I lay on my back, the attack had been sudden and unexpected, I didn’t see it coming, but I would assume it had been my rival. I was at a HEMA competition. Historical European martial arts was not only a hobby, but a side hustle. When I wasn't streaming my usual RPG online, I was at an event. My slender build, supernatural hand-eye coordination, and dexterity made me really good. With the ability to not just duel wield short swords. But use them independently, something which no normal people could do without losing situational awareness. My blueish-silver heavy armour sat snug around my body, something I now regretted, It did not sit well, when you got laid out. However, after my victory, I became complacent, and thus, didn’t suspect that the sword and board user I had just humiliated would then use his shield to bash me in the back of the head. The world spun and I felt cold. I was fully shivering by the time someone had rolled me over. And while I was dizzy, I could still make out words. Someone was shouting “You damn fool, never touch someone with a head injury, what if it was his neck?” the voice was that of what I could only assume was a woman, or effeminate man? Who knows, I had more important things to worry about. Like the taste of iron in my mouth, or the warm and wet sensation in my ears. The noise turned to murmuring and then to silence as my world went dark.

The first sense that returned to me was my hearing. The distant sound of a siren blared. My eyes were still closed and I could feel pressure over them, which I came to realise was bandaging covering my eyes. Next came a sensation, mostly the feeling of thirst. My mouth was dry and I had a headache that could disable a rhino. I had been on water fasts and dehydration style training in the past, this felt like that, like i had not eaten or drank in several days. That’s when I noticed the smell, the body odor that came from myself was diabolical. But on top of that, was the smell of blood, was I still bleeding from my injury? I clenched my fists, wiggled my toes, flexed both my arms and legs. All were fine. The surface I had been laying on was solid and cold. That’s when the hunger pang hit me, stronger than I had ever felt before. I felt nauseous, but persevered. It had been a long long time since I was ever hungry enough to consider myself starving. I felt weak and slow, almost sluggish. I mustered all my strength, and sat up right. I was still in complete darkness except for a floating exclamation mark, off in my peripheral vision, so far off my main line of sight that I would have missed it, normally. I ignored the strange object, dismissing it as those floaty things you get in your eyes after you have rubbed them for too long. I reached my hands up, feeling around the back of my head, not only to find the edge of the bandaging. But to find if my head was still bleeding. To my surprise, I found hair, I normally kept my head as a buzz cut, military style. This was slightly longer, a few centimetres, at a guess. The pieces started to fit together, but I had to see my situation before I began to guess what was happening. Finding the edge of the bandage and began unravelling. It only took a few seconds before the blinding pressure of the daylight from the window hit me. I could literally feel my pupils contract, adding to the pain of the dehydration headache, I recoiled back onto the solid surface that I was seated on. Something tugged at my arm. I slowly opened my eyes. The pressure fading as they adjusted. Only to find my suspicions correct. I was indeed on the floor, a tube running out of my arm and into an empty bag that sat on a 3 wheeled stand. I couldn’t see the room, as next to me and blocking my view, was an upturned bed, resting on its side. The siren in the far distance whined with its constant tone. I had never heard one before, from watching American movies, it was either a raid siren, nuclear siren or tornado warning. I didn’t know which was which, but considering my state, I either had all the time in the world or mere moments to live. So I didn't rush. I was too weak to rush. I pulled the line out of my arm, wincing slightly, it wasn’t painful, just uncomfortable and a strange sensation. The next thing I noticed was that the halogen light above where the bed would have been, was off. I wasn’t an expert in hospitals, but due to the nature of my hobby, I have spent many a day in one. The lights were almost never off, to my mind it was just a random thing I noticed. But the daylight beamed though the window on the opposite side of me from the bed. From the angle I was at, I could only see the sky, which had a purple tint, it could have been early morning, or evening. But that sky was reddish, this was more akin to violet. The sky itself was also overcast in clouds which also bore the same purplish hue. I paid it no mind as I pulled myself off the floor using the sideways bed to steady myself. A few moans and what felt like an eternity later, I was upright.

It looked like a crime scene. No body, but enough blood to make it look like Hannibal Lecter had dropped his stew and had then tried to mop it up without water. The blood stretched and streaked out of the room as if the body had been dragged. I shuddered at the idea. I pulled my body to the bottom of the bed, and began to limp over to the wash room that was attached to my little room. I accidentally stood on a clipboard. Bending down I picked it up. As I rose, chart in hand, I saw my name. But then something strange happened. I didn’t read it from the paper itself, something akin to augmented reality popped up in my vision. A white box, with black font lettering, scrolled across my line of sight, it felt like the early days of virtual reality. “Name: Drake Peterson, Age: 35, height: 183CM (6’0”.) Weight: 64kg (140 lbs) Condition: Comatose/unresponsive. Location: Long-term care.”

The information kept going, mostly tracking my medical journey. But what was interesting, was that, next to the flashing exclamation mark ,was now a head shaped silhouette. I focused on it a little too long, which made it pop open, showing all the information i had just read with some additional tid bits

“Condition: Critical, Class:To be confirmed, Level: Zero, Skills: Zero, Race: Pure-Bred Human, Deity: None, Experience points: Zero”

My heart froze. “Class”? Had we gone back to a feudal system? No, it mentions skill and levels, so it must be something else. “Level”? Interesting. I pondered as I looked out the window, to the eerie canvas that was the sky. From my standing position, I could see the tops of buildings. But from the distance I was at. I was unable to see if anyone was inside. I kept reading as I stared at the sky. “Skills?” It didn’t mention my gaming addiction or my medieval training. So that too, was referring to something different. “Race?” Of course I'm human. Not sure why it says pure-bred. Meh. I shrugged it off. “Deity?” I was raised Catholic, so this one should have read as god, maybe El-Roi or even Jehovah, but as it said “none.” I was shocked. This either meant that this wasn’t referring to my religious belief or that I had to now choose a religion. Once again I had to move along. There was nothing I could do about it. Finally “Experience?” it just said zero. I couldn’t tell if it was a flat number or a percentage. So once again, I had to ignore what I couldn't understand. “Enough!” I said aloud. I had put off looking at the exclamation mark for too long, and it was beginning to bug me, I didn’t have enough context to understand what was probably very simple. So I targeted it. And a wall of writing scrolled down my vision.

“My children.. I am Hephaestus, apologies, I bear ill tidings. A calamity is about to befall the mortal races. I’ll simplify it into terms you can understand. There are good gods, there are bad gods, there are neutral gods. And there are other beings that can contend with gods. Myself and one other. Also known in Christianity as the one true god. For lack of a better term, sectioned off this part of the universe and removed what you would call magic, and we hid you from the rest of the universe. Well, they have found us, and us two alone do not have the power to hold them back. In short, each one of your souls is power, and never before has a planet's population been so dense. Jehovah will impart his power upon you all, and I will hold the barrier. You have 1 year to get strong enough to defend yourselves. As the god of crafting, I have developed what you would call a system, a way of quantifying the divine power around you. I do not recommend killing your fellow man, but it is a viable strategy in getting stronger. Choose your skills, get stronger and protect what you love.”

I blinked in panic, frustration and sheer bewilderment. There was way too much information to parse in that brief and very vague message. “Holy shit. Gods are real. Gods are real, gods are real "I muttered to myself in crazed hysteria. Not only real, but magic was real too. I began to dry heave, and if there was any liquid or solids in my stomach, they would have been violently ejected from my body. Alas only my stomach lining made an appearance while I dragged my feet as I pulled myself to the washroom. I felt woozy and my vision spun. Cramps ripped through my body, it was intense, but by sheer force of will, I pushed myself forward. I felt my lips crack as I clenched my jaw, both a wince and a growl came from me, moving one foot in front of another felt like an eternity. The layout of the room was small and simple, it was an entrance on one side, a small washroom to the left of the entrance which sat across from my bed and on the wall directly facing the door/entrance, was a window which stretched the length of the wall. I could feel each and every agonising step as my toes locked up. Is this what dehydration feels like? I pondered on this as my heart raced in my chest, I felt cold. But I pushed through.

I could worry about the situation I was in with gods and magic, but for right now, if I didn’t drink, I was going to pass out. I glanced over to the door that entered the room, it was wide open, the blood smear led away and into the dimly lit corridor, no doubt the lights coming through the other side room doors were lighting the passageway. I finally made it to my destination. A toilet to the left, a shower to the right of that and a sink that sat behind the half open door. The room was a pale egg-shell, and aside from the gymnastics equipment that came with a toilet with disability access, there was nothing special here. I fell forward onto the basin. I clapped my lips together, i could no longer swallow my salvia, something was wrong, i was dehydrating far too fast for the timeframe of me waking up meer moments ago. But i kept on, i reaching to the faucet and twisted as hard and fast as i could. Nothing, no sound like there was pressure, not a thing. I slumped my shoulders in defeat. And looked up, the reflection of the person looking back at me was unrecognisable, my hair was exactly what it felt like, what should have been a buzz cut, was much longer, I looked like a balding middle-aged man. Well, i was, but that’s no the point, i had made peace with my hairline, long ago. I had a beard, or the makings of one, my brown eyes were sunken, with panda eyes around the edges and my skin quality was only matched by my sunken cheeks. I looked terrible. And thin. The muscle mass that defined my face, was gone. Just how long had I been here?

I limped over to the shower. The whole room was a wetroom, no solid door, just a drain on the floor and a curtain pulled to the side that didn’t reach the ground. I hit the button, and once again I received no response. I slowly turned my head and in desperate horror I vacantly stared at the toilet. Was I that desperate? I was on the verge of collapse, I wouldn't even make it to the next room, let alone to anything like a facility or storage closet. I pulled my eyes up, I wouldn’t touch the water in the bowl, but the cistern could hold a few litres. So in a mad rage I lifted the ceramic lid off the cistern, also known as the back of the toilet, and in a weak and meek manor, let it drop to the floor with a bang.

The silence was deafening. I stood there for what felt like an eon, if anyone was still around they would have heard that. But then, so would anything that caused the blood smear in the doorway. I looked down into the very empty and very dry tank. Even the bowl itself was barren. In defeat I slumped against the wall, this was my end. I didn’t have the strength to move. In a last ditch effort I pulled at the red emergency cord. Once again I was great with a big fat nothing. So what could I do with the final few moments of my life before I fell unconscious. OH! The thought hit me like a bolt of lightning. I opened up the system windows, and found the ‘choose skill’ and focused on it with pure intent and it flashed to life. I had played many RPG’s and the most underutilized magic used was that of water magic. In my opinion, if i could find a skill like that, I wouldn't have to die here, i would be stuck with the skill but i wouldn’t be dead. I “AA. AB.” I flicked my eyes making it scroll faster, there were thousands of skills, it brought me hope. ”AQ" I practically yelled, alas there was nothing for aqua-kinesis, I thought about what water was, and different synonyms for the water. I flicked down as fast as I could, soon reaching ‘H’. There it was, Hydromancer.

“Hydromancer: The ability to control the element of water in its many forms. The more water you control the more mana that is used.”

I held the option in my mind. And scrolled down to the ‘W’s’. To my chagrin, there was nothing under 'water'. “Oh!” I muttered and I brought the list back to the ‘B’s’. But there was nothing for blue-mage, either. It was strange, the list was extensive to the point of absurdity. But the only option that even contains water was that of an obscure word that was rarely used. In fact I only knew of one name of an item that had hydro in it, and that was an ‘hydro-electric dam.’ I was brought out of my thought process by a huge cramp in my back, somewhere around my right kidney. That couldn’t be coincidental? Once again in a panic, I quickly scrolled back down to hydromancer and selected the skill.