"You know it sucks to die….", I monologued as I found myself floating inside a pitch-black void as though it was made entirely out of darkness.
I am or rather was a cook in my previous life I made some pretty good money compared to the local pay rates, and on the day before I was supposed to get a big promotion I ended up heading to my parents house to tell them the good news, on the way I saw a kid playing out and about in the street over in the suburbs where I use to live, now this was nothing too out of the ordinary or it wouldn't be if I hadn't seen a black mustang come speeding down the street headed straight for the girl, couldn't say how fast it was going but with the shear amount of ground it was covering I'd say it was going well over 3 times the speed limit and call it bravery or stupidity but my mind went blank I didn't think I just acted by the time I realized what I had done I had tossed the kid out of the way as the car smashed into me, and in a split second that moment of clarity was broken as all I knew from that point on was a world of mind bending pain as my bones where crushed and found myself sent flying before crashing into the ground and crumpled up into a heap the kid looking at me with a look of horror etched across her face but it seemed that besides a few scrapes she would be fine, knowing that I felt myself give in to the pain as everything began to fade out to black and then I found myself here where ever hear is.
After getting my head sorted out and calming down a bit I began to hear a ringing noise but not like any I've ever heard before sounded like a bell being rung with a big hammer after a few minutes I began to move closer to the source of the noise, don't ask me how I moved I'm not even sure I just thought about it and then I suddenly was.
The ringing became louder and louder as my surroundings began to look less like a perfect void. More like the night sky at first, it was small pinpricks of light. Still, as I got closer It began to change as nebulae and galaxies entered my periphery, in all honesty, it was beautiful like a kind of cosmic tapestry woven into existence as I neared the source I saw…, well I don't have a sense of scale for the entity before me they dwarfed the surrounding galaxies and me for that matter yet I got a feeling of familiarity as I saw streams of energy begin to congeal in front of them, these streams gave off different feeling not like hot or cold but as in the feeling of wonder, wanderlust, creativity, passion, and sheer determination, and with a final swing of its hammer that seemed to brim with the power of a thousand suns the cosmic titan swung down the hammer and a brilliant flash of light covered everything I covered my eyes from the shear intensity of the light.
When I opened my eyes again the titan was holding a newly formed galaxy in its hands it was mesmerizing to behold however when it was done it looked down at me and I could feel just how tired the titan was as though it had been at this for eons on end it then took it's hammer and seemed to offer it to me as though to convey it wanted me to take up it's work and I couldn't refuse I mean I was already dead so without hesitation I reached out to the gargantuan hammer and felt myself become flooded with what I can only describe as possibility and again found myself engulfed in light. I then opened my eyes, only to find myself in an unfamiliar alleyway that seemed not run down but in a state of neglect as there were gang signs and graffiti everywhere, looking closer I saw swastikas and my brain went a bit panicked as my native American ancestry gave me a bronzish skin tone or tan for the plebs so yeah not a good sign looking down though something wasn't right there where not the clothes I remembered wearing before, they looked a bit rundown but not to the point of tossing them kind of like I got them from a good will.
It was this point I had the sense of mind to start checking my pockets I found a leather wallet with a learners permit and a… "what the hell is this" I said as I held up what appears to be a very big coin kind of like a silver dollar but it looked like the same metal as quarters hell my pocket hand a few fistfuls of them now I knew I wasn't in Florida hell the coins alone had me thinking this is some kind of alternate earth where dollar bills don't exist before I can get dragged into a tirade about the stupid coins I hear the revving of a very loud engine coming from the street looking out I see what I can only describe as a freaking mad max tank come barreling down the road as some kind of souped-up motorcycles is giving chase with a guy in full armor ridding it, at that point my brain needed a minute to recover from the mental whiplash that just zoomed past me.
Taking a moment to calm down I sit on the ground with the wall behind me I then put the money and wallet back in my pocket only I feel something else in there as well reaching in I find a strange key as there doesn't seem to be any teeth on the thing, then everything around me seems to slow down or stop as I feel a rush of the same energy as what the titans hammer engulfed me in like a symphony I felt the energy shoot upward latching onto a star in a distant constellation then like a meteor it come's hurtling back at me bringing the star with it as it comes closer I learn more about the star's and constellation this one was a Crafting constellation of Artisan, then it hit's me both the star and the power that comes with it I learn it's called Shaper and despite it's simple name it seems to bend reality so that any material I work with it just better than if someone else did, such as building a wall from clay and sand with be as strong as granite or how if I made a wooden sword it would retain it's edge like a proper steel sword, I also feel that I still have some energy left over from that little ordeal but I pay it now mind the power I just got has me wanting to test it out but I'm not sure where to try it or where I'm going to be staying.
After taking a walk around the downtown area of Brockton Bay, I noticed some people giving me strange looks. Although the majority of the people there were either pale or light tan, with a few African-Americans here and there, I still felt like there were some hidden racial slurs being thrown my way. It wasn't anything openly offensive, but it was there. As I continued walking, I discovered a key in my pocket that seemed to have no clear indication as to what it unlocked. However, I got a strange feeling that it could open any lock as long as it was attached to a door and provided access to something called the "cosmic warehouse."
I decided to find a place to test it out, but this only added another layer of complexity to my predicament. I needed to find somewhere to stay, but apparently, I couldn't close the door behind me. Deciding to find something to eat, I chose to go to a German restaurant. However, I noticed that people were giving me discriminative looks, probably because of my height.
After waiting for a while, I finally got a seat and looked through the menu. Although I recognized some dishes that resembled my grandma's cooking, I didn't see any sodas that I was familiar with, except for Fanta. I assumed it was just a theme, so I ordered some bratkartoffeln with eggs and bacon. The meal was delicious, and I especially enjoyed the crispy and salty potatoes and the scrambled eggs with melted cheddar cheese. After finishing my meal, I realized that I had roughly 3,000 dollars in cash or change. Feeling generous and perhaps somewhat guilty because of the stares I was getting, I left a ten-dollar tip for the meal.
A few minutes later I'm out with a big slice of cinnamon streusel much to my delight," Now then let's see what this warehouse looks like" I say to myself, thankfully there's a bus stop nearby never really rode one before but when you're strapped for cash you got to make do with what you got.
After riding around on the bus I saw a small set of abandoned buildings hopefully there wouldn't be anyone inside but to be on the safe side I made a walk around to the back of the building thankfully it was empty inside so I inserted the key into the back door and, "Okay that kind of cool, not every day you see a key shift itself like some kind of t-1000"I mused to myself, once I entered the doorway I found myself inside what seemed to be a fairly spartan room with a metal door off to the other side.
With curiosity getting the best of me I entered the room and subconsciously I tried to shut the door word tries " The hell" I voiced my confusion, then with all the subtlety of whiplash The Forge decided to tell me that this place was the entrance hall to my cosmic warehouse and that the door cannot be shut with the key user still inside, "Huh, ..Neat, Wait my power's called [The Celestial Forge] well isn't that interesting" I monologued as more information about the warehouse began to click into place the next room was the starting area this power came with and held about 6,400ft not massive but still a good amount of starting space for whatever I might end up building speaking of, I reached into my pocket for my wallet I still hand roughly $2,000's left not much in the grand scheme of things but hopefully with the forge I would be able to eventually make my way in this world now I just need to find out more about this planet.
Walking through the streets of Brockton Bay which is the name of this city, I'd learned that after asking around for the local library it ended up being a short train ride only 20 minutes or so, though when I arrived at the steps of the library I heard sobs coming from a girl sitting with her knee's to her chest at the foot of the steps in front of the library, feeling sorry for the poor girl I walked up to her, "Miss are you doing alright" I asked, she seemed to tense before slowly raising her head yet it was then that the forge began to churn and the world halted I could feel the charge within me reach out and latch on to a fractured constellation of small motes yet one seemed just out of reach as the motes surged towards me a name emerged within my mind (Toolkits: Mundane).
I found myself facing the girl again. I felt something on my arm under the sleeve, but I decided to ignore it for now. She looked at me puzzled for a moment, before muttering, "I'm fine, sir." I felt sympathy for her and decided to give her a hundred dollars as I could tell something bad had happened. "Please take this. Go shopping, get some ice cream, or whatever you want. Just remember, it's never good to keep pain locked inside," I told her with as much compassion as possible. "I can't accept this, sir," she said, attempting to hand the money back. I gently stopped her hand and said, "No need for that, miss. Go ahead and take it as a gift. Oh, I never introduced myself. Call me Finn Finn Patrickson," I said, holding out a hand and giving her my best smile. She took my hand with some trepidation, probably thinking I would harm her. I helped her up, and she swallowed a lump in her throat. After a moment, she spoke, "Uh, I'm, uh, Taylor Hebert, sir." The poor girl looked like she was about to cry again. "Taylor, it's getting late. How about you go ahead and head home? Your parents must be worried sick about you," I said in a gentle voice, not to scare her. She looked down again for a moment, and an indescribable look crossed her face before she spoke. "Uhm, yes, sorry, Mister Finn. Please have a good day. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." With that, she walked away, and I hoped she made it home safely. I let out a small chuckle and went inside the library, taking my first step into this new world.
