It was the end of the Earth. A planet once full of life now bore a charred ashen surface.
The people of the world once cheerful and leading peaceful lives had faced a great catastrophe of their own creation. Greed and Ego in their leaders had been their downfall, leading to wars that wrought destruction of an unprecedented scale.
The sad reality wasn't that humanity had killed itself off with a large explosion. No. Humanity, blessed or cursed with its resistance, had survived the nuclear missiles that had fallen like rain across the globe. However a population of 9 billion had been culled to a mere couple million scattered across the globe. Disconnected, hungry, and tired, there simply wasn't enough people or resources left to fight.
Humans were left on a nearly baren planet, hungry, scuffling over the few resources that they had, protecting what little they had, and fighting to see the next sunrise. For what, this generation would never know, all they could see were destroyed cities and former monuments of the glory of a bygone era. Perhaps, should they survive, their descendants would be able to rebuild, utilizing the fragments of knowledge they could gather and pass down.
This story follows one of these individuals who had struggled to survive on this wartorn planet, Terrace Greyson. He was going to turn 45 this year, however he highly doubted he was going to live to see his birthday.
He had once been a soldier fighting in the warfront. He had left the battlefield with his platoon to return home after the chain of command broke down. With communications down it took months trying to navigate the seas and make it back to America. Thankfully, so long as you weren't picky, military rations lasted a long time.
Once his platoon returned to home soil, they went looking for friends and family that had survived the explosions. Many didn't but a few had managed to wait it out in shelters. They regrouped and migrated over to a patch of land in Pennsylvania that hadn't been affected.
There they had lived for the past decade. However recently, though they had some doctors among them, without any production of medicine diseases regained their throne among the deadliest threats to survivors.
As his breath rattled, Terrance knew that his pneumonia was going to claim his life soon. He had been prepared for it since the town doctor had diagnosed him with it. It had gradually worsened despite his best efforts over the past few months. Slowly losing stamina and vitality. But he did his best to tend to his field and small orchard none the less. His people were on the brink of a famine as it was, and he could not rest easy while other people were out toiling away to keep the community fed.
As he walked over to his chair, coughing and hacking as his lungs tried to expell the fluid in them, Terrance picked up a book a friend had given him for his 30th birthday. It had been after they had gone to one of the abandoned cities looking for supplies. Though the book was decades old at this point, the characters and text on the cover were still visible.
"Breath of the Wild. Creating a Champion" said Terrence as he brushed his hand along the once glossy cover. Terrance had been an avid fan of the game series since he was a child. Excitedly watching walk-throughs on YouTube, drawing the main characters on paper. Learning about "The Timeline" and discussing with friends whenever the next game was previewed. Those were the times.
Now in this age after the Great War, things like video games were unheard of. If any settlement had power they would be conserving it for vital functions like lights, heating, and food storage. Electricity was too valuable to be wasted on frivolous things like video games.
All that remained of the game that once fascinated Terrance were memories and the book he was holding at the moment.
"The time is coming, should probably write a note or somethin. Hate for this to get lost and destroyed..." Terrance said to himself as he gazed at the worn book.
Flipping it open, Terrance looked through the pages he had read and reread countless times. Sometimes he felt like he was back in his younger years, his siblings beside him eagerly flipping through the pages, curious to see what work was in the background of the game they had waited to play for so long.
Muffled voices, familiar yet distant played in the back of Terrance's mind. A tear worked it's way out of his eye and traced a path down his cheek before falling onto his chest.
By the time he finished reading, the sun had long since set. Getting up, Terrance drank a cup of water and wrote an addendum to a short will he had composed. The land he was using was already part of the settlement so the leadership would figure out who it would go to. As for his various belongings, he still had some say in. He had already written down who was to get most of his stuff one of his fromer teammates had found a good partner and had children together. Most of his furniture would go to them, his tools would be divided among the community similar to his land, but while most of his stuff was decided on, the book he had just been reading wasn't. He had been torn between passing it on to another person of the older generation, or one of the kids of the settlement.
'old folks have enough momentos of the past, maybe giving this to a storyteller of the next generation this story will live on. Maybe even grow' thought Terrance as he scrawled a name onto the paper with the title of the book next to it.
'they are a respectful kid, they'll take good care of it. Their mom also knows the franchise, so I'm sure they won't mix up the characters names like most people used to.' thought Terrance a soft chuckle making it's way out of his lips before a wheezing coughing fit overtook him.
'Damn this weak body.' thought Terrance as he moved over to his bed and lay down into it and went to sleep.
He woke up, not in his bed, but standing in a space full of stars. Looking around Terrance was fascinated by the beauty. Stars of a variety of colors reds, white, and blue stars, so many color variations. Some were clustered together where others were out alone in the middle of nowhere.
'thus is a nice dream' thought Terrance as he got lost gazing into he stary expanse.
"Your not dreaming I'm afraid" said a voice behind Terrance.
Turning around, Terrance came face to face with three large figures leaning down to look at him. Each of them were a different color,
One was red, the middle was blue, and the last one was green.
The figures had feminine features, but Terrance couldn't make out any specific details on them. The three figures were composed entirely of different shades of their color, and looked like statues carved from crystal.
As they appeared, something in the area shifted and the stars in the surroundings started to cascade downward, like seeing a cloud of shooting stars all around them.
'Why is this scene so familiar?' thought Terrance. Then a faint memory flashed in his mind, very faded but still present. A memory from a scene in the game revolving around finding a sword that sealed away evil and keeping golden triangles from the hands of an evil overlord, while playing an ocarina from time to time.
The green goddess moved closer, "You have died, young man, however, due to your determination and experience in life, we the goddesses of Power, Wisdom, and Bravery, would like to extend an invitation for you to be reborn in a world we oversee."
"Why? From what I remember of mythology, gods typically don't just give people things for free, if I may be so rude, what is it you get out of this deal?" Asked Terrance.
"A wise assumption indeed." Said the blue goddess. Terrance wasn't sure how he knew she was the one speaking as her and the green goddess' voices were indistinguishable from one another and neither had moved their statuesque mouths when talking, he just somehow knew as her words reverberated in the space around them.
"We created a world long ago, however in doing so we made a mistake which has resulted in a never ending war between good and evil. A cycle of violence that never ends which wreaks havoc on the world and claims the lives of innocent people. We can stand this no longer and hope to bring in an external force to end this cycle." Said the red goddess.
"That is quite the task, I'm not sure how you are expecting me to do it, I'm just a former soldier who fought in a war that resulted in the near extinction of my race." Said Terrance
"That is why we are going to give you the strength and knowledge needed to save the world." Said the green goddess. "My gift is to revert your body back into its prime condition, as well as grant you a permanent boost to your vitality so you will not fall prey to any illness or infection."
"Could I keep my current appearance? I was finally able to grow a beard I was happy with, I don't want to have to restart with that scraggly beard I had back when I was 27." Asked Terrance.
"Of course, it's a simple thing. I just thought you might have wanted to look younger." Said the goddess.
"I will heal your mind of the scars of war, and grant your the knowledge of the wisest Sages" said the blue goddess.
As for my gift, I will give you two requests, so long as they are not omniscient.
Pondering for a bit, Terrance throught back to the powers he could remember from stories he read before and after the war. There want much to do on you own in your free time other than read with the internet down.
"For my first request, I want the skills Rimaru Tempest received when he was reborn from the story "That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime", along with the ability to evolve the skills I receive." Said Terrance.
"Ae you sure you want that? You won't be able to use many of them to the same degree as he does due to having a human body and not a slime's." Said the red goddess.
"Yes and for my second request... I would like a combination of the Gates of Babylon and Unlimited Blade Works from the Fate series." Said Terrance.
"You certainly dont hold back do you?" Said the red goddess.
"Not when I am getting tossed into a world that is known to have powerful monsters capable of destroying armies of regular people. This world doesn't have weapons like guns or missiles from what I've seen, or at least not accessable for the majority of people. If I am going to survive I'm going to need strong abilities" said Terrance.
"I'll grant it, but I am going to seal away some of the treasures in the gate. For one they would cost too much magic for you to manifest in the beginning, and second it would take a heavy toll on your body to wield." Said the goddess.
"And thirdly your worried I would go power crazy and wreak more havoc on the world with them in a fight with a bokoblin?" Terrance said jokingly.
Somehow Terrance flet like the goddess were giving him a deadpan look despite their faces not changing during the entire interaction.
"Sister, is it too late to select another candidate?" Said the green goddess to the blue.
"Bad jokes do not overshadow his potential to save our world, dear sister, I am afraid we must bear this side of our candidate in order to have the high likelihood of success he presents." Said the blue goddess.
And with that final sentence, the space around them started to darken, Terrance looked up to see a light directly above them, the source growing larger and larger until it's shine took over the surroundings.
"Take care and best of luck, Terrance."
Starting a new Fic. Not dropping Reborn Engineer. Just writing this in tangent to have something to write if I get stuck on that fic.
Terrance found himself in a grassy field. He looked at his arms and felt his face. He had the beard he had gotten accustomed to over the years, he felt better than he had for the better part of a decade. It didn't hurt to breathe, and by the goddess did the air smell wonderful. The cool breeze that went past him contrasted nicely with the warmth of the sun in the dazzling blue sky.
As he looked around he quickly recognized which version of Hyrule he had been reborn in. The extensive fields, the stone ruins he could see in the distance. He was in the version that had gone through a great calamity that cost the freedom of the princess and the life of the Hero wielding the sword that repells evil.
He was on guard, from what he could remember, there were war machines that shot lasers in this game that were impossible to outrun on foot. Terrance knew that if he came across one of them he would likely die if he did not familiarize himself with his new powers.
'Notice: Great Sage is booting up.'
'Notice: Incorporating knowledge bestowed by Goddess of Wisdom'
'Processing'
'Integrating data'
'Notice: Integration complete, starting'
Terrance heard another voice in his head. It wasn't the one that narrated his thoughts, so he was confused at first until he remembered his first request to the Goddess of Power.
'Great Sage, please introduce yourself and your functions' thought Terrance.
'Answer: Good Afternoon Master, I am the skill Great Sage. I am a passive and active skill that aids you in many tasks. I am a database of information you can call upon when needed, I can process information and offer assistance in the creation of plans or projects, and calculate chances of success in certain scenarios using collected data.'
'Thank you Great Sage, please list me my current abilities.'
'Notice: Host has the following skills:
Category: Intrinsic
[Self Regeneration]-Passive
Utilizes Magic energy to regenerate the Host's body. Can fully restore Host's body from the brink of death in a week. Surface to moderate wounds will heal overnight, broken bones will heal in two days.
[Predator]-active
Allows host to consume substances and parts of other beings and gain benefits from them. Allows for the consumption of nearly any biological matter to me used as fuel with the exception of poisonous materials.
[Evolution]-Passive
Allows the host to evolve skills and abilities past normal limits. Host can transcend humanity if pushed far enough.
Category: Common:
[Marksmanship]-active
Improves accuracy by 25% and ranged damage by 50%. Cost: 10 Magic
[Marshal Arts]-Passive
Increases damage dealt using Marshal Arts by 10%.
[Swimming]-Passive
Reduces stamina consumed when swimming.
[Running]-Passive
Reduces stamina consumed when running.
[Cooking]-Passive
Increases quality of cooking by 10%. Food cooked by host will be 10% more pleasurable to the consumer regardless of palet.
[Farming]-Passive
Guides the intuition of the host to pick the best means to tend to various plants caring from what times to fertilize the plants, optimal watering times, and soil conditions. Following the guided intuition will lead to a boost in a crop's vitality, quality, and yeald.
Category: Extra:
[N/A]
Category: Resistance:
[Disease resistance]
Host is highly resistant to most forms of disease and infections, the most deadly disease will only cause host a minor inconvenience.
[Temperature fluctuation resistance]
Host can withstand a larger range of temperatures compared to most humans
[Poison resistance]
Host can resist most weak poisons due to heightened vitality from Ultimate Skill [Blessed Vitality] and boosted immune system from [Disease resistance]. All poisons below high grade will act upon host's body as though they are one grade lower.
Ultimate Skills
[Great Sage]-Passive/Active
This skill is a mental assistant that consumes little to no magic power, assists in a variety of mental tasks and can speed up thought processes and reaction time of the host by 250%.
[Blessed Vitality]-Passive
Divine boost to Host's Vitality from the Goddess of Bravery. Boosts resistance to effects of disease, age, and poisons, also boosts stamina and natural healing. All regeration skills will receive an additional boost.
Category: unknown:
[Gate of Blade Works]
Effects unknown, data required. can open portals to dimension connected to user's mind.'
Terrence was surprised when a panel appeared in his mind, it had a list of skills he could scroll through.
'Interesting .. it seems that a few things I was trained on in the military became skills through the skill system. Quite useful. The regeneration is nice too. Evolution is nice, even if the wording is a bit vague. Let's see if I can activate Gate of Blade Works.' thought Terrance as he perused the list.
As he considered how he would open it, he tried to reach out mentally to the dimension his mind was supposedly connected to. He even reached a hand out, feeling kind of foolish as he did so thinking that if someone were to come across him doing this they would think this 40 year old man had 8th grader syndrome.
It wasn't until he felt a warmth from somewhere near his heart start to spread around his body towards his hand, growing uncomfortably hot as it did so, and felt something kind of foreign stir awake and reach back out to him that he was sure he was doing it right. As the searing warmth reached his palm a swirling golden portal appeared in front of him. It was a circular shape just large enough for him to step through.
As he did, he saw as his surroundings changed, instead of the grassy Hyrule fields, he found himself back on his farmland however instead of plants growing in the field, there were a few swords, spears, arrows, and other weapons scattered and planted into the ground. All of them looked old, some in barely useable condition.
In the air, there were several weapons encased in what looked like clear red crystal. Clearly the weapons the Goddess of Power had sealed.
As Terrance looked upward, he saw a giant structure made of gears and rings surrounding a blueish-white star. Luckily, it wasn't very bright so he didn't burn out his eyes upon looking at it.
'is that ...nidavellir from the MCU?'
(A/N: if anyone is confused about why the star isn't bright, it's because nidavellir in the MCU is built around a Neutron Star which don't put out much light on the visible spectrum, and in this case, the reason Terrance isn't dead from the radiation the star puts out is because Nidavellir was designed to channel all of the star's energy into a forge. This version lets some light out so he can see in the dimension.)
'well I guess it makes sense, a forge set up like that which was renown in its universe to produce the best weapons would leave an impact on anyone. I guess that is where the weapons I summon using Unlimited Blade Works are made.'
As Terrance looked around, he watched a structure start to form in the distance, he walked over and saw concrete walls rise from the ground, bricks and mortar appearing from thin air and forming a structure metal frames and glass faded into view multiple floors formed until a roof appeared at the top. In the front of the building we're the words "Archives." As the building was complete, a pipe descended from the outer most ring of the copy of Nidavellir in the sky and connected to the roof of the building. From inside the building, a electronic voice played.
"Notice: Cross-skill Integration complete."
"Notice: Manifestation complete"
"Great Sage? Is that you?" Asked Terrance.
"Answer: Affirmative." Said the building.
"Why are you here? Better question, how are you here? Like Physically I mean." Asked Terrance.
"Answer: As one of your skills that allows for streamlineing of the casting of other skills, being able to interact with the other skills you possess is a vital function. I formed a connection to your skill [Gate of Blade Works] and integrated myself with it. Due to the skill having a physical manifestation, I formed a structure as well to represent the data I have collected and stored. This also allows data I have compiled to be accessible to the skill [Gate of Bladeworks] when it is forging weapons."
"Cool, could you do a quick scan for me, I want to know where the treasures stored in the original Gate of Babylon are stored after it was merged with Unlimited Blade Works"
"Notice: Scanning dimension"
"Answer: the weapons planted into the ground are some of the treasures that were previously stored in the former skill [Gate of Babylon] before being merged into [Gate of Blade Works], other items are currently stored in the structure resembling a house, and the forge from [Unlimited Blade Works]."
"Those weapons are treasures? But they are all rusty and broken looking."
"Answer: in the construction of this realm, a large amount of energy was required, due to host not having sufficient Magicules/mana/Magic, the required energy was diverted from maintaining the treasures stored, and instead directed to establishing this space, however further energy was required, so Magicules were taken from the enchanted objects in storage, but not to the degree that would cause irreparable damage. This leaving then in the state you see now. Now that the domain has been stabilized and the core has been connected to the host, the skill [Gate of Blade Works] will siphon off excess energy regeration to restore the objects in the realm."
"Ah I see. How long will it take to restore everything?"
"Calculating."
"Answer: at the current rate of generation, assuming host does not consume magic for any task, the time needed to repair all treasures into pre-drained states is.. 106 years."
"That's shorter than I thought it would take." Said Terrance.
"The energy requirement you are thinking of is closer to starting a universe, not forming a pocket dimension. Furthermore, there was an additional force took on the brunt of the energy requirement in creating this realm, cross referencing records in host's memory revealed the identity of the additional energy to likely be "Mystery" from the Fate series."
Said Great Sage.
"Are there any items that weren't drained of their magic then? If so please list them and their effects. And you said there was Mystery here? "
"Answer: apart from artifacts sealed by the Goddess of Power, there is a total of 13 swords, 10 spears, one axe, 20 rings, three armors, and 140 assorted relics left at full power. And yes there is a force that closely resembles the energy called "Mystery" due to the nature of the energy, it was deemed unwise to analyze it further."
"What are the chances I will survive escaping the fields around the castle outside and make it to a village? And if I use some of the items here, what are the chances?"
"Calculating..."
"Answer: the closest location known to be safe from the war machines and monsters is "Kakariko Village," survival chance without using items stored or produced in [Gate of Blade Works] is 25%, using optimal items increases chances to 45%, knowledge from the Goddess of Wisdom indicates it has been 20 years since the Great calamity, chances of coming across monsters and the corrupted war machines are high."
"Well, fuck." Said Terrance. He was expecting to have more time to get settled down, but 80 years before the hero wakes up. Maybe he should help a certain resercher develop a functional anti-aging device so he doesn't look like a decrepit old man or toddler when he has to interact with the hero. Then again maybe he will age slower due to his boosted vitality.
"One step at a time Terry, ok, Sage, where are these optimal items you found that raise my survival rate?" Asked Terrance.
"Answer: they are in the forge."
"Thanks, and how am I supposed to get up there?" Asked Terrance.
Great Sage stayed silent and Terrance looked around until he noticed a platform had detached from the huge structure in the air and was moving towards him. Within a few seconds the platform was in front of him. Stepping into it he walked to the center not wanting to be near an edge when it moved.
As soon as he was situated, the platform began to move upward, however the jarring sensation Terrance expected from the sudden movement didn't come. He also didn't feel any wind as the platform moved swiftly through the air.
In a matter of moments he was in a large forging room, but unlike in the movies, everything was scaled to a size he could use them. On a table was a variety of items, a set of dark brown leather armor with brass details, a bow and quiver of arrows, and a pair of Ka-Bar knives.
-to be continued.
If anyone is wondering why I avoid using explicit names and titles for most of the stuff related to Nintendo, it's because I haven't seen many fanfics of this particular franchise. Not sure if it is just not popular on this site, or if folks are getting CnD letters from Nintendo's Lawyers.