Chapter Five: Yes, Magic!

The image panned to another section of the darkened world, only a third illuminated by fire.

A pyramid greeted him, built from thousands of perfectly shaped cubes. A whole city of earthen structures surrounded the great work, exuding an infallible aura.

Earth.

When the image shifted again, the earthen lands shined soft brown.

The last third of this segment, one of many that he saw with the help of the fire's illumination, was an arctic wasteland.

Compared to the earthen segment, the icy domain felt far less sturdy. Instead, its frost layered everything, including the sky. An almighty blizzard steeped the world in its primordial fury.

The different intensities of power interested him. Large spires of ice pierced the center of the blizzard. Under the freezing administrations, lakes froze over and mountaintops trembled.

Ice.

Very intriguing.

The elements of fire, earth, and ice. Their representations felt unlimited in their complexity, showing the duality that hid deep within each one.

However, things didn't end there.

He blinked.

A raging storm over an ocean, lightning cracking down and illuminating the sky. The winds assaulted any creatures in the air and threatened to single-handedly capsize a large boat, shaking it to and fro. The enormity of the hurricane blacked out all perceivable sky, exciting the water and wind at its beckoning.

The storm was king. It was almighty.

A powerful bolt struck against his perception, causing the image to change.

Now Aiden viewed an unidentifiable figure, draped in a simple white cloak that obfuscated any and all details of their origin.

Intrigued, he watched intently.

They shifted through space as easily as breathing, silently appearing on the other side of the planet.

They waved their hand, and the world groaned as gravity inverted. The wild trees ripped free of the ground, their roots trailing behind as they rocketed up past the figure.

Then, just as easily, they rewound everything.

Aiden watched in awe. Everything reverted to where it had been initially, and the figure raised its hand to stop the reversed flow of time.

If given physical form, his jaw would've dropped from the powerful display.

Excitement bubbled in his chest when he considered the possibilities the system brought with it.

Maybe the monsters weren't so bad after all…

Sike. Too many died already. It was too late for him to ever consider the coming of the system as anything but tragic. Especially the monsters it brought with it. Truly, this could only be described as a global crisis of the highest magnitude.

The whole "spawn in your face wherever we want" coupled with the "trying to eat you" made for a nasty combo.

Then again, he still didn't know the scale of the event. He really doubted something like this could be isolated to the school. If anything, it had to be at least their entire city.

Refocusing, Aiden realized the shrouded image stared up at him, silver eyes sharp and piercing. They oozed regality. The way they manipulated the world with casual ease struck Aiden dumb. In comparison to what he was capable of, he came to a conclusion.

The figure before him was a god, manipulating the laws of the world like Aiden would cook eggs for breakfast.

“Who are you?”

His mind ached from the intensity of that demanding, reality-shattering question.

The image shifted one final time.

Next up?

A war zone. Dozens of godlike beings fought against swarms of black and grey. Things had obviously been cranked up to an eleven on the Magic Meter for this one. It was unlike any place he’d ever seen before, even in the strange worlds that had been featured so far.

The first thing he noticed? The world bathed in red light. Looking up, he saw that there was no sun. No, the light came from the sky itself. It was the red of raw flesh with black veins that pulsed in a beat. As he continued to observe this horrifying phenomenon, he noticed an eye.

It was in the sky.

And it was red.

Red like that of the hooded figures from the morning. All the black veins stemmed from that eye, writhing and roiling ominously.

Another god, even more radiant than the one from the previous image, stepped out of a tear in space before the sky eye. It slammed forward with a fist that obliterated the very space in front of them. A sucking vortex whirled and shrieked, but it meant nothing to the Sky Eye.

The entire world came alive.

The world stilled as the Sky Eye’s fury shook the fabric of reality, halting the fighting below. The air seethed with grey and black wisps. They accumulated, spinning into a massive stream of shadow and darkness. It gradually accelerated into a spiraling maelstrom, focused on the godlike being.

Despite their prior confidence, nothing they did stopped what happened next. They were powerless, like a newborn before an adult.

The tendrils of wispy air bound each of the god’s limbs, persisting through its attempts of space hopping until they could no longer do so. The attempts failed as shadow inkiness knit the space tears closed before the god could escape.

Aiden lost sight of them until the maelstrom stopped its horrifying rumbling.

A body of black mist remained. Massive wings ripped out of their back, casting a shadow as it spread its wings wide.

They were no more, replaced by a monster.

It tilted its head back and let out an ear-piercing shriek. The sound shook the world. Aiden’s vision nearly collapsed under that rage-filled shriek. It didn’t relent as a dozen limbs sprouted from its torso.

But that wasn’t the end.

Two more heads grew on its shoulders, the sound of ripping flesh filling Aiden with a deep sense of nausea.

What was once regal and refined warped into nightmare fuel.

The newly anointed god monster spread its wings wide. Vibrant red and black energy condensed into a shining orb before exploding in a flurry of blood-red feathers. They rained down on the ground below, stabbing into the flesh of the other godlike people.

Each feather punched through hastily erected defenses. Once they pierced flesh, they slowly sank into the gods’ skin, tainting them all. Mere seconds later, all was quiet.

As fast as it had begun, it was all over.

The gods had been wholly defeated.

Floating down to join the new monster army, they watched as the space in front of them split and tore. It writhed and wriggled in protest, but there was only so much that could be done before the will of the eye in the sky.

It tore open the fabric of reality. On the other side of that portal?

Earth.

Aiden gasped as the image came to a stuttering halt, falling onto his back away from the Arcana Node.

Arcana Node activated!

Attribute Nodes Active:

2/5

Three Attribute Nodes required to unlock personal Status!

He waved away the familiar update and caught his breath. Everything he’d seen left him feeling hopeless. The powers, the gods, the monstrous being that assimilated gods - it was all too much.

Truthfully, he wanted a hug.

No remaining Essence.

Depart Orrery?

Yes.

No.

Yes!

His vision focused. Olivia tilted her head. “You’re back already?”

Nodding, he lurched forward and hugged her. Hard. He grit his teeth, doing his best to calm down. Olivia didn’t ask him any questions about what happened. She just wrapped her arms around his shoulders and provided silent support.

Tightness. His chest constricted as his heart raced faster than ever before. It pained him, but that only helped ground him to reality.

A reality that he feared was already lost if what he witnessed meant anything. If there were windows, he would check to see if the Sky Eye appeared.

It wasn’t something he was in a hurry to do.

His mind raced at a mile a minute. If even one of those things already crossed over, their world was doomed. The only thing he’d seen so far was the slimy, round monsters.

As horrifying as they were, they didn’t even come close to comparing to what he had seen in those visions. They were nothing in the face of the powerful storm, let alone the godlike being that could alter the fabric of the world.

But, even above that, the sky eye. He had no better name for it. Sky Eye. It rhymed.

He chuckled, finally calming. Releasing Olivia from the bear hug, he looked around.

Fear. Unadulterated terror and uncertainty. All of them were cowering in place, too afraid to move; too afraid to speak. He didn’t know how to help, feeling just as afraid. Outside of sports, his life had been fairly calm. The only difference?

He had someone here to fight for. Olivia kept him grounded and vice versa.

Looking down at his watch, he groaned.

Seven fifty.

It had only been less than thirty minutes since this whole thing started, and that was incredible to Aiden. He knew his sense of time was slightly off due to his time spent in the Orrery with his Essence Map and in the images, but it still felt like more had happened.

“Aiden, what do we do now?” Olivia’s worried voice asked.

Focusing on his sister, he looked at her. “Oli, what Attribute Node did you activate?”

“Alacrity. I need to be faster if we’re gonna survive.” She looked hesitant to ask him as people started to come closer. She decided to do it, her curiosity winning out. “What did you choose?”

“Durability and Arcana.”

She nodded, “That’s good.”

“H - hey, what just happened?!” a student yelled.

Aiden rolled his eyes, feeling a sense of deja vu coming over him. He immediately felt guilty. The sound of his classmates-now-monsters smashing against the closed door reminded him that things were not all fun and games.

He wanted to get sucked into the gamification and sense of progression after every Node, but people were dead. More people would die if he didn’t do something.

Olivia met his gaze and shook her head. “Aiden, you can’t…”

“I have to.” He stood up with his Pen in hand. The energy from activating the Nodes still buzzed through him.

“Let me help.” She pulled on his arm, stopping him from opening the door.

“There’s too many out there, Oli. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Aiden, don’t be a jerk!” She stamped her foot. “You think I want you to get hurt out there? You think I just want to wait and watch while you go fight monsters that literally eat people?”

He stood his ground, and she glared back at him. Her shoulders shook as she breathed heavily.

As Aiden reached to open the door again, a hand wrapped around his wrist. He looked at the culprit, recognizing an acquaintance from track.

“Dude, what’s the deal?” Adam asked. He didn’t budge when Aiden tried to shake him off. “Seriously.”

Aiden didn’t want to stop and talk. He should, but he felt like if he did, things would get too real for him. The classmates that died? He could act like they were still in the classroom. Mr. Feriger? For all he knew, it could’ve been a hallucination.

But, he knew it wasn’t.

Turning to Adam, Aiden appraised the other guy. He was a few inches taller and had wider shoulders and bigger, muscled arms.

“You have to believe me if I’m telling you,” Aiden started, releasing a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“Fine, I’m all ears, man. Let’s sit down -” A slam against the door startled them. “Or we can stay right here, just give us something to work with.”

“Monsters are appearing. The hallway is full of strange darkness that eats people and makes more monsters. I -” He held up the Pen and looked at it. Then, he looked at his blackened hand. The shadows had left residual inkiness that stained his skin. Looking at Olivia, he resolved his will. If they were gonna survive, they needed more allies. “The world has turned into a roleplaying game, kind of.”