Chapter 2 - Questions and Answers (POV: Edward)

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t sleep that night. My thoughts turned to my late friends and relatives, and Nana. She looked old, but eight hundred years old? There’s no way that could be right. How did she know about Emrick though? Had she been watching us this whole time? Was this some kind of a test? Questions swirled around in my mind, begging for answers.

“You’re doing it again,” she said to me, as the first rays of morning light crept into the cabin.

“Doing what?” I growled.

“Go to sleep,” she laughed softly. “You really would make a fine lawyer.”

“I don’t know what that is,” I snapped back.

“Just get some sleep kid,” she tapped my forehead, “we’ll postpone your training until noon.”

With my mind eased, I allowed myself to drift off, waking up to a warm day and the savory aroma of cooked meat.

“Nana calls it a cheeseburger,” a big strand of gooey orange cheese rolled down Roddy’s mouth as I entered the kitchen, “it’s good. It’s really good!”

“I made one for you as well,” Nana plopped a platter of food down in front of me, “you’d better eat up, we have quite a busy day ahead of us.”

“What are we…”, I stopped myself mid-question. I had to trust that Nana would tell us the truth eventually. She had gone to all the work to save us after all.

“Never mind,” I said as I stared down the hulking sandwich before me. It looked delicious, as did the roasted tubers at its side. “These are wonderful!” My tongue delighted at their crisp and salty goodness.

“Those are called French fries,” Nana heaved another scoop onto my plate, “try them with some ketchup.” She pushed a tangy red sauce towards me that brought the whole dish together. Maybe there is hope for the culinary traditions of Nana’s people, after all, I thought to myself.

After polishing off the juicy cheeseburger and downing fistfuls of French fries, Roddy and I helped Nana cleanup before making our way to her wardrobe.

“I spent the whole night on these,” she smiled, pulling out two padded training suits cut from a strange lightweight fabric. “Hopefully they fit.”

As eccentric and stretchy as they were, I had to admit that I liked the idea of getting out of the tattered clothing that I had been wearing since the ritual. I imagined that Roddy felt the same way.

“While we are at,” Nana smiled, “you should take a bath before we begin your training. I used my mana to freshen the two of you up when I healed you, but you both still stink.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to freshen up after our training?” Roddy asked the question that was also on my mind.

“There’s nothing physically exerting about the training we are going to do today,” Nana answered, “but being unclean may make it harder to concentrate.”

“Thanks Nana,” I said, “can you draw us up a warm bath?”

“Sure, I can,” she grinned, “for Roddy.” Her grin turned sinister, “I have something different in mind for you.”

*****************

Roddy exhaled and leaned back into his warm bathwater, “this feels amazing," he said.

“Lucky you,” I snarled back. I was starting to think that Nana favored my brother. While Roddy was sitting back and relaxing in a lavender-scented mineral bath, the crazy old coot had set me up in a freezing metal tub of ice water. I protested at first, but after she claimed that it would help me with my training, I relented. I didn’t know what her training entailed, or why we were training in the first place, but it had to be for something important.

As I shook and shivered, I noticed for the first time that my wounds had not only healed but that there were no signs that they were ever there in the first place. Nana had said that she healed us, but I hadn’t considered that she had completely healed us. Just how powerful was she? I glanced over at Roddy, and saw that his wounds had also healed fully, leaving not even a scar behind.

“I don’t know who this lady is,” Roddy suddenly became somber, “but I’m so happy that she saved you. When I saw you falling after me,” he paused, “I was devastated.”

“A world without you is not a world worth living in,” I responded.

“What about Kate, and Tommy, and everyone else?” He shook his head, “why didn’t you jump after them?”

The question caught me off guard. “Because,” I reflected on my actions, “I’m selfish.”

He probed me with his mild blue eyes, making me feel very uneasy about myself and my actions. I cared for all of our people, and I wished that I had mustered the courage to save them, but Roddy was different. From the moment that he said his first words, I recognized that there was something special about my little brother. At the time I was too young myself to understand what that was, but as I grew older, his talents became clearer. Roddy was intelligent, much smarter than me in every way, and he was only twelve. In fact, he was probably the smartest person on the whole of Mossy Rock. Yet, somehow, he remained humble and remarkably good-natured. I questioned if I would be able to do the same in his situation.

“I guess I’m lucky to have a brother like you then,” he relented and relaxed back into his bath, “your selfishness may have saved me.”

“How’s that?” I said.

“If you hadn’t jumped after me, then Nana wouldn’t have saved us,” he responded, “Nana clearly sees something in you that she does not see in me.”

“That’s only partially true,” Nana appeared out of the blue with a pair of towels.

“Give us some privacy please!” I sunk into the freezing water and glared at her. Roddy followed suit.

“I’m not interested in seeing you two naked, if that’s what you’re worried about.” The old woman set the towels at the foot of our baths. “I just came to tell you that we need to get started before the day gets away from us. Please get dressed, and then meet me on the other side of the hill.”

“Fine,” I huffed. Maybe we would finally get some answers during this training session.

After drying off and slipping into our new training outfits, Roddy and I rounded the hill. Nana’s island was much smaller than our home, but it was still plenty big enough. Besides her hovel, Nana also had multiple animal pens, a garden, a root cellar, and a pumphouse. She also had a large rectangular proving ground. Why does an old woman like her have this? I gawked openly at the site of the well-maintained skirmishing area as we rounded the hill. It was twice the size of the one used by the holy militia of Mossy Rock.

“I’m glad you made it,” she stood in the middle of the training grounds, fully clad in blue and gold plate armor. “We can finally get started.”

Roddy and I approached her with cautious hesitation, eventually coming to a stop at a chalked white line in front of her.

“Okay Mr. Questions,” she turned to me, “it’s time for me to provide you with your answers.”

“Thank you,” I curtseyed with a hint of sarcasm, but it was lost on our half-blind guardian, who suddenly looked more sullen.

“Listen up and listen well you two.” She plunged her walking cane into the ground with authority and got right to the point, “you are unwitting players in a video game called Six Kingdoms. I don’t expect you to know what that is, nor do you need to. All you need to know is that this world around you is a fake, an artificial construct that has entangled you and millions of other people inside it.”

I stared at her side-eyed, unsure of what she was talking about.

“I am a player who joined this game from a place called New Jersey almost 860 years ago to this day. At first, myself and others like me had fun adventuring and prancing about, pretending to be royalty and slaying magical creatures, but then the game trapped us in here and slowly killed us off one by one until only our ignorant offspring remained.” She paused, and then pointed at Roddy and me, “you are my 28th great-grandsons, both in here and in the world outside of here.”

“What?” I looked at her like she had grown a set of horns.

“I see,” Roddy responded to her in a much less surprised tone.

“The people of Mossy Rock are all my distant kin,” she dropped her head, “but none of them have been fit to unite the world and beat this game.”

“You believe we are fit, don’t you?” Roddy asked.

“I do.” She answered. “You and your brother are the first of our people to unlock the power of mana since we moved to Mossy Rock eight-hundred years ago. I do not know how, or why our people’s mana has indwelled itself in you, but it has.”

“I’m very confused,” I said.

“Okay, here’s the bottom line. I am the only person left in this world who knows the truth, and the only person who knows how to end this game and return everyone back to reality. Now I’m passing that burden along to you. If you want to see your cousin Kate again, or your friend Tommy, or even your mom and dad, then you need to beat this game so that we can all go home and be freed from this place. You are the only ones who can do it.”

“I can see my mom and dad again?” My heartbeat jumped.

“Yes, even though they were pushed from the high cliffs after your brother was born, they are likely still alive in the outside world. Sadly, they are probably also trapped within an augmented reality suit. If you don’t beat this game sooner or later, they will die of old age.”

“That’s great Edward!” Roddy nudged me with his fist, just as I was welling up at the news. “If we do this, then I will get to meet mom and dad for the first time.”

“Heck yeah, we’re doing it,” I squeezed his arm tightly, “I never thought I’d get to see them again. What do we have to do?” I relinquished him and turned back to Nana, feeling renewed and with purpose.

“You have to unite the Continent of Tangeia, defeat the Great Evil across the waves, collect all ten elemental stones and then use them to unlock the Portal in the Sky.”

“That sounds difficult,” I responded.

“Extremely,” she nodded, “shall we get started?”

“Yes,” I replied without hesitation.

“Roddy,” she turned to my brother.

“If Edward is ready, then I’m ready too.”

“Let’s do it then.” Nana clutched the handle of her staff firmly in hand, and then pulled it hard to the right. The faux wood top sheared straight off, revealing a luminescent blue gemstone engraved with gold lettering.

“Come forward young Roddy,” the gemstone began to glow as he approached it, reflecting pools of sapphire in his eyes. Nana gently tapped it against his head as he stared at her with awe, “I, CrazEgirl2002, the Guildmaster of House Frostpyre hereby appoint you as Crown Prince Roddy Frostpyre, heir to the Kingdom of Winter Tempest. From hence forth, you are entitled to access all the mana abilities to which you are suited.”

A flood of bright white light exploded around Roddy as Nana lifted the staff away from him, shooting miles into the sky like a massive beacon.

“Roddy!” I screamed. “Nana, what have you done to my brother?”

Nana stuck her hand out and shook her head at me as I tried to run towards him. “Patience,” she said.

Not a moment later, he emerged.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Roddy looked like a man, no, a king. A silver and gold crown encrusted with sky blue and white gemstones conformed perfectly to his curly locks, giving him an air of authority well beyond his years. Something else had changed too. His padded training uniform had bolstered itself, featuring an added layer of durable chainmail for protection and a decorative half-cape emblazoned with the image of a ferocious dragon riding a storm cloud.

“What’s going on Nana,” he waved his hands around in a random pattern, “what do all these words mean?”

“You’ll find out in a minute,” she wagged her finger and told him to sit down, “we have to deal with your brother first.”

I approached Nana, still confused by what had just happened. The gemstone radiated and glowed warm energy as she pressed it against my forehead. “I, CrazEgirl2002, the Guildmaster of House Frostpyre, relinquish my regency and appoint you King Edward Frostpyre of Winter Tempest. Long may you reign.”

The gemstone instantly turned bitter and cold against my forehead, sending shivers down my spine. Then it happened. A massive storm of snow and ice wrapped around my body like a cyclone, cloaking every inch of my skin in frost. Strange text and symbols darted through my vision as the storm around me grew stronger. Then everything came to a standstill, before slowly evaporating back to normalcy.

“Edward,” Roddy stared at me, his mouth agape. “You’re,” he stuttered, “you’re flying.”

What was he talking about? I looked over at Nana, who only smiled back at me. She does look a little bit smaller than usual. Then I looked down and nearly had a heart attack. I was riding on top of a cloud. More specifically, an ice cloud. A bright gold message popped up in my vision.

[End Passive Ability: Stray Cumulus (Y/N)]

Yes. I reflexively thought, which might not have been such a good idea. “Ouch,” I bellowed, as my bum crashed back against the dirt.

“Congratulations,” Nana clapped. “You are now officially the two newest players of the hardest game in the universe.”

I touched my head, and sure enough, there was a crown just like Roddy.

[Examine Item? Y/N] a prompt appeared in my vision.

Yes, I willed it.

Name: Banquet Crown of House Frostpyre

Rarity: Legendary

Head Defense: 0 (x1)

Description: Beautiful to look at, and demanding of respect, this crown was crafted by the great goldsmiths of the Early Age of Arrival to be worn by the head of House Frostpyre.

Special Abilities – None. Class – Casual Wear (Royalty Mode).

Sure enough, I was also wearing a set of chainmail over my training uniform. It was lightweight yet appeared durable. Another prompt appeared as I desired to learn more about my new armor.

Name: Frost Chilled Chainmail

Rarity: Ultra Rare

Body Defense: 250 (x1)

Description: Made of frost cooled steel, this light armor is extremely durable and lightweight.

Special Abilities – Piercing Resistant, Frost Resistant. Class – Light Armor (Royalty Mode).

“Don’t get too excited,” Nana’s voice brought me back to reality. “You’ll see why in, three. two. one.”

A puff of ice exploded around my body, taking my armor and crown with it. A few seconds later, Roddy returned to his normal form in a flash of white light.

“That was your royalty mode,” Nana replaced the false wooden top over the gemstone. “The length that you can use it is dependent upon your mana reserves. When that mode is active, you are able to use special skills, spells, items, and abilities that you would not normally be able to use otherwise.”

“This is a lot to take in,” I said to her.

“Nana,” Roddy interjected, “how do we know how much mana we have?”

“That’s a good question,” she pointed at her eyes, “now that I have officially added you to our guild, you should have access to our optical interface. All you have to do is think about it, and it will show you what you want to know.

Show me my mana. I thought to myself, and sure enough, a nearly empty indigo colored bar appeared in the bottom of my vision. To the right of the bar, a fraction indicated that I had 6 out of 100 points.

“It looks like you both found it,” Nana said. “As an unspecialized level one royalty, you should have 100 mana points.”

“I do.” I responded.

“Me too,” Roddy said.

“Ok, good.” Nana tapped her cane against the ground, “now you each need to open your personal data sheet and read what it says to me.”

Personal data sheet. I thought to myself, causing a box of text to appear.

Player Name: Edward Frostpyre

Age: 18

Class: Human Royalty (Unspecialized)

Level: 1

Mana Type(s): Elemental (Ice), Elemental (Frost)

Abilities: Royalty Mode

I read my sheet aloud to Nana, who didn’t seem at all surprised by what I was telling her. Then Roddy read his.

“I’m Roddy Frostpyre. I’m 12 years old, an unspecialized level 1 human royal, and my mana type is support. My special ability is Royalty Mode.”

“Does it say what kind of support mana you have?” Nana asked him.

“It just says ‘Buff’.” Roddy responded, “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means that you can temporarily improve objects and party members with your mana. I was hoping that you would have more than that, but that’s ok. Hopefully, you will unlock other mana types later on.”

Roddy slumped his head slightly.

“How come I have ice and frost mana and he doesn’t?” I asked her in a near accusatory tone.

“As messed up as it sounds, it all comes down to his looks.”

“What do you mean, his looks? He looks fine to me.”

“Among our people, blonde hair is a recessive trait. Your red hair is far more typical. It’s hair like yours that got our family its name in the first place. Roddy will never be able to use elemental mana, that’s just the way this game was designed. He is essentially a walking easter egg.”

“Shouldn’t more people from our island also have elemental mana then? What makes me so special?”

“Long ago, our people were one of the six great houses in this world, and all of us had mana to some degree or another. In time, as the player pool dwindled, the next generation of players who were born within this world began to lose sight of the endgame. They fought among each other in the most tribal and animalistic of ways. Only a few thousand members of our house and a handful of people from the other houses remained sane. I evacuated them to Mossy Rock so that we could regroup and develop a game plan, but that plan did not go as I had planned.”

“I take it our people lost their ability to use mana?” Roddy engaged Nana.

“Precisely,” she nodded, “I returned to the mainland to find more allies, but when I arrived, I found that our house had been slaughtered. On her last breath, our queen named me regent until a suitable replacement could be chosen. Things only got worse when a storm blew me off course and stranded me in the lands of House Silverwind. I was forced to make a deal with a demon in order to escape.”

“Is that why you live on this island?” Roddy sat back on the dirt and stared at her longingly, eager for the next part of her story.

“Nothing gets by you, does it?” She nodded, “I agreed to wait here until a suitable successor could be found, and I was bound to do so by the game itself. I didn’t think it would take long, but it did. As each generation passed, our people’s ability to use mana decreased. After a couple hundred years, no one knew how to use mana anymore, and then they started that horrible ritual. Without anything to remind them about our past, the story I had told them generations earlier got muddied and they began to think that the sea had trapped them, and not the game.”

“Let’s get back to training,” I interrupted the story, “I don’t want to hear anymore.”

“Are you sure?” She questioned me, “Normally you love to ask questions.”

“We need to train. Questions can wait.”

“I like your attitude,” Nana cackled, “let’s get started.”