Hell

I sat at the water’s edge for God knows how long. Staring. Just staring at my new face.

Long snout, from which a small horn protruded at the tip. Large, powerful jaws from which rows of razor-sharp teeth emerged. Small, beady golden eyes that looked like they were glowing, set in my dusky, angular face. Rough, hard scales the color of dark green, almost black in the light.

There were no two ways about it: I was a demon.

The rest of my body was similar to my face and looked like the combination of a lizard and a man. I was covered in the thick scales, from the end of my clawed fingers all the way to the tip of my tail. Thankfully I wasn’t a total animal, as I wore a dirty loincloth to cover my nudity.

The swamp around me was silent but for the buzz of flies and other large insects that flicked to and fro. I swatted a particularly large one when I saw that it had landed on my arm and managed to pierce the skin beneath my scales. It was greedily drinking at my dark red blood, so much so that when I killed it a large splatter of red covered my forearm.

It was then that I noticed a strange mark on the back of my left hand. It was light yellow in color and looked to be a stylized “V.” At first I thought it was a tattoo, but it looked too bright to be one. It looked almost like paint, though it was part of my skin, like lighter colored scales. It was very visible from my dark green arm.

Eventually, I got tired of looking at my hideous reflection. I stood up, at first afraid that I would collapse on these unfamiliar, backward-bending legs. Yet, like with the automaton body of before, I managed to move smoothly, as if I had been doing so for years.

I looked above me saw the sky high up past the canopy of leaves from the swamp trees. The fact that Hell even had a sky was surprising to me since I thought the Underworld would be, you know, underground. The sky was a dusty orange color, kind of like grime on a boot. The air was hot and humid, the heat sticking to your skin like a layer of thin cloth.

All around me was water and vegetation. There were a few tracks of dry land, enough to walk on at least, and I knew from experience how deep some of that water was. I began walking along the dry areas, though these parts were still muddy and wet. Each time I took a step I found my clawed toes sinking into the slush and dead vegetation.

I hated swamps. The fact that Hell seemed to just be a gigantic one shouldn’t have been a surprise to me.

I trudged through the swampland for hours. I had no idea where I was going. Everything looked the same, and there were no definitive landmarks around. As I continued walking, I had a sudden thought. I stopped, then stared at the air in front of me while thinking status.

Nothing happened.

Damn. Maybe saying it out loud? I opened my gigantic maw and spoke.

“Srarus.” My voice was deep and guttural, sounding more like a beast’s snarl than human speech. “Srarus,” I said again in irritation. Sadly, my mouth was not shaped in the right way, not enough to speak proper English anyway.

“Stratus!”

It seems that that was good enough, as soon a familiar looking blue box appeared in front of me.

Name

???

Level

6

Race

Lizardman

Proficiency

Swimming- lv7, Hold Breath- lv9, Hunting- lv6, Smithing- lv4, Language (Common), Language (Drakkis)

Standing

CoR: HATED

VE: NEUTRAL

FAA: NEUTRAL

ZF: NEUTRAL

Huh. There were a lot fewer numbers in this one than the one in Heaven. I looked over them anyway.

Everything pretty much seems understandable. I was a level 6 Lizardman, apparently. I guess that’s what they call the type of demon I was. It seems I was proficient in swimming, holding my breath, hunting, and smithing. Good to know. Wasn’t sure what the language section meant. Common and Drakkis? What the hell was that?

The biggest mystery though was the “Standing” section. Just what exactly did it mean? And why was I “hated” in CoR?

I tried bringing up my inventory as well, just to see if there was anything in there, but no luck. Looks like I’ll have to carry everything the old fashioned way: either by hand or in a saddlebag.

I closed the blue screen and began walking again. Though the air was hot and humidity thick, I found that my reptilian body did not seem to mind it much. In my old body (the human one, not the doll one) I would probably have collapsed by now of heatstroke. Yet this lizard demon’s body was still capable of moving, and swiftly, through this mire even after several hours of it.

After crossing over the fallen remains of a dead tree, I felt something strange. There was a pang in my stomach. I was hungry!

After so long in an automaton body, feeling hunger pains again was just plain frustrating. Looks like I better eat something. It was time to see if that level 6 in Hunting was good for anything.

Sadly, I knew next to nothing about what types of critters call this hellish swamp home. I did see some fish or something similar in the water, maybe I should start there?

I crouched at the edge of the muck, twisting my nose at the foul stench emanating from it. I stared at the surface, trying to fathom its depths, but I couldn’t see anything through the murky green liquid. Feeling quite frustrated, I dunked my head under the surface and found to my surprise that I had a second eyelid. It was clear and transparent and covered my golden eyes right up, allowing me to see in that dismal, muddy mess. I was able to see the silhouettes of numerous fish, but what really caught my attention was the big, black shape speeding towards me.

I leaped backward in panic, barely managing to avoid the large jaws that clamped down where my head had just been a wee bit before. From the water emerged a large monstrosity that looked like a mix of an alligator and a barracuda. It was reptilian but had fins and flippers. What’s more, it didn’t seem to be relegated to the water as it soon tried to chase me on land. I moved swiftly, though I barely managed to avoid the fish-gator’s rapid bites. I looked around desperately for a weapon I could use, maybe a stick or rock, when I remembered that I had all the weapons I needed on me. I quickly lashed out with a claw and scored a small wound on the monster’s flank. Another of my strikes connected with its snout, causing a long tear down its scaly skin.

The fish-gator was getting agitated I could see, as it snapped and bit more fiercely. During one of its lunges, I managed to dive under the thing and wrap my powerful arms around it. It struggled fiercely, but I dug my claws into its flesh to keep it from getting away. Then, I opened my jaws and clamped down upon its exposed throat, biting hard. My teeth sank in and I tore flesh open with a fierce pull. The monster screamed before its struggles grew lax, and soon it was dead as its blood pooled all around me.

I dropped the monster’s carcass at my feet and laughed. Though with my deep, grating voice it sounded more like a roar. I felt amazed. This thing was as big and fierce as any alligator, and I managed to kill it with my bare hands. Well, my claws and teeth, anyway.

And that was how I got my dinner.

I dragged the corpse to a dryer part of land where I collected sticks and dry leaves to start a fire with. As I began to furiously rub the two sticks together and smoke began to appear, a message box popped up.

You have just learned how to make fire!

“No shit,” you tell it.

Pretty soon I had a steady fire going, with pieces of fish gator roasting on sticks. The pieces were a bit irregular since I lacked a knife and was forced to simply tear the meat off with my claws. In the end, it didn’t matter, as the meat was delicious. Perhaps it was just the hunger talking, but that was the best damn gator fish I ever ate.

With my belly full, I soon found my eyes drooping. Guess this body needed sleep as well. I’m not sure what time it was, but the sky overhead was still the same bright orange. I guess it didn’t matter, as I was tired. Walking all day, plus fighting that fish gator, really took a lot out of this body. I decided to just lay there and catch a nap.

I think I may have been more tired than I thought, because I didn’t wake up until it was pitch black. I looked around, barely able to see anything. Thankfully, the moon was out, which provided some light. The fact that Hell had a moon did surprise me, but not as much as the stars did. I would almost call the starlit sky beautiful if it wasn’t for the fact that I was in the depths of Hell.

My fire had gone out, so I took a quick minute to set it ablaze again. At that moment I heard something dive into the water, and I was on full alert. I didn’t even notice anything nearby, and that splash had sounded much too near to be comfortable. The once quiet surroundings were now loud with insect calls as well as the noises of larger animals, like birds in the distance. Something told me that moving around in this place at night would not be very safe. So I remained where I was, by my fire, until the rays of morning’s light crested the horizon. I watched Hell’s sun rise. I thought it was quite a sight, at least until the second sun rose behind it. That truly was a sight to see. I guess even in Hell there is beauty to behold.

I stomped out the fire, then set off on my journey once more. I didn’t know what Hell had in store for me, but now, I knew I would be ready for it.