Chapter 1 - Prologue
I can't believe it actually worked, I really am back from the future just like I wished for. I can't believe that a world item had so much power. I look around my bedroom and I can see my old stuff before everything went to crap. I can also see my state of the art DDVR equipment, I look at the calendar and see the date, December 6, 2236. That means it is exactly 48 hours before the launch of The Ancients World. I can change the future just like I wanted, which means they are here too. I run downstairs and I go into the living room and my entire family is here. The ones that sacrificed so much for my siblings and I, my mom is cooking dinner as dad is watching T.V. with my older sister. "So you guys really are here..." I whisper to myself under my breath. I hear small footsteps run behind me and my little brother is also here.
He looks up at me with a smile. I have always been his role model since I was his only brother. I could never find a role model in my sister. She had problems of her own, but I still loved her very much. "What are you so happy about brother?" My little brother Marcus doesn't know what happened. Only I am the one who knows of what will happen, I have everything prepared in my head. "Brother, you there?" I haven't said a word yet and that wasn't the type of person I was back then.
I take a breath and bend down to talk to him. He is still very young, I remember his attitude was more severe than this after he grew up now that I think about it. He really changed after it happened. "I'm fine Marcus, just going through my thoughts." I stick out my fist and we fist bump. This is the thing we used to do when we were kids. He runs to the couch and sits next to Hailey, she is so beautiful. The drugs really messed her up after she met that toxic man. I look at the T.V. and they are talking about The Ancients World and how great it is. If only they knew the real truth.
I walk into the kitchen and look at my mom who is still young looking and doesn't have a single grey hair on her head. "Hey mom...." I can't stop myself from getting choked up. She doesn't turn to me as she is in the zone. I just take this time to enjoy that she is here with us and not gone.
My question finally gets through to her and she turns around with a smile. "Hey sweetie, do you need anything?" Even when she is doing all the work she still wants to ask if I need anything. I silently nod my head no at her and she gives me a worried look. "Are you feeling alright Cera? You don't look so good." I don't feel good, it is hard to wrap your head around the fact that you traveled back in time from your horrible future.
I just wrap her in a hug that I couldn't stop myself from happening. "Thanks mom...." She puts the spatula on the counter and hugs me back. I didn't know how much I needed to do this. I never got a chance to before she was gone and I never did it enough back then or should I say now. "Do you need my to help with the cooking?" I ask her as I pull away and look at her, she is much shorter than I am.
She takes a hard look at my face to see if I am really alright. She goes into mother mode and puts her hand on my forehead. "You don't feel hot....Go bother your dad. Food will be ready soon." She shoos me off with a smile knowing I am not sick. I took them for granted back then, I wont make that mistake again.
I listen to my mother with no complaints and turn to go talk to my father. I can feel my mom drilling holes into the back of my head. I walk up behind the couch and see that he is reading his favorite magazine now. "So Cera, did you get a lot of work done today?" I had a decent paying job at this time in my life.
My sister turns her head and gives her trademark 'mess with you' smile. "We all know he just edits and revises stories online. If you ask me he should get a real job." I cant help smiling at her words. You could tell that she was the first born with her words. I paid for my equipment with that job so I don't see why its so bad.
Dad folds up his paper and gently whacks the top her head. "At least he has a job Hailey, when are you going to get off your ass and contribute to this house?" The economy isn't good right now and kids usually get jobs to help pay for bills nowadays. Only the wealthy beyond reason have nothing to worry about.
She lightly smacks dads shoulder and she turns back to the T.V. "Maybe I can be an actress and we will never have to work a day in our lives again. You don't know." She says in an attitude of a child, she was the one that always got out of trouble with dad. Mom made up for it a lot, pretty soon there will be friction between the two of them.
I never gave my parents problems growing up, that is probably why mom and dad don't bother me about my future. I learned from the mistakes my sister made and have been better for it. "If I know you like I do there is no way that you have the self confidence to be an actress. You'd be better off in labor." She looks at me in fury.
She takes longer than she normally does for a comeback. "Well...What do you know!!" After all that time that is the best she can do. I chuckle and walk past them and sit in my favorite chair. We are watching the T.V. as a reporter gives their take on Jericho and Xander Inc.
This is the company that 'created' The Ancients World. "The head of development had this to say, 'Everyone should expect the next change to our world to be through Ancients World.' This is just one of the many incredible claims that come from J&X Inc." Nobody knows how right those words will turn out to be. I can smell that the food is now done and I haven't had moms cooking in years.
I hear her setting the plates and silverware. I look back at the kitchen and she is still watching me. I worried her more than I thought. "Dinner's ready. Lets all sit down and eat." Everyone gets up and heads to the dining table. Nobody disobeys mom when she gives an order, all of us would starve to death without her.
We say a prayer and start eating, Hailey looks like she doesn't like the food. It is really good though. She has always been picky. "You better eat your dinner dear. I won't drive you to the mall tomorrow morning. Not many people get what we get." Mom doesn't know how right that statement will be, eventually we will lose even this. The day my siblings and I were supposed to get kicked out was the same day I made my wish.
I have information of that world in spades and the first thing I am doing is securing the best divine class. The rankings in The Ancients World went in junk, common, uncommon, rare, very rare, epic, legacy, legendary, and the highest is divine. In my future the best player in the world was a divine class player, the same class I am taking for myself. Legacy and up are one of a kind items or quests. The original owner left the instructions on how to unlock it in the forums.
The name of the divine class is called The Son of Arch-Angel Michael. The lore of the class is you are the son of a human female and the Arch-Angel Michael. Blue Chaos, the original owner, left everything for others to read after he completed the class quest. I am going straight for it when I log in. You get it in the beginner city where nobody bothered to go or spend time there. When Blue Chaos found the quest it was already two years into the game, now it's going to be mine.
The legacy and higher gears and weapons are special in that they level-up with you. I know where most of the greatest ones are, however I wont have access to those areas till a month or two into the game. The leveling system and A.I is unforgiving in The Ancients World, the painful thing about my divine class is that mine will take twice as much experience to level up. The hardest part to deal with about the divine class, The Son of Arch-Angel Michael, is that it attracts the attention of powerful NPC's both good and bad. Each class above legacy is unique and special, especially The Son of Arch-Angel Michael.
I will have to be careful of not just players, but also NPC's. Guilds are also another problem, there are corporations that make livings off games like these with famous names in them. They will learn that owning and operating a guild in The Ancients World is very difficult and expensive, not because of players, but in the exact opposite with NPC's. They are like humans with independent thoughts and objectives, kingdoms and towns will not let you build a guild just because you want to. It is one of the most difficult things to do in The Ancients World. With the higher tier of an NPC, the more important they are to the world and lore of Ancients World. There is a hide your stats feature, but that only works on other players. If an NPC is strong enough they can view your information in their own way.
Now all I have to do is wait till the game releases in two days, I already have it predownloaded and when it launches all I have to do is start on my journey to secure the future I want for my family. The greatest thing about The Ancients World is how solo friendly it is, you can be just as successful without a guild as you can with one. The last thing about my divine class is that its not allowed to join guilds since the class is too powerful. This is a benefit for me, but to others it is a bane. Legacy and legendary have there own rules, but they are there own type of problem in of itself. Only 00.0001 percent of the population will every get a legacy or higher class, at least in the 5 years that I played.
I know this world like the back of my hand, nobody found out what the max level or tier was. 5 years isn't enough time to explore Ancients World, the world has a strange property that I will explain another time. There is no way that all of its secrets can be known too, I cant help being excited. This is the world I used to escape the horrible one I live in. Now its just the waiting game.