Lying on his back, Sage opened his eyes to a cerulean sky. He got to his feet. Forests surrounded the hill on which he stood. Mountains towered on the horizon beyond rivers and open plains.
He turned around slowly, surveying the entire panorama. An expanse of earth floated just below the clouds, an island of the sky. A temple rested on the edge of it. Beside waterfalls flowing off ranges of mountains, a castle stood in the distance. His awe almost made him forget about his conversation with the Goddess.
"Can you hear me?" Ayrelle's voice filled his head with a buzz.
"Curse you." He rubbed his temples. "I'm trying to take in the view."
"Oh, that's right—you're also an artist. Do you like the view? You'll be traveling to many of the places you see."
He drove his heels into the ground. "What if I stay here and do nothing?"
"Then I shall eliminate your consciousness," she said highly. For a few seconds, Snyder's vision went black.
Repressing a horrified shout, Snyder blinked until his sight restored. "I'll travel, then. How do I get to the floating island?"
"You'll arrive there later in your journey. For now, head to the village I marked on your map."
"You're really treating this like a video game."
She didn't answer. A map materialized in front of him. He grabbed and examined it. Among expanses of forests, a circle was drawn around a village to the south. He could figure out the cardinal directions using the landmarks he saw earlier.
Sage pocketed the map. "I'll head there. The trip should take me half a day."
"I'm glad you have accepted your task. One last thing: I've empowered your birthright of nature manipulation, and I've inscribed my mark on the front of your wrist."
Sage held his wrist out. Ayrelle's name was cursively inscribed on it in golden ink. It didn't even look good.
Groaning, he stroked the image of a leaf that adorned his cheek. It glowed verdantly at his touch. Energy coursed through his body. He thrust his hand forward, expelling a frenzy of vines and thorns from his fingertips. Typically, he could only cast impotent roots.
"Pretty useful," he said. "Does your mark do anything?"
"It allows me to communicate with you telepathically. I shall check on you later."
"Wait a second. You've told me where to go, but what do you want me to do?"
"Hone your heroism."
Her voice faded away. The buzz in his head dissipated. All at once, uncertainty, panic, and fear gripped his chest. He had only been maintaining composure to please Ayrelle. If he could find a way out his conscription, he'd jump at the opportunity. Even just letting his parents know about it would be good enough. Unfortunately, he'd left his phone in the garden.
He yanked the map out of his pocket and scanned it with frantic eyes, searching for his home. Of course, his family's mansion didn't show. He realized he was in the region of Othia; the mansion was all the way in the Promise region. He recognized many of Othia's famed cities, but none of the locations were truly familiar to him.
After returning the map to his pocket, he stared at the vista. He took a deep breath, reluctantly accepting his plight. He had no desire to follow Ayrelle's instructions and head to the village, however. If he had to play along and 'hone his heroism,' he'd do it on his own terms.
His eyes set on the castle beside the distant waterfalls. Surely, there was heroic work to be done at such a wondrous place.
He held his bow in front of him and tapped its screen twice. A holographic bowstring connected the bow's limbs. Arrows like glimmering needles of light appeared in notches on the bow's limbs. They flickered blue by default, but Sage tapped their shafts and made them red, a color that would endow them with fiery properties when fired. Mouth twisting into a confident smirk, he marched down the hill.
"Halt!" A voice called, hidden in the forest ahead. "Drop your weapon!"
Sage paused. "My weapon?"
"Yeah, your weapon. Do you want to get assassinated, kid?"
"What kind of place is this?" Sage exhaled. "No, I'm not dumb enough to drop my weapon. Reveal yourself so I can shoot you down."
"Are you challenging me?" The voice snickered.
"I am." He nocked an arrow. "Come on out."
"Duel initiated!" A boy around Sage's age rushed out of the bushes. He wore a frayed cloak over medieval-style clothing, a striking contrast from Sage's shorts and t-shirt.
The boy had a snowflake birthmark. It glowed cyan, causing mist to surround him. Upon his hands were claws with razors like sharpened icicles. When he slashed the air, they sent a flood of snow on Sage, throwing the archer on his back. The boy sped over in a split second.
"I'm max level, dude." He pointed his claws at his throat. "Why would you challenge me?"
Sage glared. "Max level? You think this is a game?"
"I'm joking. Levels don't exist, but I'm way above your league."
"Yeah? Well, I'm Ayrelle's appointed hero. If you end me, my goddess will eliminate your consciousness."
"You got proof?"
Sage held his wrist to him. The boy examined Ayrelle's signature before breaking into laughter.
"When did you scribble that?" he asked. "The Goddess wouldn't endow such a stupid mark. Why would she even appoint a hero?"
"To save the world."
"From what?"
Sage shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Hurry and end me."
"What's your name?" The boy crossed his arms. "I almost feel bad for you. After all, you just entered the roaming zone."
"Roaming zone?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You know, where we're at?"
"What goes on here?"
"Murder and chaos. How do you not know about roaming zones?"
"Maybe it's a sign I'm not from here. Maybe it's a sign the Goddess just sent me on my 'quest.'"
"Eh, you could be playing dumb. People come up with the stupidest acts when I'm about to slay them. They think they're funny. Name, please."
"I'm Sage." He lowered his voice. "Don't be surprised if an arrow plants itself into your back later on."
"Archers don't scare me." The boy rolled his eyes. "I'm Weaver. I've got more than 932 eliminations in this zone, and my successful engagement rate is 89 percent. Mostly, I assassinate people. Need more of my stats?"
"You really just dumped your stats on me. I don't even know how to interpret them."
"In a nutshell: they're good." Weaver winked.
"Send me into paralysis. I'm excited to see the nearest regeneration center."
"Game over, buddy."
Weaver stabbed his throat with all the blades of his claws. A translucent, golden film of energy flashed around Sage's body. It was his personal barrier, impossible to ever fully break. Everyone had one. Ayrelle and the other gods had instituted them to prevent all forms of physical harm. If someone received harm, the barrier would absorb it. Lethal harm would send the recipient into paralysis, as barriers needed time to process such damage. The affected person would disintegrate and materialize at a regeneration center for recovery.
Weaver's stab was certainly a lethal blow. Therefore, the barrier forced Sage into paralysis. His muscles froze up. He couldn't move, even if he desperately tried. His eyes remained wide open as black surrounded his sight. As he and his bow disintegrated into synthetic dust, the last thing he saw was Weaver hurling a snowball into his face.