Chapter 1

DAY 1:

Gasping for air, Trint woke with a start and sat bolt upright in bed. He looked wildly around the room, searching for... well, he wasn’t so sure. The details of his dream faded rapidly like sand between his fingers as his awareness was drawn to the waking world. He felt feverish and sick. His head was pounding, and his ears were ringing. The bedsheets clung to his bare flesh, chilled, and soaked with sweat.

“Gah!” Trint screamed between clenched teeth. While his dreams eluded him his mind snapped back to the unforgettable. Only in sleep could he block out the memory of the car accident from a few weeks ago. The moment of impact still haunted him. Was that what had woken him? It hadn’t felt like a nightmare.

“What is wrong with my hearing?” Sliding his feet to the side of the bed he carefully stood up. He took a deep breath to slow his rapid heart and breathing.

A relatively recent crash left him beaten and broken as though he’d fallen down a flight of stairs carrying a box of knives. It had taken the doctors hours just to remove the glass embedded in his face. Even now the deep breath was a reminder that his ribs were still healing.

The only thing from the accident that hurt worse than the pain was the loss of his loved ones. Before he could spiral down into that dark abyss of self-hatred and depression, another shot of adrenaline coursed through him. This wasn’t his bedroom. In fact, he didn’t recognize the strange room as any room in his home.

I must have brain damage from the car accident, he thought to himself, his mind began to race grasping for a logical conclusion. I can’t remember anything since I fell asleep in a wheelchair. Now I don’t know where I am. BANG! BANG! BANG!

Trint’s heart skipped a beat as a sudden pounding on the door sent an echo throughout the room. The sudden jerk as his body reacted to the noise wracked him with even more pain.

“Help, somebody. Help! Let me in! They’re going to get me!!” There was now a cry for help accompanying the pounding. Trint quickly but painfully hobbled his way through the unfamiliar house following the sound of banging. He arrived at the front door.

“Who's there?” Trint called out, projecting through the wooden door, rather apprehensive about opening it.

“Thank God, please open up,” the unknown voice pleaded. “They are after me! I need your help!” Something about the insistence and need of the voice overcame his caution and he opened the door. In rushed a man in a black robe, slamming the door behind him. Next the man passed by him and into the room, Trint noticed that he wore an immaculate deep blue three-piece suit underneath the black robe. The blue of the suit was nearly black, and Trint caught a glimpse of a flower sticking out of a breast pocket. What a bizarre outfit.

As he stared after the strange man, Trint was again shocked to not recognize anything of this house. He stood by the front door that connected to an open living room of a modern suburban home; his bare feet tacky with sweat on the wood flooring. He looked down to his feet and was reminded quite unpleasantly that he wore only a pair of sweat-dampened boxer briefs. Adrenaline and pain functioning better than an energy drink, Trint’s attention snapped back to his unwelcome guest.

“Thank you! Now, before you think to throw me out, I need to tell you we only have a few minutes before they are actually here. I don’t know how they knew to find you here but it's time to go. Don’t worry about getting dressed; I grabbed you some things. Oh, by the way, my name’s Jack,” the aforementioned ‘Jack’ said in a rather hurried manner.

Trint gaped at the man. He did not really feel like following a complete stranger out of God-knows-where he was and away from some unknown people who were supposedly looking for him. He was a nobody. Who would want to find him? Maybe someone was trying to collect on his medical bills, but he had only just gotten home from the hospital. What was going on?

“No time for that. Judging by your stats and debuffs I’m going to need to carry you.” Seemingly fed up, Jack pointed a finger at Trint.

He felt his whole body go rigid. Hands pinned to his sides and legs snapped together, he felt his entire body begin to tip over. Fortunately for his battered body, Jack caught him before he hit the ground. Trint remained awake for the journey but despite the rapid pace and jostling he felt no pain, just panic and a rising annoyance at being carried like a princess by his kidnapper. Unfortunately, he saw nothing of the trip; Jack had covered his head by folding Trint’s head inside his robe.

Sometime later, the covering was roughly removed from Trint’s head and his body carefully set on the hard ground. He found himself in a densely wooded area. It was difficult to tell from the natural lighting but, if he had to guess, about an hour had passed since he became a hostage, maybe more. At least he had full control over his body again. But would that be enough to escape? He didn’t even know where he was!

“Are you feeling well enough now?” Not waiting for a response, he continued on, “Good. Alright, we need to move on. There is much more you must learn, but for now, you need to adjust to the changes in your body and get to know how you will work together,” Jack said.

“Work together with you? Why would I do that if you just kidnapped me!” Trint exclaimed.

“No, no... not me. Pneuma. Just a second, I have something for you. You will need this to survive but it’s up to you whether you actually accept or not.” He began rummaging around in the deep pockets of his robe. “But don’t take my word for it. Speak to her,” Jack said as he turned and slowly walked away into the woods.

“Speak to…?” Trint trailed off as a blue light glowed in his left peripheral vision. He turned to see the light form into an apparition in front of him.

No, it wasn’t a ghost. It was the image of his wife, his beloved Cara, displayed as a hologram. The image flickered for a moment before forming into a solid being and touching his cheek.

“Babe, listen carefully. I only have a moment. The kids and I are okay. I know you remember losing us, but I promise this is me and you can find us. We’ve been in the Iterations for a while now but you’ve only just arrived. For now, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?” Cara said, seemingly in a hurry.

“I will always trust you,” Trint assured her. He wrapped his arms around the projection of his wife. Shock and joy filled him as his arms felt the form of his wife.

“I know you do,” She whispered into his ear, “Jack is going to offer you something. I need you to accept it. It will help you get to me. I can see your whole body is still broken from the accident. I don’t blame you, by the way. So don’t wallow in guilt. But you can’t survive what is to come without help from the family. You don’t have time to mess around now, there will be lots of people looking for you. I promise to wait for you till you get here but you need to hurry, Kayden is not willing to wait. He thinks you deserted us and no matter what I tell him he won’t listen. You know he is strong-willed like me.” She smiled sadly. Yes, he knew.

“Okay, I need to go. Remember, you need to accept the gift and level as fast as you can to get to me and your family. Love you, Babe!” Cara said.

“Love you, too!” Trint suddenly fell through their tight embrace as Cara’s form and image dissolved.

“Ah, very touching,” Jack sighed, as he wiped a tear trailing down his cheek. “Well! Our time, too, is almost up. If you want to be strong enough to protect them in the future and be reunited for good, you need to advance and ascend the Iterations. The faster, the better, but you will need endurance. It will take time. Your family is being protected while you advance.” Jack snapped his fingers in front of Trint’s face, breaking his thousand-yard stare.

“Okay. Sink or swim, which is it?” Jack asked.

“Wh... what?” Trint was unable to keep up with this bombardment.

“I hope you are ready. I can’t actually force this on you, but I hope you don’t waste more of my time,” he said, shooting the confused man a stern look.

“This box contains the gift and is the reason I was sent to this little backwater training town. Apologies, I know you are new to all this,” he said, still rummaging through his endless pockets. “The Iterations are your new home now. For you to make any progress you are going to need this advantage. The decision was made, you and your family will now be a part of a much larger and well-established dynasty. So, congratulations and welcome to the family.”

The oddly dressed man produced a medium-sized box from his robes and presented it to Trint.

“I have not heard of a gift this grand being passed to anyone, and with you receiving it at the start of your integration, you should know this has likely never happened before in all the Iterations,” Jack emphasized. “I shouldn’t say this, but I would like to have this one, myself. Don’t worry; I wouldn’t dare take it. It must be given by the owner and received by the intended. You will learn about System rules soon enough.”

“What... what do you mean by System and integration and Iterations? You keep saying things I don’t understand. Am I still on Earth?” Trint asked. He had many questions, but these seemed the most pertinent to his current situation.

“All will be explained soon. Now open the box and read the instructions,” said Jack insistently.

Trint hesitantly eyed the box. If not for Cara’s insistence he never would have gone along with this. What do I have to lose? Trint lifted the lid, and immediately a pressure released with a rush of air and shimmering blue flakes. Still grasping the box black flames overflowed the box like a they were liquid flame, falling to the ground. As they passed Trint’s hand, he dropped the box. Too late the flaming liquid clung to his hands like napalm. Unlike fire he was not burning but an icy chill stung where the black liquid clung. The box still open lay on the ground and yet more liquid fire flooded from the box, the air pressure continued to increase as a great whirling wind rapidly spinning out of the box. The wind was laced with blue flakes, spinning up and around toward the sky and then looping down and around Trint. It formed a flaming vortex that pulled him to its center. He naturally tried to resist.

The vortex spun faster but Trint was now stuck in the center of the swirl of power. The liquid black flames that had pooled on the ground began to rise with the vortex. The liquid and the winds melded, and it all looked like a magnetic field radiated around Trint. As these unknown elements circled his body, he remained suspended two feet off the ground. The pressure on his body increased rapidly as his body compressed, like going too deep in the water. He had been facing Jack, but his body slowly tilted with his face to the ground and the flow of the miniature tornado passed directly towards his heart. The pressure and blast of the elements had increased to point of eating away his skin. Trint instinctively tried to ball up to protect himself.

Cutting through the winds and flames and rising out of the blackness of the box was a white stone. Even with eyes shut tight, Trint could see the light blazing through his eyelids. He wasn’t going to open his eyes in his protective fetal position, but his body began to unfold like he was being stretched out. His arms and legs were now reaching at angles forming an x. Finally, his eyes were forced open. The stone was a completely white, smoothed-out river stone the size of a tiny fist. The stone rose from the box and moved a foot below Trint’s heart. The winds and flames began to flow through the rock and the presence and power it contained seemed to grow. The pressure it gave off was like a magnet that Trint felt his entire being was drawn to. Strange symbols he couldn’t make out glowed dark blue across the surface of the white stone. Trint wanted nothing greater than to grab the rock, he knew he needed it, but he also feared what this all meant. After a moment all the black liquid and blue-specked wind had sunk into the rock, and it pulsed like a beating heart.

“Womp womp. Womp womp” The beating continued. The stone rose toward Trint, hovering a couple of inches in front of his chest. Expectant.

Trint instinctively knew he had to make a final a choice. As he considered how he knew he had a choice, a message appeared on an ancient-looking parchment hovering in front of his face:

Trinten,

I would have liked to bring you this myself if it were possible. Unfortunately, our introduction will have to wait. I know you have many questions. However, I hope that you will accept this gift. I have chosen to adopt you as my heir. Your new lineage, if you accept, will grant you many things.

Accepting will unlock this gift, but I will not force you. The gift is intended for my sole heir. I have adopted no one before, and I leave this choice up to you.

Accept, and I promise great things for you. I offer you the power to rise, a home to fight for, and a family to fight alongside.

I hope to see you ascend to join us.

“That’s it?” Trint mumbled to himself. “No signature, no more to go on? What?"

The message disappeared and his entire vision was filled with a holographic message. A timer started beeping as the remaining seconds counted down.

System Error: You have 30 seconds to accept ‘Unknown’ contract from ‘Unknown’.

System Error: 29

System Error: 28

System Error: 27

…

With each warning came an ever-increasing wave of anxiety, crashing into the core of his being. His mind raced with the possibilities that awaited him, the unknowns of accepting the gift and the fear of missing out.

It is supposed to be a gift. Maybe this is just a nondisclosure agreement. After all, Cara did say to accept this, he reasoned. His mind raced but he settled his mind on the image of his wife.

System Error: 15

With the countdown halfway to being over, he smiled, closed his eyes and confirmed his decision. As soon as he mentally chose, a new System message appeared:

System Message: ‘Unknown’ Gift Received

Ignoring the System messages, Trint’s right hand involuntarily out over the old paper message. He felt a sharp pain in his palm and his chest.

A few drops of his blood fell to from his hand to the page and his chest to the rock. Symbols and runes flashed on both the paper and the stone. The runes lifted and spread out over Trint’s body. They slowly sank first resting on his skin, then like acid sank through the layers of skin and then deeper. The pain was intense but was brief as if the nerves were shut off.

The paper and stone were now free of ruins or text. Without warning, the paper burnt to nothing, not even ash remained. Trint had no idea what the symbols now embedded in body meant or did, but once they had finished sinking to what he imagined were the insides of his bones all they remained was the smell of burnt flesh and blood and a tingle across his entire body.

The white stone became blindingly bright, whitewashing the forested area and leaving nothing else to be seen as the stone moved the final two inches to Trint’s chest.

Without pause, it passed through his skin and into his chest. It felt like a piece of molten steel had burned through him. It was agonizing, but a part of his brain observed this event with a sort of detached calm. Moments later, the stone hit his physically beating heart and for a moment he thought he saw a pair of eyes flash across his mind’s eye. Then Trint knew nothing but blackness.