Bonus Stat Perception: 1 (Perception unlocks your mind to the hidden functions of this world. Increase this Stat with caution.)

The words dance above my vision as the headache subsides. A faint green glow hovers just above the floor and has formed a single straight line toward the still locked door. The black mist is gone, and I fear the status screen notifications as my mind protects me from the repeating messages.

For now, at least. God forbid anything happens to force it to my attention...

“Cooome to meeee.”

I blink. God honest, I blink, but then I find myself in front of the door and not on top of the bunk bed where I was safe and close to the air vent. I was... I was... what was I doing again?

“Cooome!”

The voice seems to be coming from the green line because it glows with each syllable, and now I’m in the hallway, walking, stumbling along. I grab my wrench, but I don’t remember when or how... but I do know why, or I think I do...what was I doing again?

“Yssss!”

I’ve gone deeper inside this labyrinth in this facility that has no defined purpose or reason for existing. Too industrial to be ancient yet too archaic to be modern. And who builds a maintenance facility next to a prison? Or a prison on top of a— no, this was a water treatment plant. I figured it out! And the prison was built next to it to provide free labor! But wait... why am I thinking about this again? Why aren’t I concerned that I’m heading deeper and deeper into the facility and further underground where the pipes are thicker, and there’s a giant hole dug out of the brick and into what I can tell is a cave? A cave yawning with menace and smelling of decay and moisture. With an opening stained with red streaks leading into its maw, as if people were being dragged against their will to the depths below?

I should be running in the opposite direction of the giant opening to an underground cavern where a sickly green line insists I go. I should be running, but my feet no longer obey me. No, it’s worse; my thoughts aren’t obeying me, as if I’m being puppeted by a will too strong to resist. Speaking of resistance—

You have Resisted Curse of Grave Water

You have Resisted Curse of Grave Water

You have Resisted -

You can no longer Resist Curse of Grave Water

You can no longer Resist Curse of Grave Water

You can no longer Resist Curse of Grave Water

Insanity Pending

Insanity Looming

You are a product of a bygone era. Learn the place of food! Do not weep! Survive! Survive, so that your children can be food! Feed your desires!! For GOD’S CHILDREN ARE HUNGRY!!!! FLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeee-

You have taken 19 Damage

You have received Mild Concussion

I brained myself with my own wrench, hoping that would help but—

“Hey, um, don’t mind me! I’ll be going back to my room now...”

I never realized how short I was until now. How disquieting that would be next to normal people as opposed to overgrown monster spiders... however in this cave, deep underground where the only light available is from glowing moss and fungi clinging to the cave floor and stalagmites, stands a procession of large, burly men. All of them are easily six feet tall, some of them carrying unconscious people, tied up and slung across their massive shoulders, and all of them naked and covered in tattoos, grime, dirt, and blood. They have variations of sandy blond and brown hair, and their junk is uncomfortably close to my face, and while in a normal situation I would find that embarrassing, I have a more pressing concern...

They are all staring at me as I stand there dazed, confused, and overdressed. And that wouldn’t be too alarming by itself save for two minor details. One, it looks like they just got done kidnapping people who probably aren’t being drawn to this creepy cave because of an evil black mist, and two, and this is the disturbing part, they seem to have no problem staring at me despite lacking functional eyes. Yes, all the kidnappers seem to have been blinded, or blinded themselves, via a process that ranges from literally gouging out their eyes or damaging them beyond repair. But they don’t break the illusion that I have their undivided attention as every fidget, every nervous step I make is followed by every disfigured face.

It takes everything in me not to run, to scream, or just flail in any random direction, but I don’t know where I am or how I got here or if simply going backward leads to freedom or more barely-lit darkness. All around, the underground seems bigger. The caverns are vast with various openings only barely able to be made out amid shadows and a ceiling far higher than you’d imagine with all the men and their hostages being able to stand straight despite being easily six feet tall. The oppressive feeling of a maze comes crashing down, and the word dungeon comes to mind. But in the old sense, not something built by an old evil wizard, but a natural occurrence where things that belonged in the dark toiled day and night to reach the surface and bring hell and hunger to everyone above ground.

To go down further would mean finding out where these strange, naked men are taking their captives. To run? No, I grip my iron wrench until my knuckles are white with pain and reassurance. But to fight? I can do that!

Without much of a battle cry beyond a ‘hmph,’ I swing the oversized wrench at the nearest available knee cap. The man in question doesn’t have a hostage, so his hands are free, but he doesn’t have a weapon, so this should be easy, this should be...

He grabs it. He grabs the wrench and lifts it, and by extension me, up as I hold on desperately. He lifts until I am at eye level, then he smiles a big wide grin that screams of crazed madness and violence that chills my bones. So, I scream,

“COLD EXTREMITIES!” and the spell rockets from my left palm and into his big smiling face.

Cold Extremities, the spell that made Archfiend Spiders scream not moments ago, has been leveled 3 times, and whose damage has increased several more due to my increases in Intelligence and Constitution... doesn’t do jack shit to a naked, dirty, homeless, blind, psycho. He only grins more and winds up a punch, which I see briefly before it evacuates my brain cells.

You have taken 80 Damage

You have gained Concussion.

...

....

.....

“Why did he leave him?”

“Probably thought he was dead.”

“That human didn’t use Identify?”

“He smashed his face, broke his nose, and knocked out his front teeth...”

...

....

“He’s still breathing.”

“Barely let’s move on.”

...

“Serena, let’s go.”

...

“Serena!”

“Why is he only level 7? Is he a child?”

“Serena, when was the last time you saw a dwarf?”

“I don’t know...the last dwarven settlement we know about was overrun by—”

“Don’t say that name out loud!”

“Sorry, sorry... I can help him let me just—”

........

You have recovered 30 Health.

You have gained Health Recovery for 1 minute.

What the fuck is Health Recovery?

Health Recovery :: Gain 1 health per second for a duration.

Good... very good...oh, when did it become hard to breathe?

You have gained Moderate Blunt Force Related Trauma.

“Oh...”

“Dwarven luck, he’s waking up!”

The voice, chirpy and feminine alerts me to a few facts, I was knocked the fuck out, and I’m covered in my own blood. I start to cough the moment I sit up in alarm. The sudden motion has me rolling to my side to recover as my lungs heave blood, mucus, and some type of radioactive red liquid from my stomach. I feel a pair of hands pat my back as I cough and wheeze, but my Character Status itches for my attention-

Character Status

Health : 36/104

Stamina : 56/56

Mana : 119/130

Conditions : Moderate Blunt Force Related Trauma (You have received a physical injury with enough force to cause near permanent damage and disfigurement to the affected body part, immediate medical attention is required.) Health Recovery (Gain 1 health per second for a duration.) Curse of Grave Water - Partial Resistance (You have extended the time until insanity takes your mind, body, and soul. Use it wisely.)

I roll back over to my back and look up and see two... elves? Yes, elves, pointed ears, sharp angular features, small, almost avian bodies, and when they open their mouths, rows upon rows of sharp, tiny, needle-like teeth. I would be alarmed if it wasn’t for the fact that they are speaking English, somehow, and that the girl of the pair seemed to have the same radioactive red liquid on her lips.

I pointed a shaky finger, “Did you just...” She realizes I am pointing at her and, most importantly notices the red on her lips, and blushes as she wipes it off.

“Please don’t be offended. I had to—”

The other one steps in, shouldering past the girl and pulling me up with surprising strength despite his small build.

“Dwarf, the gawking and introductions can come later.”

For some reason that I can’t put my finger on, I don’t like the way he says “dwarf.”

“Well, thank you for... saving me.”

The elf boy, whose name hasn’t been given, looks at me, then looks at his girl companion before glancing back at me, his face wearing a tired disgust that I’ve seen before. I’m a burden.

“You are Level 7, yes?”

I narrow my eyes at him. Realizing that I lost my weapon and am currently on low health (but recovering!), my mind instinctively uses Identify on him without me asking it to, and the information nearly floors me,

Elf : ??????

Health : 379/379

Stamina : 181/181

Mana : 155/155

Status : Minor Curse Immunity, True Name Protection, Wind Stamina, Earth Strength, Water Mana, Health Recovery 2x, Shadow Walking

“What the fuck are you!” I try to stifle the scream, so it comes out as a whimper as I take a several steps back from him.

He doesn’t smile. His expression turns even more sourer, as if what little patience he has for this situation is running thin.

“You are Level 7, yes?”

I can’t think of anything clever to say, so I nod. He grunts while the girl elf watches me with the unmistakable look of pity. Yeah, I’ve seen that before too.

“Do you know the way back home?”

I could have said, “What the fuck you mean home?” or “I was brought here against my will from another world, jackass!” or, you know, anything but shake my head meekly. But that’s what I do, and now any hope of regaining some bravado is gone.

He shakes his head and steps toward me. To my credit, I don’t flinch as he looms over me.

“I can’t take you back home, I don’t have the time, and I honestly don’t care right now, so I suggest you leave this cave the best you can.”

As he turns around, the girl speaks up, “Andreen, you can’t just—”

“As we waste our time with this fucking dwarf, our people are being fed to a god damn cave monster! Get your shit together, Mixie!”

And with that, he storms off deeper into the cave, and Mixie looks between him and me before deciding to follow Andreen. Which is understandable. Who wants to babysit a half-dead dwarf when you can fight hairy naked people with Legolas?

Yeah, who would want to do that? But then again, who the fuck is he to tell me I need babysitting! I fought an army of Arch Fiends, survived an entire prison falling on top of me, and even stopped myself from getting eaten by a Basilisk! I’m cursed, I’m pissed, and a fucking naked homeless man has my new god damn wrench! When did dwarves listen to fucking elves anyway!

You’ve triggered FrostBorn gain 1 Health, 1 Stamina, and 3 Mana.

And I’m a goddamn Wizard! Wait, Necromancer... I’m a goddamn Necromancer!

Necromancer :: A class reserved for those who study the arcane in both its physical and metaphysical forms. Through observation and greater understanding death itself can be mastered.

***********

Character Sheet

Name: Mike Sammons

Race: Dwarf

Origin : Hills

Stats : Level 7

Strength : 11

Dexterity : 7

Intelligence : 14

Wisdom : 12

Constitution : 12

Charisma: 1

Bonus Stat Luck: 19

Bonus Stat Perception: 1 (Perception unlocks your mind to the hidden functions of this world. Increase this Stat with caution.)

UnAllocated Points : 0

UnAllocated Class Points : 0

Character Status

Health : 40/104

Stamina : 56/56

Mana : 122/130

Conditions : Moderate Blunt Force Related Trauma (You have received a physical injury with enough force to cause near-permanent damage and disfigurement to the affected body part, immediate medical attention is required.) Health Recovery (Gain 1 health per second for a duration.) Curse of Grave Water - Partial Resistance (You have extended the time until insanity takes your mind, body, and soul. Use it wisely.)

Class Sheet

Class : Necromancer (Wizard Lv_5) (Cleric Lv_2)

Necromancer is a class reserved for those who study the arcane in both its physical and metaphysical forms. Through observation and greater understanding death itself can be mastered.

Spells Book : Tome of Mike

Cold Extremities_Lv 3:: Active Spell_Cost 14 Mana_ 1 Second Cooldown_You remove the warmth from things you touch. Deal 26 Cold Damage per second with a 25% chance of causing Chill and Frostbite. Lose 3 health per second the longer this ability is active. You can activate this ability on each extremity. Scales with Intelligence and Constitution.

Frost Armor. _Lv 3:: Active Spell_Cost 25 Mana_ 5 Second Cooldown_ Give a protective layer of Ice on a target object or creature you touch. Target gains 117 points of Elemental Armor however they lose 3 Stamina per second. Has a 50% chance of applying Chill and a 15% chance of applying Frostbite to Melee attackers. Scales with Intelligence and Wisdom.

Cause Fear. _Lv 1:: Active Spell _ Cost 10 Mana_ 3 second Cooldown_ Your perceived combat prowess has allowed you to manipulate the hidden Stat Will. Enemies you target within a short cone are forced to reconsider attacking you and have a 20% chance of being affected by Terror. Scales with Wisdom and Charisma.

Passive Skills

Identify Lv 2 :: Allows you to see the first page of a Character Stat sheet. At second level you can perceive details of monsters by knowing their name. Glossary is unlocked.

Reduced Spell Cost Lv 1 :: Spells you cast cost 5 Mana less.

FrostBorn :: You have an increased chance of applying FrostBite and Chill. Also anytime you apply FrostBite or Chill to a target above 3x stacks gain 1 Health, 1 Stamina, and 3 Mana.

Extended Touch Range :: Spells in touch range can either remain touch spells or shoot out in a straight line for 1 meter (about the size of a baseball bat).

Multicast :: Reduce the effectiveness of a spell by 40% to increase the number of times that spell is cast by 2 at no additional cost.

Resist Disease :: You have achieved a greater than normal resistance to biological agents like diseases and toxins. You gain XP once foreign ailments have been overcome.

Resist Curse :: You possess a supernatural resistance to the effect of Curses. You gain XP from breaking curses.

Equipment

Armor of the Archfiend :: Armor set derived from the corpse of an Archfiend, minor

bonuses to physical resistance and poison is the most it offers

Armor Class : Light

Total Defense Rating : 10+

Physical Resistance, +20 Poison Resistance

Trait : ??? (unlocked at level 15)

Workmen’s Iron Wrench :: An improvised weapon that deals moderate bludgeoning damage. Scales with strength and dexterity. Now carries the effects of Frost Armor, deals bonus Cold damage equal to ten percent of granted Elemental Armor.