We exited the system shop and headed for the Testing grounds. I still had a ton of questions about the system and everything else I had learned but they weren’t pressing. For some reason it all felt familiar to me. Like I had been studying it my whole life and it was a familiar friend. I just knew that a part of me was excited by all of it.

I wasn’t expecting Wren to throw me into combat right away. I thought there would be a warmup period, or at least some sort of explanation of how things were going to go.

That is not what I got.

We entered the dark stone chamber. It was empty except for a door on the righthand wall. The air here was unpleasant and reeked of stale sweat.

“Whoever was here last deserves a painful punishment.” Wren stated as she scrunched up her nose and made a sour face. “Don’t worry, it’ll pass once we get started.” She stopped near the door stood. “Okay, listen up, Squints, once I go in here and activate this, you will be in a real battle situation meaning that yes, you can die if you are too stupid. So, I’m going to give you a safe word in case you’re about to wet yourself.”

Her comments were starting to piss me off. I was seeing less and less of the cute girl from before. She was still beautiful that much was true. But I’d be lying if I said she didn’t she have a ugly side.

But then she smiled.

It’s always that damn smile that reeled me back in. Even when she was being an ass and berating me, that smile was all it would take to make me overlook it.

Damn, I’m such a simp.

I’ve got to work on getting over this crush. I hadn’t seen their interaction for long, but it appeared as if Jupiter and Wren might’ve had something going on.

“Your safe word is… Finifugal.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she snickered in reply.

Later, I asked Polo and it loosely meant coward, at least that is how they used the word. Seriously not liking her very much at this point.

I gave her a smile and repeated the word, “Finifugal. Funny to say.”

“Funny to hear,” she whispered as she moved toward the door.

I panicked. “Wait, what do I do?”

She hesitated for a second before responding. “Don’t die.” Then she turned to leave.

“Wait! I don’t know how to use spells or fight or anything really.” I tried not to sound like I was panicking but I’m pretty sure I failed.

Turning back, she broke into laughter. “I’m just messing with you! You should’ve seen your face, Squints. Okay, so, as with most things, your spells require thought to activate but they also require verbal commands, at least elemental spells do. All spells have an activation requirement so whatever yours is, just do that. You should already know the requirement for your Wind Scythe, however, you have to use the spellbook to learn that Haste spell.” She paused to think about something for a second. “That’s all you really have to do. Oh, and while I’m thinking of it, whenever you get enough credits, I would recommend purchasing a d-bag. They can be a bit expensive but totally worth it.”

I sputtered, not expecting what I just heard, “D…D-bag?”

She couldn’t mean that right?

“Yeah, D-bag. Dimensional Storage Bag. It’s able to hold anything and reduce the weight of what you are carrying. Makes traveling so much easier. Why are you acting weird?”

“Umm. Well, isn’t that the thing used to… You know what, never mind. I’m just going to call it a Dim Bag.”

“Whatever, Squints. Okay, I think you are ready to start.”

“Start? Now?”

She just smiled wickedly then disappeared inside the room and closed the door. A few seconds later, the door vanished as if it had never been there.

Wren’s voice blared out from somewhere unknown, “I’m activating the holo-field now. Just do what comes naturally and avoid getting an axe to the head and you’ll be fine. Remember the safe word!” She chuckled as her voice cut off.

There was silence for a few seconds and then I started to hear sounds coming from all around me. It was soft at first, but birds singing and trees rustling came from everywhere. A few seconds later, with a blink of my eye, the room transformed. I was no longer underground, buried under thousands of pounds of rock.

I was now standing in the middle of a glade, feeling the breeze rustle my clothes and the sun warm my skin. It was picturesque, something out of a nature painting. Birds sang in the distance, a brook bubbled nearby. I could’ve taken a nap in the soft grass and never wake up and I wouldn’t have minded.

I reached out a hand to where I knew the wall should be, but it passed through as if nothing were there. If I hadn’t been told this was a holo-field, I never would’ve guessed.

I was doing a slow turn, examining my surroundings when I heard them. The sound of a growling laughter carried over the wind that silenced the birds. I wasn’t sure what waited for me, but it was clear that that was my goal. Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I slowly crept through the grass to see what I was dealing with.

I moved as slow as I could to not make a sound. Their laughter followed by the way they sounded when they talked sent shivers down my body. It wasn’t in my language. It sounded like a mutated bear-pig combination decided to try and talk. A man-bear-pig abomination if you will.

My feet crunched on some fallen leaves and twigs, and I mentally cursed myself, sure they had heard me. I didn’t think myself a coward, but I really didn’t want to face whatever it was. I had to tell myself it was a hologram, that it wasn’t real.

Then I remembered Wren saying I could die.

“Suck it up, buttercup,” I whispered to myself. I knew she was watching my every move and even though she really didn’t seem to like me, I wanted to impress her. So, I moved forward.

It didn’t take me long to find them. I hid behind a large oak tree as I took my first look. Lounging around a blazing campfire were eight creatures that even with my limited memory I recognized. Orcs.

Massive bestial humanoid creatures with muscular frames, large canine teeth and snouts rather than human-like noses. Their eyes glowed red even in the bright light of the day.

In the center of their encampment a blazing fire snapped and popped as logs burned. Over the roaring fire, a creature of some kind roasted. The fire crackled as juices rolled off the animal and hit the blaze. The winded shifted in my direction and, at first, I smelled the cooking meat which made my mouth water. But that was quickly replaced with the vile nausea inducing stench that wafted from the unbathed orcs. Their one piece of clothing, a faded and grime covered loincloth did little to mask the scent.

I almost lost my breakfast in the bushes.

I wasn’t sure how long this was supposed to take or how long Wren would give me, but I didn’t want to rush to my death. So, I sat behind that tree for what felt like hours and just watched. I wanted to learn everything I could about them. I wanted to know how many there were, what their habits were, what kind of weapons they used.

I came to determine that there were eight in total that would come and go from the fire. Each would bring back something to roast or if it were occupied, eat raw. They were territorial over their food, not sharing and fighting whenever another tried to approach them.

I also noticed a hierarchy of sorts among them. There was one that was just a bit bigger and meaner looking than the others and they would each offer him a small portion of their meals. I still couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they mostly used grunts and growls with the occasional gesture to communicate. Very rarely did they actually speak in their language.

I almost screamed when a slew of blue system messages appeared before me. I had been so focused on the Orcs that it caught me completely off guard.

{Error!}

{Cannot bestow skill.}

{Mage Classification Unknown.}

{Attempting to Identify…}

{Failure!}

{Classification Not Found.}

{Generating New Classification…}

{Success… Class Identification Defined.}

{Congratulation!}

{You’ve unlocked a unique mage class}

{Registered Class: Obsidian}

{Success! As the first of your kind, you have gained additional perks and bonuses.}

{To see active perks and bonuses check the Status Affects Menu.}

{Note: System has detected divine blessing.}

{Identifying Blessing…}

{Success! Unique Title Generated.}

{You have gained the title: God Touched.}

{Error! Cannot define title!}

{Attempting Correction…}

{Correction Failed!}

{Attempting Bypass of unknown error…}

{Bypass Complete!}

{Attempting Class Specific Spell Creation…}

{Failure!}

{No Class Spells Generated.}

{Corrective action found… Implementing…}

{Unique ability unlocked: Mage Mimicry.}

{Mage Mimicry allows one to use the spells, skills, and abilities of any other Mage class. Must select which type and can only select one type at a type. Switch Cooldown: 5 minutes. Ability can be improved.}

{Failure!}

{Unique ability cannot use Mana.}

{Attempting Correction…}

{Success!}

{Mana conversation has begun…}

{…}

{Mana conversation complete.}

{Mana has been converted to Aether Energy}

{Aether Energy is used in place of all activation requirements}

{Success!}

{You have unlocked a unique class skill!}

{Due to your efforts to understand your enemy and study them, the system has rewarded you with the unique skill SCAN}

{Scan – Unique Class Skill – Obsidian Class}

Activation: Thought

Requirement: 1 Aether Energy per second

Cooldown: None

Range: Self (60-foot cone)

Duration: Instantaneous

Description: Choose one type of thing, like a material (gold, adamantine), a specific creature type (aberrations, humanoids), or otherwise. You release a 60-foot cone, originating from you, which scans the entire area. If the thing you chose is within the area, you instantly learn how many of them or how much of it there is, and their exact locations within the radius. While this cone goes through solid objects, it is blocked by 20 feet of dirt, 10 feet of wood, 2 feet of stone, or 1 inch of lead.}

{Success!}

{With the addition of a unique class skill you have gained access to your class tree.}

{Warning! Unable to identify unique energy source W$%^YA4*8. Energy levels rising. Critical levels imminent. Time until release: Unknown.}

“What the hell?” I exclaimed as I took in all the information from the messages. I didn’t understand half of what it said. Wren hadn’t mentioned any of this. I started going back through the messages, rereading them to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

But something was bothering me, and it wasn’t the messages. That’s when I remembered where I was and what I did. That’s when I comprehended what was bothering me and how I had screwed up. I could no longer hear the Orcs talking.

I dismissed the windows and peaked around the tree.

Eight pair of bright red eyes stared at me. The biggest orc snarled and said something in their language which prompted the others into action.

The fear of death is a great motivator to get one moving.

I turned and ran as the orcs charged, brandishing their crud weapons, loincloths flapping in the wind, revealing something I never wanted to see.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the orcs move toward a large boulder and start to pick it up. I had seen enough.

I ran back the way I had come, wracking my brain to think of a plan to deal with them. Of course Wren would want to see me in battle.

The orcs were fast. Faster than me. But that prompted me to consider my spells. I began casting Haste targeting myself.

“Axatio Belliayeest Weretic!” I shouted, ready for the boost in my speed to get away. It took me longer than I liked to admit to realize what was wrong. I wasn’t getting faster. It took me even longer to understand why. That system message said I had to select which class of mage I wanted to use the spells of.

“How the hell do I do that?” I screamed as I dodged a large chunk of stone that had been launched by the biggest Orc. I looked back to see it grinning viciously as it took aim with another stone. Without the Haste spell I knew there was no way I could dodge this one.

I was about to use the safe word as I’d rather be alive and a coward than dead and brave. “Fu…” I should’ve been watching where I was going. In my efforts to watch the boulder sailing directly at my squishy face, I didn’t see the tree roots covering the path. My right foot got caught causing me to go spraying face first into the dirt. This was a small blessing as the boulder would surely miss now but I didn’t get to bask in the excitement as the first of the Orcs finally caught up to me.

I twisted on the ground, trying to get my feet under me as the massive creature hefted a blood covered club that was bigger than me into the air for the killing blow. My mind went blank, and I froze. Death was certain.

Then I felt an odd tingling sensation and I knew this wasn’t my first time facing certain death. It all felt familiar somehow.

Then the world slowed to a crawl and my vision went dark. I closed my eyes not wanting my last few moments of life to be staring at the ugly bastard.

“What the hell are you doing?” a male voice I didn’t recognized called out to me. “Dude, get up. You are freaking wasted. Maybe playing that last game of flip cup was a bad idea.” The voice was calm and friendly, a stark difference to the guttural growls of anger the orcs had been making just moments before.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see Wren and some guy, figuring she stopped the hologram in time, but it wasn’t Wren.

A hand was the first thing I saw, followed by the smiling face of a dark haired boy who was patiently waiting to help me up. “Grey, man. I think you need to get some sleep. I’m sure you will feel much better.

I tried to scoot backward, away from this person I didn’t know but just like with the little girl earlier, I had no control over my body. My mouthed open and laughter bubbled out. “Sh’up, Mawk...” My words were slurred, and I could barely understand what I was saying.

Mark just laughed as he bent forward and pulled me up. Emotions flooded me as I leaned into him and let him lead me away. I didn’t know why but I knew I was with a friend, possibly a brother. This was a memory that I was reliving.

Mark pushed the door open to lead me inside but just as quickly as he appeared, he vanished as did the room, but I wasn’t back with the orcs.

Instead, I saw a whole new scene. I’m standing above a copper sink with a rag and cleaning supplies in hand. My body moves again on its own, cleaning the area. My eyes wander up to the mirror and I see myself but it’s all wrong.

Instead of my shaggy black hair and scruffy beard, my head was shaved almost bald, and my beard was nonexistent. My left eye was covered with a patch, and I looked to be around thirteen.

A voice screamed at me from behind, instructing me to work faster, harder. Using the mirror, my eyes drifted to a woman behind me who was in the middle of raising a cane that was definitely meant to cause me bodily harm.

I quickly whispered “Nullre.”

Her outstretched hand, along with the rest of her, froze in place. Only her eyes could move, and they looked terrified. I dropped the rag I was holding, turned and ran as fast as I could from the building into the surrounding woods. A large white animal joined me just as I broke into the tree line and together, we raced through the trees away from all our problems.

My vision went dark once again and I closed my eyes, not ready to find myself somewhere new. I wasn’t sure what was going on with my mind or why I was seeing these things. That last vision I had, I felt nothing like I did with the others. There was no familiarity or warmth in it. It was alien but that was definitely me in the mirror. But how could it be? if that was me, did I already know spells? I was sure it was magic that stopped that woman. So many questions and no way to get answers.

Could a person really forget something so defining about themselves?

I didn’t get a chance to reflect longer as a growl forced my eyes open. I was back in the forest with the orcs, and this was no vision. Whay I saw felt like it had lasted minutes, but nothing had changed. The orc was still standing over me, club raised in the air, about to land the killing blow.

Then his head exploded in a grisly scene of blood and brain matter. Green goo that was its blood rained down on me, drenching me. Unfortunately for me, I had my mouth open in a silent scream. The chunk of boulder dropped to the ground a few feet away as the body of the orc began toppling forward toward me. I had just enough will power to roll out of the way as its body flattened the area I had just been laying in. The ground shook when it impacted and sent shivers down my spine.

I heard feminine laughter coming from the distance as I spit out large globules of blood and brain matter. Everything she had said and done to me flooded back into my mind and my rage exploded.

A blue system message popped up.

{W$%^YA4*8 energy rising}

{Impending release detected}

{47%.... 52%....}

{Time before active: unknown}

I dismissed before even reading it. For the first time since waking up, I felt something other than fear and confusion. Maybe coming so close to dying and having your dream girl laugh in your face is enough to overshadow all other emotions. I wasn’t afraid anymore.

The other orcs froze when that first one died but I could see them start to get over it and begin to move. I wouldn’t have long.

I finished clearing my mouth of the vile orc brain. Wiping away the blood from my lips I screamed out in anger. “Will you shut the fuck up for a minute, you ratchety bitch?”

Wren’s laughter cut off and I knew she heard me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did but I was angry. Angry and hurt. I had thought I had feelings for her. I was a fool. I had only just met her and these people. I had other things to worry about besides getting laid.

My mind raced with a million thoughts. I knew I had to do something, or I was dead. Yeah, I could give up. Say the damn word and walk away. But that would let her win and I would die before I let that happen.

{55%.... 61%....}

I took a fraction of a second to clear my mind. I forced my brain to shut out everything but this moment and what was happening before me. I worked and I gained some clarity. I knew why my spell failed. I hadn’t declared my type for the mage mimicry. I couldn’t use any spells until I did.

I thought about it and was rewarded with a message.

{You have selected Elemental Class}

{Cooldown remaining: 4 minutes 59 seconds}

The orcs weren’t idle as I set my class type. Already two more were with ten feet and the bigger orc had picked up another chunk of stone. I leapt to my feet, ready to evade them and any more stone missiles.

I wasn’t sure if I could actually kill them or not, but I had to try.

They say information is power and thanks to my new skill I could gain a bit of power. I used Scan on the closest of orcs and found just how outclassed I was.

{Name: Turutal}

{Sex: Male}

{Job: Orc Berserker}

{Level 7}

{Health: 45/45}

{Strengths: Bludgeoning, Brute Force, Magic Resistance}

{Weaknesses: Fire, Mind Manipulation, Head Trauma}

Fat lot of good that information did me. I had access to neither fire or mind manipulation, and they had magic resistance. But, and thankfully there was a but, they had a weakness to head trauma. So hopefully with a few good hits to the old noggin, I could end them.

I dismissed the skill figuring the others were going to be much of the same. The bigger orc was too far away for me to Scan at the moment.

With a plan in mind, I went to work. By plan, I really just meant hit them in the head over and over until they died. I know it wasn’t so much a plan as a death wish but it’s all I had.

First things first. Let’s try that spell again.

I had to cast in the middle of turning to evade as the lead orc, Turutal, got within clubbing distance. I dodged to the left, over some more tree roots, and did my best to stay ahead of him but I could tell it was a losing battle.

I recast Haste.

As the last syllable left my lips, I felt energy coursing through me. It began in my stomach, raced up my chest, then down my arms, and out of my hands. For a second, I felt a brief fatigue set in. Not enough to have an affect but enough to know it had happened. I chocked it up actually using my magic felt like.

Instantly, the spell took affect and my whole world changed.

Up until that point the orcs had been gaining on me. Standing a good few feet higher, they just had a natural gate that would overtake mine. Now though, it was like they were in quicksand, and I was flying.

I started to smile from the giddiness of it. I had never felt anything like the power coursing through me. I began to toy with Turutal in a moment of over-confidence. It was just comical how much faster I was compared to him now. “Yo’ momma so fat, when she goes camping the bears hide their food!” It was a stupid joke, and I knew we didn’t speak the same language, but it made me laugh.

Until I saw Turutal’s eyes twitch, and I realized he had understood me. My laughter died in my throat.

Shit.

He hefted his massive club and took a swing at me. The club whizzed through the air faster than I had thought and came an inch from hitting me in the face. I had to twist my body in a weird way just to avoid it.

Did he just get faster?

Okay, so for future reference don’t make fun of my enemies. Lesson learned.

Turutal followed through his last attack with another. Then another and another. I kept dodging each but either he was getting faster, or I was getting slower. The other orcs were also approaching, and I knew that if I were to get surrounded, I would die.

“Kalitum!” I bellowed as I flicked my hand toward Turutal, using my only attack spell, Wind Scythe. I knew the attack wouldn’t kill him due to orcs having a magic resistance, but I was hoping to distract him and put some distance between us.

It worked far better than I could’ve hoped.

The howling attack soared toward Turutal who had frozen in shock. He must’ve not expected a magical attack, or he would’ve dodged. Instead, it struck him directly in the face, ripping at the skin and tearing into his eyes. Turutal dropped his club as he tried to bat the attack away but failed miserably.

Once he realized he couldn’t physically stop the attack, he tried to move out of the way. This would’ve worked had it not been for the blood-soaked ground and the body of the other dead orc. Turutal flailed as he tripped over his comrade and toppled to the ground.

I was preparing to send another attack at him then try and grab the club to finish him off, but luck was finally on my side. As Turutal fell, he tried twisting to catch himself, but his hand slipped on some blood, and he smacked into the ground full force. Unlucky for him, his head lined up perfectly with the boulder that had obliterated the other orc.

I was rewarded with a system message.

{Success!}

{Your actions have directly led to the death of your enemy}

{You killed an ORC BERSERKER}

{You’ve gained 75XP}

{You’ve gained 10 credits}

My mind was blank for a few seconds as I processed what had just happened. When it finally caught up to the moment, I expected to be sick, or upset. Afterall, I had just killed something. While it was all a hologram, in the moment I had forgotten that. It felt absolutely real, and I had really just killed that creature. But I guess I was a psycho in my normal life because I did not feel anything like what I was expecting.

“Hell yes! That’s what I’m talking about. A few more of those and I’ll be golden!” I yelled jubilantly as I hopped up and down celebrating. I shocked myself with my callousness toward Turutal but it felt so good seeing the experience points and system credits.

The whole system thing was still a bit confusing, but I was slowly figuring it out. I still didn’t have a clue who I really was and what my past was like, but this was everything. I knew to my core that I loved this and never wanted it to stop.

My happiness was short lived though as the other orcs roared in anger at their fallen. The renewed their charge and raced toward me.

Seeing the pure rage on their faces, their massive bodies, and the deadly weapons they carried reminded me that yeah, I was a dead man.

Another orc closed the distance before I could move. I used Scan, hoping for better news than the last one.

{Name: Turatel}

{Sex: Male}

{Job: Orc Fighter}

{Level 11}

{Health: 73/73}

{Strengths: Bare Knuckles, Brute Force, Magic Resistance}

{Weaknesses: Fire, Mind Manipulation, Head Trauma}

Nope. Definitely not better.

He was barehanded but he didn’t need weapons with those watermelon sized meat hooks. Just looking at them scared the crap out of me. Nope to the nope.

It wasn’t hopeless though.

I still had my speed, and I was pretty confident in my ability to dodge. I sidestepped his first attack and decided to put a little distance between us to reassess the situation. I wasn’t sure what the big orc was up to and needed to keep an eye out for more boulders.

I leapt away, covering ground quickly. I looked back to see I had outpaced the group, putting much needed ground between us. I smiled happy for the breathing room, but I wasn’t used to my new speed or increased attributes. I should’ve been watching where I was going. I misstepped and ended up crashing into a tree face first.

Note to self, practice using spells before combat first.

It took me a few seconds to recover but I had managed to put enough distance between the orcs and myself that they wouldn’t immediately make jelly out of me.

I slowly got back to my feet and brushed the soreness and dirt off of me. “…dumb ass trees.” I muttered in contempt. I froze as I heard something that I wasn’t expecting. A whooshing sound that was quickly getting louder by the second.

I glanced up to find a dark shadow rocketing toward my chest. I didn’t have enough time to move, enough time to think. I needed more time, but death was here.

Then my mind slowed time. Not literally of course. I didn’t have that power…yet. Instead, my thoughts came faster and faster until it seemed as if time had slowed. My body couldn’t move as fast as my mind, but it allowed me time to think. I didn’t know how this had happened until a message box appeared.

{Success!}

{Your Haste spell has met the qualifications for an upgrade.}

{Upgrade of Haste to Haste II has been applied}

{Cost: 50 experience and 5 system credits}

{In addition to your increased speed and attribute points, you mind now processed faster than ever. When the spell ends, the target has reduced movement speed for one minute.}

The upgrade to my spell allowed me to understand what was about to end my life. The larger orc had managed to surprise me with a thrown boulder. I had been too distracted by killing Turutal and trying to avoid the other orcs that I didn’t see him. I was about to pay for it.

But there was one thing I could do to avoid death. I had just enough time to twist so that my right arm would absorb the attack. It very well might still kill me, but it was my only option.

I twisted just before impact. It felt like my arm had exploded. Pain like I had never known burned through me and I screamed harder than I have ever before. The force of the attack slung me backward where I slammed into the tree, my head smacking into the bark with a sick crunch. My vision swam and I knew I was about black out.

“Fun…” I started to say but couldn’t finish. Wren’s phantom laughter rang in my ears. No, I wouldn’t tap out. I would see this through or die trying.

I fought to stay awake as I pushed on the ground trying to stand. Two feet appeared before me as I was on all fours trying just to not throw up.

I couldn’t help it when I began to I began to laugh. “This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy went wee wee all the way home…” I’m not sure if that is actually what I said but it was what I had tried to say.

Another system message appeared which took the fight out of me.

{Haste has worn off}

{Your movement speed will be drastically decreased for 1 minute}

{Time remaining: 57 seconds}

I dropped to my stomach and waited for death.

I closed my eyes and knew no more.