Hey folks,

Got chapters 1-4 here updated with the time change (20 years to 3 years), as well as some fluidity edits. Also, I'm done editing QuestWright book 1 Chapters 1-6, just waiting on my Alphareader to go through them. The moment they're done, I'll post them here as those are likely the final edits before publication. If you want to relive the beginning, it'll be there, and I'm making some rather drastic edits as I don't want to murder my Narrator with an obscene amount of outliner breakdowns.

Hope you like the edits, and please don't feel pressured to re-read if you don't want to. This was a tightening pass.

Chapter 1: My Sponsorship

I had two hands on the wheel of my 2015 Honda Civic as we cruised down the road. Beside me was my oldest daughter, Celene, seventeen and already wiser about the world than most people. In the back was my youngest daughter, Jennifer, who, at fourteen, had suddenly realized she was interested in boys. One moment, boys were stupid, the next, I was listening to her swoon on her phone about a boy named Galad.

Who names a kid Galad?

Fishing poles stretched across the seat behind me. I’d tried, and failed, to get my daughters interested in our trip out to Cachuma Lake. I wanted to teach them about hooks and the baits and the calm joy of silence. They wanted to show each other the latest viral videos. We clearly did not see eye to eye on “vacation time”.

Pulling around the corner of Mulberry Street, my ex-wife’s mansion appeared through the windshield like a monolith to our divorce. I pulled the car up, and it coughed once before shutting off.

Swinging out of my car, I made it around the side and in front of Celene before she could sprint to the mansion’s door and softer pastures. “I’ll miss you, girly,” I said, grabbing her roughly with a hug.

“Dad, it’s only a few weeks.”

“Yeah, yeah. But whenever we’re not together, I miss you, honey. I’ve only got two daughters, and seriously, you’re only getting older, not younger.”

A hug from behind informed me that I hadn’t been aware of my youngest. Jennifer fake-picked me up as I laughed, doing the same and succeeding with Celene. Then, the Devil with blonde hair arrived.

“You’re late.” A sharp voice announced. It used to sound so nice to me in the past.

I used the same line I always did when she called me out on my timeliness, “I am never late, nor early. I always arrive precisely when I mean to.”

Jennifer unclenched, and I said goodbye to both of my girls. They had their mother’s looks, god bless them, so they’d be trouble for the world. But I was happy to say they had my good nature. Then I looked the devil in the eyes.

“You look nice, Noelle. New sweater?” 

And she did look nice. It appeared that remarried life agreed with her, as, standing side-by-side, you’d assume I was old enough to be her father.

“Don’t comment on my body,” She said with a smoky glare, “Craig’s gonna be here soon, and I need your car out of our space.”

I glanced at the giant parking area in front of her mansion, then back at her. “This parking space is bigger than my apartment.”

“I just don’t want him to have to deal with you.”

“Jesus, Noelle.” I ran my hand down my face, “Can we at least try to be civil? What did I ever do to you?”

Instead of answering, she turned and strutted to her mansion, slamming the door on her way in. I rubbed the back of my neck, then prepared to get back in my car, when I noticed another arriving.

Knowing it was the polite thing to do, I waited for Craig to park his very nice and new Lexus as I stood by my off-gray Civic.

“New car, Craig?” I asked, maintaining my politeness.

“Yeah!” The golden boy said, already smiling as he stepped his fit, six-foot frame out of the car. “Just bought it with my Christmas bonus. It’s nice, right?”

“A beaut.”

He rubbed the top of the car, then smiled as he came around my own to shake my hand. His hands eclipsed mine.

“Great to see you, Evan. Great to see you.” The sun almost reflected off the pearlescent shine of his teeth. “When are we going to do the next family outing, huh? It’s been too long.”

I tried to give him two pumps, then remove my hand, but he just kept shaking as I replied, “I don’t think Noelle was a fan of the last one, Craig.”

“Oh, pschh,” He waved off my refusal, “We’re all family, and I’m just the newest addition. I’m not your replacement, Evan. No sir. Just additional support whenever you need it.”

I nodded, “Thanks, Craig.”

He patted me on the arm with his other hand, then finally released me. “Say, Noelle wanted me to bring this up, but…look.” He paused, putting his hands on his hips.

“My parents are coming up on your weekend with the girls, and I really wanted to take them out to the Channel Islands for a boat tour. Would you mind terribly if I took the girls with us? It’s a heck of a trip. The islands are just be-a-utiful!” He lit up as if something had just occurred to him, “ You know what? I bet I can get Noelle to bring you with us. What do you say? One big, happy family, seeing the sights of the world. Sounds nice, right?”

This guy is either the sweetest person in the world, or just completely oblivious to the fact that my ex-wife hates my guts and wishes I would die in a gutter somewhere. Either way, it’s really hard to hate him…

I worked Craig a little to give me the girls for a whole week when they got back, begged off the boat trip, then made my escape with the excuse of getting to work.

It pained me not to see them for a whole month. But Jennifer was good about texting, and she normally pressured her sister to do the same.

The trip to work was quick, and I’d warned ahead of time that I’d be late today. After finding a good spot and putting my permanent parking pass on the dashboard, I hopped out and made the five-minute walk from the cement garage to the little shop that passed for an advertising agency.

In a digital world where my daughters constantly browsed social media and my ex-wife bought most of her clothing on Amazon, I worked at an advertising agency that was built on real, face-to-face handshakes. That meant, unlike other small business owners in the area, I got to wear flip-flops. You just couldn’t beat California’s fashion sense for work attire.

The silver bell above the door rang as I walked in, the smack smack of my flip-flops carrying loudly throughout the main room. Gladys, Phil’s wife, smiled at me and inquired about my time with the girls. I spent a few moments talking to her before I headed back to my new office.

Only six months ago, this whole place had been Phil’s. But, after a friendly round of negotiations, he’d agreed to sell me the company. Since he and his wife weren’t the kind of people who perfectly retire, they still worked for me part-time.

I settled in, pulling up our plans for the week, just as the old man walked in, “How’re you doing, Evan?’

“Just fine, Phil. How ‘bout yourself?”

The old man had a smooth pate and a bristling mustache. He looked like a main character straight out of the film Cocoon, sweater wrapped around him and all.

“Heard from a friend of mine that there’s a new body collision place opening up in Ventura right now. I may be wrong, but I think they might need a dollar of your time.”

“They might need many dollars,” I replied with a grin.

“And you just might be the man to help them out,” Phil said with a nod. He had a strict policy that every bit of currency taken from the customer be used in the best possible way… except for our salaries, of course. Every penny, every dollar, went toward the customer, not random training tips to Las Vegas as so many other agencies did. Since I’d worked for him for the last 10 years, more than a little of his business practices had rubbed off on me.

“Tell me a little about them.”

Phil gave me a few details, including their phone number, and I rang them up right after. Funnily enough, their phone number was 8675-308. It was just one digit off an old song that stuck in the mind, as long as you ignored the area code.

“Hello, is this Roger?’ I immediately started when a gravely voice picked up. “This is Evan Teller, owner of Meridian Advertising, and I heard you just opened a shop.” I put my hand against the microphone and looked at Phil, “What were we calling the new business deal?”

“Early saver.”

“Right.” Moving my hand, I put on my best friendly neighbor voice, “Well, Roger, that sounds like you’ve got something going on out there. Would you be fine if I dropped by and presented our new business plan? Comes with a hefty discount to get you on your feet.”

Roger seemed amenable, so I scheduled him for a few hours from now, then hung up feeling good about everything. Phil gave me a big smile as I told him that I’d be busy in the afternoon with our new potential customer. Then his expression became morose.

“Evan,” Phil sighed, “I wish you didn’t have to cold call businesses like that. You’ve been doing much better running the shop than I ever did.”

I smiled at him, knowing that he and Gladys saw me as a kind of surrogate son. “Phil, it’s only been six months. Time will fix that. Now come help me load the presentation material into the Honda, then I’ll treat you and Gladys to an early lunch.”

Phil patted me on the back as I walked by to start organizing everything. We got a huge platter of Cobb salad from a nearby restaurant, then ate while laughing about some oddball moments we’d experienced over the last few years.

I’d always had big plans for my life. But when Noelle got pregnant right as we were graduating high school, a lot of those had to change. I’d been a straight-A student, had a great SAT score, and even got a minor scholarship to the University of Southern California. But we needed the money, and even more when Jennifer came around. So I’d gone to night classes, using my AP credits to speed things along, and got an associate's in advertising from Santa Barbara City College. 

It was enough to get my foot in the door at Meridian Advertising, since not many other places would take me with no experience. After a few years, I did have the option to move up and out, but Phil and Gladys had been so nice to me. They’d even helped me out with money the few times I’d needed it, giving me extra time off work when Jennifer came down with pneumonia.

Unlike Noelle, loyalty mattered a lot to me. I couldn’t leave them. And now, I owned the same shop I’d worked at for over a decade. It was a nice bit of reciprocity.

I gave Phil and Gladys the business end of my smile, then loaded up into my car and headed out. If this deal with Roger went through and our income went up just a little, I was looking at hiring another ad man or woman. It’d be nice to see my small enterprise expand. I’d always planned to be a business Tycoon one day, and now, I was finally on the first steps.

The drive to Ventura was quick, being only twenty minutes away, and I amused myself by looking at the beach on the side every so often. I’d already keyed some 80’s rock into my phone, and it was blasting out as I warbled along during my favorite parts.

“Jenny, I’ve got your number…I wanna make you mine!” 

Roger’s number had gotten me in the mood for some Tommy Tutone. I tried not to consider the fact that my youngest daughter was named Jennifer as I belted it out on the road.

The highways around Santa Barbara were a strange affair. Many of them, especially the 101, dangled right next to several seaside cliffs. They jutted out, right over the ocean, with only a thin steel bar covering the sides. I’d never considered it too deeply as I drove along, briefly imagining I was flying.

“Eight six seven five three oh, Jesus Christ!” My vision disappeared as something took its place.

Congratulations Evan Teller!

You’ve received a sponsorship.

Prepare to be shifted to the pre-initiation center.

Good luck!

“Jeesus Christ!” I involuntarily yelled out a second time.

My brain went into overdrive as the text stopped me from seeing where I was going. When my vision cleared, and I could finally see enough to drive again, I was right behind the car in front of me and going too fast. 

I touched the brakes and twitched the wheel a little, but in my haste, that twitch was more of a full-on jerk, which made my car violently turn to the side. Before I knew it, my 2015 Gray Honda Civic was rolling and rolling, and then I felt nothing as gravity lost its effect on me.

My hyperactive brain counted just past three before my seat belt's limits were tested, and my car and I touched down on the ocean far below.

The impact felt like my ribs were snapping, and my shoulder hurt something fierce. As water began to rush in from the vents in the front, I threw several sharp elbows into the side window, managing to break it even as the flavor of the sea began to enter my mouth and nose.

Water kept filling my car, but I couldn’t get the seatbelt off. The thing that was supposed to protect me was now killing me. I pushed against the seat, taking a quick gasp of air from what little remained just above the roof, then struggled against inevitability.

Just as I began to think that this was truly the end, I looked up and took a surprised gasp of air. 

What had been the cold ocean and my fight to survive was now a clean, white room, filled with people. I took in another deep breath, relishing the sweetness of not dying, as a man to my left stared at me.

He looked vaguely familiar as he said, “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Chapter 2: My Pre-Initiation Introduction

The man next to me had a short, cropped cut of dark hair, a naturally wide stance to accommodate his tall height, and enough muscle to make an action figure look flat. It took a second before it clicked.

“Jerry Barnes?”

“Yeah? I know you?”

I recognized Jerry from watching TV and the news. He was a linebacker for San Francisco, who’d been impossible to avoid for the last few years. Shoe ads, fitness magazines, highlight reels, the whole media machine had been at his beck and call. Jerry was a major celebrity.

And now, he was in the same place as me. A soaked, broken, me.

I tried to stand, then gave a light scream as the pain in my wrenched shoulder kicked up a notch. As the scream settled and I needed to take a breath, my ribs protested that too. I tried to think of something snarky to say as I caught my breath, but then more sounds came to us. 

Like a dam cracking, my scream had broken the quiet in the room. Everywhere around us, isolated, panicked yelling echoed back as people shrugged off the shock and took in the reality of teleportation. 

After all, what else could it be?

Trying to get up on my own again was a non-starter as a few whimpers escaped my lips, but Jerry took pity on me. Noticing how my shoulder was turned, he took my other arm and gently stood me up.

“Thanks.”

“No problem, man. What’s your name?”

“Evan Teller, and no, you don’t know me.”

He looked pensive as he said, “That name sounds like somebody who sells shit on QVC after midnight.”

“You’re not far off the mark,” I gave a slight laugh, and my ribs reminded me I was an idiot as it died in a wheeze. “Where are we, Jerry?”

He shrugged mountainous shoulders, “Fuck if I know. I was having dinner with my girl before this shit kicked up.”

“I was driving off a cliff, thus, you know,” I motioned to my whole body as Jerry frowned.

“Why were you driving off a cliff?”

“Seemed like the thing to do,” I deadpanned. “How do you think your lady friend is doing right now?”

“Oh, damn, I bet she’s worried. She’s not the type to take me disappearing well.”

“Are you not worried?”

Jerry shook his head, “I’m not stupid enough to ignore fear. Fear motivates you.”

“You’d know,” I said shortly.

I looked around, considered counting, and quickly gave up as there were simply too many people. I knew it was a lot, and that was enough at the moment. Jerry was turning to look around, too, before he yelled out, “Oh shit!”

“What?”

“Look behind you!”

I gently shifted my body. There was a blackened corpse steaming just a few feet away, its melted, skull-like face held in a rictus scream. The smell was odd, and if I was honest, not terribly bad. As that thought settled and found root, I couldn’t help myself; I vomited right there onto Jerry’s nice shoes.

“Fuck, man.” He said, taking a step back, then he vomited right after, but was kind enough to miss both of us. Jerry was a good guy.

“What the heck is happening?” I asked, wiping the excess away from my mouth.

“My shoes!”

A bell-like sound rang out three times in succession, shutting everyone up except for a few lone screamers. Then, words appeared in front of me.

Evan Teller

Congratulations on receiving a sponsorship from Altius Acquisitions.

Initiating the Basic Pre-initiate package.

Step one: Basic Healing. 

I didn’t have the chance to say a word as a pulse of heat rocketed through my body. It started with my head, and I felt a slight burn on the back of my skull. I was just starting to think that wasn’t so bad when my headache became just a memory, then it hit my shoulder. Holding back a scream, I felt all the damage my arm had sustained from the accident repair itself in overdrive. It felt like insects crawling under the skin, re-attaching things in a completely unnatural manner. Then, as quickly as it came, it disappeared.

Step one: Basic healing complete

I tested my shoulder, and it was still a little sore. But my ribs? They hurt like hell and didn’t get a single finger of the healing juice this thing was putting out.

Disgruntled, I called out, “Hey! I’m still hurt here!”

“Dude, look,” Jerry said, causing me to look at the poor soul behind us again. The burnt-up body was now somewhat recognizable. I wanted to say it was a woman, but all the magical healing had done was add some veins where they had no business being anymore.

I mumbled, “Basic healing.”

“What?”

“Basic healing. The keyword being basic. My ribs are still busted, but my shoulder doesn’t hurt as much anymore. It was the strangest feeling, man. Like being swarmed by ants with medical degrees.”

Jerry actually smiled, “More like a deep tissue massage where they use one of those spiked up massage balls. I kinda liked it. Dude, they fixed up my knee. Look.” As if to prove his point, he waggled his leg back and forth, so I just smiled, not knowing what it looked like before. 

“That’s great!”

“Old injury from college.”

“Ah.”

I looked at the corpse and said a silent prayer for whoever they were, then gazed around the room again. Some people looked happy, which confused the hell out of me. Almost everyone else was either looking around like me or staring off into nowhere.

“You think they died before getting teleported, or after they got here?”

Jerry shook his head, “I got here a few seconds before you; people didn’t arrive all at once. There was nothing in that spot before.” 

“Huh,” I scuffed my shoe, but the floor didn’t show a mark. “So, magic’s real. Could go with the old quote that sufficiently advanced technology could seem like magic, but I don’t know about that. This is feeling pretty real. Pretty magically real.”

“Can’t fault your thinking,” Jerry said, still bouncing around as he tested his knee. “Just makes me wonder. If they went to all the trouble of bringing us here and healing us up, basic or not. Something bad’s gotta happen.”

“Pessimist?”

“Not always.”

“Well, not always, I’m inclined to agree with you.” I inched my head at the corpse behind us. “They certainly didn’t get here in the best of ways.”

“Do you think we’re both messed up. You know, in the head? Never been around a corpse before.”

“Maybe a little. Or maybe that’s part of the magic as well, and any minute now I’m going to curl up into a ball and cry like a little girl.”

“Sounds like your Saturday nights.”

“You can’t be handsome, athletic, and funny, Jerry.”

Step two: Basic Pre-initiation Introduction

Your world is approaching functional mana exposure as it grows and spreads throughout the Multiverse.

This is normal.

Your species’ lack of preparation is also normal.

Mana exposure is survivable, and the following examples have been selected for clarity, rather than comfort.

Unwillingly, my awareness somehow shot away from the white room filled with people. I tried not to panic as everything went dark. Like a slap in the face, light hit my vision as I blinked my eyes…all four of them.

What the fuck is happening?

I was in some kind of prehistoric swamp as my new, fragmented sight took in the surroundings, but I quickly realized that I wasn’t in control of my body.

Whatever process was controlling the wheel had thrown me into someone… or something’s mind. My body was inching forward in a weird, up-and-down gait that I didn’t understand before a shockwave boomed in the air.

The funny thing was, I didn’t seem to have the ears to hear it. I only knew it was a shockwave because my multi-eyed vision looked up right as an immense, slashing crescent of rainbow energy rampaged across the horizon.

Even as I watched the energy approaching, I came to realize I was in the mind of some kind of giant, alien worm watching its world undergoing a mana–pocalypse of some kind.

Its segmented body freaked me out, as for a brief moment, I thought of it as my own.

The wave knocked down the body I was inhabiting, and Worm guy’s vision ended as everything started to sparkle. Those sparks touched on everything in sight, including my wormy friend.

Green plants became greener. Blue fruit, hanging low from the trees, looked even bluer. I think that whatever or however the rainbow wave worked, it enhanced everything it touched. Then, only darkness remained. 

Did he die? Did I die?

Thankfully, the light came again, and I found myself in a different body and was relieved to still be alive. This time around, I had fingers and hands, which was a nice surprise. The people around me all had green skin, big dark eyes, and tiny, nub-like antennas sticking off their heads. We sat at a long table, speaking in a language that I couldn’t hope to understand. 

Strangely, it felt like a business meeting.

The wave and sparkles returned, but they affected things completely differently than the first vision. Rather than take on brighter colors, the buildings around my host began to dull, losing their former opulence. Then, they started to collapse. My second vision ended when my host began to fall from a huge skyscraper, screaming in an unknown language.

Don’t be in a tall building when Mana comes around, got it.

The third vision put me into what I thought was a soldier in a techno-heavy society. The cow-like creature I inhabited had guns with several doodads and gizmos splashed across it. But after the wave, he started shooting tiny bolts of electricity from his hands, the weapon left on the ground forgotten.

Frickin magic, I knew it. 

More visions appeared. I was the size of a mountain, then a pea, then I was in a spaceship with tentacles for arms and a man in chains before me. Each time, the world melted, parts of it sloughed off, or even expanded. Sparkles were everywhere, altering and changing not only the world it reaped across, but the people and creatures too.

Desperate and beginning to realize the magnitude of what these visions implied, I marked down everything I saw in my mind, absorbing it to the best of my limited ability. There had to be a good reason I was being shown this, so whatever I learned now would pay for itself later.

Only one thing was the same in each vision. The shockwave and immediate change. Then, in the darkness, new words appeared.

Basic Pre-initiation Introduction complete…

Step Three: Basic Sponsored Pre-initiation Introduction

As a Sponsored Pre-initiate, the difficulty expectation for your planet has been raised.

Wait, what now?

The visions came back, only this time, as the mana arrived, time and again, so too did domineering armies of various alien races.

Not the friendly, E.T. kind. Some were metallic automatons, others resembled creatures from pictures and stories I’d paged through when I had time to waste, while some defied human imagination of what a living thing should look like.

I lived through several moments, watching the native species get powers, fight, beg, and yammer on in their unknowable words. The invaders brutally killed anyone who didn’t bend the knee. 

Some of the worlds fought back and won. But not many, and I didn’t know what happened to them after the vision concluded.

I made sure to pay special attention to the visions where the natives did win. I was no war strategist, but it seemed to me that in the end, it all came down to a few powerful individuals who came out fighting with total brutality or organizing others very skillfully.

The last vision was a squirrel-like humanoid, resting in a tree bigger than any skyscraper my world had ever built. He had a family, as evidenced by smaller creatures flitting about their many rooms within the bough. Then the shockwave. Then the invaders. I’d almost grown numb to it at this point.

Then I watched his family die. 

As if I hadn’t been punched in the face with enough trauma, whatever entity was showing me these visions decided to triple down as the vision faded.

Basic Sponsored Pre-initiation complete…

Step Four: Basic Sponsored Preview

Planet: Earth

Sponsor: Altius Acquisitions

Sponsorship: Basic

Sponsor group: 20,000

95% by Sponsor choice, 5% by random selection

Time remaining until Initiation: 3 Earth years

Time passed on Earth during the sponsorship: 3 Days

Three years until… all that happens, to Earth. And what did it mean that only three days were going to pass? Can this bullshit freeze time?

Any apathy or humor I had left in me disappeared. If this were to be believed, then Earth was in for an incredible amount of hurt. Maybe annihilation. Not a single scenario that I lived through showed the invading aliens as kind-hearted pacifists who just wanted to hold hands.

I needed to do something, but I was only one man, and not a fighter at that.

Thoughts of my girls came upon me, and I didn’t push them away. How would they do during all of this? They were just kids with a sunny future ahead of them. 

Now, the clouds were coming from a source that I was powerless to stop. 

There would be monsters to fight, and fighting just wasn’t in my wheelhouse. I knew that with absolute certainty. But fighting was never the whole machine. Maybe that could still matter. I just needed to figure out how.

I was still considering my options when the words faded.

Basic Sponsored Preview complete…

Step Five: Facet Response

This is the first time it doesn’t say Basic. There’s probably some unknowable reason for that, which I’ll find out years later or on my deathbed.

The darkness abated, and I stood before a perfect reflection of myself. Beside him, or me in this case, a list of my modest achievements appeared. It wasn’t anything special, just a laundry list of small victories I’d achieved across the entirety of my time on Earth. 

It was honestly a little depressing.

They say your life flashes before your eyes just before you meet your maker. I guess I got to see mine early, and I started to wonder where it got this information from in the first place. My memories? Had whatever power or entity behind everything been watching Earth all this time?

Then the feeling around me changed, like the sudden stillness of a powerful wind quickly stopping. I was shunted out of the dark space and found myself back in the white room surrounded by people.

Writing appeared in my vision.

What is your goal?

Goal? Like, to-

“To beat those bastards,” Jerry said just nearby. Another person down the way said, “To become powerful.”

I didn’t say a word, as apparently that was how this thing was going to interpret our choices. 

Wording mattered. 

This is like a survey. I have a feeling anything I say right now has to be thought through, as it’s going to affect what happens next. That other guy said to become powerful, but what is power?

That led me down a rabbit hole. After all, the whole reason I was here was because of Altius Acquisitions, whoever they were. By ‘sponsoring’ us, they’d dragged Earth and my family into a more difficult situation. 

The tell was in the name. My guess was that they had bought some kind of claim. How much money did they have to spend to do that?

My thoughts were interrupted when Jerry spoke again, “Strength.” 

He was followed by a woman on my left, almost out of my hearing range, “I care about others.”

What the hell is the second question?

I pushed them out of my mind as more people answered around me, each one giving me another piece of a test I badly wished I’d studied for. Since waiting had helped me so far and there didn’t seem to be a hard time limit on answering, I continued to stare at the words and listen in on the others. Then Jerry spoke again.

“I don’t quit.” He gasped a few minutes after speaking, and then I didn’t hear from him. I waited and waited as more people gave odd answers, but never heard another peep. I couldn’t say anything, as that would screw up whatever was happening here.

Not long after, the only voices I heard were far away. My mind kept replaying the events I’d seen, and especially the preview of Earth. 

I wasn’t like Jerry. I wasn’t a big, meaty guy who recognized fear and pushed past it. Someone who could immediately answer questions from an unknowable source with such surety. There’d been no hesitation on his part. 

Me? I was a semi-successful marketeer who had been on the brink of being something more, but I just didn’t have the time to get there.

All of these people’s answers were pushed by the visions. They were emotionally charged. They saw the world going up in smoke and wanted to fight back. 

They wanted power. 

But power could be misinterpreted. Power was in the eye of the beholder. And since the only thing I knew for sure was that Altius hadn’t punched, prayed, or powered their way into Earth’s future, I said the only thing that made sense to me.

“Money.”

Chapter 3: My Class

If the powers that be felt my choice was strange, I couldn’t tell, as the second question rolled right in.

What is your greatest strength?

Holy shit, Jerry said his greatest strength was strength. How baller is that?

Now, all of the others who’d spoken up before filtered into my mind. That one woman had said caring for others. That was an interesting choice that hadn’t even entered my mind. Not that I thought of myself as a bad person; it just didn’t compute in the moment. 

A piece of a memory surfaced, in which I recalled another person far off saying ‘ambition’.

Strength itself, caring for others, and ambition. That’s what the selected people of Earth chose, but I’m not like them. I need to play this smart.

I need to think of something that goes with money. 

If word choice matters a lot to whatever this Facet thing is, then combining similar terms should pay off in a big way. So what would be a solid strength that played off of money?

I pitched several ideas to myself. I knew for a fact I was highly observant and loyal, almost to the point of tragedy when you considered my ex-wife. I was good with people, and I loved my daughters. I once played baseball and learned it wasn’t my thing.

But none of those worked with money.

Then it hit me. 

The mana-pocalypse was coming, and here I was with a chance to do something about it before it arrived. Times were going to be tough ahead, probably deadly for many. I needed the ability to ride things out, no matter the circumstances. Because of that reasoning, the answer came to me with clarity, and I was sure it was a good one.

“Resourcefulness.”

The words arrived without a pause.

What is your greatest weakness?

Fucking hell, Jerry. Your weakness was, “I don’t quit?” What happened in your life that made you think persistence is a bad thing?

Wait, no. 

Stupid, Evan. That’s not what he did. He presented a strength as a weakness, almost like an inane interview question.

So that tells me Jerry thinks this thing is probing us? But it knows everything about us; that list of my inadequacies told me so. Still, it’s not a bad idea.

Present a strength as a weakness.

Maybe it’s looking for a weakness that it can help us fix. Like, if I said I’m dumb, the thing would make me smarter. Or I’m sick all the time, and it makes me the picture of health.

But my weakness has always been the same: opportunity. Always playing catch-up with the world, all the while watching the people I grew up with have their best lives start early. 

Though I knew it was the right word, it didn’t fit right in my mind. Then again, opportunity was just money wearing a nice suit. 

Money has always been the thing I needed most but had the least of. It was easily the most consistent problem, from my inability to attend university to taking care of my girls as best I could. Even holding onto my wife. 

My world has rotated on a pinwheel around my lack of money. And with Altius Acquisitions, it looks like the greater universe runs on it, too.

So my third answer was also simple. If you’re going to roll the dice, may as well roll them twice. I even smiled as I said it.

“Money.”

To confirm, you, Evan Teller, are stating that your greatest weakness is lack of money.

Well, that makes me a little nervous. Does it not like the answer? Is that not allowed?

…fuck it. In for a penny, in for a pound.

“Yes.”

Understood.

Assessing hidden trait…

Trait? Like, a quirk?

Trait located.

Unrealized Potential…

Frickin figures. I’m quirky enough to have never reached my true potential. Thanks, god of kidnappings.

Facet Response Complete

Step Six: Archetype Selection

Archetypes populating...

Okay, looks like using money twice was accepted. I didn’t screw anything up.

I wonder what the hell Jerry got? Probably something ridiculous, much like the man himself.

Man, this is taking a while. Was it because of my choices? I wonder what archetype mea-

Archetypes populated.

Make your choice, Evan Teller.

—

Singular Facet Archetypes:

Please note that Facet priority directly influences Archetype design.

Merchant

Money

A basic money-oriented Archetype commonly seen across the greater universe.

The Merchant-Archetype provides triple the standard starting funds.

Scavenger

Resourcefulness

A low-resource Archetype that works through finding value where others see waste.

The Scavenger-Archetype offers dozens of starting locations.

—

Single facet, so just one of the responses I gave.

Merchant’s good. Triple the starting funds, heh, I won’t say no to that. More money is good money.

Scavenger is interesting, but that’s not what I had in mind for resourceful. I don’t really want to end up in a place where I’m scrounging through trash to find something to sell.

The god of words decided that I’d read them through and changed to the next page.

Double Facet Archetypes:

Entrepreneur 

Money-Resourcefulness

A venture-focused Archetype built around creating value, solving needs, and expanding from substantial starting capital.

The Entrepreneur-Archetype offers unique opportunities dependent upon the chosen starting location.

Hustler

Resourcefulness-Money

An Archetype with a low reputation, but one that can often find the gap between what something is worth and what someone is willing to pay.

The Hustler-Archetype offers access to low-trust markets and a starter pool of System contracts.

—

System contracts?

System…System…

Is the God of Kidnappings the System?

What a lazy-ass name for something that can teleport people out of drowning in their car. At least call it Jesus or Yahweh. Jesus could walk on water.

Entrepreneur sounds incredibly focused on whatever starting location you get. What if I picked some place that looks nice, but is home to some dick-eating demons and I’m on the menu?

Then again, that could be true of any choice I make here.

Venture-focused is key in that description, though. Ventures are risks, like a Silicon Valley startup or braving a new business idea in a place that doesn’t fit the bill. Hell, if I go with how specific the wording is with the god of kidnappings, venture is part of adventure.

It’s all about the dangerous journey.

Hustler sounds shady as shit, though. Like yeah, I could make some money that way. Work some black market stuff, maybe. But jobs like that tear into your soul. That’s all about incremental demon-finding.

As I stood there considering my options, the page turned one more time.

Triple Facet Archetype:

Tycoon

Money-Money-Resourcefulness

A wealth-focused Archetype built around ownership, acquisition, and expansion across multiple enterprises.

The Tycoon-Archetype offers low starting capital, offset by earlier access to greater acquisition opportunities and broader eligibility for ownership-based progression.

Tycoon…

I stared at the word. Tycoon had a lot of history behind it back on Earth. Magnates like Carnegie and Rockefeller. Robber barons like Musk and Bezos.

Rollercoaster Tycoon.

These were people who built empires and massive money-making machines in a time when people had trouble finding a place to sleep. They were myths, legends…

Assholes.

But they made a LOT of money. 

That’s what I need to do if I’m going to save my girls and my planet. I need to make so much money that nobody will want to fuck with us. Ever.

I looked over the description a second time to get a feel for it. If anything, it sounded like an upgraded version of Entrepreneur, only it started out with low funds but a higher ceiling.

In for a penny, in for a pound, right? Some British guy said that.

Besides, my Trait is called Unrealized Potential. If I pick an Archetype right off the bat that is all about expanding possibilities, that has to help, right? It’s like Craig said the last time we went out to dinner as family+1.

In the business world, it’s all about synergy.

The god of kidnappings somehow felt my intent as the wording changed.

Evan Teller, are you certain you would like your Archetype to be: 

Tycoon

I didn’t speak a word, but all the same, the thing in charge recognized my choice.

Archetype Selection Complete

Step Seven: Class Formulation

Chosen Archetype and Trait interaction ongoing.

…

Unrealized Potential has become Unrealized Profits.

—

Unrealized Profits and the Tycoon Archetype have manifested Evan Teller’s starter Class:

Peddler

I did not gasp.

Peddler Abilities Set.

“What abilities?” I asked between the updates.

Class Formulation Complete

Step Eight: Starting Location Options

“No, really. What abilities?”

Captain Kidnapper didn’t respond as five locations appeared before me. Five. Just five. All of them planets that were assuredly not mine.

And to top off this shit sandwich of a day…

“None of these are Earth.”

Pre-initiates may not return to their native planet until three days prior to Earth’s Mana Advent. The time on Earth is currently frozen.

The Basic Sponsorship package will automatically transport you, no matter where you are in the universe.

“So you’re forcing me into a car accident, throwing me into a random room with ‘basic’ healing, then like a skipping stone, tossing me out into the universe to what? Survive?”

Growth is imperative to succeed in what’s coming.

Please select your starting location.

A big part of me wanted to tell the God of Kidnappings to go fuck itself. A very big part. That wouldn’t go over well for me, even if I still wanted to do it just for the satisfaction. Like a really, really long, fuuuck you.

But then I thought about my girls.

Time’s frozen. That ain’t so bad. Heck, if I don’t get to them quick enough, I bet they’ll think I’m dead. My car’s in the ocean with a window kicked out and no body to be found. It’s only logical to think that.

But three years without my little ones.

That’s forever if you’re fighting for your life. I remember veterans coming back from the war, changed as changed can be, and they’d sometimes only been out there for three or four months. I need to make sure that if I get through this, I’m the same man my girls knew before I was taken.

And when I do get back, it needs to be with something more in my pocket than well wishes.

With that in mind, I did a gentle ‘wussah’ in my head, then scrolled through all five, reading them back and forth.

One was out because the air was mostly methane. I wasn’t a scientist, but I didn’t think that  would go well for me.

Another two were out because the planets looked mostly barren. If I wanted to make a lot of money, fast, I needed a populous place to sell anything I could find. Empty planets need not apply.

That left only two, and the choice wasn’t easy.

The first planet was called Veyr, and the starting location was on a coastline. There was even an included picture showing a very calm, relaxed-looking beach. The place had a stable market; seafood was the primary export, and there was a spot at the bottom saying something fishy.

Mana Density: Controlled; Nominal

The other place was a planet called Grask. The starting location was right outside a dense forest, and the market made my mind stutter.

Primary export: Monster parts and salvage

The last line didn’t help either.

Mana Density: Unstable

So, Evan, you have two options here. Go with the safe, relaxing coastline and sell fish for the next few years.

Or…

Pick the monster planet with unstable Mana that has the potential to be something more.

What are you going to go with, Evan, you stupid bastard?

What’s going to bring you back to Earth, ready to win against the apocalypse?

I sighed, unable to refute the truth. “I choose Grask.”

Starting Location Selected: Grask

Step 9: Teleportation

Good luck, Evan Teller.

I tried to say thanks in the most sarcastic way I could, but all that came out was a quick gasp before an unfamiliar landscape met my eyes.

Where before, I had been in a white room, surrounded by my fellow Earthers, I was now standing in front of a small, two-story shop wearing a white outfit that was close to leather. And what was most confusing about all of this was that, when I looked at my clothing, words appeared in my vision without being blocked.

Pre-Initiate Ensemble

Value: Rare

Price: 10,000 Credits

Chapter 4: My Welcome to Grask

I waved my white-sleeved arm up and down as the small text box followed it. It was like a dancing bug doing a jig at my command.

“This is super freaky.”

I then realized I was on an unfamiliar planet, potentially surrounded by monsters, and still didn’t know what my abilities could do. I dropped into a crouch and looked all around to get a feel for my situation.

In front of me was a small two-story shop. It had white, chipped walls, with missing paint spotting it in disorganized sections. Two large, dirty windows covered the front, blocking any view I had of what might be going on inside.

Behind it loomed a forest of towering trees, dark and foreboding as it enshadowed the building before it. Several of the further-back forms were spiky and dark, while those closest to the shop seemed to be the picture of health.

Each looked sort of like a Pine tree, though thicker and more vibrant in a way I couldn’t put into words. In fact, everything looked that way. Like the touch of life was stronger in this place than it ever was back on Earth.

When my eyes met the shopfront again, something seemed to connect as I wondered about its value.

Donated General Store

Condition: Poor

Price: 2,400 Credits

Ownership: Pre-Initiated Only (System Locked)

That didn’t appear until I started considering the shop’s worth, so that tells me the text box is keyed to my thoughts.

As for what that value is, it’s curious. A store, a place of business, only costs 2,400 Credits, but my clothing costs ten thousand?

I better make sure I don’t spill any food on it.

The sky was a paler form of blue than I was used to seeing on Earth. And as for that big star in the sky raining down sunlight like it was going out of style? It was orange.

“An orange sun,” I murmured to myself, shocked by how quickly my life had changed in such a short time.

“Hey stranger!” A voice yelled from close enough that the shrill tone hurt my ears. “What’re you doing over there?”

I turned to find a small, bald, green child with a serious overbite as one tooth dangled down from her top lip. She looked no older than five by my human sensibilities, but my mind stayed rooted in the fact that I was no longer on Earth.

She could be 100 for all I knew.

So I didn’t bend down to pet her shiny head like I wanted. Instead, I waved.

“Hello, I’m Evan.”

“Your accent is funny.” She pointed at my clothes. “So’s what you’re wearing.”

Not wanting to make a bad impression, I chose not to comment on the threadbare clothing she herself wore. Instead, I asked for her name.

“Petunia, but I go by Patty.”

“Why’d your parents name you Petunia?”

“Because they said I’d never grow much. What are you doing so close to the lock shop over there? Don’t you know it’s shielded?”

“Shielded?”

“What’re you, new?” She walked past me, her small legs scurrying before stopping at some imaginary dividing line. Then, she reached out a hand and banged it against the atmosphere.

A thud reverberated in the air, surprising me back a step.

“That shop is for Pre-Initiates only, but it looks pretty crappy if you ask me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it’s so dirty, and that forest has always given me the creeps. I told my dad that there are monsters back there, but he says it’s locked just like the shop. Nothing can get in or out.”

“How do you unlock them?” 

Patty shrugged, “Buy the shop, I guess. That’s what Dad says.”

I tapped my chin, “Is your father around?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I’d like to talk to him.”

“He’s running the tavern right now, so he’s probably busy.” She giggled at something I didn’t understand before continuing. “But I bet he’ll talk to you for a few credits.”

I pointed at the pockets of my pants, “I don’t think I have any credits.” Hah, didn’t stumble on that. “But maybe we can trade with something else.”

She gave me a funny look, “Like what?”

“Won’t know till I talk to him.”

She thought about it while sucking on her extended tooth, then gave me a sharp little nod. The tiny girl began skipping as she passed me, forcing a hustle from my longer legs to keep up.  

For how tiny Patty is, she sure moves fast.

As I followed, my eyes traveled across the locations around us. All told, there were six storefronts with their doors closed, and one larger building that Patty skittered into with a loud, ‘Dad!”

Moving up the small steps, I pushed through the double-winged doors and entered a bar that would’ve fit in with the Wild West back on Earth. Varied-sized chairs and tables made up the majority of the room, while the wall held the heads of many creatures I would never want to meet on a dark night. 

One of them had a head almost as large as my body.

Standing behind the bar with a rag was an overly large man, two tusks extending past his mouth and below his lips. He glanced my way once before going back to cleaning a glass while his presumed daughter Petunia whispered in his ear. When she hit a stopping point, the man looked my way. 

“You don’t have any credits? How in the hell did you get…did you get…to Grask?” His deep voice trailed off as he looked at my clothes, then exploded again. “Wait, are you a P.I.?”

P.I.?

I made a quick guess for what he meant, “Yes, I’m a Pre-Initiate from Earth. Evan Teller, nice to meet you.” I wasn’t sure if they did handshakes in the wider universe, so I settled for a half-bow before standing up again. “Great place you got here.”

“It’s a shithole.” The man grumbled, his eyes still on my clothing. “Name’s Curl, and you met my daughter, Patty. A P.I. in Grask? That’s the strangest thing.” The man rubbed his clean glass vigorously. “You must be attached to the lock shop.”

“Yep, why not. Though I don’t know how to unlock it, if you catch my meaning.”

Curl’s face instantly took on a look of sympathy, “Ah, you poor man. You must be a Basic Sponsored. They get dropped in their starting locations without a word of advice or instructions on what to do. Let me help you out.” He put down the glass, then said, “You don’t need to say it out loud, just think the word, Status.”

“Status?”

“I said you don’t need to-”

Everything else he said disappeared as my vision was overtaken by the God of Kidnappings.

Status:

Evan Teller

Trait: Unrealized Potential

Sponsored Pre-Initiate of Earth

Time remaining until Mana Advent: 2+ years

Archetype: Tycoon

Modified Trait: Unrealized Profits

Class: Peddler

Level: 1

Credits: 

0

Level 2 cost: 

250 Credits

There was more to read, but something started to pull on my finger. After the first tug or two, the next one was about to take the skin off my finger.

Go away! I thought at the screen, but it didn’t move. My mind was trapped by the god of kidnappings as surely as my body had been back in the white room.

Cut it out. Wait! Close Status!

The screen disappeared, and I looked down to find Patty energetically pulling at a ring on my finger. I hadn’t even realized it was there.

“It won’t come off, Dad!”

“Pull harder, he doesn’t…” Curl noticed I was back and scowled at me. “Know how to close his status,” he finished with anger.

I was proud of how calm my voice sounded when I said, “You’re trying to rob me.”

“And not succeeding,” Patty said quickly, still tugging at the ring on my finger. It was like it was glued to the damn thing, but the skin around it didn’t feel great as the tiny girl dug her sharp nails in.

“Why?” I asked with some heat.

“Because this is Grask, you damn idiot.” The big man suddenly seemed much bigger as he started to stalk around the countertop. “Now give us the storage device.”

Storage?

“No.”

“Don’t make me mount your head,” He said, pulling an axe I hadn’t noticed before out of the wall it was embedded in. “You’re much too small to look impressive.”

When he removed it, there was only a thick scar in the wall as a memory of the weapon. That put some energy into my legs.

I took a quick, wincing breath as Patty gave my ring an angry tug. “Look at the time; it’s fuck off o’clock. Gotta go!” I said quickly as the little girl dug her feet into my hips for better leverage. 

Not caring, I ran for the exit, twisting at the last second to clip Patty’s body into the wall as I passed.

“Oof,” she grunted after slamming into it and falling down.

Then I was sprinting back to where I’d started. In my pedal-to-the-metal running, my mind’s solution to not losing my head was to try for the barrier that little girl had knocked on earlier. If the lock shop was only for Pre-Initiates, and I was a Pre-Initiate, then it should open for me.

The previously empty stoops of the other buildings now had people standing in their doorways. I only caught a quick glimpse in my run, but not a one of them looked remotely human.

Behind me, Curl roared out, “Ferocious Charge!”

As a firm believer in living, I did not turn to look.

Cardio was not really my thing, but for once in my life, I truly wished it was. As if the planet had suddenly decided I was hostile, the air all around me refused to enter my withering lungs quickly enough. I felt a sudden damp sweat break out, and the orange sun overhead, once a novelty, now felt punishingly heated.

My sprint felt more like a lackadaisical run as I neared the spot that Patty had banged on earlier. A burst of air from behind shoved me aside before a loud crack split the atmosphere.

Next to my prone form lay the body of Curl, face bloody and possibly comatose. The axe resting beside him had old blood on its sharp edges. Or at least I thought it was blood, though there was a certain green cast to it.

Not wasting the opportunity, I started to get up when Curl’s eyes opened and stared at me with murderous intent. They were almost the same color as the sun overhead.

“I’m going to kill you, Evan Teller.”

Though it was purely bravado, I couldn’t help but say the next thing that came to mind.

“Not today!”

Rather than get up and run, I rolled my body toward the bubble, hoping fervently and with many praises to the God of Kidnappings that I was right.

I crossed through cleanly.

There was a blinking light in the corner of my vision, but I ignored it as my breath finally started to return. Meanwhile, Curl slammed his giant axe against the bubble, and it rebounded hard enough that he had trouble keeping his feet.

Spitting some blood to the side, he glared at me, and though I could see his lips moving, I couldn’t hear him.

“Sorry? What?” I called out.

He said something else, but his dark green lips delivered no sound to my ears. I pantomimed that I couldn’t hear him, and though I could tell he was now yelling, I was happy not to.

“Look, I’m going to go explore my new possible home, and you just stay. Over there. Outside the bubble. With your big fuck-me axe.”

Curl yelled some more, but I turned my back to him. I didn’t need the reminder that a large, murderous thief was my new neighbor.

Everything within the bubble looked the same as it did on the outside, but when I tried to walk into the shop, I felt the air harden against the hand I’d been holding out.

“Knew it. Probably has something to do with that blinky thing.”

The moment I directed my intent toward it, a text bubble appeared in my vision without causing another mind lock.

Congratulations, Evan Teller,

You’ve gained one agility.

Reason: Exercise

Congratulations, Evan Teller,

You’ve gained one endurance.

Reason: Adaptation to a mana-elevated Planet

You’ve entered a System-protected location.

Pre-Initiate recognized.

Interior ownership is required to proceed.

Remaining access duration for the Outer-Boundary: 9 minutes, 59 seconds.

“Shit, there’s a timer. How do I get…you’re not going to answer me, are you?”

When the glorious and all powerful God of Kidnappings didn’t respond after a few seconds, I looked down at the silver circle on my clawed-up finger. With intent, I tried to ask the ring what it held. Like a door opening into a room, I could sense everything it held with exacting precision.

Though I was on a new planet that had tried to rob me at the first opportunity, I still smiled. Because if they felt safe enough to take something from me, I had no problems taking something from them.

Nobody fucks with the man trying to save his planet without paying for the privilege.