveller’s Cloak Anima 2: Nameless Dagger

Strength: 5 Dexterity: 5 (5.25)

Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 5 (6.8)

Vitality: 5 Constitution: 5

Skills: Blade wielding (E); Tactician (D); Close Combat (K); Shooting (H); Recovery (F)

Anima… the Soul given form apparently… a soul will take the form of a weapon or skill, and that is the closest match to your Soul, were it to have physical/metaphorical form… I had two as well…

I contemplated this for a moment… Then I noticed I had a status screen… I had a bloody status screen… my word.

I heard the others gasping, as I wished the screen would just leave so I could see-

Oh, it’s gone… guess the screen is thought activated… can I- and there it’s back. Good to know… anyway, I noted the other three occupants of the room, Emilia and Alice both seemed happy with whatever they got, while Michael seemed to shake his head with a confused smile.

“So, we’ve gotten our ‘powers’… now come on, share.” I said as the three realized they were still going on about stuff, and their screens likely vanished (I couldn’t see theirs) as they turned back to me.

“Ah… yeah, see, I got a longbow, as we expected. I also have the Sniping Skill with a D next to it.” I was impressed, none of my skills were that high other than Tactician… though if I think about it, Michael practiced a lot at shooting ranges.

“I got Dual Combat Knives, they will eventually come with the ability to grant a Bleeding status effect and allow me to heal when the enemy gets hit.” Wow, a life-steal weapon… I’m a bit jealous.

“As for me… I got a Skill for my Anima apparently, the Skill’s name is Weapon-Meister, it grants me an automatic rank of J in any weapon I use and lets it deal a bit more damage than normal.” My word… we got a weapon master straight away? No need to first become a swordsman, then another class, then again for a different class?

I had an absent moment where I noticed that I suddenly knew more about the LEV and Anima than I should (I mean we just got them, why did I know it was the soul given form?)

The three noticed my silence and I coughed to catch my breath. “Right, I’ve- wait… how many Anima?” I asked, noting a glaring problem… “Huh, we all have one, right?”

…Huh? “Yeah, my only Anima is just my Weapon-Meister skill for me.” … “Mine are those dual combat knives, but it counts as one Anima apparently…” …

“I got a Traveller’s Cloak, it grants me increased defence and higher Dexterity and magic damage apparently…” I hesitated for only a moment on whether or not I should mention my second Anima… it was in that moment I decided yes.

“I also have a second Anima, known as the Nameless Dagger… from what I feel, it does little damage, is near indestructible, and killing with it absorbs life… but not health steal… it’s specifically different, but I don’t understand it.” I added on, making the three blink…

“I don’t know… I mean, we have awesome things considering our skills, but having two sounds awesome…” Alice added, Emilia agreeing, Michael was quick to see the danger and shook his head. “No, it might make people suspicious of him, I mean, he might be viewed as a ‘favourite’ of our enemy, making our fellow humans… angry.” Michael added and I agreed.

“Yeah, let’s keep it on the down-low. If anyone asks, I’ll just say the knife is my Anima, and the Cloak is something I picked up in the Dungeon or bought on eBay.” We all agreed, feeling it was right to keep that a secret…

“Hey, let’s go dungeon crawling; we might get to kill a few things?” Alice asked as I shook my head… we probably wouldn’t get away with that… I pointed at the TV, before I used the remote to switch it on… to a declaration from President Clayton.

“Americans, we have been given our weapon and our opponent, but now is not the time to fight, now is the time to learn about our opponent, to learn about our weapon, we will not allow innocent and naïve people to simply walk into what most certainly is a death trap. As such, we will be having a one week ban on entering the dungeons until we can determine the likely hood of survival.”

I rolled my eyes at his speech (absently noting that even the President caught onto the game like nature of our situation), I had expected it, I mean, we already lost 1.7 billion of us, what was the point of allowing more to rush to their deaths because they didn’t know what they were fighting or how to?

So until they determined that it wasn’t so dangerous that civilians would die (or determined how strong they would have to be) they wouldn’t let us in… it delays us, but it wasn’t much of an issue for me… gives me more time to practice with my new weapon/Anima…

“So, we can’t go… he’s making this take longer than it should.” Emilia complained and I agreed… I could see the benefit of Clayton’s plan, but at the same time I could also tell that it wasn’t the absolute best plan…

Then again, I don’t know what I would do in his situation… maybe I would say the same, maybe I would only allow certain military groups in, and those with enough combat experience… all I know, is that the choice has been made, we’ll just have to see where it goes from here.

“Still, despite how many people would be against it, it was a good call, other than keeping people from dying, it also gives said people the chance to actually practice and learn to use their new weapons, without simply charging in and dying when they expected one thing but got another.” I explained as the group agreed after taking a moment to think.

“So, shall we check our abilities out? Alice, get a sharp knife from the kitchen for now to check yours out.” Michael added as I nodded, wondering how my equipment would look now.

Upon gaining our LEV’s we all knew, instinctively, the abilities, the strengths, and weaknesses of our Anima, as well as how to summon them…

They could be summoned at will, but only after a moment of concentration, and then maintained until dismissed, the exception being Anima of skills which might be always on (passive), or only occasionally used (active).

I held my palm out facing up; focusing on summoning my knife, the Nameless Dagger, as I suddenly felt a weight in my right hand… I tried moving it to my left, and it moved, but only after I kept it in both hands.

See, Anima could not be unequipped or equipped over, meaning that, I was effectively stuck with this weapon in my hand and wouldn’t be able to swap a better weapon out, unless into my other hand.

I took the moment to look at the Dagger… just like its name, it really seemed plain, plainly sharp, plainly shining of steel, and with a plain leather and rope handle, which was surprisingly comfortable despite what I’ve read about people disliking how this chaffed their hands.

Other than the plain feeling, I got another feeling from this Dagger… the feeling of hunger, overwhelming starvation, the need to eat and devour… I didn’t understand it. It needed something, but what it needed, I did not know.

See, Anima grew with us; after all, as the Soul grows the Body follows (at least, that’s what the information shoved into my brain when I got the LEV says). As the Body grows, the Soul follows apparently. Anima could gain strength, and we could get a vague idea of the next ability which would be granted by said Anima.

In my case, my Nameless Dagger came with the ability Soul Feed, which upon killing an enemy with it granted a bit more experience (to level up) than normal.

The next ability I would be granted would be the exact same ability, only a bit more potent, and I’d get this at level 10.

And it would continue apparently… until level 100, where I would get the ability Soul Grasp, which would allow me to use Soul Feed no matter how I killed an enemy, or even if someone near me killed an enemy.

That seemed so far off though… I mean one hundred? What is the highest level anyway?

It couldn’t be one hundred since getting an always active experience boost at the highest level was pointless.

I dismissed the Dagger, before I focused on summoning my Cloak. I absently noted Emilia carrying two serrated knives in reverse positions and Gary pulling back a bowstring, an arrow materializing before he loosened his tension, the arrow disappearing.

In the background, I also noted Alice holding just about anything, and it would begin to give a soft red glow before she became able to wield it like a trained user. Not a master, but clearly she wouldn’t hurt herself with anything she used.

I must admit, I was kind of jealous about that... the ability to use any weapon at all, even obscure ones like nun-chucks, a Kris, a flail, a spear, etc. would be extremely useful… Still, I had another Anima I had yet to check.

I willed the Nameless Dagger to disappear, and the weight left my hand, before I willed my Cloak to appear… at only level one, it did nothing but increase defence a bit… but the upgrades for it in the future were excellent.

See, the Travellers Cloak granted a ton of passive boosts, as well as one active skill, namely Blink, but only at level 50. As for the passives, they included increasing all stats by a small amount, lessening the amount of Mana used in spells, or allowing me to increase the output for more Mana (at current it only boosted Dexterity though).

Between the knife which allowed me to grow faster, and the Cloak which allowed me to just be better, I liked the Cloak more honestly… the knife was honestly a hindrance… the only way I see me dealing any meaningful amount of damage is if I dual-wield and I have no confidence in learning that.

Though I do have the theory of dual wielding down, I didn’t have the muscle memory, or the skill to make it feasible in a real fight… I mean, in all honesty taking a knife and a sword might get you stabbed on one of your own weapons.

I didn’t have another weapon other than my knife from RSD (Red Sky Day) though… and dual-wielding two knives, that is something I can actually do. Using a knife and a longer weapon…that, I can’t do.

As a final test, I tried summoning my knife, and was pleased when the knife dropped into my left hand, proving that having both active at the same time was possible…

Still, if I think about it, according to the knowledge ‘downloaded’ into my skull during my attainment of the LEV, there were actually equipment slots, similar to games in that way.

Left arm, right arm, armour pieces, and accessories such as rings and chains. My Traveller Cloak currently constituted as ‘over-armour’ meaning I could wear armour under it…

“Uh guys… we don’t really have armour… or backup weapons for that matter…” I stated as the group blinked at me, then saw my point, frowning.

“…Wait, won’t monsters drop items like in games?” asked Michael as I thought… yeah, they probably would, Chronos wouldn’t give us dungeons, levels, skills, and not drops…

So we get equipment from monsters we kill then? Fair enough… though I doubt we’d get anything from slimes… but before that though, we needed to practice with our stuff… plus-

“Hey, we can have six people in a party apparently.” I found the relative knowledge already there, as the group nodded, everyone smiling… that meant we had much more flexibility.

“We can get Matt and John into the group too, and from there we can decide our roles… though who’s going to lead us?” I asked as I looked at Michael hoping he’d be leader, seeing as he was a pretty reliable guy…

So I was obviously a bit disturbed when all three looked at me as if I was being confusing. “Uh… aren’t you the leader Arthur?” Alice asked as I blinked, Emilia nodding on the side as Michael sighed.

“Seriously Arthur, despite your attempts to shove leadership roles on me, you know you’re better at the planning stuff… so obviously you’re going to lead.” Michael smirked at me making me give him an annoyed look…

It seems that I was needed as a leader… again. That annoys me, seeing as I disliked the expectations of being a leader. Leaders are strong, smart, wise, and helpful… and while I’m told I’m smart and helpful, I don’t think I’m strong, and if I’m wise that would naturally appear over time.

“…Fine, though know that I’m against it.” I said as the group nodded, seemingly happy with my decision… I’m not happy with it, but they are… that’s fine I guess.

“But before we can continue with our plans we should start training and find our limits first. No point in saying that I’m a front-line fighter and I tire out after two minutes I mean.” They saw my point and agreed that training came first.

“Michael, can you call Matt and ask him if he has any plans to go dungeon diving with others? If he doesn’t, he’s welcome to come with us. I’ll call John.” I deferred one of the calling roles to Michael as I picked up my phone.

After three rings, John picked up. “Hello?” he asked as I nodded to myself. “Hey John, it’s Arthur, you doing alright man?” I asked, keeping my manners in mind as I asked.

“Oh, Arthur, yeah, I’m good man, especially with what just happened... I trust I’m not the only one noticing the RPG-like nature of the situation?” he asked as I scoffed.

“Obviously I noticed it, considering we have levels and skills and dungeons… so, I wanted to ask if you wanted to party up with the group.” I asked as I noticed Michael talking to Matt (obviously denoted by how Michael had to keep the phone away from his ear due to Matt’s loud voice)

“Who’s in the group? I trust Michael will be there, and probably Matt, plus you and me, that’s four. Who are the other two?” Trust John to understand quickly how it would go.

“Emilia and Alice, and with that we got six. I already worked out a formation for the group, but I need to know who goes where in the formation, and to figure that out, I need to know your Anima or skills.” I added as I could hear John hum.

“Right… my Anima is Healing Scripture… it’s a series of spells apparently, the healing spell tree obviously.” He explained as I smiled. Excellent that we just so happened to get a healer. That’s pretty lucky actually.

“So, with that we have two people in the rear and two in front, I’ll move as necessary, and we have yet to figure out what Matt can do… for now, exercise and find your limits with your Anima, don’t want to be caught off guard. So for this week, train…” I gave him his job.

“Sure thing boss.” And he’d follow… okay; maybe I am suited to be a leader… doesn’t mean I have to like it though. I turned to notice Michael nodding, giving Matt the same job (train) and switching off the call before turning to me.

“Matt’s in, he’s got a shield with boosts for pain reduction.” He added as I frowned… that’s Matt, Emilia and Alice in front, Michael and John in the back, and with my dagger I’d have to be in front… though, I could also just be in the middle and move to necessary positions.

“I see… if we put Emilia, Alice and Matt in front, we’ll have two Damage Dealers and a Tank, and at the back we’d have you as an Archer and John as a healer since he has a healing Anima… as for me, I can’t fight from the back since I don’t have ranged capabilities…”

Michael caught my idea before I had even finished it as he nodded. “You want to be in the middle, flexible to help where necessary?” I nodded, and he shrugged.

“It makes sense, there’s little you can do at the back of the formation at current, and at the front we already have two people with high potential for damage dealing…” at this we both looked to the girls… one had knives like an assassin, and the other could pick up anything and kill you with it… yeah, we’re good.

Right… with this, we were going to be ready after a week… I just hope that, because of President Clayton’s announcement, we don’t end up behind the rest of the world on this…

“Alright team, let’s go train.” The group nodded and was about to leave… “After we get dressed.” Right… this is going to be a work in progress then…