‘Ding’ You have learnt the General Ability [Identify].

The words echoed in his head. The implications of them pressing down on him. There’s no way, right? This can’t be a bloody- He was jerked forward and held up in front of the Phantom Core. It shocked his mind into focus, and he started to struggle. But, he was weak; he hardly had any strength left to fight. Meaning that he could do nothing but watch, as the Core’s tendrils snaked their way to him. He shivered as he felt their touch on his skin, poking and inspecting. It didn’t take long for them to find what they wanted. The tendrils paused on his wounds, and then violently surged in. He screamed at the slithering pain, but was helpless – He could feel them doing something to him. Through his tears, he watched the tendril rippling, like it was feeding something into him, and he gasped as his skin became deadly pale. A cold weight settled on his heart – It was going to turn him into one of them – a ghost… He did everything that he could to escape, but its grip was firm, unyielding. Eventually, he slowly slumped. First it was that Mink, and now this. Heh, well I guess– He stared as he saw the Mink he had just thought about, watched him from the left side of the Core. It then fucking giggled, and waved excitedly. He wasn’t thinking straight, he could barely say anything, but he had just enough strength to twist his hand and give it the middle finger, mouthing the words, “fuck you.” But that was the last of his energy, and his thoughts slowly became submerged by the water. He heard his dispassionate voice tolling like a bell.

‘Ding’ You will become a [Phantom Servito-

The Mink raised its little hands and CLAPPED. A blast of distorted air billowed from it, completely blowing away the tendrils. He fell to the floor, incapable of doing anything but lifting his head. The Mink scurried over and wrapped its tail around his hand. His eyes widened as he realised what was about to happen. The Mink sped away, dragging him along the floor at high speed. He shouted at it, but a bounce shut him up. A wall was heading straight for them, and they were about to crash, when it rippled like water. They slipped through, and suddenly were out onto the beginning of one of the staircases. They didn’t slow down for a second, and he watched in horror as his head neared the steps. He tried to say something, but it was too late. His head smacked straight into it, making his vision go white. He felt them stumble, and then suddenly, the feeling of the hard stone vanished. When his vision cleared, he saw that the Minkwas still holding on to him, bouncing up the steps. He looked down and saw that he was floating, gently swaying from side to side. He couldn’t help it – He laughed. He laughed so hard that it became difficult to breathe – that tears leaked out of his eyes. Distantly, he was aware of the Mink laughing too.

Eventually, they stopped deep inside the complex. He had no idea where the exit was, and was too tired to worry about it. He sat on the stone, watching the panting creature next to him. “So...want to tell me why you dragged me here?” It ignored him, still taking deep breaths. Jason continued, “Nothing?”

The creature looked back at him and shrugged.

Jason gaped. “You mean to say that you just saw a random human and thought, ‘you know what, I’m gonna kidnap this guy to some random place, because screw him!?’”

It stared him in the eye, and then the mystical little rat shrugged again.

“Oh you piece of shit!” He leapt at it, his hands reaching for its neck. But it flickered, and they passed straight through. He landed on his knees, with his face right in front of it. It flicked him right on the nose, and snickered. He scrambled to his feet, and was sorely tempted to kick at it, but he managed to calm himself. “Right, whatever. How do I get back?”

The Mink shook its head

“I can’t get back?”

It shrugged once more. Jason thought for a moment. “Does that mean that as far as you know, there is no way back, but there might be?”

It nodded and gave him a thumbs up – that was so cute, he nearly forgave it. He scowled. “How can you not know how to get back? You’re the one who brought us here!”

It shook its head, with exasperation, and he suddenly had an idea. He focused on the animal, taking in it’s sparkling eyes and twitchy nose.

‘Ding’ [Mink of the Multiverses Lv ??].

He blinked. “Oh… are we… in the same universe?”

It slowly shook its head.

“Right… but, you’re a ‘Mink of the Multiverse!’ There’s no way you don’t know how to get home, right?”

The creature rolled its eyes and started making gestures.

“Big? Very big? Stone – Grey – Hard-yes? It's very big and hard?” He stopped, and glared at it again. “Are you messing with me?”

It shook his head, clearly annoyed. Jason, took a moment to think. “So, you can’t get me to my home, because the multiverse is so big and...that makes it hard? To find?”

The Mink nodded energetically, and he sighed. “So, I’m stuck here…” The animal just waved, dismissing the concern. He didn’t have the energy to be angry at it. Not until later, when we get out of here. “Right. Well, we should focus on getting out. Can you teleport us?”

It shook its head.

“Do you know the way?”

It hesitantly nodded. “Wow, how reassuring. I guess you should lead then.” It huffed, and with a big push, started swimming through the air. It turned to him, looking smug, but he didn’t even blink. “Get on with it then.”

They headed off again. The Mink glided through the air with ease, while Jason trudged behind it. He took the time to check himself, inspecting his injuries. They had healed over, leaving almost translucently white scars behind. His skin in general had become much more pale. He had to grit his teeth when he touched it. It was so sensitive that he immediately got goosebumps all over. Shaking his head, he decided to distract himself. Naturally, his mind went to his new Ability [Identify]. He gulped – even thinking the word, caused some kind of resonance in his mind. He braced himself, and then said very quietly, “status.”

‘Ding’ Name: Jason Darting.

First Class: None.

Second Class: None.

Unspent stat points: None

Vitality: 200.

Endurance: 100.

Strength: 25.

Dexterity: 25

Wisdom: 50.

Intelligence: 50.

General Skills: [Identify Lv 1] ; [Bretae Standard Language Lv 5].

Class Skills: None.

There it is...he thought, as the words rang. He really was in a LitRPG. He was either crazy, or he'd…what? Actually been dragged into another world? He scoffed at the idea, but then hesitated. But…what else could it be? Hallucination? Can they even be this vivid? He shook his head. Either way, he was in a dangerous situation. His best chance of surviving would be to make use of this system and the Mink. However...he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. Why did the magic have to be a LitRPG? He loved fantasy. The Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter and many others reads. Because magic is flipping cool. But, books with video game magic? He had never been impressed. Still, he definitely needed it now, and was going to have to figure it out. “Do you know how to get Classes?”

The Mink floated backwards, while it responded to him by shaking its head.

“How can you not? Didn’t you get one?”

It held its arms open, helplessly.

“Great.”

They carried on, while he tried to figure out how to get a Class. He mainly just said a bunch of stuff, in the hopes that something would happen, but to no success. He puffed his cheeks out and rubbed his arms. It was getting colder. He was about to ask the Mink some more questions, when he heard a wail. They both whirled around to see a ghost heading straight for them. The Mink wasted no time, and he watched as it took a deep breath before spitting out a line of distorted air. It shot straight into the ghost’s chest, instantly causing it to explode. Jason looked from the floating remains to the Mink. “How did you do that? Is it Mana, like in video games?”

The Mink seemed surprised, nodding, and then made some more gestures.

“So, it is Mana, and you don’t know what video games are, cool.” He nodded. They resumed their journey and eventually came across something different.

“Is this a camp?” Jason asked, surprised. The Minkhad already swum over, and was digging its nose into a backpack. He heard excited cooing from it as he passed. He walked over to a tent and opened it, immediately jumping back in alarm. There was a body inside, a young woman wearing chainmail and leathers. She had an enormous gash where her throat used to be. He choked, his mouth suddenly incredibly dry. He stumbled back and fell between the other tents; he tensed even further when he realised what must be inside them. An awful pain grew in his chest, like his heart was being wrenched, and he started breathing fast, feeling light-headed. His thoughts started to spiral to everything that had happened within the last couple of hours. Panic attack… He gritted his teeth, until his jaw ached and counted back from a hundred. Once he got to zero, he did it again. After counting for some time, he was brought out of his thoughts by a crunching noise. He looked to his left and saw the Mink, holding a small armful of nuts, and chewing on a mouthful. One of the nuts suddenly became distorted and floated over to him. He watched it numbly, until it started to shove itself into his mouth. He tried to protest, which only made it go right down his throat. He began to choke. He felt his face glow red as he struggled with it, all while listening to the Mink’s laughter. He eventually managed to deal with it...glaring at the animal.

“Screw...you…” He coughed. The Mink waddled over, and gave him a pat on his leg with its tail. He sighed and looked back at the woman, a tumult of emotions happening inside him. I...need armour… Bracing himself, he began to strip the gear, while leaving her underclothes on. He then put it over his clothes, but ditched his trousers as they were too baggy. When he was done, he was wearing surprisingly fitting gear. He peered inside again, wondering if he could do anything for her, when he noticed a sword. Unlike the one he lost earlier, this sword was in a scabbard, one that was polished. He briefly wondered if he should leave it, but decided not to; he needed every advantage he could get. He grabbed it and buckled it around his waist.

“Mink. We should go.”

The animal looked up from where it was nibbling, and nodded. It ran over to the bag and began to drag it. Jason grunted. “Good thinking.” But before he could lift it, the Mink began shovelling its treats inside. He rolled his eyes, and began helping as well. Once they were finished, the Mink dove in and immediately continued its meal. He sighed, shouldering the pack. “Don’t eat all of it okay? I need some too.” He checked one final time around the camp, still refusing to look inside the other tents. He did manage to find some stuff that almost looked like food, but definitely didn’t taste like it; He popped it in the bag, hoping that they were rations of some kind. With that done, they set off again.

“You’ll come out and help if anymore of those ghosts come, yeah?” He asked a little nervously.

A squeak sounded from behind him, and he nodded. “I’m gonna take that as yes.” While he walked, he pulled out the sword he’d taken to inspect it. It was incredibly shiny. Almost blinding when angled properly. Actually, where is that light coming from? So far, the light had been sourceless. But, the sword was reflecting a light that was too strong for it to be the same. He began to search and, eventually, he gasped as he saw a golden doorway. It was far away, and he didn’t see how he could get there; but it was an exit!

“I can see a way out, Mink!” he whispered loudly. The creature chittered in response. The doorway was too far away for him to trace a path. So, he figured he'd just take every turn that headed towards it. With a spring in his step, he moved forwards.

After an hour of walking and seemingly no closer, he was ready to scream in frustration. How am I supposed to get there?! He stomped along a flat part of the path. Mulling over his inability to make visible progress; He was brought up short by the signature wailing of the ghosts, and his head shot up as he saw two of them sweep down towards him.

“Mink!” He called, dropping his pack and leapt forwards for space. The ghosts separated, one heading for the bag and the other for him. He pulled the sword out with a rasp, and experienced a flash of emotion. That was so cool. He then started waving it – while screaming. The ghost lunged toward him, and he instinctively jumped backwards, flailing his sword in between them. The spectral horror ignored it, its clawed fingers reaching for him, and into the blade's path. The edge neatly sliced its fingers off. They both stared at its now stumpy hand, both of them at a loss on what to do. The ghost finally started wailing again, but this time in pain. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he advanced, clumsily slicing at it, taking more and more pieces of it away. It was slow progress, the sword weighed heavily in his hand and arms. The grip was slick with his sweat, but he didn’t lose focus for a second. The ghost slashed at him with its other hand, causing the recognisable distortion that cut deeply into his chainmail. He took the opportunity to cut off its hand entirely. It could no longer use its attack effectively. So, he pressed his offence, slicing an arm, a leg and then the neck! A triumphant noise boomed in his head.

‘Ding’ You have defeated a [Phantom Servitor Lv 3]. Experience will be saved until a Class is chosen.

He waited for something else, but nothing popped up. So, he slumped down to the floor. He glanced over to the Mink that had watched the entire thing. It applauded him, and he didn’t bother giving it a response. He exhaled… then inhaled, and repeated it. Just killed something...No blood. It was a monster. Looked like a normal person, just from the mediaeval times. I’m not bothered? No, the violence of it got to me. But, these things killed that woman from before, I think what I did was… fair? What happened to these ghosts was not – but I didn’t make them like this. He breathed out one last time and looked over at its remains. He inspected it cautiously, unwilling to touch it. It was slowly drifting down through the air, and he watched as some passed through the floor. It was a milky colour. He shrugged, and tried to look away, but his eyes were dragged back. His mind became quiet, and in a daze, his hand reached out to the wisps. As he got close, they started to twitch towards him. He continued, eventually causing them to vibrate and break down into mist, which then slithered over to him, and his mind broke out of its stupor. “Shi-” The mist surged and snuck into his clothes; he could feel them sinking into the scars left by the Phantom Core, deepening the coldness that came from them. He shouted, trying to wave the stuff away, to no effect. After some time, it was done and he stood there panting. “Crap,” he said with a groan.

He straightened, to see the Mink looking at him interestedly. “What was that?” he asked, wiping sweat from his brow.

The animal made some gestures, and finished with a thumbs up.

“I have no idea what you mean.”

The creature rolled its eyes, and trotted over to the fallen spectre that it killed. His eyes widened as the wisps distorted, and were sucked right into its mouth. It spluttered a bit, spitting a few wisps out, shuddering. It turned back to him and shrugged.

“It’s… safe?”

The Mink pointed at itself and nodded. Then its finger moved to him, and it made an uncertain gesture with its hand.

“You don’t know…” It nodded, and he sighed. “Well, that's better than nothing, I guess.” He frowned unhappily. “Lets just hope we don’t meet anymore then…” He picked his bag up to continue, and struggled to ignore the little rat’s mocking chortle.