Waking Up In A Field

Summary: Another Awakening SI, only this one has a twist. Surprise, surprise I don't exactly speak the language of a people who live in another dimension. Gamer elements applied via HUD system with unconventional spells mixed with the Conventional. Rated T for Language and possibly messy combat scenes.

1. Zelretch, I'm Going To Kill You

Story Start: Field Outside Of Southtown

The first thing I became aware of was voices speaking in a language I not only didn't understand, but never actually heard before. I mean, I've heard people speak English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Russian, Swahili, Chinese, Japanese, and even a little bit of Vietnamese. I could recognize a language even if I couldn't speak it, there are just little bits of 'word flows' unique to each one, but what these guys were saying was part of a language I had literally never heard before.

Opening my eyes with a groan, they instantly widened when I saw a big guy in blue armor staring down at me in clear distrust and I have no problem with admitting I let out a surprised yelp even as I instinctively did a reverse summersault into a crouch and brought my right hand up to my ear in a knife hand ready to launch myself at him as my fight and flight reflexes kicked in. Or at least I would have been ready if an ethereal green blade of energy hadn't suddenly shot out of said hand. I slowly turned my head to look at the blade even as I moved my hand slightly away and said "What the frack?"

Standing up from my crouch, I examined the one-and-a-half-foot energy short sword blade that was coming out of my fingers, turning my hand and seeing the star burst pattern that reminded me a little bit too much of Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark for my comfort, (I like Saphroneth's MLP Loop Series, so sue me) I blinked and said "Who the hell gave me a tattoo?" I glanced at the blade and the glowing mark and flexed my fingers. The blade instantly disappeared but reappeared when I thought about it. A glance at my other hand showed a similar tattoo and another blade popped out when I thought about it. Glancing at the two, I said "Well this would make a lot of guys playing Assassin's Creed happy to have."

There was a rather impatient sentence said from the guy in front of me and I looked up as my Wind Blades dissipated. (And how the hell did I know what they were called when this is the first time I've ever been able to make them?) Seeing the blue-armored man properly for the first time, my face immediately went flat. Looking to my right where the voices had come from, I saw three other people looking at me, two girls and a boy, with blond, silver, and blue hair.

My face went even flatter before I face palmed and said "Oh by Log and Primus, you have to be kidding me! Awakening?! Why the SCRAP am I in Awakening?!" Then a thought about reading about a certain trolling Ancestor's habits in some of Sakurademonalchemist's stories hit me and I glared upwards as I shouted "ZELRETCH! I SWEAR THAT IF ONE OF YOU FANG FACE RED-EYE INFECTED TROLLING ASSHOLES DROPPED ME OFF HERE, THEN I'M GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR FANGS AND PIERCE YOUR NIPPLES WITH THEM! I'M A NIGHT SHIFT MAINTENANCE GUY, NOT A DAMNED U.S. MARINE!"

Surprisingly or not, there was no response from a possibly responsible dimension hopping vampire and I muttered a few more strings of curse words from a couple of Star Wars languages before I heaved a sigh and looked back down. Spotting the smoke from past the woods, I grumbled some more as I began stomping my way to Southtown, ignoring the other four people in the clearing as I began jogging. No way was I sprinting into a fight when just running at full speed for the mail box to check on the mail had my left hip unhappy with me. (Thank you, unknown boy scout, from unknown troop during meeting of troops for tackling me down a hill in a manner that also fractured my left tibia simply because I refused to roll down said hill.) Unsurprisingly, the three currently actual members of the Shepherds were quick to rush by me with Robin doing the same a few moments later, the petite pig tailed girl giving me a curious glance as she passed by.

A few minutes later, I reached the outskirts of the town to an unwelcome sight. The first level of the game was made in a way that it wouldn't overwhelm a new player so there was only a little under ten enemies during it. The IRL situation was less Native American ambush group, and a lot more Viking raiding party. The Shepherds and Robin were in a diamond formation, Lissa kept in the relative safety of the back point, and there were already twenty bodies on the ground as they made their way three fourths down the first street with all of their heads on a swivel. However, I noticed they weren't looking behind them as often as they should and unless I did something, they were going to get a rather violent reminder to constantly watch their six.

Seeing the six guys a quarter of the distance between them and the last building of the town sneaking up on the group using the crates and wagons in the street to stealthily make their way to the group, I tsked to myself before I shifted into a full-on arms behind back sprint and ran forward. I took in who my opponents would be as I ran, noting how half of them had axes, two of them held lances, and the last one at the back of the group appeared to be a mage going by the book in his hand. Said mage heard my rapid steps on the cobble stones and turned around.

Unfortunately for the mage, while I don't like to run, when I needed to, my thirty-inch-long legs could really eat up the distance and my right Wind Blade took his head off before he could he could finish his incantation after making the mistake of warning his teammates first. Spinning around the falling body, I pushed off my right foot and leapt for the first lance user, pushing off my left foot when I landed, this time to the right to throw off the aim of the lunge he had already started as I made one final push with my right foot to come in at a forty five degree angle away from the thrust. I wrapped my left arm around the lance preventing its use and the next instant the lance user's eyes widened as my Wind Blade took his hands off.

As the now literally disarmed opponent sank to his knees while screaming bloody murder, I took him out of his misery with a quick sab through the joint between shoulder and neck taking out his heart. I quickly focused on the others only to see that the other three combatants of our rag tag group had already taken care of them. A quick look around showed that no one obvious was coming and I glanced back down at my second kill. Seeing the blood coming from the three wounds, I groaned to myself and said "I think I'm either going to be sick, or have nightmares about this, and I'm not sure which I'd prefer." Surprisingly, it wasn't the fact I had ended someone's life that disturbed me. I had a very clinical viewpoint when it came to death, I hadn't even shed a single tear when my grandmother died after all, it was the rather 'wrong' sight of a guy's hands still gripping a lance without being connected to the forearms. Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and looked back up, there were still most likely others to take care of after all.

What I first saw when I looked away from the body was surprisingly, or maybe not given her profession, Lissa. The girl was giving me an evaluating look like she was trying to see if I was hurt at all while at the same time trying to see my reaction to the kill. The second thing I saw was Frederick giving me a severe frown. I'm pretty sure half of that was how my way of attacking left me wide open to a prepared opponent. Chrom and Robin merely spared me a glance as they stood over the dead bodies of their latest opponents. My attention was drawn back to Lissa as she asked a question and I cocked my head as I said "I have no idea what you just asked."

Lissa blinked as her face showed confusion and she asked something else that I couldn't understand and I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair and said "This is going to get really old, really fast." Shaking my head, I stepped around the blood puddle of my second kill and began making my way down the street. A moment later after a quick conversation behind me, the others joined up, once more making a diamond, only with Lissa between the rest of us with me at the back. Clearly, I had been unanimously designated as the rear guard, which was fine with me considering this was my first life or death situation.

Thirty minutes and about sixty two bodies later, ten of which were mine after they tried sneaking up on us again in ones and twos, Chrom apparently deduced that there were no more enemies around since he and Robin had teamed up on a guy with a fancier axe than the others and was currently talking to who I assumed was the leader of the town at the start of a bridge going over a river that cut through the town. I was at the middle of the bridge frowning at the by its weight apparently empty blue one pouch book bag that had been on my back the entire time I had been here. There was a side pouch that felt empty but when I opened it had a red Nintendo 3DS XL that looked very familiar to me.

I had just finished debating with myself if I should pull it out and turn it on right then and there or when the Shepherds set up camp when the matter was taken out of my hands as Frederick walked past leading his horse behind him while shooting me a suspicious look. Chrom was the next to follow, shooting me a more uncertain look even as he made a hand gesture to follow him quickly followed by Robin and Lissa, both shooting me a concerned look. Sighing, I zipped up the side pouch and slung the book bag over my shoulders before I started to follow them. It wasn't like I had anything better to do after all.

Time Skip: Three Hours Later

There was a fire going providing light in the face of falling night, bear meat sizzling on sticks as they cooked, and four Shepherds around the fire talking. I wasn't a part of this group though, instead of trying to communicate in a language I had no hope of understanding anytime soon, I was instead turning on my 3DS XL hoping it could somehow give me answers to what the Bolt was going on here. The screen lit up but instead of my programs showing up in a six-row grid formation a text screen appeared causing my eyes to narrow and dart side to side as I began reading the scrolling text out loud.

"Greetings Tac101, as you have no doubt discovered by now, you are currently in a Fire Emblem world, TI 385, to be exact. You are here for one reason and one reason only: I was drunker than usual. (If I was in a cartoon I would have face planted just now.) Allow me to explain that, you see about a week ago, I was in a drinking contest with a fellow higher plane resident and we were joking around about how much chaos we could cause with dropping people in dimensions vastly different than their own that they were unfamiliar with. That in turn shifted to talk about 'informed seeds of chaos', pretty self-explanatory term there, and one thing lead to another and when I woke up in the morning three days after with a Death Star sized hangover, half the preparations were already done so I thought to myself 'Eh, why not?', and here we are.

I suppose I should go over said preparations now. Fear not, you don't have to rely on just your slightly noteworthy heavy labor honed muscles and slightly more impressive reflexes in a world where you don't even know the language or have any currency, I'm not quite that heartless. I'm certain you have noticed the new additions to your hands and even stumbled across a spell or two. As you've most likely guessed, those 'tattoos' are there for more than just decoration, they're Spell Sigils, and Class Tens at that. What does Class Ten mean you ask? It means that they have ten elements 'programmed' into them and are powered by Zero Point Energy, yes like the ZPMs from Stargate, only these bad boys have the bonus feature of being able to switch what they draw their energy from when the current source runs out, not that I expect you to drain them to that point even with a decade of near constant use. These elements are as thus: Wind, Water, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Light, Dark, Gravity, Space, and Staff. The last three are not usually considered to be actual elements for sure but they're still handy. And as a bonus, you have two more Spell Sigils on your feet allowing you to use them to cast spells as well, but don't worry, they're programed to create the spells two inches from them so your socks and shoes are safe.

As in the Fire Emblem games you have weapon levels, only in this case their applied to each element separately and you're on your own when it comes to any weapons you wish to learn. This is done through 'programming' limits in the Sigils. In order to increase your 'spell' level and thus gain access to the next set of spells you must use the primary spell exactly one hundred times in order to 'master' them. The secondary spells of each level do not contribute to the mastery count but are still useful to have both in and out of combat. Now that you know how to get more spells, let's talk about the spells you currently have access to.

We'll start off with Wind. Wind is the first-tier spell of the wind class obviously, but you also have Wind Blades which start with a short sword length but with practice can be lengthened to claymore lengths as well. Be careful though, this spell will cut the user just as well as it will cut an enemy so always be aware where the blade is. The other secondary spell is called Wind Jet. As the name suggests, this spell shoots a continuous jet of wind out of your Spell Sigil. Be careful with their use though, for while it is a very handy spell, most of the other spells you can currently and will be able to use will be affected if they are used through the same Sigil.

Next is Water. Water is the spell that best suit capture missions where you want to knock someone on their ass but not overly hurt them. Don't let the non-lethality of the spell fool you though, there is nothing more amusing than seeing a Fire class mage's face when you completely neutralize their spell in midair. The next spell on this tier is Water Hole, and is incredibly useful when one is not near a ready supply of water. This spell affects the air molecules around you and either condenses the already present H2O or convert the other molecules into Water. Best used with cupped hands for the user, it is however perfect for refilling water skins or quickly filling large containers with water, just be careful you don't turn some poor sap standing next to you into water molecules (Or maybe you want to, no body, no proof after all.) (I let out a shudder at that. It'd be an effective way to kill for sure but it did NOT sound like a pleasant thing to see.) The final first-tier Water spell is Bubble. This spell creates a field of light refracting bubbles that can be used to not only confuse an opponent trying to fight you but also blind them if used on a particularly bright day, just be careful that it doesn't back fire on you when you use it.

Next up is Fire. Coupled with Fire you have two spells: Campfire Starter and Radiant Heat. Campfire Starter is fairly obvious, it shoots a very small jet of flame. It's more useful than that though since you can use it to slowly burn anything flammable in its one to three-foot range, like that pesky rope that's keeping your arms tied behind your back if your captured. Just be careful about the heat it produces. Radiant Heat is also fairly easy to understand, even if the name is slightly misleading. The spell heats up the air around a person, with a base range of five feet around them and a base temperature rise of ten degrees. However, with practice and focus, one could extend both that range and temperature, to the point where they could even intentionally create thunderstorms if they have the proper know how.

Following Fire is Lighting. Lightning's first two secondary spells are Static Field and Charge. Static Field as the name suggest produces a field of static around the user which will deliver a static shock to anyone wearing or using metal, the more metal on them, the bigger the shock. Be careful with its use though, because it doesn't differentiate between enemy or ally. Charge is your Hail-Mary pass in this world. It is able to send a charge into any electrical device and quickly charge it within five minutes no matter what kind of amperage or voltage required. You will be very glad for this spell not only to keep the device in your hands operational but a few other goodies I put in your inventory as well. (That had me blinking since the thought of how long I would be able to keep the 3DS XL's battery going hadn't quite come to the forethought of my mind yet.)

Next up is Earth. Earth's projectile may be as small as a football, but it hits just as hard as the line man carrying it. Pebble Field is next and always great for a laugh. So long as the surface your standing on can be considered to be that of Earth, IE dirt, stone, or metal, it turns the first six inches of said surface into a field of marble sized spheres. Needless to say, anyone standing on top is going to have trouble staying upright. The final Earth first-tier spell is also an area of effect one, Quicksand, this spell's area of effect starts off at five feet deep and a three-foot circle that the caster can have form up to ten feet away but can be modified to be as large and deep as well as far away from the caster given enough mental effort and practice.

After Earth is the fastest element, Light. Light's two secondary spells are Spotlight and Light Orb, both rather self-explanatory so enough said. (I let out a huff at that before I kept reading.)

Since you can't have Light without Dark, that's next. Dark is not to be mistaken with dark magic. There is no necromancy with this class, rather it deals with the absence of light. This is shown rather clearly with the first secondary spell: Light's Out, which douses every light source in its range whether it's provided by fire, electrical light, glowing, or even bioluminescent. The other secondary spell is decidedly more sinister: Blind. This spell targets the enemy's eyesight, putting a thin film of darkness over the optical organs preventing the target from seeing anything.

Next up is my personal favorite, Gravity. Gravity may have only El and Arc levels after it when it comes to the primary spell, but this 'element' has SO much more to offer. The first secondary spells are key examples of this: Negate and Increase. These spells are incredibly useful, affecting the gravitonic force asserted on objects, the limits are truly only set by the user.

Penultimately is Space, not to be confused with the concept of space, this class deals with the location and its higher tiered spells are just as varied as the great beyond is. Space shoots a ball of moving vacuum at the target putting whatever passes through its path in a complete vacuum, and thus very cold temperatures. Just keep in mind that water boils much quicker in a vacuum than at room temperature. (I chocked a little as I remembered the Flights of Fantasy episode of Mythbusters where they showed a jar of water boiling in the testing chamber the two special effects specialists were training for U2 flight.) As gruesome as Space can be, the secondary spells you currently have access to are much tamer. The North Star spell will mentally project the location of said star to you regardless of day or night time and any objects visibly in its way. Aurora Borealis is your trolling spell when it comes to other spell castors. It creates a field of the cosmic event around you, the energy preventing the use of magic from others who use it the 'natural' way. Just remember that both sides are affected by this area of effect spell unless they too have Spell Sigils.

The final class is your Staff spells. For the first tier of this class, you have Heal, Barrier, and Silence. Heal is the first level of your curative spells. Requiring physical contact, this spell is no less effective, able to heal both 'top side' wounds as well as for a period of time sooth various ailments that come from older wounds whose effects still linger. Barrier forms a thin barrier over its target, allowing the user to withstand a small amount of damage from both spells and weapons. Don't get too cocky though, it doesn't take too much to break it. Silence prevents a target from both using their voice and their magic. Good for keeping a prisoner from escaping their bonds along with keeping them from annoying you with the various insults and threats they no doubt want to hurl at you.

With the Spell Sigils covered, we move onto the next modification I gave you, the HUD. While normal Head's Up Displays are housed in headwear equipment, yours is based off of a Mystic Code that has been for lack of a better word imprinted around your eyes before it sank into them. ('Oh, that could have gone badly.' I couldn't help but think with a wince.) The HUD therefore is operated in a mix of mental commands and eye movements. First things first, you turn on the HUD by thinking 'HUD on', likewise to turn it off you think 'HUD off'. Your HUD has four primary functions, Map, Marker, IFF, and Selector for some of the high tier spells you will be able to use in the future that are linked to this device and thus your HUD.

Map is fairly obvious, and you have two versions, Personal and World. Personal is the most detailed with a range of ten miles while World is what you will use to set long distant marker coordinates and jump coordinates if you ever figure out how to unlock the teleport option I've given you but hidden away in your device's programs, and good luck finding it within the next year. Marker is also fairly straight forward, you use it to mark people, places, or items that you want to keep track of. Since anyone who's played a shooter game of any kind could tell a kid what an IFF does I won't go into it though it may be a good idea to take a look through its logo log at some point and I've already explained what the Selector is for.

Last thing to cover is your Inventory, which is fairly straight forward. It's based off of the book bag I gave you upon your arrival here but if you need to store something bigger than its opening, merely say Store and the item's name you wish to store, do keep in mind that you must have your bookbag within ten feet of the item for this to work. Also, if for any reason, you must place a person in your inventory, do them a favor and make sure they're unconscious when you do so. The sight of being in an extradimensional pocket is likely to do some wonky things with their mental health, even if the 'item' stored is kept in stasis, they will still experience the whole time in a way that's too complicated to go into so for convenience's sake, just knock them out first. Moving on, the Inventory's sorting method is customizable so be sure to have a look through its options. I've also left you a few surprises in there so have fun. Well, as one kid genius once said, it's been fun but I've got to jet. Looking forward to what you make of this opportunity.

P.S. Be sure to take a look sometime at that Talking Phrasebook program you bought for your 3DS XL."

I blinked even as I let out a sigh of relief. It didn't take a genius to work out that whatever drunkard had dropped me off here had added the language of this land to the phrase program. At least this way if I failed as miserably at learning this land's language as I did Spanish in high school I could use the phrases in the program to try and scrape by. The sight of the programs appearing in their grid pattern drew my attention back to the screen and I felt my eyebrows raise themselves when I saw not only my original downloaded programs but the ones that were on game cards displayed. Shrugging at the unexpected but welcome addition, I went to the Inventory and was pleasantly surprised to see not only my IPhone but also my laptop and four external hard drives being the first things listed. It looked like I wouldn't have to worry about going through tv show withdrawal symptoms while here.

After I had taken a look through the Inventory I turned off the 3DS with a soft hum as I put it back in its pouch, the pocket instantly sagging inwards as soon as the zipper was fully closed showing the device had been put into the dimensional pocket of the Inventory. As I put the book bag back on my back, I glanced at my left leg in thought before I placed my left hand on the hip joint and said "Heal."

The Spell Sigil on my left hand lit up with a Hunter's Green glow and I let a sigh of relief out as a pressure on the joint that had always been there since I injured it but that I had learned to ignore lessened a considerable deal. It hadn't gotten rid of the old injury, I'd probably need a much higher tiered healing spell for that, but it would definitely help if I Healed it every day. I did a quick Heal to my ankle as well before I glanced at the others. Frederick was looking at me suspiciously (Big shocker there), the two girls had their heads cocked in curiosity, Lissa staring more at my left hand than the rest of me, clearly wondering how I used a healing spell without a staff, and Chrom had an undecipherable look on his face even as he reached for one of the bear meat stakes and brought the food towards him.

Looking to said meat sticks, I let out a grimace as I pulled one towards me and took a tentative bite. The meat tasted plain weird to me, but I managed to work through that and ate the whole portion before I used my new Water Hole spell to clear out the taste in my mouth before I stood up and walked over to the surrounding trees. Finding one that was slightly thicker than the others, I lined up my right palm to face the trunk and started firing blasts of Wind at it. The spells I had so far were alright, but I would be a fool not to take the chance to 'level' up the elements so I had enough fire power for what was to come.

END