Kane awoke with a start, his senses slowly returning to him as he found himself lying in the backseat of his SUV. He felt a bit disoriented, his body lethargic after being unconscious for two days. Rubbing his eyes and stretching, he managed to regain his bearings. He stepped out of the vehicle and observed the empty highway where he had stopped. Not a vehicle in site.
'The time it takes to clear a dream stage scenario is normally only a few hours. But this time, due to the little excursion I had with future Kane, I was gone for two days. Its been five days since the announcement of the merger.'
A lot had happened in five days. He was now strong enough to punch boulders and run hundred meters in a few seconds. And no doubt his friends had also progressed during the time he was in the dream.
Thinking about his friends, he called the GUIDE to ring them all up.
*RINGG RINGG*
A moment later, Asche's face appeared in front of him on a floating screen. He immediately noticed the background around him and inferred that his ship must have docked and he was back on land.
"The sleeping beauty finally chose to wake up. What took you so long? Were you completing hidden quests?"
Kane laughed at his response and the fact that he had actually guessed it right. "You're in fact, right. I have huge news to share, but firstly, where are all the others?" No one else had joined the call, so he felt strange.
"They should all be in one of the stages. After you did not wake up for half a day two days ago, we decided to speed up on our progress and went ahead to challenge the other stages. Surprisingly, World stage and Memory stages have a different flow of time, so while we spend weeks or even months completing tasks, barely an hour or more would have passed. A successful clearance always provides you with some reward, either from the stage or from the GUIDE itself. So we have been spending most of our time in the simulations. You are in for some surprises once those three return." His cheeky expression said it all. They were way ahead of him in terms of conquering the stages and were waiting to gloat in his face.
But Kane smirked internally, trying to hide his glee as he thought about their expressions when they see his strength and changes. Nevertheless, he was glad that they all had acted accordingly.
"So what all has changed since? I bet a lot has happened in the time I was asleep."
Asche nodded and recounted how the MESH had been formed to facilitate worldwide communication on day three. And the formation of the World Government on the next day, which had actually seen a huge support from the majority of the citizens around the globe. He also mentioned that many people had decided to share their experiences on the MESH, letting people know more about the stages of personal merger and that daily such incidents were only increasing.
Kane listened to him attentively, astounded at the large number of changes that had occurred in merely a couple days. When he heard of the formation of the world government, he couldn't help but interrupt his friend. "By any chance, you lot didn't join the portal, right? Government is the last entity I would trust in this world now."
"Hah, don't think you're the only one who was a weeb. Jay and I were against the idea as soon as it appeared on the MESH. Eli didn't really care and Zephyr agreed with us."
Kane grinned and then gestured at him to continue his recount.
"Yeah, so that's what's been up with the world. On the other hand, each of us is done with a scenario of World and Memory stage each. From our experience, the difficulty of the scenario increases in these stages compared to the Dream stage. If I were to make use of an analogy, while dream stage scenarios are like random side quests, world and memory stages are the important plot quests of a mmo. The rewards are equally proportional. Eli lucked out in her first dream stage, where she got that magic inheritance for fire transformation.
I only got a magic technique which lets me shoot arrows made of ice. And I need a bow to even perform the damn magic. It's ridiculous honestly. But my rewards in the later stages were much better. Once Zephyr wakes up, I'll immediately ask him to fetch you. We have already grouped up, but since the GUIDE said it was not safe to transport you through space while you were in the dream stage, we had to wait. Oh yes, Zephyr now has a way to teleport us along with him. You'll find out once he wakes..."
"Did someone call out my name?"
Right then another face popped into the screen, as Zephyr faced Kane and Asche, rubbing his eyes as if he'd just woken up from a nap.
"Oh cool, Kane, you're up. Just stay there. I'll pop by real quick and bring you home. We've been waiting long enough for you now." He was grinning widely as he immediately exited the call even before Kane could say anything.
"Aight, so let's catchup once you're here. Don't be too surprised." Asche smirked before ending the call.
Kane could imagine that his friends were just waiting to blind him with all the rewards and power-ups they had gone through in the short while he had been out.
Excitement was bubbling within him as well, knowing that he could finally regroup with the gang, with the only family he knew in his life. Knowing that they all were doing great for themselves, he felt proud and happy. Walking back to his SUV, he opened the door and sat back down in the back seat. Suddenly feeling a bit hungry, he picked up a snack bar from his backpack on the front seat and calmly waited for Zephyr to arrive. He didn't know what to expect, but he was looking forward to it.
And the wait wasn't for long, as a minute later Zephyr popped up outside his SUV. Kane was still not used to the fact that his lanky friend had gotten even lankier. And he also noticed some other changes in him, like how there were weird tattoos on his bare arms. And the bracelets on his wrists that were definitely future tech.
His appearance hadn't changed much, no new mutation that made him look any different. But his aura had definitely changed. As if he had lived for a lot longer than his age. Maybe in fact he had.
"So, are you ready to return now, sleeping beauty?" He smiled and then pulled Kane into a hug.
Pulling back, he then asked him, "Have you ever flown a jet before?"
Kane was taken aback at the question, almost jumping back in fright. Did his friend suddenly know how to read his memories from a glance?
"Why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell me you've flown in a jet before?" Zephyr stared back at him after judging his reaction.
"My dream stage had me flying a futuristic fighter jet, so yeah, I am surprised at the sudden question." Kane answered, a dumbfound look on his face.
"Damn that's sick. Well, now you have the chance to fly another jet. This one will be flying through space instead. Or Space-Time to be accurate. Will take us only a moment to arrive back at our base." He pulled out a small disk from his pocket and showed it to Kane.
Then he threw the disk in the air. As it soared, it underwent a mesmerizing transformation, unfurling into a sleek, futuristic triangular jet. The levitating craft hung effortlessly in the air, its sleek lines and shimmering surfaces catching the sunlight reflecting.
"That's our ride back home. Come on, let's not keep the others waiting any longer." Zephyr said, smiling widely.