Chapter 1: You are Level 1

Chapter 1: You are Level 1

The first thing that Dallion saw after opening his eyes was the floor. The second was a blue glowing rectangle floating in a small empty room. Confusion surged, twisting his forehead until a series of wavy lines appeared.

This doesnt make sense, Dallion thought.

The last thing he remembered was returning to his dorm and stumbling into bed. There had been a wild party, wilder than he would have liked. Arriving at college was considered a big deal, making it impossible for Dallion to refuse. It wasnt that the party had been bad, Dallion was sure it had been great if only he could remember more than fragments of it. There had been dancing, drinkingless than Dallion would admit, since his alcohol tolerance was limited to a can and a half of beerand atop of a table while wearing plush antlers.

Maybe its all a dream?

Dallion closed his eyes then opened them up again. The empty room was still there, as was the floating rectangle.

Hello? Dallion turned around.

Rough grey stones covered the walls, floor, and ceiling, lit up only by the cyan glow of the rectangle. There was no furniture, no paintings, statues, windows, or even a door. It was as if someone had dragged him here and sealed off the entrance behind him.

Am I in an escape room?

Dallion took a step towards the center of the room. The moment he did a message appeared within the rectangle.

YOU ARE LEVEL 1

Level one? Dallion asked out loud.

On cue the window spun around, revealing additional text instructions.

You are in a small dark room.

Smash the window to choose your destiny!

Looking to his right, a small round shield was placed on the wall. Dallion had never seen armor of any type in his life, but somehow knew that the object to be a buckler. To be honest it resembled more a metal frisbee disk than anything else. The left corridor, in turn, had a metal short sword pinned to the wall.

Can I choose both? Dallion asked.

The blue rectangle didnt answer.

That would have been too easy. Dallion allowed himself a smile.

Attack or Defense. The choice was obvious, and still he found himself hesitating. What if picked the wrong item? Or worse, what if he had chosen the wrong skills? There was no indication hed be able to change his choice. Dallion looked at the shield, then at the sword, then at the shield again.

The sword was the obvious choicegreat for attack, and possibly marginal defense as well. The buckler, on the other hand, seemed useless for both. Or was it? The rectangle only said the item should serve him best; there was no mention of fighting.

The hell with it! Dallion went to the buckler and took it off the wall.

GUARD skills obtained.

Youve broken through your first barrier!

A green rectangle popped up in front of his eyes. His choice had been made. Before Dallion could turn around in an attempt to get the sword, everything went black. Instinct forced the boy to recoil in an attempt to escape the darkness. To his great surprise, he succeeded thrusting into the light and then into something hard and painful.

Brother! a childs voice pierced his ears.

When he came back to his senses, Dallion was no longer in the dark corridor. Instead, he was sitting on a field, next to a rather large wooden statue. A small group of people had gathered around him, dressed in clothes that would be found unacceptable anywhere except in fantasy movies and really high-end cosplays. Most of the people were adults the age of his parents or older, although there were a few children as well. Carefully looking at them, Dallion could say with absolute certainty that he had never seen them before in his life.

I knew youd do it, brother! A blond-haired boy elbowed his way through the ring of people to Dallion and hugged him like a child whod just gotten a high-end console as a birthday gift. I knew youd awaken!

Yeah, Dallion replied, patting his brother on the back. I awakened

What the heck did just happen?!