I remember watching the Thundercats when I was a kid. It was about a group of space cats with names like Lion-O and Cheetara versus an undead necromancer with unlimited magical potential because he was literally fueled by an endless supply of long-dead souls. I remember every Saturday watching the Thundercats win.

I was beginning to doubt that was going to happen here. First things first-

Character Status

Health : 83/104

Stamina : 56/56

Mana : 14/155

Conditions: Curse of Grave Water – Greater Resistance (Your mind has proved harder to break than most, which has drawn the ire of the Basilisk! Kill it before he makes you submit)

Thanks to Spine Chill and Frost Born, I’m still somehow kicking, but for how long? And the elves have to be running on fumes. But we’re running toward the remaining slaves/cultists who, going by Identify, have full Health, Mana, and Stamina. And something screams at me that my window of opportunity to end this closing fast-

And suddenly, all three of them bolt forward.

Andreen shoves me out the way, Mixie twists her body in anticipation, and I go sprawling backward. Confusion gives way to ball-shrinking terror once I realize that all three leaped in the air and are going to collide with our group in a hairy sweaty mass of blood and grim. Gone is the cool uncanny confidence of being a slave to a demi-god, and now is the desperate fight for survival. What happens next is almost too fast for me to follow, but I’ll try my best-

The first man, their de facto leader, and the one wearing a crown that’s really a human jaw bone lands hard, the impact lifting dirt and dust in a concussive way. Realizing that he was planning on landing on me nearly makes me piss myself, and only the relief of Andreen seeing it coming and reacting in time keeps me from doing so. I land hard in a tumble as their leader wheels on Andreen instead of following me, and I watch helplessly as Andreen dodges the second man in a graceful dive tumble that leaves him in a crouch against two men twice his size.

Mixie avoids the third man, whose face seems to be marked by twin tattoos that resembles snake fangs running down from his eyes to his cheek. He is almost twice as muscular as the other two and rather pale. But his face is set in an expression above something simple like anger. No, this is rage. He swings the minute he lands with supernatural speed, winding the punch from the hip before accelerating it toward Mixie’s face in an impossibly nimble leap for his size.

“Cause FEAR!” I scream with a booming mana-infused voice that shakes the walls. My brain clicks multicast and extended range as my voice echoes along the cave walls. All three heads turn.

Mixie acts first. She weaves her head and body out the way while returning a straight counterpunch of her own. I don’t expect it to do anything but the impact is an audible -

CRACK! as her hand slams into the base of his skull, her fist seems to explode in a shower of blood that covers her victim’s face as she grits her teeth past the agonizing pain. I am confused why hitting him would do that to her before her usual measured voice takes on a grave-like quality-

“Bloody Hands.”

Then she throws another punch, and another punch, and another in a series of rapid jabs and short hooks that seem to leave the pale cultist stunned. Well, until he punches her face in with a right hook of his own, snapping Mixie’s head back with an audible snap that has me fearing the worst. One punch sent from a guy like that could send me flying or make my head come clean off my shoulders. Mixie, however, just stands there, face leaking blood and hair matted and wild, but with one eye glowing intensely with green eldritch power.

“Blood Boil.”

The pale man screams, and I run to Andreen. The male elf is trying his best, but it is obvious he needs a weapon. He dances between the advancing male bodybuilders with the grace of Chinese Kenpo. Fast and furious strikes that land quickly while always keeping a hand or knee to deflect theirs. But Andreen can’t overcome their regeneration. Each time he lands something decisive on one man, the other presses for an opening. He is going to wear down, and when he does-

“No.” Nearly out of Mana doesn’t mean out of options, so I toss my wrench to Andreen with everything I had-

Andreen has acquired Workmen’s Iron Wrench

The system chimes as Andreen deftly snatches my weapon from mid-air and proceeds to crack the jaw of one opponent in a big heavy swing that trades elven grace for brutality. He is a savant for violence. The hanging mandibles are regenerating, but Andreen seems to be possessed; one overhead strike along the base of the skull followed by a hard knee into the bridge of the nose and ending with a deafening crack against the temple.

The poor man’s health bar plummets to nothing as he bleeds out and twitching on the floor. The elf then pivots smoothly into a block that slams the wrench into the wrist of the cult leader, then follows it up with a rapid series of strikes. Andreen smacks his assailant throat, collarbone, ribs, liver, pelvis, and left knee in a flowing downward zig-zag before ending the waltz by spinning on his heels and smashing the back of the cultist’s head in a single move that sprays blood, bone, and brain matter in its wake. The crown is sent flying, and the human-turned-slave simply lands in a limp heap. The elf killed him before he hit the ground with a wrench.

I don’t realize my mouth is open until he hands back the bloodied iron tool.

“Good thinking.”

Wait, is he complimenting me? This asshole?

“Well... hmm”—don’t say something stupid, don’t say something stupid—“Good smacking... stuff.”

Mixie muffles a chuckle at my expense as she walks over and the system chimes,

Party has gained 1480 Experience for killing #21 Mind Slave, #18 Mind Slave, #05 Mind Slave.

A feeling of relief washes over the party, or just me as I plop down now that all the tension has left the room.

Mixie sits next to me. Her eyes seem to sparkle with vestiges of ebbing power, but her expression is soft, and despite just punching the shit out of the hulk a minute ago, she seems vulnerable... and naked. Oh, she is naked, and this is the first time I truly notice, and only iron will keeps me staring at her eyes and not her soft breasts and round-

“I’m sorry for putting you to sleep.” Her voice is as soft as her expression, the careful nervousness of before the madness started has returned, and despite her abilities, she seems to be the people person between the two elves.

I shrug and nervously scratch the back of my head. “I, I.. understand...” and immediately wish I didn’t say anything as she raises an eyebrow in response.

Andreen shakes his head. And that is the only normal moment we were allowed to have.

“Black Cooooffin.”

The cave shakes with words that seem to echo in my mind. The elves take a fighting stance, and I struggle to get up, cursing myself for forgetting about the giant pissed-off snake monster! The ground continues to shake, and the air seems to electrify before spoiling with the scent of ozone. The wall directly ahead of us overlooking the underground lake seems to churn... Wait, churn? Cave walls don’t simply bend and twist and move! They don’t crackle with green energy that seems to suck the air around them. Then something tells me, no practically begs me, to look around and I do...

“Guys!?” I scream, realizing what is going on and not sure if there is anything I can actually do to stop it. The stone statues are now covered in a weird green haze that seems to thrum with the weirdness in the cave.

“Potential energy,” Mixie whispers, “It’s why he wanted us alive... as storage for this-”

“For what!” I shout as the white noise generated by every statue grows louder and louder, almost blotting out my thoughts. But I know the answer! In the madness of it all, I know what she is going to say as if something in me, deep and dark and waiting on the surface of my understanding, knows what is going on but is afraid to say it, to admit it could be possible. Because I know he is -

“Going home,” Andreen finishes.

And then all hell breaks loose, and the cave seems to shake uncontrollably to the point where rocks the size of minivans start to come loose and fall to the ground, nearly crushing us below. The sound of thunder can be heard overhead despite being miles underground as the air tasted like raw electricity, the type of metallic wrongness kids would sometimes get when licking a battery. It starts to hurt to breathe as the ground rumbles on in a minor rage.

And as I drop to a knee, I hear the voice of the basilisk, “Be proud, dwarfff! I had hoped to return to my home world with my followers as gifts for a feast! But your valiant effort has convinced me to abandon my greed and return home. I don’t want to risk the knowledge of your home world being lost with meeee!”

The far wall finishes churning and, in its place, falls a giant black coffin. Its size is ridiculous in scale as it falls into the water, the resulting wave nearly washing us away as the displaced lake rushes forward to claim numerous dead bodies and break against the immovable statues. Andreen grabs me to ensure I don’t go flying, and Mixie helps anchor Andreen. We end up hugging in a cold, shivering embrace as the foul water recedes to help buoy the giant black sarcophagus.

We all stare at it, its size akin to a small house and its sides lined with foreign symbols similar to hieroglyphs but more sinister in nature. But what I find most disturbing beyond the uncanny resemblance to the last thing I saw on Earth is the image of a giant feathered snake adorning the lid. And then that lid starts to move...

“Throw me!” I ask Andreen, his body somehow warm and his jaw set in anger.

“It’s leaving.”

“I know, so throw me at him!”

Andreen looks at me with a piercing expression, “I know you hurt it, but you’re almost out of Mana. There’s nothing we can do.”

Mixie turns my head toward her, and I see her body in her all feminine appeal and strength! And if that was meant to distract me, it would have worked but-

She kisses me. It is warm and soft yet somehow urgent and tastes of copper-

“Is that blood!” I back away from her hacking, remembering what her blood was capable of 15 minutes ago!

She wipes her lips, “I can give people Mana in exchange for...health. It’s not a good ability, but your pool of Mana is so small-”

I start to feel queasy as something starts to burn in my mouth and down my throat..

“Seriously, Mixie! He doesn’t stand a chance! I don’t care if he is -”

Mixie stamps her feet and interrupts, “I’m trying to help him!”

You Lost 50 Health

You Gained 75 Mana

“She meant trade my Health for Mana...”.

I look up at Andreen, who stares down at me in pity, and concern, “You still want to do this?”

Hearing the lid of the coffin slide further away, I nod. “Yes.”

He shrugs, “Second time I’ve thrown the same dwarf.” He grabs and lifts me up unceremoniously. “They usually don’t make it after the first time-”

***********

Character Sheet

Name: Mike Sammons

Race: Dwarf

Origin : Hills

Stats : Level 8

Strength : 11

Dexterity : 7

Intelligence : 17

Wisdom : 14

Constitution : 12

Charisma: 1

Bonus Stat Luck: 20

Bonus Stat Perception: 1

Unallocated Points : 0

Unallocated Class Points : 0

Character Status

Character Status

Health : 23/104

Stamina : 56/56

Mana : 84/155

Conditions : Curse of Grave Water - Greater Resistance (Your mind has proved harder to break than most, which has drawn the ire of the Basilisk! Kill it before he makes you submit).

Class Sheet

Class : Necromancer (Wizard Lv_6) (Cleric Lv_2)

Spells Book : Tome of Mike

Cold Extremities_Lv 4:: 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 4:: 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 effected by Terror. Scales with Wisdom and Charisma.

Spine Chill _Lv 1:: Active Spell_Cost 15 Mana_ 15 Second Cooldown_ Target you touch suffers from Mild Concussion each time they receive Frost Damage for 60 seconds. 50% chance of dealing an additional 20 damage to Health or Stamina.

Rend Enchantments _Lv 1:: Active Spell_Cost 30 Mana_10 Second Cooldown_ Target you touch loses all enchantments and loses 50 Health for each Enchantment removed. If the target dies, gain 30 Health.

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.

Minor Lucky Star :: Increase all chances of reaching desired probable outcomes by 50%. Desired outcomes that deal damage now deal Critical Damage ( Deal 50% more damage)