Chapter Two: Predator Or Prey

Vidar awakes from within a crater his vision blurs back into focus as the ringing in his ears slows to a stop. He can hear the wind blowing the sound of leaves and branches dancing with each other in the breeze but not a single animal or insect. He claws his way out of the crater and that's when the User Interface engages. It first displays his health and stamina, and then mana all stacked on each other with a red bar for health a green bar for stamina, and a blue bar for mana.

He searched for a sun and found a crimson star lighting the purplish skies when his eyes found the skyline a digital clock appeared in his vision displaying the time and date it was the dawn of the first day of year one. Vidar spins on the spot finally taking in his surroundings a sea of tree trunks envelops him each trunk as big or bigger than the average building or home. A compass appeared in his vision informing him which way was north.

"You got lucky on your drop!" A familiar voice spooks him causing him to jump and search for its origin. He tried looking between the clumps of massive tree trunks but found no one.

"Down here..." He's instructed by the voice he looks down and finds his shadow on the ground and a pair of eyes staring back Aisling slowly rises from his shadow to float in front of him.

"Yeah? And what was so lucky about this drop?" Vidar's reply was curt and short-tempered he felt like Aisling was taking her devil's advocate role a little too seriously.

"Hmm? You mean you don't know where you are?" She asks in her teasing tone tugging at Vidar's strings.

"Am I supposed to?" He asks turning in place and using his hands to point out every indistinguishable tree trunk.

"Maybe if you got above the treeline..." She says as she slowly floats upward past the canopy.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that!? I'm fucking human!?" He calls out to his bat-winged friend to no reply.

"Ugh!? Niya do you hear me?" Vidar wanted in the silence and rustle of tree branches for a reply but found none with a heavy growl and sigh he began the many attempts and fails of climbing these unimaginable tree trunks with bark that ripped and tore at his fingertips as he climbed. After several falls that looked as bad as they felt he made it to the canopy the moment he broke above the treeline words appeared.

Climber lvl 1-"6

Endurance lvl 1-"4

Title Acquired: Tree Dweller & Star Gazer

Vidar had broken the treeline and revealed to himself a Sea Of Stars that gleefully twinkled in his audience. The purplish hue of the sky served as the perfect canvas for the pinks and blues of the endless expanse above not a single glitch or tell that he was in a virtual world the rolling wind above the canopy threatened his balance and the smell of the sea was fresh on its heels. A feeling of familiarity gripped his chest a longing that had been long forgotten.

"Try opening your map..." Aisling said appearing over his shoulder her eyes affixed on the stars above. Vidar listens opening his map, areas he hadn't been to were drenched in fog while the crater he made was in the center of an area designated as the Forgotten Willows he zooms out as far as possible to see the entire foggy continent he was dropped on.

"This is the continent of Thora?" He exclaimed unease settling in his stomach.

"Referred to as the continent of Zan now but yes." Aisling affirms still staring into the endless night sky.

"Its shape is vastly different than what I remember. What happened?" Vidar asks a hollow feeling of dread creeping over him.

"Time? After the events of the top twenty in the last beta test, the Winner decided to work with what he had... The center of the continent was devastated splitting it in two so that was labeled the Uninhabitable Zone he put his most twisted machinations there burying much of it in the catacombs." Aisling said finally looking to Vidar. He studied the map it was split down the middle by the UZ and on each side were two giant zones split into four biomes he noticed the Forgotten Willows stretched out to the sea on its right was a clump of fog designated as the Deceitful Swamp that stretched towards the Uninhabital Zone and to the north a desert sat leading to a mountainous zone named Sea of Time.

"So the cities and the countries that were created are they just gone?" Vidar asks or rather from his tone pleads Aisling to reassure him all he knew wasn't gone.

"Ruins remain of whatever He decided to allow to take the test of time, but anything else was wiped away." Aisling watched Vidar for his reaction a moment of solace could be seen in him but that was quickly replaced with rage.

"Then the last twenty as you mentioned after the events of the last beta test  why are they considered the Gods of this game and why didn't they get to leave?" Vidar waited for Aisling to answer but instead, she floated back down to the ground prompting Vidar to slowly follow behind making sure to not take another fall.

"Hey! Did you hear me? Why are they the ten Lesser Gods and Celestials of this game Aisling?" Vidar demanded but it fell on deaf ears Aisling seemed to be watching something as her eyes darted all around the tree top.

"What the hell your pro-

-you should head to the coast reaching the beach will remove a good amount of the fog on your map." Aisling interrupts and begins floating in the direction of the water. Vidar angrily follows patience running thin with his little devil. They walked for what seemed like mere moments but as they broke free of the trees and onto a beachfront he could see the rising sun denoting a new dawn.

"What's going on? I could have sworn I only spent thirty minutes climbing the trees and less so walking just now and from the sun and moon cycle it feels like four days has passed." Vidar questioned between catching his breath the brisk float through the woods Aisling enjoyed was much harder for the grounded.

Tree Dweller lvl 1-"5

Title Acquired: Explorer

"You forget the time dilation... The dampeners in your deep dive helmet should be helping with that though make you less aware of the passage of time your body is used to and what's happening." Aisling says questioningly.

"Right... must've forgotten." Vidar replies now searching the beach line and pushing the fog further away.

"Should be soon." Aisling says a devious smile creeping on her face again before Vidar could question he felt a stiffening in his body his muscles tightened and before long he couldn't move in his unbalanced stiffened state he fell flush to his back and a pair of big emboldened words appeared in his vision.

PREY OR PREDATOR

"So what will your choice be Fia?" Vidar heard from Aisling not sure why she would use her real name at a moment like this the selection process was done with his eyes and as the panic settled he realized he wouldn't be able to move until he chose, he starred at his answer locking it in and then the world went black.