Darkness.
Cold.
And then -
A sudden breath.
He gasped as if surfacing from deep water. His chest tightened beneath the weight of something soft -
'Blankets?'
The light above was blinding. He raised an arm to shield his face.
"Where am I?", he asked as he slowly moved his head to the right.
He sat up slowly, blinking as his surroundings came into focus. White walls. A desk. A faint hum in the air, like a machine breathing nearby.
Everything looked....sterile
His eyes drifted to the corner of the room, a screen flickered to life-
"Is that....?", he questioned, slowly.
A real hologram, something you would see out of a sci-fi movie.
"This has to be some kind of prank", he muttered.
No-one answered.
His voice felt different. Higher. Lighter.
Slight panic crawled through body, as he lifted his hands.
They weren't his....
They were slender, pale, almost delicate. Long fingers that looked untouched by hardship, veins beneath his skin that were feint, nails neat and clean. They didn't feel like his hands. They felt frail.
His heart pounded, he clenched them into fists. Feeling how small and light they were: 'What the hell...'
He stumbled to his feet, nearly tripping over the sheets.
'Don't tell me....'
Limping over to an adjacent room; he found a mirror and what he saw....was something he suspected.
The image in-front of him was a young man, average in every way. His hair was a dull brown, slightly tousled; his eyes a muted grey...everything was plain. An unremarkable face lacking any defining features, he was a blank canvas.
Time passed as he just stared. He was searching, searching for a similarity from his past.
"This can't be happening", he whispered.
His mind raced back to his last memory. Headphones in. Walking home. A blaring horn.
Then-
Nothing.
His hands grew redder as his grip on the sink rose. He felt faint, and so his breathing quickened.
He was experiencing a panic attack.
It was an instinctive reaction from this abrupt change in scenery and literal body.
To cool down he ran the tap and dipped his head under.
The cold water set his nervous system straight, and reminded him....this was his body.
After a few minutes of washing his face, he staggered out of the bathroom and into the room he woke up in.
Getting a chance to truly digest the room, he scanned every nook and cranny.
Apart from the shockingly real hologram broadcasting what had seemed to be the news; there was only miscellaneous items around the room.
A desk at the back of the room. A bed in the middle. A closet in the corner.
A standard room.
On the desk was a mug, half-full of water.
Next to it lay a small, sleek device... unlike anything he'd seen before.
It shimmered faintly, glowing and projecting soft blue lines whilst charting unknown patterns.
The device called to him, and so, he reached out. His hands gently grazing its surface.
Suddenly, a faint light shone to life above the device - a floating translucent screen appeared displaying a row of symbols and images. He blinked.
"What is this?", he exclaimed.
Looking at the symbols he realised that it looked strikingly like something.
"Is this a phone?", he asked himself out loud, as some of the images seemed familiar.
Clicking on a magnifying glass, it took him to a search bar, confirming his thoughts.
"Where am I? First the hologram and now this..."
The search bar just sat there, waiting for an input so it could perform something, but he had no idea what to ask.
His eyes wandered to the desk. Four drawers total - two on each side. He opened the right first. Nothing. The left -
A letter lay neatly folded inside.
He hesitated before picking it up.
The envelope was unmarked, bur inside elegant handwriting formed his name:
Riven Brown.
He blinked.
"So my name is Riven?"
Then paused. "Wait, did I say 'my'?"
Somewhere deep down, it felt natural. But it still felt... off.
Regaining focus, he began reading the letter----
--Eldris Academy -- Department of Arcane--
That was the heading stamped at the top.
To Riven Brown,
Congratulations on your acceptance to Eldris Academy following your demonstration of promising aptitude during preliminary evaluations.
Our academy specialises in cultivating talent across the four fundamental mediums that govern our world's power:
Magic - The art of manipulating elemental and arcane energies.
Spirit Bonding - The forging of symbiotic connections with spiritual entities
Beast Taming - The mastery of wild creatures and beasts, bending them to one's will
Ki - The harnessing and focusing of inner life energy to enhance mind and body.
Your enrolment will commence on Cycle 50, Phase 4, Day 12. Please report to the Orientation Hall upon arrival for division placement and initial instruction.
Failure to attend within the allotted time frame will result in revocation of your acceptance and reassignment of your position to another candidate.
We look forward to witnessing your growth and mark you will leave upon Eldris Academy, for your path may one day lead far beyond these halls.
Signed,
Administrator Keryn Voss
Admissions Office
Eldris Academy
----
Placing the letter down, he leaned back, trying to process what he had just read.
Magic. Ki. Taming. Spirit Bonding.
It wasn't fiction.
He was going to attend a school built for it.
"This... this can't be real", he muttered.
Yet the proof was right there in his hands.
Glancing to his right, the phone's projection was still on. In the top corner glowed a soft blue label: C (50) P(3) D(30)
"Is this...a calendar?" he wondered.
Looking at the letter: P(4) D(12)
He grabbed the phone and sat on the edge of the bed.
His tapped a date icon.
Immediately an app sprang to life - clean, futuristic. A rotating cycle of days.
The calendar was strange. The months had 35 days, and the year was split into 10 phases
A quick scroll confirmed it was the 30th day of Phase 3.
He did the math.
Eighteen days.
He had just over two weeks.
"Thrust into a different world with magic and glowing phones...and I've got school in eighteen days.'
BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ!
Before he could finish his thought, a sharp buzzing echoed from the end of the hall.
Someone was at the front door.
He blinked, the sound dragging him out of his thoughts.
'Already? Who could it be?'
Stepping through the short hallway, he approached the door cautiously, each step slow....and unsure.
His hand hovered over the handle.
Then, he opened it.
CLICK.
Slowly opening the door.
A smooth hum filled the space, followed by a synthetic voice.
"DELIVERY FOR RIVEN BROWN."
Hovering just beyond was a sleek delivery unit - humanoid in shape but stripped for bare essentials. It's limbs were thin and skeletal, made of polished alloys, with glowing blue lines pulsing across the joints. No visible eyes, a smooth featureless face plate.
It floated a few inches off the ground, something whispering beneath the frame.
The robot extended its arms, in a mechanical motion, presenting a dark metallic case.
"DELIVERY FOR RIVEN BROWN!", it repeated.