Meridias

  Once inside the building Ashblade led Joel to an elevator. He swiped a card into the card reader next to the doors and inputted a password. The elevator doors slid open and allowed them entry. “Where does this go?” Joel asked as the doors closed.

  “The underground section. This is where projects and experiments are carried out.” the hair on the back of his next tickled with anticipation. Was he being taken to the secret project the agents had told him to look out for? Moments later the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal a large corridor made out of concrete. The cool air from the hallway rushed through the open doors and made Joel shiver. Ashblade appeared unaffected by the change in temperature and led Joel down the hall. Every 100 feet or so there was a steel door. Joel wondered what kind of things were happening behind them. His imagination started coming up with all sorts of strange and grotesque human experiments.

  At the end of the corridor there were two polished steel doors with various security measures in place. Ashblade swiped his card and entered a different password, then had his retina scanned. As the doors slowly opened up he said, “If the system doesn’t recognize you then you get a bullet through your brain.” Joel shuddered. What kind of secret was in this room that needed such drastic protection? It had to be something big. When the doors finally slid completely open Ashblade led the way in. Joel warily followed and saw many people in lab coats rushing about. Joel almost stopped dead when he saw what was in the center of the room. It was large, metal and circular. There was a hole in the middle that brought one thing to his mind. A portal. Did it work and if it did where would it lead to? He had a feeling that he was going to find out. He then noticed a man in military garb standing to the side of the strange machine.

  “Ah, excellent you’ve arrived,” the man said as he turned about and walked towards Ashblade and Joel. Ashblade saluted briefly. Joel noted that the man had well-kept brown hair under his cap. “General Titus Leviticus. Welcome to my base.” the General extended a hand and Joel shook it. Joel held back a gulp. General Titus’s cold blue eyes were sizing him up. “I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here so let me explain everything at once. You will be going to another world through this machine under Ashblade’s command for training. From what I’ve heard something about the air over there seems to make people stronger than they could get in our world.” Joel wasn’t sure what to say but the nerd inside of him was freaking out with excitement. There was a commotion nearby and several of the scientists backed away from the machine. A satisfied smile crossed General Titus’ face. “Now this is a sight you won’t ever forget,” he said to Joel. The machine hummed to life and particles of blue energy began to form in the middle of the machine. The humming intensified and electricity crackled until a portal coalesced.

  Joel could only stare at the portal in awe. It was like everything he had ever imagined but it was here and it was real! “Hurry up now we can’t keep it open all day!” General Titus said over the humming. Ashblade shook Joel out of his stupor then led the way to the portal. Joel followed but was hesitant as he drew closer to the portal. He had no idea what was on the other side and hoped that it wasn’t a bog of some other foul place. Ashblade motioned to Joel to step through. Joel took a deep breath and hopped through the portal. For a moment he had the sensation that he was moving across a great distance then suddenly he hit the ground. The first thing he noticed was that he was standing on sand. He took a few steps forward as he looked around. He noticed a camp nearby in the sand and beyond that was more sand and dunes. Great! He was in a blasted desert! He was already starting to feel the intense heat coming from the sun above.

  Ashblade’s footsteps drew Joel’s attention and he turned his head to look. He saw the portal rapidly shrinking and couldn’t help but being worried. How would they get back if something went wrong? Did Ashblade have some way of communicating with the other side? “They’ll open the portal in a month,” Ashblade said. “We have more than enough provisions to last us until then.” He motioned towards the camp and started walking. The sand slowed Joel down as he followed Ashblade. As they drew close to the camp he took in the view. There was a large tent in the middle that looked like it could house a dozen people and adjacent to it was a smaller tent that could hold two or three people. To the right of the two tents and in the middle was a smaller tent that could hold about 4 or 5 people and then next to that there was a large square tent that had unknown objects pressing up against the sides of it. All the tents were a tan color.

  A pale man in military garb approached them from the tent in the middle. From underneath his hat you could see his short black hair. “Sergeant Ashblade!” the man’s brown eyes flicked over to Joel while he saluted. Ashblade returned the gesture. “Lieutenant Draxus this is Joel Zweihander. He’ll be joining us out here.” Draxus gave a curt nod to Joel and held out his hand. “A pleasure,” he said while the two shook hands. Joel noticed that Draxus’ eyes were contemplative. He also noticed that the man was a few inches shorter than him. “Joel you will be reporting to Draxus and if it’s urgent to me. Do you understand?” Joel nodded. “Good. I’ll leave you with Draxus then.” Ashblade nodded to Draxus then headed to the middle tent. Joel assumed that the tent must be Ashblade and Draxus’ quarters.

  “Let me give you the tour,” Draxus said. “As I’m sure you’ve guessed the tent in the middle is mine and Ashblade’s quarters. The tent on the left with the smaller tent adjacent to it is the soldiers’ quarters. That’s where you will be. The smaller tent is a shower area. Of course we can only bathe so often out here. The tent next to the officer quarters is the supply tent. We have everything in there from rations to weapons. Now let’s get you acquainted with the others.” Draxus led Joel to the soldiers’ tent. He opened the flap to the tent and stepped inside and Joel followed him.

  The first thing that he noticed when he entered the tent was that there were several people inside the tent. A few were relaxing on sleeping bags and reading while the others were playing a card game. They all looked up and stood to attention when they saw it was Draxus. He motioned for them to stand at ease and spoke, “Listen up everyone this man is going to be joining you in training. His name is Joel Zweihander. He’s pretty green so make sure to show him the ropes.” Draxus nodded to the group and took his leave. Joel noticed that almost everyone in the tent was a guy, but there was one darker skinned girl who had been playing cards with the others.

  A scrawny but buff guy with brown hair and dark brown eyes approached Joel first. “Welcome Joel to your new home for the next month. My name is Revais. If you must know I was born in France but then my parents moved us to America when I was about a year old.” Revais spoke eloquently. Every word was smooth as silk. “The lady here is Kali. I assure you she is quite a bit more lethal than her appearance suggests.” Kali snorted.

  “Hah, and if we let you do all the talking then we’ll be here until the sun comes down!” she said with mock annoyance. She had striking blue eyes and short black hair. Revais made a gesture of defeat. “Very well then introduce yourselves at your leisure.” The man standing next to him chuckled. “Hey, I’m James.” James was a little taller than Revais and had golden blonde hair and blue eyes. He shook Joel’s hand firmly. A man with black hair and brown eyes spoke up next. “I’m Lucas! Welcome to the camp!” Lucas shook Joel’s hand as well. Next were two brown-haired men name Bryce and Jerome. Bryce was the groups weapon specialist and Jerome dealt with electronics, or more specifically maintaining and repairing the equipment they’d brought with them to this world. The final person was a large African-American man named Nadir who had been reading a mystery novel when Joel had come in.

  After the introductions Joel was shown where he’d be sleeping and told to change into a uniform. Joel felt embarrassed to be changing in front of so many people but the others picked up on his discomfort and turned away after teasing him a bit. After he was done changing Lucas came up to him. “So what military branch were you in before you
came here? I was a marine before I got put on this assignment,” he said.

  “I’ve never been in the military before,” Joel replied. He noticed that the others seemed surprised. “Seriously?! Were you a cop then or maybe a security guard?” Joel shook his head.

  “I’m just a high school student.” Several people started to speak up at once. Lucas made a gesture and they quieted down. “Tell me you’re at least 18,” he said with disbelief in his voice. Joel shook his head. “16.” The others cast shocked glances at each other. “I don’t even know why I’m here. It doesn’t make any sense.” The others agreed with Joel. It made no sense to them why a civilian would be suddenly enlisted before the legal age and brought into such a secret assignment without prior training. Before they could talk any further they all heard a whistle from outside. “It’s time for training. If you like swords then this might be fun for you,” Bryce said as he and the others rose to their feet. Joel wondered what Bryce meant as he followed the other outside and into the slowly setting desert sun.

  Chapter 5

  Elunduil’s Unusual Magic

  Elunduil and the others followed the knight as he took them outside of the tower. Right away he recognized the nearby buildings. The mess hall was a bit up and off to their left side and the barracks were on the right nearby the building that housed the beetle-shaped, hovering transports that the knights had used to quickly get in and out of Ellicia in the past. Both buildings were silver in color and rectangular in shape. Immediately on their left there was a large, new building that was round in shape and red-brown in color. It had protrusions on the outside that were like pillars and Elunduil felt as if the building would look a bit like a gear from above, there also appeared to be shops in its vicinity. There was another building to their immediate right that had been there in Elunduil’s last visit to Ragnarok that he knew nothing about and was silver in color. “Now then the building that we just came out of is our administrative building. We call it the Tower of Tel’kedar,” the knight guiding them said. He led them off to the left and to the new building. “Here we have the Community Center for people to rest and relax. There are also beds here for you to rest in when your adventures make you weary.” The knight led the group into the Community Center.

  The inside was softly lit and was easy on the eyes when transitioning from the sunlight outside. The main lobby was circular and had a couple of large hallways leading off on both sides of the lobby. The ground had a few circular patterns in the middle that were deep brown in color. The rest of the floor was a soft beige color. At the other end of the lobby there was an archway with glass doors that led outside. The knight paused in the middle of the room and turned to face the group and said, “The hallways to our left and right run around the entire building. There are several staircases leading off of them that will take you to the upper level and to the beds. Behind me through the sliding glass doors is the garden. We’ll often hold events here and it’s also a good place to relax and unwind.” The knight led the group back outside.

  As they walked past the shops the knight said, “These shops will have various armaments and items that you’ll be able to purchase using a device that we developed recently. I’ll explain in more detail at the end of the tour.” He led them past Tel’kedar and to the building that was on the other side of it. “Now this building is where we work on and create new technologies and weapons. It’s fascinating work if you have the aptitude for it,” the knight said as they approached the facility’s large metal doors which slid open smoothly when the group drew near them. On the inside they found shiny metallic floors and several half-finished projects that were half-exposed.

  There were people in jumpsuits wearing protective head and eye gear that looked far more sophisticated than what could be found on Earth. Some of the people appeared to be welding while others were tinkering with their creations. A large, muscular man looked up from what appeared to be some sort of weapon and tapped his glasses. The glasses split apart in the middle and opened up towards the side of the man’s head. His skin was bronze from exposure to the sun and he had a very muscular build that showed well because of his skin-tight suit. His black hair was short.

  The man walked up to the group. “Well, well what have we here? More kids eager for adventure and spoils? Well you’ve come to the right place! I’m Damon, the weapon technician for Ragnarok.” Damon spoke with a slow upbeat tone. “I’m sure that you’re wondering what all these things around you are. Some of these are weapons while others are technologies to better our society here. Now let me show you what I’ve been working on.” Damon walked over to his project and the group took a few steps closer. “Now what I’ve got here is a gun that will be able to magnetize objects and even people with a positive or negative charge once I get it all working right.” Sean had an intrigued look as he examined the gun’s mechanisms.

  “So it should send out a focused electromagnetic pulse that will charge something with a positive or negative charge?” he said. Damon chuckled.

  “Yeah that’s the gist of it. I’m sure you could think of all sorts of things to do with this gun.”

  “Oh, yeah!” Sean gave an emphatic nod. Elunduil could see the gears in his friend’s head turning. The knight led the group back outside and to the building that held the transports. Elunduil noticed that a normal sliding door had been installed on the side of the building so that it was accessible to the public. The group followed the knight into the building and into a lobby that Elunduil knew hadn’t been there before. “This facility is where we store all the transports. If you need to go to Ellicia just come here and talk to one of the people at the desks and they’ll get you a ride across the plains. Now let’s return to the Tel’kedar.”

  The knight led the group back to the tower and to the lobby. As the group gathered around the knight one of the portals on the wall hummed to life. A few moments later two people stepped through the portal. Elunduil immediately felt his pulse rise as he recognized Alicia and her friend Stephanie. He’d hoped that he would see Alicia today but now that she was here he felt apprehensive. He took a slow breath and calmed himself a bit. He was already creating plans to talk to her one-on-one but wasn’t certain if they would be alone at any point today. Of course he could just create an opportunity. The thought made him feel... smug. Alicia noticed him and the others and with a smile she waved as she and Stephanie walked over. Elunduil returned the gesture calmly and looked back to the knight who had been watching the interaction. “Two more? You people are coming in droves today. Well gather around, I’ve got something to show everyone,” the knight said.

  Elunduil noticed that the knight had acquired some sort of small rectangular device with a screen that could be strapped onto a person’s arm. The knight had the device attached near his wrist. “What I’m about to show you is something that we’ve been developing for the past year and a half.” He hit a button on the face of the device and it powered on. “We like to call this little guy the AP Link Device, or APL for short. The A and P are short for Appearance or apparel and Personal respectively. So, the full name is Appearance Personal Link Device. As some of you have probably guessed this device has a function that allows you to modify your appearance with clothing and armor that you have stored on the device.” The knight touched the screen a couple of times and a holographic display of the menu popped up. Elunduil heard a few of the others murmur with excitement.

  “Now what you see here is the main menu. You’ll see a few options here such as appearance, communication, items, and statistics. Down at the bottom here the device also keeps track of your current funds so that you can purchase items, armor, weapons, and other things. The main currency here is called Ylys, it’s a digital currency only good in Ragnarok though you can find valuable materials that you can use to trade with as well.” The knight hit the Appearance button on the hologram and a new screen appeared that showed a silhouette of a person. “As you can see there is nothing here on the screen. However when I
hit the scan button here-” he tapped the button and turned the device towards him.

  A light came from the device and started moving up and down the knight’s body. “The device will register my current appearance and physical attributes. This is also how you store new clothing that you get. Now if I have any other clothing or armor pieces I could change them here and then the device would change my appearance. However since this device had nothing on it I’ll store one of my gauntlets.” He touched his left arm and a few options showed up. He pressed the option that said “store” and the device hummed to life. Light started to appear and revolve around his gauntlet and a moment later it was gone.

  “How does that work?” Elunduil asked. The knight let out a chuckle as he pressed his hand on the screen and re-equipped the gauntlet. The light appeared again and the gauntlet returned to its original place. “Basically this little device is able to convert matter into data so that we can store it electronically and when near Ragnarok the device will send the data to a central computer system. That way when you come back you can pick up an APL device and it will scan you and download your profile to the device.” Elunduil was impressed. This technology was straight out of sci-fi shows and books. Too bad this world was virtual. The knight then showed them how to work the communication features and how to purchase something. He also briefly showed them the statistics screen which kept track of a person’s physical statistics, like stamina, agility, strength, dexterity, magic, and vitality. The latter stat was something that could fluctuate depending on things like sicknesses, wounds, and fatigue.