“Welcome to Tesyrion”

As she finished speaking those words, a purplish mist spread out from inside the chalice, swirling behind the little girl and forming a portal.

Wearing the usual creepy smile she stepped towards the portal saying:

— Follow me to the place where your truths can be found.

While the girl disappeared into the mist, the five people stood there for a couple of seconds, hesitating and questioning if what they were seeing was real. Up to this point, the weirdness of the situation was mostly implied, but the portal in front of them repressed any denial.

Quickly regaining his senses, Dale adjusted his determination. He’s already accepted the invitation and seemingly signed a contract, there was no point in hesitating anymore. The fact is that his wishes were answered and his boring world was turned upside down and now it’s up to him to take it from there. More importantly, he had to find out the truth about his parents’ deaths the girl implied he could. Stepping forward with his objective in mind, he went through the portal. Seeing this, the others quickly followed.

It felt like walking inside water, his vision was foggy and breathing was hard, but just for a second. Arriving at the other side, Dale found himself at what seemed to be the top of a tall building. He could see the remnants of a destroyed city surrounding him, with no signs of life. It was nighttime, and although the sky was covered in clouds without lighting from the moon or the city, there was a strange glow that illuminated the entire place without an apparent source.

Before he could continue with his observations, a text suddenly popped up in his vision.

WELCOME TO TESYRION!

…

CANDIDATE DALE HALL REGISTERED

…

YOUR STATUS WINDOW IS BEING GENERATED

…

PLEASE WAIT

Confused, Dale looked around and saw that the other four who stepped through the portal also had confused expressions on their faces. Before he could express his situation, the little girl’s voice attracted his attention.

— I’ll say it again, Welcome to Tesyrion! You might be feeling confused right now, but I’m here to answer your questions. I’ll be your host, Amkorathotep, but you can call me Amy.

She bowed down with an exaggerated motion as if she’d just finished a big presentation. Not only did her speech pattern change, but her dress was also switched to a black tuxedo and a top hat, like the caricature of a magician.

— You’re all officially registered in our beautiful Super Fun World Rehabilitation Program. While your status windows are being generated, I’ll explain your situation

Suddenly the atmosphere around her changed. The gleeful smile and the sinister bubbly attitude she had a few seconds ago vanished as if never happened. She now looked like a wronged maiden asking her saviors for help. With a solemn expression, she began her tale:

— You may not know, but 20 thousand years ago earth was a mystical place. Ancient civilizations populated the earth boasting incredibly advanced technologies that would seem like magic by today’s standards. Life was peaceful and people were happy. The scholars studied more every day to find new ways to better humanity, and they achieved their goal. There were no wars, no disease, no hunger. Humanity united as one under the same banner and strove to prosper for eternity.

But human greed knows no bounds.

As time passes, the scholars kept pushing the barriers of knowledge, so much so that they found something new, something hidden. A new dimension, nicknamed “The void”, a seemingly bottomless pit of unknown knowledge. Some voiced their concerns and wished to sever the connection, but their voices were overpowered by the greedy majority. The energy from this dimension was siphoned and studied and soon they found out how to use it as a source of energy much more efficiently than the existing ones, and in a matter of years, everything was powered by this mysterious fuel.

Those who opposed the idea argued that the increase in the concentration of this energy in their environment could lead to problems, but were silenced by those who claimed that the lack of chance in the connection between the dimensions meant there were no side effects to the increase in its concentration. As time passed, the complaints stopped. The dissidents parted ways with the rest of humanity in search of a haven to protect them from the bleak future they predicted would come.

And not long after, that future came.

The connection between earth and the void suddenly strengthened and the opening started to grow. Before the scholars had time to think of a solution, monsters started coming out of the portal. In a matter of days, the first city was completely decimated.

The ancient civilizations battled for survival against the great monsters coming from beyond the void throughout the years, slowly losing the war. At first, their territories were limited, but due to the appearance of the portal the concentration of void energy in the atmosphere increased at a faster pace than before, allowing the monsters to steadily spread throughout the world.

The dissident scholars agreed that an extreme approach was needed to save the remnants of humanity, thus, they came up with a plan. With the knowledge gained from the studies about the void, they would split the earth in two, severing the remaining humans from their original plane and safeguarding them until the original earth was stabilized. Thus, Tesyrion was born as the fractured image of an ancient earth destroyed and polluted by the void, with its only residents being the dissident scholars who sacrificed themselves to save humanity.

Due to the shock received during the sudden shift in dimensions, the humans transported to the new earth lost their memories of their home and moved on to become what you call humanity. Since the original plan was to stabilize Tesyrion, the scholars began devising ways to proceed.

They settled on choosing people from the new earth who fit the characteristics they needed, inviting them here and giving them the weapons needed to fight the monsters and seek to destroy the void’s core. That’s why you’re here, brave heroes, to fulfill your ancestor’s desires and help humanity become whole and prosper once again.

Silence filled the air. As the 5 people stood in silence processing the load of information they just got, Amy looked at them with big round hopeful eyes, as if waiting for her heroes to accept her quest. That wasn’t the result she got.

— Heroes? What bullshit is this? You didn’t say anything about monsters in the letter and now you want us to save the world? How are we supposed to believe what you’re saying after you changed from horror movie creepy child to princess in distress? Said the young man who helped Dale get up in the previous room.

— He’s right — Said the older man — There was no mention of saving the world in the letters, and from what you said as you entered the portal, I believe our goals here are all the same, to find the truth, whatever that means for each one.

Dale observed the two men, they seemed genuinely upset with the sudden turn of events, while the girls remained calm and wore determined looks on their faces as if they weren’t surprised by what they just heard. Dale then looked at Amy and was surprised by her expression. She looked like a little girl who just got scolded for doing something she shouldn’t have, but that was quickly replaced by her previous creepy smile:

— Ke ke ke, You guys are sharper than the average invited. You might not like it, but you gotta admit it’s a good setting. Fighting monsters, saving the world, and achieving your goals. People are usually thrilled to hear the truth about their world and are happy to help a bigger cause. But I didn’t lie to you, the contents of the letters were true, you’ll just have to go through a few steps to get what you want. But before we continue, your status should be ready, why don’t you give it a try, it might cool your heads.

After Amy stopped talking, another text popped up on Dale’s vision

STATUS WINDOW COMPLETED!

YOUR SKILLS WERE ASSIGNED BASED ON YOUR PERSONALITY

USE YOUR BRAND TO ACCESS IT

Dale felt his right hand getting hotter and looked at it, only to see that the cut Amy previously inflicted had turned into some sort of symbol he didn’t recognize. Dale concentrated on the mark and in front of his eyes a new screen appeared.