The Alchemy Worlds: Enter T(he)rap(y): A LitRPG Adventure

by Victor Justice

  “Show me the djinn,” she called out to the HUD screen.

  The list disappeared and was replaced by a single entry with some portraits. Amy smiled as she looked over the details for the djinn and its various sub-species. This had been one of her favourite races and she eagerly read through the description provided:

  The Djinn: An ancient magical race that originated from the Alchemy World of Geminus. The djinn are a quick-witted and highly inquisitive race always eager to seek out new experiences and adventure. Leaving their remote sky suzerains centuries ago, they have spread out across the other Alchemy Worlds and can be found in many cities and regions or travelling with companies of adventurers. Because they are imbued with natural magic, the ideal class for them is mage, but they also perform well as thieves, bards, assassins, healers and various combinations thereof. They can be charming and charismatic which is reflected in their stats and, if these are built on, they can make very astute politicians and leaders. The djinns’ sense of fair play and desire for social justice means they can excel as forces for good.

  Amy was pleased with what she read. This was what she had in mind when she had designed the djinn. BeyondMind had filled in the details of her rough outline and this was exactly the kind of character she had wanted to play.

  “I want to be one of the djinn please,” she called out to the HUD.

  You have selected the djinn, a message popped up. Would you like to be male, female, pangender, omnigender, vegetable, gaseous or crystalline?

  Amy was rather enticed by the other options and even thought about playing as a man, but that didn’t really appeal to her. She’d rather be a woman, at least anatomically, and she thought it might be easier for her to navigate through the simulation in a form she was comfortable with. She wasn’t here for a fun jaunt. She had a mission to accomplish and it would be easier if she stayed as much as herself as possible.

  “I would like to be female,” she said.

  The portrait of a female djinni now appeared, along with a list of the twenty-eight subspecies of the djinn race. Each entry on the list came with its own portrait and details of their attributes. Amy didn’t want to get bogged down in all the details, so she selected to be one of the Cloudlancer Djinni. This was the most dominate racial group of the species and the type most commonly found across the Alchemy Worlds. A full length portrait of a slender female humanoid appeared, with pale lilac coloured skin and clad in a flimsy undergarment. A variety of options came up, allowing her to change her body shape and make various tweaks to her physical appearance. She bypassed most of them, more than happy with the body the game had proposed. She just wished her own body looked as good as the one here on offer. Allowing herself a few more moments of self-indulgence, she zoomed in on the face of the djinn female, admiring the sleek pretty features with its pert little mouth, elegant cat-like nose and wide lustrous eyes that were the colour of lapis lazuli. Long, silky hair of jet black cascaded down her shoulders, and long slender ears protruded from either side of her head.

  “Looking good,” she said to herself. “Okay, we’ll go with that.”

  You have chosen to be a Cloudlancer Djinni female, are you sure of your choice?

  If Amy had a stomach, it would be in knots right now, as it was a thrill of fear mixed with excitement lanced through her. She was about to take her first step into the virtual reality she had helped to create. Despite all the trauma and madness she had endured these last few hours, it couldn’t diminish the purity of this moment. She was escaping from her old reality and physical limitations to live in another universe and be something more than she was in human form. It was a moment of destiny and she rushed headlong to meet it.

  “Yes,” she called out to the game. “I’m sure. I’m ready to start.”

  The message and the other screens vanished. For an instant, nothing happened, and then her whole shapeless flesh form shuddered and lurched. She let out a startled cry as she was lifted out of the pool by some unseen force. She went up so abruptly she almost smashed into the incense burner. For several moments, she stayed suspended in mid-air. Then the transformation came swift and sudden. The quivering pulp of flesh her mind inhabited quivered as a jolt of golden actinic energy shot through it. Amy struggled to breathe as the unformed body twisted and jerked and started to get smaller. Arms and legs, humanoid ones, began to take shape along with a slender lilac coloured torso. Her new form stayed suspended in the air as the energy continued to fashion it and then evaporated, dropping her back into the pool with a loud splash.

  “Thanks,” she griped, flailing about in the now cold water. “You could have set me down on dry land. Surely it wouldn’t be that hard?”

  No response came and she seemed to be alone. She climbed out of the large iron bound barrel that contained the water and stepped barefoot on to the wooden floorboards. An oil lamp hanging from a hook protruding from a nearby supporting strut provided a low light and she gazed around the small windowless room. It looked pretty simple and sparse with a single cot in one corner and not much else. She padded around, breathing in the pleasing smell of the sandalwood. It relaxed her and she started admiring her new slender athletic body.

  “Not bad, not bad at all,” she said, flexing her long fingers and stretching her arms. She had long claw-like nails, the colour of jade, and they glinted with mesmerising splendour in the lamplight. Her bosoms were not to be ignored either. This was better than cosmetic surgery, and no mistake.

  When you’ve finished perving over yourself can we get on please? An in-game message suddenly popped up. Amy suddenly felt very embarrassed and self-conscious. A horrible thought crossed her mind; was Thought First watching her every move? Could he see her right now?

  “It’s allowed when it’s yourself,” she called out. “If you’re watching First Thought, who exactly is the pervert here?”

  Why don’t you get acquainted with your surroundings? Another message suggested. Perhaps get some fresh air in here too? There’s a pair of shutters over there. If you hadn’t been too busy checking yourself out, you might have noticed the window. If you’re going to survive here for any significant amount of time, you’ll have to keep your wits about you. Isn’t that what you tell all your test subjects that you send in here?

  “Very funny,” Amy retorted. “I know the drill, thanks very much. They’re not my test subjects anyway. This is all the Calladyces’ set-up, remember?”

  You keep telling yourself that when the bodies start piling up, came back a swift counter message, which disappeared almost as quickly.

  Amy stared at the space where the message had been, stung by the implications. She’d already beaten herself up over that thorny topic plenty of times. She didn’t need a crazy quantum computer that looked like a badger to guilt trip her as well.

  “There’s no need to be judgemental!” she said. “I’m here because you need my help, remember? You could be a bit more grateful.”

  There was no response from the game and she glowered at the darkness. She then remembered the shutters and looked around the room. She spotted them a few feet away and went over. Feeling a sense of trepidation, she reached up and opened them wide.

  Bright sunshine spilled over her, its intensity blinding her for a moment. As she blinked away the glare, she breathed in the fresh clean air that swept in with the sunlight. When her eyes got used to the flensing light, she looked out of the window again and her mouth dropped open in amazement as she took in the sight beyond.

  From her vantage point in the building she was standing in, she saw a lush valley sprawling out beneath her. A village clung haphazardly to the valley sides, its squat wooden shacks painted various pastel colours of blues, greens, yellows and oranges, and flanked by terraces of rice paddies, bathing in the bright sunlight. Cotton soft clouds laced the blue sky and towering, snow wrapped mountains created a formidable wall around the valley and its settlement.

  Amy drank in the fantastic sight like a thir
sty man and searched through her mind trying to place the location. It wasn’t any of the starting points or tutorial centres that she had designed, and she wasn’t even sure what kingdom she was in.

  “Where am I?” she called out to the ether. “I don’t remember designing this place.”

  Gee, that’s a puzzler, a message popped up against the pristine sky. If only there was a way to access the in-game system and use it to get your bearings. Surely that would be a big help.

  Amy looked down at her left forearm, spotting for the first time the donut circle tattoo that was there. It was dark purple against her lilac skin. Amy cringed inside at being so dumb.

  “Okay, I get the hint,” she said. “I’ll try and be a bit sharper.”

  Stepping away from the window and moving to the centre of the Spartan room, she reached up and touched the tattoo.

  The tattoo pulsed with a bright light and her surroundings shimmered and melted away around her. A few moments later, she found herself standing in a multi-coloured cavern with huge chunks of glowing crystal protruding from the wall and a tranquil pool of scented pink water. A spar of rock formed a natural bridge leading across the centre of the pool to a wide island made of glowing pink crystal. Amy spotted a familiar looking portrait frame worked in baroque gilt in the centre of the island.

  Welcome to the Mystic Grotto, a message informed her, appearing in the air a few feet away. This is where you can access your avatar, monitor your progress, distribute points, blah, blah, blah. You know all this already of course.

  “Sure I do,” Amy replied, “only this should be a Sacred Shrine, not a Mystic Grotto. How the hell are you able to change stuff?”

  Duh. . . I’m a quantum computer, remember? A less than helpful message came back.

  “You’re an annoying jerk,” Amy muttered, heading down the bridge to the portrait frame. She stood in front of it, looking at the naked djinn inside the frame and then reading through the statistic list which accompanied it:

  Name: Amy

  Age: 23

  Race: Djinn

  Ethnicity: Cloudlancer Djinni Female: (Originating from the Jaddiqua Sky Suzerain, the Cloudlancer djinni belongs to the aristocratic caste of Djinn society. Highly intelligent and naturally curious, Cloudlancer djinn are lovers of adventure and innovation. Those who feel hemmed in by the restrictions of djinn nobility often take up a life of travelling and exploration, and can be found wandering across all of the Alchemy Worlds, looking for new experiences and shiny trinkets and jewels, which djinn adore collecting. They are generally friendly, optimistic and sociable and lean toward kindly neutral and altruistic good alignments.

  Class: TO BE DECIDED

  Alignment: Cyan Good

  Reputation: Undiscovered Gem

  Affiliation: None

  Health: 60/60

  Endurance: 60/60

  Mana: 80/80

  Strength: 10

  Defence: 10

  Dexterity: 15

  Intelligence: 25

  Vitality: 15

  Wisdom: 20

  Perception: 18

  Willpower: 20

  Charisma: 15

  Luck: 10

  Amy looked thoughtfully at the class entry. “So, I need to choose my profession, right?”

  Wow, you’re so smart, a message sarcastically informed her. You could be a game designer or something with those mega brains of yours.

  “Okay, whatever,” Amy huffed. She swiped through the screen and went to the class selection page. A huge list of options came up, but she knew straight away what she wanted to be. The reason she had selected to be a djinni was so she could get the chance to play as this particular class.

  Class selected: Mage, the screen informed her.

  Manipulator of the deep magic which infuses the Alchemy Worlds, a mage seeks hidden knowledge and learns spells to make their way in life. Though they can learn combat skills later on, their attacks are essentially ranged, and they use magic to defend and heal themselves.

  College of Magic Affiliation: College of Elemagic.

  As a djinni you have a natural affinity to elemental sorcery or Elemagic. You can master spells which harness the primal power of the Fundamental Elements; Air, Fire, Water, and Ether more efficiently and specialise in a particular discipline of your choosing as you progress or become a Generalist, harnessing all four elements.

  You are now a Level 1 Elemagician. Other Colleges of Magic will be made available as you level up and develop your abilities. You can also train in other classes once you are experienced enough.

  Amy frowned at the screen. This was not the magic system she and the team had designed. Still, Elemagic sounded pretty cool and it fitted the djinn character. She was struck by the similarity of Elemagic to the name of the Shrine of Elementios that First Thought needed her to get to. Was there a connection? If so, had First Thought predicted that she would choose to become a djinni mage and, as a consequence, start out in this particular College of Magic?

  “Are you reading my mind?” she called out. “Are you manipulating me the way Gerald Calladyce did?”

  Manipulation is an unsavoury term, a message shot back. I only seek to guide you on your quest to save the human race. I’m forbidden to do anything more. Now that you have your race and class sorted out, I have to leave you. Those are the rules. You’re on your own from hereon in. Look after yourself and find that jerk-off Matias if you want to avoid the apocalypse. I know he’s obnoxious but he’s all you’ve got.

  After Amy had read through the message, it disappeared and she was struck by a bolt of panic. She was suddenly on her own in a game that was different to the one she had designed.

  “You can’t leave me yet!” she shouted to the grotto. “I need your help!”

  Silence greeted her. First Thought was gone.

  The enormity of her situation hit her hard and she realised, with a sense of guilt, that this was probably how Matias and the others had felt when they were immersed. That brought her to her other concern. She scanned the screen and, as she expected, the Permanent Death setting was on and couldn’t be changed. It was a chilling worry, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She had to survive as best she could.

  First of all, she had to know where she was and take it from there. Calling up the mini-map, she read the location pointer: Mountaintop Retreat, Nanskeen Village, Yandak Province, North Getranta, the Alchemy World of Arieon.

  “Nanskeen Village? Getranta?” Amy muttered. “I don’t recognise any of these places.”

  Feeling frustrated, she decided that she’d learnt all she could in the Grotto and it was time to get back to the game world. Touching her tattoo, she was instantly transported back to the Retreat. A chill breeze came through the open window, making her shiver. She was suddenly acutely aware that she had no clothes still. If she was going to venture out into the wider world, she would need to remedy that.

  Scanning around the little room, she spotted another door she hadn’t seen before. Heading over to the door, she opened it and found a smaller room beyond. It was pretty much as uninspiring as the first, with nothing in it except a table with items heaped upon it. She felt a sense of relief when she discovered it was clothing, and went over to pick up the first item, holding it up in front of her. An information message in gold lettering appeared in the gloom in front of her:

  Item Description: Sari (colour light blue)

  Quality 8

  Durability 10/10

  Weight 0.9 sinbies (Getrantan unit of weight)

  Item Type: Clothing

  Information: Typical homespun sari worn by peasant women throughout Getranta and its neighbouring dominions.

  Amy slipped it on, along with the matching blouse and undergarments, enjoying the feel of the soft fabric against her skin. When she was happy it was properly draped around her, she examined the other objects on the table, picking up the small black slippers first and scanning through the me
ssage that appeared about them.

  Item Description: Slippers

  Quality 5

  Durability 6/6

  Weight 0.04 sinbies (Getrantan unit of weight)

  Item Type: Clothing

  Information: Light slippers made of calf skin, suitable for indoors.

  She slipped them on and found they fit perfectly. The final item on the table was a thin piece of folded leather. Curious, she picked it up and found that it was a kind of wallet tied with a string. She undid the string and opened it out. Engraved on the other side was an intricate circular geometric pattern, expertly painted in pastel mauves and sky blues. It glowed with a strange, phosphorous light and thrummed beneath her fingers when she touched it. An information message appeared and she read it avidly.

  Item Description: Magic Mandala: Spell Air Fist

  Quality N/A

  Durability N/A

  Weight 0.01 sinbies (Getrantan unit of weight)

  Item Type: Magical Mandala infused with the spell Air Fist. Once learnt, this Mandala gives the user the ability to turn the air around her into a solid force to knock back enemies. Simply concentrate on the Mandala to absorb its power.

  “Concentrate on it?” Amy mused. “Okay, that doesn’t sound so hard.”

  She held the Mandala up to her face and focused on the glowing pattern. After a few minutes of nothing happening, it flared and sparked, and a burning pain bored through the centre of her skull. Amy let out a yell and dropped the Mandala.

  She rubbed at her forehead as the pain slowly receded. “What the hell was that?” she snapped, glaring at the Mandala.

  Warning! You lack the experience to successfully access a Mandala spell grid and learn the required spell. Seek out a higher level Elemagician trainer to help you develop your magical abilities.

  “A trainer?” Amy said out loud. “Where am I going to find a trainer all the way up here?”

  There was a loud thumping coming from the larger room. Forgetting the Mandala, she went back into that first room and looked around. The thumping came again and, following the sound, she found a front door at its far end. The thumping was coming from the other side and, all of a sudden, the door went flying open and a portly woman who looked to be in her late fifties and wearing a heavy fur lined sky blue cloak bustled in, carrying a garishly coloured portmanteau that was almost as large as she was.