Opening his eyes, Xavier was greeted with the sight of grass more vibrant than he'd ever had the privilege of laying his eyes upon in the past. A sprawling expanse of green with trees towering into the skies, both near and in the far distance. This forest was vastly different from the ones he had seen on Earth. There were new critters and creatures all around, now scurrying about due to the sudden interruption of their tranquility. In the distance, one could make out a great, flowing river along with mountains that reached into the clouds and beyond. Small hills were separating the spaces in between those titans made of rock.
Scattered across the landscape, he noticed strangely built structures that had noticeable amounts of light illuminating them. Though he could only see the upper area of those structures due to the terrain blocking the rest.
To both his left and right, there was rustling in the grass, which had freed his mind from being trapped within the beautiful landscape's glory. His head drifted to his right first.
Standing there was a face he had recognized. One from his past life, in that former universe.
He was fairly tall, a few inches above average height. His body was not as skinny as before. It had seemingly become more muscular than Xavier remembered, though still on the lean side. It was as if his body had become a perfected version of its old self. He was of Chinese descent, and his deeply dark brown eyes met with Xavier's. His face was on the more circular side, and his eyebrows were fairly small as well, all tied together by his flat, black hair. He was wearing very simple clothes, very similar to the ones Xavier currently was equipped with. A black tank top with slightly baggy white-yellow sweatpants. The only difference in their outfits was that Xavier's sweatpants were pure white.
"..."
"..."
"Bruce...? Is that you?"
His facial expression became slightly shocked. It was as if he had realized who the other was due to how familiar the voice had been. It made Xavier think:
'Was I not recognizable from looks alone? Did God change me that much?'
"Xavier!"
"Bruce and Xavier!?"
Another familiar voice behind the two. Though it was a fairly common voice in general, Stephan's voice was one that both had still remembered all too well. It had a slightly higher pitch than the "average" voice, with his tone being easily memorable.
"Stephan?"
Stephan's body had been perfected as well with the same lean, muscular build. He stood at around the same height as Bruce. His black hair was shaped similarly to Elvis' hair, but on the shorter side and slightly more flat, and was curly rather than straight. He had slight facial hair and deep brown eyes. The facial hair was around the stage beyond what you would consider a "stubble." He, too, had the same outfit as the other two. This time with black sweatpants rather than white-yellow or pure white.
After seeing Stephan, Xavier quickly zipped his head around, looking for the fourth and final member that had been within their friend group. However, he was not there. It was just those three: Stephan, Bruce, and Xavier.
Stephan quickly broke the silence with a simple question, "So you two were reincarnated as well, I'm assuming?"
As Xavier was about to reply, confirming his suspicion, Bruce had beaten him to it.
"Yeah, I assume so. I don't know any other way we could end up here, really."
Bruce and Stephan stepped to the side, taking part in simple, idle chats. Mostly about their experience with God and how they had died back on Earth. Xavier sat out for a moment, taking in the space around him while a nice, cool breeze sounded past. A few moments later, an important thought struck his brain.
'The Concept!'
Xavier quickly patted around his person, hoping that he would feel something. Anything. Luckily, when he glossed over his right pocket, he felt a solid object. Reaching into it, he immediately felt the ever-changing shape of the Concept. He called Bruce over to him while he was taking it from his pocket. Bruce pulled away from Stephan's conversation while Stephan had started exploring the general area of the cliff edge.
Bruce tilted his head in slight confusion, looking at the ever-changing black box Xavier was holding, "What's that?"
"The Concept. God gave it to me and said it would help us visualize our paths to power. We just have to figure out how to activate it..."
Xavier twisted the cube around, analyzing it as if it were a Rubik's Cube he was preparing to solve. His first action was to attempt to pull it into two different pieces. He thought maybe to treat it as if opening a chest or a box, after no response to his first idea. Again, no response. The next thought was to...
"Concept, open!"
...
Nothing, yet again. Bruce looked between Xavier and the Concept, a face of second-hand embarrassment showing. Xavier made a humming noise, audibly expressing his deep thinking.
"All that's left that I can think of... It sounds stupid, but should we just try to imagine it working? Give the good old use of our imagination a go, you know?"
"Hmm... Definitely worth a try."
Bruce and Xavier closed their eyes, thinking of one simple thought.
Using the Concept.
For a few moments, there was nothing. They thought it was another bust, and they would have to go back to the drawing board.
But then the light began to grow.
A large, moonlit expanse began to build before them. A large lake, utilizing the moon's light to reflect the vast mountain range that had been resting miles and miles away. On the lake, lines of light began to come to life, forming into different shapes that resembled constellations. Due to the sheer shock of the landscape before them, both of them jolted their eyes open, blinking at each other in silence.
Not too far away, during this time, Stephan had been rummaging through a leather sack that seemed to be waiting for them near the edge of the cliff. The sack held several different items, which included: a dagger, a bag of beef jerky, three vials of a mysterious red liquid, and enough water to keep the trio hydrated. There were seemingly useless items as well, such as a dictionary.
Bruce walked up to the sack and pointed out the dictionary, grabbing it and dusting it off by wiping it aggressively. Stephan pocketed the dagger before distributing the red vials of liquid and the canteens of water, giving one of each to the boys respectively.
Both Xavier and Stephan looked each other in the eyes, the mysterious red vials of liquid in hand. They examined them for a brief moment before giving each other a shrug and a nod of agreement.
They both popped the cork off the vial and chugged the red liquid. Nothing happened at first, and the liquid had a very pleasant berry flavor. After a few moments had passed, they began to feel slightly revitalized.
Bruce opted out of consuming the mystery liquid, pocketing it instead. Stephan pointed to the Concept that Xavier had been fidgeting with.
"What's that?"
"Oh, this is the Concept. I just explained it to Bruce. It's a tool God gave me. It allows us to visualize all the paths to power. Supposedly supposed to make it easier on us when figuring out how to get stronger. Kind of like a hint tool."
"Oh, that's actually pretty cool."
Xavier nodded before beginning to walk towards the forest. In that moment, time slowed. Disaster had struck the trio already. Xavier tripped on a rock, and the Concept slipped from his grasp, beginning to soar through the air towards the cliff's edge.
God's words echoed throughout Xavier's mind.
'If there is one thing I request from the bottom of my non-existent heart, it is for you not to lose this.'
His eyes widened. The thought alone of what God may do to him if he loses the Concept was enough to cause adrenaline to surge throughout his body. He was able to stretch his leg just enough while falling to propel himself forward just a few inches, just enough to bring the Concept within an arm's reach.
He reached outwards, stretching his arm as far as he possibly could. As his hand inched closer and closer, the Concept did the same to the long drop below. In the final moment, one last opportunity to grab the Concept...
His hand was able to latch onto it, and he face planted right into the dirt.
This entire time, Bruce and Stephan were not paying attention. All they heard was a light thud into the grass, causing them to turn around and be met with Xavier lying face down in the land while holding the Concept up. To them, he looked like an idiot.
Stephan walked over and reached out a hand, "...You good?"
Xavier sprang up, a light amount of dirt and grass now covering his face.
"Never been better."
He wiped his face and clothes off before deciding to put the Concept in the leather sack with the rest of their limited belongings.
Before the party could continue, they were all greeted with a 'Bing!' noise and a blue screen in front of them.
Xavier scoffed, a slight smirk growing on his face, "I guess it wouldn't be a fantasy reincarnation plot without the classic system trope."
[Welcome, user. Please, insert your name.]
For Xavier, this was a no-brainer. He simply put his name as Xavier.
Now, for his friends... the same could not exactly be said.
Stephan sat in thought for a moment, wondering if he could put anything he wanted.
[You would like to use the name, "Gojo." Is that correct?]
He confirmed.
As for Bruce...
[You would like to use the name, "Raphael Ambrosius Gustav." Is that correct?]
Confirmed.
[Welcome, user. I am the Guidance Utility Information Demonstrator and Evaluator. Alternatively, you may use G.U.I.D.E for short. I will be your helpful travel companion throughout your journey in this world. Would you like a tutorial on how my operations work?]
The trio looked at each other, all seeing the different screens in front of each of them. Silently and united, they all pressed "Yes."
[Let's begin with the stats and equipment tab. Displayed here, in numbers, are your physical and mental attributes. There is a hologram of your person with data revolving around your body and mind, as well as different slots for your currently equipped gear. Also displayed here would be your elemental affinity as well as your titles. You can change your currently equipped title through the drop-down menu when you press on your current title.]
[INFORMATION]
Name: Xavier
Class: None
Subclass: None
Level: 1
Rank: F
Realm: 9th
Stage: Initial
Race: Human
Title(s): None
Trait(s): None
Elemental Affinity: ???
[STATS]
HP: 20
MP: 15
Strength: 1
Finesse: 1
Fortitude: 1
Intelligence: 3
Wisdom: 1
Charm: 2
[EQUIPMENT]
Head: None
Chest: None
Arms: None
Legs: None
Boots: None
Weapon(s): None
Accessories: None
...
"That... is way too much information," Xavier's eyes continued to widen beyond their normal limits. His brain was actively being cooked alive by this overload of new information.
...
[INFORMATION]
Name: Raphael Ambrosius Gustav
Class: None
Subclass: None
Level: 1
Rank: F-
Realm: 9th
Stage: Initial
Race: Human
Title(s): None
Trait(s): None
Elemental Affinity: Earth
[STATS]
HP: 20
MP: 15
Strength: 1
Finesse: 1
Fortitude: 1
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 1
Charm: 1
[EQUIPMENT]
Head: None
Chest: None
Arms: None
Legs: None
Boots: None
Weapon(s): None
Accessories: None
...
"Yeah... I think I see what you mean..."
...
[INFORMATION]
Name: Gojo
Class: None
Subclass: None
Level: 1
Rank: F-
Realm: 9th
Stage: Initial
Race: Human
Title(s): None
Trait(s): None
Elemental Affinity: Wind
[STATS]
HP: 20
MP: 10
Strength 2
Finesse: 3
Fortitude: 1
Intelligence: 1
Wisdom: 1
Charm: 1
[EQUIPMENT]
Head: None
Chest: None
Arms: None
Legs: None
Boots: None
Weapon(s): None
Accessories: None
...
"...Nah, this is fine. You guys are just bozos."
...
Both Bruce and Xavier looked at each other before looking back at Stephan. The two gave him a nasty look.
[Next over would be your spells and skills tab. This tab will display your currently learned spells and skills that you may cast at the cost of your supply of Mana Points, or MP for short. Remember, mana is the life energy in this world. The lower your supply gets, the more fatigued you will be. If your mana supply hits 0, you will die.]
Stephan coughed in the background.
"How reassuring..." Bruce's eyes narrowed.
[Finally, the quests tab. This tab will display your current quests and all of the information regarding them. This includes but is not limited to: the general details, the difficulty, the rewards, and the time limit. I will issue you a couple of beginning quests to get you started within this new world.]
...
[Survive the First Night] (Mandatory)
Description: You have been transported to an unknown world. Survive until sunrise.
Reward: +2 sp
Failure: Immediate Death (or severe injury/loss of something important).
[First Blood] (Combat-Oriented)
Description: Kill a creature of this world.
Reward: Unlock Combat Skills (basic proficiency in weapons or magic).
Failure: No combat progression.
[The Lost Traveler] (Exploration-Oriented)
Description: Find a road, landmark, or sign of civilization.
Reward: Map System unlocked (shows major locations).
[The First Meal] (Survival-Oriented)
Description: Find and prepare your first meal in this world.
Reward: Basic Foraging/Hunting Skills.
[???] (?-Oriented)
Description: ???
Reward: ???
...
Xavier's eyebrow twitched, "Lovely, a question mark quest. I can't wait to run in circles trying to figure out what it is..."
[That will conclude the introductory tutorial to the use of G.U.I.D.E. I hope you enjoy your stay in your new life!]
The screens in front of the trio closed as quickly as they opened, signifying their brand-new start in a brand-new world.