Welcome to Eryndor

Argh!

I woke up with a start, sitting up quickly while instinctively gripping the edges of my sleeping bag.

I knew it! I forgot to cultivate yesterday!

I fumbled around, questioning why it was dark. Momentarily questioning if it's still late, or if it's because they opted to clean out all their items back into the space just in case the night turns out wild.

A little light sputtered on and off, a spark from a fire starter.

Oh, it's just Lucian. He's probably taken down the wall. I let go of my clenched fist, taking inventory of the scene around me. The others were still sleeping.

Last night we decided to only use our sleeping bags. Lucian even erected a stone wall to partially block the cave entrance. Because of this, we couldn't keep the fire going. After surviving all that, it would be a shame to die from inhaling smoke.

"Did you even sleep?" I hand-comb my hair, wanting to go freshen up, but wary of waking the others up.

A single nod. Okay, suit yourself.

I decide on maybe trying to cultivate, a pretty silent endeavor, in my opinion.

The cave was quiet, with only the soft breathing of the people and the sound of tinder could be heard.

I focused my mind, drawing it inward, looking for the feeling of the energy humming within me.

I can feel the energy flowing through my meridians, much more vibrant and alive.

With each breath, I try to coax the energy to flow more smoothly like the blood in my vessels. I don't know if it's because I'm partial to the energy in nature but I feel so much better.

I tried concentrating my energy on the blockages that I'd come across. These must be from old injuries I've had before. Modern technology couldn't fix the damage to my meridians the same way it could fix the wounds on my body.

Patiently and methodically, I move from one point of tension to the next. Time seems to have lost its meaning, as I continued to dissolve the blockages, purifying the circulating energy in my body.

This time, I reach out with my energy, like roots reaching for the ground, I seek energy like nourishment. And when I touched upon it, I felt like being a part of it.

I started drawing strength from the ground, the difference between drawing strength from a dimension versus strength from nature itself, being obvious right now.

Once I've felt the energy grounding me, settling better like it didn't just come from outside, I slowly draw back my consciousness.

I feel satisfied, knowing that I'll probably feel better once I open my eyes.

I was expecting to see our lit cave but instead, I heard a loud "Ting!" and was greeted by a floating grid.

"Welcome to Eryndor!" Oh, holy shit.

I almost fell back, so much for a calming meditation!

The grid wasn't completely opaque because even with it front and center, I could still see Lucian who suddenly stood attention at my sudden behavior.

I couldn't help but call out to him, "Lucian, the system. The system just opened-" I struggled to explain how it was in front of me, unsure if he could see it too.

"If you're wondering if I can see it, I can't." He looks at me and follows my eyes, trying to see what I'm looking at.

"I guess that's fine, at least we don't have to worry about the system popping out for the world to see." I sigh as I try to look at the grid, wanting to see the interface.

Thankfully, it takes mental commands, it would have been dreadful to have to have to use my finger in public.

And so I mentally clicked on the welcome button and several "dings!" and "tings!" rang. Like a barrage of notifications on Star Net.

"What the-" Lucian seems to be waiting agitatedly, I probably look weird to him, since he can't see what I'm looking at.

I concentrate on the grid trying to see what things I could open.

System: Congratulations on activating the progression system of Eryndor!

System: Your cultivation has borne fruit and we'd like to encourage you to continue by offering some rewards.

Why thank you system. I think to myself, feeling grateful upon seeing the words reward.

I was just about to open the tab to claim the rewards when an icon indicated a message popped up. That's odd. So I chose to look at that first.

Then text started to appear as if typing slowly.

Message: Greetings! I see that you've managed to bring over the system into Eryndor.

Is this from Shen? I thought to myself.

Message: Due to some circumstances, I was not able to do this myself but I'm glad that it still worked out.

Message: The goal of this system is to serve as a guide for personal and societal cultivation.

Message: Considering that the system has been stashed with the Empyreans, I assume that you know more than an average Dorian.

Message: I implore you to help the realm survive by overcoming the threats that I have only managed to hold off.

Message: I managed to delay for as long as possible, but with the system's pull for power, I am currently unable to support both at once.

Message: On behalf of the Council, I sincerely ask for your help in protecting Eryndor, in exchange, I would offer as much help as I can muster.

I am so surprised that my mouth is probably gaping right now. My dreams of a simple homestead were being dashed as each line shows.

Wait! I scream in my head, there's five of us! Surely you don't expect me to do all this by myself?!

Message:!

What "!" Hey!

System: Initiating party creation…

Then a pop-up window appears, asking if I wanted to create a party and I easily jump the gun.

A party window appeared in front of me, a plus sign beckoning me to implicate my comrades. And I do it because I am no saint.

System: Adding party member, please input name and confirm.

I almost screamed his name in case the system couldn't hear.

Lucian Alder Sinclair! I enunciate the name of the first victim.

Then I calmed down enough to ask if it were possible to add more members at any time.

System: Kindly initiate the party set-up once ready to add more members.

I relax, they're asleep and may freak out if they suddenly get woken up by a floating grid.

I look over at Lucian, squinting my eyes threateningly and I see him hesitating while looking at something. Ah, so that's probably what I looked like earlier.

"Accept it so I can start opening the rewards," I tell him, masking the trap with my calm demeanor.

After an intense stare-off, the system chimed again.

System: Invite accepted. A new party member was added.

System: Calculating participation…

System: Party members qualified for rewards sharing.

We look at each other and tacitly decide that it's imperative to wake the others up. To hell with sleep.