Chapter 2: Tutorial and Training.
Seeing the doors appear out of nowhere was shocking to the three friends as they approached the doors in order to get a better view of them. As they got closer they noticed a marking that stretched across the floor under the doors. 'Avatars'
Ty carefully walked up to the marking while looking between it and the doors with a raised eyebrow. As the two others walked over to the doors as well, Ty had a good idea as to what to expect. "It looks like this is where we choose the avatars. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to become a badass."
With that Ty quickly went over to the door with his name on it and entered via doorknob just as the other two got to the marking. Quickly getting what Ty meant, as they had seen what their avatars were like, they went over to their doors. Black entered his door via doorknob once again while Shade took another root through his door via handprint.
(1/2 hour later)
It wouldn't be for another half hour before doors that were previously closed before, opened up to reveal three figures that were completely different than the three who first entered.
The first one to come out was dressed in a simple black polo shirt, a pair black jeans, and a pair of white sneakers along with two katanas strapped to the his back. His figure was also different in that his hair was slightly longer, reaching the ears, and gained a silverfish hue. The figure also grew several inches and seemed to pack just a little extra muscle. However, if one were to look at the new figure, it would be the eyes that drew the most attention. They were now slanted, much like a cat, in a burnt orange color that seemed to glow lightly if one were to look at it in the dark.
The next figure to come out came from the middle door. This figure wore a simple white tuxedo along with a midnight black tie and freshly shined black dress shoes. His hair seemed to go a few shades brighter till it looked as bright as the sun. However, most of the figure's hair was covered with a white fedora with a black stripe and a pale blue feather sticking out of it. While his skin seemed to grow a few shades darker, his body to exchange fat for muscle, a growth of a few inches, it was once again it was the eyes that would draw someone in. Unlike the firsts orange colored eyes, the eyes that adorned this figure were a blue that looked just like the sky on a cloudless afternoon.
The final Figure to emerge came out of the last door on the far right. This figure had on a simple black cloak adorned with red clouds and a straw hat that covered the figure's entire face. If one were to remove these two articles of clothing, they would see a lightly tanned figure with almost no fat and a simple muscular build, reminiscent of a swimmer. His hair, just a little longer than before, was now a light auburn just like the leaves in the fall. He was dressed in a white t-shirt with an unzipped black jacket over it, a pair of blue jeans, and black work boots. For the final time today, it would have been the eyes that drew all of the attention. They were a midnight black almost perfectly of a starless sky that looked as if they were boring into the soul of those who looked into its depths.
(This will be the appearance of all three avatars unless stated otherwise)
These figures were, in order, patrick Shade, Ian Black, and Ty Marc. With all of them out of the doors, all three doors seemed to swirl together into one. This new door was bright silver with a red and blue whirlpool going in it and the Roman numeral for one right in the center.
Seeing as there really wasn't anything else to do in the penthouse between dimensions, the three casually stepped through this new door to parts that were previously unexplored.
They came out at the entrance to what looked like a summer camp but with absolutely no one there. As the trio crossed through the boundary of the abandoned camp, a lighted up square appeared in front of all three companions. It had a simple heading on in bold letters. 'TUTORIAL' and a small box with a check mark in it. With nothing else happening, patrick walked up to it and tapped the check mark.
The box then shimmered and disappeared before a holographic figure appeared in its place. One was a half horse that looked familiar to the players as they had read the books pertaining to this creature before. This was the legendary trainer of heroes himself, Chiron. Black was the first to comment in the most intelligent way possible as the others, save the horse, "What the fuck?"
Chiron was rather polite in his response, which so happened to sound a lot like a npc from a lot of the videogames that the three dimension travelers had spent a lot of their time playing. "Welcome players, I hope that your journey to this dimension was a success. My name is TAC or Tutorial Application Computer. For easy recognition, I have adopted the holographic form of Chiron to allow for interaction on the physical level. My main purpose is to provide you with a basic understanding of your new abilities and how the world will work around you in a level named as a 'Tutorial' level. To begin simply say 'I am ready' and I shall commence the tutorial level."
With a glance to each other, Black said "Well I'm ready". Chiron simply gave a nod and shouted "Very Well" as the world began to spin around the three teenagers.
patrick was the first to regain consciousness with a loud groan. It was a struggle to stand as he struggled to gain his sense of balance as the world just kept spinning around him. Eventually, however, he managed to gain his balance only to find that he was alone and what looked to be in the middle of nowhere.
Seeing that he was alone, patrick decided to look at his surroundings to try and figure out where he was. As he looked around, he noticed that he was in a forest somewhere with an active volcano in the distance. Looking around, he eventually found a glowing sphere at what looked like the start of a trail. Deciding to take out one of his katanas, just in case, slowly stepped towards the glowing blue object. As he got close to the object, patrick stuck out his katana to touch the sphere. As soon as he sphere was touched, only to explode into a shower of blue sparks. As the sparks impacted the ground a light blue rectangle appeared out of the ground and started to float up until it was head level.
patrick raised an eyebrow at this as he readied to stab his new sword through the rectangle when all of a sudden words started to appear on the rectangle 'Welcome avatar to the tutorial. If you are patrick Shade, please hit the yes button below. If not, then good luck getting out of here on your own.'
Giving a slight chuckle at the ending, patrick tapped the yes button. The letters then started to shift until they now said 'Welcome patrick Shade to the custom made tutorial created and designed by the All Father himself. To allow for the best results, Time has been altered so that this island will continue to move in time as the rest of the universe moves forward. However, this island has also been made so that you won't age on this island.'
patrick couldn't help but smile as he read that little fact about not ageing. As he was contemplating that fact, the box began to descend back into the ground once more. Just as the box fully disappeared from view, a shadow in the shape of a sword came hurtling towards him. With reaction time that patrick didn't know he even possessed, he was able to dive to the side just as the now revealed blade tore through his previous position.
Shade first reaction was an immediate shout of "What the hell?" as he dodged two more strikes with surprising capability. However, this mysterious grace was only able to last another strike before he was hit with a diagonal slash across the chest. The pain that went through his body was unlike anything that he had even felt before as he placed a hand to trace the fresh wound. As patrick was looking for the weapon that had injured himself so, a shadow seemed to materialize from one of the trees into the form of what looked like a demonic night with two swords, much like patrick's new ones.
As the figure fully emerged from the shadows, he could see that one of his blades was drawn and was bleeding a crimson fluid that was previously inside patrick's body. The figure slowly approached the newly made demon with an appraising look within his eyes. "Well not bad for a newbie but could be better. It looks like we will have a lot of work to do to get you up to scratch but, as you probably know; we will have plenty of time for that."
patrick didn't know what kind of hell he signed up for until it was too late.
Elsewhere on the dimensional plane…
Another of the three figures just woke up himself as he slowly began to try and figure out where in the hell he was. From the looks of it, he was stuck in the middle of a desert in the middle of the day with the only thing in sight being a conveniently placed wooden shack.
Now, on normal occasions, Ty would normally knock or something like that before entering a random person's home but, as he was experiencing more often, his sense of normalcy took a trip up Shit creek for a weekend vacation as shit that shouldn't have been possible happened. So, with that in mind, Ty tried the doorknob to, luckily, discover that it was unlocked. Slowly entering the shack, Ty saw that no one was currently in there, at least anyone that he saw.
The inside was rather simple with a two person table, a bookcase, and a single bed. Seeing as he was probably going to be spending some time here, for one reason or another, decided to see if the occupant had any good books to read as Ty waited for the occupant who obviously lived there. As he took a look at the titles, one caught his attention almost immediately. It was a leather bound book that looked like it had seen better days. It had a simple title that was barely legible on the spine, 'Puppetry'. Deciding to take a closer look at the book, Ty tried to take the book off the shelf. However, it was just not meant to be as when he had pulled the book, an audible click was heard.
Not knowing what could happen next, Ty let go of the book just in time to see the case slide back till it was flush with the wall behind it revealing a previously concealed trap door. 'Huh, didn't expect that to happen.' Ty thought as he opened the trap door into parts unknown.
The trap door was connected to a latter that went about twenty feet down and into what looked like a old cellar. As Ty finished his descent down the ladder, it was a singular passageway into what Ty could barely make out as a room further down it. Cautiously, Ty slowly made his way down the passageway. Lucky for him, he was able to see a tripwire about halfway down and activated the trap prematurely. It caused a hail of darts to encompass the passage in front of him with enough darts to last a couple minutes at least. Looking over the way forward in search of traps just after the darts finished firing, Ty was confident that there were no more traps and it showed as he walked quickly towards the now definable candle lit room.
As Ty crossed the threshold into the room, he noticed that it must have belonged to a craftsman of some sort as he examined the fine woodwork on the tables, assorted marionettes lining the walls, and tools all across the room. The room also had four tables filled with what looked like incomplete marionettes with shapes ranging from bugs to people.
As Ty completed his examination of the room, he noted a figure that was almost unrecognizable in the shadows of the room. Seeing that the figure had been spotted, he walked into the candlelight to let the teen see his appearance. This new figure was about 5'8 tall covered in a black cloak much like Ty's own just without the clouds with only the face in view. However it was the fact that drew the most attention to Ty as he tried to figure it out. The face was plane enough, angular and pale, brown hair, and black eyes that had almost no life within them.
To Ty they looked almost artificial in nature. However, before he could piece together just what the being in front of him was, he spoke in an apathetic tone, "What kept you, it took you thirty minutes to find me. Pretty impressive for a normal person but, we both know that you are far from normal."
Ty just raised an eyebrow and took the best defensive stance that he knew of with his body turning sideways to the unknown and ready to flee if need be. All as this was going on, the unknown was criticizing my stance that much was evidence as he took no steps forward. Just as Ty was ready to remove himself from the premises with earnest, the figure spoke once more.
"So it seems that you are the one that the guy upstairs sent to be taught. Well, I'll tell you know, it isn't going to be easy to learn my art. However, if you're anything like me, that'll be the best part." Seeing that the figure was not going make hostile action, Ty relaxed and asked the one question that was on his mind, "What kind of art?" To this, the figure smiled, or at least tried to as it was clear that there was little emotion behind it.
"Why puppetry of course, my new apprentice."
Once again, in a place far, far, away….
The final dimension traveler awoke with a stir as his head was feeling like it was trying to rip itself inside out. Taking a moment to try and subdue the pain, the last figure slowly opened his eyes to try and figure if he wasn't in Kansas anymore, not that he had ever been there in the first place. What he saw was not what he was expecting.
Surrounding him was a stadium that looked like it had just been blown to hell. He was standing in the middle of a sand pit; only the sand was pure black. The ruins reminded him clearly of the coliseum in Rome. Just as Ian figured out where he might be, the ground started to shake with the force of a 7.0 earthquake. It knocked him to the ground just as it had ended. With a line that would make ten sailors blush in unison, not that they would hear, Black stood up to try and figure out just what the fuck had happened. Seeing no change immediately, he started to look at his surroundings more closely.
After a minute of looking he believed that he had found the source of the shake. There, in a chair that was normally reserved for a Roman emperor, was someone in a sky blue set of armor casually sitting leaned forward with his two hands resting on his knees and hands supporting an armored headpiece that covered his head. However, it was the weapon that caught the newly initiated priest's undivided attention. It was a two handed scythe that looked to be made by a master. It was casually leaning on the chair that supported the armored figure.
The scythe itself looked to be made out of silver and forged into a shape that looked absolutely exquisite in the atheist's cold mind. As if to make the weapon better, right where the hilt joined with the scythe blade was a blood red ruby that just shined in the light. Suddenly the scythe was no longer there as the priest felt a breeze of wind pass by his left ear. Looking for the source, Black turned his head to the side to see the handle of a weapon that was previously at least twenty meters away.
The blade itself was buried into the sand as Black thought about how that couldn't have been an accidental miss with the handle being so close to his face. Turning around to where he thought the weapon came from, Black saw the armored figure revert from an obvious throwing position to a standing one in front of the Royal chair. Making eye contact with the figure, Ian saw only white where a pupil would normally be as the knight snapped his fingers.
The sound of gears turning immediately filled the air as two passageways opened up in the sand right in front of the bastard, as Ian decided to call it henceforth. From the shadows emerged two stone goliaths that looked very hungry in the now curious priest's thoughts. Surely they weren't going to do what he thou…"OH SHIT!' (What happens next is too painful and grotesque for this author to say in words. But rest assured, there were no goliaths harmed in the making of the production of this tutorial)
The armored figure watched as his new apprentice tried to dodge the lions and carry the scythe at the same time. Needless to say the armored figure was greatly amused at the fight, if you could call it that, which was occurring in front of him. Needless to say that this priest, the figure almost lost control of his laughter yet again, needed a lot of tort…Training. Yes, a lot of training would be needed before this pest in front of him could grow and evolve into something that may give the figure pause. Yes, this would be a great project the figure thought. He would make this peon in front of him into a holy warrior.
With the fight clearly over, the figured halted the goliaths off just as they went to finish it off. The armored figure floated into the air towards the fallen priest to heal him of his injuries. Just as he finished healing the companion, the figure made a silent vow from within the armored confined of his head. He would indeed make this young acolyte into one of the most feared priests in all the dimensions, this he swore on his own name of Gabriel Orion Damocles.
Chapter end
Sneak Peak, maybe…
The sun was just setting as three figures made their way out of a cave and into the world of the legendary Elder Scrolls after escaping prison. The first of the figures, now clothed in a newly made cloak clouded in red said, "Well now what do we do?"
This caused the three figures pause as the figure with cat-like eyes asked the next question, "well, who has ever played Skyrim back home before?" it seemed that only one figure had not as he aggressively chopped down trees to alleviate anger at the thought of a couple weaklings had managed to somehow capture him and his two friends.
Seeing no answer to his question, the first figured decided to answer his own question, "Well I'm going to go find the Thieves Guild and hopefully complete their quests by the end of the week." The second figure nodded in ascent as he quickly thought of a plan to last him at least a week, "I can probably complete the Companion's quest line as well."
Seeing that he was the only one without an idea of what in the sam hill to do, he decided to ask his friends if they knew of something to do. With a quick conversation between the two with the second figure asking the question, "DB?" The first figure quickly agreed, "DB."
Seeing that he had no idea of what they were talking about the third figure asked just that. The first two figures shared a knowing look and quickly grabbed either side of the figure's shoulders and pushed him west.
The first figure gave him vague instructions, "Head west till you hit a town called Windhelm. If you get lost ask a Stormcloak, tell him you are interested in joining. Once you are there, find a boy named Aventus Aretino and go from there. It should be pretty obvious from there. Trust us, this is just up your alley."