Leora spun round in shock, looking for the source of the voice.

  “I…I didn’t do anything,” she stammered, “I came down with…with the candle and then the cavern just… it just lit up by itself, I swear I didn’t do anything!”

  The light in the orb was pulsing even brighter, until Leora couldn’t bear to look at it and shrank back, covering her eyes. Even with her eyes tightly shut, the light was almost blinding.

  “Not now, you ridiculous child!” Shouted the voice, “What did you do before?! How could you have behaved so stupidly, so insolently!” An immense pressure began to fill the room, Leora collapsed onto the floor and buried her head in her arms.

  “Who are you to disobey me? To ignore me! I deigned to show you kindness, to guide you, and what did you do? You threw that kindness back in my face, you pathetic, selfish, coward!” The voice finished with a hysterical screech.

  Leora was certain she was about to die. She had no idea what she had done wrong, she lay trembling, trying desperately to think of what could possibly have happened. The air around her became hot and arid and Leora was struggling to breathe when suddenly, a second voice spoke.

  “IRREGULARITY IN ENVIRONMENT”, a vaguely masculine monotone voice spoke.

  “STABILISATION IN PROCESS”

  Immediately it became much easier to breathe, and the light in the room dimmed to a more manageable level. Leora tentatively peeked up and took advantage of the lull in activity to scramble back away from the orb until she was pressed against the cavern wall, gazing fearfully at the pulsing light.

  “NO OVERRIDE POSSIBLE. BLESSINGS CAN NOT BE REVOKED ONCE GIVEN. CEASE INTERFERENCE IMMEDIATELY. TITLES, SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, ALREADY CONFIRMED.

  Large blue letters appeared in the air in front of Leora’s face, the word CONGRATULATIONS was surrounded by bursts of sparkling lights. Leora gaped, Congratulations!? Seriously?! I almost died; I still may almost die! This is all absolutely mad!

  YOU ARE NOW OF AN AGE TO COMPLETE YOUR AWAKENING. YOUR TITLES, SKILLS, AND ATTRIBUTES WILL BE REVEALED TO YOU. YOU WILL ALSO RECEIVE A BLESSING FROM THE GOD OF LIGHT. PLACE YOUR HANDS ON THE ORB TO RECEIVE YOUR BLESSING.

  What!! I am not going near that thing! I don’t want a blessing, and she doesn’t want to give me one. If I leave now what will happen, will I just not awaken? Maybe that would be ok, I mean I’ve been fine up until now… Leora began to slide along the wall, keeping a wary eye on both the text and the orb.

  The text rotated slowly, so that it was always completely in her view. Leora stretched out her hands to feel the edge of the archway and threw herself into the opening with relief, only to bounce off an invisible barrier and land in a sprawled heap on the floor.

  The monotone voice read out the message in front of her for the second time. Leora climbed slowly to her feet, still unwilling to approach the orb. The message came a third time, louder and more insistent, but Leora wouldn’t move. I can’t do this. This isn’t happening, I have to do something.

  Leora swallowed nervously. “No …thank you.” She coughed, trying to clear her throat. “I…I don’t need a…a blessing, I don’t deserve one.” Please let me go, please let me go, please let me go.

  BLESSING ALREADY CONFIRMED. PLACE HANDS ON ORB TO RECEIVE BLESSING.

  Leora felt a strange force pulling her forwards, she fought against it, but was dragged by an unseen power to the centre of the room and found herself grasping the orb with both hands. Please let me go, please don’t kill me, please let me go, please don’t kill me…

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Ha! Kill you? If only!” The female voice from before laughed bitterly. “Luckily for you, you stupid little traitor, I am unable to directly act against a blessed soul. Believe me, if I could, I would strip you not only of the power I gave you, but every speck of mana and health you are about to receive and leave you a shrivelled husk. This was meant to be a moment of triumph! Of enlightenment! I chose you to guide my followers, to push back the forces of darkness, to spread the glory of light! I was going to use this time, this rare chance of direct communication to teach you, to guide you, that you might serve your purpose as my chosen acolyte. Instead, you betrayed me and wasted your gifts. I am left with no recourse. The system does not allow deities to involve themselves in other ways. This was my chance. And you, you pathetic child, have ruined it. You could have been glorious. But you chose to defy me and to remain a weak, meaningless, waste of space. That’s your blessing Leora. You may have some power, but it will be useless to you, as you are useless to me.”

  The light which had been shifting and moving frantically within the orb throughout her speech vanished suddenly. Leora was finally released and felt the back of her hand burn. She cradled it to her chest and rushed back towards the archway, stopping just before the barrier.

  New blue words appeared in front of her.

  DOUBLE MANA BLESSING RECEIVED

  Leora barely took in the message, still trembling. A smooth palm sized crystal appeared in her hands which she stared at in confusion. She squeezed it nervously and a new blue square popped up.

  Leora’s jaw dropped as she read through the baffling list.

  Demi Dryad?! I’ve never even heard of one, dryads don’t leave the great forest, how is this possible? A soul traveller? Surely that’s a mistake, what does that even mean? A Maker? A Crafter? All those wonderful skills? Is this what my life is now? What I’m supposed to do? Isn’t this everything I’ve ever wanted?

  She read through the list again. I’m pretty sure Sammy once boasted that his strength was in double figures, is this what he meant? It’s good my luck is high; I will need every bit of that to get through the inevitable meltdown the shrine and my mother will have about all this. A demi dryad, I wonder what that entails. She looked down at her body and saw that the dress which had previously hung down to her ankles, was now hitting just below the knee. Yes! I grew! She ran her hands up her body, noticing some curves she hadn’t had before. Her hair had also grown longer, but she couldn’t see if the colour had changed in the dim blue light. She stroked her head. Okay, no extra ears or other appendages as far as I can tell. That’s probably a good thing. As she calmed down, Leora stretched her arms up and twirled around enjoying the sensations of her new form. The list had vanished but reappeared when she squeezed the stone once more.

  “Erm, excuse me…?” She asked cautiously, “what is a soul traveller?”

  SOUL TRAVELLER: SOUL WHICH HAS TRAVELLED FROM A DIFFERENT PLANE. ADVANTAGES INCLUDE SELF DETERMINATION, TITLE OF PURPOSE, ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTE POINTS, A HIGHER CHANCE TO RECEIVE A DIVINE BLESSING.

  “A different plane..? What does that mean?”

  SOUL HAS ALREADY EXISTED IN A DIFFERENT WORLD. FOLLOWING THE CESSATION OF LIFE IN THAT WORLD, THE SOUL WAS BROUGHT FIRST TO THE PLACE BETWEEN AND THEN HERE FOR REBIRTH.

  “The cessation of life...? as in, I died? So, I have lived a different life before, but then I died and then came here?”

  CONFIRMED

  ASSIMILATION COMMENCING

  “Assimilation?! What assimilation? What is happening now?!” Leora began to feel woozy and then collapsed to the floor.

  ASSIMILATION UNDERWAY.