Flames! The stupid snake ate me! Agony overwhelmed me. I scratched at the floor and writhed. The floor was stone. I was on the floor of a cave and I was burning. My screams tore at my vocal cords. Flames licked up out of my skull before my eyes. I bit off my tongue, hoping for something, anything, to distract me from the fire. I looked down at my burning arms and watched the flames melt away flesh and muscle only to regrow new flaming flesh on the bones. I tore my biceps away tossing hunks of meat to the sides but they regrew faster than I could tear them off. I sunk my fingers between my ribs and broke my chest open. Nothing took away the maddening pain.

Times in the pit: 1

Exp: 600

I tore the eyes from my head. Why do I care what my experience level is? What is this place? What mad man built a game like this? I began to see the flames again and could feel the itch of my eyes growing back and drying out from the heat. I smacked my head on the floor.

“You have to crawl up to the ledge.” I could hear the hummingbird screaming at me over the roar of the flames. “There is a respawn plate up there.”

I looked around for the source of the voice and saw others screaming and crawling around on the floor. There was an elf, a large man, another orc, and some kind of tree person on the same level plateau as I was. The ceiling above us seemed as high as clouds with long barbed stalactites hanging down. The room of the cave could hold stadiums. There was a large pit in the center of the cave that dropped down into blackness. I lay at the edge of the drop looking down.

I could see more creatures below on various plateaus crawling, writhing, screaming, and trying to climb up the walls.

“Crawl up.” The hummingbird screamed at me.

I tried to scream back profanities at it but my tongue boiled every time I opened my mouth. So I crawled toward the wall nearest me. I clutched the wall with my bony fingers and pulled myself upright. My arms spasmed as I pulled up my weight to put my feet on a jutted stone. I pressed myself into the rough stone scratching my flesh for relief as I scaled up the wall.

“You are almost there, keep climbing.”

You are fatigued! Rest to heal.

My arms and legs jerked and trembled. I bit into the stone to keep from falling as I waited for vital muscle regrowth. Inch by inch I clung to the shear wall and made my way to the summit. I flung myself up onto the flattened section from which I heard the voice. The hummingbird spun in loops and flips celebrating my progress. There I could see the glowing metal plate on the floor. A burning V right in the middle of it. I tried to stand and collapsed as my thigh muscles dropped from the bones. I smashed my forehead on the floor again and again. I rolled on the floor but couldn’t keep my mind straight long enough to make it toward the plate. Then I felt my thighs grow back. I clambered, scrambled, and clawed my way toward the plate. Toward sanctuary. I half ran half crawled. Madness tore at my brain. I clawed at my face and tore out my hair. A blessed cool breeze could be felt as I closed in on the plate. My ankle gave out and I fell on my face. My teeth struck the stone.

“A little further. You can do it.” The tiny flying pest called to me.

No more. No more. I rolled around screaming at nothing. Screaming for the screams to stop. For the roar of flames to stop. I threw myself at the plate. I landed on the sweet haven.

The flames stopped. Cool air washed over me. Tears filled my eyes and I found myself face down in moist rich soil. Bird calls replaced the screams. Crickets and frog croaks. It was heaven. I rolled onto my back and plucked handfuls of grass and fern rubbing them on my face and chest. They were so cool and covered in dew. It was a salve to my flesh. Joyous laughter burst from my lungs. I would never go back to that place. I will never go back to that place I told myself. I rolled on my side and saw a cat-sized snail crawling past.

“Aww.” I reached out and petted its slimy back. The snail dropped back into his shell. “Don’t be afraid, little guy. This is the most beautiful day of my life, I could never harm something as sweet as you.” I stroked his shell for a moment.

“Congratulations.” I heard the hummingbird and looked up to see it grinning down at me with its unnatural human face. “You have successfully escaped the first level of the pit. Thankfully the beginning levels of the pit are quite mild but don’t be disillusioned; further deaths will deliver you to deeper plateaus.”

Exp: 1475

Level up.

Level: 2

Soul points awarded: 2

“You can now spend your soul points.” The hummingbird continued.

The reverie washed away from me. Soaked right down into the soil. I am still in the flapping game! I lurched up from the ground and tried to snatch the hummingbird from the air but with each swipe, the little chipper bird just giggled and danced away in the air. “I’ll kill you, you little buzzard!” I spat as I swatted at it.

I chased the bird into the forest and finally dropped to my knees panting. “Who are you, you little creeper.”

“I am your tutorial guide.” The hummingbird made a bowing motion in the air. “You can call me Tootsie. Sweet nickname right? I chose it myself.” The bird put its little arms on its hips and tipped his face up to the side, closing its eyes with pride.

“I hate it.”

Level 2 Orc.

Strength: 16

Dexterity: 10

Charisma: 6

Intelligence: 17

Manna: 5

Constitution: 14

Perception: 14

Exp: 600

Skills: 0

Coin:

$350

Gear:

Loincloth