The Kingmaker: Legend of the Undefeated Commander
"Saras Gayen! Are you reading those dusty old books again?" Nina Gayen's shout preceded her entrance as she banged open the door to her son's room. As she expected, she found Saras sitting on his bean bag, holding a paperback copy of World History: The Ancient Civilizations. She snatched the book from his hands and tossed it into the pile of other books covering a range of topics from politics to economics related to Earth. "Look at Ellie's daughter, Stivi. She has already reached Level 3 in the Dreamverse VR within two hours of its launch. Why are you still lounging at home?" "I am not lounging! I am studying History…" Saras protested, looking at the book pile before turning his gaze towards his mother. She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him as if he had committed a grave sin by not entering the game as soon as it was launched. "You are turning 25 this year. If you don't play the Dreamverse VR now and join a good guild, how will you find a wife?" Thus started his journey as he once again navigated the VR scene through the mysterious game Dreamverse VR that was said to hold the keys to Human Evolution.
Double-Dealing
As the afternoon sun was starting to set, the team arrived at the location of the portal. After dusting away the dirt on the circular brown stone, the engraved formation on it became clearer.
Samar studied the formation and failed to understand most of its intricacies. However, his knowledge of Runes was enough for him to understand that it was an ingenious link up of Vyom Rune and Earth Rune.
The Vyom Rune helped open a fissure in the mirror dimension and the Earth Rune helped the fissure stabilize, anchoring itself to a location in another dimension.
As he traced the runes, his eyes moved to a circular, fist sized socket at the center of the altar. The socket was marble smooth all over except for three tiny grooves and two bumps. It was a mysterious addition, that made the entire formation like a lock, that could not be opened without the corresponding key.
Seeing the socket, Samar's eyes lit up.