Chapter 1: Chapter 1. Meet Jack

Hours had passed, yet the sun stayed in the same exact spot, a couple of finger widths over the horizon. It was out to the west, or maybe east? I couldn’t tell because I had no idea if it was morning or evening right this moment. It hung over the rotting tree tops of the swamp. Was it stuck up there? I scoffed. The idea was ludicrous.

Yet, a few hours ago I was on the roof of a Super 8 motel taking a breather. Just then the midday sun had vanished, blocked out by a black square. This was on Earth, mind you. And by the way, you may call me Jack.

The black square had grown larger by the second. Darkness set in, and I could see stars. Crazy, right? The air vibrated with a low hum, the ground trembled. Electricity buzzed through the air with a tinge of ozone. Whatever it was, that thing was coming down and fast. My life flashed before my eyes, all twenty-seven years – short and mostly uneventful. But did I die?

In an instant, I was falling, and not from the motel, but out of the black wall behind me, in this world. It was a short fall, but it still hurt like hell to slam into the green carpet of algae coating the swamp. Panic, and water engulfed me. Pain throbbed down the side of my body. I clawed and kicked my way up, and even as I broke the surface I struggled to breathe. The fall had knocked the wind out of me. I sputtered, and coughed, groaning for air.

I whipped my head from side to side looking for safety, looking for land. I was floating in the middle of a swamp, surrounded by cat-tails, and dead trees. Algae coated me in green.

A pair of eyes popped up in a distance to the side. I froze. Gators? They leisurely turned in my direction. I bolted for land a dozen meters out, swimming as fast I could. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, my heart thumped in my ears. Every stroke brought me closer, and fast. I had never swam this fast before in my life.

Another pull through the water brought me within arms’ reach of the shore. I clambered up to my feet and bolted through a thicket of cat-tails, sloshed through muck and filth. The stench of the swamp filled my nostrils. I broke through the tall vegetation into a clearing of soggy ground, and grass.

I glance over my shoulder, saw the trampled path I had made through the growth, but no sign of movement. No signs of gators chasing after me.

Past the trampled path, and the swamp stood a wall of black. It spanned from left and right as far as the eye could see. My eyes veered up and up, and soon I was looking into the sky. Before me, the sheer wall of polished darkness reflected red and orange of the sun. The wall rose up out of the swamp, as if land was folded upright, piercing the clouds that had piled up against it. A flat plane, endless to the left and right. I felt like an ant before a skyscraper.

I didn’t have time to gawk, I turned around and moved further away form the water, away from the creatures within. Ahead was an overgrown structure of crumbling stone, overtaken by vines and time. I hurried to the ruins. Peeked my head inside, scanned from side to side, listened intently. Nothing. Nothing, but croaking frogs.

That’s when I noticed an ‘!’ icon blinking in the corner of my vision. I concentrated on it, and it moved to the center to open as a semi-transparent dialog window.

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Error #84576. Tally aborted.
Error: Race #25490 is unrecognized. 
Error: Race #86522 is unrecognized.
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I swatted at it with my hand and it vanished. Was this a dream? I looked for more of the same icons, but found none. My stomach grumbled and it made me realize that I was hungry. I had to get out of this swamp to find civilization, to find food and water.

I entered the ruins through a gap in the outer wall into a courtyard. Inside, trees grew out of the rubble, jostling for space. Moss covered the walls of rough-cut stone. No doubt this place was infested with vermin. Snakes maybe?

My water-logged sneakers made soft sucking sounds with every step. I looked over my shoulder again to be sure. The monsters remained in the water.

I wanted to get a better look around the area from up high. So, in the courtyard I found a tree I could climb, thick and full of wide limbs within easy reach. I had no trouble scrambling up, then I hopped on top of the wide wall, and from a high vantage point gazed over the land. I could see out to a mile in some areas through sparse trees.

“Not good,” I muttered.

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For the sake of directions I assumed the sun was setting to the west. This would make the black wall to the east. Aside from the wall, everywhere I looked was nothing but swamp and scattered ruins. To the north, sloping hills turned to mist covered mountains. To the south, the swamp continued endlessly. Above me, ribbon-like birds soared in the sky, and the air carried a stagnant stench of the swamp.

A short distance away, a small moss-covered island in the middle of the water shuddered. It sent ripples over the serene surface. It moved, cutting through the green carpet on top of the water. A head popped up and then the rest of the body emerged.

I ducked low and held my breath as a chill ran down my back. It lumbered over a strip of land, dove in and vanished under the surface. The monster had to be the size of a house.

My jaw dropped as I spotted more of the same islands scattered about the swamp. Swimming in this place was out of the question, and walking would be risky. In fact, these ruins wouldn’t be enough of a defense if something that size decided to ram through it.

Basking in the warmth of the sun, I desperately searched for any signs of civilization, but saw none. Then I spotted something out to the west, in the direction of the sun. Was it the light playing tricks, or was it a wisp of smoke? It was hard to tell, but it was well worth checking out.

From above, the swamp looked like a Rorschach pattern of land, ponds and streams. The ruins scattered about the area were of different sizes and shapes. Maybe I could follow them from one to the next? They would provide a bit of cover, and a place to hide. Maybe I could find something useful inside to loot?

To get to the next ruins, I’d need to circle around from the south, zigzagging all the while. Slogging through all this swamp would be slow, and could take days. What other creatures could be lurking in those waters? Piranhas? Flesh eating plants? Train-sized serpents? I feared to think about it. For now, I needed food, and could worry about the journey later.

From atop the wall I scanned the edge of the water for anything that moved, preferably small. Frogs croaked, shadows lurked in the brown water creating ripples. Birds hopped from island to island without a care.

I spotted a scaled tail poking out of the grass near the water. Some kind of a lizard? Maybe I could go cave man on it, and throw a boulder from above? I climbed back down to the ground.

In the corner of the courtyard was the keep. While mostly intact, the stairs leading up to it had crumbled in sections. I jumped over the gaps and entered. Inside, the roof and wood floors were gone, leaving a large hollow structure. It looked like a giant chimney dotted with vegetation growing out of the cracks.

It was empty except for a human-looking skeleton wrapped in a chain. It was lying in the corner with a bleached skull. Next to it was a round metal shield, half buried in rubble.

I grabbed the round shield, and was shocked. I jerked my hand back as an awareness of every part of the shield flooded my mind. Rattled, I took a step back, and examined the troublesome object from every angle. It had rust around the edges with dings and scratches, but appeared harmless.

A thought nagged me at the back of my mind. What was the magical screen that I saw before, the one with the errors? Did it have anything to do with what I felt when I touched the shield? Could it have something to with a status-

A screen of blue and white blocked my vision. I stopped and stared at it for an entire minute with a heavy feeling in my stomach.

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Name: pERFEKT_97; Race: [Human:86522:25490]
Age: 27; Height: 6’3”; Weight: 230lb
Essence: 0/0
HP: 1700/1700; HP Regen: 68/hour
MP: 1440/1440; MP Regen: 180/hour
Strength: 207
Agility: 152
Constitution: 170
Focus: 101
Spirit: 144
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Profession: [Bounty Hunter]
Class: [Chronomancer] [Ferromancer]
Active Spells (6/9): [Backtrack] [Blink] [Burst of Clarity]  [Animate Iron] [Ethereal Blades] [Shape Iron]
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Have I lost my mind?

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