“Yer a fookin’ mess, and yer made a fookin’ mess of me basement.”

I feel the sun’s warmth spread across my closed eyelids, the world is a warm orange.

“No sense pretendin’ yer still be sleepin’. Yer breat’ing is diff-er-ernt.”

I open my eyes reluctantly, the bright light from the window temporarily blinding me.

“Never seen no disaster like t’e one yer made in me basement.”

Eyes adjust and I look around the room. It’s a simple room like the one I had at the Inn. The Old Mill’s owner is sitting up on a chair with a concerned expression. His eyes have dark bags under them.

“W’en I adventured, I seen a lot of injuries. ‘elped a lot of medics an’ priests set bones, ne’er seen nobody wit’ bot’ dis-alocated s’oulders an’ a dis-alocated kneecap to boot! Most starten people git one of t’ose, an t’ey be out for a count.”

He looks over me again.

“‘pologies for treatin’ yer as a paper pus’er.”

I nod. I don’t know if I could talk, but just didn’t feel like it. Everything had twinges of pain. It was an odd feeling, as I once again am forced to realize I haven’t really felt pain or soreness all that much since I had died once before. These are mere suggestions of pain in comparision to what I had experienced before.

“A lady near-en by said s’e will was’ yer clothes.” He points over to my clothes, heaped up in a pile. Dark black blood stains could be seen from the bed.

“Yer body s’ould feel better wit’ some rest. Sleep now.” He takes his leave and grabs the pile of clothes. The course sheets and hard bed feels like silk and clouds to me and our tired body.

I close my eyes for a moment, but when I open them again, the sun is in a much different position in the sky. The crushing weight of tiredness still hangs over me.

Nym, you there?

I am, child.

Jeb, you there too?

He is not, child. I don’t know if you could hear us, but he said he was tired and needed to sleep after the mask came off.

Ok...

Nym, do you know what happened?

What do you mean? You killed all those rats, and that last dire rat was killed by the Old Mill keeper.

I know that happened, but I mean, I didn’t really feel like I was in control. It was like… like throwing the dagger, but this time I didn’t ‘see’ anything.

What do you mean by ‘see’ anything child?

I think I was able to see your past life when I was looking at throwing the dagger, and I felt completely in control. This though… I don’t think I would have ever stood still at the bottom step for as long as I did. It felt like I had lost a little bit of control.

An image of me murdering the guard Borris with my own hands floods back to me, causing a shiver to run down my back.

Ahh child, I see. I thought it was you that did all those things. It seems Jeb may have a better understanding of what happened, we will have to talk to him when he wakes up again.

I start to look along the edges of my vision for the tell tale blue lights.

Child, just before you do, know that I want to know more about what you have seen. I suspect we should talk soon. For now though, I too will rest.

I nod and I feel his presence slowly sink back into myself.

I open up the windows and look at them in the order they came up.

Skill Learned:

Darkvision (Beginner)

Better vision in low light environments

Hunter’s Perception (Beginner)

Vision, hearing, taste, and sense of smell increased while hunting

Statue mimicry (Beginner)

Stillness is a must. Keep minor twitches and ticks restrained when standing perfectly still.

Skill Learned:

Darkvision (Intermediate)

Better vision in low light environments

Hunter’s Perception (Intermediate)

Vision, hearing, taste, and sense of smell increased while hunting

Skill Learned:

Skitter (Beginner)

Increased speed and efficiency when on all fours

Sense of Smell (Beginner)

Smell is attuned and can pick up on different fragrances

Danger Sense (Beginner)

An almost supernatural sense of detecting dangerous situations

Skill Learned:

Call of the Horde - Rats (Beginner)

Control rats lower than your level and send them basic commands such as “Attack” or “Defend”

Title Earned:

Rat Killer

Awarded to someone for killing 20 of the species: rat. Gained a 10% stat buff when fighting directly against any creatures of the rat family.

Level Up

All Stats Increased by 1

Skill Learned:

Crushing Blow (Beginner)

High levels of this increase the effectiveness of any ‘Crushing” Attack.

10% increase in breaking bones or dislocations to the opponent when skill is used.

Completion of Rat Quest

Current: 85%

Objectives:

Kill the Rats (34/34)

Kill the 2 Dire Rats (1/2)

Seal the holes for further Rats (Bonus)

Create a flowerbed (Hidden Objective)

Chance of completion: 80%

Completion of Rat Quest

Current: Completed

Objectives:

Kill the Rats (34/34)

Kill the 2 Dire Rats (2/2)

Seal the holes for further Rats (Bonus)

Create a flowerbed (Hidden Objective)

Skill Learned:

Mask Possession (Beginner)

The ability to channel a Soul to a mask. The mask boosts synchronization of the Soul and the user.

Mask Creation (Beginner)

The ability to create a mask that can house a Soul. Better masks can provide a vessel for stronger Souls and wider abilities.

Wow, that’s a lot to take in.

I yawn and rub my forehead and find it’s pretty hot.

I close my eyes again.

----

A light hangs above me. My vision is blurry and refuses to focus. I look around and the room, though blurry it is, is remarkably different from where I was. There are no windows or walls, only a curtain drawn around the bed. A person’s silhouette is behind the curtain.

“Ohh, it seems like you are awake.”

I bring my hand up to my head to try and block the light, but find I can’t move my hand.

“You won’t be able to move right now. You have definitely put us in some awkward positions over the last week. I wanted to spend a couple moments with you, but it doesn’t look like we have a lot of time.” She stands behind the curtain, unmoving.

“Uggh, what do you mean.” I manage to croak out.

“You managed to have your right hand infected in that fight with the rats. Looks like they broke the skin in your hand, and your hand is going necrotic. They are looking to remove your hand before it spreads up your arm.”

“What!!” I start trying to move around but am unable to move a muscle.

“You won’t be able to move here.” She says cooly, “but in order to save our hand, you will need to let me in to heal the infection.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are unconscious and I am not strong enough to override your control and take over to heal us. A fever has taken this body and we are all trapped. If you lend me your Will, I can cure us and keep our hand.”

The light above me starts to flicker. The curtains and walls start to shake.

“HURRY! You need to let me in!” She starts to shout. Pieces of the ceiling start to fall down.

“I...I just can’t…not again…” I trail off.

Debris hits the bed, just missing me.

“You fool! We all share the same body, we all have the drive to survive and seek vengeance on the gods. Why won’t yo-”

The light blows out and everything goes silent.

I slip back into sleep, or was I already asleep?

---

I awake again. This time back in the recognizable Old Mill I remembered. This time the owner was here with a man with a bloody apron. My right wrist and forearm burned somewhat bad and my hand felt numb.

---

The sun beat down over the little stubble that had started growing back since the last time I had shaved my head. The shades of the trees were always a welcome respite.

I try to replay the last couple hours events back in my head. I woke up in bed seeing both the Old Mill owner, and who I now know to be the local doctor. I remember the owner started talking a few times, going on about how the doctor couldn’t do much more to save me other than this, and he’ll be sure to provide extra reward for such a good job. He kept going back and forth and not really saying anything, but he even offered me a position at the mill. Cushy as it sounded, I declined, and he proceeded to tell me I had had my right hand amputated.

I move the bandaged stump up to my face. It still burned a bit due to the carterization they had to perform, but once again I suppose I need to thank the [Pain Endurance] for the assistance, as the doctor said he’s never seen someone as resilient as me.

I can’t remember much after that but that I was overwhelmed by the need to ‘flee’ and to do anything just to get out of there. I absentmindedly touch the newly acquired health potion I have hooked into my belt though. The owner bought me three health potions in total, as thanks for the thorough job. The first one was used immediately in an attempt to save my hand, but didn’t get rid of the infection. The second one was used after they spoke to me of the amputation, I drank it with the doctor's advice to help my stump heal, and clear up the remains of the fever I had.

I won’t forget what happened after drinking the potion. It took a minute or so, and my body felt like it was kicked into high gear. My senses sprang to life and I felt good. The burnt end began to scab up and start to get itchy. It was like watching a timelapse video of some kind of open wound healing on it’s own. It was like watching 4 days compressed into 2 minutes of action. After that, the potion seemed to have run its course. Doctor had checked it out, and wrapped it, and said bed rest was best… but I just need to keep moving on and try not to think about it too much.

The lady's voice spoke up again after I had woken up, but she only really spoke in expletives and was pissed that I didn’t let her save our hand. She hasn’t really spoken to me afterwards, but I know her name is Fyrn, as a window had popped up when I awoke. I know she’s still there watching me and witnessing this world. I am starting to grasp the nature of these souls that are part of me, and what it feels when they are awake.

The fear of the penalty fees looming heavily above my head for the remaining quests, I am making my way to the ‘slime ranch’ as quickly as I can, and should be there before the end of the day. I am definitely running about two days behind what I thought it would take, but hopefully [Wind Walk] will help me save some travel time.

I pull up the status window to absently look at as I navigate the trails and lament about what I had lost.

Miyu Kira

Class: Adventurer

Level: 4

Title: Rat Killer

HP: 30/32 [49]

MP: 497/?????? (Mana Sickness)

Status: Crippled(Right Hand), Weakened Joints (Right Shoulder, Left Shoulder, Right Knee).

Strength: 4 +1

Agility: 6 +1

Intelligence: 5 +1

Wisdom: 7 +1

Endurance: 13 +1

Skills: Merchant’s Gaze, Bluff (Intermediate), Gambling (Beginner), Persuasion(Beginner), Concealment(Beginner), Deception (Beginner), Counterfeiting(Beginner), Betrayal(Beginner), Instant Mathematics (Beginner), Trader (Intermediate), Bank of the Void, First Aid, Pain Endurance (Advanced), Endurance (Intermediate), Fear Endurance (Advanced), Mind over Matter (Advanced), Truevision (Gift of Terra), Iron Mind (Gift of Terra), Compartmentalization, Focused (Beginner), Empathy(Advanced), Soul Magic (Intermediate), Soul Fuzing, Speak to the Dead, Listen to the Dead, Other Worldly Knowledge (???), Detect Hostility (Beginner), Grappling (Beginner), Skull Bash (Beginner), Soul Scrying, Mastermind,Tracking Skill (Beginner), Wind Walk (Beginner), Longbow Proficiency (Beginner), Far Sight (Beginner), One with Nature (Beginner), Statue Mimicry (Beginner), Darkvision (Intermediate), Hunter’s Perception (Intermediate), Skitter (Beginner), Sense of Smell (Beginner), Danger Sense (Beginner), Call of the Horde - Rats (Beginner), Mask Possession (Beginner), Mask Creation (Beginner)

Titles: Cheapskate, Tormentor of Souls, Consumer of Souls, Seeker of Death, Murderer, Rat Killer (Active)