My name's Thomas, and I hate my current situation.

Why? Why did I have to choose this race? Why did I have to die? And why did I have to appear right in the middle of a ceremony in the biggest dwarven fortress of this fucking world?!

Yeah, a fucking God chose me to be his Champion in a fucking game on another fucking world. Why did the fucker choose me? If I get it right, it’s because I died honorably. Meaning I died like a moron trying to save the fucker cosplayed as a fucking Elf when he went under a train. When I saw him slip and fall in front of the train, I rushed and jumped to push him out of the way. And I’ve been it by the bloody train, like the other moron, I don’t even know if he saw me.

After that, I met a cold dude named Arnold and then had to create my character for this Gods’ Game, or whatever. I’ve been chosen by the God of the Dwarves, the principal one, they have more if I get it right. And as such I only had dwarves as options, I chose the one I suspected would bring me the most power, it was one of the costlier, and with a name that didn’t spook me. I’m a Depth Dwarf. Like a Dwarf that’s supposed to live more in the depths than the other dwarves.

Once I’ve finished my choices I’ve been transported to this world, Jezoi. And, thanks to fucking Duordin, I’ve arrived in the middle of a ceremony in his fucking name. I was naked, and standing on a big altar. Naturally, they took it as an affront to their faith. Obviously lot of them threw themselves at me, I defend myself, but at one against so many, I didn’t have any chances.

And here I am, down a fucking hole, in a fucking prison. Still naked. A lot of bruises on my skin. At least once a day they take me out of the pit and beat me half to death. I think they’re trying to interrogate me, but as I don’t speak the language I can’t explain to them the situation. And even if I could, I don’t think they would like it. The way they look at me, particularly at my arms and legs show they are wary of me. I have strange tattoos on them, like, they make my fists and feet almost black, and go up on my arms and legs like flames, stopping at my elbows and knees. I can also see that my skin is becoming stonier where it was broken, it seems like my Stone skin Skill is slowly changing my smooth and white skin into a rough and gray one, like a stone.

I’m worrying for my life a little more every day. One day they will grow tired of me and terminate me, or just leave me to rot in my pit. They only feed me once a day, they throw a bowl of gruel and a flask of water in my hole, marking the start of the day. As you can guess, it’s not enough for me, so I trained my Stomachs Skills, yep, I have two skills with the word “stomach” in it, one for metal and the other for stone.They allow me to eat those stuff, it doesn’t make metal or dirt taste good, but thanks to another Skill, Iron teeth, I can chew and digest the gravel around me, and the bowl from which the gruel is dispersed when it hit the ground. It satiates me at least.

I have other Skills that can allow me to fight back or to break stuff, but the other dwarves are too tough to be moved by those. Only my mighty hammer can do a thing, but it can’t change the fact that I’m outnumbered. Yes, I have a hammer, it’s my familiar, a Hammerite, and I can resummon it whenever I want. I didn’t really think when I chose it, the name sounded like a hammer and I was in need of a weapon. I ended up with a living hammer that can slowly walk around but can’t really fight by himself. But the little dude can hold my hand when I grab it, it made it almost impossible to disarm me, and it’s a really good thing when you’re naked and surrounded by angry warriors. I named it Mjoln, I know, it’s not very original, but it seemed to like it, so everything’s fine.

Anyway, it’s been two weeks since I interrupted the ceremony, and I had time to go through my status enough time to know them by heart, I have nothing else to read.

Status

Name: Thomas Ponti

Race: Depth Dwarf / Champion

Gender: Male

Age: 27 years

Characteristics

Level

4

Experience

05%

Strength

206

Mental

153

Endurance

306

Abstraction

253

Agility

56

Understanding

103

Perception

156

Sagacity

128

Skills

Skill trees

Name

Level

Experience

Type

Evolution

Champion

Extradimensional inventory

3

03%

Special

Unavailable

Familiar

1

07%

Special

Unavailable

Personal map

1

53%

Special

Unavailable

Small body enhancement

6

87%

Passif

Unavailable

Small spirit enhancement

3

15%

Passif

Unavailable

Depth Dwarf

Dark vision

2

71%

Passif

Unavailable

Feel metal

1

73%

Special

Unavailable

Stone skin

8

61%

Passif

Unavailable

Stone

Stone reading

1

9%

Special

Unavailable

Stone skin

8

61%

Passif

Unavailable

Stone fist

1

23%

Actif

Unavailable

Stone stomach

1

92%

Passif

Unavailable

Iron

Iron fist

2

46%

Actif

Unavailable

Iron teeth

2

02%

Passif

Unavailable

Iron hairs

1

12%

Passif

Unavailable

Metal stomach

1

75%

Passif

Unavailable

Feel metal

1

73%

Special

Unavailable

Titles

Duordin’s Champion

Name:

Race:

Level:

Experience:

Kind:

Gender:

State:

Mjoln

Hammerite

3

27%

Iron

N/A

Summoned

During those two weeks, I also received some notifications. Some about the fact that my “starting period” and “starting advantages” had ended, as if I truly had some “starting advantages”. That news made me very angry and temporarily forgot about the previous one stating that all the Champions had arrived on Jezoi. I lost myself this day and hit the walls with Mjoln, my jailers didn’t feed me that day. I only reclaim my spirit when I fall on the ground, exhausted and panting like a dog after a full day of walking in the countryside.

But there are two special notifications that I remember very well, the third and fourth ones addressed to all the Champions. I will show them to you, it’ll be easier than explaining them.

Congratulations!

All the Champions have ended their starting period. You will now be informed of the victory conditions.

The winner of the Gods’ Game fifth edition, will be the one whom will have impacted the more the people of Jezoi. Go on, leave your name in their minds and made them feel strong emotions about you!

The game will enter his last phase when only ten Champions will remain alive.

After reading this one I thought I must have been well placed in the Classement, considering all the dwarves around here were despising me. The notification didn’t state if they had to love or hate you, just to remember your name and “feel strong emotions about you”. The fact that only ten of us could make to the last phase of the game is rather worrying, it means that some Champions will probably search and kill other Champions to thin out the competition.

But the last notification was the most frightening one. It gave away the fucking Classement!

One week Classement.

It’s been a week since the Gods’ Game really started and the Champions will be allowed to see the current Classement.

Classement

Champion

God

Status

1st

Thomas Ponti

Duordin

Prisoner in the Kar’Adlor’s prison.

2nd

Maria Fitzpatrick

Julia

???

3rd

Carlos Jesus Pedro Almaria

Hortina

???

4th

Alexander Boris

Klo

???

5th

Matthew Johnson

Rolpar

???

33rd

Mickey Rat

Koran

???

147th

Raimond Charles Andrew Sigmund

Modgor

???

368th

Richard Guerrot

Ioustilininianios

???

452nd

Marc Jean Tupor

Meintcue

???

704th

Kevin Trul

Jari

Dead

1,000th

Jack Dereck

Karescatulian

Dead

I was first in the Classement! It means I’ll be the target of all the player killer! And the “Status” column, it only shows me my status or the dead ones, but I would bet my legs there is a way to see the info on the living Champions. If one of the player killers find a way to get my current location, I’m done. I need to escape, and quick! The fact they could know which God I was the Champion could allow them to obtain some information on me and my capabilities.

Something else a bit worrying in the Classement. Almost three hundred of the Champions are already dead. Only a week after the start of the fucking Gods’ Game.

Anyway, it’s been three days since the Classement announcement, and I’m still in the fucking pit. And now a new notification pop up. This one comes now, as I’m thinking I’m going crazy talking in my head as if somebody could hear me, or read my mind. Ah!

Congratulations!

As the owner of the first place of the Classement, you are awarded 1,000 Perks Points!

Those points can be used in the Perks Store, available anywhere to the Champions.

Wut? Perks? Perks Points? Perks Store? What’s that stuff? And I got one thousand of them? Great, I suppose. Well, I won’t lose anything in checking it I suppose.

“Perks Store?” I say out loud as if I’m talking to the walls of my pit. But what followed was something that could possibly allow me to escape the shitty situation I am in.

Perks Store

Perks Points: 1,000

1 more life

2,000

Race change

1,500

Classement expert

500

Conceal essence

500

Enhance life expectancy

500

More Skill Points

500

More Stat Points

500

New Skill Tree

500

Private Sacred Place

500

Servant

500

Up Skill cap

500

Divine conversation

100

There! It’s there! I’m sure with the Classement expert Perk you can see through the questions marks on the Status Column! But I can’t be 100% certain of this, like for my character creation, I can’t get more information on the veritable use of those Perks. I can guess for most of them, but my guess is worth as much as yours.

You know what? Fuck all those shit, I’m feeling lonely down there. I hadn’t had a proper conversation since my meeting with Arnold. The dwarves up there don’t speak the same languages as me and my little Mjoln can’t speak at all. I’ll go for the Servant Perk, maybe it will grant me a true conversation, and also some information.

Purchase completed!

You have chosen the Servant Perk.

Servant creation:

As it is your first servant, please be aware that some choices will be locked. You may enter the rest of the information as you wish.

Race

Depth Dwarf

Gender

_

Age

_

Name

_

Purpose

_

Well, that’s great, I’ll have another dwarf like me in the bottom of that pit. It's rather narrow there, and as I am a straight, and a bit perverted, man, I would rather be forced to share my little bit of space with a woman than with a man. So, go for a woman. The same age as me or not? I can put whatever I want there, I could make a baby or a granny. That would be weird… I’ll make her a bit younger than me, something like 3 years younger.

Her name? I have no fucking idea how to name her. What would be a good name for a female dwarf? How about “Silma”? Yeah, it sounds good for a first name, but she also needs a family name, I can’t just give her mine. It’s not a good name for a dwarf. It has always been hard for me to choose my characters names, but here it’s for a real person, I think, so I can’t make it a bad name. I need to think hard about it. Do dwarves have family names here? Or is it a clan name? Only the name of one parent, like Johnson is the son of John? I will give her something that could also pass as a nickname. How about “Depthborn”? It’s a pun of the way how she’s created, in the small depth of my pit, and about the fact that she’s a Depth Dwarf, like me. It’s a bit lame, but I can’t think of anything better. She will be named Silma Depthborn.

Her purpose now. Well, she’s to give me company before I go completely insane, protect me and give information on the world. Yep, that’s sound good.

The pieces of information are already entered in the notification, it happened automatically while I was thinking about them. I only need to validate.

Servant customization

Hair color

_

Eye color

_

Height

_

Weight

_

...

What? I can choose how she will look in every detail? Going from the size of her nostril the gap between her toes? Even the sexual parts are customizable… I can perfectly see some perverted gentlemen, or gentlewomen, use this Servant perk to amuse themselves. Am I different from them? If I was willing to lie to myself, I would say that if I'm currently making her the most beautiful dwarf there ever be, it’s for her own good. I won’t lie to myself on that matter, it’s mostly for the pleasure of my eyes and hopefully the rest of my body.

Ok, now that she has a perfect body, I only need to validate it and see what happens. I really hope the System won’t mess her.

A strong light is starting to appear in front of me, and suddenly I realize something. I have jailers. They will probably don’t like the presence of Silma here with me, and they will try to take her away from me. I won’t let that happened, she’s the best thing that happened to me in this fucking world. They’ll need to kill me to get to her.