The very first thing that pops into Alex's head is that a massive headache is not one of the best ways to wake up. The second is that the aromatic smell of sizzling bacon is heavenly. Of all the things to wake up to, breakfast cooked by his sister was not on his list. And definitely not… piano music?
He groggily opened his eyes and found a wooden beamed ceiling above him, as opposed to the popcorn ceiling of his sister's place. He was immediately alert, this was not the extremely uncomfortable couch he had fallen asleep on last night.
Instead, he found himself covered in silk sheets and surrounded by an abundance of pillows. His ears even picked up on the unmistakable sound of glass clinking.
As he took in his surroundings his fear was confirmed, he definitely wasn't dreaming anymore, and he definitely wasn't in Amanda's apartment anymore. A small wooden trunk sat at the foot of his bed, a small table sitting just a few feet away and there was even an armoire in the corner of the room. It was like he had woken up in some medieval hotel room of some sort.
"Correct you are, Alexander. This is the Hollowed Moot Inn." Virgol's voice rang out with even more clarity than usual, and it sounded like his volume had been turned up a notch. "It would seem as if my higher ups finally caught on and brought you here themselves."
"Brought me where?" Alex finally stood up from the bed and stretched, letting his muscles relax. The smell of food being cooked was heavier now, and the low grumble of his stomach couldn't be ignored much longer.
"Why Vorcast of course. Silly human. This is the capital city Fareon." Virgol responded nonchalantly, as if Alex was the idiot for the one asking where he was.
Vorcast? Wasn't that another realm? What happened to being on Earth? What about Amanda? His thoughts were cascading, and despite his hunger, panic started to consume him. How in the hell did he end up in some random inn in another realm?
"Do not worry your pretty little head mortal. Earth, and Amanda, are safe. Your system initiated the Realm Link Protocol in order to speed up the process of your growth. It has brought you directly to Vorcast, but you can leave at any time you wish. You just have to will yourself to go back to Earth, it is simple, really."
Once more it felt like Virgol was talking down to him, as if he was some toddler who needed his hand held. Even so, that wasn't an entirely false statement. How was he supposed to 'will' himself anywhere when he didn't even have control over where he woke up? But if it was so simple…
Nope. Alex decided it was not as simple as Virgol initially declared. He had closed his eyes and imagined the tiny, cramped apartment with the stupidly tiny couch, he imagined Amanda and even the tiny indent that Kieth's head had made on the counter.
Yet he could still hear the soft piano music and the clinking of even more glasses, which meant that he was still stuck in this other realm. Wait. Did that mean that he was technically-
"Once again. Correct. Wow, I admire how astute you are, young hero. You are indeed in War of the Realms: Online." Though Alex couldn't be sure, he was almost positive that Virgol was being obnoxiously sarcastic.
"It would appear as if your system granted you the rare ability known as Realm Walking. It is only ever seen in extremely powerful and gifted individuals, in fact, I have only ever known two other Heroes who were granted it." An almost wistful tone entered the Administrator's voice, whoever those two were, they must have been important to him.
However, Alex wasn't one to turn down a new ability. He wanted to check it out, and see what it did, but he wasn't even sure how to access his system or if it was something he could only do when he was sleeping.
"Again, it is fairly easy, you simply need to mentally will the screen to appear before you, and it will do so." Alex mentally grumbled some very not so nice words about the voice in his head, but still adhered to the advice.
Apparently, willing a magical screen to appear was far easier than travelling between realms, because Alex's main status page opened up right before him.
Name: Alexander Khelton/Alex Khelton
Level: 1
Age: 20
Class: Unassigned
Race: [F] Human
Alignment: [Earth] Forces of Light
Titles: Lesser than Trash
Available skill points: 10
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 12
Charisma: 11
Endurance: 15
Vitality: 14
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 14
Luck: 18
Health Point Total: 150
Mana: 160
[Skills]
[Realm Walking (Active): Your mind has been opened to the possibilities of the universe and through sheer will alone you can walk between realms. Once per day you can travel to any realm of your choosing, so long as you have visited it before. The realm also does not need to be active in the war, as is the case with Earth.] (23 hours before next use)
The twenty-three hour cooldown would explain why he couldn't just go back to Earth yet, but overall, the skill sounded extremely useful. If what Virgol said was true, then he was a one of a kind, and this skill would come in handy. It also seemed like he completed the quest to enter the game, ten skill points were ready to be used and allotted.
The question was what would he use them on? Should he invest in one or two main skills like a typical RPG, or would it be worth raising each attribute equally? As he sat pondering just where to dump his skill points a light knock came on the door and a soft feminine voice came from the outside.
"Sir traveler? Breakfast is ready, but per the rules of your booking, you have fifteen minutes to vacate your room."
Available skill points: 0
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 15
Charisma: 15
Endurance: 15
Vitality: 15
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 14
Luck: 18
Health Point Total: 160
Mana: 160
In the end, Alex decided to round out and balance all of his stats. The only attribute he didn't put any points into was Wisdom, but it was close enough to the others that he wasn't too upset about it.
He still had to decide if he was going to excel at one specific thing, or be an all-rounder, but his stomach could no longer be ignored. If he had to wait 23 hours before being able to go back to Earth, then he might as well find a way to kill time.
The last thing on his mind as he stepped out of the room was Amanda, he hoped she wouldn't freak out or be worried about him disappearing. Besides, Virgol said she would be fine.
Earth, Valdenci Territory, District 14
She was not fine. Amanda was not having a good day. For starters her dead brother, who was supposed to be some hero, had simply vanished. He didn't even leave a note or a message for her, what an asshole. It was basically just like the last time.
Then came the arguably worse news. Two groups of Valdenci Enforcers had rolled into the district this morning, posting flyers and asking questions about a man named Kieth.
Turns out that when you make the debt collector disappear people get worried, and then they start investigating. She had already received two "visits" from the enforcers and was sure that more would be coming.
Thankfully, Alex had taken care of everything when they dealt with Kieth, so her hands were literally clean. Another loud bang came on her door and she rubbed her temples. If she ever saw Alex again, she was gonna give him hell.
Vorcast, Fareon
After stuffing himself with an assortment of extremely well-cooked breakfast foods Alex came to realize two things. Even though he knew that this was another realm, and that this was a very real place somewhere in the universe, it felt like a video game. He didn't blame anyone for not considering otherwise, everything down to the most minute detail had been considered.
If he hadn't been brought here through other means, and instead had used a full-dive pod, he might have questioned whether this whole war was actually taking place. That was how convincing it felt.
The other thing he realized was that there didn't seem to be any 'players' in this city. Alex hadn't directly interacted with anyone, aside from saying a "thank you" for the food, but he didn't see anyone that would be a player.
Virgol had mentioned that they would have a visible username floating above their head, but everywhere Alex looked, he saw none. He didn't know how many realms existed, or even which one's people could travel to, but for having tens of millions of players, this place was empty outside of the actual citizens of the city.
Maybe they hadn't reached the city yet? Or maybe this particular realm was just that vast? He had lots of questions and little to no way of answering any of them.
Virgol hadn't spoken to him since he left the inn, so he was left alone to his thoughts. Maybe he should try and find that guy he was supposed to find originally, what was his name?
"Charles! There ye are, I've been looking all over for ya, I shoulda known you'd be here." A rich, deep sounding Scottish voice found its way to Alex's ears, and he soon located the speaker.
A squat looking humanoid with a bushy beard and a round face stood next to an older looking bald man standing outside of a potion shop and staring inside. This was the first dwarf Alex had seen, but he looked exactly like you'd imagine. Big burly limbs, a squished nose and of course, a full beard that even Santa would be jealous of.
This man was the epitome of a dwarf. His most striking feature was his hair and beard; light auburn hair that was intentionally cut short led down to a hanging beard that had tassels intertwined in it.
Not thinking much about the timing or absurdity that he found just who he was supposed to find, Alex made his way through a small crowd of various races towards the two men. They were standing outside a potion shop dubbed Minerva's Brews and Concoctions, and whatever conversation they were having was in a hushed tone.
Eventually, Alex broke through the crowd of people and stood awkwardly behind the two of them. His presence immediately drew their attention, and the pair turned around to face him, "What do ye want boy?"
Charles, to his credit, didn't immediately question Alex, but fixed him with a quizzical look. The old man had wrinkles lining his features, and if anything, he looked tired. His green eyes were covered by a pair of glasses, and a gray mustache hung just above his lips.
He was dressed in a navy-blue blazer suit, with gold embroidered in various spots. An awkward silence stretched on as Alex and Charles exchanged looks, before the old man finally broke it.
"Well, I believe my friend here asked a question. It is rude to ignore someone, you know." His voice was elegant and tempered, but it held no disdain towards Alex.
"Right, of course. Sorry. My name is Alexander Khelton, I was to-" He was cut off mid-sentence by the ever-widening eyes of Charles, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly. "Alexander, you say?"
Alex nodded, he hated using his full name but seeing as how this was a proper introduction he felt he owed it to the man. He was about to explain how he was sent here to look for Charles specifically, but the man just smiled brightly and turned to look at his companion with excitement.
"By the Gods Xavier! It's him!" Alex didn't really know what was going on so he just stood there with a sheepish look.
"We are saved!" Charles' voice grew more ecstatic, and even the people walking by stopped to see what he was shouting about. "The Hero of Vorcast is here!"