My friend, it would appear as though something is deeply wrong here in the village of Amungdak. The people are happy, the plants are healthy, the elementals themselves bless this land... but it almost seems too perfect. During my stay, I have noticed not one, not two, but three people go missing! All in the same spot around the cemetery. Call me crazy should you wish, but I heard of the events at Mermank! If we Yormarks are known for one thing, it's our superior Perception, and right now I catch the scent of death everywhere I go in this idyllic place. Should my suspicions be founded, we must eradicate the source at once! Necromancy is a foul practice, filled with even fouler practitioners. I know not how these disappearances have gone unnoticed, but I intend to get to the bottom of it!

- A short letter from Bardul of Jettenk to the King of Farsool

As I gaze out at the mountainside, panic starts to set in. It’s alright Graham. It’s all a dream. Just one big dream. You'll be back home soon. Just one big dream… This mantra plays in my head for a time until I hear some rustling.

*Growl*

Roughly 100 meters to my front is an animal of sorts. I would call what stands before me a wolf if wolves were bone white with pink marks and the size of a lion. It snarls, beginning to stalk closer, slowly eating up the distance between it and me. Huge, oversized six-inch claws rip gouges through the stones as though they were butter, the creature letting out a heart-wrenching howl and beginning to sprint towards me. At a loss for words, I scoot back, looking to put some space between me and the wolf-like monster. Then the ground gives way under my hand before I’m once again falling downwards.

*Splash*

Freezing water envelopes me. Swimming to the surface and looking up about 50 or so feet, I can see the silhouette of the creature looking down on me. I quickly make my way out of the river that I’ve fallen into and onto dry land. Staring down at the water, I see my deep blue eyes staring back at me. Short, white hair sitting atop a wrinkled visage. Laugh lines trace my usually smiling face, though now it is sadly stuck in a grim line. Coffee-colored skin covers thin, barely-there muscles. Good for hardly anything anymore, I think sardonically. Looking towards where I fell, I have to squint to make anything out.

*Ding*

[New Skill (Identify) Obtained!]

“Agh!” I jump at the sudden notification. What in the world does this mean? Skills? Notifications? Wolves the size of lions? Portals for crying out loud!? Adrenaline pumping through me, my gaze shifts back to the hilltop aiming to test out this new “skill,” only to see that the beast is no longer there! It’s just my luck that at that moment I hear snarling behind me. Turning around, I come face to face yet again with the terror-inducing being. As we stare at each other, I come to the horrifying conclusion that there is absolutely nothing I can do to get out of this situation. My joints are too bad to run, my arms are too frail to fight… if anything I probably look like the perfect snack for a monster such as this.

Then it hits me; I’m alive. If I’m alive, then maybe, just maybe, I can find a way home. I can’t go away, not like this. Not now. They need me. If I can just escape… The river! Using what must be the last of my body’s capabilities, I throw myself into the water with a resounding splash. However, stopping there isn’t an option as I make my way downwards, aiming to put as much space as possible between the fiend and me. Looking back and hoping that my ploy has rid me of the object of my worries, my fear spikes as I see it right behind me!

*Ding*

[New Skill (Swimming) Obtained!]

Following that notification, what was an arduous exercise, became a slightly less taxing experience. Still, it isn’t enough to save me from my impending doom. It would seem that mother nature has other plans though, as I manage to get swept up by a current with the wolf following suit soon after. Swirling through the liquid unrestrained, we tumble about like clothes in a washing machine. Until we aren’t. Until we’ve gone from tumbling and twisting in water, to rumbling and rolling through open air. Falling yet again. Wonderful. Only this time, there were no beautiful colors.

*Thud*

*Ding*

[Level 10 Cane Wolf Killed! Experience Awarded!]

[For Killing A Foe 10 Levels Above You, Bonus Experience Awarded!]

[For Killing A Foe 10 Levels Above You, You Have Gained The Title: (Overachiever I)! New Paths Available!]

[Level Up! You Are Now Level 1!]

[Level Up! You Are Now Level 2!]

[Level Up! You Are Now Level 3!]

Despite the cheery nature of the text, my entire body hurt. Looking down at my person, I could see that at least one of my legs was broken, and if the other somehow wasn’t, it was very close to it judging by how little I could do with it. Pain radiated from every bit of my being, causing waves of anguish to lash out at me. How am I still alive? That evil dog should've killed me. Heck, that fall should’ve killed me… and what do all of those messages mean? I killed a “Cane Wolf?" Is that what that mutt was? Ugh, there's something soft beneath me. Turning my head, I center my sight on the mangled heap beneath me.

[Level 10 Cane Wolf (Deceased)]

Another notification. Would you look at that? I landed on the wolf. That explains a few of my questions. God, everything hurts. It hurts! W-wait. W-what’s that?

In the corner of my vision was a blinking icon. Focusing on it, a message appears.

[Unallocated Points Detected! Please Use The {Status} Function To Assign Them!]

Deciding to go along with it in what must be my last moments of sanity, I focus on the term {Status}, seeing if I can get a reaction out of it. I didn’t expect it to work, though.

{Status}

Name: Graham Lattem HP: 15/21 (HP/Hr: 0.25) Age: 61 (Earth) Years SP: 30/42 (SP/Hr: 11 ) Titles: Overachiever Ⅰ MP: 40/40 (MP/Hr: 14)

[Attributes]

(AP: 30)

[Skills]

[Paths]

(PP: 0)

Str: 4

Phy: 2

Con: 1

Vit: 1

End: 2

Ver: 2

Agi: 3

Dex: 3

Per: 2

Wis: 7

Int: 4

Wil: 5

Swimming Lvl1, Identify Lvl1

If the previous few minutes hadn’t just occurred, and I wasn’t bleeding out, I might actually second guess myself. Yet they did happen, and I am bleeding out, so why not go with the flow in my final moments? Mary had, after all, resorted to calling me an "old coot" in the past few years. Maybe she was right. Maybe I am starting to lose a few marbles, hehe. Focus on the now, Graham. You'll see her soon enough. If her dad couldn't keep us apart, I doubt anything could. Focusing on the various [Attributes] prompts the following messages:

[HP] - A Direct Measure Of A Body’s Health. WARNING! 0 Health Results In Death!

[SP] - A Direct Measure Of How Much Energy A Body Holds

[MP] - A Direct Measure Of How Much Mana A Body Holds

[Strength] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity To Exert Muscular Force

[Physicality] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity To Take Damage (Influences HP) (Influences SP)

[Constitution] - A Measure Of The Body's Capacity To Negate Damage (Influences HP)

[Vitae] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity To Recover Vital Force (Influences HP/Hr) (Influences SP/Hr)

[Endurance] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity To Push Forward (Influences SP) (Influences HP)

[Verve] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity To Recover Vigorous Force (Influences SP/Hr)

[Agility] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity For Gross Motor Functions

[Dexterity] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity For Fine Motor Functions

[Perception] - A Measure Of The Body’s Capacity To Detect Via The Senses

[Wisdom] - A Measure Of The Mind’s Capacity To Commune With Mana (Influences MP/Hr)

[Intellect] - A Measure Of The Mind’s Capacity To Grasp Mana (Influences MP)

[Willpower] - A Measure Of The Mind’s Capacity To Exert Mental Force (Influences MP/Hr) (Influences MP)

[Overachiever Ⅰ] - Grants A 5% Increase To All Stats

Hoping beyond hope that this is either a very bad dream in which I’m about to wake up from or that I am completely correct in my assumptions, I pump 20 points into [Vitae] and 10 points into [Constitution].

The feeling is incredible. As if my entire person is being melted down and recast over and over, followed by an even more intense feeling of something that I can only describe as pure, unadulterated… life! It’s incredible. Almost addictive in a way. I haven't felt this alive in decades! However, as quickly as the feeling appears, it vanishes, leaving me scrounging for more until I manage to get a hold of myself. Opening my status once more, a slightly changed screen greets me.

{Status}

Name: Graham Lattem HP: 15/33 (HP/Hr: 5) Age: 61 (Earth) Years SP: 30/42 (SP/Hr: 11 ) Titles: Overachiever Ⅰ MP: 40/40 (MP/Hr: 14)

[Attributes]

(AP: 0)

[Skills]

[Paths]

(PP: 3)

Str: 4

Phy: 2

Con: 11

Vit: 22 (21+1)

End: 2

Ver: 2

Agi: 3

Dex: 3

Per: 2

Wis: 7

Int: 4

Wil: 5

Swimming Lvl1, Identify Lvl1, Pain Resistance Lvl1

I don’t remember seeing [Pain Resistance], though I assume I must’ve gained it right before that absolutely euphoric rush hit me. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven’t felt pain since then. Maybe putting points into my attributes healed the damage? They were put into ones specifically for the purpose of helping me hopefully survive this mess. Between huge canids, pink grass, notifications directly in my brain, and a fucking vortex, it wouldn’t be the most outlandish thing to believe. Closing my eyes, I tilt my head ever so slowly forwards from my lying position. Cracking open an eyelid reveals a scene out of a horror movie. My right leg is nearly in two pieces with its shinbone sticking halfway out, and my left isn’t fairing much better, twisting in a way that just seems wrong.

Then the pain returns.

And I pass out.