05 – Silverscale – Live, die, repeat

It was too much to hope for a quick and painless death, however. It was but a naive dream, because the poison did not numb the pain this time, but only made him powerless in front of the incoming horror that awaited him.

The beast crept closer, its burnt mane and flesh fouling the air with an unspeakable stink. Its maw was barely a few inches away from David’s face, and he could smell the rotten breath that it exhaled. It was about to die, and yet it refused to do so without taking him with it.

He was going to die, again. And it was going to hurt.

His screams echoed throughout the whole forest.

Reincarnating in 3, 2, 1…

6° Reincarnation.

>Body upgraded with: SKILL: summon knife.

>Mission is reset type. Complete objective to unlock new area.

Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!

This time, the white room blessed him with a gift once again. He must have done something or passed some kind of test, and now he had been rewarded. A new skill for him beyond the inventory he already had, the ability to make a knife suddenly appear in his hands. Like before the knowledge on how to use it was already in his brain, ready to use as if it had always been there.

As he appeared in the jungle once again, the pain hit him. He knew that this time it would last longer and be much more painful, but he endured. It was all that he could do, because he was very well aware of the fact that he had no way to avoid such fate.

It was the price to pay for immortality, it seemed. And he would pay it. The fight between his and the beast was personal now, much more than a simple fight for survival. It was a matter of pride, and a way to stop the endless cycle of death and pain that he was feeling. That thing had to die, and he had to be the one who killed it.

He flexed his hand, clutching tight the small knife that had appeared inside of it. It was white and shiny, made of tough stainless steel and with a dangerous double edge. It was time to hunt.

Reincarnating in 3, 2, 1…

9° Reincarnation.

>Body upgraded with: complete milestones to unlock upgrades.

>Mission is reset type. Complete objective to unlock new area.

Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!

Death was meaningless. All that there was, all that there always was after it was the white room. And pain. An ever-growing sea of pain that seemed to never end.

But each time he died; he came back stronger. With each cycle a part of him was left behind so that a better version of himself could be forged.

He was getting close to his objective, to his freedom. He grinned, the pain coursing through his veins like a sweet poison. The fire in his bones was burning viciously, and yet with it came the little shiver of pleasure that made it all worth it. The little thrill of the hunt that was about to come, the game of life and death between him and the powers of the universe itself.

The hunt was on.

Reincarnating in 3, 2, 1…

12° Reincarnation.

>Body upgraded with: complete milestones to unlock upgrades.

>Mission is reset type. Complete objective to unlock new area.

Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!

He had died again. He was so close that his failure irritated him to no end.

It was not a problem, however. The pain, the deaths, they were all making him stronger. Better.

A real hunter was about to be born. The next time around, a new David would arise from the ashes of the old. The pain enveloped his mind in a thick haze of confusion, and when it receded, he was ready.

Reincarnating in 3, 2, 1…

15° Reincarnation.

>Body upgraded with: complete milestones to unlock upgrades.

>Mission is reset type. Complete objective to unlock new area.

Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!

The pain slowly left the place to the usual aftertaste of the respawn process, to the familiar tingle that shook his bones and soul. It was a welcome sensation, something to look forward to, something that he knew would come as soon as the worst of the pain went away.

He smiled, a crooked and evil grin plastered on his face. This sensation was what he was looking for, the runner’s high of his new kind of life, the sensation of rebirth. He basked in it, he rejoiced at the feel of the pain in his body, and then as it began to wane, he set his eyes upon the forest that had been his prison for so long.

“Today, I will come out victorious.”

The beast rolled on the ground, its mane on fire, trying to extinguish it. David took out the three boulders from his inventory and dropped them on top of it. They hit true, and the beast was now stunned.

Now for the hard part of his plan. He was too spent to cast magic again, after the effort he made to cast the first fireball. He had not been getting better at it, because each time he respawned his body was reset to how it was before, and could not grow accustomed to magic.

But it was no issue, because the movements and the steps needed to do what he had to do were deeply engraved into his mind now. He opened his right hand, and looked at it expectantly.

“[Summon knife]”

A jet black, obsidian knife appeared between his fingers. Out of the many he could make with his ability; this was the one that he fell in love with at first sight. It was small and nimble, but at the same time quite heavy and dangerous. Its edge was portentous, capable of cutting through the beast’s hide like it was made of paper.

Looking at the beast in the eye, he waited for it to make its move. It shot its needles, but he was prepared as he already knew what was going to happen. A large log appeared out of thin air, summoned by his will from his inventory and into the real world. The needles embedded themselves, while the few that managed to get through were easily dodged by David.

“If you wanna kill me, you gotta do better.” He said, and the smile widened.

The beast roared, as if sensing the mocking tone of the puny man that dared cross its path. David grinned as he shot forward, knowing very well the risks with going too close to the beast.

At the last moment, he dodged to the right, and avoided its maw as it closed down with a snap. There was only empty air where it bit, and David made good use of the small window of time that this action created to slash with his knife and slash the beast’s throat.

He missed, the slash was too shallow and too far from where it had to hit. The beast whimpered in pain, but recovered immediately after and managed to dodge another slash aimed at it. It tried to get up, and readied more needles to fire at David.

He looked at the large beast, and his grin faltered. Then, soon after, it returned in full. This was the end of his planned actions, that was true, but this did not mean that he was done for. Quite the contrary, this was where the real thrill was. This was where the real high was.

This is what living was for. For these moments, to face death and look at it in the eye. And come out on top.

Gripping his knife tight, he looked at the animal. The needles flew out of its mane as rapidly as bullets, but his eyes could see them now. He was ready. He rolled on the ground, grunting because one of the needles had hit him in the back, but not giving up. He launched himself towards the animal, who looked at him in confusion.

“This…” He yelled, and landed on top of it. The beast slashed with its claws, but he didn’t budge. He laughed. “This is the end.”

And he stabbed its heart. The beast stopped moving, and its body became limp.

David stood proud and tall on top of the slain beast. He had done it, he had vanquished the evil that was threatening his freedom. He was out of this hell now, and he could make himself a new life in this strange new world filled with dangers and magic.

He was already thinking how to get out of this forest, when the messages from the white room appeared before his eyes again. But he was not in the white room, he was still inside the red and blue forest. So why was he seeing them?

The mission. The objective. The messages always talked about a new area after he had cleared the objective. The beast, then, was it. And by killing it he had completed his mission.

>Tutorial: Silverscale Forest completed!

>Issuing Hero card. Rank E position 4999. Card is now in inventory.

>Score: D-

>Rewards: Jumpstarted magical affinity for MAGIC:ELEMENTAL:FIRE to MEDIUM and for MAGIC:ELEMENTAL:EARTH to LOW

>New area unlocked. Transportation in 5 minutes.

Prepare for next area. Items will be kept.

For a moment, right after killing the beast, he had felt lost. It was what he had tried to do for god knows how long, and yet when he finally did it, it felt hollow. He felt like he was once again adrift, floating through the sea of life without direction or purpose.

Reading those messages ignited the fire inside of him again.

Perhaps this was for the best. The thrills, the adrenaline, the fury… he knew that he would never get them anywhere else. And he craved them, more than anything else in his boring, useless, life.

16° Reincarnation.

>Choose target location. Current mission; Silverscale forest.

He was in the white room now, the place between worlds. He had a choice to make, but it was not much of a choice to him at all. He had nothing to gain from this forest anymore, and he definitely did not feel like taking some time off.

He wanted to hunt again. “Current mission, please.”

>Confirmed.

>Mission is respawn type. Complete objective to unlock new area.

Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!

There was no pain along with the transportation, which meant that even though the number of reincarnations went up he had not died at all. He let go of the knife, which disappeared back to wherever it came from, and took out the hero card he had been given. It was a beautiful piece of metal, shiny and with some writing on it. He was rank Rank E position 4999; the last of the last. It made sense, but it was not meant to be for long, because he was ready to kill again.

“You!” A yell, loud and powerful came from behind. David tried to look around, but everything was spinning. Why was it spinning? It made no sense. He was feeling fine. More than fine actually. It was as if he was high on the sensation of pain once again, but without the pain. Just the high.

The high. Right.

He found himself on one knee, unable to move. The poisoned needle in his back, it was still there.