Path To Radiance; First Ascent

The person in the middle of the room swings in my direction and the door slams shut on its own accord. The stranger poses with one hand in the air and a hand on its waist.

This person is an equal mix of man and woman but is dressed as the latter. They have on a professional dress skirt and blouse, all in black. They are barrel-chested and about six feet tall. Nylons stem from six-inch, spike-heeled formal shoes. Their dark purple hair is pulled back but left down in a professional style, exposing a stubbled chin. Their makeup is sharp but not overly noticeable unless you were looking for it. I am struck dumb to say the least.

All I can manage is "uh...hi" while I wave like an idiot.

"Well hello to you too, big boy. I've been waiting for you to leave this place since forever ago. After the first while, I thought you'd be struggling to work out the character creation portion." This person is very animated when they speak. Adding concern and emotion in just the right place to seem overly cheery and positive. "That's where most get stuck, you see." They click their tongue at me as they look me up and down.

"When I peeked, you had not only changed the supply room to a personal bedroom, quite impressive by the way, you were also packing. I figured you were on your way out so I was about to go on my merry way." They pause dramatically. "That was until you still hadn't exited the supply room a short while later. I decided to peek again. What did I see this time? Hmm? You had found your system settings and were fiddling." This time they act annoyed, but only just a bit.

"It is my job to make sure all of you little darling noobs make it out safely and swiftly. I hate to miss any opportunity to help the needy, as you know." They tip slightly sideways, hands clasped together, with a large wink and huge smile.

"That's wonderful and all, but who exactly are you?" I ask with my eyebrow cocked. This seems like an angry bull situation. If I didn't get out in front of it and stop it, best to just run away.

They lean forward and their jaw drops. Utter horror is written in their eyes. Then as if lightning struck, they stand up straight and smile again. "Oh, of course, you don't know who I am, silly me. I never told you. Dearie me, I'm just plain rude, aren't I." They curtsy. "You can call me Charity, Charity Goddess, Miss Charity, or Ma'am if you like." This time her wink is creepy. At least I now could let my brain fall into the boy-girl trap it has been teetering on. I had been wanting to think of her as she up 'til now. Goddess, huh? I don't see it. Although, now that I have mentally assigned her a gender, the masculinity around her fades away.

Her barrel chest is now a well-figured set of breasts. Her face has become way less square and the stubble is gone. Her waist is none existent and she only reaches five foot seven, with her six-inch heels.

Before I can say anything, she runs over my attempt at speech with her own words. "Normally, I don't interact with the players, but we are allowed to bestow slight favor or disfavor onto them as we see fit. After I saw that you were going to be a while but were so well prepared, I had to dig a little deeper. Most people throw what they can in a random bag and leave, you see. You sparked some interest, to say the least." Charity begins to walk around me with a scrutinizing eye, examining me from top to bottom. It made me feel like cattle up for auction. No wonder girls hate it so badly.

"Ok. Thanks, I guess. Is there something else you need? Or can you tell me how to log out?" I ask sheepishly. With how attractive this person had become; I am beginning to get nervous.

When she's back in front of me, Charity laughs. It's a deep belly laugh. Now that her voice is soft and sweet, her laugh is very intoxicating. I hope other players aren't this confusing.

After she finishes laughing, she has to pause to carefully wipe away tears as to not smudge her makeup. A few deep breaths later and she finally speaks again.

"Log out? You are a funny little daring, aren't you? You'll find out more in the tutorial. No, I'm here now because your gaming history intrigued me. Nothing special, even though you are ranked quite highly in a few games. You're not a professional gamer and you don't play well with others. Or, at least you didn't until you joined that gun game and made that team." She gives me a very knowing look. "I couldn't help but wonder if you were as ready as you seemed." She crosses her arms and thinks while hmming a lot. She also circles me again

"I've decided..." She blurs as she runs at me, taking the backpack and my sword faster than I can blink. She is so fast. Yikes. I can't even react she's so fast. If I have to fight this person later, I am already scared.

She pours out my bag and lays the sword on the table. From the moment she touched the blade, I'm frozen in place. Double yikes. "I am going to give you a very generous boon. I haven't given very many yet, but I like you already. I see a lot of my power in you." This takes me by surprise. What does that mean? She was looking me dead in the eyes while she said it too.

"Don't worry, dear, you'll unfreeze soon. Can't have you peeking just yet." First, she holds the backpack. It disintegrates and reforms instantly, smaller than before. "You'll need a good bag."

Next, she does the same thing to my water skin which becomes a modern water bottle. My flint and tinder blend and become a long tipped, candle lighter. Then my tent falls apart and gets sucked into a fist-sized, black square shape with a single red button, kind of like a tv remote.

She places all the stuff she has poured out into the now reformed bag, including the blanket. How it all fits in this smaller bag is anyone's guess but it still looks empty.

"There we go. Most of this stuff exists already in shops and the like. I just upgraded your gear a little early. This here is the real gift. Although everyone will get a soul weapon, some souls are better than others." She says as she picks up the sword. She walks over to me. Grabbing my hand, she runs the blade down my palm. The pain is minimal but it does sting. Blood pours down the blade. Charity raises the blade between her hands, one on the pommel, and one on the tip. Then she claps her hands together. The sword is crushed and makes an awful screeching sound along the way.

Charity then rolls the now crushed metal like play-dough. The metal conforms and molds to her wishes. She shapes the lump into a basic straight dagger blade that has no hilt or cross guard. It looks like clay. Then she kisses the flat of the blade with a loud smacking sound. A bright light flashes briefly. When the light subsides, the blade is now a metal dagger.

I don't see how it was the "real gift". The handle and blade are now one piece and there's no pommel. There is also a very plain sheathe for the tiny dagger which still has a belt loop. I would have rolled my eyes if I could.

She places the dagger in my hand, which she must have healed because the cut is gone. Then she places my backpack back where it belongs. As soon as the bag rests on my shoulders, I am free to move again.

I look at the weapon in my hand and feel pure disappointment. It must have shown on my face because Charity laughs again.

"Don't look so glum, chum, you'll love him, I'm sure. Not as much as he'll love you, I'm afraid." With that, she pats me on the back, says "good luck" in a sing-song tone and disappears in a splash of sparkles and glitter. Charity vanishes. I tried not to get any on me. Glitter is not going to be falling out of my hair for a week.

I turn, open the door, and run out after her. People don't just disappear. "Wait! Where am I?" Maybe I should have asked that first. Besides, she didn't even go out the door anyway. When I turn around again, I'm in a forested valley clearing. The door I had just come through is gone and trees are all I can see around me. There's a dirt path at the edge of the clearing that cuts through the forest.

All I can say is "What the fuck?"