The Lost Guild: Beginning

Chapter 1: A new world

I glance at my phone, tapping on the screen. It's late. "Guys, it's getting pretty late. Let's call it quits." Silence. No replies. I sit up from my slouched position, eyeing the network connection and the individual player icons in the Discord voice channel. Everything seems normal. I shrug and sink back into the chair. Moving my mouse, I try to message Max, a good friend of mine, before I can even type a single word, my vision blurs and darkness over takes me.
When I come to, blinding sunlight assaults my eyes as I jolt up, instinctively shielding my face with my hands. It's too bright—way too bright. As I rapidly blink, my eyes start to adapt and the world sharpens into focus, revealing a field of grass surrounding me on all sides. Am I in one of those lucid dreams that i have heard so much about. Just to check, I pinch my arm, but the pain is as real as it's always been. Even the warm touch of the sun's rays feels like I'm outside on a sunny day. The grass beneath my hands is sharp and wet, giving off the all-too-familiar scent of nature. Did someone drag me into my yard or something, I could have sworn i was in my room last night.

Slowly getting to my feet I rub the dirt and grass off my pants and look into the horizon. As I surveyed my surroundings, my mind froze and I stood like a stone statue for a good while. To my right was a ledge over looking a vast ocean. No matter how far I peered into the endless blue, all I saw was more of the ocean. To the opposite side was the start of a dense forest, the further I tried to peer in the harder it got to make out the individual trees. Unable to wrap my mid around what I was seeing, I made the mistake of looking up and three giants balls of fire looked down at me with varying intensity. Yep, those are indeed three suns. But why? What's going on? Is this the rumored apocalypse? Did our sun explode into three segments? Or has Earth finally gone off its axis? Curious about my circumstances, I walk towards the ridge overlooking the ocean. I look down into the water to try and catch a glimpse of my reflection. "What the—" The face staring back at me isn't mine. Stunned, I stumble backward, tripping over something hard. I hit the ground with a thud; the thick grass cushions my fall.
Abruptly, I hear a voice. "Are you done panicking?" I whip my head around, searching for the source, my eyes landing on figure behind me. A man with dark brown hair and green eyes sits casually atop a gray stone jutting from the ground.
"Who are you?" I ask, my voice edged with suspicion.
The man uncrosses his legs and leans forward. "Name's Max. And no, I've got no clue what's going on either."
His words register, but my mind blanks for the third time in one day. A moment later, his words click, and a smile breaks across my face as I spread my arms wide, laughing hysterically. "So we've been transported to another world, huh?"
Max suddenly stands up, eyes wide. "Wait—Adam? Is that you?"
I keep laughing. "Of course it is! Who else would it be?"
As I collect myself, I glance around, finally taking in the situation. So, I've been teleported to another world or the sun broke apart into three parts and someone dragged me off to who knows where. Well, at least I've got someone with me, could have been worse. I start walking toward Max, but before I can take more than a few steps, a sharp pain shoots through my head. My vision blurs for a moment, and before I can react, a large blue panel appears, blocking most of my sight.
I try looking around, moving my head, but the panel stubbornly stays in place, obstructing everything. Frustrated, I give up on trying to get rid of it and instead study what's written:
"Bodies adjusted to new plane of existence... Granting a common skill to make up for the deficit..."
As soon as I finish reading, the text disappears, replaced by a large list of boxes filled with names. Confused, I glance over at Max to see if he's experiencing the same thing. Max stood staring blankly ahead into the endless blue. So, he sees it too. Turning my attention back to the panel, I scroll through the list of skill options:

Fireball
Water Whip
Wind Blade
Earth Wall
Dash
Stone Skin
Heightened Awareness
Basic Weapon Handling
Basic Heal
Blood Rush
Night Vision