Civilization

"My name is Ariel, I will be your guide as you experience this new world."

Next to Ariel, a full-length mirror appears and I see myself in it. Short straight black hair, a babyface but dead-looking eyes, skinny arms, and legs. I look away slightly, I can't bear to look at myself and what I had become after my parent's death.

"You may change your appearance slightly, up to 15%."

Ariel's words bring my attention back to the mirror.

"How do I change my appearance and what can I do?" I asked.

"You may change your appearance slightly, up to 15%. You can change your hair, height, body mass and you can do so by imagining yourself in your changed appearance. What you see in the mirror will be how you look in the new world."

I think for a bit and I close my eyes imaging how I want to look and when I open my eyes I see myself 4 years ago. I had a similar hairstyle but a brighter face, still a baby face though. My arms and legs are a little bit more muscular and I look like I was happy with where I was in my life.

"Are you happy with these changes?"

"Yes, I am happy."

I give Ariel a smile and she returns the favor by smiling back.

"What should I call you human male?"

"Ian my name is Ian."

"Then Ian, starting from here is where you will create Civilization. I wish you luck."

Golden light surrounds Ariel and expands to envelop me.

....

After the golden light fades away I finally get to see the world. I could feel the heat from the sun on my back and the clear blue skies stretched towards the horizon. Not a hint of pollution and smoke in the air and soft gentle breezes brush against my body. I look in front of me and observe the cracked, red chalky ground. Small and big rock formations litter the ground with little bits of dry greenery here and there with the occasional tall desert tree. The arid environment made me a little skeptical about how to create a city in this location.

Like in every game there must be a status screen so I thought status in my head and it appeared. The familiar but not so familiar opaque bluish screen.

Name: Ian

Race: Human

Health Points (HP): 10/10

Mana Points (MP): 0/0

Strength: 5

Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 5

Luck: 1

"Ian, are you ok?"

I finally stopped observing the status screen and the environment and turned around towards the voice. A young lady maybe in her late 20s with a flushed face was close to me. She was wearing a dirty greyish-brown one-piece dress with the ends ripped and frayed. Next to her, holding her hand, was a boy around 14 or 15 with sharp eyes and a frustrated face.

"Excuse me miss but you are?"

I replied with a confused look on my face.

The young lady looks back at me with a confused face herself. She tilts her head a bit and squints her eyes looking at me a little worried.

"Don't worry about him Lucina, it must be the heat. Did you see him stop for a bit? I bet he must be regretting his actions."

A loud out of breath male around 30 years old was behind her. He had short reddish-brown spiky hair and a tall stature carrying two bags over his shoulder. Next to him was an old man with a slightly hunched back.

"Howard I was just worried since he wasn't moving plus he did save us from the encampment. It's the least I can do."

"Hey, Ian! Come on, take a bag, let's move."

The loud man, Howard, shoves a bag into my arms and slightly pushes me to the side, and continues moving. Lucina and the other two people follow behind him slowly.

Is this the background of the story? I thought. I sling the bag over my shoulder and follow the group of people. I turned to the old man and started to talk to me to gather more information.

"Are you ok? How long has it been since we left the encampment?"

The old man looks at me curiously for a second then turns away and looks ahead.

"I am fine young lad and as for how long it has been we left last night and the sun is at its peak right now blazing down on us. If you forgot my name, call me old man Hus. The young lady over there is Lucina, next to her is a little boy called Luke but they are not mother and son biologically at least. Lucina takes care of him to the best of her ability. As for the tall bloke over there, that is Howard, our protector and the reason we lived until the day we left."

"I see...I am glad you guys are out of the encampment then."

I look at old man Hus, and I could see a soft smile on his face as he looks forward. I can only guess how happy it would be to leave a place like an encampment.

Though it got me curious, what is an encampment? A place where they were slaves? Or a prison? No, not with a child, then it must have been a place where these people were kept as slaves of some sort but then that raises the question who were their masters? Looking at Howard, he must have been able to resist against most people even though armor and weapons does that mean it was some sort of creatures like orcs or kobolds? Should I just ask?

"Sister Lucina!"

Luke shouting snapped me back into the present. I see Lucina lying on the ground and Luke was kneeling next to her shouting her name. Howard ran towards Lucina and touched her forehead with the back of his hand.

"It's burning hot and she is breathing rapidly and she is covered in sweat. Shit, what do we do? We don't have any medicine if it is some sort of sickness. We can't- we can't be losing people when we just escaped."

"I-I-I'm fine. Just felt a little faint" Lucina replied softly.

"Wait, Howard calm down, panicking won't help. Looking at Lucina she looks like she might just be experiencing heat stroke, after all, it is hot and the sun is directly over our heads. The first thing we need to do is cool her down and give her plenty of water. Look at the tree over there, that's the closest place where we can get some sort of shade and shelter right now so we must hurry over there if we want to help Lucina."

I calmly diagnosed Lucina's condition however, I am not a doctor or a nurse so I was not completely sure if the diagnosis was correct.

"OK, how are we going to get her there? Just lift her?"

Howard bends down to put his hands under Lucina preparing to lift her up.

"Wait! Give Lucina some water first, then give your bag to Luke. Afterward, carry Lucina on your back and run to the tree we will catch up ourselves. Once you are at the tree be careful, check the location before you place her down. Make sure there are no insects nearby, no big rocks either in case something is hiding under it, and check the tree trunk in case of other insects. Once you settle her down, cool her down by fanning her, use your shirt ok?"

"Ok...Ok, I got it."

Howard got out their water sack in his bag and poured water into Lucina's mouth slowly. Compared to his attitude towards me earlier he had a gentler look and a worried expression. After giving Lucina some water Howard passed his bag to Luke while telling Luke to make sure not to drop the bag and I helped Howard position Lucina on his back. He looked back at us with a face of gratitude and with a nod of his head he headed to the shade.

Holding the second bag and making sure Luke and old man Hus was walking with me I spoke to them with a confident tone and a smile.

"Everything will be ok, let's follow them"