Book 2: Strange New Worlds

Chapter 1: Land of Circuitry and Logic

Michael looked outside his window. Stretched before him was a world that seemed to be built from computer chips, circuits, copper, and gold. Some parts of the place looked oddly reminiscent of what one would expect to see in a Tron universe. He looked up at the sky, but didn't really see anything. It appeared that the planet was lit solely by artificial light from the circuits and lights running through buildings and the streets. He was so absorbed in the strangeness of this new place that it took him several minutes to realize that Blair was trying to contact him. He quickly replied and realized that she needed to be brought into the game. He went to the computer in his room and placed the items for her. After wishing her good luck, he stepped away from his computer and looked over his sword collection. It would be best not to go exploring without a weapon of some sort. He finally selected his a basic katana. It had a beautiful red sheath and a design etched into the blade. It had been prepared for combat use.

As he picked up and equipped the sword, something unusual happened. A display appeared before him. It read, "SYLLADEX". It then displayed a green display labeled "Strife Specibus". A card like structure appeared with his sword on it and placed itself into the Strife Deck, labeling itself as Swordkind. He noticed that his sword had now vanished. He held his hand out and made a grasping motion and thought about needing his sword. The sword suddenly appeared in his hand. He smirked and returned it to the Strife Deck. Michael waved his hand and the display shifted to feature blank pink cards. There were ten blank cards visible to him. Based on what he had just seen, he assumed this to be his inventory. Apparently, it was limited to only ten items. Well, he would have to do something about that later. For now he quickly messaged the whole group in IRC about what he had discovered. They would be able to read it later when they had time. He waved his hand again, closing the Sylladex.

He looked at his sprite. It was just a floating computer. He looked around his room and came across a picture of his best friend. Well, who else would serve as a better guide? Without further hesitation, he tossed the picture of his best friend, Tiger, into the sprite. The sprite immediately transformed into a white ghostlike image of his best friend with a laptop floating nearby him.

"Well," said Michael. "I guess that worked."

"Yep. Probably the best choice you could have made for a second prototyping, man," responded Tigersprite.

"Hmm. Since you're a part of the game, perhaps you can give me some information as to what exactly is going on here?" asked Michael.

"Yeah, since you fused me with the sprite and this laptop, I've got a good bit of information about everything."

"So, first things first. Is it safe to assume that our home has been destroyed? I mean like the entire planet."

"Yes. The reckoning effectively annihilated all life on Earth except for those who escaped to the Medium."

"The Medium? I assume that's wherever I am right now?"

"Yep. This is a small part of the Medium. Your other friends are in other locations in the Medium."

"So, what exactly is this place?"

"We're on your planet, the Land of Circuitry and Logic."

"My planet? I got an entire planet?"

"Yeah, each player gets a planet that's created based on them, their role, and their quest. Think of it as a home or starting point for the real game."

"I kind of figured that this is still somehow a game. Especially after that Sylladex interface."

"Ah, cool. You already figured that part out already. So, anything else you want to know?"

"Yeah. I saw my inventory is pretty limited. I want to change that. Anyway to hack the system? This is a game, so it should have a manipulatable code of some sort."

"Hmm. That seems possible, but I'm not sure where you'd find an access point."

"I have an idea."

Michael grabbed the laptopsprite and began typing. Sure enough, he was able to find the code for the game. After all, the sprite was directly linked to the game itself.

"Heh. Found it," Michael said, smirking. "Looks like the inventory system is actually pretty low priority, so the security and protection around it is pretty basic. Mind helping me work through it? Tiger was always pretty good at coding, so you should be, too."

"Yeah, I can help," replied Tigersprite, nodding. "It won't be hard at all."

The two easily cracked through the little security around the game's inventory system and gained access to the inventory code. All they really needed to do was change the variableset for the inventory. With that completed and saved, Michael waved his hand, summoning the Sylladex. He scrolled through his inventory of blank cards. The cards just kept scrolling endlessly. He smiled.

"Looks like it worked," said Michael.

"Yep," replied Tigersprite. "You and the others should be able to freely store items as you need."

"So, if this is game and there's an entirely separate storage system devoted to weapons, it would be safe to assume that there are also enemies, yes?"

"Of course. There are other NPCs as well though."

"Naturally. Hmm. I assume those black things crawling in through the window are the first and most basic enemies of this game then?"

"You nailed it. Looks like it's time for your first strife!"

Michael turned to face the oncoming imps of various color. They all had something were carrying laptops while other were carrying leeks, violins, or teapots. Some of them also looked like fluffy black cats. Michael smirked and withdrew his sword from the Strife Deck. He readied himself in a fighting stance with the sword and then engaged them. He was very skillful with sword after having many lessons and teaching himself. In spite of his size, he was able to move quickly and slice the imps as they charged him. The last group of imps was approaching him and they moved to throw their weapons at him. Michael ran towards them, sword at the ready, when suddenly he moved forward at an impossibly fast speed. When he stopped, he'd already sliced through them. Michael had apparently also picked up the strange colored and shaped items these imps kept dropping. He was still confused by what had just happened.

"Hey, what was that just now," Michael asked.

"I'm not fully sure, but I expect it's something to do with your class or aspect," replied Tigersprite.

"Class? Aspect? What's that? I mean, the idea of a class makes sense since this is a game, but I'm not sure about aspect. Is there anyway to tell what class or aspect I am?"

"Yeah. You're a Knight of Mind."

"OK. What does that mean?"

"You class is Knight and your aspect is Mind."

"I figured that much. I was asking for a description of the class and aspect."

"Hmm. According to the information I have, a Knight is both an offensive and defensive class. It's primary role is to defend and protect. The Knight is also able to augment himself and his party with his aspect."

"That kind of sounds like a paladin in WoW."

"That'd be a pretty accurate comparison."

"So, how about my aspect? What is the Mind aspect?"

"The Mind aspect is concerned with, rather obviously, the mind and mental state. It is associated with thought and logic. A Hero of Mind can usually think calmly and logically even under pressure and can formulate plans on the fly. Your use of the aspect itself is more or less determined by your class."

"So, what you're saying is I'm sort of a Protector of Mind? And apparently some form of leader or planner?"

"Yeah, that kind of sums it up pretty well."

"Well, I guess that fits well. And I guess that sudden burst of speed had something to do with me unintentionally augmenting myself with my aspect."

"That seems most likely."

"Well, anyway, I take it I can get stronger by doing things and killing enemies in the game, right?"

"Yes. You've already advanced several levels from wiping out all those minions."

"Awesome. I guess the more I advance the more I'll hone my skills with controlling my aspect and class. So, is there anything else that I should know about the game right now?"

"Well, I'm not supposed to be so straightforward with information, but since I'm also prototyped as your best friend, I'm going to ignore that."

Michael smiled and said, "Of course you would. Anything to help me out."

Tigersprite nodded and said, "Well, for starters, this place is called the Medium and is located inside the Incipisphere. This is the world of your session. You were brought here to give birth to a new universe."

"I see. Would it be safe to assume that my home world has been destroyed?"

"Yes. The meteors that you saw were part of the Reckoning. When the Reckoning happens, the meteors from beyond the veil, which is located past the edges of the Incipisphere, are hurled at the Battlefield. Skaia, sensing this, uses defense portals to redirect the meteors. These portals lead to your planet, hence the sudden appearance of the meteors. At this point in time the Reckoning has not occurred."

"Doesn't that create a paradox?"

"More or less, yes. The Reckoning is the reason you were called here, but your coming here will inevitably cause the Reckoning. It's a bit weird, I know."

"Eh, not the oddest thing I've heard. So, tell me more about Skaia, the Battlefield, and the Veil."

"Skaia is everything within this session. It is a dormant crucible of unlimited creative potential. I mean, it has to be if it can create and entire universe."

"Indeed. Go on."

"The planet located at the very center of Skaia and the center of the Incipisphere is called the Battlefield. There, the armies of Prospit and Derse wage a neverending war against each other that is in constant stalemate. The Black King leads the Dersite army, the forces of evil and destruction, and the White King leads the Prospitan army, the forces of light and creation. However, since you and your friends entered the session with prototyped sprites, this fight will not remain as a stalemate for much longer. When you entered the Medium, the data of your prototypings was sent to both Prospit and Derse, affecting the Kings, Queens, and underlings. It also caused the Battlefield to grow and evolve, which is necessary for the birth of the new universe. Now that the prototyping has occurred, the Prospitan army must lose. They are always destined to lose this fight."

"What? Light is always doomed to fail?"

"Yes, but that's why y'all are here. When the White King falls and the Reckoning begins, the Heroes can stop the Reckoning by defeating the Black King on the Battlefield. In doing so, you will win your session and be able to claim your Ultimate Reward, a new universe."

"I see. So not all is lost when they lose. It comes down to us. But I assume that it isn't that simple, is it?"

"No, it's not. In order to give rise to the new universe, the Hero of Space must breed a proper genesis frog with the help of the Knight. Furthermore, each player needs to complete their own quest on their home planet and face their planet's denizen."

"So it seems we have a lot of work to do. Wait, you mentioned that Derse was the kingdom of darkness. I recall having a dream of such a dark place. And Blair had a dream about a golden place."

"That would make sense. After all, you are a Derse dreamer and she is a Prospit dreamer."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"Each player also has a dream self, located on either Derse or Prospit. Both selves cannot be awake at the same time though."

"Do they serve some kind of important role?"

"Of course. They actually have quite a few uses. One of which is a sort of second chance mechanism. If a player dies, they'll wake up as their dream self. However, the dream self will soon die if an event is not triggered as the damage to the real self will be inflicted upon the dream self, just on a delay."

"What's the trigger?"

"A kiss from another player."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. That's how it works. But there is another use. They can also be used to reach the highest level of power that a player can achieve, God Tier."

"God Tier? That sounds pretty strong. How do I get that?"

"Well, to be blunt, you have to die."

"You can't be serious. Dying is usually a bad thing."

"Yeah, it is, but if a player has already hit the normal level cap, they can ascend to God Tier by dying on their Quest Bed."

"That's a little fucked up."

"Indeed. Also, don't ask where your quest bed is. That information is actually not available to me right now. I guess you'll have to find it through exploration."

"Yeah, besides it'll be a long time before I'd be able to use it anyway, so it'd be pointless to worry about it now."

"Yep. Hmm. I think all that's left to tell you is the information about the Seven Gates."

"What are those?"

"There are seven gates or portals for each player. They connect to different places, including the other players' planets. In order to complete your quest and successfully progress through the game, you must pass through all seven gates."

"What lies beyond the seventh gate?"

"Your denizen. For now, it slumbers, but when you are ready, it will be awake and waiting for you."

"What will this denizen do."

"That I do not know. It will be different for each player and unique to your circumstances. I do, however, think that it will be important in completing your quest."

"Well, it sounds like I should get started. Where's the first gate?"

"Directly above your house. To get to it, you will need your server player to build your house up until you can reach the gate."

Michael sighed and pulled out his phone. He said, "I guess I better contact Xavi."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Michael contacted Xavi through IRC and explained to him that he needed to build his house up. Xavi set to work, but said he did not have enough grist. This was not a problem for long as the underlings had apparently taken an interest in Michael. He quickly dispatched them, gathering more and more grist for Xavi. Finally, the house had reached the height of the gate. Xavi said he had to go, but also told Michael that he had deployed the holopad and the punch designix. Michael thanked him and took a look at the new device.

He took his digital camera and placed it in his inventory. He then took the captchalogue card with his camera and a blank captchalogue card from his infinite inventory and placed them in the punch designix separately. He then walked to the alchemiter and placed both cards into it at once. It produced the captcharoid camera. He proceeded to use it on his desktop and a pair of awesome looking glasses. He took the cards and input their captcha codes into the designix and it produced cards for the two items. He placed the two together in the alchemiter and produced an augmented reality computing system. He placed the glasses over his eyes and slipped on the gloves that went with it. Immediately, he was able to see all of his surroundings, but with his computer interface floating around. He was able to manipulate it by moving his hands. Satisfied, he closed the display. His glasses flickered, clearing now that the augmented reality had been put into idle.

Michael motioned for Tigersprite to join him as he swiftly ascended the ramps that Xavi had built for him. Along the way, he made quick work of the underlings that kept trying to stop him. He was beginning to figure out how to use his aspect a bit. If he focused at the right moment, he could boost his speed or strength for and instant. It was far from perfect control, but it was progress. When he reached the top, two massive ogres appeared, blocking the gate. Michael readied himself for combat.

He engaged the ogres, but they were better than he expected. One of them landed a good hit on him and sent him flying to the edge of the roof. He almost fell off, but managed to hold on. He got back up and readied himself. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, clearing and calming his mind. He focused. He was stronger and faster than this. His eyes snapped open and suddenly he had crossed the distance between him and the ogres and had already sliced their arms off. He followed up with another couple of smooth swings and the ogres fell, bursting into grist which Michael quickly retrieved.

"That was an impressive recovery," said Tigersprite.

"Yeah. I think I have a name for that power now," replied Michael.

"Oh? What is it?"

"I think I'll call it 'Mind Over Matter'."

"That sounds like a pretty good name."

"I thought so. Well, with them gone, I guess it's time that I go through the gate. Will you be coming with me?"

Tigersprite shook his head and said, "No. I'm not allowed to follow you through the gates. However, I can now give you this."

Tigersprite revealed a gold pendant with a brilliant emerald in the center of it.

"This pendant will allow you to summon me whenever you need me."

"Awesome! Thanks, man."

"No problem. Now, you need to get going. Good luck, my friend."

"Yeah, thanks!"

Michael placed the pendant around his neck and then turned to face the first gate. He ran and jumped through the green gate and into his own world, the Land of Circuitry and Logic.

Chapter 2: Land of Stones and Fog

Xavi looked outside, but all he could really see was endless fog. It was cold and it made him feel uneasy. He looked back into his house and noticed the leeksprite. He sighed. Of course he would prototype his sprite by tripping and knocking a leek into it. He couldn't help but feel screwed somehow. He moved to his room. He came across his beloved Hatsune Miku plushie. He looked at it then back at the sprite and back at the plushie again. Finally, he tossed the plushie into the sprite. The sprite immediately transformed into a ghostlike image of Hatsune Miku except that instead of her normal pigtails, she had leeks. Hatsune Leekusprite had been born. The new sprite smiled brightly at Xavi.

"こんにちは! 初音Leekuです。" said Hatsune Leekusprite.

"Pardon?" Xavi replied, looking confused. "Umm, I think you said hello and your name is Hatsune… Leeku?"

"Yes! I'll try to keep from speaking in Japanese since it seems you're not a fluent speaker."

"Yeah no. I'm only fluent with english and spanish."

"No problem! So, are you ready for your adventure?!"

"Umm actually I have no idea what's going on."

Hatsune Leekusprite smiled, made a pose and said, "Don't worry! That's why I'm here! I'm your sprite. You're guide for this game!"

"Wait, we're still in that game?"

"Of course! Where did you think you were, silly?"

"Well, could you tell me what's going on here?"

She tilted her head, smiling, and replied, "Certainly! But I can't just reveal everything to you, y'know! That'd be too easy and things would be boring."

Xavi sighed and said, "Great… Well, I guess just tell me what you can then."

Leekusprite happily explained what the Battlefield and Medium were. She also explained the war between Derse and Prospit, how they had affected it, that he must complete a quest, and about the gates. She did not reveal to him nearly as much information as Tigersprite had to Michael.

"I think I get it," said Xavi. "So, it's kind of like a big RPG, right? I just have to level up and complete quests?"

"Yeah!" replied Leekusprite. "That's pretty much it! Oh! I should tell you about your class and aspect though."

"Huh? What're those?"

"Your class is like your role in the game and the aspect is sort of what you use or embody."

"Ok, I think I understand. So what am I?"

"Your a Sylph of Breath! The sylph class is a healing and supportive class. You'll use your aspect to heal your teammates. Breath is the aspect of wind. It's movement. It's what you'll manipulate in order to heal."

"So I heal through wind? Like a healing wind or something?"

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Ok, well, that does sound pretty fitting for me."

"Yeah! So, you ready to start your adventure?"

"I think so, but first I need to find some sort of weapon."

"That would certainly be a good idea. Especially since you have some enemies heading your way."

"WHAT?!"

Xavi looked over and noticed that there were black imps crawling through the windows. He panicked a little bit, but hurried to his room. There he found a staff. It was just a simple hard wooden staff, but it would suffice for now. He noticed that when he grabbed it, the strife specibus appeared, indicating that he could now use staffkind. He wasn't fully sure what that meant, but he'd worry about that later. For now, he had to try and dispatch the imps with his staff.

He faces the imps, assuming a combat stance with his two-handed staff. The imps encroached upon him and he began to strike at them with his staff, aiming for his head. Unfortunately, a simple staff wasn't the strongest of weapons, so dispatching them was proving to be more troublesome than he had expected. He sustained some mild injuries, but ultimately defeated all of the imps after bashing them in the head enough times. He grabbed the grist that they dropped. He examined his wounds and let out a sigh. When he did, something odd happened. A blue energy moved with his breath, landing on his wounds. Xavi felt a cool breeze flow across the wound briefly and then noticed that his minor injury had been healed.

"Umm… I guess that's how my class and aspect work together?" Xavi said.

"Yep!" replied Leekusprite. "You use the power of Breath to heal others or even yourself! Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah, I can see how that will be useful, but it seems I don't have much offensive power."

"Nope! Sylphs aren't a particularly offensive class! But you can improve your combat ability as you level up and alchemize new weapons."

"Oh, I see. That would be good."

Xavi's phone began to buzz. Michael was messaging him in IRC. He quickly checked the message and saw that Michael was asking him to build up his house so that he could reach the first gate. He'd already been briefed on this part of the game by Leekusprite, so he just went straight to his computer and began to build the house. When he was done, he also deployed the punch designix device and holopad for Michael to use. With Michael fully ready to go, he contacted Tash to see about building up his house. She began to do so after deploying the punch designix and holopad for Xavi; however, she quickly depleted Xavi's grist supply. She told him that he would have to kill more underlings before she could continue. Xavi wasn't too thrilled by this, but he did see other imps scurrying about outside and in his house, so he went to engage them. He defeated some of them, but eventually found himself backed against a wall with a wave of them approaching him. Xavi took his staff and slammed it horizontally against the ground. A huge gust of wind was generated when he did this, knocking back the wave of imps. This gave Xavi the chance he needed to finish them off with some more swings of his staff.

Eventually, he collected enough grist and Tash was able to build his house tall enough to reach the first gate. She wished him good luck and advised him to try and improve his staff before he went through the gate. Xavi was sure that this was a good idea, but he wasn't sure what he could use to make his staff better. He began to search through his house for something with which to alchemize it. He finally came across a machete. He figured that could be helpful, so he took it and used the punch designix to make punch cards of his staff and the machete. He then placed both cards into the alchemiter and it produced a voulge, a two-handed wooden staff with a curved, sharp metal blade at the end. This was much better. Happy with his new weapon, Xavi scaled his newly constructed house. He encountered a few imps along the way, but easily defeated them with his new staff.. He finally reached the gate and Leekusprite appeared again.

"Congrats on making it to the first gate!" she said excitedly. "Now I get to give you this!"

The handed Xavi a pendant with a bright blue sapphire on it and said, "You can use this to summon me to your side at any time!"

Xavi placed the pendant around his neck, tucking it under his shirt, and said, "Thanks! I'm sure I'll need to sometime."

"I'm here for you anytime you need me. Now, it's time for your journey to really begin! Get going! You've got a long road ahead of you."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks!"

Leekusprite smiled cheerfully at Xavi as he leapt through the first gate and finally took his first real steps on the Land of Stones and Fog.

Chapter 3: The Land of Seeds and Opals

Tash looked outside and saw a place that appeared to be mostly fields or gardens. Well, they would be except for the fact that there were no plants growing. It was just tilled soil. Sections of the tilled soil or possible gardens were seperated by lines of brilliant opals of various sizes. The roads that run throughout the visible area were also lined by opals on each side of the road. She stepped away from the window and noticed her sprite. It still needed another prototyping, so she went to her room. There she found her beloved alpaca plushie. Without much hesitation, she tosses the plushie into the sprite. The sprite quickly became a ghostlike alpaca with a violin strapped to its back. Tash smiled at the fluffy cuteness that was now her sprite.

"Hello!" said Alpacasprite. "I'm here to help you on your journey! Thanks for making me to cute and fluffy by the way."

"Umm…," replied Tash, still kind of unsure as to what was going on and still taken aback by the cuteness. "You're welcome? Out of curiosity, can you actually play that violin?"

"Why of course I can!"

Alpacasprite retrieved the violin from its back and began to play. Surprisingly, it was able play quite beautifully. The song it played was a happy tune and it was masterfully performed. After a short time, it stopped and returned the violin to its back.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed that, but we should get you started on your adventure!" said Alpacasprite.

"Oh, yeah, I guess that would be good," replied Tash. "So, um, where should I begin?"

Alpacasprite gave her a rundown of everything that she really needed to know just like Leekusprite had for Xavi. It then began to explain her class and aspect.

"You're a Page of Life," said Alpacasprite. "Life is just what it sounds like. The life and energy of all living things. A page is an interesting class. They usually start off quite weak, but they have the potential to become the most powerful member in their party, attaining absolute mastery and control of their aspect."

"So, what, I could destroy or create life?"

"It's possible! A fully realized page could theoretically synthesize new life from almost nothing! We'll just have to see how you grow and develop."

"I see. Well, I guess if I'm going to be adventuring and such, I'll need a weapon of some sort."

"Indeed you will! It's dangerous to go exploring in this world without a way to defend yourself."

"Well, the biggest problem is that my family doesn't keep any kind of weapon in their house. So I literally have nothing to go off of.."

"Hmm," said Alpacasprite. "What about those nifty twin pistols over there in that picture?"

Tash looked at what the sprite was talking about and realized that it was referencing the guns that Dante was wielding on the cover of a Devil May Cry game. That could work. She retrieved the box and placed the image of the guns on the alchemiter and activated it. It alchemized Ebony and Ivory, a black steel gun and a silver steel gun respectively. She retrieved the weapons, triggering the strife specibus and strife deck windows. Her strife specibus now contained gunkind and the guns were placed into the strife deck. She held her hands out and the guns materialized in them. She then willed them gone and they returned to the strife deck. Pleased with this, she went to walk to her computer only to find a large number of imps had appeared.

"Looks like its time for your first strife!" said Alpacasprite. "Good luck!"

"You're not going to help me?" asked Tash. "There's so many of them!"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be just fine."

"Thanks…"

Tash readied the pistols. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but she knew she had to do it regardless. She took aim and began firing shots at the imps. She was a surprisingly good shot and she was able to nail quite a few of her targets. The imps couldn't even get really close to her because the pistols had pretty good range. After dispatching them, she collected their grist.

"I told you you'd be fine!" said Alpacasprite.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't have hurt you to help!" retorted Tash.

"Ah, but if I had helped, you would have missed out on very valuable experience."

Tash sighed and said, "I guess so. So what should I do now?"

"Contact your server player and build up to the first gate!"

"Ok. I'll do that."

Tash went to her computer to message Kevin, but was greeted by a message from Xavi. He apparently needed help to build up to his first gate. Tash messaged Kevin and told him what she needed him to do before setting to work on building Xavi's house. As she was working on Xavi's house, she heard noises coming from above her and her house shook slightly every so often. Kevin was doing his job while she worked on her job. She quickly finished and went outside to see Kevin's progress. He had nearly finished, but he had run low on grist, so she would need to eliminate a few more imps. He had to build the house a bit taller than the others because of Tash's particularly short stature. She wasted not time and taking out a good number of imps with her dual pistols. When Kevin said she was done, she proceeded quickly to the top of her house where she was greeted by a particularly large ogre wielding a leek in one hand a violin in the other hand. Arming Ebony and Ivory, she posted herself at a safe distance and prepared for combat.

The ogre charged at her, swinging with its violing. Tash quickly moved to dodge the oncoming attack and fired a few shots, but the ogre seemed largely unphased. It seemed unusually strong and angry. It threw its giant leek at Tash. Tash took aim at the leek with her ebony pistol, focusing for a brief instant and then firing. A green bullet exited the chamber, colliding with the leek. Upon collision, the leek instantly decayed into a pile of mush, falling harmlessly in front of her. Tash suddenly felt a bit of an energy drain, but she recovered quickly and fired two well placed headshots on the ogre, finally slaying it. Alpacasprite appeared next to her.

"Well, there's the first gate! Congratulations!" said Alpacasprite.

"Thanks. By the way, um, what happened with the leek?" asked Tash.

"Oh! That was some form of your Life aspect powers! I told you, a page can be the most powerful with full control and mastery over your aspect. It would make sense you could use Life to destroy something."

"Yeah, it just seems weird to destroy with Life. It also made me feel tired."

"Well, you're still a low level. So you don't have the energy, skill, or mastery built up yet! But you will soon enough! But for now we must part ways. I can't follow you beyond the gate. But I can give you this."

Alpacasprite presented Tash with a beige colored pendant. Tash took it and place it around her neck.

"With this, you can summon me to your side at any time. So, if you're lost or need help, just call me! I'll come running."

"Alright. I will. Thanks for all your help."

"My pleasure."

Alpacasprite bowed to Tash as she turned to face the first gate. She took a deep breath and jumped through the first gate and into the Land of Seeds and Opals.

Chapter 4:The Land of Tin and Cogs

Kevin was still a bit dazed after everything that had happened to him. He looked outside and noticed that his house was now sitting on some sort of mountain, giving him a large view of the land below. He saw what appeared to be a steampunk wonderland. Everything appeared to be made from tin or copper and there were gears, cogs, and steam valves everywhere and on everything. Kevin wasn't sure if this was really awesome or just weird. He figured it was probably more awesome than weird though. He noticed his teapotsprite floating there. He decided it was time to prototype it again. He went to his room and saw the cardboard cutout of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman from The Dark Knight Rises. There was no question. This was his second prototyping. He quickly threw the cutout into the sprite. The sprite immediately transformed into a ghostlike version of Anne Hathaway in her catwoman outfit. She was also holding a tray with a teapot and teacups on it. She smiled at him slyly.

"Well," said Annesprite. "I see you have good tastes."

"Um, thanks?" replied a mildly startled Kevin.

She smirked and said, "It seems I will serve as your guide for this game. So, then, shall we begin?"

Kevin nodded and she began her explanation of the basics of Skaia, the Medium, the game, the Reckoning, and the quests that they must complete.

"There's also the matter of your class and aspect," said Annesprite as she poured a cup of freshly brewed green tea and handed it to Kevin who took.

"What's that?" Kevin asked, sipping on his tea.

"You're a Prince of Time."

"A prince?! Like royalty?"

She scoffed at him and replied, "Hardly. It's just your class title."

"Oh…," said Kevin, clearly crestfallen.

"Oh, cheer up. It's not that bad. A prince is someone who destroys through his aspect. Or destroys his aspect."

"Wait, that sounds like I could end up hurting us or myself."

"Indeed, that is possible. A prince is the most powerful offensive class, but they are also sometimes careless or unstable. They can end up destroying their aspect and harming themselves and their teammates."

"I see… Um, well, does that mean I'll end up doing that?"

Annesprite smiled slyly at him, "Who knows? After all, that's up to you and your decisions from here on out."

"Well that was all sorts of helpful. Thanks."

"No need to be snarky. I'm only telling you the truth. What happens from this point forward and what will determine if you destroy your aspect or destroy with your aspect is up to you."

Kevin sighed and said, "I guess you're right. Well, what should I do now then?"

"You should probably contact your server player so that you can build up to the first gate. You should also find a weapon. This is a game after all. There are enemies here."

"Well that's just great. What am I supposed to use as a weapon?"

"Whatever you like really. How about that giant scythe over there?" she suggested, pointing to a picture of what looked like a grim reaper and its scythe.

"How is that going to help me?"

"Just use it on the alchemiter. It'll make a real copy of the picture."

"Oh, sweet!"

Kevin followed Annesprite's instructions and, sure enough, the alchemiter generated a usable replica of the grim reaper's scythe. Kevin grabbed the scythe and went to twirl it around when he noticed the strife specibus appear. It said that he could now use scythekind. Kevin sort of shrugged it off for the moment and continued to test out the new scythe. When he was done, he was unsure of what to do with the scythe. As if on cue, the scythe vanished and the interface for the strife deck appeared as the scythe was deposited there. Kevin was pleased to learn about this storage system. It would surely make life a lot easier. He attempted to contact Blair, but she was not responding. He was forced to stop trying for the moment as a small horde of imps was descending upon him.

Kevin withdrew his scythe from the strife specibus and readied himself for combat. The imps approached and Kevin began to slice through them with the scythe. He was doing fine, but their numbers were becoming too much for him as he was not well-trained with the scythe yet. He was getting backed into a corner. Out of desperation, he grabbed his scythe at the end of the shaft and swung it wildly in a horizontal direction while shouting, partial from exertion and partially from adrenaline. His scythe missed all the targets, but it did produce a flash of red light. When he looked again, he noticed that the imps had become old and decrepit looking. Kevin, unsure as to what had just happened, seized the opportunity and quickly slashed through the now elderly imps, collecting their grist as he went. He turned to face Annesprite, returning the scythe to the strife deck.

"What just happened?" Kevin asked Annesprite.

"You used your powers as a Prince of Time," she replied, smirking. "Albeit unconsciously and not very well. For a prince, such lack of control could be… catastrophic."

"I see. Well, then I'll have to be more careful in the future."

"That would indeed be advisable."

Kevin checked his computer and noticed that Blair had finally replied to him. She apologized for not responding sooner, but she had apparently been knocked unconscious and awoken on Prospit. She promised to explain things to him and the rest of the group at a later time as she thought it would be most prudent to build up Kevin's house and pass him through the gate. Kevin agreed, although he was very curious about Prospit and dream selves. Blair set to work and Kevin continued to slay more imps in order to provide Blair with enough grist. Blair finished the construction project pretty quickly and bid Kevin farewell as she had some matters of her own to which she must attend. Kevin wished her good luck and began his ascent to the first gate with Annesprite following closely behind him. He encountered a few more minions along his way, but he was able to easily dispatch them. When he finally reached the top, Annesprite stopped him.

"This is as far as I go," she said.

"What?" asked Kevin, mildly exasperated.

"I cannot pass through the gate with you. It's time for you to begin your real adventure."

"But what if I need you for something?"

She smiled slyly at him and withdrew a bright ruby pendant. She presented it to Kevin and said, "If you are ever in need of my services, use this pendant to summon me. I will come."

Kevin took the pendant, placed it around his neck and said, "Thanks. Well, I guess I should be off."

Annesprite nodded and moved out of Kevin's way. Kevin approached the gate. He looked back at Annesprite who nodded reassuringly at him. After that, he turned to face that gate and leapt through it and into the real Land of Tin and Cogs.

Chapter 5: Prospit, the City of Light

Blair awoke, dazed and a little confused. She looked around the room that she was in and noticed that it really resembled her own bedroom except that everything was golden. She examined her clothes and realized that she was wearing a brilliant golden nightgown with a white crescent moon emblazoned upon the front. She moved to the balcony of the room and realized that she was in a tower of some sort. She looked at the land before her and saw a city of gold. All of the buildings and streets were golden in color. She looked to the sky and she saw beautiful clouds. As she stared at them, images began to appear in them. She saw her friends arriving in strange new worlds and them traveling to different worlds. As she stared at the clouds, she began floating towards them. She looked away from the clouds and realized that she was flying. She thought that this was a pretty awesome power. She looked back at the clouds and saw something terrible. The scenes the flashed before her eyes showed all of her friends lying in pools of their own blood. They had all been slain. As the clouds moved, a big cloud appeared and it showed her lying dead on a floor, covered in blood and wounds with her eyes wide open.

Blair screamed and flew away from the clouds. She refused to look back at them as she flew across prospit. She had no destination in mind, but she wanted to get away from the visions. As she moved through the city, she saw white carapacian entities. They appeared to be the citizens of this place. Some of them noticed her and would smile and wave. She would sheepishly smile back and sometimes wave before continuing. Blair eventually reached an enormous building which appeared to be a palace of sorts. She floated down to a big window and peered inside the building. Inside the palace, she saw what appeared to be the throne room. She saw the queen sitting on her throne, consulting with many advisors. Blair couldn't hear what they were saying, but the white queen looked very concerned. For a moment, she glanced skyward again. There she saw the Battlefield and the White and Black armies. It was clear that Black had the advantage and that they would soon overtake the White army. Blair knew this must be what concerned the queen. She felt compelled to help, but was unsure how.

She suddenly began to feel very tired. She decided she should return to her tower, so she began to fly back to it. On her way, she noticed two other towers. Fighting her sleepiness, she flew over to them. In the first tower, she saw Xavi. In the second tower, she saw Tash. Both of them were sound asleep, wearing similar golden pajamas. This intrigued her, but Blair could no longer fight the drowsiness, so she promptly returned to her bed in her tower and closed her eyes.

Chapter 6: The Land of Forests and Frogs

Blair's eyes snapped open. She was lying on the floor of her living room next to the alchemiter. The back of her head hurt and when she touched it, she felt a small lump. She realized that must have fallen and been knocked out. As she sat up, she saw her meowchisprite floating next to her. She knew she would have to prototype it again and perhaps doing so would help her understand some things. She heard a meow from behind her. She looked in the direction of the sound to see her cat, Linus, sitting on a table. She figured that he would make a perfect second prototyping, so she went and picked him up from the table and tosses him into the sprite. The sprite transformed into a hybrid image of her beloved cat and her extraordinarily cute and fluffy meowchi plushie. Linussprite looked at her and smiled with his cute cat face.

"Hello!" said Linussprite.

"Um, hi," said Blair, still a bit overwhelmed by the cuteness and the fact that her cat could talk now.

"Don't be so alarmed! You picked the purrfect combination for a sprite. And now I can talk to you!"

Blair smiled and said, "Thanks. It's good to be able to actually talk to you."

"Yep! So, now I guess I should tell you some about this world."

"That'd be awesome, but first I have something I want to ask you about."

"Oh? Well purrlease ask me. I'll do what I can to answer."

"When I was knocked out, I woke up in this golden city. I could fly around and stuff, so I went looking around. While I was there, I saw some clouds. In those clouds I saw my friends and I dying. All of us. Just.. dead. Sitting in pools of our own blood…"

Blair trailed off as the horrific images danced across her mind. She shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts. After a moment, she had recovered and she looked at Linussprite.

"While you were unconscious, you were awake on Prospit, the city of light and the home of the White King and Queen. Those clouds are the clouds of Skaia. What you saw were visions of the future. Things that have not yet come to pass, but will."

Blair's eyes grew wide and what little color she had in her face drained from it as Linussprite's words sunk in. She said, "Then you mean to say that my friends and I are fated to die?"

Linussprite nodded and said, "If that is what you saw, then, yes, it is what I am saying; however, you do not know the context in which those deaths occurred. Also, death is not always the end in this world."

Linussprite went on to explain the method of reviving a player and that their session had a healer as well as a Life player. This reassured Blair a little bit, but she was still shaken by this knowledge. Linussprite then gave her a concise explanation of Skaia, the Battlefield, Prospit and Derse, the game, the gates, and her quest. Blair took in this new information quietly.

"Lastly, I need to explain your class and aspect," said Linussprite.

"Ok. So, what am I?" asked Blair.

"You are a Muse of Space."

"I'm a Muse? What does that do?"

"The Muse is one of two 'master' classes. These are supposedly the most powerful classes; however, the Muse is also an extraordinarily passive class. You do not directly cause things to happen like the other classes. Instead, you inspire things to happen. Things will happen because of you."

"OK. Well, that sounds both awesome and terrible."

Linussprite laughed softly and replied, "Indeed it might be. But I am confident that you will be able to use it well. Now, I should explain your aspect, Space. Space deals with the fabric of reality. The physical matter of the universe. Your aspect gives your power over all of that."

"I see. So I can inspire change in the world around me. I can cause big things to happen through my aspect. I think I can do that."

"Of course you can! After all, that's why you're the Muse of Space. I know you'll do brilliantly."

"Thanks, Linussprite. So what should I do now?"

"Well, you should try and find some sort of weapon. After that, you should hurry to the first gate. All of your other friends have already made it there while you were unconscious."

"Ahh! Of course I'm behind! OK, time to get it in gear!"

She began to look around her house for something that she could use as a weapon. She finally came across a knives and daggers magazine. She flipped through the pages and found a variety of throwing knives, hidden blades, and daggers that she liked. She brought the magazine to the alchemiter and proceeded to alchemize them. She picked up her knives and daggers. As she did, the strife specibus appeared, indicating that she could now use knifekind. The knives then placed themselves in her strife deck for retrieval at any time. Blair willed on of her throwing daggers to appear and it did. She smiled and returned it to the strife deck. This weapon storage system would be very helpful and useful to her, especially in regards to her throwing weapons. Just as she had finished this, the saw imps approaching her. They had gotten in through the windows and doors.

"What the heck are those things?!" Blair asked rather loudly.

"They are underlings. Imp type, specifically," replied Linussprite. They are the weakest enemies in this session, but be careful. Their numbers can overwhelm you."

"They look creepy as fuck. Like, they seem a bit hodge podged."

"They, just like the Royals, were affected by the first prototyping of the players' sprites."

"Well, that would explain a lot."

"Indeed. Now, I suggest you prepare for strife. There's quite a lot of them waiting for you."

Blair looked at the oncoming wave of imps. She crossed her hands in front of her body with her left hand just above her right shoulder and her left hand just below her left armpit. She summoned some of her throwing knives as she flung her arms outward, releasing the knives from her hand and unleashing a volley of throwing knives upon the imps. Several of the knives found their mark, slaying the imps immediately, but the rest hit the floor, walls, or furniture. This has at least taken care of some of the closer imps. She removed two daggers from her strife deck and engaged the imps in close combat. Blair was surprisingly nimble in spite of her dress and she moved with an air of grace. She quickly dispatched the remaining imps, but found herself out of breath afterward. She noticed that the imps had dropped some items, so she retrieved them as well as her throwing knives.

"Excellent job!" said Linussprite. "You gained a few levels from that and you also obtained a fair amount of grist!"

"I take it grist is that weird gusher looking stuff they dropped?" asked Blair.

"Indeed! Grist is used to build and to alchemize items."

"Cool. Well, now that that's out of the way, I guess I should contact Michael and get him to build my house up so that I can reach the first gate. I have a lot of work to do."

Linussprite nodded and replied, "Yeah, but you'll be just fine! Just contact him."

She opened her laptop and sent Michael a private message on IRC. He quickly replied and began to build her house immediately. He asked her to try and kill a few more imps so that he would have a bit more grist available. She captchalogued her laptop and went to find more imps to kill. It wasn't very hard and the was able to fell them quickly, collecting their grist drops as she continued. Michael finished building her a path to the roof pretty quickly and she thanked him using her IRC phone app so that she didn't have to bring out her laptop. With that out of the way, she proceeded to the top of her house.

When she arrived there, she found an armored ogre awaiting tried to hide how intimidated she was by this and decided to engage it by using her throwing knives. She launched them at the ogre and they all landed, but they bounced off the ogre's armor, having absolutely no effect on him. The ogre swung its massive arm at Blair. She ran out of the way as she began to panic. She really wasn't sure what to do with her knives being useless against the enemy. She was in danger and had no way out and no way to really defend herself. The ogre brought its arm towards her again, but this time in a horizontal sweep. Blair couldn't get out of the way in time and she was sent flying across the roof. She stopped rolling just before the edge. She scrambled to her feet, rattled from the hit. She looked at the armored ogre and saw the evil in its eyes. She had one last throwing knife left in her strife deck. The armored ogre moved to smash her with its arm again. She took the last throwing knife and hurled it at the oncoming ogre and shouted, "Please work!".

The knife hit the ogre in the chest and kept on going, completely piercing the ogre and its armor, and exited through the other side of the ogre. The armored ogre fell and burst into grist. Blair stood there for a minute just shaking and staring. She had no idea what happened. Linussprite appeared to try and explain things.

"Well," said Linussprite. "That was quite impressive."

"I… I don't even know what I did," replied Blair.

"In your desperation and dire situation, you inspired your weapon, increasing its density exponentially."

"I did what?"

"You made the knife a lot heavier and harder. Combined with its velocity, it essentially became a very sharp bullet. I know it wasn't an intentional use of your power, but good job nonetheless."

"I see," said Blair, regaining her composure finally. "Well, I guess I should get going then."

"Not just yet," said Linussprite. "I have something for you."

Linussprite withdrew a pendant with a pitch black diamond in it. He handed the item to Blair.

"I cannot follow you beyond the gate," said Linussprite. "Use the pendant to summon me to your side at any time. I will appear; I promise."

"Thank you. I will," replied Blair as she put the pendant around her neck. "I should get going."

"Indeed. Good luck on your adventure."

Blair nodded and turned to face the first gate. She walked towards it and then started to run. Finally, as she was almost under the gate, she jumped and passed through the portal, taking her first real steps into the Land of Forests and Frogs.

End of Book 2