391 days until the Arkon Shield falls

5 days to Earth’s destruction

No matter what your Potentials, without Traits and Feats, you’ll never amount to anything more than an average player. Accumulate as many of them as you can, as quick as you can. —Anonymous Veteran.

Straight out of the gate, I stumbled and yelped in shock. I sprawled forward, and my nose buried itself into the green grass underfoot.

Ooof, that hurts.

This last transition through the gate had not been seamless as the ones before it. Lifting my head from the ground and spitting out the loose dirt and bits of grass clinging to my lips, I heaved myself upright into a sitting position. Around me I heard cries of alarm and shouts of dismay—human voices—but with my vision obscured by ominously flashing alerts, I still couldn’t make out much of my surroundings.

I read the messages swiftly.

Transfer completed. Jameson (Jamie) Sinclair, welcome to Overworld. You have entered location seventy-eight, presently unclaimed and unnamed. Participate in the Trials and become all you can be. Remember, true strength is grounded in experience.

You are now a: level 1 Neophyte. Health pool unlocked. Stamina pool unlocked. New Techniques downloaded: analyse, mimic, magesight, and invincible. You have acquired: Tokens and Marks. Visit a dragon temple to use them.

You have been blessed with: newcomer. This buff rapidly accelerates the learning rate of your Neophyte Disciplines and Attributes during your first day on Overworld.

Flash alert: To all players entering the Human Dominion,

As a new region, the Human Dominion will remain protected by an Arkon Shield for one Overworld year, 400 days. Days remaining: 391.

Until the Arkon Shield falls, all races except humans and orcs are confined to the sponsored cities. Orcs, as the Patron of humanity, are permitted to patrol the Human Dominion, but are forbidden from exploiting the territory’s resources.

Report any infractions at a dragon temple. Punishment will be swift and merciless.

I was finally in Overworld and the clock had already started ticking on humanity. I have much to do, I thought as I acknowledged the Trials’ warning and waved it away.

More raised shouts caught my attention. Something was happening and I needed to figure out what.

“Tara, come look! We’ve got another one!” a voice cried out from behind.

I looked over my shoulder. There was no gate behind me. Its ninety-foot-high structure was entirely absent. Wherever the portal had deposited me, the trip was one way.

There is no going back now.

A blonde-haired young man was looming above me and dancing impatiently from foot to foot. He was fresh-faced and without even a hint of facial hair. Still a teen. The youth was dressed in tattered leather clothes that seemed to be little more than rags. In his hands, he clenched a long stabbing spear.

A blur of motion on my right distracted me from further study of the teenager. Swinging my head back around, I saw dozens of figures—all human and most dressed in a manner similar to the youth—charging in a ragged line towards an incoming flood of creatures.

My mouth dropped open at the sight. The humans were fighting frogs, upright and bipedal frogs, armoured and bearing arms of their own.

“What the—?” I exclaimed, unconsciously scooting away, even though the battling parties were a few hundred feet off.

Where the hell am I?

Swivelling my head left and right, I took in my surroundings. It did not look like a settlement of any kind. Other than a large, purple, block-shaped monstrosity to my right, there were no other buildings in sight.

I was in a wide-open field of grass and upturned soil. To the east—assuming the sun rose in the east in Overworld—was a treeline in the far distance. Closer by, was what appeared to be a tented camp. I did not spend much time looking in that direction however. My attention was riveted by what was going on in the opposite direction.

A few hundred yards to the west, the grassy plain I sat on angled steeply downwards hiding whatever lay beyond. The toad-men—what else to call them?—were emerging from there.

They bounded up the slope and threw themselves against the ragged line of humans in front of the purple building. Surging back and forth, and hollering war cries of one kind or another, the men tried to hold them at bay. Everyone except me and the youth appeared to be on the move, attacking or defending.

This is a battlefield.

What was I doing here? Had something gone wrong with the transfer?

A grim chuckle pulled my attention back to the teenager at my side. “Not what you were expecting, eh? Don’t worry, your reaction is no different from the hundreds of other newbs on arrival. Tara will explain everything when she gets here. She is today’s designated induction officer. He smiled sardonically. “A fine mood it has put her in too.”

I blinked, not knowing what to say. “What are those creatures?” I asked instead.

“Murluks,” said the youth, his amusement fading. He spat to the side. “Savage little buggers.”

The slap of running feet approaching closer halted further conversation. A young woman—just as fresh-faced as the teen—jogged up to his side.

Her hair was midnight-black, and her eyes, a startling green. She was dressed identically to the youth, but was armed with a short spear and shield instead. “Hansen, what do we have here?” the woman asked, the tone of command unmistakable in her voice.

The absurdity of one so young possessing such authority jumpstarted my brain. Of course. These are players. Ones who had apparently started with a Clean Slate.

Both Hansen and the woman were likely much older than they appeared. The woman was scowling down at me. Whatever she saw, it did not please her.

“Fresh meat,” answered Hansen with a grin I didn’t trust. Gesturing towards me, he said, “Tara, meet the new fish.” He turned to me. “New fish, meet Tara.” He hefted his spear. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, he is all yours, Tara. I’m off to join my unit. Bye.” Finishing in a rush, he dashed away.

Tara’s head whipped up towards his retreating figure. “Hansen! Wait, you bastard!” Hansen didn’t wait; if anything, he ran harder, and straight towards the battling lines.

Tara turned back towards me and ground her teeth in frustration. “Damn you, Hansen. I don’t have the time for this,” she muttered. Only then did she address me. Making no apology for her behaviour, she asked bluntly, “What’s your name, boy?”

Bristling at her tone, I replied evenly, “I’m Jamie.”

The green-eyed woman frowned down at me. “Well what are you doing just sitting there. Get up, we have to move!”

I considered ignoring the order. I wasn’t happy with my treatment. But the shrieks of pain and roars of rage that continued unabated, reminded me that a very real life-and-death struggle was going on nearby, and now was not the time for foolish games.

Sighing, I pushed myself to my feet, tottering only slightly as I did.

Tara’s brows drew down together as she noticed my difficulty. “What’s wrong with your foot?”

Before I could respond, she seemed to divine the answer for herself. Her gaze jerked upwards to my own. Whatever she saw in my face confirmed her supposition. Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You didn’t choose a Clean Slate, did you?”

I winced at her tone but only nodded mutely in response.

For a second, Tara seemed to be shocked speechless but recovered quickly. “Damn young idiots,” she muttered under her breath. “You all think this is some sort of game.” She glared at me. “Jamie, listen closely. I don’t know whatever foolish notion made you enter this place like that”—she gestured towards my foot with her spear—“but you are stuck that way now. If you want to survive beyond today, you will do exactly as I say. Understood?”

“I do.” And I did. As much as I wanted to defiantly throw Tara’s words back at her, common sense made me hold my tongue and swallow my pride.

I was only minutes into my new life and I had no idea what was going on. If I was going to survive, I needed Tara and these people.

And she knew it.

Tara studied my face carefully for a long second. Satisfied with what she saw there, she nodded curtly. “Good. Follow me.”

I limped to her side. Tara winced on seeing how much my foot hampered my movement. She shook her head again but didn’t say anything. The moment I reached her, she began walking away, her pace noticeably slower than when she’d first approached.

For that she had my gratitude. Regardless of what she thought of me, the grim woman did not seem like she was going to abandon me.

Ignoring the ongoing shouts and cries of the battle, Tara pointed towards the pile of junk that appeared to be our destination. It was heaped in front of the purple building. “Our first order of business is to get you a weapon and some armour. Not that we have much in the way of either,” she said, gesturing dismissively at her own leather rags. “After that, we join the defending line. Got it?”

I nodded mutely again.

“You can ask any questions you have as we go.”

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing with my chin to the marble building of purple that appeared incongruous in the otherwise rustic setting of grass and trees.

Tara followed the direction of my gaze. “That’s the dragon temple. It is what makes location seventy-eight a potential settlement. If we lose the temple, we can’t level up or establish a base here.” She pointed to the loosely strung line of men between the murluks and temple. “That’s why we defend it at all costs.”

Ah, I have transitioned to the right location after all.

I considered the rest of what Tara had said. From my research in the wiki, I knew the importance of the dragon temples.

Levelling was how players advanced and got stronger in the Trials. After gaining a level, players were rewarded with Tokens and Marks, which could only be spent at a building like the one ahead. Without access to a temple, players in Overworld simply couldn’t get more powerful.

Well, that wasn’t completely true.

The wiki made it clear that players could still develop themselves outside of a temple. However, naturally acquiring the same knowledge and enhancements that were instantly gifted by the temple could take months to years—at least for anything beyond the Neophyte rank.

What the advancement process in the temples entailed, I still wasn’t sure. But the temples themselves were crucial. If this one was lost, the players in the region would have no way of benefiting from their earned Marks and Tokens. Unless of course they survived the journey to the next closest temple.

“What are the requirements for your settlement?” I asked.

Settlements were not an arbitrary designation in Overworld. Unlike on Earth, where the term was loosely applied, in the Trials a location had to meet a host of requirements before it could qualify as a ‘settlement.’ Meeting the Trials’ criteria resulted in a host of benefits for its residents, and I was curious to know what these people still needed to establish theirs.

“Securing the area, for one,” Tara said, shooting me a puzzled glance.

Probably because my question is not the typical newbie one, I thought wryly.

“But it is a bit more complex than that,” she continued. “We can discuss it later, assuming we survive today’s attack.”

We reached the pile of discarded weapons and leather pieces. “Do you have any martial skills?” asked Tara.

I shook my head.

Tara’s face tightened, but she refrained from commenting. “Then grab whichever leather wraps look like they might fit, and throw them on. I’ll find you a spear. It’s the easiest weapon to use.”

I glanced down at myself before moving to do as Tara ordered. I had transitioned into Overworld wearing only brown cotton pants, a shirt, and a pair of soft leather shoes that didn’t feel like they would survive long. I glanced at Tara’s feet. Her own shoes looked nearly in tatters. I sighed. It seemed good gear was in short supply here.

I bent down and rifled through the rags. They smelled awful and looked suspiciously like the same equipment the frog creatures were wearing.

Though I was no expert tailor myself, I could tell from the items’ appearance that their workmanship was crude. The leather armour seemed to be little more than half-cured hides that had been haphazardly stitched together.

Returning with a second spear in hand, Tara saw my disdain. “They may not look like much, but the leather is sound enough to stop a murluk’s thrust from skewering you through.” She paused. “Assuming, of course, they strike the right place. Just try not to get hit through any of the gaping holes.”

Alrighty, then.

“Now stop wasting time,” she said, throwing the spear at my feet. “Get dressed and arm yourself.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, selecting the vest, leggings, and helm most likely to fit.

All three pieces of equipment hung loosely off my frame, but they fit. Mostly. When I was ready, Tara began moving again. “Let’s go.”

I trailed in her wake. We were not making directly for the battling lines, I saw, but instead headed towards its southern end. To take my mind off what was to come, I asked, “Why are we using murluk gear?”

The black-haired woman grunted. “Noticed that, did you?”

I shrugged; it had seemed obvious.

“We don’t have the right tools for our leatherworkers to fashion any of our own equipment yet,” answered Tara. “We’ve been forced to scavenge from the enemy.” Her voice grew contemplative. “In a way, we’re lucky the murluks found us. Otherwise we would be even worse equipped than we are now.”

I glanced from Tara to the pile of junk we’d just left. It was a few feet high. “How long have you been fending off murluk attacks?”

“Since day one,” she replied grimly. “The first two days were the worst. We lost so many.” She gave me a hard stare. “Remember, fish, this is no game.”

I nodded sharply. I knew that already and didn’t need Tara’s reminder. Mum’s death had taught me more than I wanted to learn of Overworld’s savagery.

The noise from the battle rose steadily as we drew closer. Tilting my head to the side, I listened carefully. Most of the noise was coming from beyond the murluks and men battling in front of the dragon temple, and seemingly from whatever the sloping ground hid from view.

I frowned. Looking at the path Tara took, I realised that we were not heading to join the temple’s defenders as I had initially assumed, but were instead walking in a wide arc around them altogether.

Where are we going? I wondered. I opened my mouth to ask, but before I could voice my question, Tara spoke.

“This is a long spear,” she said. “You will stand in the second line of the wall and use your spear to thrust past me at the enemy. Always hold the spear with two hands, like this,” she said, demonstrating. “When you want to strike, thrust straight ahead and lean forward into the blow with your entire weight. Once you’ve landed a hit, make sure to retract your weapon immediately by pulling it straight back. Don’t just leave it there or you will lose your spear.

“Thrust and pull. Nothing else. Keep your feet planted, and rinse and repeat. No fancy twirls, no slashes, no dodges, and no heroic charges at the enemy. Most importantly, make sure you keep hold of your spear. Don’t ever throw it. Got it?”

“Got it,” I said, clenching my spear. My pulse quickened and my heart thumped loudly as Tara’s instructions painted a vivid picture of the reality I was about to step into.

“And whatever you do, stay one step behind me. Don’t move out of position for even a second,” Tara ordered. “If I advance, you advance. When I retreat, you do too.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

“Alright, then. Buckle up, boyo, it’s time to do battle.”