Chapter 1: Prologue
Prologue
‘This alarm! He groaned. He reached to his right, his nightstand was near his bed, and his alarm continued to go off, and by the sound of it, it was time for a new one.
Eyes still closed, he pated around with his right arm. He got nothing but air. Weird. He scooted further. Maybe he pushed it by mistake and could reach it from where he lay.
Chiming continued. The alarm, he thought again, groaning at his blissful sleep; he couldn’t recall the last time he slept so peacefully.
“Stop. Cancel alarm,” he said. Regardless of his protest, the chime continued to be more intrusive. “Alexa,” he practically growled, the artificial intelligence name, “stop, the damn alarm!”
Nothing. It continued. He groaned; sunlight beat behind his eyelids and professed to return the so-called blackout curtains when time permitted.
He reached toward the nightstand, well box. Still, it served as an impromptu nightstand, yet he came up with nothing but air, shifted his sluggish body to the right, opened his eyes, and screamed; sleepiness fled him, annoying alarms ignored, and he lurched upward, entangling himself into his quilt and sheets, stumbling from his bed into the thickly packed rows of multicolored roses, a fleeting thought passed as he ate dirt, ‘they smelt amazing, unnaturally amazing.’
He fought with an awakening mind and a startling scene that he couldn’t explain. He didn’t even factor in that he was just in his bed, lying on his mattress, inside the freaking woods, in a vale of roses. Roses surrounded him, and even stranger, all he could see passed the roses were massive trees.
“I’ve been abducted!” He jumped from the ground, sputtering, spitting out rose bits, as the sweetened aftertaste left behind on the palate befuddled and occupied his warring thoughts.
He whirled around, ‘Ouch,” he hissed as his big toe caught on the foot of the bed, causing him to hop and whine before flipping back down on his Queen sized bed of his, surrounded by nature, inside of vale, tall mahogany pines shooting into the sky.
He paused. His eyes became saucers as he gawked at the Aurora Borealis fluctuating above his head.
“Oh, God, that is beautiful and eerie. I’m not in Kansas,” he said, astounded at the view.
He began to touch himself after the pain receded from the stubbed toe; it didn’t go unnoticed by him that the pain went away quite fast. He was adorned in what he would nicely consider as a potato sack, a sack that was sawn together wildly and made into clothes: he had on pants that unfortunately came inches above his ankles-was he taller? His shirt was the same; besides the three buttons, well, two were there, the third missing.
Inspection over, he was healthy from what he could discern, with no visible wounds besides the apparent amnesia, or was this selective memory lost; he didn’t know and wouldn’t be able to discover on his lonesome. He wasn’t a doctor or anything; he didn’t remember being one.
He spent some time walking through the roses, a sense of peacefulness waffled in the air, and he once again questioned his mental faculties. First, he wasn’t panicking. Any sane person would panic. Secondly, he felt good, excellent even; an odd sense of vitality traversed through him.
As he walked alongside where the vale met the tree line, his hand trailing behind, touching the assortment of roses, he discovered something. He couldn’t exit. Something akin to a boundary presented him from traveling inside the woods. He’s not dumb, he wouldn’t have gone into the woods, but he did want to case the area.
A stray thought presented itself. Was he transferred here? Like the novels? He remembers reading tons of books and even had memories of entertaining the possibility and potential of being isekai’d. He laughed, his voice sounding crisp and curt, a voice that he knew was his but also more. He shook his head. There is no way this is like those stories. At least he should have gotten some choices, perks, hell, and even a status screen.
He exhales, his hands tracing through his locs of hair, thoughts pouring in through his head, but one stood out the most.
“Why not,” he uttered, “show me my status,” he continued, walking the edge before the blue screen arrested his trek, lots of them, information flooding every inch of him.
Arbhor welcomes its newest pathfinder. May your travels reflect your every imagination!
You have tread upon the unique Path of the Cards and, undoubtedly, became the first to stride this pathway. The Graces welcome Arbhor’s first, The Cardwright!
As a Cardwright, you have acquired the Mastery of The Deck!
As a Cardwright, you have acquired the Mastery of Draw!
As a Cardwright, you have acquired the Mastery Shuffle!
Rejoice! You have walked upon the path and have grown stronger.
Cartwright’s gain bounty of +6 to Insight, +9 Essence, +8 Clarity, +4 Grace
You have chosen Change. May you forever adapt to your surroundings!
As a Polymorph, you have acquired the Mastery of Transformation!
As a Polymorph, you have acquired the Mastery of Transmutation!
As a Polymorph, you have acquired the Mastery of Alchemy!
Rejoice! You have walked upon the path and have grown stronger.
Polymorph gains a bounty of +7 Espirit, +4 Grace, +3 Resolve
Tread, you dare. Arcane mysteries weren’t meant to be discerned by humankind, yet you have chosen to unravel its mysteries.
As an Arcanist, you have acquired the Mastery of Mana Manipulation!
As an Arcanist, you have acquired the Mastery of Identification!
As an Arcanist, you have acquired the Mastery of Duality!
Rejoice! You have walked upon the path and have grown stronger.
Arcanist gains a bounty of +8 Essence, +5 Clarity, + 4 Insight
They are the first to enter the fray and the last to fall. Virtuous shield of friend & liege, the lone individual in a breach, effective weapon-master, the path of a protector isn’t for all!
As a Bulwark, you have acquired the Mastery of Protection!
As a Bulwark, you have acquired the Mastery of Armorer!
As a Bulwark, you have acquired the Mastery of Resistance!
Rejoice! You have walked upon the path and have grown stronger.
You are reading story Pathfinders: Those that choose [Deck Building, ISEKAI, DARK-LITRPG] at novel35.com
Bulwark gains a bounty of +3 Espirit, + 4 Resolve, +7 Might
Status
Name:
HP:9,600/9,600
Mana: 20,400/20,400
Stamina:12,000/12,000
Path of The Cards
Path of Polymorph
Path of Arcanist
Path of the Bulwark
Esprit 10
Might 7
Grace 8
Essence 17
Insight 10
Clarity 18
Resolve 10
Conditions
Boons
???, Rank 1.0, Mythical
Title
Mastery
Deck, Unique, Rank 1.0
Draw, Unique, Rank 1.0
Shuffle, Unique, Rank 1.0
Armorer, Common, Rank 1.0
Protect, Uncommon, Rank 1.0
Mana Manipulation, Rare, Rank 1.0
Identify, Legendary, Rank 1.0
Duality, Rare, Rank 1.0
Transformation, Rare, Rank 1.0
Transmutation, Rare, Rank 1.0
Alchemy, Uncommon, Rank 1.0
Outside, the chiming blaring as the screens flashed before his eyes; he was finally panicking.
A complete sense of shock was working its way down his spine like cold water. This couldn’t be real, It was more than any dream he’d ever experienced.
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