"Wake up , wake up , WAKE up , I won't say it again" a mysterious high pitched voice began to echo in Rhys's ear .
Slowly but surely Rhys began to wake , with a mixture or dizziness and nausea , he slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes wearily; To see that all his injurieshe had garnered had disappered. However right now his mind was more focused on the small creature in front of him . He scanned it with his eyes and came to a conclusion , it seemed to be a pixie.
It was roughly the size of his hand , it had wings that glimmered a silver hue and a small yet defined face . It was wearing a green dress fashioned from what seemed to be leaves .
"Finally...You're awake" the pixie exclaimed in a high pitch voice . Gesturing for him to stand .
Rhys felt a compulsion to comply so he slowly overcame his nauseated state and began to rise to his feet. His weak legs barely managing to hold his body wieght.
"Is this Heaven or maybe Vallhalla?" He spoke to the pixie in a daze. His head filled with questions about the pixie he was speaking to or why his surrounding where nothing but a white void . But as his head became less foggy , all questions where replaced by his concern for his fallen freind.
"Where is Ruby? Is she here?Did she die with me? Is she alright? Can I see her?" He bombarded the already annoyed pixie with questions .
Th pixie interjected " You mean that woman you were with? Eirik's human?"
"Yes the woman I was with Ruby , soft brown hair , blue eyes. Is she alright? " Rhys replied with haste forgetting any mention of Eirik.
"Maybe , that's for me to know and your to find out" The pixie said with a mischievous look upon her face , taking a weird sense of delight in seeing Rhys's confused nature.
"Wha-" Rhys tried to ask more questions such as what the pixie had meant by that , but he could no longer move his mouth. That didn't stop his mind from staying still though.
'If I am dead why can't I see Ruby and who is this pixie . I don't remember about reading anything about a pixie who guides souls in the books I've read. But more importantly why cant i move my mouth , whats happening to m-'
But before he could further process his thoughts he felt a colpusion to look in the direction of the pixie . It was only then when he truly checked his surroundings.
He was in an empty white void , nothing but him and the pixie where present , it was absent of sound . Apart from the fluttering of the pixie , nothing could be heard.
"That's better, now please look at the presentation I have prepared for you , human " Upon saying this she layed her body back in the air, leaning on what seemed to be the air itself and snapped her fingers .
Instantly to the side of the pixie he could see a giant blue screen , much like the ones he had seen at the start and the end of his previous nightmare . Suddenly something in his brain clicked .
'This screen , it told me to survive in order to enter yggdrasil , did I get brought inside.'
He narrowed his eyes on the screen reading every word trying to find some clue, as to how to get out here .
* Welcome to Yggdrasil , congratulations on your survival! By now you should of met your guardian pixie responsible for guiding you through the preliminary signing in process.*
The pixie snapped her fingers again while simultaneously letting out a yawn , this caused the previous message to disappear and a new one to appear.
* Now I will explain the basics. Monsters and demons have over-run your planet . Oh no! However do not fret , as you are safe now , we have transfered all remaining humans into Yggdrasil.*
She snapped again
*But dont worry about your previous world, we gods have a granted you an oppotunity. All you have to do is climb! Yggdrasil is split into 100 floors each one with its own unique trials and monsters you must face . If you climb all the way to floor 100 , the gods will grant you a wish . It could be anything , you could become a diety , rule over humanity or even revive the dead*
Rhys let out a perplexed smile , as although he was confused about what it had meant by monsters or trials . He was too focused on the wish and began to think of what he could do with it .
'So if I get too floor 100 , I can do anything right, I could enter a book and hang out with my favourite character. But more importantly I can revive Ruby!'
The pixie sensed that he had lost focus and in that moment Rhys felt a harsh slap on his face . He tried to yelp in pain but he still couldn't open his mouth.
"Focused now?" The pixie said with a smile on her face .
Rhys nodded his head in response but in all truth he was wondering how she had slapped him after all she did not move .
But that thought was soon quelled by the snapping of the pixies fingers and the aperance of more words on the blue screen.
*Of course with your current weak self . You won't be able to take on the challenges we have set for youn. That's why we have granted you all skills and gave you the power to level up much like in the game you humans like so much. *
The pixie snapped her fingers again.
*Before we asign your skills , you should take a look at your status . Your status reflects your physical state before entering Yggdrasil so your probably around the level of a goblin right now. But putting in the effort here and facing challenges. You may grow your status to the level where you can lift buildings and run faster than the speed of sound. Now say status to reveal your own status*
Upon seeing the final word , he felt the force that was forcing his lips shut remove , freeing his mouth and allowing him to speak .
"Say status then , or do you want another slap." She said raising her tiny hand in the air towards him in a striking position.
Truthfully Rhys was incredibly excited , after all this was just like one of the many novels he had read and games he'd played .
"Status!" He exclaimed. Withought delay a screen again no bigger than desktop appeared in his eyes. Rhys stared at it reading every detail .
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*Status board*
Name : Rhys Oswin
Level: 1
Occupation: Not assigned
Skills : Not assigned
Health: 9
Strength: 4(+1)
Intelligence: 11
Agility : 5
Mana: 0
Achievements:
Goblin slayer( common: evolvable)
Tinker: Wow your weak , only your intelligence is above average , how did you manage to kill a goblin, LOL.
Notice : This will dissappear in 4 minutes.
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Upon seeing this Rhys's face lit up , it was exactly like a game . Although his stats where below average , he was proud of his intelligence stat and remained hopeful he could increase his stats slowly with time.
However one thing he was curios about was what the achievements meant .
' Why did it say common and evolvable , does it relate to the fact I killed a goblin on the staircase '
'Well if you don't know ask'
He looked in the direction of pixie and began to speak " Excuse me, Tinker I presume , thanks for the kind words. Can you tell me what achievements are.
In response she replied barely holding back a yawn "Just click on it and find out yourself , human"
Upon hearing this Rhys ignoring the pixies obvious insult , clicked slowly on the achievement section and tapped again on his only achievement.To his surprise another screen the size of an ipad appeared.
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*Achievemnt: Goblin slayer*
You have killed a goblin . The lowest of the low level monsters good job!
Effect : +1 strength
Evolution conditions :common-->rare
Kill 9 more goblins
Grade: Common
Note : After 5 seconds this window will disappear
__________________________________________
' So what my stats are below average , I can make up for it with my achievements and skills after all thats all that matters '
As if in response to his thoughts , Tinker snapped her fingers and another blue screen appeared infront of him , much larger than his status window .
* You're probably wondering when we were going to assign you your skills right? Well the awnser to that is right now! We have given you all your own skills , relating to your past and potential. These skills are ranked acordingly (F-EX) . Please look at the skills section and click on the assigned skill to view what you can do with it . *
He quickly fiddled with his hands , too excited to sit still. His eyes where focus on the skill section of his status page waiting for his skills to pop up . Then it happened, it changed.
__________________________________________
Skills : Libary( f: Evolvable) , Sealed (?) , Sealed (?)
__________________________________________
Upon quickly clicking upon his skill the smile was wiped of his face immediately. His body became limp and his mind began to race soon after.
__________________________________________
* Skill : Libary *
Effect : You can store and summon 5 books you have interacted with.
Evolvable : F -->?
Conditions unknown
Grade : F
Notice : this window will dissappear in 10 seconds
__________________________________________
'What in the f*cking , hell is this sure I can read my books when i want , but I'm supposed to be fighting mobs . What is a book supposed to do against a goblin .'
He overlooked this skill and attempted to click on the sealed skills however no matter how many times he tried Rhys could not view them .
He wanted to ask Tinker how to view them or what he was supposed to do , with that Libary skill how he could evolve it . But before he could speak a word .
Tinker began to snap her fingers causing the words on the screen to change slowly.
*Now that you have your skills , and your status. It's time for you to go and challenge the first floor . We wish you look on your climb '
"Well that's that , time for you to go! Good luck" Tinker cheered with an exasperated expression indeferenent of Rhys's new found misery.
"Wait what do you mean good luck , there's still som-" However before he could finish his words Tinker waved her hand , and Rhys began to feel a sense of weightlessness in his body and he began to levitate in the air no further than 1 feet
While in air he suddenly noticed that the white void he was once in had started to disapate, and gradually shift into a large expansive forest , much like those that he had read about in books . The trees much like when hes first saw Yggdrasil were brimming with life , The leaves of each tree glimmered a medley of colours from crimson to gold . As well as this warm sun shun brightly overwhelming Rhys's and casting beautiful shadows all across the ground . Speaking of the ground , the grass glowed a green luster and was of varying lenghth , Tree roots sprang from the trees covering the floor , further enforcing the fact that the forest itself was alive.
His ears where filled with the sound of birds signing their morning tunes . As well as the sound of the breeze rustling through the autumn leaves .
It's beauty was beyond words , It gave Rhys a sense of awe and peace . Just the sight alone melted away the fatigue from his previous horrifying experiences. For the first time in a long time he felt at peace.
Well that was until another one of those blue screens , disturbed his view of the enchanting forest ; Washing that sense of peace away , replacing it with anxiety . He read it slowly while trying to keep his composure
*Welcome to floor 0 , let the tutorial Commence! Good luck, humans!*