Outta this world

“Are you okay, John?” Ellie asked, pulling him back up onto his feet. “Where the hell are we?”

John jumped as an Achievement popped up.

Achievement: You’re not in Kansas anymore - Travel to another world
+$200
+100xp
+Cullis Gate Anchor

“Uh, I’m fine, I think, just a little dizzy. I’m going to mediate a little to get back some of my mana. As for where we are, I can safely say we aren’t on earth anymore.” John’s voice was full of confusion. “I should get some of my mana back before we go anywhere.” He activated Meditate.

“Okay, well, if you are still dizzy, you shouldn’t move too much. You said mana? Like in games? And what did you mean we aren’t on earth anymore? Where the hell are we?” Her voice was full of worry.

“Don’t worry about me, I should be fine. Yes, mana like in games, I’ll explain that later. I’m not sure about where we are, let’s look around.” He started to walk to the edge of the stone circle and jumped out of his skin before clamping his hands around his ears.

Now playing: Lord of Iron - Antti Martikainen

“Ah, what the fuck?” John yelled, cupping his ears. When that didn’t work, he quickly opened his menu and frantically looked for any kind of mute button, which he found after fumbling his way around. “Shit! What the fuck was that for?” he looked up and yelled.

“Are you okay? What’s happening?” Ellie asked, confused and worried. She placed one hand on his shoulder and used the other to rub his back.

John sighed. “Yeah fine, just... god damn fucking goddess. Adding new features at her whims, I guess… Sorry, I’ll explain a little better when I get my head on straight.” He shook his head. “I’m going to end up with a heart attack or something if she has any more surprises like that in-store.” He sighed again.

As he neared the edge, he realised that the Cullis Gate was raised on a rocky plinth. The side John had walked towards had stone stairs leading down to a rocky shore. John was in awe of the view in front of him; just beyond the crystal clear waters of the lake were several mountain ranges. The ones closest to him had moss or grass and trees on them. On the right side of the lake was a waterfall streaming down the mountainside with a small wooded area sheltering the waterfall’s end. Further in the distance, John could see the lake begin to snake between two of the mountains, and further still, a snow-capped mountain stood proud.

The sky was like nothing John had seen before: it was almost seafoam in colour and the clouds were pink like pale cotton candy. John was overwhelmed with the beauty of the lake, it was like something he’d see in a fantasy painting.

He closed his eyes, looking up, and took a deep breath. The air was surprisingly warm and John could smell the nature around him. Not only that, but he could hear the distinct lack of cars and the sound of the city. All he could hear was the faint sound of the waterfall and the many birds that flew around.

As he opened his eyes, he noticed a black cloud. He followed its trail and saw that it was a giant plume of smoke coming from a mountain that seemed to loom over the others. Unlike John’s previous notions, the volcano didn’t look like Mount Doom, it was like any of the other mountains but a little bigger.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful,” Ellie said as she took John’s hand and leaned against him.

“Yeah, it is. I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere that was so breathtaking. Come on, let's take a look at what's on the other side of the gate.” John smiled as he pulled her over to the opposite side of the cullis gate,and they both marvelled at the sight on that side too.

In the distance, John could see a beautiful forest. The trees were a mixture of oranges, fiery reds and yellows as well as an occasional tree with green leaves. The forest grew up the side of another mountain range that faded into the distance. The centrepiece of the forest, however, was a tree that towered over the rest of the forest and obscured the view of some of the mountainsides. John could clearly see the whitebark that covered it and complimented the many shades of blue that the leaves took.

“So about that walk through the forest?” John laughed looking back to Ellie.

“Funny! But how do we get back home? We don’t have to go on some kind of quest or something, do we? Or are we just stuck here forever?” Ellie asked, still mithering a little.

“Don’t worry about that, Ellie. I’m pretty sure I have the spell for it; actually, I should check,” John said, bringing up his skills. He hovered over Cullis Gate and clicked on it for more info.

Cullis Gate: 100mp - This skill allows the user to activate a Cullis Gate. Each Gate can be separately linked to either one or multiple Gates on one other world. Travelling through a gate linked to multiple gates will take you to a random linked gate of that world unless you have a linked Gate Anchor to focus on a specific gate.

John looked at the main stone and wondered if Observe would tell him anything about the Gate they had transported through.

Cullis Gate - Unnamed land of Oaren - This Gate is Linked to Springfield of Earth. It seems as if the Gate hasn’t been used in quite some time.

“Okay, so I was a teensy bit worried BUT we’re fine. From what I can tell from the description, this gate links directly to Springfield, and if I understand the spell description, that could mean that this gate might not be the only one on this world the one in Springfield is linked to.” John took a breath and continued, “I did get a Gate Anchor as well, and just from gaming knowledge, I’d say it’s probably something to do with being able to come back to this Gate from the springfield side.” He rubbed his face. “Does that make sense to you? Because I’m not 100% how much sense it made.”

“I think I get it. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to find out some more information about this Gate Anchor? Where would you even find any information? Do you have, like, a spell book that could tell you?” Ellie asked. She seemed a little more calm now that she knew they could travel back to Springfield at any time.

“Oh right, yeah.” John quickly opened his inventory and retrieved the Anchor. It was a pretty heavy stone with a strange spiral rune on it. The stone itself wasn’t overly big, maybe around 4 inches, and had a hexagon shape. John used Observe on it.

Cullis Gate Anchor - This item is used to link to a single Cullis Gate allowing the user to choose their exit location. The Anchor may only be linked to one Gate at a time but can be overwritten.

“Okay, yeah, I was basically right, it only links to one Gate at a time but we can change which Gate it would be linked to,” John thought out loud.

Ellie looked at him for a second. “And you know that how? Also, where the hell did that thing come from?” She threw him a quizzical look.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I have, like, a pocket space inventory, and also, I know that because I used a skill called Observe. On items, it gives me a description of them, and on people, it tells me information about them and what they think of me as well as a few other things,” John explained while looking the Anchor over.

“Did you use that on me?” Ellie’s voice took on an accusing tone.

“What? Oh no, not yet. When we were going out, I got a quest to not ‘cheat’ during our date and I keep forgetting to look since I completed it; I really am bad at remembering it to be honest. I could take a look now if you want to know what it says?” John asked, looking back up at her.

“No!” Ellie quickly replied a little too loudly, then continued in a calmer voice, “Sorry, I mean no, I’d rather you didn’t look. I’d prefer you take my word for how I think about you. Also, I don’t think it would be fair that you’d be able to do that and I couldn’t.” Her answer was quick and she turned away looking at the stones around them.

“Okay, don’t worry about it. I won’t look unless you want me to. I can tell you that you’re a level 6 though. Your class is 'young woman' and your title is Geek Queen,” John laughed. “I don’t know anything else though. Your overhead display thing doesn’t say anything else.” John thought it would be better not to tell her that her class had changed from ‘Victim’.

“Okay, I kind of love the title, and I wish only to be referred to as that from now on,” she laughed. “But seriously, don’t use that Observe thing on me, it kind of freaks me out. Well, since we can get home whenever, why not do a little exploring?” She started to run down the slight hill the Gate stood on top of and looked back. “Come on, let’s go check out this forest rather than standing around,” she called, waiting for him.

They walked down the hill onto the grassy plain, with the giant tree straight ahead and the volcano to their far left. “Hey, didn’t you say you were going to tell me more about your friend Val the next time we saw each other?” John asked curiously.

Ellie laughed nervously. “Yeah, I guess I did, and I guess there are some things I really should talk to you about.” Ellie sighed. “So, Val is my therapist, but we became really good friends before I left Springfield. She really helped me and my Mom through her divorce. My Mom’s sessions got less frequent after a year but mine didn’t; if anything, I think I talked to her more. Mom was still good friends with her even after she stopped seeing her for therapy. She’d come over for dinner sometimes and she took me to the movies a few times too.

“At some point, Val must have picked something up about me and she told me that she wanted to set me up on a blind date. I wasn’t interested, but she kept asking me and saying that she thought it would be a good idea. I caved eventually and waited at this restaurant… Not sure I should be telling you this, pretty sure there are rules against it or something.” She sighed and continued, “Well, it’s kind of important, so I’m better off telling you.

“So I’m waiting at the restaurant when this girl sits down at my table. It turned out to be my date; I was going to leave but I felt bad and didn’t want to just abandon her. We actually hit it off extremely well and ended up dating for a year, but she had to move across the country. We tried to make it work long-distance, but it only lasted 8 months.

“Since then I’ve only dated girls, and I never thought that I’d ever even consider dating a guy again. Until I met you, that is.” She hugged John’s arm and smiled at him. “So that’s about it I guess... Man, that felt good to get off my chest. It was kind of bugging me. I know it probably doesn’t bother you or anything, but it’s been on my mind for a while.”

John stopped and hugged her. “I’m glad you told me. It’s nice to know that you trust me enough to tell me something like that.” He tilted her head up and kissed her. “Plus it’s great knowing that I’m so great that I can turn a lesbian straight again, or bi at least?” John laughed.

Ellie pushed him away and punched his arm softly. “Oh shut up! How do I know that you don’t have a spell that makes me like you?” she laughed.

“Well, funny you should say that. I do have a skill that lets me control emotions, kind of,” John laughed back not thinking about what he said.

Ellie stopped suddenly. “Wait, are you serious? That’s sort of fucked-up, John. I did think that something was off in that lingerie store. Did you seriously use magic on me to make me sleep with you?” Ellie exploded, anger clear in her face.

John quickly raised his arms in defence. “No! I swear I’d never do that to you, and I didn’t even get the skill until our date was over because it was a reward.” John began to panic. “I don’t know how I can prove it. The best I can do is hope that you can trust me.”

Ellie took a deep breath and stood, thinking. Five minutes of silence passed before she spoke up again, “Alright... I think I believe you, and I guess if you do have something to control emotions you could have just used that rather than explaining yourself.” She took another moment to calm down.

“You know, thinking about it, I felt like that store was off too, and now I know that there are other people in the world like me. Maybe we should visit there again, or we stay far away since there are dangerous people with magic. Not sure I’m comfortable with my mom going there anymore, though, regardless of what we do,” John said thinking out loud.

Ellie looked at him shocked. “Your mom goes to the sex shop?” A slight smile crossed her face.

“What? No, shut up, that’s my mom. And it’s an underwear store. Just shut up. I don’t want to think of my mom doing that kind of thing.” John laughed nervously thinking back to the last time he saw Brenda and how he’s sure she caught him jerking off.

“Wait a minute! You said you were going to explain your powers more, so get on with it and don’t spare any details,” Ellie demanded taking his hand once again.

As they continued walking John talked Ellie through his powers, about everything he could do, the fact he thinks a goddess gave him the powers and even about the dragon he’d encountered. They’d almost reached the forest when he decided to take a quick look at his sheet; lucky for him, he’d regained all of his MP.

“So you could as an example try to do a dragon shout and get that skill?” Ellie asked excitedly.

“Uh, I don’t actually know. I never tried that,” John said pondering whether it would work.

“Why not try? It can’t hurt, can it? And if it works, you get a new skill,” Ellie chirped excitedly.

John took a second to think about it. He’d look like an idiot if it didn’t work and he ended up just shouting with nothing to show for it, but he decided that it was worth a shot even if he looked dumb.

He took a deep breath, turned back towards the grass plain and yelled “Fus!”.

Achievement: Fus Rah Don’t - You really thought that would work?
Mimi Snacks (a small brown paper bag with 10 mini white double choc chip cookies inside, may come in handy in the future)

A few seconds went by before Ellie began laughing extremely loudly, to the point she had to take a large breath before continuing.

Achievement: Pity Party - Don’t expect another, you’re only getting this because of how close they are to what you were trying to do.
Language - Draconic
Skill: Draconic Incantation
Draconic Incantation: Dragon Breath 20mp
Skill: Aspect Attunement level 1 - 90-minute cooldown

John turned to Ellie, and a huge grin appeared. Ellie wiped away a tear as she noticed John’s cheery demeanour. “You can’t be serious?” Ellie asked in disbelief.

John just nodded as he brought up the description of Dragon Breath.

“Give me a second to take a look,” John said.

Dragon Breath: 20MP - This unleashes the **** of a dragon’s elemental aspect. If no aspect is Attuned, then this skill will cause the user’s voice to boom and carry a slight gust of air.

He then quickly clicked on Aspect Attunement.

Aspect Attunement: Cooldown 90 minutes - This skill allows you to switch between your Draconic Elements. You do not currently have any Draconic Elements within you. To gain more you must consume Crystallised Dragon Blood infused with an elemental aspect.

John sighed heavily. “Well, that is basically useless. I don’t have a Draconic Element so I can’t actually use it. Well, I can, but it would be a waste of MP.” John rubbed his face. “Where the hell could I even get more Crystallised Dragon Blood and how can I get it infused with an element?” John thought out loud. “I guess I’ll figure it out later. Shall we continue?” John asked, holding out his arm as he started walking towards the forest again.

“Uhh, what? I don’t know what the hell any of that is supposed to mean.” Ellie scratched her head..

John stopped. “In short, it says that I need to have an element that I can get by consuming Dragon Blood that has an element attached and I have no clue where I could get any more anyway. The dragon breath spell I just got would cost too much to use and without an element would just make my voice louder. Come on, let's go.” He took Ellie’s hand and walked into the forest.

The forest floor was covered in soft moss. As they travelled further and further in, it became dimmer and dimmer. The deeper they travelled, the more mystical it seemed. Fireflies became more common. The smell of the forest changed to be more earthy and slightly sweet. As the light from above grew too dimm, they noticed that some mushrooms and rocks faintly glowed, bright enough to light the forest floor.

Ellie looked around. “Uh, John, do you know which direction we should be going? I think we saw that blue glowing rock a minute ago.” She pointed towards a stone.

“Nah, they must just look similar. We’ve been walking in a straight line,” John reassured her but felt like she might be right.

They continued for another half hour when they heard the snap of a branch. They both looked around trying to see what it could have been, but nothing was in sight. Ellie huddled into John’s side. “I think we are being followed or watched, I have a really bad feeling,” Ellie whispered.

John brushed the comment aside to calm Ellie a little bit, but he’d felt that way since entering the forest and it had only gotten more noticeable the longer they had walked. “Okay, so if it makes you feel better, I’ll use, uh… dragon sight? It doesn't have a name, it’s a mutation on my eyes to change them into dragon’s eyes. It improves my vision by a lot. I can see further, have night vision and I notice movement much more. So if anything is following us, I should be able to spot it,” he explained.

He quickly focused on changing his eyes, and the forest transformed; it was like he’d stepped into a real-life psychedelic painting: the trees, plants, even the moss beneath his feet became extremely vibrant, almost to the point they were glowing, and the colours seemed to shift slightly. If John had to guess, this would be what it looked like to be on LSD.

John turned to look at Ellie. “Wow, you look so beautiful,” John thought out loud. Through his eyes, Ellie’s appearance had changed. Her eyes became a shade of green brighter, glistening like gems; her skin almost seemed to glow and she seemed to gain freckles. Her lips, as soft as they had looked before, seemed even softer and were cherry red in colour. The most noticeable thing, though, was her hair; he could differentiate between each strand. She had gold and red but a good deal of her hair was orange; it reminded John of fire.

Ellie blushed, causing her cheeks to actually glow red. “Thanks,” she said pushing aside her hair. “Your eyes are so pretty, John, they look so strange, though. They look like-” Ellie was interrupted by another loud crack coming from the forest.

John looked around for the source of the sound but couldn’t find anything. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the slightest movement which caused his head to snap towards it. John froze for a second at what he’d caught sight of. A wide blade peeking out from behind a tree.