My fuzzy consciousness eased back to the land of virtual reality like a bear hungrily awakening from his slumber. I experienced one of those strange nostalgic moments when you wake up and realize you aren’t home. The thing that tipped me was the stiff, cold floor against my back and my grip on my wooden staff so hard that it hurt. I sat up and shook out my hand. The platform was . It was the biggest yet, extending towards a large doorway like the ones from the previous room. But my attention was on the hefty iron chest in front of the archway. I walked over and knelt next to it. Opening the lid a crack, I couldn’t see the contents of the chest, so I heaved the lid and fully opened my goodie box. I sighed in contentment, seeing the glittering silver coins, bottles, and assorted treasures. But the messages tucked away in my notifications are what really caught my attention.

[Quest Complete: Trial of Blades

Condition(s): Survive the ‘Trial of Blades’

Rarity: N/A

Rewards: +3 Agility +3 Stat Points +100 EXP (Skill: Dodge)]

[New Skill Acquired: Dodge (lv.1)

Cost: 1 stamina,

Cooldown: 1.5 seconds

Effect: For one second, all incoming attacks have a 5% chance of missing.]

[Notice: Your agility stat has been raised three points.]

[Notice: You have three unallocated stat points]

[Level Up!

You have reached Level 2: +4 to all stats +7 stat points

EXP to next level: 0/105]

I felt a tide of power, the rapids of strength tangibly flowing through my veins. The first level up was probably the smallest but in proportion to my current strength, it was probably the biggest I will ever receive. I didn’t even remember receiving notifications in my quest log, but the system likes to hide or suppress notifications when I am trying to focus.

I turned back to my precious loot. I did find that I really started to like the loot, which comes to no surprise. Ancient Realms was notoriously good at hooking players after all. I scooped the coins into my inventory and heard the satisfying clicking noise that accompanied depositing money. I pulled out a pair of gloves, a black and malevolent presence creeping through them. They sent a chill through my spine, not just because they were cool to the touch, but because I could feel the darkness of the item like the damp stench of impending rain.

[Wraith’s Claws: These gloves are on part of a set of three. They were passed down from one of the greatest tailors of all time. Legends say she fought a wraith lord in single combat, but unable to defeat the ethereal creature, she instead used an enchanted thread to bind its soul to the mortal plane. The parts of the wraith’s soul are fastened to these gloves, a cloak, and a pair of shoes. Uniting all three would grant the wearer immense power. When equipped: +30 agility, -50 Alignment, -300 reputation with Holy factions, -50 reputation with positively aligned factions.

Abilities:

Inescapable Wrath: When a target attempts to flee, the wielder may close a fist to hold them in place for up to five seconds. This costs 10 mana per second.

Corruption: When in combat, anything touched by the gloves slowly loses durability or health(excluding wielder). 25% Chance for living targets of the ability to become cursed.

Requirements: Level 25

Quality: Legendary

Durability: 200/200

Creator: Sara Vestidor

Date of Creation: N/A]

That was a decent bite of information. I found the lore pretty interesting too, and a quest appeared

[Quest: Gathering Darkness

Unite all three pieces of the Legendary Tailor Sara Vestidor’s wraith armor.

Rewards: Variable

Time Limit: None

Failure Penalty: None]

[Accept or Decline]

I accepted the quest. After all, I could only gain from it. The gloves made me queasy, and I was shaky enough from my recent experiences, so I put away the gloves into my inventory with no more inspection than necessary. With my health, mana, and stamina all reaching full, I opened my status page again. Time to allocate points. I had 10 points from the quest and the level up alike and I could see the direction my character build would likely travel. I had a ton of perception-based abilities, but they would be leaps and bounds more useful if I could move fast enough to utilize their full potential. I theorized that if I could reach high enough physical speeds, then my bullet time processing would allow me to experience and react to the slowed time fast enough to reliably use the skill. I saw a lot of potential for this idea, I thought as I fiddled with the hinges of the chest. I thought some more and then put four points into agility, three into Perception, and then one more into luck, wisdom, and intellect respectively. I felt ready to take on this world now, and I strode through the next door with greater self-confidence.