“If you open your mind and let me see these memories, I may be able to understand better. In turn, that should help me know how best to aid you. Normally, if you were some reborn mortal, I wouldn’t even have to ask, but given who you are, I prefer to tread carefully,” Ild’engel said.
“Not sure how I feel about letting you poke around inside my head, but then again, I guess you’re already in there. But if I let you do this, I expect you to start answering my questions. Do we have a deal?” he asked.
“Yes. I am bound to you. I must serve you just as I served your original incarnation. I will explain what I can today, but you will need to understand that the amount I can explain is limited by your progress. Once you gather enough essence, I will be able to physically manifest instead of being stuck here.”
Not knowing what else to say, he replied, “Fair enough.”
A part of Kyle wanted to ask more questions, but he had learned that sometimes it was just best to let things play out. Besides, the idea of her physically manifesting and putting a face to that voice was enticement enough.
She didn’t say another word before he felt as though someone was shifting through his memories. Almost too quickly to follow, images popped up. It was sorta like that thing they say happens right before you die, where your entire life flashes before your eyes.
The summary that Kyle felt from what he saw was his commitment to being the best. It was obvious in the way that he would never give up, never accept being second place. One of his favorite expressions, in fact, was that second place was simply the first loser.
It was clear he had a drive inside of him. A fire, so to speak, that consumed everything else around him with his need to excel. But in looking at his own memories, he also felt a rush of sadness. He may have been the best to ever play the game, but he was also alone. Sure, there were women happy to be on his arm, guys happy to drink on his tab, even parents who were proud of him.
None of those people understood him, though, and he had never built a lasting relationship with them. Here in this alien world, stripped of all the prestige and accomplishments that he had worked for, Kyle couldn’t help but wonder if it had been worth it. Would his life have seemed more meaningful, if he had connected with those around him?
Even with his parents, he’d been distant. It was more of an arm’s length relationship. Oh sure, he had bought them a big house and paid off all their debt when he signed his first contract extension after being named rookie of the year.
As for members of the fairer sex, a larger number of faces than Kyle expected ran before his eyes. He had never had trouble getting a girlfriend, even back in high school. Everyone loved a winner, but none of them really did it for him. Now looking at it from this perspective, he had to wonder if it was because he hadn’t allowed any of them to mean that much to him.
After what felt like quite a while, Kyle heard Ild’engel in his head again. “At least I can understand why he chose you. Your world may be full of overgrown children who play games for a living and more games for entertainment, but you have the same drive for victory that Krig had. The only real difference is how you seem to have made time for dalliances with a number of women, even if you never formed any real connections.”
“Of course. What’s the point of winning if you don’t get to collect the spoils, so to speak?” Kyle asked.
Ild’engel laughed with that same rich tone that made him feel like he was being wrapped in velvet. “Oh, you may be more fun than I had anticipated. Now I’m actually excited for the day that you gain enough control to let me manifest. Well, assuming that you live that long.”
Despite the ominous statement, Kyle chose to focus on moving things forward. “So, now that you’ve read the book on me, can we get to the part where you explain a bit more about where I am and what is going on?”
She paused.
Kyle wasn’t quite sure how he knew she paused, as she was just a voice inside his head, but that was still the impression he got.
Finally, she continued. “Verden is another world in a different plane of the universe. I see from your memories that you played some games that talked about the idea of the multiverse or different planes of existence.”
“Yeah, so does that make Verden the afterlife? I was never quite sure I believed in that, and now that I’m here, I can’t tell if I made it into heaven or if this is hell.” Kyle laughed in his head as he spoke to her.
“Your concepts of heaven and hell are only fragments of the truth. The reality is that each plane of existence is like a bubble within the depths of the sea. It is possible to travel from one plane to another, so long as one has the power to do so. But you have to cross the gray emptiness of the void to do it. Only divine level beings do so with any reliability, and even they don’t make the venture lightly.
“Celestial and fiendish beings can make the journey successfully, but generally have to be called by the essence of another to cross the void. Mortals, one you might think of as wizards, can likewise learn arts that channel and focus essence in order to cross the void. Typically, it requires many
