Chapter 10 - Right at Home

"You have increased your Aspect of the Devil: Claws skill to level 2. You have gained XP. You have gained 1 overall combat level. Congratulations! Be sure to assign your stat and skill points. Be careful, point assignments are permanent.”

Time became a blur and his entire body hurt. Trey finally pulled himself out of the river onto a stoney riverbank, choking and coughing up dirty water from his lungs in rapid succession. Regaining his breath, he lay back against the barren grey soil and looked up towards the brown sky. The two red moons shone down on him from above, and everything about him was at peace. His clothes were soaked. The fire had left black scorch marks across his clothing and blood from his wound stained various patches of cloth. Holes existed where the fire had completely burned through his cloak, as well as on his tunic and pants. Thankfully, the auto-regenerative properties from Dreadlord Vorshok’s Bane applied to his new body and saved him from dying of blood loss.

Trait:

Dreadlord Voshok’s Bane (Heroic) - +10% resistance to all damage. Autoregenerate 1% HP per minute. Autoregenerate lost body parts over time.

The deeper wounds were even beginning to mend now. Looking down, and to his surprise, his shoes were still in decent condition. After a few moments he sat up, took off both of his boots, turned them upside down and let the water run out.

Then his eyes went wide.

“Oh shit!” He exclaimed in a panic, feeling around for the grimoire he'd discovered when looting the chapel. It was still there in his cloak pocket and he sighed with relief. Slowly he pulled it out - hesitant to see what damage had been done during the fight and by the river water. To his amazement the book was, for the most-part, unharmed.

Noc’Tul Grimoire:

Item Tier: ???

Bonuses: ???

Requirements: None

Durability: ???

Special: ???

Trey sighed in relief, brushed away the droplets of dark water that clung to the book’s surface, and looked around. The river he had crawled out of was located at the bottom of a small canyon, forged over thousands of years of water flow through this area. Tall cliffs soared above him on both sides of the river. He could tell that they weren’t the cliffs he'd seen when first arriving though, as these cliffs were much smaller. He hoped he’d washed beyond that barren valley surrounding his starting point, in order to put a good distance between himself and those who might pursue him, but he wasn’t so sure that was the case.

‘Our health bar is beginning to fill,’ the symbiote mentioned to Trey.

Trey looked to his health bar and again was grateful for the trait he had acquired by killing the gargoyle. He lightly touched the area where his ear had once been and winced. His right ear was still missing due to the laser, the one set off by that fucking skeleton priest, and he had no idea how long it’d take to grow back.

He sighed again. “Well, at least it’s supposed to grow back right?”

‘That is correct. At the very least, that is what your trait says,’ replied the symbiote.

“God, that was painful!” Trey turned his neck to the side, stretched, and pulled out the arrows that were still lodged in his back and shoulder. Tenderly he touched the axe wound where the weapon had clipped his collarbone and chest.

He winced.

His claws were gone, and realizing that he tried summoning them again. Immediately the gauntlet-like black claws reappeared. He held up his left hand - turning it around, back and forth to inspect it. The tips were very sharp and looked almost like obsidian armor that was forged into his body to replace his skin up to his elbows. The tips also slightly extended the length of his fingers for better penetration purposes. Satisfied, he unsummoned the claws and lay back down.

Nothing was said for quite a while as Trey lay there, looking up at the canyon walls, listening to the sound of the river flowing by. In the meantime, his body continued to slowly heal.

“Do you have any idea who those guys were? Or perhaps I should call them creatures… since they weren’t really people?” asked Trey after another ten minutes of doing nothing.

There was a long pause.

‘I do not,’ the symbiote replied.

Trey’s brow furrowed. “Why were they guarding you?”

Another long pause.

‘Guarding me?’ replied the symbiote with a demonic hiss. ‘You are mistaken, master. I was just born into this world. They were guarding the Void Essence that spawned me when it accepted you as its vessel.’

Trey made a flatulence noise with his lips. “Is that so?”

‘It is. I know what you are about to ask, so let me head you off by saying this: I know as little as you about this place. My language, knowledge and abilities are heavily based upon you.’

Trey nodded and lay still for another fifteen minutes. The sound of the river made Trey feel at ease, and it was the first time that he truly felt relaxed since arriving in this strange world. Well, aside from the nap he’d taken on that altar, but that’d been short lived. He still wasn’t completely sure if this place was real or not, but it was feeling more and more real to him the longer he stayed here.

“So I get to name you huh?” asked Trey brusquely.

‘Correct,’ stated the Symbiote.

Another pause.

“What about Sithis?” asked Trey curiously, while he furrowed his brow. “I think that’s a pretty cool name. I used it as my online gamer name for shooters.”

‘I know, I have access to your memories and thoughts.’

Trey scowled. “Why can’t I access your memories or thoughts then?”

‘You can.’

“Pshh.” Trey waved his hand in the air dismissively. “I feel violated.”

For the first time, Trey heard Sithis laugh. It was a strange laugh, probably due to the internal voice Sithis had. It was almost as if two different voices were overlaid to produce a single voice, and it sounded seriously sinister.

The laughing eventually died away and the symbiote acknowledged the choice: ‘Sithis is a good name. I will make it my own.’

Trey smiled slightly and scratched his head. Looking up at his health bar, he saw that the HP bar was still slowly climbing, but still lacked over a third of it. His mana was at half, and his stamina was just below full.

“Well, time to assign these points I just acquired. Any suggestions? I know you already assigned most of the points I had earlier.”

Sithis took time to think deeply about this before he replied. ‘Assign some to intelligence and wisdom. We ran out of mana much too fast in that last fight. I assigned most of our points to speed for closing distance and potential escape. A wise decision in hindsight, but I didn’t assign any skill points.’

Trey nodded and pulled up his stats page. By the end of the assignments, this is what it looked like:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Trey Bon

HP 161/220

MP 52/104

SP 119/120

DP 1/1

Race: Human

Guild: None

Class: None

Level 5

Status Alerts:

Remaining Skill Points: 0 Remaining Stat Points: 0 Current Permanence cycle: ON Current Bound Point: Drahst Pillar

Buffs:

+3% resistance to all damage (Resilience) +10% resistance to all damage (Dreadlord Vorshok’s Bane) Autoregeneration (Dreadlord Vorshok’s Bane) +15% damage to offensive spells (Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze) Night Vision (Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze) +100% to sight, hearing, smell, reflexes and awareness (Predator)

Debuffs:

+8% damage taken from all Celestial and Holy abilities (Aversion to Divine)

(Click the spoiler for the rest of Trey's status page)

Stat Amplifications:

10 Strength

10 Vitality

10 Endurance

10 Dexterity

25 Speed

4 Intelligence

2 Wisdom

0 Faith

0 Luck

0 Willpower

Magics

Chaos Ball (Chaos) - Level 3

Summon a ball of chaos to fling at your enemies

Chains of Chaos (Chaos) - Level 3

Summon chaos chains to bind or impale your enemies

Shadowstep (Dark) - Level 1

Teleport a short distance instantly

Miracles

None

Physical Combat

Aspect of the Devil: Claws - Level 2

Hand to Hand Combat - Level 1

Polearms - Level 1

Miscellaneous

Sneak - Level 2

Identification - Level 1

Traits:

Vatosis Inferna - *TRAIT IS LOCKED AND UNAVAILABLE.*

Earthborn - You are earthborn and experience ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ permanence cycles. You also gain a 20% increase to any type of XP acquired when compared to your fellow NPCs, and your mana regeneration rate is increased by 30%.

Languages Learned - Ancient Demon

Void Essence - You have been chosen as a suitable host. You are now able to access black magics, skill trees, abilities, and spells unavailable to most other black magic users.

Resilience - +100 HP, +3% resistance to all damage. Mental fortitude increased.

Dreadlord Voshok’s Bane (Heroic) - +10% resistance to all damage. Autoregenerate 1% HP per minute. Autoregenerate lost body parts over time.

Predator - Participant has acquired a symbiote. Predator is a separate entity that will become bound to participant. Predator symbiote gives +100% to sight, hearing, smell, reflexes and awareness. Predator symbiote is currently in the chrysalis stage, when it matures this symbiote will be able to possess and acquire the body of a demon-class enemy - giving you a new minion. When this possession has finished, the Predator symbiote's bonuses will remain but the symbiote entity itself will no longer be bound to the master's body. Also allows participant to use the ability Consume.

*Consume - Beings that you have killed yourself may be consumed. Doing so gives you a chance to acquire Strength stat points and is largely dependent on the foe’s danger rating. Consume will also rapidly restore HP, MP, and SP.

Aversion to Divine - Participant is associated with the infernal arts. +8% damage taken by all Celestial and Holy abilities.

Physical Attributes:

Shadowform - Allows participant’s body to express shadow properties. Allows Participant to focus and bind acquired items into Shadowform, absorbing them into the participant’s body fitting a maximum weight of 500kg. May summon bound items anywhere within a 5 yard radius of participant. May unbind items when needed. If bound item is outside of a 1000 yard radius from participant, bound item automatically returns to Shadowform.

Aspect of the Devil: Death’s Gaze - Permanent no cost upon use Night Vision enchantments afflict your eyes, which are tinged a glowing red. This also empowers all of your damaging magics by 15% damage.

Aspect of the Devil: Claws - Summon and discard demon claws at will. Separate from hand to hand combat. Can cause bleeding, a damage over time effect.

Magical Attributes:

Chaos

Dark

Skill Trees Unlocked:

Aspect of the Devil

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having finished assigning the points, Trey looked down at the book he was holding. His brow furrowed in concentration and he tried to pry open the locks with another try. Yet again, they did not budge and he was unable to open his grimoire. He scoffed in frustration and looked back to his status page. He held out the grimoire and said loudly, “Shadowform.” Soon thereafter, he felt a strange tingling throughout his body as black wisps began to rise from the book. Eventually the wisps fully enveloped the book and the grimoire disappeared, absorbing through his hands and into his body.

“That way I definitely won’t lose it,” noted Trey confidently, looking pleased. “Any idea on what this Shadowform trait means by ‘allowing me to express shadow properties’”?

Sithis hummed softly. After a few moments he spoke. ‘Our body is expressing Shadowform at a constant even rate. I have analyzed our vitals , organ systems, and magics and concluded that it is likely we are able to morph some or all of our physical body into Shadowform for brief periods of time. This would be quite useful in scenarios where we would need to either hide or dodge attacks.’

Trey raised an eyebrow. “Sounds pretty epic! How do I do it?”

‘No idea,’ Sithis immediately replied.

Trey smirked and chuckled. “I’ll try practicing it later I guess. Well, anyway, where to now Sithis?”

He took a moment and looked down into the dark water at his reflection. Two crimson orbs stared back at him, causing him to do a double take. His eyes were not just red, but glowing crimson irises, and they were surrounded by a pitch-black backdrop of his sclera.

Wow. He looked… sinister. Badass even. Was that really him staring back?

‘What are your intended goals, master?’

His gaze lingered on the reflection of his eyes for a time. Then Trey shrugged as he put his shoes back on and walked away from the riverside. “To get out of here I guess. Assuming this is a real world and not somehow my imagination, I’d like to get to where other people are. But not to where anyone that wants to kill me... like those angels or dead bastards back there. Ya dig?”

Sithis took a moment. ‘Your guess is as good as mine, Trey. I do not know why you assume I know the answers to these questions just because I was born in this world and not yours. I haven’t existed for even two hours yet. I assume that leaving this valley would be a first step into finding out where we are and how to leave.’

Trey threw up his hands in frustration, took a look at the river and frowned. “I suppose you’re right. Let’s find a way out of this canyon.”

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Name: Jason Foreti

Level 2

Class: None

It had taken over a day to trek through Mithin Forest.

Along the way Elise taught Jason how to use a bow. Much to her amusement he was terrible at first, but he’d gotten the hang of it. That night they made camp, they lit a fire and cooked the deer he had killed. Elise skinned the deer with a knife and took the pelt with them.

In the next day, they hunted down and skinned one more deer, as well as three racoon-like creatures that Elise called “norbs.” Getting to know Elise was one of the most satisfying things Jason could remember doing in a while. They got along splendidly.

He’d been feeling quite alone ever since arriving in this place and it was nice to talk to someone again, especially if that person was Elise. He often caught himself staring and it took some mental effort not to be so obvious. It turned out that not only had she been on a hunting trip, but she’d also been exploring. Not having come this far north into the forest before, she wanted to see what it was like… and that’s when she was attacked.

She told Jason that her family lived in a small wooden house on the outskirts of a tiny village called Vork. Her father was a hunter and had taught her how to use a bow when she was young. She often accompanied him on hunting trips, though he was the one who stayed home this time because he was feeling under the weather. Her mother was a seamstress who would often buy her materials from others in the village or nearby villages to make clothing. She also used many of the skins brought back from hunting for leatherworking, and apparently she had quite the business going. Elise bragged about it for a while, saying how much her family’s life was improved since her mother had become skilled in the craft of clothes making. She also told Jason of her siblings. There were two sisters, one was older and one was younger, as well as a brother who was at the age of 9. Elise, herself, was 21.

When she told Jason that her older sister was married to a local in Vork, Jason couldn’t help but ask if Elise was married as well - to which Elise laughed, grinned at Jason, and replied with a loud “NO!” By the end of the fourth day they spotted the cabin that housed Elise’s family, and together they emerged from the woods.

“Amaia!” yelled Elise. She ran over to a girl slightly shorter than herself, who sported the same bright red hair and tanned skin.

“Elise! You’re way late!” chided Amaia, who intercepted her older sister and wrapped her arms around her in a big hug. “Mother is worried that you got eaten by a bear! Go inside and let her know you’re alright.”

She stopped her chiding as she noticed tears welling up in Elise’s eyes and raised her eyebrows in concern. “Are you ok Elise? Hey… What happened to your face? You’re all bruised up!”

Amaia let go of her sister and then noticed Jason. He was standing with his arms folded a short distance away and holding the pelts of the animals he and Elise had skinned. Amaia seemed startled for a moment before turning back to Elise.

“And who’s the handsome man you’re bringing back with you?” she whispered, trying not to let Jason hear as she looked him up and down.

“I’m fine,” nodded Elise as she wiped the tears away. “I’ll tell you about what happened later. Maybe.” Elise winked. “But this is Jason! He says he’s from somewhere called Los Angeles and I found him completely lost and naked running around the wilderness! It’s safe to say that I saved his life!” Elise motioned over to Jason, who smirked as the two women began laughing loudly.

Jason smiled, shrugged, and held out a hand to greet Amaia. “Yeah that’s what happened all right. I’m pretty helpless and definitely lost. What can I say?”

Amaia laughed even harder at the admission of guilt before looking down quizzically to Jason’s hand.

“What?” She asked.

Jason thought a moment before letting his hand drop. “Where I’m from people shake hands to greet one another. Sorry, it’s a habit. I’ve never been here before, so I don’t know the customs.”

“Many people here do that too,” stated Elise with a smirk. “Amaia is just a country bumpkin and hasn’t gotten out of the village much.”

Amaia ignored her sister’s goading.

“My heavens, you are so cute! I can see why Elise brought you home to meet us.” Amaia laughed once more as Elise jabbed her in the side violently with her fingers. Jason blushed and looked to the ground. “You speak our dialect very well Jason. I don’t hear an accent, which surprises me since you’re not from around here. A lot of the travelers from the south speak Elvish instead of the native human tongue.”

“Elvish? Really? But yeah I’m not sure how to explain that one. I kinda learned it out of nowhere. My native tongue is called ‘English’.” Jason’s eyes briefly scanned the area, examining the cabin, racks of pelts, woodcutting supplies, and fire pit. “I’m actually kind of embarrassed to ask this, but I have nowhere to go and don’t know what I’m doing.”

He sheepishly glanced at Elise. “If your family could point me in the right direction so that I may find a job… That’d be great.”

He had no job related skills that might translate over to this world, and the sincerity in his voice was apparent.

Elise smiled and her eyes softened. She took a step forward and touched Jason on the shoulder. “After what you did for me, Jason, I’m sure we will be able to help you too. Come.”

Elise motioned for Jason to follow her. Amaia questioningly looked at Elise before her eyes darted back to Jason and quietly followed the two into the Cabin.

The inside of the cabin’s main room was small with a tiny candle illuminating the place from a perch on a center table. A few wicker-type chairs and baskets holding an assortment of items were stacked along the wall, along with folded quilts under a small pile of clothing in the far corner. Thread, needles, and cloth were set to one side of the clothing piles. Two oaken bows hung on the wall immediately in front of Jason, while three quivers of arrows leaned against the wall. The dirt floor was swept clean of debris, and it was rather smooth from the constant use of the occupants. A cupboard was open, revealing different fruits and a dark-brown loaf of bread. Two doorways stood at opposite ends of the main room with curtains hanging down to act as barriers between rooms.

A cough was heard coming from the doorway furthest from Jason and Elise walked over to pull back the curtain. She stepped inside, motioned to Jason, and then bent down to kneel beside a low-lying bed. Laying in the bed was a tall man with the same complexion and hair color as the two women Jason had already met. He wore a short beard, and coughed another short bark of a cough, but smiled when he saw his daughters enter.

“You haven’t been taking your medicine have you?” Elise scowled as she held her father’s hand with both of her own. “You should be better by now.”

“Of course he hasn’t!” laughed Amaia.

The man chuckled and pointed over to a green glass vial filled with a colorless liquid on a shelf to his left. “That stuff makes me even more sick than I already am. And it tastes like your mother’s ass!”

Elise rolled her eyes and Amaia put a palm up to her face as the man cackled only to follow up with another cough. The man turned to smile brightly up at Jason. “Don’t worry girls, I'll be fine, but who is this man standing before me? It is rude to not make introductions for your guest.”

Elise stood up from her kneeling position and let go of her father’s hand. Turning to look at Jason she said, “This is Jason from Los Angeles. He’s completely lost and needs help finding work.” She turned to look back at her father again, slowly, and cast her eyes downward. “He saved my life, father. It would mean a lot to me if we helped him.”

The man’s eyes widened and he repeated the words his daughter had told him. “Saved your life?” He questioned, turning to look at Jason again. “Lost? From a place called Los Angeles?”

He paused and looked back to Elise. “Really?”

The girl nodded, and her father’s expression grew heavy. “It appears you have quite the story to tell me darling, but we should wait for your mother to return. She will want to hear this as well. She’s currently selling clothes in the market with your brother and will be back by sundown.”

Elise’s father sat up, violently coughing again, and turned his body to place his feet on the floor. He stood up and looked Jason in the eyes. Putting both hands on Jason’s shoulders he stated: “My name is Borthome, and it appears I owe you a lot for whatever it is you’ve done for my daughter. She would not lie about such things. Come, we can cook some of the meat and empty the ale while we wait. I would like to get to know you, Jason.”

***

“YOU ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO GO OUT INTO THE FOREST BY YOURSELF!” exclaimed Elise’s mother, whose name was Estela. Estela looked almost identical to Elise, but an older version of her. The creases lining her features suggested she smiled a lot. Tears rolled down both her face and Elise’s as they hugged each other and cried. “Can you imagine what would have happened if Jason hadn’t been there?! Uvar would have never let you come back to the village after raping you Elise.”

Estela pulled away and took her daughter’s face in her hands. “He wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know what he did.”

Amaia and her little brother Nommen sat silently upon wicker chairs in the main room corner, not saying anything but watching and listening closely. Jason stood awkwardly next to them. It was getting dark outside, and he looked out one of the windows that was propped open with a wooden stick.

Borthome was tense with anger as he looked at the floor before letting out a series of coughs into the crook of his arm. He gritted his teeth. “I’ve always known Uvar was fond of you Elise, but I never would have thought he would follow you out into the woods to try anything. Even after I denied him your hand in marriage, I felt like he had accepted my answer.”

“What are we going to tell the others in the village?” asked their mother Estela as her lips trembled while she tried to control her emotions.

Borthome scoffed. “Absolutely nothing.”

He firmly held eye contact, one at a time, with everyone else in the room. He settled his gaze on Jason. “If Uvar’s family finds out that he’s been killed, they wouldn’t care if it was in self defense. I know Uvar’s father well enough to know that there would be a blood feud. At the very least,” Borthome pointed to Jason, “he would want Jason’s head. At worst, he would want Elise as compensation for her being involved and challenge me to an honor match.”

Jason turned to Amaia and Nommen.

“What’s an honor match?” whispered Jason.

Nommen continued to look to his father as his parents discussed the situation, but whispered back, “A deathmatch. If there is a dispute in the village that would cause bad blood between families, the heads of the family may settle it with a deathmatch.”

Amaia interrupted. “Whoever wins an honor match may choose what to do with the loser’s family. Usually the children and sons are sold into slavery, and the women kept for the winner’s pleasure.”

“Can’t you just say no to the honor match?” asked Jason hesitantly, looking over to Elise who had her head in her hands. Apparently, she had been holding in her emotions about the incident for a while now.

Amaia shrugged. “It would depend on what the village council decided, but as Uvar is dead… it would likely result in them agreeing to the honor match. They wouldn’t want a blood feud between families to spiral out of control and involve others in the village. It has happened before and was bad for everyone.”

Borthome suddenly stood up and walked over to Jason. Quickly he inspected Jason’s clothes, running his fingers over the blood stains and hole in the side where the dagger had pierced Uvar’s rib cage. “We need to burn these immediately. Give me the dagger too.” Borthome turned and walked back into his room. Soon he returned with another set of clothes. “Take those off and give them to me. You are about the same size and height as I am, so these should work well for you.”

Jason nodded and took the clothes. “Thank you… Do you mind if I use your room to change? Or… should I use the other one?”

Borthome smiled slightly. “You afraid to get naked in front of us? I was under the impression you were a free spirit after Elise told us she found you wandering naked as a newborn babe in the middle of the forest.”

Elise laughed slightly while she wiped away tears and the others all smiled at the comment. Jason looked up to the ceiling and back down before replying, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t rub in it, I think I got an odd rash along my legs and backside because of it.”

Elise cackled and snorted, “Yeah I noticed when we first met. You’ll need to visit the alchemist to get a cure, otherwise it will spread and blister.”

Elise wiped the tears away before standing up and walking over to where Jason stood. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and put her hands on his chest. “I can always help you… undress… if you’d like.”

She looked up at him slyly and her father burst into laughter while Amaia put her face in her palms.

Estela made a loud humph, wiping the tears from her eyes as well and smiling. “Our daughter is turning into a prostitute Borthome! Whatever shall we do!”

Everyone in the cabin laughed at that and Jason blushed brightly, feeling the place Elise had kissed him with his left hand. Elise seductively placed her fingers on Jason’s neck and brushed them down again to his chest before turning with a backwards glance to him and sitting back down next to her mother.

“I’m going to go change now,” Jason sputtered as the laughter continued. Swiftly he exited the building to stand just outside, and he began to change.

“We have extra blankets for you Jason, but unfortunately we don’t have another bed.” Estela came over and handed him four quilts when he entered the building again. “I think that should be somewhat of a cushion if you stack three underneath you though.”

Jason smiled widely as he handed Uvar’s blood stained clothes over to Elise’s father. Jason then took the quilts from Estela, “Thank you so much. I sincerely appreciate this… I didn’t know if I would have to sleep outside again and it gets really cold.”

Estella gave Jason a brief, but tight hug and gave a loving smile. “Honey, you are so polite! Your parents did well in raising such a fine young man.”

“Ale time!” exclaimed Elise as she took out some mugs from the cupboard Jason had noticed earlier, along with a small barrel from the room Jason hadn’t been into yet. She handed everyone a mug and began filling them with Ale. Borthome had already thrown the clothes in the flames and soon began cooking venison.

Minutes of banter passed and stories of their families were exchanged as Jason slowly began to get to know the family he would become so fond of. The man opened the door to go see if the meat was finished shortly after that, and then called out to confirm. The fire pit burned brightly as everyone began to make their way outside. Small plates were dished out by Nommen and soon it was almost as if Jason was out camping again, like he used to do with his friends and family as a child. It felt nice, and Jason was completely at ease.

He began to exchange stories with the others, of what his life had been like here in this strange new world… and soon felt right at home.