Thud
I felt a sharp but gentle touch, as if waking up, which made me open my eyes.
A 10-meter white lion with crystal blue eyes stared back at me.
'A Crysthan!'
You're probably wondering what a Crysthan is: they are a group of the Arcane Beast species called Than, known for being kind and instinctual.
Gulp
'Although right now it was scary, just because it was really big.'
I grabbed my head as the pain intensified.
The Crysthan approached and some strange energy was emitted from it. It helped, but the pain was still intense. I started recalling memories, and certain feelings came from looking at the Crysthan.
'What's happening, dammit, it hurts like hell.'
The pain lasted for too damn long. I now somewhat knew my character's backstory and how much sh## I fuc##ng made myself go through.
Gulp
It made me want to puke.
'Dammit, dammit.'
'Is this for real? Am I inside Realmrium?'
'And the most important thing, I am Freyrin? Freyrin is me?'
'Couldn't I just get Leon or even Cirus?'
'But that means Realmrium is real.'
I looked at the Crysthan. Slowly I started petting it, and it reacted by lowering its head and pressing its body onto me.
A while later, I was sitting on a beach with my back against the Crysthan.
The scenery was beautiful as three moons formed a triangle on a small part of the sky, while a giant red sun was setting alongside a smaller orange one.
It seemed surreal: an island far out in the middle of the sea, and even the countless stars that filled the sky, untouched by light pollution.
'I must be in the Forsaken continent, what a harsh way to start. Although most of it has already happened, I still need to get Xavier's first staff, the shadows cloak, and the most painful, upgrading my insignia runes. Just thinking about it gives me chills.'
'Even recalling the memories of imprinting this insignia.'
I ran my fingers across the right side of my chest. There was a circle with several lines coming out of it.
'The Force Rune.'
'This gives me the ability to control force, almost like in Star Wars but different, much more complex and powerful. Above the intermediate spells that have force as the main element, you have spells that use even the weak nuclear force.'
'This gives me a head start, but of course it means I consume more Arcane using my spells and abilities. Well, that's why I'm getting Xavier's staff.'
I got up and looked left, then right, and I saw it in the distance: a stronghold far off with huge walls.
'The Forsaken continent, hmmm… The Eastern Districts, the stronghold should belong to them.'
'And before it I could certainly feel a faint unnatural Arcane sense, the entrance.'
I made my way toward it, and it was too far, dammit. Freyrin has a body that is definitely more in shape than Clayton's, because he lived with the Crysthan in the woods for almost a decade now, but I still hate having to walk this much.
After reaching what seemed like the entrance to a cave behind some vines, I searched for a button.
'Should be around here. After getting the staff I'll head toward the stronghold.'
'I could try to get more treasures in the Forsaken continent, but I'm too weak right now and I don't want to depend too much on a [something] that takes 50 hours to fully recharge.'
I still couldn't find the button. Maybe I was forgetting something? Why couldn't I find it?
I tried remembering the path from when I played the game. Safira's voice came back to me.
"You really love repeating this game."
"I just want to get a perfect run and complete it."
"Don't they launch new content every month?"
"Well… yeah, but it's better that way. It means the devs are devoted."
"Sure."
"Oh, I see. You have to send Arcane and push the button."
"Yeah, in my first time I basically gave up and searched online."
"Haha."
I slowly released Arcane, and a button lit up. Pressing it, an entrance appeared as the door turned to dust, revealing a small cave with a dark blue staff on top of a stand.
I removed the glass and took the staff. I saw the note left by Xavier, commending my incredible Arcane sense and explaining the staff's story, etc.
I held the staff in my grip. It had a wooden handle and a reflective glass with a crystal core inside.
'This core has around 2 million Arcane Particles, that's enough Arcane for an intermediate spell.'
'This staff will be really helpful until I grow my Arcane core.'
But I only had one thing in mind as I made my way toward the beach again.
Arriving at the beach, I extended both my arms.
'This character has two important things for my wizard build. One is an expensive trait called Arcane Sensitivity and Affinity, and the other is the Force Insignia.'
'These two combine to create Force Arcane Affinity, making my force spells more powerful.'
A big square with five characters, one at the center: a spell called Solar Fusion.
An enormous amount of Arcane Particles started emerging from the spell and reacting with each other. After a couple of seconds, a 10-meter solar flare flashed on top of the water, bringing strong winds that carried the water droplets and steam caused by the spell.
"Amazing!"