I dropped Elena’s bones and she clattered apart, her skeleton clattering across the floor. Her jawbone separated from the rest of her skull, and she made a sound, half-moan and half-whistle, that could have been the articulation of words. I leaped back to gain distance and then froze as I saw words scripted in the air over her head.
ELENA
Priestess [Fallen] – Human Skeleton
Level 1
Vitality: 8 / 12
Mana: 0 / 40
Experience: 1000 / 10
She made another sound, this one more whistle than moan, and her bones started creeping towards one another of their own volition. Where two met, there was a clack and clunk, then the pair would move towards the other ones. As I watched, horrified, the notice above her head changed.
Vitality: 7 / 12
Vitality: 6 / 12
Vitality: 5 / 12
“Elena stop!” I shouted. Somehow, she must have heard, because the bones stopped moving. I rushed over and began to piece them together, approximating what I hoped was correct placement. All the while, I muttered like a madman, babbling about “just stay still, I’ll fix it,” and “don’t worry, stay calm.”
I’m not sure if I was talking to her or myself, but the Vitality indicator stayed at 5. When I had moved all of the bones as close together as I thought I could, I knelt down next to her head. “Now, push yourself up,” I said, “I know you can do it.” I stared at her Vitality counter, and then heard a thousand clack-clunks, and the number plunge instantly to 2, where it flicked several times, then steadied. I rocked back on my heels, then gave up and sat down heavily, putting my palms in my hands.
As I closed my eyes, a new set of words appeared in front of me.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
AIAS
Nothing [None] – Human
Level 1
Vitality: 15 / 16
Mana: 0 / 0
Experience: 1000 / 10
Path: Scholar [Tentative]
Ranking: Unranked
[Blocked for your sanity]
[Blocked for your sanity]
[Blocked for your sanity]
I blinked my eyes open, and the text vanished. I closed them, and there it was again. Like an idiot, I repeated the experiment several times, before noticing another bit of writing in the corner of my screen. It looked like characters in some foreign script, angular but with small circles as accents over the letters. As my attention flickered towards it, the script expanded, and then resolved into a golden message.
LEVEL UP AVAILABLE!
Level 2 threshold has been reached [10 experience]. Would you like to spend some of your experience to level up?
New Paths available [10 – 1000 experience]. Would you like to spend some of your experience to learn a new path?
New Skills available [10 – 1000 experience]. Would you like to spend some of your experience to learn a new skill?
You have not chosen a path.
You have not chosen a [blocked].
You have not been assigned a [blocked].
Are you willing to commit to [UNKNOWN]’s team?
My attention was drawn to the largest of the letters, and then I focused beneath it. Immediately, the message shifted again.
CONGRATULATIONS. You have chosen to attain Level 2. As a Nothing [None], you receive a bonus of nothing. Do not despair, human, most of your race has nothing either! Would you like to advance to Level 3?
Required Experience: 100.
Experience Remaining: 990.
No, no! I shouted in my head, and then frantically opened my eyes. The messages disappeared and I was left staring at my friend.
ELENA
Vitality: 6 / 12
I breathed a sigh of relief that her vitality number had gone up, had a brief flash of guilt at the air I was exhaling (would she be jealous?) and then leaped back to my feet as Elena rose to one knee.
“Sai,” she began, “it really, really hurts.”
“What does?” I said, regretting the idiotic phrasing instantly. Then her answer surprised me.
“My eyes,” she replied. “It hurts to use my eyes. But I can’t close them.”
Her head shook back and forth as she came up to all fours, still focused on the ground, then her chin slowly rose and I met Elena’s new eyes. They were little purple flickers, like the refraction of a gemstone, set deep within the sockets of her skull. If she had not been looking straight at me, I would not have noticed they were even there.
“Sai, why can’t I close my eyes?” I started to open my mouth to reply, then Elena screamed. It was the most human sound she had made yet, her words still coming out with an odd echo. But the scream—it was like her full human voice was back, and it knocked me flat on my back.
My eyes closed as my head rebounded off the stone.
ELENA’s Howl of the Fallen hits you! You lose 500 experience.
Remaining Experience: 490
You hit your head.
You are bleeding
Vitality: 10 / 16
Vitality: 9 / 16
Vitality: 8 / 16
Then I passed out.