Emopa stirred awake as he felt a pain in his head, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Shit... What the..." He took a look around and saw mostly everything in ruins. He saw the company he had once built for the past 5 years, was now gone.
In its place, a looming black tower stood tall. It resembled Greek architecture, with pillars adorning it all around. He could see inside, at least at its base.
He saw gray walls inside and a blue pedestal in the center.
He tried to stand up but immediately felt a pain in his left leg.
[WARNING: HEALTH CRITICAL.]
A screen popped up in front of him. To the left were various color pallets and a color wheel for Primary, Secondary, and Text colors on the UI.
He set the primary color to black and the secondary to red. He kept the words white.
After submitting it, the screen disappeared.
[Loading... Welcome to Magical Heritage!]
[A world filled with fantastical creatures, dangerous monsters, customizable gear, interactive NPCs, quests, classes, and much more!]
[Configuring... Developer Detected. Welcome Emopa!]
Emopa sat there dumbfounded. "Is this real? I've only heard about such things happening in those Mangas and Manhwa I read."
The window then cut off before reappearing again.
[Emopa Abomination (Unknown Clan)]
[Stats]
[Shop]
[Quests]
[Inventory]
[Map]
[Loadout]
[Party]
[Skills]
"This is sick... Since I'm a developer, my main things were working on all the various classes in the game... I should have the locations of all of them, even the secret ones..." He mumbled to himself as he clicked the map.
In front of him sat a map of the entire region of New York, various blue, red, green, and yellow dots lining the area. Those were the various classes.
"Much more spread out than initially intended... Wait a second... I have no visuals except for where I'm at! I can only see the dots... That means I have to... Find Vatel..." Emopa groaned as he backed out. He then checked his stats.
[Stats]
[Vitality:5]
[Strength:8]
[Agility:7]
[Magic:2]
[Stamina:4]
[Luck:1]
[Defense:4]
"Well. Certainly not what I expected." Emopa sighed and looked at his overview.
[Emopa Abomination (Unknown Clan)]
[Level 1.]
[Health:32/120]
[Mana:12/12]
[Items: None.]
[Equipment: Basic Clothing.]
[Passive(s): Developers Class Guide-Allows the user to know the location of any class.]
[LOCKED. Requires LVL 2]
[LOCKED. Requires LVL 4]
[LOCKED. Requires LVL 7]
[Skills: None]
"You serious? Can't even get any more passives till I'm at a higher level? Well... I'd expect as much from Sorra. Though, I don't remember her doing it like this.."
Suddenly, another screen popped up. A party invite from Vatel Kagehara.
Emopa tapped accept, and then the map popped out, highlighting a yellow dot on the map.
Emopa began to make his way to Vatel, making his way through debris and rubble with an injured leg.
Beyond a hill of cobblestone and metal, Vatel could be seen rising, then carefully descending the hill. "Emopa! You good man?"
Vatel descended the hill, a look of worry in his eyes. He walked up to Emopa, dusting him off. "Dude you look terrible."
"Why ask if I'm good in the first place.." Emopa chuckled as he turned back to the looming black tower.
"Your phone is still working?" Vatel asked, Emopa shifting his attention back to him. He dug into his pocket and took out his phone. It was cracked, but the screen itself wasn't busted.
No calls from the rest. Emopa unlocked his phone and immediately checked the news. His eyes widened as he saw the headlines.
Talk of the earth supposedly 'doubling' in size, everything doubled in size. New continents have formed, entire civilizations being found in areas where no one would even think of living, and of course, people have awakening abilities.
The governments of the world are trying to explain what is happening, even scientists, but no one knows. Except for those who anticipated this game, and nerds of course.
"Well... Dude, we gotta get a move on. Can you walk normally?" Vatel asked, opening up a small pocket space and taking out a red vial. "I already have a health potion if you need it." The vial was shaped like a crystal, having intricate gold linings around the top and a normal cork.
Emopa nodded, grabbing the vial and popping the cork, drinking the potion. "It tastes like cherry. Kinda nice."
The box reappears, signaling to Emopa that his HP has recovered.
"Wow... That works wonders." Emopa said, chuckling as he then just sighed. "I do hope the others are okay... Especially Static." Emopa said, opening up the UI and sending the class locations to Vatel while Vatel sent him the map.
"I'm sure they're fine. Can't say the same for static, but all we gotta do is hope for the best." Vatel pat Emopa's shoulder.
Emopa turned around and sighed. "I guess I'll have to travel by foot. It would take a while to... Wait a sec, wasn't the ground like, split open a moment ago?"
Vatel looked around. "Yeah, it certainly was. I'm not complaining that it's whole again though. I guess that's just how it goes."
Emopa sighed, turning around and waving. "Alright dude, be safe. I'll see ya."
Vatel nodded. "See ya man. Be safe."
"You too," Emopa said, the two separating.
As Emopa walked, he came across a metal rod on the ground. He picked it up, its weight feeling balanced in his hand.
"I guess this could make a nice temporary weapon." Emopa stored the weapon.
[Metal Rod stored! Weapon type: Quarterstaff. Length is 7.5 feet.]
[User can now summon this weapon at will.]
"Well, that's to know. I gotta get some levels in."
Emopa made his way around the city, finding nothing but injured people, local law enforcement, and the like.
He decided to take another path, looking at the nearby forest. He made his way to the area, making sure to watch his step.
"Alright... Let's see here." He opened his map to check where he was.
He saw that he was near 4 classes, each of them quite a distance away from each other.
These classes were Unlearned, Necromancer, Gunslinger, and Warrior.
"Unlearned? I don't remember making that..." Emopa began to make his way to the class, but while on his way there, he smelled smoke.
Deviating from his path a little, he came to the source of the smell, seeing a small camp of around 4 goblins. Two carried bows while the other two carried short swords.
"Alright... Archers would be a priority here." Emopa mumbled, stepping away from the goblins for a moment. He managed to find a good enough rock and summoned the metal rod from out of thin air.
"Sick..." He said, beginning to sharpen one end. The noise seemed to have attracted one of the goblins. Emopa heard some footsteps in the distance.
He turned around, and a goblin stood right there. It was one of the ones with a short sword.
"That's a relief." He said as the goblin charged at him.
"Kiieek!" The goblin screamed as it raised its sword. When it swung, Emopa easily dodged it, thrusting the now makeshift javelin forward and stabbing the goblin in the skull.
The goblin fell limp on the ground, not despawning. "Well damn... Guess this is the real deal huh?"
Emopa looked up at the other three goblins standing before him. "Shit... That fucker was loud."
One of the archers pulled their bow back, but Emopa was quicker. He threw the sharpened rod at the goblin, piercing its chest.
He ran forward, pulling out the rod just in time to block a sword swing. "These little dudes are... Pretty weak, let me check these stats." He said, looking down at the struggling goblin.
[Species: Goblin]
[Level 3]
"Only level three? Interesting." Emopa swung the rod, staggering the goblin.
He impaled it in its chest, throwing its body to the side.
He turned around to the archer, who was shaking pretty badly out of fear.
[The goblin has the FEAR status effect. This makes it more susceptible to damage. Damage is doubled against it if it attempts to run away.]
[Killing this goblin will officially clear the goblin camp, and rewards will be given.]
The goblin began to run away, causing Emopa to grin. He ran after the goblin. He then dug his feet into the ground, sliding a little as he changed to a throwing position.
He threw the Javelin with deadly accuracy, spearing the goblin right through the throat, causing it to fall over and die.
"Well... That was... Something." He said, sighing quietly.
[Goblin Camp cleared. Calculating EXP earned...]
[274 EXP earned!]
"That's nice..." Emopa stared at the UI, raising a brow.
[Congratulations, you have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
"Oh, sweet!" Emopa laughed as he sat on a log, checking his overview.
[Emopa Abomination (Unknown Clan)]
[Level 4]
[Stat Points Available!]
[Health:150/150]
[Mana:16/16]
[Passives: Developer's Class Guide: Allows the user to know the location of all classes.]
[Abnormal Fighter (Clan Exclusive): The user is abnormally proficient with any weapon as if they have been wielding it for a while. User can wield any weapon regardless of stats.]
[Pure Gods' Natural Enemy (Clan Exclusive): User is hated by Gods of a pure nature. This means they are unable to go any of the holy classes or classes that rely on a Pure God. Examples are Paladin, Saint, and Fortress. The user, however, is favored by Gods of a corrupt standing. Requirements for Chaotic or Evil classes are reduced.]
[LOCKED, LVL 7 REQUIRED.]
"What? Now that I think about it... I never made my name as a clan. I've made special clans that people could try and roll for, but we never inserted our names..." Emopa narrowed his eyes but shrugged it off.
He began to make his way to the Unlearned class, interested in what it had in store.
As he got closer, the forest became less and less dense until it came to a clearing, a large Odachi stuck in a rock.
The clearing was surrounded by the forest, with small patches of grass filling the area, but it was primarily dirt. Emopa noticed deep scratches in the ground resembling claw marks.
The sun shone a golden hue down on the Odachi.
"Hello?" Emopa called out, looking around as he walked toward the Odachi.
"Is this like some sort of Excalibur kind of thing?" Emopa asked, grabbing the Odachi by its handle. As he did that, the name of the blade filled his mind, as well as the memories of the previous owner.
"Shizukaze is your name... And Ikamoni is your wielder?" Emopa asked.
"That is my name indeed, young one." An old voice called out.
Startled, Emopa jumped and pointed the Odachi at the old man.
He had pale skin and a white kimono. He seemed to be in his late sixties. "What is it? Who are you?"
"Why I'm the owner of that blade you are holding, young man." He chuckled, flicking two of his fingers back, causing the odachi to be yanked out of Emopa's hand, the man now holding it.
"My name is Ikamoni Isshin. Nice to meet you. You look like you have the potential... What is your name, son?" Ikamoni had short gray hair and piercing silver eyes.
"My name is Emopa... Emopa Abomination."
Ikamoni's eyes widened slightly before immediately returning to his laid-back demeanor. "Abomination you say? Interesting... Though, I must ask. If you're an Abomination, why do you have Mana?"
"What?" Emopa tilted his head.
"Nevermind, nevermind. The potential you hold is there though... So, I'll ask you this only once. Will you inherit my blade?"
Emopa then saw the same text box.
[Saying yes will initiate the Learn The Past quest. The rewards will be the obtainment of Shizukaze and the Unlearned class, the advanced version being the Phantom Ronin. To obtain Phantom Ronin, the user must convince Ikamoni to teach his very own technique. Declining will result in nothing happening, and the user is unable to obtain the class ever again. Once learned, the user will be the only one with the class.]
[Do you accept? YES or NO.]
Emopa stood there, taking a deep breath before nodding, and tapping the yes button before the quest was initiated.
"Yeah, sure. I'll play your game."
"Good," Ikamoni said, handing Emopa the Odachi. The weight was quite heavy, but with a few points into strength, he should be fine.
[Learn The Past quest initiated.]
"First of all, your training will begin in the Garden Below The Earth, or simply Undergarden." Ikamoni swayed his hand, opening a swirling grassy portal.
"Come on." He said, jumping in.
[First Objective: Survive The Undergarden.]
Emopa took a deep breath, taking a few moments to allocate the 12 stat points he had.
He put 4 into Strength, giving him 12 now. He put 4 into Magic, giving him 5, and lastly, he put 4 Agility, giving him 11.
He steeled himself and jumped right in.