Tim understood the words coming out of her mouth, but they might as well have been gibberish for all that she was saying. He vaguely remembered getting angry and feeling like he had lost control. Oh, and the sweet rush of life in a way he had never felt before.

  It was like the richest drink had been presented to him. Even though he knew he shouldn’t drink it, all he could think about was just one more sip. No, it was not the kind of beverage that one sipped. It was meant to be slammed. To be consumed in mass quantities all at once. It was the fullness of life and couldn’t be enjoyed in tiny bites.

  As he became more awake, Tim managed to lift his head a couple inches without the stabbing pain, and this allowed him to see that he was strapped down onto what appeared to be a relatively comfortable examination table like in the doctor's office. Of course, that immediately put his nerves on edge. Who could feel comfortable on an alien world, in the custody of people they didn't know, all while strapped to a table?

  What really had him on edge was looking down at his body. The black robes were gone, as was his curved dagger—not that the latter surprised him. No one goes to the trouble of binding you to an examination table and leaves your weapon attached. What baffled him was that instead of being naked as if he were gonna be cut open or poked and prodded, he was in what seemed like sturdy chain mail armor.

  Examining it produced the same confusion:

  Standard Chainmail

  Wt: 22.0

  Defense: 6

  Requirement: Hardiness 15

  Beneath the chainmail he could feel padding, so it wasn’t like the metal was in direct contact with his skin. Still, this was definitely not what he had been wearing before. He could understand his captors stripping him down, but not why they would put armor on him. Looking farther down at his feet he saw he had boots on still, but they were heavier than the other boots and clearly larger.

  Standard Combat Boots

  Wt: 3.0

  Defense: 2

  Requirement: Hardiness 12

  When he pushed his toe up, he could feel the steel plate inside the boot at its tip. Evidently, these boots were made for more heavy-duty use than the light leather boots he had worn before, yet they felt just as natural and comfortable on him. That didn’t really make any sense as they were clearly larger.

  The straps that bound him went across his thighs, his chest, and then his lower arms. He was still able to lift his hand up, and the hand he saw looking back at him was neither the hands he had been accustomed to on Earth nor the hands of the 70-year-old man he had been since arriving here. Instead, they were slightly larger than his hands on Earth and were covered in the calluses of someone who did rough work for a living.

  He started to panic. Had they done something to him? Was he even in the same body anymore? Tim called out, “Hey, somebody tell me what’s going on.”

  He had to cry out several times before he heard a conversation. “I’m just gonna go check on him.”

  Then a female voice, “No, our orders are to just watch him until the council decides what to do.”

  The first voice said back, “I’ve read the accounts of what new arrivals experience, so maybe we can cut him some slack. It’s not like he actually hurt anyone. Besides, he is bound firmly.”

  “Didn’t hurt anyone? Tell that to Simon. If it was anyone weaker than Simon, we might have a stack of bodies,” the female voice said.

  A third voice added, “I will cover you. I took him down before. Honestly, I just want to know what he is. Who knows if he is even human or not. What with the ability to change shape like that.”

  The first voice came back, “Bestials change shape all the time.”

  “Bestials don’t use high-level magics, and when they take a new shape, it isn’t that of another human,” the female voice said.

  “Fine, I’ll be careful, but you heard Armon, he is gonna cover me. You can draw your bow if it makes you feel better. I think the truth is that you are just upset that his spell caught you earlier.”

  Tim heard some mumbling that he couldn’t make out, and then he heard heavy footsteps drawing closer to him before a face leaned over him. It was the face of the man who he had seen coming out of the guildhall earlier in plate armor during the time when whatever had affected him had been going on. The man smiled, and Tim noticed his nearly perfect teeth. His blond hair and blue eyes undoubtedly made him popular with the ladies, but his looks were rugged enough to be a man’s man too.

  “Relax, no one will hurt you. At least, not if you can explain what is going on. Oh, and my name is Reginald.”

  “I have no intention of hurting anyone. In fact, I’ve never hurt anyone in my life. Even during my time in the military, I was just in the reserves and far from the fighting. As for what’s going on… well, I have no idea. I was driving home from work, then suddenly the next thing I knew I was staring at this blue screen. To be entirely honest, I’m still not sure if this is real or a dream.” Tim’s eyes bulged a bit as his tone rose. He really wanted to be believed, but wasn’t sure if he believed himself.

  “Most of what you just said sounded like gibberish to me, but the gist that I got was that you don’t know how you changed bodies or what you did to Simon. Is that true?” Reggie asked.

  “I remember Simon. He was like the gatekeeper guy. He asked me a bunch of questions and then let me in. That was cool by the way how the gates turned into mist. The last thing I clearly remember was him asking me why I was so old. I tried explaining to him that back on Earth I was only twenty-seven years old, but here my body was like crypt-keeper old,” Tim replied.

  Then, thinking about it more, he added, “The more I thought about that, the angrier I got, and that is when everything started to get fuzzy. I remember hearing this rushing sound and feeling this incredible sense of connection to these bubbles of power all around me. I think I saw you and a couple other people run out of the building, but then you stopped moving.”

  “So, you don’t remember casting a spell that froze us all in place? You don’t remember ripping the blood out of the birds your spell caught?”

  “No. Oh my god, did I hurt you? Did I hurt anyone else?”

  “Scared but not hurt. Well, other than maybe you hurt Lacinia’s pride since your spell pulled her out of stealth, and she wasn’t able to go all stabby stab on you.”

  “Oh, was that the woman in leather armor? I wasn’t sure if I dreamt her or if what was happening was real.”

  The female voice suddenly said, “It was real. Actually, more like terrifying is what it was. I’m not used to being manhandled like that, but your spell caught me as helpless as a spider in a web. I’m not ashamed to admit that when I saw you drain the blood out of those birds that I may have pissed in my armor a bit.”

  “I’m so sorry. You have to believe me; I would never mean to hurt any of you. Well, I mean, I guess you don’t have to believe me, but I really hope that you do. I’m not a pacifist or anything, but I don’t go out of my way trying to hurt people who never did anything to me,” Tim said with genuine remorse in his voice.

  “Well then, I guess we are lucky that Armon wisely stayed out of the range of your spell.”

  “Armon? Was he the one in yellow and blue? He electrocuted me or something didn’t he?”

  Reggie said, “That’s right. You seem to remember quite a bit of the detail.”

  “It’s more just impressions. I don’t quite know how to describe it other than to say it was like my head was in a bowl of water, and everything around me was muted. The only sound that I could really hear was this thumping and rushing sound like streams pouring through tiny canals.”

  “So, let’s say I believe you. None of that explains why you look different now. Is this your true body or was the other body your true one?”

  “As far as I am concerned, neither of them is my true body. My true body is still back in my car on Earth,” Tim said, and this time some of his frustration came through in his tone.

  “Well, based on the magic that you were using before, you were likely a blood mage—” Reggie began before Tim interrupted him.

  “Yes. Yes, that’s right. He had me roll a die, and it came up as a 10. Then he said that would be interesting, but I didn’t know what the class was until I looked at my character sheet. It said blood mage. But how did you know that?” Tim was excited now that he might have a line on what his actual class was in this world. Getting to live in a game world was a dream, but he at least wanted to know something about the class, or it would be more of a nightmare.

  “So, if that is the case, why did you fall to the ground and suddenly morph forms? You went from being a frail old man in a black robe to being over six feet tall and wearing chainmail. Even the dagger at your side changed into a long sword and scabbard.”

  “I swear, I have no idea. Maybe if I look at my character sheet, it will give me some information.”

  “Okay, I’ll wait,” Reggie said.

  Tim’s eyes glossed over, and what he saw shocked him almost enough to make him lose the sheet and return to the outside world, but he dug in and tried to learn as much as he could.

  Trait: Ephemeral activated. Change is life. Consistency is a lie. Control is an illusion.

  Unconscious roll for new class: 2/16—result: 1- Warrior

  You now have 19 level gain stat points to assign

  If the notification wasn’t enough to freak him out, the character sheet was. He apparently had an entirely new class now to go with the new body.

  Name: Timothy Stein

  Age: 25

  Ht: 6’4

  Wt: 238 lbs.

  Class: Warrior*

  Level: 19th

  XP: 113,800/132,600

  Hardiness: 18

  Flexibility: 14

  Acuity: 12

  Sagacity: 12

  Hit Points: 275

  Mana: 95

  Offense: ?

  Defense: 14

  Faction: Terran: +40 (-10), Roshya/Asmar/Ogria: -10

  Traits: Ephemeral

  Equipped Class Skills/Spells:

  1) Master Swordsmanship

  2) Heavy Armor Proficiency

  3)

  4)

  5)

  6)

  7)

  He was brought out of looking at his sheet when he heard a commanding voice ordering Reggie to step back. A thick short man in plate armor looked down at him on the table. “I am Charles, guild master of the Terran chapter of the Sojourner’s Guild, and you, my mixed-up friend, have some explaining to do.”

  The man then turned to look away from Tim and said to others in the room that were out of his line of sight, “Bring him to the Book of Names. Let its magic test him as true or foul.”

  There was some arguing that followed, but, in the end, it was all quashed when Charles’ deep voice said, “That wasn’t a request.”

  CHAPTER 6

  INSIDE THE BOOK OF NAMES

  He felt many hands on him, grabbing him and carrying him down a hallway following twists and turns before he was finally set down still attached to the top of the examination table. He was strapped and helpless but now at least vertical so that he could look around.

  Tim gazed around the room and got a better look at the various people present. He counted six men and two women, and most were in the range of forty to sixty, other than the guards who had brought him into the room. Although he could only see two of the guards, he could hear two more behind him, presumably guarding the door. As for the others, he assumed they were council he had heard about.

  “Pardon me. I know you have every reason to be upset with me, even if I don’t know why the events happened, but is it safe to assume that this is the leadership council of the guild?” Tim asked.

  Charles coughed into his hand and then said, “Yes, it is, or at least the council for the Terran branch.”

  “And excuse me a moment more, but then are you all the ones who will decide my fate?”

  Charles laughed this time. “Well, Simon did say that you were full of questions.” He shook his head. “Bound up, helpless as a captive, but still prodding and seeking answers. Well, I can respect that, so I will give you a bit of explanation, on your word that after that you will submit to testing and stop with the questions.”

  Tim nodded in agreement, so Charles continued, “The book which is open on the pedestal before you is an artifact linked to 3 similar artifacts in each of the other guildhalls. The artifact as a whole is called the Book of Names. It has recorded the name of every sojourner down to the 40th generation for the past two thousand five hundred years since the first sojourners. If there were any before that time, then we have no idea who they were.

  By placing your hand on the book, it will scan you. This will allow it to record your class and level. The book will forge a link with you and automatically update as you level to display an accurate accounting of your current capabilities. The testing will also provide you some basic understanding of your class and its beginning skills or spells.

  Beyond the basics, you will obtain training from the instructors here if you decide to stay as an active guild member. Otherwise, you can go out into the world and practice one of the mundane classes. Now, it is time for you to take the test. We will unbind you now, but know that if you do anything other than what we say, you will be dropped where you stand.”

  Tim felt the straps holding him as they were released. He was able to step away from the exam tabletop and was now within a single pace of the large open book in front of him. He studied it for a second. It was fully two feet high and three feet wide. The pages were covered in an ornate, sprawling script, and the corners were bound in silver and inlaid with runes and gems.

  He looked around and saw that everyone had hands on weapons or held out their hands towards him. It appeared that Charles was not taking any chances. From what he remembered of his new character sheet, he had no skills that would help in this situation, and he had no delusions about being able to run away before they could hit him. He had felt the electric power of the one called Armon and was in no hurry for a repeat.

  Still, his mind was racing. He tried to weigh up the risks of touching the book. He couldn’t tell if any of the people from Cal-Dakota to Charles had told him the truth, but he also couldn’t tell if any of them had lied to him. The real question was how he wanted to handle this. A part of him said this was a dream still… or a nightmare.

  Of course, he had never read a litrpg or watched an anime without wondering what it would be like to live in that world, but it wasn’t like he ever really believed it could happen. The more he thought about it, the more he decided to just treat this as if it were really happening. Maybe if he threw himself into this fully, he wouldn’t keep upsetting everyone around him.

  There was one last thing before being tested: he needed to assign his stat points. It wouldn’t do to take a test at anything other than his best. Again, his eyes glossed over as he called up his status sheet. He had to assume based upon the stats that he already had, as well as class name, that in this current form he was more of a melee fighter. That was probably for the best. Magic was cool and all, but he had little in the way of knowledge about how to use it.

  He applied 10 points into Hardiness, 5 to Flexibility, and because he hoped it would make a difference with how he related to others, 4 into Sagacity. Just as before, he felt the shifts in his being as he became more than any human on Earth had ever been. The changes hit him harder as they were more physical than mental this time.

  “No more delaying, just take the test, so that you can be one of us,” Charles said.

  Tim wasn’t happy about it, but dream or new life, he didn’t see any other choice. He reached out and put his hands on the sides of the book. In a flash, he felt like his mind was being pulled out of his head to swirl around like water draining from a bathtub.

  An instant later, he found himself in an arena. The rows of seats around were filled with men, women, and children all looking on. They were cheering wildly and calling out his name. Tim looked down at his feet and found that there were more than a dozen men all lying around in various states of completeness. Some had lost arms, some legs, and others were headless, but the one thing they all shared in common was that they were all dead.

  In his hand, he held a long sword, and as he watched, blood slowly ran along the blade, down its edge, and dripped upon the ground. He didn’t recall it, but he knew that somehow, he had slain all of these men.

  Then trumpets sounded, and men he knew to be arena slaves came running out and started dragging away the fallen. Tim looked up at the audience box, which was elevated above the rest, and the source of the trumpets. A man in a white toga stood up and yelled out, “Timothy Stein, Sojourner of Terra, you have passed the initial trials and shall be allowed the chance to test your mettle against the champion of the arena. May the strongest prevail.”

  From the far end of the arena, an iron gate raised up, and a man stepped forth from a dark tunnel. The audience began to chant even louder now. A few faintly called out his name, but most were yelling, “Serpius! Serpius! Serpius!” Tim assumed that was the name of the arena champion—and apparently, his opponent.

  The man could certainly put on a show. He walked around the arena floor and waved his twin swords in the air. Finally, he turned his eyes to Tim and bowed with a flourish of his swords. “I salute you, warrior. Know that your death today shall be upon the blades of Serpius, the twelve-time champion of the New Roman coliseum.”

  Tim found himself shifting into a fighting stance with his right side forward, sword in hand and raised up into what he instinctively knew was a defensive posture. Serpius waved for him to come, but Tim decided to hold his place. He would wait and fight on his own terms rather than at the beck and call of his enemy.