40 Premonitions

I looked at the dark sky and watched flashes of red-white lightning dance across the dark clouds. The rain fell with a putrid odor, indicating that it was most likely acid rain. From a large hill, I looked down into the small city and was met with an apocalyptic view.

Buildings were either destroyed or on fire. Screams could be heard from the city as large insectoid-like creatures tore through it, destroying everything in their path. Hearing movement from my left, I glanced to my left and saw one of the more giant creatures walk up next to me. It rubbed its face on me like a cat would. I stroked its large head with my clawed hand as I watched the city burn.

Far off in the distance, a burst of bright white light that could blind an average human illuminated the sky. Still, my eyes quickly adapted, and I could see the tell-tale sign of a nuclear explosion. Moments later, the shockwave hit us, adding to the damage to the already broken city. This was the ninth bomb the government had dropped on its own country, which shows their desperation well. All of this could have been avoided had they listened to my demands and returned my daughter. Now…everything will burn.

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I was jolted awake and sat up in my bed with my sweat-soaked blanket falling from my body. There was some movement to my side then I heard a voice.

"What's wrong, mom?" Yuki said with a worried look while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"I am fine. I just had a bad dream. A very vivid and realistic bad dream." I said. I then recount my dream to Yuki.

"I wonder if you have some kind of precognitive ability. I mean, you got other powers." Yuki said in between yawns.

"I don't know, but this isn't the first dream I've had like this. I wonder if Eri knows anything?" I said, also rubbing my eyes, trying to wake up.

"Eri? You mean the AI from Rebirth Online? Why would she know anything?" Yuki said, giving me a confused look. After hearing Yuki's response, I lightly slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand.

"Duh, I forgot to tell you about that. So, after I logged back into the game after I was stuck, I ran into Eri." I then explained my whole meeting with Eri and how an actual goddess hijacked rebirth online to save our planet out of boredom.

Yuki sat there in silence for a moment with a contemplative expression. "So our decision to continue the game was correct. It is scary to think that our world was close to ending. I wonder how it would have happened. Doesn't matter. We need to tell Aunt Alex about this so she can plan accordingly."

"I know we said we would work on getting stronger in the game, but now we have even more reason to do it. We have an advantage over most of the players, who are leisurely playing the game. I don't know how these pro gamers usually play, but I will start, uh…what was term again?"

"It's power leveling, mom. I have already started to do this. The method varies from game to game, but you want to do quests with high XP rewards and find a good spot to grind mobs or a good dungeon to grind in. Don't know yet if this game has daily or weekly quests, but generally, those are good for leveling too."

I nodded my head in understanding. Even though this is the only game I've ever played, I can still understand these concepts. I've heard Yuki and Alex talk about enough things that even I could pick up on some of it.

"Right now, the main issue is the game is too new for there to be any real info online just yet. Also, not everyone will post what they know online immediately. They will use that information to advance themselves first before posting it." Yuki said to me.

"It's fine. I have a few quests I need to finish. I can always ask Eri for advice or help to get stronger. That reminds me, I will be leaving for the capital today. I got a quest to escort someone there. I'll have to message Alex and let her know too."

"Sounds like a plan. Time to power level…after breakfast, of course." Yuki then got out of bed and wandered off to what I would guess is her room.

I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and the other daily tituals. I caught my gaze in the mirror and stared at my new eye color. To be honest, there are worse colors for eyes, and magenta is not one of them. They actually look kind of cool. I like how my pupils constrict with the light giving my eyes their cat-like appearance. Luckily it won't look too out of place since eye mods are a thing now.

As I stared into the mirror, I was suddenly jolted out of my thoughts as my surroundings changed. Everywhere around me changed to a white fog, with things like my bathroom wall and other objects being shades of gray. I looked at the wall in front of me and placed my hand on it, expecting it to pass through. I was surprised when my hand did not. It touched the wall as if it was just my usual bathroom.

I exited my bathroom and walked into the living room, and saw the same scene in front of me. Everything was foggy; objects looked like they were made of fog. I tried speaking and found that sounds were somewhat muted, as if I had earplugs. Seeing any decent distance in front of me was difficult as after a certain distance, the fog was impenetrable.

In the corner of my vision, I noticed some movement. Turning my head, I saw the figure of a person, but they, too, were foggy. They seemed to float in the air as they meandered about with no real purpose, occasionally wailing, which was also muffled. As if noticing I was staring at them, they looked my way and stared at me. As if they were curious, they then floated to their left, to which I then followed their movement. Then they moved to the right, and I followed them both out of fear and curiosity.

As if I had revealed some earth-shattering secret to them, they shrieked loudly, or at least as loudly as a muffled shriek could sound. They then rushed at me, and once they were next to me, I could get a glimpse of their face which looked distorted and wrong. They reached out to me and said, "You can see me!"

Being the perfectly rational person that I am, I screamed.

It then felt like someone grabbed me and shook me several times, and my vision returned to normal. Around me was my regular living room, with no fog. Next to me was Yuki, with concern visible on her face.

"Mom! What wrong!? You were just standing there screaming." She asked, a bit shaken herself.

"I don't know? I was in the bathroom, then everything around me turned to fog, and I saw a floating person. I think they were a ghost. I don't know. They saw me and knew that I saw them too.

"Do you want to take a break from the game today?" Yuki asked me.

"No, I still want to hop on to help forget what happened."

"It looks like there is more to your new eyes than we realized but let's get some food and just get in the game then."

After calming my nerves, we ate a quick breakfast. I then called Alex and told her I would be leaving for the capital today and to meet up with me there. I then crawled into my pod and logged into the game.

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The usual inn room greeted me as I slowly stretched and got out of bed. I gathered my things and made my way to Old Man's place. I told him I was leaving, and he imparted his usual wisdom. I left the shop with a couple more books on alchemy and potion making and a few more potions. I went to the mage academy to tell Leena I was leaving today. She wasn't too hard to find as she was in her usual classroom.

As I entered, she looked up at me and smiled while joyfully bounding up to me. "Heya Gwyn! You leaving soon?"

"Yes, I was planning on leaving today. I thought I'd give you time to pack up for the trip. I can meet you by the front gate around noon?" I responded back.

"Sure, I can totes do that. This is going to be so exciting. Master and her student traveling into the wild on an adventure! Maybe we will slay a dragon or stop the invading forces of an Arch Lich. So excited!" she excitedly yelled as she skipped away hurriedly.

"I hope we don't do any of those things," I said.

Seeing as Leena left me alone, I wandered the town to waste time purchasing things I may need. Remembering my dream and my strange trip from earlier, I decided to call Eri and ask her opinion on some things. She agreed to meet me at a small eatery near the front gate.

I arrived at the building and entered. I noticed Eri was already seated at a small table near a window. I arrived at her table just as one of the wait staff did too. He was this large muscular man with a fantastic mustache.

"Allo loidies, wot cannae git you toiday?" The man said with a thick accent

"I think I will have tea and a slice of your yellow cake," Eri responded.

"Ooh, that sounds good. I think I'll have the same, please." I spoke.

The man nodded his head and walked back to the kitchen.

"Sorry for the sudden call Eri. I just needed some answers and didn't know who else to ask."

"It's fine. I know your situation is unique. Besides, friends help each other out."

"Thanks. I just didn't want to be a bother."

I then told Eri about my dream and my ghost episode from earlier. During that, the man returned with our order, which I must say was quite good too. The cake was just right. After I finished my story, Eri sipped on her tea in what I could only guess was in deep thought.

"So, to answer your first question, it does indeed seem like you have a precognitive ability. My mistress also detected some time energy fluctuations earlier, which helps corroborate my theory. As for your second question, it would be your eyes. It's one of the abilities of true sight. You can peer into the ethereal realm, the realm of the dead and the incorporeal."

"I can see dead people?!"

"Yes. In your world, the only afterlife is the ethereal plane. When you die, your spirit passes to the realm to wander for eternity. That world has no proper afterlife system and is one of the reasons your world is doomed to die. You don't have to worry, though, while you can see them, and they can see you. They can't actually interact with the material world. I don't mean to sound callous, but it's just one of your abilities you need to train and get used to."

"It's fine. Just this information alone helps me. Though what really worries me, though, is that dream. If I saw the future, wouldn't that mean I would go to war with the world? I saw myself as I commanded an army to kill thousands. Innocent and soldiers alike." I asked with a worried expression.

"The thing about future sight is you only glimpse a possible future. You may never even experience that future. Honestly, unless you have transcendent knowledge of how time works, often trying to avoid said possible future results in it actually happening. It's best not to think about it and just live your life day to day doing only what is in your power. I hate to say it, but if something is meant to be, it is meant to be. It takes a special being to even begin to alter time in their favor."

"I understand. It's still a little unnerving, but…I understand."

The rest of the time went by quickly until it was interrupted by a loud woman carrying a comically oversized rucksack much larger than her.