The moment his hand touched the mysterious obsidian gemstone, Ash felt a surge of indescribable power as his world turned black. Sinister swathes of sunless umbra poured from the orb, swirling like surging river rapids. Ink tendrils of darkest pitch coiled around Ash in a cascade of shadowed void, swallowing him whole.

“Woah…” Ash said, slack jawed and awe struck.

He was floating within an endless void. Ash could see the vast night of purest black interrupted only by the faint sparkling of stars twinkling within the ebon tapestry; glistening like way points that painted rich rolls of purple and blue among the darkness.

In that moment Ash was one with a vast cosmos, whispering to him the majesty of its ethereal beauty. He reached out to the void with an open hand, fingers wrapping and enclosing within the vacant space as if claiming ownership.

--

All at once the darkness dissipated; washed away like the mist of early morning. A cold shiver ran through Ash’s body like being hit by a bucket of cold, icy water. His hand lingered above the now empty hand that sat upon the podium before him. The obsidian gemstone was gone.

A strange air filled the hall as if charged with a new energy; more alive than when he had first awoken. Ash felt more alive. Refreshed. The soreness was gone. The pain in his head was gone. He felt better than he had in a long time. Flexing his fingers, Ash noticed that the usual tightness in his bad arm didn’t flare with pain.

“That’s… different” Ash said curiously.

He looked down at his right arm, rotating it to look at the forearm length reminder of when his life changed. There was no scar. There should have been a scar. Why was there no scar?

“What…” Ash said, his eyes narrowing. Dumbfounded, Ash turned his arm back and forth. Still no scar. He couldn’t look away from the bare, undamaged skin.

--

Before Ash was able to dwell on what had just happened; a soft, feminine voice interrupted.

“What’s different?” it asked enthusiastically.

Ash’s head snapped up, searching for the source of the newcomer. An inky blot of…something floated above him ethereally, bobbing side to side jovially; almost like it was happy to be seen. It was pitch black in the centre with an illuminated, glowing outline of colour the trailed off from the core. Something about it felt unnatural, as if it were a layer apart from the world around it.

“What… what the hell is that!” Ash blurted, jumping back. He had not realised that his arm was raised and pointing at the floating orb of energy.

“I’m your partner Ash!” It replied, dipping down and forward to his eye level, “You’ve awakened!”

“Awakened?” Ash repeated hesitantly, raising his left brow.

“You took my gemstone and now you have awakened! You accepted the power!” explained the voice.

“Awakened what?” Ash asked again, “power?” he repeated curtly.

“You have been chosen!” replied the voice with a hint of pride.

Ash waited, swallowing the strangeness of the situation before him. He gestured for the floating orb to explain more.

“That is. You see, that’s um. That’s actually all I know” answered the voice sheepishly.

Ash’s face dropped into a confused frown. What… He thought, the moment lingering in the air.

“So, I’ve woken up somewhere I don’t know” Ash was repeating what he was told sarcastically, “apparently chosen for something my supposed partner doesn’t know ”

ending the recount with a scoff.

The floating orb of shadow bobbed slowly in front of him, silently.

“And awakening? I don’t even know what that means either” Ash continued, “Great. Just great.”

“Oh no! That…” the voice paused, “That I can show you!”.

--

The floating orb buzzed, vibrating in place as its glowing edges pushed outwards. The orb unfolded like origami, changing shape completely. In its place floated a large square with rounded edges, like a tablet stuck and floating in mid-air.

“You are not from this world, Ash” The voice declared with a forced bravado, “think of me as your guide”.

Ash’s eyes narrowed. Fists clenched.

So, it really was a portal, he thought, too confused by the words to reply.

According to whatever this blob was to a whole other world. He shook it off. He couldn’t dwell. He needed answers. He took a step towards the shifted form square form. Peering into it.

For the first time since he woke up, Ash cracked. He could not believe what he was seeing. He was laughing now. A hearty, audible laugh of disbelief.

“No way!” he said loudly. This was too much. He had to have gone mad. This couldn’t be real.

Staring back at Ash was a list of various headings and titles with information written beneath them.

The first few were relatively normal. They listed his name, his height and his age, though the latter was listed incorrectly. He wasn’t 16. He was 25. 16 was…before … the. No. Ash had too much to think about already, he wasn’t about to let that back in. Not here and now.

He scanned downwards, reading his race, affinity, pillar and class. According to this document that the strange floating tablet was showing Ash, he was an outlander. His elemental affinity was “Void of the Amethyst Pillar” and his class simply listed “rank 1 Martial ???”. He was a rank 1 nothing. Void affinity though. That might explain his hallucination when he touched the gemstone.

Further down the page were a list of attributes. Strength, Agility, Mana…was this…

“Is this a character sheet?” Ash asked dumbfounded. He was interested now though, his eyebrows pulled together as he studied the page before him.

“Kind of.” The voice replied sheepishly. If a floating screen could smile, it was smiling.

“Your new abilities are translated to you in a way you would understand. It’s to help you integrate into this new world more easily”.

A new world? Ash couldn’t decide whether he was hallucinating or dying.

--

Ash nodded, his bottom lip jutting out as if moping as he crossed his arms.

“Right. So… this is some video game fever dream then?” Ash inquired, continuing before he could be answered, “I must be in a coma. Am I dying?”

Ash couldn’t accept what the orb was telling him. Stats, portals to another world? It made no sense. At least a coma dream would explain how unbelievable it all was. Why his friends weren’t here. Wait…my friends.

Ash tilted his head, looking past the floating screen that obscured his view. He counted the podiums. Six in total. Five were empty before he touched the gemstone.

“My friends. Were they here? Did they leave? Where did they go?” Ash asked, letting loose a cascade of questions.

The floating creature didn’t answer immediately, thrown off by the sudden barrage.

“I don’t know Ash. I’m sorry. Maybe?” the voice answered sympathetically.

“The other podiums though? They’re empty” Ash said with pleading eyes, “Someone else must have been here. You appeared when I picked up the gemstone. When I… awakened.”

“If they were empty then I suppose others could have been here before you. I don’t know if they were you friends though.”

Ash looked around, his mind deep in thought as he tried to make sense of the situation. The hall was old and decrepit. It was practically a ruin. He had woken up alone to an empty hall with six podiums. If five were empty it means they were used before him. Maybe they had woken up one by one alone like him? If they had taken a gemstone too, maybe they met their own strange and unhelpful helper too. They may have gone looking for help. Surely, if this was real like the creature claimed, his friends wouldn’t abandon each other. They… wouldn’t abandon him. Right?

--

Ash tapped his foot. He could not wrap his head around what was happening. There was too much he didn’t know. He could be dreaming. Or trapped in a coma. Or mad. Either way he had to find out. He had to play the game to find out what was happening.

Ash turned to the orb; they had been floating silently beside him.

“So, you’re here to help me, right?” he asked.

“Yep, you and I are partners!” it replied eagerly.

“What do I call you?”

“I don’t really have a name” it replied, dropping lower and closer.

It paused a moment, hovering in front of Ash’s face.

“I think you’re meant to name me!” it said with glee.

Ash nodded softly.

Ash studied the floating orb. It reminded him of an old video game he played as a kid. Where the protagonist must save a princess and has a fairy companion to help a guide.

“I guess you’re meant to be my wingman then?” he asked, not expecting an answer.

Moments passed as Ash considered a name. By what he was told, the creature was his proxy in this world. Whatever that may be. Proxy…

Ash clicked his fingers and pointed at the orb.

“Got it! How about Proxi?” he asked with a raised chin, peering down his nose.

Like it or not, Ash was stuck in the situation. He may as well have some fun with it.

“I like it!” they confirmed. A faint purple glow radiating from Proxi as they took on the name.

--

“So, you tell me I’ve been chosen for something. I’ve awakened. I don’t think I was the only one. I think my friends were here too. Do you know where they might have gone?” Ash asked Proxi.

“Oh. Ummm. No? I do have a map though?” Proxi replied, contorting back into the horizontal rectangular tablet shape, “look, look!”

Ash looked down at Proxi. That was a map alright. He saw a skull marker, roads and a few villages in the bottom right corner of the glowing map. The rest of the map was dark. Fog of war maybe? This really was a lot like a video game. Weird. He noticed a small flashing red dot hover above the skull mark. That was not a good sign.

“Please don’t tell me that’s us” Ash said with a sigh.

“Then I won’t tell you” Proxi replied, “There’s some villages though? That’s where people like to do people things, right? Maybe your friends went there?”

Ash nodded. Wherever he was. Whether this was real or not. He needed answers. He needed to know if his friends were there. If they were okay. He reached out and touched the village marker closest to the purple arrow. It highlighted it, drawing dotted lines between the two that highlighted an otherwise darkened path.

“I guess it’s kind of like google maps then” Ash said with surprise, “let’s try and head here first then.”

“Locked in” Proxi replied.

Ash took one last look at the red dot that represented him.

“What do the skulls mean?” He asked.

“Probably nothing good honestly” Proxi answered nonchalantly, “but if your friends were here already then it should be okay!”

Proxi’s answer did not inspire much confidence.

Ash took one last walk around the hall. He looked around, hoping to find anything else of interest that might help. Stepping out into the world of this fever dream was a nerve-wracking concept. He was nervous about all of this.

Ash had hoped to at least find some pants holed up in the old building. Or a weapon maybe. Something to give him a sense of security at least. No luck though, he was stuck in his home wear. All Ash found were the podiums with hands and a single brass cup that was hidden under a pile of rubble in the corner of the gothic hall.

Rolling his shoulders back a few times, Ash started towards the larger-than-life doors at the end of the hall. The doors glinted from the pockets of light that broke through hole in the roof, the gilded and embossed imagery of dragons shining brightly.

“No backwards step, alright?” Ash said, turning to his would-be companion.

The words were for his own benefit though, the old faithful mantra that pushed him forward.

“I don’t really walk though?” they replied, floating beside him.

Ash chuckled lightly, an honest laugh.

Ash swallowed his nerves as he placed both hands on the large copper ring door handles. He pulled at the wooden doors, feeling heavy weight of the thick wood as they skittered across the stone tiles with a metallic sounding whine. How long had it been since they were opened?

Not long he assured himself.

--

As the doors craned open, he was met with the sight of old buildings in ruin. They were old, held aloft by overgrown vines that snaked their way across the structures. The sun broke through the large, bustling trees that stood tall and proud above the ruins, they seemed to appear in front of nearly every building.

Ash raised his hand to shield his eyes. The hall had been dimly lit and gloomy; it took him a second for his eyes adjust to the sudden bright light.

“Ready?” Ash asked.

“Ready” Proxi replied.

As Ash took a step forward an exclamation mark flashed in his field of view. Ash turned to see Proxi contorting shapes once more.

“Proxi?” Ash queried.

“A quest!” they exclaimed.

Text appeared within Proxi that read;

“Get out alive 0/1”

As Ash scanned the text, he heard a high-pitched grinding like rock being dragged across the ground.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Ash peered around the corner of the building. Plodding down the path around the corner, was an enormous stone entity; each step it took a pounding thud. It was at least 8 feet tall and made of a myriad of stone blocks organised into a loose, humanoid shape. Each stone was marked with a glowing blue rune.

The behemoth moved unnaturally. Erratic. A faint glow caught Ash’s attention, glowing from the top of the creature. In the top stone was a broken, blue crystal that looked to be vibrating with energy. That must be the head.

Crash! Boom!

Ash could hear more of thunderous plodding in the distance. Crap, he thought. How many of these things were there?

“Sh*t. What do we do here?” Asked Ash, looking up at Proxi.

“I guess we complete the quest?” Proxi replied unconcerned

“But…how? They’re monsters!” He replied with exacerbation.

“You use your abilities?”

“My abilities?” Ash asked, confused.

His eyes darted from Proxi to the meandering creature that had continued down the right-side path.

“On your …you called it a character sheet?” Proxi explained, “Yeah, your character sheet! It would have listed spells and abilities. Did you read them?”

Ash shook his head; he had been too caught up in the strangeness of the situation to notice spells of all things.

“Show me again Proxi” Ash replied, “We need whatever we can!”