"Ascension System Started, Commencing in 10..."

 

A loud countdown disturbed the consciousness of everyone on the planet, the world stopped as they heard the words continue inside their mind.

 

"9...8....7....6..."

 

 

Everyone collectively held their breath for a few short moments as the voice continued to count down.

 

 

"5...4....3...."

 

 

No one had any time to prepare, no one knew what was going on. There was no possibility anyone could know what was going on and it happened so abruptly that...

 

 

"2... 1..."

 

 

It truly was the greatest equalizer in history.

 

 

"Ascension System Started! World Invasion Level 1 shall begin in 3 years, 5 months, 30 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds."

 

 

A stick appeared hovering before a young man.

 

 

The stick covered in a luminescent glow, as if it was a gift from the gods above hovering before him.

 

 

"What?"

 

 

He reaches out and takes the stick when a voice resounds in his head, "Beginners’ Staff, Basic Blunt Weapon. Attack:1-4. Durability 100%. This is your tutorial weapon, necessary for survival."

 

 

Some information then appears before his eyes,

 

 

[Kaleb Jones, Level: 1, Occupation: None, Title: None, Strength: 8, Agility: 10, Vitality: 8, Stamina 4/4, Spirit: 15, Endurance 13]

 

 

He isn't given much time to understand this information as a loud roar interrupts his thoughts.

 

 

He looks around the room, he's in a hotel room that should have been soundproofed but given the reputation of his workplace for skimping out or cutting corners, it wouldn't be surprising if they opted for a hotel that cheaped out on materials like that.

 

 

The roar sounded like it was in the distance but since he's up on the 35th floor of this hotel, there's no way it could have been something on the ground.

 

 

Kaleb walks over to the door to ensure its locked shut, peeking out through the peephole shows a few people standing around, outside, but they're moving too quick to see whether they're employees or guests. Fortunately, no one stops by his door, so he isn't sure what's going on. Not knowing what to do, he returns to his desk and finishes writing another report.

 

 

He's writing it for a few minutes when another roar is heard, it doesn't sound any different to before's, which is concerning.

 

 

He pulls out the room phone and calls up the front desk.

 

 

"Yes, Hello room 3501, Mr. Oones, how can I help you?"

 

 

"Uh Jones. I keep hearing a roar of some sort of animal. Did someone bring a pet gorilla to the hotel?"

 

 

"No sir, sorry for noise. We are investigating problem, but would you like a complimentary dessert, for the noise inconvenience?"

 

 

The young man on the end of the phone is hard to understand, Kaleb replies, "Ok but I want a phone call when you find out what it is."

 

 

"Ok sir, sorry sir. It shall be solved in 10 minutes' time" the phone disconnects.

 

 

Kaleb gets back to work but he's unable to concentrate, turning to other websites he finds that the internet is much slower than usual. People are everywhere talking about the voice they just heard and the information that appears when they take the stick. Many people didn't get the item floating before them, Kaleb strokes the beginners’ staff that is resting on the table.

 

 

'Reports of creatures, Strange cannibalistic creatures all over the world!'

 

 

A headline grabs his attention, the preview picture is of what looks like a person, but they have red eyes, black clawed hands, and fangs. The picture is blurry, but everyone has dismissed it as fake in the comments, 'I have seen better zombie costumes in the 60's movies', 'I have that same fake blood' are among the many comments from people all over the world.

 

 

He clicks on a few more pictures but they're just as blurry, they're all from a distance but they all seem to look somewhat similar to people.

 

 

'These things eat people!'

 

 

A thread is posted with an attached picture, it's one of the creatures standing over the body of a person, their stomach is ripped open revealing an intestine going from the body to the creature. Most people are still calling it fake but there are other posters saying that they've seen similar creatures outside their house.

 

 

'Watch me try to talk to one of those creatures!'

 

 

A live video thread is posted, Kaleb quickly clicks on it where the view count is at nearly 300 million already, the video is incredibly choppy. A person is walking outside their house as they're narrating what they're doing.

 

 

A creature is standing not too far away but it seems to not have noticed him, the person with the camera keeps walking forward as he continues to speak to the creature who has no reaction. He's within a few steps of the creature now, it looks just like a normal person with clothes on, if it weren't its face and clawed hands. It'd look like a rather ugly deformed person.

 

 

The creature turns around and sniffs the air suddenly, the man gasps, but as the creature leaps towards him he drops the camera. We can't see what's going on as the camera has been covered with red splatter, but the noises are quite clear, it's those of the person screaming before being cut off with the sounds of flesh being ripped apart. The creature sounds like it's eating the man.

 

 

Most of the people in the chatroom are calling it fake or to move the camera, but Kaleb is unsure what to think.

It happened far too quickly, it's like the creature suddenly sniffed the person was in range and pounced at him.

The video cuts off there with commenters unable to decide whether it's real or not.

 

 

Kaleb goes back to the main website and refreshes it; it's taking forever to load.

 

 

"I'll just have to restart the VPN, damn firewall." He says aloud as he closes everything to reload the environment.

 

 

*BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG*

 

 

He turned to look at the door with a puzzled look, the banging was incredibly loud. He wonders what it is then remembers the front desk sending up some dessert so he heads to the door, unlocking the first lock but just as he's about to do the final lock and turn the handle, he pauses as he remembers that creature in the video.

 

 

He doesn't unlock it and looks into the peephole, it's a service girl standing there by herself with a tray. He notices nothing unusual about the situation but opts for caution. He walks back to the table to grab the beginners’ staff, it's just a club but for some reason it makes him feel safer. Taking a few practice swings stretching, he walks back to the door.

 

 

*BANG BANG BANG*

 

 

"Coming" Kaleb yells as he walks to the door and undoes the final lock.

 

 

"RAHHHH"

 

 

He's suddenly pounced at by a creature baring its fangs at him, Kaleb is startled and steps backwards when he slips up.

He doesn't have time to think, he reacts purely on instinct. He slams the club down as he falls, it's an awkward position but him and the creature fall on the ground.

 

 

He takes a moment to recover from the shock of what just happened, the creature's body has fallen over him but it's not moving.

 

 

An unseen white light beam travels from the creature to between Kaleb's forehead while two items drop from it on the ground making a thump noise.

 

 

Kaleb takes a deep breath and pushes the body off of him, he's covered in blood but feeling around there's no cuts. The ground is covered with blood and looking out the door reveals the body of the service girl laying there, her neck has a large bite mark on it. It looks like the creature came up from behind her.

 

 

Sitting up he looks at the creature, its head has been smashed in with its skull cracked open and brain smashed apart. Its nails look particularly sharp as it has scratched up the carpet on its way down. Everything happened so fast that he didn't get a close look at the face of the creature, but he can distinctly remember that sinister look on its face, it wanted to kill.

 

 

His spine shivers as these thoughts flow through his mind, he looks at the items that were dropped. They're nearby, it's a single coin looking object and a small book.

 

 

He reaches out for them but as he touches the small book, information appears before his eyes.

 

 

[Level 4 Skill Book: 'Summon Guardian Spirit'. Description: Consumes 15 MP. Summons a Special Guardian Spirit, it will be your companion for life and grows with you. It will commence at level 1 with 10 on each statistic. Cooldown is 5 days. Would you like to learn this skill?]

 

"Yes" he immediately shouts out.

 

The book disappears into a beam of black light that integrates itself between his eyebrows, he can see its text within his mind and all he has to do is to activate it by touching. It's a strange sensation that only came when this happened.

 

He activates it, "Summon Guardian Spirit? This will consume 15 MP. You have 15 MP currently."

 

"Yes!" he says.