Departure

The ship was massive, almost fully blotting out the sun. It was an Imperial Explorer. These ships explored the far reaches of the Galaxy. There were maybe 500 of these, which wasn't a lot considering the size of space, and the fact that it's a 3D plane, not a 2D plane.

I could hear the murmurs of servants in the house, talking about the end of the world, and I couldn't help but snicker.

'End of the world? No sweetie, it's just beginning!'

I stayed in my chair and enjoyed the show that was to come.

If what the book said was true, first would come 100 ICBMs from America, and then every nuke in existence would be launched.

Just as it said, not 5 minutes later, there were roughly 100 trails of smoke in the sky. I could practically hear the cheers of the Americans in the White House.

The ICBMs flew straight to the ship, only to be utterly demolished. There was no boom, no debris, no nothing. They flew straight at the ship, and it glowed a milky white, and then they disappeared.

'So that's an energy barrier.' When the book introduced it, I thought that it was a circular barrier, but it seemed to stick around the ship like a film.

I looked back into the mansion, smiling at the sight of my cousins who had their mouths agape.

'What a pretty sight. I can't forget this.' I quickly grabbed my phone, snapping a photo of them in all their glory.

Turning to the ship once more, what followed was nothing short of a masterpiece. Thousands of smoke trails flew into the skies, the remaining nukes I assumed, and they were all swallowed by the barrier.

I laughed as I thought about what the Presidents and Kings of each country must be doing. I was sure that they were all panicking, grabbing their money, and hiding in a bunker. 

Next came the voice in everyone's head, and it was an odd sensation. It was like an echo that resounded in a tunnel, but much louder and clearer, and it never got quieter.

"Hello, Humans of planet #987,656, you are now part of the Human Empire, Galaxy Sapius. We are humans from Planet #1, the Capital Planet, Averia. Please, do not attack us, it is a waste of material.

We are here to inform you that a Spatial docking station will be built here, and you will be given access to the universe, as is your right. Any who wish to come to Averia, please stand in a clear area and raise your hands high. We have programmed our AI to beam you up the ship. You may feel some discomfort, but we hope it is as pleasurable as possible." The man was polite, which was a surprise. 

'I assumed that he would be an ass, considering how much stronger he is. He could probably kill us all with his eyes closed.' I thought as I moved to the middle of the field, under the watchful stares of my family.

I had already moved the money from my account to my wallet, so there was no problem there, but there was one thing left to do.

"YO! JAYCE, ADAM, BEN, DANIEL, thanks for the money assholes. Oh, by the way, FUCK ALL OF YOU, YOU'RE ALL PIECES OF SHIT!" I screamed as loud as I could whilst waving my hands in the air. I had a good laugh as the four I mentioned checked their bank accounts only to see $3k missing from each. 

It was chump change for them, I was sure, but that wasn't what mattered. No, it was the principle. I had stolen from them, Goldsmiths, and was about to get away scot-free.

They all started to run towards me, but it was then that I was picked up by the spaceship. I started to float in the air, and they started to run faster. That was all they could do as they were too scared to chase after me. Even the musclehead Jayce was scared of leaving.

'''GET BACK HERE YOU SHITHEAD!''' The four of them cried, only serving to make me laugh harder.

The last thing they heard before I was transported would have been my laughter, so I expected they must have been pissed. 

---

I arrived on the teleport pad, a circular, grey piece of technology that could be set as spatial coordinates. I didn't know how it worked, and I honestly didn't want to find out.

'I'll leave the area, just in case one follows.' I thought, quickly exploring the ship. I knew the rough layout from the book, but the words in the story did no justice for the ship. It was an architectural masterpiece of futuristic technology.

Its sleek black and white walls, the soft metal flooring. The lights that created a perfect ambiance, bright enough that you could see clearly, but dark enough that there was no need to strain your eyes at all. The plants that formed a soft atmosphere; all of it tied together perfectly.

The ship most likely wasn't going to move for a while, so I went to find a cabin.

It was extremely useful that the book had been branded into my memories, if it wasn't, I would have forgotten most of it by now. I used the novel's directions to guide myself to the living quarters.

In front of the hallway for rooms was a reception, so I walked up to the lady, and signaled for a room. I had completely forgotten that we spoke different languages, so I had to do my best to ask for one without words.

'I need to learn the language.' I skimmed through the chapters of the book where Alexander was on the ship and found that in the dorms there were language manuals. The 'Universal Diction' as it's called, was a simple language that was made by the more powerful species in the universe. They had combined their languages to form it.

The lady gave me a key that had numbers I couldn't read. Luckily enough, the doors had numbers on them, so all I had to do was find the one that matched.

The corridor was long, about 100m, and had stairs at the end of it. The first number on my key didn't match the doors on this floor, so I assumed that I was on a higher floor.

It took me 3 flights of stairs and half the stretch of the corridor, but I found my room. It was in the middle of the fourth floor, and inside was a bed, a bathroom, and a desk. On the far end was a window that showed space. 

'Holy shit! Is that space!' I had seen space in pictures, obviously, but to see it in person shocked me. There was something about how vast and endless it was, that made it seem so supernatural.

I closed the door behind me and went to lay on the bed. Since there was nothing for me to do, I chose to go over the text again. I knew that there would come a time when little information in the book was worth it, so I had to make the most of the beginning, where everything matched.

In this universe, the power system is a little confusing. There exists an edible crystal, dubbed the 'Element Crystal', which is the start of one's journey to power.

Every species was affiliated with an element, and eating a crystal would give you access to 6 abilities from this element. You would unlock them in stages, however, and you needed to eat what are called 'Unlock Crystals' to gain access to them. You just had to survive a little torture. 

Humans, however, don't have an element that they are associated with. This means that they can get any element.

The only drawback to this was that each person had a limit.1 It's the maximum amount of crystals you can eat before they stop working. For some people, this limit came before they even finished their first crystal. I was unsure of my limit, but it didn't matter.

The most important step was for me to gain a cheat that only the protagonist had. In the book, Alexander gained this cheat when he was on his 4th crystal —he had been blessed with a high limit— and it changed his life.

Alexander may have had a high limit, but he was unlucky. Each of the abilities he had unlocked were low-end, having little utility. The cheat he gained reset him, meaning he was back to having eaten no crystals. It also changed what he received from the crystal, and allowed him to eat an infinite amount of them.

He suffered much more than anyone, but it was worth it. Alexander was given manipulation abilities, which meant he would only receive 1 ability per crystal, but it allowed him to control the element. If it weren't for the psychological effect the pain created, and the fact that at least a year was needed in between each Element Crystal —if you didn't wish to explode—, Alexander would have easily become the strongest in the universe in mere days.

To use abilities, one needed 'Energy'. Energy was restorable, and it could be compared to mana in other stories.

The crystal also had the bonus of increasing physical strength, which caused a problem for him. Since Alexander ate 1 Element Crystal and 1 Unlock Crystal, his strength wasn't increased that much. It didn't matter though, because he fixed that with another cheat.

I finished flipping through what happened to Alexander and then set aside the memory of the book. 

Since space was pitch black, I wasn't sure what time it was, so I went to sleep.

'The ship will probably stay for another day or two.' I thought.

---

I spent, as I predicted, the next 2 days on the ship, doing little more than eating, reading, and sleeping. I saw none of my relatives, so I was more than positive that they hadn't joined.

It was when I was eating breakfast on the 3rd day that the captain finally spoke.

"Please be ready for departure. The journey will take approximately 4 days, so we hope you have a good time. Note that once you get to Averia, you will have no aid. Good luck." He sounded a little like a pilot on an airplane, which made me chuckle, and I looked around me to see the reactions of the others, wondering how they were faring.

Most people on the space shuttle were panicked hearing his words. 'Right, they didn't know that no aid would be given.' I realized.

'You poor fools.' I held no sympathy for them. It was their fault if they chose to leave Earth without any thought to the consequences. 

Of course, I had the book, but that didn't deny their idiocy. Why would you leave your home without thinking about your future? It was not like they were forced.

Just as I finished the book, I heard the engines engage.

'It's time to go.'