The Fallen Part Two-A Wonderful World

Akiva awoke to a loud rumbling that he felt vibrating in his bones.

He sat up abruptly and wondered at what it was like to see for the first time.

'The world God made is so beautiful!' He marveled at the colours he could not name reflected off of the mist sprayed from the massive waterfall he was next to.

He watched as the breeze brushed against the grass he sat upon, marvelling at the way it swayed with each breath of wind.

He glanced up at the trees that framed the canyon the waterfall had carved. The leaves rustled and danced in a way that covered Akiva's face with the speckled light shining through the canopy.

Akiva pushed himself to his feet to reach up and touch the swaying leaves, just to feel every vein and gaze with fascination at the way the light illuminated each vein clearly.

Only after he finished his study of the leaf did it occur to him that he should have died in the name of his Lord.

'What happened to me?' He wondered and looked at his body.

He gazed at his pale hands run through by pitch black veins.

He traced them, fascinated by their contrast that pleased his newfound sight.

His hand slowly worked its way up to his muscular arms and wide shoulders, until he couldn't see his hand anymore, so he let it drop to his side.

'Wait why can I see?' The thought struck him as he reached up to touch his temple.

He was initially shocked by the fact he had ears, but he quickly disregarded it and groped towards where his horns had been, feeling their jagged shape.

His horns had been shattered, leaving only their sharp and broken stumps behind.

He reached tremblingly to his shoulder blades and felt only splintered nubs where his wings should have been.

He glanced at his legs and saw that they had been run through by the same black veins, and just as muscular as his arms.

"Is this Your will, Lord?" He asked quietly of the sky. "Am I to live in this world You created? Am I to live as one of Your mortal subjects?"

Akiva stared at the sky, hoping for an answer.

But none came.

Akiva wandered aimlessly, lost, both in spirit and body.

The world had lost much of its luster, and his wonder he held for His creation vanished.

He wanted to go and ask God why he sent him here, but he had no idea how to reach Him without using His power.

Akiva sighed and began fashioning himself a rudimentary spear.

He pulled a branch as thick as his arm easily off of a tree and began sanding it against a rock to smooth it and reduce its size so he could easily hold it in his hands, as well as fashion a point for it.

The sun had begun kissing the horizon and the sky had begun darkening by the time Akiva finished his spear.

"O Lord, I don't know what you have planned for me, but I will carry it out with all my heart." Akiva began pleading to the sky, hoping and praying God would answer. "Tell me what I must do!"

As if in answer, a message scrolled across his vision. It read: "Quest Received: The Tutorial"

After the message scrolled past, a small, blue book appeared in the corner of his vision, along with three other icons.

He studied it and wondered what it meant.

An blue arrow pointed to the book and text once more scrolled across his vision.

"This is your Quest Log. This is where you will receive and review any quests you have active. To open it, simply will it to open.

Task: Open the Quest Log"

Akiva followed the instructions, wondering if this was the Lord's answer.

Akiva willed open the Quest Log and saw a list that had nothing in it aside from the Tutorial quest.

Another arrow appeared and pointed to the Tutorial quest as more text scrolled across his vision.

"This is an active quest. Will the quest to open once more to view the quest completion requirements.

Task: View Tutorial Details"

Once more, Akiva followed the simple directions.

Another arrow appeared on the menu before him.

"This is the quest description. This will give a summary of the quest."

'I know what a description is.' He thought, slightly miffed.

"This is the quest rewards. Some quests will offer a large reward, many large rewards, small rewards, many small rewards, or even no rewards at all."

Akiva nodded to himself and read the next requirement for completing the Tutorial quest.

"Task: View Stat Screen And the Related Pieces of Information

Task: View Inventory And the Related Pieces of Information

Task: View Shop And the Related Pieces of Information

Rewards: 1 Starter Item(Random Choice Reward)

Akiva wondered where the inventory was when a blue arrow pointed where a blue knapsack icon laid.

Akiva willed it open. Another blue arrow pointed to a box.

"This is an inventory slot. Each inventory slot can hold 99 of a single item. You currently have 20 slots available. More slots can be acquires by purchase in the shop with coins."

'Shop?' Akiva glanced at the corner of his vision, finding the circular blue coin.

He willed it open.

"This is the shop. You can purchase or sell goods here for coins or direct exchange. There is a search and sort function for your convenience."

'Then, what of my status?'

Akiva glanced at the corner of his vision and willed open his status screen, represented by a blue scroll.

"This is your status screen. Your race, name, age, and status are shown at the top, while your stats are represented by numerical values."

An arrow pointed to the number next to "Strength"

"Each number represents how many times stronger you are in that stat in comparison to the average human male. Free Stat Points are points you can put into any stat of your choosing.''

Akiva nodded and read over his stats curiously.

_-_-_-_

Name: Akiva (No surname selected)

Race: Fallen

Age: 1760

Status: Normal

Health: 550

Agility: 5

Charisma: 1

Insight: 4

Intelligence: 2

Luck: 1

Strength: 7

Vitality: 11

Free Stat points: 0

Skills: None

-_-_-_-

'What does 'no surname selected' mean?' Akiva wondered.

"Your surname can be selected freely, as you have no predetermined surname."

'Hm. Seems unneeded.' Akiva thought and left it alone.

"Quest Complete: The Tutorial"

Akiva opened the quest log once more and accepted the reward.

"Choice Rewards:

Falchion(Common)

Spear(Common)

Broadsword(Rare)"

'Spear.' Akiva thought, glancing at his crude spear still held in his black-veined hand.

"Reward sent to inventory"

Akiva checked his inventory and immediately pulled out the spear.

It was a metal that Akiva had never seen before, gleaming dully where it caught the light of the still setting sun.

It was made out of a single piece of metal, not showing any signs of it having been melded or welded together, and was very light in Akiva's hands as he spun it experimentally.

Akiva was uncertain as to what he should do with the spear since he had never needed something or had to get rid of something before.

Akiva had the idea to sell it to the store, but saw it wasn't worth anything, so he scrapped that idea and just put it into his inventory, along with his brand new spear.

Akiva then looked around began walking along the river that fed into the waterfall.

'Since it's the only real landmark here, I might as well follow it.' Akiva figured that it was the best choice. 'Maybe I'll find out why God saved me and sent me here.'