Runeguard 002

I made my way to the door again, and this time when I twisted the handle, it opened without protest. 

The first thing I saw was me. 

Pausing on the threshold, I stared at myself in the full-length mirror fixed to the wall across the door. I looked exactly like I had last night—my last day on Earth—well except for my clothes.

I looked down and took in my homespun brown pants and white shirt—simple and unadorned. I fingered the fabric. It was rough to the touch. “Adi, if the Simian are an intergalactic empire, why is the Proving Grounds so… primitive?”

“The Proving Grounds’ objective is to help individuals with realizing their innate potential. This is best done without technology.”

“Hmm,” I thought, only half-listening to her response as I took in the rest of my figure in the mirror. My eyes were as blue as ever, and my blonde hair, close-cropped as usual.

At just over six-feet tall, I made for an imposing figure—or so I had been told—solidly built and all muscle. I chuckled. Or so I liked to tell myself. The truth was that a sedentary life behind a desk had added a few pounds. And age had added a few more yet. I wasn’t a green youth anymore.

I shook my head, putting an end to further musings. That’s about enough of staring at yourself, Dace. How about we get back to work now?

Refocusing on my surroundings, I looked left and right. My room was at the end of a long stone corridor. To my left, the corridor ended in a featureless wall, and to my right, it continued onwards. Stepping over the door’s threshold, I entered the corridor. 

Another System message opened before me.

You have acquired a new Creche task!

Creche Task 01: Exit the Creche

Main Objective: Leave Creche 1050 and enter Sector 52, a human-dedicated space within the Proving Grounds. Each Creche is self-contained and specifically designed for its entrants. Warning: do not dawdle!

Secondary Objective 1: Reach level 10, the player level cap in the Creche.

Secondary Objective 2: Configure all your Nodes.

Secondary Objective 3: Obtain a Class.

Rewards: 1 Rebirth token for each objective completed.

“Adi, what is a rebirth token?” I asked, after reading the message.

“Rebirth tokens are required to reinitialize players after death.”

That’s what I had thought. Exactly like a game. Despite Adi insisting the Proving Grounds wasn’t a game, it sounded very much like one. “And what happens if I die without one?”

“Death will be final. Your player profile will be deleted and your form recycled.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “So how many rebirth tokens do I have at the moment?”

“None.”

I stopped walking. “Adi,” I said slowly, “are you telling me if I die right now, I am not coming back?”

“That is correct, Dace.”

I frowned and resumed walking. A game the Proving Grounds might be, but I would have to be careful navigating it.

✵ ✵ ✵

The corridor continued unerringly straight for the next few hundred yards. No other doors opened off from the passage, and only the torches evenly inset every few yards along the walls broke the monotony of gray stone.

After a few minutes, the corridor began to brighten. Looking ahead, I noticed that after another hundred yards or so, the passage came to an end, and white-gold beams of sunlight streamed through the opening.

I quickened my pace, eager to see more of the world that was to be my new home—at least for the foreseeable future.

Stepping out into the light, I found myself in an enormous amphitheater. All along the amphitheater’s circular rim, I spotted hundreds of similar openings as the one I had stepped through. 

Each coming from another starting chamber? I wondered.

The amphitheater itself was a wide-open space with hard-packed dirt underfoot, and filling the space were people—hundreds of them.

Standing stock-still at the opening, I studied my surroundings intently, learning what I could before I ventured further. 

The amphitheater was the size of a dozen football fields, the sky overhead was the same startling blue of Earth, and the sun, while seeming to shine hotter and brighter than Sol, looked little different.

Lastly, I turned my attention to my fellow humans. All were dressed the same as I was. Some dashed to and fro, in a seeming hurry, others wandered aimlessly, while a few curled up on the floor. 

Some bawled, others cried, some tore at their hair, a few—more crazed than the rest—attacked each other. These, everyone gave a wide berth.

It seemed that not everyone had managed the transition from Earth to the Proving Grounds entirely sane. Indeed, given my own calm acceptance of my new reality, I had to wonder at my own sanity.

“Adi, is everyone here from Earth?” I asked. For the first time, I attempted to internally project my thoughts to her instead of speaking them aloud.

“Yes, Dace.”

“But at best there are only a thousand people in this amphitheater. Where’d the rest of the planet go?”

“Creche 1050 is only one of many. There are many more like it in Sector 52.”

“Ah,” I said, wondering what to do next. 

For some reason, I was hesitant to join the sea of humanity milling about. I glanced along the rim of the amphitheater. Here and there, other people were exiting the corridors, all appearing as hesitant as I was.

I steeled myself. I couldn’t stand about forever. There was nothing for it, but to explore the new world. Leaving behind the safety of the opening, I walked into the teeming mass of humanity.

Near immediately, I was swallowed by the noise and loud conversations. Shamelessly, I eavesdropped.

“This place is wild, dude!”

“Ye man, imagine the possibilities! I could become a wizard, and you my tank!”

“No dude, I wanna be the wizard!”

I smiled as the two youths escaped hearing range. Clearly not everyone was afraid of humanity’s new home. Some were already embracing it. But the pair seemed to be the exception.

“Honey, I’m scared,” a woman said. “What is this place?”

“I don’t know, babe,” the man beside her replied.

“What do we do?”

“We find the police,” the man said, sounding determined. “Or the government. They must be around somewhere. They will know what to do. They’ll help us.”

“You sure, honey?”

“I am, babe.”

Swinging around, I spotted the couple. They were standing frozen and staring at everyone around them with wide-eyes. I pitied the pair and almost walked over to help, but I stopped myself in time. At this point, I wasn’t even sure I could help myself.

No one was going to save them. Or the rest of us for that matter. Each of us would have to forge our own path. For their sake, I hoped they realized that before it was too late.

I walked on.

“How many Essences can you get, Troy?”

“Ten, Sten. And you?” Troy asked.

My ears perked up on hearing this and my head swung instinctively in the direction of the two youths. Essences, I recalled, were one of the stats mentioned in my player profile.

Sten groaned. “Only eight.” 

“That’s tough,” Troy said sympathetically. “I heard there’s a guy here with thirteen Nodes.”

“Damn,” Sten remarked. “He’s lucky.”

“Yep,” Troy agreed. He yanked at his friend’s arm. “Come, we better hurry before the vendor gets sold out. I heard he has fire Essences too.”

“Wow, fire magic! Lead on man, I’m right behind you.” 

The two youths pushed through the crowds and headed deeper into the amphitheater. Without a second’s thought, I followed after. Unlike most everyone else in the amphitheater, the pair seemed to have a handle on what was going on, and I wanted to learn more.

“Adi,” I asked as I hurried after the youths, “what are Essences?”

“Essences are the core characteristics of a Proving Grounds participant that may be enhanced by the System.”

I thought about that for a bit. “So they are attributes then,” I murmured, more to myself than Adi. But unlike attributes in a regular game, it seemed players in the Proving Grounds didn’t start with all of them available. I would have to find them first.

“I am not familiar with that term, Dace. What does it mean?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said, waving aside Adi’s question. “I understand well enough what you mean. Listening to those two: Sten and Troy, it seems not every player can acquire the same number of Essences. Is that right?”

“That is correct, Dace. Every individual has a different potential for augmentation. Some have more Nodes than others.” Adi paused. “Although the sentiment expressed by the human Sten is incorrect.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Eight Nodes is a considerable number. Your species, it seems, is unusually gifted.”

My eyebrows rose. “But if eight Nodes is considerable, what does that make me? From what I remembered of my player profile, I can have seventeen Essences. Correct?”

Adi didn’t answer immediately. “It means Dace that even for a human, your potential is extraordinary.”

I wanted to question Adi further on the subject, but just at that moment the pair I was following drew to a halt. 

They had reached their ‘vendor.’

✵ ✵ ✵

I scratched my head, puzzled as I studied the two youths. They had stopped before a three-foot-tall stone pillar. Nothing resembling a vendor was anywhere nearby.

I swung my head from left to right. “Where is the vendor, Adi?”

“The altar is Creche vendor 32-49, Dace.”

“The pillar?” I asked, startled. “So the vendor is not an actual person?”

“The only sentients in Creche 1050 are its human entrants,” Adi replied. “All aid and services provided by the System in the Creche are by means of constructs—such as myself.”

“And the stone altar,” I added.

“And vendors like 32-49,” Adi agreed.

My shoulders sagged. I had been hoping to meet one of the residents of this world and find out more of its origins than Adi was willing—or able—to tell me. But that didn’t seem possible anymore.

Setting aside my disappointment, I inched closer to the two youths. They were conversing again, this time in a low-voiced whisper that I couldn’t make out from where I stood, but just as I got close enough to hear, they hurried off.

I paused, debating chasing after the pair again but decided against it. Walking up to the altar, I inspected it carefully. It had a bronze metal disk bolted into its surface, similar to the one I had found in the starting chamber.

Not needing Adi to tell me what to do, I placed my hands onto the disk. Text materialized before me.

Trade Window

Vendor 32-49 Available Stock

Money: 3,290 gold.

Tier 1 Air Essence Gems: cost: 10 gold.

Tier 1 Earth Essence Gems: cost: 10 gold.

Tier 1 Fire Essence Gems: cost: 10 gold.

Tier 1 Water Essence Gems: cost: 10 gold.

Dace Tolman Available Trade Goods

Money: 20 gold.

No items.

Reading the message, I felt at my pants and shirt pockets in surprise. Just as I thought, they were empty. “I have money, Adi?” 

“Yes, Dace. In your inventory.”

Inventories, right. They were another staple of RPGs. “How do I open mine?”

“Will it open with your mind. Beware though, any items you extract from your inventory will drop onto the ground.”

Doing as Adi instructed, I willed my inventory open and got another System message that displayed its contents. Disappointingly, but for the aforementioned twenty gold coins, my inventory was empty.

I stroked my chin in thought. So, I only had enough gold for two of the vendor’s Essences. 

Do I buy any?

I studied the trade window still hanging open before me. “Adi, what does an Essence’s tier signify?”

“It is indicative of its rarity and relative power. They range from tier 1 to tier 3, with tier 3 Essences being the rarest and most powerful.”

Hmm… I still didn’t know what Essences did exactly or how they worked, but from Adi’s explanation it was evident that the ones the vendor sold were of the least valuable type. “How many different types of Essences are there?”

“I don’t know, Dace.”

“Huh?” I asked, surprised by her response.

“Every species has its own set of available Essences, some of which will be unique to the species concerned. Short of exploring the Proving Grounds and discovering every available human-compatible Essence Gem, there is no way of determining the full set of Essences available to humans.”

Adi’s answer was troubling and my eyes narrowed as I considered the subject further. “Can Essences be swapped out?”

“No. Once installed, an Essence cannot be removed from the assigned Node.”

I backed away from the vendor, and of its own volition, the trade window closed. It was clear from Adi’s answer that the selection of my Essences was not a hasty decision to make.

I looked around me. If there was one vendor in the amphitheater, there were likely more. Diving back into the crowds, I went in search of them.

✵ ✵ ✵

Hours later, after crisscrossing the amphitheater dozens of times, I was confident I had found every vendor within it. 

In all that time the crowds of people inside the structure waxed and waned. It turned out that there was a wide archway exiting the amphitheater on its northern end.

Where the amphitheater’s exit led to, I didn’t know yet, and despite my temptation to explore it, I kept at my task until I found every vendor.

When I was done, I drew to a halt in the shade of one of the amphitheater’s walls and wiped the sweat off my brow. Over the course of my investigations, the sun had risen to its apex and the heat was scorching. To make matters worse, I was also both hungry and thirsty.

But ignoring my discomforts for the time being, I sat down with my back against the wall and reviewed my findings. 

It turned out there were dozens of vendors in the amphitheater, and they didn’t only sell Essences, some sold ability tomes and spellbooks, and others, weapons and armor.

Ability tomes and spellbooks were exactly what they sounded like: a means of learning spells and combat abilities. The weapons and armor were what you’d expect from a medieval society—swords, hammers, daggers, chainmail, and the like.

But more crucially: every item the vendors sold cost ten gold. Which meant that for now at least, I could only buy two items.

So what do I buy?

Between them, the vendors sold seven combat-related tier one Essences: perception, channeling, will, air, earth, fire, and water, and a number of others related to crafting. After questioning Adi further on the matter of Essences, I discovered that each Essence unlocked its own skill tree, which couldn’t be learnt otherwise.

Given that I only had twenty gold, one option would be to buy a channeling and air Essence Gem—which were both necessary to cast air magic spells—but that would leave me without any money to buy a spellbook to go with. 

And truth be told, I was hesitant to buy any Essences until I had a better understanding of how things worked in the Proving Grounds. 

But I also didn’t want to leave the amphitheater defenseless. It was in the back of my mind that without any rebirth tokens, I couldn’t afford to die in the Creche. 

What to do? 

As I pondered my options, something occurred to me. “Adi, I noticed I have three Nodes filled already with strength, dexterity, and constitution Essences. Why is that?”

“The three Essences you mentioned are part of your species core nature and thus automatically assigned by the System to all humans.”

“Huh ok,” I said, scratching my head. “Would I need any other Essences but those three to use the weapons sold by the vendors in the amphitheater?”

“In most cases, the three Essences you already possess will suffice. Ranged weapons, however, will also require the Essence of perception.”

I rose to my feet. I knew what I would do now.