Chapter 2: Explanation
"Hello there James" It was the voice of a being that couldn't be described as completely human anymore, as it had a metallic tinge to every syllable. James had known that something like this would probably happen, deep within his soul, but the voice of something unknown was still frightening. He didn't want to turn around in case the 'being' would harm him, so instead he just spoke, the fear coming clearly though his voice. "What do you want?" Of course this wasn't the only question running through his mind. There were many thoughts both conflicting and synergistic, but most of them were undecipherable and full of fear. "I am an ally, one of few in this world." The being replied with a calming nature, that instinctually seeped into James' mind. "I'm sure you have many questions, but I cant just tell you everything. Now first, turn around and take a seat."
James felt strangely compelled to follow its every instruction, and did as he was commanded. He turned to see a young man wearing a plain purple gown. His long blond hair fell down to his shoulders and there was a runic pattern on each of his cheeks which depicted a thorny spiral in a glowing purple ink. The being then gestured to sit behind him and James turned around only to find a metallic bench where there wasn't one before. Before he knew it he was sitting. "I cannot explain why you are here or where you are, but I am a runic commander." "A wha-" *SILENCE!* James instantly lost control of his mouth, it clamped itself shut and his vocal chords were unable to move. [WHAT THE! If it weren't for my nose I wouldn't be able to breath] James' breathing hastened as his body was uncontrollable, the frantic breaths were deafening to him, until he calmed down once again from an unknown source.
"This is not your world, you are now in the world of Asuri. Here people are born with abilities much like the ones you read in your books. Although you may think this would make the world more advanced, it struggled from the same problem your world is going through now, Power. People who were lucky and granted Insanely powerful abilities decided to try and rule or take over, and that resulted in wars. Imagine a war where every combatant can make a nuclear bomb and detonate it in mere seconds. It's probably not hard to guess what happened to the ones who fought. The humans here with powers were originally from other worlds like you and there is a trend that people powerful enough to be chosen to come here have powerful abilities, but nowadays there usually isn't a transport for hundreds of years. Because of this people formed factions and started living here. Some tried to leave, in history only about 15 have succeeded. I am not allowed to tell you what there is in this world, or how to get out if you wish, but I can tell you some history. Before I start, any questions?" James struggled to answer but eventually decided on the most important thing in his mind. "Does that mean I get a power too?"
...
The commander was dumbstruck [This man could've asked any question about what kind of powers there were or how he gets stronger. I literally said that the people who first came here was from his world and that they got powers. Is this guy dumb? I better give him some extra information or he wont survive a day. They'll kill me if the first transported in a century is dead within a week.]
He reluctantly had to answer and so replied, despite being annoyed at the humans stupidity. "You will be granted a power. Each person is given an ability based on their ambitions, skills, and lifelong wishes. They cannot be exchanged but can be evolved or gained through others powers or enchanted objects." "WHAT POWER DO I GET!" James was giddy at the thought of using magic, he was even more ecstatic at the mention that it would be decided based on his wishes. "I have answered your one question! You'll get another at the end of the explanation!" [This guy has no hope of surviving.]
The being flicked his hand and uttered a phrase *Memory Share* and within moments James could see the world surrounding him, it was incredibly similar to a primitive earth in almost every nature apart from the endless towers spaced around that stormed into the sky. He was currently standing on a floating platform in the sky around 200m high. James attempted to ask what the towers were but his words were trapped in his mind, he must've been silenced again. "This is an ancient memory of the world, before all the transports were taken here, and endless war broke out. This world was created by a being from another world, completely different from yours or this one. In their world magic was commonplace and there lived a being known only as Ruler."
The surroundings changed and the scene showed a humanoid figure with no hair and shining golden skin. It was wearing a deep purple robe much like the one the commander was wearing, except Its robe had countless patterns all overlapping, in shining golden material.
"We don't know how Ruler was created, but from what little it shared with us, it was specifically designed to rule. Its subjects ended up creating a magical device that could create and transport people to alternate dimensions. A fragment of that same device brought you here. After Ruler created this world, it abandoned the world it came from due to an unknown reason. It could have been war or a desire for freedom, but regardless Ruler stayed here and kept bringing more people in from other worlds." James was currently getting bored and began looking for things to do when the environment changed once again to show a battlefield between two gods.
"But eventually Ruler transported someone here who could match or even beat it in power. To put a long story short, the being that was transported here, known as Emperor, won. But before he landed the killing blow, Ruler casted a spell which destroyed himself. This spell banished Emperor to a space between dimensions known as the void, and split his own power with the world to make rules, and commanders. This power, once gained grants the user some abilities of ruler himself, and automatically transports beings here. The nature of all of his abilities and all of the rules he put in place is still unknown due to a protection charm. So are there any other questions?" The world fazed back to a subway platform and the slight shimmer of the memory vanished.
James contemplated for at least five minutes on his question. [lets see, if I can only ask one question then I should make it last. If I ask about those towers then that would only be a waste! should I ask where I could get more powers or what the limits are for powers? Maybe I can ask him to follow me, then I'd have a commander under my will and then I'd be unstoppable!] After a long of thought James finally spoke aloud to the Commander. "How do I get Ruler's powers!" The being was impressed that the human was actually smart for once, but it was a fruitless question. "You must follow his rules or be granted them by one who already holds them" he replied menacingly. "Sadly I am unable to give you my powers currently, you're unworthy anyway." He waved his hand in the air and with a flash of blinding purple light, the commander was gone.
James scanned the surroundings for anything different only to a floating holographic screen where the Commander once stood, and on that screen read:
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Welcome to the world of Asuri.
You have been granted the following powers:
Telekinesis (LVL1) - Common
******** (LVL *) - Common
Current powers:
Telekinesis (LVL1), ********* ******** (LVL ***), ******** (LVL *)
As you was not granted a status skill you will have to go to a status screen. These are located in challenge towers every 10 floors.
To see a description of what your powers do, or how to use them, you must reach a higher level status screen.
As you have the power ********* ******** (LVL ***) you can ****** *** *******. To do this you must gain *** ****** ** *****
As you are Level 1 you cannot see any of your skills which are a higher level than 1, you can level up by following my rules.
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James stared at the screen for several minutes trying to see what the censored areas were but he had no idea. [Wait, all I have is common? what the hell is the thing blacked out?!] "HOW DO I USE MY DAMN POWER!?!"