Simone woke with a start, her body jerking into motion as memory and adrenaline carried her to wakefulness. She staggered to her feet, catching herself on the nearest wall and trying to get her bearings in the dim light. She hadn’t blacked out that hard since Manila. Her expression thinned a little, she’d had people to lean on then, at least. She rubbed the side of her face and ran her fingers along a slick welt that had formed on one side of her head. A red flashing light blinked out of the corner of her eye and she focused on it.

HP: 12/60 | MP: 60/60 | SP: 23/62

It looked like she’d lost a lot of health, how did that even work anyway? She felt a little sore but that was about it. Would she just drop dead when it hit 0 or something? Health points in video games made no sense in reality, so trying to apply it to something like this seemed almost arbitrary. She scowled and wiped her hand off on her gambeson, taking stock of her surroundings and freezing when her eyes fell upon what she landed on. The Manikin lay on the ground, unmoving, its body crumpled in places and its joints broken and twisted in odd angles.

As the reality of the monster’s death sank in, she noticed the sound of a waiting notification playing in the back of her mind. She focused on it and another prompt appeared.

You have defeated: War Manikin

Some experience has been lost due to the manner in which the creature was defeated.

You have gained: 250 EXP!

Yeah well, fuck me I guess, right? She thought bitterly. She played with the settings a little bit after that, she had a feeling she was going to be doing a lot of fighting soon and didn’t want to be bothered with a stream of notifications. The menus were remarkably intuitive, reacting to her thoughts and needs quickly. She smirked to herself, it almost felt like there had been some effort made to fine-tune how the whole thing worked. Weird. She looked back at the body after she felt satisfied with the changes she’d made and knelt next to it. I should at least get some loot or something, right? I’ve got nothing to work with.

Would you like to loot: War Manikin?

Uh, yeah. She confirmed. The reaction was instantaneous, the body of the creature began to lose all color and soon it had turned to a pasty white. It crumbled until nothing was left but a corpse-shaped pile of dust on the ground. She wrinkled her nose as another prompt appeared obtrusively into her vision.

You have acquired:

[Aspect Shard] x1

[Akuran Ego Sliver] x1

[Copper Coins] x10

Money? She blinked, then focused on the other items.

[Aspect Shard] - A small gemstone containing the raw, unfocused power of the aspects. These stones have a variety of uses in ritual magic and can be used to unlock new aspect abilities. (Note: You must be at least level 5 to unlock your next set of aspect abilities).

She pursed her lips, still screwed but it was good to have at the very least. She’d have to level up fast to see if she could get some kind of use out of her Upstart aspect.

[Akuran Ego Sliver] - A fragment of the Demon Lord’s power and will, crystallized. These items have a variety of uses in crafting but may also be consumed for a powerful, temporary effect. Be wary, drawing on the power of the Demon Lord does not come without cost.

Sounds like some kind of steroid. She thought. After a few moments of fiddling, she figured out how to open up her inventory. It involved conjuring her item sack and then looking for the item in the menu. The most jarring part was when the two-dimensional image of the sliver popped into physical reality the moment she touched it. Well if I didn’t think this was all real before. She grumbled inwardly, turning the thin shard of metallic glass over in her palm. It was cold to the touch and seemed to have something of a pulse. She shivered and returned it to her inventory.

Her loot squared away, she turned to her immediate surroundings. No creatures had come calling while she was looting the Manikin so she figured she was safe for the moment. The dimly lit space was a hallway from the looks of it, sheer walls rising up into the darkness above her. The stone was black with gold veins running through it and felt smooth to the touch. Marble? She tried to find the source of the light that gave her enough visibility to function but gave up after a few moments. The hallway stretched in two directions and as disoriented as she was she wasn’t sure which was which.

She pulled out her compass and stared down at the helplessly wobbling needle that eventually settled on one particular direction. She grimaced, it was better than nothing.

She checked herself one more time, everything was in the right place but her health was still low. She patted the weapon on her hip and drew it out, examining the blade to make sure it hadn’t cracked or anything in the fall. Satisfied, she started marching.

The dark passage went on forever, she wasn’t sure how many hours passed as she walked in the bleak space, before finally stumbling on a split in the path. She could continue in the direction she was going or turn left or right. The compass seemed to want her to continue to move forward, ignoring the additional passages. She considered checking them out on the excuse of pure curiosity but knew better. She’d turned down an unfamiliar alley before when she was younger, it hadn’t ended well. Stick to the path and get somewhere safe, then she could figure out her next steps.

When she finally found something that amounted to a room, the sounds from within immediately set her hackles off. The passage terminated at a doorframe wide enough for a car to pass through but narrower than the passage itself. That gave her a spot to hide as she peered around the frame and into the room. Inside she saw a single small creature standing about two feet in height. It had a spindly body with pale skin and a bulbous head. Its eyes were even bigger. It appeared to be trying to pry something off of a statue that was mounted to the wall.

“Snrff! Krggrk!” It grunted and squeaked, “Give to Kik! Give!”

It could talk, that could either be a good thing or a bad thing. She looked herself over one more time and checked that nothing was dangling off her person that would make a noise. The scabbard of her sword was the only danger here. She quietly removed the wooden sleeve and gently leaned it up against the wall before crouching low and taking slow, deliberate steps. The grunting and thrashing of the creature was enough to cover any faint sound that her footfalls made as she snuck into the room, checking left and right to make sure the little thing didn’t have anyone watching his back. The room was empty save for the grim statues of frowning men and women on the walls. Going it alone like this was a good way to get killed, not like she had any room to talk.

She slipped up close behind the creature and with a quick motion drew her weapon around its body and across its neck. Not in a line, but at an angle against the throat, collarbone, and shoulder. One quick move would either kill or disable. She’d done it with a knife before, she figured a sword would do even more damage.

“Shhh, don’t move,” She whispered, “I will hurt you if you do.”

The creature froze, its body a coil of tension as its tiny muscles bulged beneath its pale skin. It clung to whatever it was it was trying to dislodge from the statue and kept its head forward. It swallowed once, fear taking the form of sweat that dripped down the back of its neck.

“Good, your name is Kik, right?” She asked.

“Yes,” It croaked, trembling.

“I’m Simone,” She whispered, “How well do you know these tunnels?”

“Kik lives here, in the big maze,” The creature said.

“Do you know how to get back to the surface?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“If I let you go, are you going to do something stupid?” She pressed, “Think real hard, Kik. This sword is sharp,” She warned.

“Kik not stupid, Kik simple,” the creature retorted.

“Okay, I’m going to let you go and you’re going to show me how to get out of here,” She said, “You promise to help me and I might be willing to help you with whatever you're doing here.”

“And take it from Kik?”

She sighed, “I’m not interested in your little trinket, I just want to get the hell out of here.”

Kik visibly relaxed and nodded a few times, “Kik help.”

“Just like that?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Kik can feel your heart,” The creature said, wiggling his arm a bit. She glanced at where they were touching one another and quickly pulled away, taking a few steps back. “Kik knows a lie.”

Simone licked her lips and rubbed her arm, looking past the creature who was still clinging to the statue’s arms like a monkey, “What are you after anyway?”

Kik tugged again at the object, snarling a little, “Pretty stone, for Kik’s collection! Kik lives alone down here, Kik likes the shiny things, they make Kik feel full inside.”

Simone held her expression and cleared her throat, trying not to let how sad that sounded get to her. She marched back to the doorframe and grabbed her scabbard before slipping back in to find the tiny monstrosity still tugging away. She stepped past it, looking down at the odd stone that was trapped between fingers made of marble. It had a strange fogginess to it, as if a cloud of smoke was roiling on the inside. She glanced back at Kik, finally getting a good look at its face. Kik had big eyes that were a single ruby-red color, with no pupils or sclera to speak of. They looked like gemstones. His mouth was wide and thin, like a frogs and tiny razor-sharp teeth poked out from his underbite.

She turned back to the stone and shoved her scabbard into the space between it and the statue, wedging it in for leverage before pressing her foot against the wall and pulling with all the strength she could muster. It took a few tugs but soon the fingers of the statue cracked apart and Kik was sent tumbling to the ground, clutching at the stone and squealing with delight. He rolled on the ground with it for a while before licking the stone. Simone let out a small grunt of disgust but let it slide, scratching her head. He scrambled to his feet and looked up at her.

“You helped Kik!” Kik got to his feet, “Kept a promise, was honest!”

“Uh, well yeah?” Simone managed.

“Kik take you to the big place, to the pretty world, it dangerous but it how you get to the surface land. Kik take you as far as Kik dares. Kik tell you how to get the rest of the way,” The creature insisted, bobbling its enormous head and holding out the stone to admire it. “So pretty, look good next to the others.”

“Glad you’re happy,” Simone said, “Can we go?”

“Yes!” The creature grunted, “First we go to Kik’s home, Kik needs to protect what is Kik’s!”

She rubbed the back of her neck and nodded, “Alright, lead the way.”