When the translucent text appeared in my vision again, I concentrated briefly on the word “yes” and my whole world changed.

  My body swelled with energy, like I had just taken the most satisfying and refreshing nap in my life. I felt strong, all pumped up after a really good workout at the gym without the soreness. And my mind felt… sharper.

  Like I had an “aha” moment after concentrating for a long time on some mathematical proof.

  The ache in the pit of my stomach and the acidy feeling in my throat after puking so much? Gone. The dull dead ache behind my eyes from years of depression? Absent. Just as I was reveling in the physiological changes, the semi translucent text came into focus once more.

  Congratulations! You’ve accepted a Discipline! This is your first Discipline out of three. All skills related to the Fauna discipline will be available to choose from, provided you have the appropriate skill book. Because you were a lucky son of a bitch and read from a legendary Discipline book, you may choose your first Fauna oriented skill in addition to your newly acquired Discipline. These skills were system-selected and cannot be swapped out for anything other than what is provided.

  Please note, to acquire any other additional skills, you must have a relevant fauna skill book or a flexible skill book.

  Once chosen, this skill will fill one of the remaining spots in your power suite. If you have other skills, passives, or spells in a different discipline, they may be subject to interaction and evolution. For more information, please see the glossary tab.

  Available Fauna Selections from 'Natural Practices, and The Magic of Fauna':

  Feline Reflexes: [Passive] [Movement] [Domain: Fauna] React with the grace of a cat. You always land on your feet, and cannot be pushed over.

  Indomitable Yeti: [Active] [Physical Skill] [Domain: Fauna] Strike out with the power of a Yeti, inflicting force and blunt damage with your fists, (Mana cost varies, Low Mana per strike. Can spend seconds charging up the strike at moderate Mana per second for larger hit)

  Winter Goose: [Active] [Defense/Escape Spell] [Domain: Fauna] Conjure stark white wings to fit your physical form for short period of time, allowing you to fly at double your normal speed. The wings are corporeal and can be damaged. Deploying your wings adds to your overall health while active. (Mana cost: low).

  Spirit Avatar: [Active] [Transmogrification Spell] [Domain: Fauna] Transform into your spirit animal for a short time. Your avatar has its own health pool and if destroyed, you automatically revert to your original form. The shape of your avatar cannot be chosen, it is an inherent truth. Please consult the glossary for more information on your form, once it is revealed. (Mana cost: moderate).

  Tracker: [Passive/Active] [Investigation Skill] [Domain: Fauna] Your tracking skills are greatly improved. If activated, a translucent line (only seen by you) points you in the direction of your quarry. (Mana cost: low).

  Forest Wisp: [Active] [Evasive Spell] [Domain: Fauna] Become incorporeal and invulnerable to anything but radiant or psychic damage. Normal attacks and elemental based attacks phase through you. Can pass through physical objects. Lasts a short time. (Mana cost: moderate).

  I rubbed my face, clearing my eyes after reading all that text in my newfound HUD. Apparently, I could ingest hundreds of pages in a second, but when it came to picking a skill, I had to read. I, being a fan of reading, was actually happy about that. It gave me time to ponder each possibility. It was just… a lot to take in.

  I sat down.

  Well obviously, I went with Avatar. Who wouldn’t want to turn into their spirit animal? Also the potential of having a whole other health pool on top of my own was wildly tempting. I hoped I got a bear or something, but knowing how my life seemed to take a bit of a comical edge… I’d probably get a squirrel.

  I passingly wondered if I was still on Earth, or if my spirit animal might be another creature I’d never heard of.

  The Yeti skill led me to believe that at the very least, there were some beasts that existed in this land that were only rumors in my own. I couldn’t wait to tell Naomi.

  Then my heart sank. Fuck. How would I tell her? This was amazing, and I felt fantastic.

  Better than I had in years… but I resolved, then and there… I’d find a way back. And maybe, if I was lucky, I could bring her with me.

  Fuck the political hellscape of the world right now, anyway.

  Meandering thoughts aside, I picked the book back up and the text appeared in my vision once more.

  Please select a skill.

  Without any buttons to press or even a space in the book to point at, after a moment I just thought “Spirit Avatar” and then the power rushed in. That same feeling of energy crackled behind my eyes, and I felt absolutely incredible. I couldn’t wait to see what my spirit avatar was, but there were more books in front of me.

  And if I had the chance to magic up, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

  Besides, what if the owner of the treehouse came back and it wasn’t actually cool I was leafing through his things. Given the inherent value of these things, that might very well be the case.

  I was about to reach for another book and pick up another power when more text popped up in my vision in the bottom right periphery.

  New Quest! Unlock your Spirit Avatar

  I nodded at this pop up and mentally minimized the quest log, which surprisingly worked. I realized I could do the same with the map. I could call up either HUD tool whenever I wanted, so I opted out for the time being… choosing to fully give into the situation and be present in my revelry. I was in a game or somewhere else entirely, but I didn’t care for the time being. I was stoked.

  My eyes scanned the shelf again, putting the Fauna book back where I found it. A few shelves down; another collection of books caught my eye.

  'Sword and Board: Everything You Need to Know About Stabbing'

  'Metallurgy, and the Secret of a Good Smith'

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  'Unconscious Fire, An Elementalist’s Memoir'

  'Ten Things I Wish I Knew Before I Was Psychic'

  'Don’t Drown! The Untold Truth About Water Magic'

  As someone that almost drowned as a kid, that last one made me chuckle. Whoever wrote these books had quite the flair for the dramatic. I checked the spine of the first book I read and didn’t see an author. Must be some weird magic shit.

  I picked up The Metallurgy book. The book jacket had a sort of actively flashing look to it, like sparks were flying off an anvil. I’ve always been a bit of a crow, but also have watched every season of Forged in Fire and always promised myself I’d learn to smith.

  Something with this title had to be just a skill, right?

  I wondered if I could apply it to my Fauna Discipline… still not entirely understanding the concept of Disciplines.

  Would you like to read Metallurgy, and the Secret of a Good Smith? Doing so will select the Metallurgy Discipline, which is an irreversible and body altering decision.

  Yes/No.

  “Uhhh, I guess not.” I said to no one in particular. I was entirely alone, save for a little bird sitting on the bird feeder outside pecking away.

  I took some time to try to figure out how to pull up my character screen, or something. A glossary had been referred to in earlier text, but I couldn’t figure it out. Eventually, I gave up and just stared at the book. The semi translucent text still hung in my field of view and I just said fuck it.

  I felt the same surge of power from before, this time feeling like I was almost about to boil over with energy. I felt hot, my skin actually steaming a bit before I cooled down after a deep breath.

  “Wait what? I said fuck it, not yes. How is that fucking fair—"

  Congratulations! You’ve accepted a Discipline! This is your second Discipline out of three. All skills related to the Metallurgy discipline will be available to choose from, provided you have the appropriate skill book.

  Because you were a lucky son of a bitch and read from a legendary Discipline book, you may choose your first Metallurgy oriented skill in addition to your newly acquired Discipline. These skills were system-selected and cannot be swapped out for anything other than what is provided. If you do not want to accept any of the skills or spells, you may decline and use a different skill book if you have one available.

  Please note that your Metallurgy Discipline will not be active until you have chosen your first skill, spell, or passive.

  Please note, whatever you choose might interact with your first Discipline’s skill, spell, or passive. Please see glossary for further information.

  Considering I couldn’t get into the glossary, or my character sheet, or see any of my stats… that last bit of information was a bit frustrating. How was I supposed to know what the best one to select was? What if I accidentally made my Avatar spell turn me into an anvil. Then, memories of my childhood watching Looney tunes came surging back and I chuckled away the worry. It’d be okay, I resolved.

  Available Metallurgy Selections from 'Metallurgy, and the Secret of a Good Smith':

  Iron Fist: [Active] [Physical Skill] [Domain: Metallurgy] Imbue your next unarmed attack with the power and force of a heavy iron ingot. Your hand, arm, or whatever appendage you’re using becomes unbreakable and hits with the force equal to ten times your base strength stat. (Mana Cost, none).

  Blacksmith’s Bundle: [Active] [Conjuration Spell] [Domain: Metallurgy] Call forth a crate full of gold quality supplies for smithing. Forge not provided. Craft items one power level above your own that only you can wield (Example: an Initiate may craft and wield an Acolyte weapon).

  Magma Ward: [Active] [Aura] [Domain: Metallurgy] Emit a burning hot aura of magma. You have an over shield that hits back with burning damage over time when touched/struck by your enemies (retribution). All friendly party members within a 20 ft radius of your aura also receive this shield, but do not receive the retribution mechanic. (Mana cost: low).

  Furnace: [Active] [Elemental Spell] [Domain: Metallurgy] Engulf your body in flames as hot as your forge. Become invulnerable to elemental damage while the spell is active. Gain the retribution passive. Lasts a short time. As a passive trait, become invulnerable to base level fire damage after first use of the spell (Mana cost: moderate).

  Blacksmith’s Ire: [Passive] [Domain: Metallurgy] Instinctively and intellectually know the precise amount of force needed to break a weapon, crush armor, or crumble fortifications.

  Chaos Hammer: [Active] [Conjuration Spell] [Domain: Metallurgy] Summon forth a large, flying, flaming hammer that circles you and attacks nearby foes at random. When struck, enemies with low defenses have the chance of catching on fire which deals damage over time. Lasts thirty seconds. (Mana Cost, low).

  Well all those seemed a whole lot more aggressive than I thought they’d be. With the exception of Blacksmith’s Bundle, of course. I was torn between Magma Ward, Furnace, or Chaos Hammer. Having extra protection that I didn’t have to necessarily think about seemed like a good idea.

  I had no idea what this new world had in store for me, and if I would ever get back home though. So that definitely had an impact on my choice. I wondered if I could cast these spells concurrently with other ones from a different discipline. For instance, if I was lucky and got a Bear for my Spirit Avatar….could I be a Bear… on fire? I could always look to pick up these spells at a later date, should the opportunity present itself.

  So, I chose Furnace.

  More power leeched into my chest from the book, like before. But this time, the heat was a warm and comforting feeling instead of the almost too much bubbling and steaming sensation when I absorbed the Metallurgy Discipline. My body, for better or worse, was now one with the fire.

  Smiling, I walked over to the hearth and stuck my hand in to test out the companion passive to the furnace spell.

  OW

  I immediately pulled back with a burned hand. My dumb ass forgot to activate the spell for a first time. I had all the power in me, but apparently none of the control quite yet. Another quest popped up on my log.

  Become a furnace! Use your new spell for the first time. (hint: don’t do it in someone’s flammable house. That’s rude!)

  Again, I tried to pull up my character screen, or anything that would tell me where I was at with any sort of progression or interaction with my two new spells of Furnace and Spirit Avatar. But, nothing came up. Reasoning that I needed to select all three Disciplines to “activate” my new powers, much like a character select screen stuck on the class selection in an RPG, I looked back at the bookshelf.

  There were still quite a bit of choices.

  I let my eyes flicker across the spines, letting intuition guide the way. This was really just my self delusional fantasy of fate taking the wheel, but something had brought me here…so maybe that wasn’t so crazy.

  Just when I was about to grab for a book on the very bottom of the shelf, a voice rang out.

  “Not that one.”

  It was gravely, a medium timbre, and a wee bit unhinged— like a librarian that had just pulled back-to-back-to-back shifts in the stacks at a University. Did they do that? I don’t know.

  I brought my hand up and reached for a different area on the shelf.

  “No.”

  My face pinched in with concern, but I decided to play along. I was in someone’s house, rifling through their stuff, and I had just seemingly gained fucking super powers. So, my hand went about the uncomfortable and semi tedious game of hot and cold.

  “That’s not a good one.”

  “You could do better.”

  “Oooh maybe, wait what is that. Hold it up? No. Definitely not.”

  I had absolutely no idea where the voice was coming from. There was no one in the tiny treehouse with me, and I felt no presence either. Not that I knew what that felt like, beyond seeing an episode of Ghost Hunters or two. But, you know what I mean. The disembodied voice noticed my hesitation and urged me on.

  “I’ll be there in a minute, but if you must read something… I recommend the red one in the bottom left.”

  I reached in that direction.

  “No, the other left.”

  As my hand found purchase of apparently the correct book, I pulled it out and the disembodied voice started cackling madly.

  “Yes, yes… I think that should do fine for you,” the voice said in between laughs. The cackling died down after a crescendo of inanity and then it said, suddenly all serious, “read that one, make your choice, and then meet me below in five minutes. I have a lot to tell you and not a lot of time.”

  Still not entirely comfortable with the situation, I was standing there awkwardly with the spine of the book in the palm of my hand. I hadn’t read the cover yet, but when the voice didn’t issue any more commands… I looked.

  'Mirror King, The Story Behind the Royal Reflection.'

  Everysekai

  by Bluesycobalt

  > Female Lead with cast of developed side-characters

  > A lot of poking at Isekai tropes

  > Rational and Underpowered Protagonist fighting for her life

  > 1500-2500 Word Chapters

  Updates MWF at 7:10pm EST