Something dripped hot and wet between Lee’s fingers as he clutched his side in pain. Blood now strained the silver armor of his breastplate a deep red. His Heath was depleting slowly. At less than 10% now. The world around him was a tumult of fire, thick with clouds of choking, sulfurous smoke. Huge mountains of dark shale stretched towards a fiery red sky above him and a constant blast furnace heat, drenched his skin with sweat.

He stumbled as he ran, kicking piles of bone and scorched pieces of armor scattered across the ashen surface of the ground. There had to be hundreds of corpses here, all of them charred beyond recognition, some still in their final poses of demise.

I shouldn’t have come…

The ground trembled beneath his feet, with what felt like an earthquake. It quickly stopped and then resumed again, and Lee realized that they were footfalls. Risking a look behind him, Lee glimpsed a towering figure over thirty feet tall. It was humanoid in shape, with legs like a goat, the chest of a man and the head of a massive bull with downward turned horns. Its red skin burned with fire and within its hands was a giant iron maul that looked big enough to crack one of those mountains apart.

The monster sighted him and released an ear-shattering bellow, causing Lee’s mind to scramble. Then with a speed he did not expect, it sprinting towards him with thee quick strides, consuming the huge distance between them in an instant. Lee narrowly dodged to the side with a roll as the massive hammer came crashing down upon the place he’d been, throwing both ash and himself high into the air.

He managed to roll again as he hit the ground, avoiding more damage but consuming the last of his Stamina bar. The giant behemoth struck the ground right next to him again and while luckily avoiding more damage, he flew through the air to end up upon his back.

His heart pounded with fright as tried to scurry away. He would soon die if he did not heal. Raising his hand, Lee noticed his arm was thick and muscular, not spindly as he remember it to be before. He summoned his mana and casted a spell.

Green light enveloped him as the bull demon roared and quickly raised his hoofed leg to stomp.

You use Restore.

You regain 50 health.

The blue mana bar in his vision decreased to zero and his health went from 10% to perhaps a third. But it wasn’t enough. His choice to heal instead of roll cost him dearly as the hoof descended and shattered both of his legs.

“Ahhhh!”

Pain exploded through his body as his Health bar dropped to a sliver of red.

Desperation and anguish took hold as he focused on the bull headed beast, its nostrils flaring as its completely white eyes stared directly into his soul. I’m dead. About its neck, Lee saw what he had come for. On a thick chain dangled about the creatures neck was a golden medallion—a circle, with spiked ridges along its edge.

Curse the hells, he though. I wasn’t strong enough.

The bull demon raised its maul to crush him into oblivion.

He shouldn’t have come.

Not yet.

But it was too late now.

The demon swung and Lee pressed his hand into the ash, forming his last thought into a brilliant purple gem.

* * *

Lee blinked startled, emerging from the vision.

His heart thundered in his chest and he gasped for breath.

You learned the spell: Restore

Restore

The Sages of Elkheim were obsessed with the preservation of ancient relics and artifacts. One of their greatest creations was an incantation that could reverse the flow of time, which they used to preserve many relics from antiquity. Ironically their greatest creation could not preserve their own legacy and the knowledge of the Elkheim Sages has been lost to history, the only proof of their existence being the Restore spell.

Minimum: Will[5]

Cost: 5 mana

Effect: Recovers a small portion of Health

Lee took in the words hovering before him.

“What did you see?” the Keeper asked, peering at him intently. “Did you regain any memories?”

He looked into her big blue eyes, now full of curiosity and interest.

“I learned a spell,” he said.

“From the memory?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“What Spell was it?”

“Restore.”

The Keeper smiled and clapped her hands together. “That is a very good spell to possess. Very rare. There are not many ways to heal injuries in Moerdraan. It would perhaps make sense that you would entrust something so valuable to me.”

Lee thought a moment about what he had experienced. “I’m not certain that memory was my own. I didn’t look the same within it. At least, I don’t think so. And although I could experience it, it felt more like a dream than a memory.”

“Perhaps it was from another Chose One,” she said. “Which in that case, you are especially fortunate. As I said, the ability to heal is not something common in this world.”

The though had never really occurred to him before, as he’d simply died as a result of his injuries before. He had no idea how long it would take to recover from an injury here. “I saw I was able to heal myself magically with this spell. How would I do so without it?”

“As I said before…nothing here truly lives or dies. No amount of time will heal your wounds. Returning here will always restore you fully however, as will death of course.”

“So this spell is the only way?”

“No, there are other means,” she said. “Other spells. And an item known as the Sands of Time.”

“An item? Where would I find that? Do you have any?”

She shook her head. “The Chosen Ones always carry a pouch of it. They are the only ones who can. Are you certain you don’t have any?”

Lee looked down at his bare loincloth. “I’m quite certain.”

“Have you checked you mark? It is able to store items.”

“Store items?”

“Yes and armor and weapons as well.”

That sounded fantastical, but even as he thought of it, new words floated into his vision.

Status

Skills

Spells

Equipment

Inventory

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“I’m sorry,” the Keeper said, smiling sweetly. “I barely remember these things myself. It seems I only remember them when you prompt me to. Perhaps I was asleep far longer than I realized.”

Lee chuckled. “I’ll remember to prompt you more often then.”

He looked over the new list of options to see what they did.

Status brought up his list of attributes that he was common with seeing before. Under spells he had the Restore spell listed and the only skills he had listed was Club at level 1. He focused on Equipment next and a string of text appeared.

Right Hand: Bone Club [1.5lbs]

Left Hand:

Head:

Neck:

Chest:

Arms:

Ring1:

Ring2:

Earring:

Legs:

Waist: Dirty Loin Cloth [.5lbs]

Feet:

Item 1:

Item 2:

Item 3:

Item 4:

Burden: 2/10 lbs

It was strange that he could view his possession like this.

It was also a stark reminder of how naked he was.

He focused on inventory next and his vision opened up a grid of squares. Most were empty but one held something that looked like a small sack. As he examined it, more information appeared.

Sands of Time

Charges [2/2]

Restores a small amount of Health and Mana. Charges restored upon Death or Return.

An ancient blessing of the gods that allows time itself to replenish what was once lost.

Do you wish to equip this Item?

Yes, Lee thought.

The item disappeared and with a flash a small pouch appeared on his waist.

Item 1 equipped: Sands of Time

Lee’s eyes opened wide. “How is this possible?”

“The Chosen have many powers,” the Keeper said. “I’m sorry I can’t remember them all. But I trust you will discover them in time.”

Lee harrumphed. “I sure could have used this earlier. Having this pouch would have been saved me from dying all those times.”

“You have it now at least.” The Keeper grinned at him.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

Lee stood and pondered what to do next. He’d just been granted two very powerful abilities. But one required five points of Will to use, which he didn’t have and the other, while it had two uses, required him to either Die or Return to restore them.

“What does it mean to Return?”

“When you sacrifice all your Essence to return here perhaps?”

Lee frowned. “You don’t know for certain?”

“I’m not certain of anything for certain.” She grinned at him playfully which caused him to smile.

He couldn’t waste one of the uses or his Essence to test the theory. But it did make the uses of the Sand that much more precious. To refill them he’d have to sacrifice either half or all of his Essence. Definitely not something to use warily.

“Who devised all of this?” Lee asked. “These rules? This mark?”

“A very strange god perhaps,” the Keeper said with a chuckle. “In truth it no longer seems so strange to me. It just is. The same as the undead curse which plagues this land. What truly can be considered strange anymore when you no longer live nor die?”

Lee pondered that a moment. She had a point.

This world was some kind of hell and whatever devil devised its machinations could be doing so purely for amusement. But to survive it, he would have to abide by those rules all the same. At least until he could find a way out. And indeed he may have already found it.

Lee looked to the stone door and the indentation shaped like a sun.

“That memory showed me where I can find the key to that door,” he said.

The Keepers blue eyes opened widely. “It did?”

He recounted the vision he’d had of the bull demon and the talisman about its neck. “Do you know of any such creature or place?”

“I wish I didn’t, but yes,” she said. “That sounds like the Guardian of the Smoldering Vale.”

“Can you send me there?”

“Not directly,” she said. “But I know it’s to the south of the forest.”

“Then that’s where I’ll go first,” he said. “Once I’m ready.”

* * *

Lee spent the next few hours killing the lizard. He was tempted to raise his Will to 5 in order to use the healing spell, but being able to avoid the lizard and kill it more easily took precedence. He focused on increasing his Vigor instead. He had to kill the lizard twice to gain his first point.

The first time he killed it, he gained 80% Essence for a total of 91%, right back where he started again. It was amazing how more confident he felt fighting the thing though, knowing that he’d defeated it once before. He got in a surprise first strike as before, but with the added Stamina, was able to kill it much faster and more safely. The time after that was even faster, but the Essence gained dropped from 80% to 70%. After spending the Essence on another point of Vigor, he killed it again with even more ease. He repeated the process with the gain for each kill dropping each time. 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%. He managed to get his Vigor to 5 at that point and had a balance of 11% Essence left.

He considered killing it again, but if the Essence he gained from the lizard continued to lessen, he might not earn enough for another point before it started to give nothing. That would be wasted effort. Although he did gain another 3 points in club skill, bringing it to a total of 4. That was useful as he seemed to kill the lizard more quickly with his bone club now.

But as easy as killing the lizard was becoming, he was still taking a risk each time. And he clearly needed to kill something stronger if he wanted to become stronger himself.

“I believe I’m ready now,” he said to the Keeper once he’d saved his memories to a crystal. “Please open the gate to the forest.”

The woman nodded and waved her arm, causing the portal to appear within the archway again. A tremble of fear ran down his spine as he peered into the murky setting beyond. As bleak as this place seemed, it was cheery compared to what lay beyond that gate.

A dark forest filled with monster and the unknown.

“Good luck, Chosen One.” The Keeper bowed to him. “I hope you visit me again soon.”