But a long way to climb

As the darkness engulfed Wesley, he was washed over by a feeling of floating and a wave of drowsiness. He couldn’t see anything, normally his mind would be running a thousand miles a minute, but he couldn’t bring himself to be anything but calm. Relaxed. It was wrong, he knew it was wrong. He should be freaking out, he should be worried, but somehow even these thoughts failed to stir him to action. Then suddenly, he heard a voice.

“Come on, get up already. I don’t have all day.”

The voice was somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Suddenly he awoke, snapping upright. The first thing he noticed was that he was stripped of anything and everything. Sitting completely nude, his athletic body on display as well as his large cock. The second thing he noticed was he was in a six-sided room that appeared to be made out of bricks. In each section of the hexagon, there was a small pedestal with a floating sphere above it.

The first contained fire, scattering light haphazardly as the flames danced. As he gazed into it he saw a warrior holding a flaming sword as he charged towards a demon in the night. Then a young woman in billowing robes raising a staff, as a ball of fire exploded from it, decimating a castle wall into an unrecognizable pile of rubble. Lastly, a kind-looking old man laid his hands on a wound as bouts of flame seared it shut as the patient screamed in agony. The fire was diverse: hurting and helping. Empowering and destructive. These were the flames of passion, the spark of life, but also the flames of destruction and the bringer of pain. This was fire, the element of power, only restrained by the will of the user.

The second seemed to be a sphere of dirt or brown rock, it floated in place, not moving an inch.
Inside the rock were images of greatness. A giant of a woman stood in front of a small child, blocking a sword with her body, but it left no wound as it only met stone. A slim-bodied man stood in the dark of a mineshaft, examing different gems as they glowed and writing studiously in a notebook. Lastly, a woman with scars adorning her body raised an ax over a prisoner’s hands, steel in her eyes she brought it down and removed him of his hands. The earth came in many different forms and sizes but was invariably the same. Dedicated and unchanging. This was the earth that was essential for life, unchanging and unyielding. The immutable element: Earth, with resolution equal to mountains bringing strength.

The third undulated and warped out of its spherical bounds as the water sloshed in the air, giving off an ocean spray as the waves crashed into each other. The water’s reflection, however, was not of the room. In it an old man dances around a blade, moving out of the way like water, before crashing back into the wielder with the **** of a wave. Another image of a man dancing with water swirling around him, turning in circles. A woman leans over an injured man as she lets water droplets fall onto the wound as it begins to restitch itself. Never stagnant, the water flows onward. Water is the element of life, always changing and never the same as the last second.

The fourth one would be unnoticeable if it weren’t for the gust and noise radiating off of it, gently billowing outwards. The air flowed all the way to Wesley, whispering tales into his ear. The tale of the wisened sage as she moved from town to town, eliciting astonishment and respect everywhere she went. Of the warrior as he avoided every blade in the colossal clash of armies until he stood in front of the commander, unharmed. Finally, of the child who refused to be confined by his family and took flight to see the world. Everchanging and unable to be caged. Air was the element of Freedom, curiosity, and exploration.

The fifth one wasn’t existence, it was the lack of it, a pitch-black sphere floated above the pillar, standing steadfast against the light permeating the room. However it was bordered by the exact opposite. The sixth and final part of the room was impossible to look at to even confirm if it was a sphere or not, it was as if a small sun stood in that corner. Unlike the other four, neither of these brought forth any images or wisdom, only indistinct feelings. The dark felt unnerving but also calming at the same time. The light felt reassuring, but also jarring.

Wesley stood paralyzed, it was just too much to take in at once. He had seen greatness, and it seemed like it could be his. But what form of greatness did he desire? What type of person did he want to be?

“Are you done gawking? As I said, I don’t have all day. Now hurry up and choose. Go on, just touch one. It won’t hurt you...

...Much.”

Hey, it's time for an Authors note. Put it at the end of the chapter so it's nice and easy to skip cause god I know how annoying these things are. I already hear you guys saying "Well if you find it so annoying then why are you doing one?" and the answer is because this story is different from most if not all I've seen on this site, so I wanted to break it down and let you guys know my plan for it. First things first: Choice. I have always hated stories that profess to have options but then all of the options just don't matter. It's stupid, so for this story, you might not get a ton of choices, but each one will have big consequences. So big, in fact, each choice will lead to a different branch, different powers, and a different Wesley.

Now onto the writing side of things, this is my first big project like this so bear with me if I fall behind. I'm hoping to upload at least one chapter a week on Mondays, but will try to do more if I can. For an immediate timeline, I want to have this story be five chapters deep in all of the seven main branches by November. Which if you do the math, means I need to write 1.6 chapters a day. If I can do it, great, if not, well I tried. But to address this, I will be working on the main branch AKA the "None" branch first and foremost, and writing the other branches as I want to. That once-a-week thing is for the main branch. I want to write the main branch til the end of Arc 1, then write any branches off of that 'til their arc's end, then start on the other elemental branches. I'm estimating that the arc will end around 50 chapters in, but I don't really know. Now the elemental selection chapters should all be up sometime this week. Also if you see any mistakes or if you have a suggestion or even just want to talk, drop a comment on a chapter. I have no life and will more than likely respond, and I am very eager to answer any questions I can. Have fun and stay jerking CHYOA, see you next time!