1 A New Game: Part One

He rubbed the bandage on the side of his head. It was in, months of saving up and working extra had finally come to a head, literally. He prepared a few things on the table beforehand. Drinks filled in a cooler, snacks like chips and candy at the ready, and a fluffy pillow prepared to rest his head on. It was finally ready, his long weekend had been set up and readied to go.

Ever since he rose to adulthood he was left alone to choose his own decisions. One of these decisions was buying the hottest and most advanced gaming system on the market. A chip called Sperian Edge was surgically implanted into his brain in order to create the best gaming experience known to man. They say it could replicate everything, taste, touch, smell, sight, and even pain.

Of course, you could turn that last one off, or on, as you so chose. He had to sign a lengthy contract and pay a heavy price, but he knew the reward. The chip could send signals to the brain in milliseconds cutting the game time down by a monumental amount. Their time is so distorted you could close your eyes and wake up a new man, or so they say. Was he going to test that, yes.

He laid down resting his head on the pillow and closing his eyes. With a thought, he activated the chip, and what looked like a game screen popped up on the back of his eyelids. He smiled at the prompt, months have been leading up to this moment. Hard work and blood had been paid. A single word could be read with a question mark at the end.

Begin?

It was a simple answer. The moment he thought of the answer the screen seemed to glitch and another prompt could be read, narrarated by a woman's voice, "Welcome to the Sperian Edge." Lots of bright lights flickered and the lady spoke again, "Your body is being adjusted, if you find it odd you cannot move or open your eyes it is merely your brain being prepared to receive the chip's signals."

A few minutes went by and he looked at a little loading circle, "So, we still have loading screens huh?" He said talking to himself. "You are correct sir, we are adjusting your brain in order to cause no problems." He was puzzled, "W-wait, you can hear and interact with me!?"

A second later a bright little orb appeared in his consciousness. He also appeared, but he had changed a little. Instead of his normal body parameters, he felt shorter. He looked at his hands and found no fatigued skin or wrinkles. The orb floated close to him in the middle of this black blank expense, "Hello, my name is Edge. I am the chief AI residing over your Sperian Edge."

He looked at her, "You're an AI, so you can freely talk with me?" "Indeed, although my original task is to oversee the chip I can also help you learn and even interact with you within the game world." You crossed your arms, "Cool, I have a little advanced guardian angel then." The orb fluttered as if affected by his words, "T-Thank you, sir, for your praise. It seems the game is ready, shall I start it for you?"

"Yes, please." The black expanse began morphing into colors, mainly green, and then Edge flew in a circle, "World generated, I am sending you to the starting area." He nodded, "Alright let's go." The darkness began changing colors, kind of like hyperspace scenes from Syfy movies.

Then after a second passed his mind went blank, as if sleep had set in. Opening his eyes he was met with the deafening sound of water crashing against rocks. He felt a very fine mist on his skin and fresh grass in between his toes. He felt lighter, and taking a deep breath through his nose it twitched to the scent of fresh dirt and moisture.

Looking around he stood in the middle of a stone sanctum, or maybe a cave. It was brilliantly lit from a huge hole in the center of the cave ceiling. Water poured through the hole mixed with sunlight to create rainbows over a waterfall. The water crashed onto the stone ground next to the roots of a huge willow tree which stood guard over a small river that kept running through the cave.

Beyond this, the area was scattered with grass, small rocks, and boulders with moss growing on them. He looked down at himself, he wore a brown tunic and tan trousers. They fit perfectly, as if tailored to him. One thing still felt off, he felt shorter. He spied a puddle near him and walked over to it.

He leaned over the glass-like water and raised an eyebrow. He looked like his younger self, like he was 17 again or something. He had these shining green eyes and black hair that looked a little long and unkempt but still flowing. He had sharper features, a small build, and his face resonated a near royal aura.

He shook it off and crossed his arms, "Cool." His voice sounded younger as well. "Isn't it beautiful?" Edge floated through the hole in the ceiling as a bright orb made of light. She slowly drifted to his position and rested in front of him hovering at eye level.

"I heard the rumors, but this is too good to be true." She fluttered around, "Of course, my creator had the best idea. The human brain processes everything. Touch, smell, light, color, they're all determined by the brain. They took these genetic programs and used them to create their own. Now, let's get you started."

Near where he woke up was a stone table with moss growing on it. He noticed some things laying on it and walked over. Sitting on the table was a leather backpack, a wooden stick, and a stone with a blue etching on the top. Fortunately, a pair of shoes also laid near the table as well.

He slipped on the boots and picked the satchel-looking bag up, instantly a text bubble appeared in his head.

(Leather Backpack.- Common Item/30 slots)

He slung it around his shoulder, the use of slots meant he probably didn't need to worry about space in the pack. He then picked up the stick.

"Simple Wooden Staff - Capable of White Spells. Can cast SUMMONING.)

Summoning, the main idea of the game. In truth, he was so excited to play he actually forgot to read up on the game's controls. He turned to Edge who was floating lazily around his shoulder like a pixie. "How does summoning work in this game, and how do I check my health or my map?"

She flew around, "Your hud can be accessed from your arm, simply raise your arm and look. You don't have a map yet, so don't worry about that." He raised his arm and twisted it. Looking at his forearm a screen showed up as a hologram.

It had a few labeled boxes.

Items. Gear. Quest. Monster guide. Summons. Stats.

Edge flew next to his hand, "The item window shows you all items stored within your pack. Items will be automatically transferred over when a better pack is equipped. It holds anything, size doesn't matter." He nodded, his guess being correct.

He then tapped the Summons window and a list of boxes all showed up. It had a small stat list, a figure which was blacked out, and a name covered up by question marks. It seemed to be a list of summonable companions. Edge floated in front of him, "As you kill monsters you will gain the ability to summon their counterparts. I will explain more on this later."

He clicked out and looked at his stats next.

Summoner -1-

SP 0

Health 80

Mana 40

Strength 1

Vitality 1

Dexterity 1

Intelligence 1

Magic 1

Summon power 1

A pretty balanced start, Alex guessed. A picture of himself sat in the left top corner and below everything was a red and a blue bar, Health and MP.

He continued on to his skills.

Fireshot - 1 -

'Unleash a bolt of weak fire from the tip of your staff. White spell.'

He let his arm fall and picked up the stick. It looked more like a run-down walking stick. He pointed it off into the distance, "... Fireshot!" He felt a force move through his arm and into the stick before the tip was enveloped by fire and then shot forward like an arrow.

The bolt hit the wall of the sanctum and flashed before leaving a small singe. So, it wasn't a walking stick after all. He turned it around and looked at it, there was no definitive point of release. He looked at the place on the wall he hit and slammed it on the ground again. Sure enough, the bolt exited the end of the staff and surprisingly struck the same spot.

He picked another target, a small bush, and slammed the stick down. The bolt struck the bush a second later and set it on fire. The flames were blue, curiously. This must be magic, Edge butted in a second later, "Mana, the substance that magic attacks rely on, have many different forms. Its basic form is blue and dishes out no special properties. There are several types of spells, like Fire, Wind, Earth, and many more types that you will find along the way."

He nodded, "Nice, I'm armed and dangerous now." It was then he heard it, a squishy sound, like someone throwing jello on the floor over and over again. Edge swirled around to his shoulder, "Something is coming, prepare yourself." He looked towards the noise, it was coming from behind the other side of a boulder.

He raised his staff and pointed it towards the side of the rock and waited. The sound grew louder, almost to the point it sounded huge. He raised his staff into the air a small bit with each squishy footstep. Then, the monster appeared.

It was a Slime.