2 The Room I Opened My Eyes In (1/2)

I opened my eyes. And for the first time in my life, if my existence could even be considered life, I saw something that wasn't a vast, indescribable void or words emblazoned in the sky of that void.

The first thing I ever saw outside of the strange place where I spent my first moments was a series of interconnected thatched ceiling panels. Those were more words that I knew but didn't quite understand.

The panels were a light brown color and they were high above me, lingering out of reach. I didn't move and kept staring at them. I didn't try to touch them either, I was just perfectly still. If anyone saw me, someone might even think that I was studying them. I wasn't. I just wasn't sure what I could do.

I stayed still until the system spoke to me again. And when it finally did, it didn't speak to me how I anticipated the thing speaking to me.

”Good morning Althos! Get up and get out of bed, you sleepy head... Huh. That's weird... We should probably fix that. We don't want to be just an audible voice in your head.” The strange entity told me, happily telling me what to do before it suddenly got confused.

Its initial tone was quite cheerful. Annoying so in fact.

”Hey, system...” I said, before abruptly stopping. My eyes narrowed in confusion, as I wondered what I had just done. That was supposed to be a thought, but it came out of a part of me I wasn't familiar with.

[Oh no... you're VERY curious. Annoyingly so in fact. We hate it. Ah! We did it. We... think.] Complained the system, its voice both audible and appearing at the top of my vision. This caused my eyes to further narrow in confusion, enough so that the edges of my vision began to darken slightly.

[Alright, we're gonna stop this right here. You have a body now. You can do things with that body. You can stand up. In fact... try it!] The system told me, its voice still audible in my mind, as well as in bracket form.

I considered this for a second, and the ramifications of the bombshell that the system had just dropped on me. Words like ”body” and ”things” were words I understood. The system was telling that I could not just see things, but touch them too! That I had ”limbs” and ”fingers” and ”toes”. Which, if true, was a game-changer.

”I can stand up?” I asked my voice rougher and gruffer sounding than I thought it would have been, now that I knew to listen to it.

[Yes you can! Try it. Just move. If you're scared it's okay to try and take it slowly.] The system said to me, sharing genuinely helpful advice. It also spoke in a kind tone, as if it were a concerned friend and not... whatever the system was.

[We are a kind friend! You'll see.] The system snapped, still able to hear my thoughts and observations.

I chuckled, at defensive declaration. And then I visualized myself getting up. Or rather I visualized someone getting up. I only assumed it was me for a second until I studied the entity in my mind.

The entity I visualized was a mannequin-like entity with no face and no clothing. No genitalia either. The thing that stood up in my head was not a person, but a featureless facsimile of some sort of living creature.

[Stop that! You'll just scare yourself. Your body isn't important... Wait, let us rephrase that. That was really bad wording on our part.] The strange entity that gave me advice told me, pausing for a second to gain a better grasp on the wording it wanted to use. For a few seconds, I considered questioning it about the thing in my mind. I never got the chance.

It began to speak to me a few seconds after it stopped.

[You aren't mortal. Your body and mind are not connected to each other. And the truth is, one of your wild traits means that even among gods your body is less important than it would be for others. Which is interesting. You can do a lot with that. So for now, don't worry that much about the limitations of your form and just... stand up.] The system told me.

There was something weirdly uplifting about its voice at the end there. And so I took a deep breath and tried to move my hands.

To my surprise, it worked. I felt my limbs respond to my mind, and suddenly I was gifted with an awareness of my two extremities.

I moved the limbs until I could see them. It took me a second to get used to moving the things, as any sort of moving was not something I was used to doing. But when it clicked, it clicked.

I brought my hands to where I could lay my eyes on them and was surprised that my skin was so... calloused and tan. The hands in front of me were not the hands of a newborn entity, but of a middle-aged being whose career involved physical labor.

I looked at them and began to smile. I could feel the corners of my lips tugging upward to form the facial expression. I felt joy at the bit of me that I could now lay my eyes on.

[Oh come on, hurry up! There's a mirror in the room you're in. Just get up.] The system whined. I audibly chuckled at its complaints and readied myself to stand up.

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A few moments later I was standing somewhat unsteadily on my feet. I could now see the rest of the room I found myself in.

I was in a plain room with not just a thatched ceiling, but thatched walls as well. I had just been laying on a bed made of straw, covered by a single thick blanket. It was atop a simple bedframe, but one that did a good job of keeping the bed off the floor. The floor was made of wood panels, strong ones that didn't creak when I first stepped on them.

There was a single door that led into and out of the room. It was made of hardwood, and at a glance looked to be quite sturdy.

In front of me, there was a desk for clothes, and atop that desk, there was a single mirror. It was a roughly treated and mishandled piece of glass but it got the job done and in looking at it I got to look at myself. And I spent a few moments memorizing every detail of my face.

I wasn't a young ikeman or anyone someone could describe as guapo. In fact, the part of my consciousness that was supplied with externally sourced knowledge and like all of the words that I knew and some sort of supernatural understanding of the ones that I didn't know informed me I was rather average looking.

The body I awoke in was that of a man who appeared to have enjoyed physical labor. I had sun-kissed skin, long brown hair, and well-developed muscles that strained against my clothing. I had a full and healthy beard with follicles the same color as the hair on top of my head. My eyes were a shade of brown that I could only describe as matching the color of healthy soil.

I was wearing clothes. I didn't have a choice in the matter, it's just that the moment I opened my eyes this body was already in clothes.

I wore thick looking brown robes, but they weren't too thick. I felt warm, but not uncomfortably so. On the desk there was a thin scarf, I grabbed it and wrapped it around my neck without much difficulty, despite the fact that that was the first time I had used my hands for something other than lifting myself off the bed.

I stared at my reflection for a little bit longer. While starring at it, I wondered what was about to happen.