“Ugh! My head is pounding.”
‘Did I roll out of bed again hitting my head on something and what am I laying on? It feels like rocks. Wait, why is it so cold and what is up with the breeze?’
As I opened my eyes, the room is dimly lit. No, not a room. It looks like a cave or something. Based on the stalagtites I can see on the ceiling or at least what I think I see. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Nope, definitely not imagining them. Realizing there is no way I am in my bedroom anymore. I quickly sat up to look around. The first thing I see is what looks to be a dirty and dimly lit cave passageway. Turning to look in other directions, that looks to be the only passage into whatever place I am in. There is a very small pond next to me. I can see water dripping into the pond from above. After staring for a moment at the ripples in the pond, something caught my eye. I looked just to the right of the water. When seeing what caught my attention, I froze. There is a person sitting, no. They are leaning up against the wall. I squinted my eyes.
"Ugh, bleh."
‘That's not a living person, but a mangled corpse. Disgusting.’ As I thought that, I vomited on myself. I looked down to see how much got on my clothes.
‘Wait, where are my clothes!' Just now I am realizing why I feel such a cool breeze. I quickly look around for my clothes. There are no clothes anywhere. Still looking around for clothes, I see a leather backpack next to the corpse.
‘Well, looks like I will have to check that for clothes, as there is no way I will use the clothes from the body.’
I went over and grabbed the backpack, then proceeded to walk and sit against the wall on the other side of the cave. After a moment to calm down more, I opened the bag. The first item I pulled out, is a leather-bound journal. Setting that off to the side, there is a linen shirt and pants as the next items pulled from the bag. Setting the bag off to the side, I put on the pants. They were a little loose; however, they have a drawstring in the front which could tighten the pants up just enough so they didn't fall off. Putting the shirt on next, it fit better than the pants. Looking again in the bag there are no shoes. I did not think there would be, as its a small back. Just had to check in case.
‘Well, let's look around a little more.’ Looking around, there are only the boots on the body. Thinking if I should just use the boots on the body. I just released it has been slowly getting brighter in the cave. Maybe it was night and it is turning now day.
I went over to the body to check out the boots, as I am tired of stepping on rocks. ‘They are making my feet hurt alot.’ The boots seem to be in good condition and there is a little room in them.
‘I think I can manage that.’ After wiping the blood using some scrap cloth next to the body and water from the pond. I put the boots on and walked in them for a moment.‘They seem fine, just a little loose.’
While sitting down and admiring the leather boots, ‘huh?’ Now that it's getting brighter in here, there are some etchings on the ground. Looking at the etchings, they look like some kind of symbols or drawings. ‘They are in a circle, it seems.’ Glancing at the center… there is vomit. ‘Was I at the center when I woke up? That seems very ominous. I do not know what all of this means, but maybe that journal has some answers in it. I do not think it's bright enough in here to read yet.’
‘Well I can feel my stomach growling, so I guess I am hungry. I will have to eat, as I cannot remember when I ate last. Not sure if there is anything to eat in the bag, although I am not sure if any food would be any good.’ Sitting back down against the wall, I open the bag again. While rummaging through the bag, I found a sheathed dagger and what looks to be some jerky. The only item left in the bag is what looks to be a pencil, I think.
‘I don't know if this jerky is any good. However, I am not leaving this place until I read that journal. Hopefully, I will find out what is going on. All I know is there is no way one of my friends pranked me by sticking me in a cave with a corpse.’
‘Well, time to try this jerky. I really hope this does not make me sick.’ I went to take a bite of the jerky ... ‘Is this even jerky or is this strips of leather? This is some tough stuff. I can't believe I am saying this, but I miss the food in survival camp right now.’ After eating a stick of jerky, I put the other nine back in the bag. ‘I need to ration my food just in case.’
‘Okay, let's get down to reading. I don't think it will get any brighter in here. Still a little dim, but it should not hurt my eyes too much.’ Picking up the journal and opening to the first page. My eyes strained when looking at the page. Not from the lighting, but from the text on the page.
‘This is not English or any other language I have seen. However, for some reason I understand a little of this. I do not know how I do, but I do. It's just one word every few words. I guess I will still try to read this, even though I will most likely not get the majority of that is written. Here goes nothing.’
The first words I could read said, "I will show them.”
‘Wow, a complete sentence. As for the few lines before that, I have no clue what they say.’ Onto the next page. ‘I have no clue what this page is and I could only read one line on the first page. Next Page’
"Research" "New realm" ‘I am only able to read that on this page and not even sure what that means. I will try a few more pages, but I am not sure if there is much to learn… Well, that was a few pages of nothing. On to the last page.’ "All is etched.” “time to start.”
**Ding**
As the sound rang, I jumped up and yelled "What was that?" Quickly looking around. There are no changes in the cave. ‘What in the world is that ding?’ Suddenly, as if I am looking at a computer screen, the information popped up right in front of me. For some reason, I instinctively knew this is only in my head. I also knew how to call up this information. I just have to think about wanting to see the information. Then the information will come up. ‘This whole situation is getting really crazy. Am I losing my mind or is this a dream? There is no way this is a dream, as there is no way I could dream up jerky that bad. Well whatever the case, I should go through the information that came up. Maybe I will find out more about what is going on or it will confirm I am crazy. Let's see if I can view this information as a list.’ Suddenly, the Information is rearranged as a list. ‘Huh, that was interesting. Time to read through all of this.’
**Ding: General skill Common Language increased to level 2
**Ding: Acquired general skill Common Language level 1
**Ding: Acquired class skill Arcane Heal level 1
**Ding: Acquired class skill Arcane Infusion level 1
**Ding: Acquired class skill Mana Eyes level 1
**Ding: Acquired class skill Arcane Aura level 1
**Ding: Acquired class Arcane Mage level 1
**Ding: Acquired achievement Traveler
‘There are a few what could be called notifications. The first two are about what I think is a skill and it has leveled up once. That might be the writing I was having a problem with. Let's check.’ I picked up the journal again from the ground and flipped through it.
‘It seems I can read one additional word, "Runes." Apparently that is what is etched in the ground. I think I will have to find other books to read, in order to level that skill to read the rest of the journal. Ugh, great. I will have to learn to read again, my least favorite thing to do.’
‘Well, looking at the third notification, it is a "class," not sure what this means.’ The moment I thought "class," the notification disappeared and is replaced with another set of information. This new set of information seems to be more about myself, rather than a log of events.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Name: Oliver Smith
Age: 19
Race: Human (???)
Title: None
Strength: 7
Health: 90/90
Dexterity: 8
Stamina: 78/80
Constitution: 9
Mana: 70/70
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 7
Regenerations
Health: 1.6/Min
Unused: 2
Stamina: 1.6/Min
Mana: 1.8/Min
Class: Arcane Mage
Level 1
Active Skills:
Arcane Infusion
Level 1
Arcane Heal
Level 1
Passive Skills:
Mana Eyes
Level 1
Arcane Aura
Level 1
Profession: None
General Skills:
Common Language
Level 2
Identify
Level 1
Achievements:
Traveler:
???
‘Wow, there is much more detailed information now. Hmm, we have name, age, race…’
‘What is ??? Why is there a question mark next to human?! I know for a fact I am human!’
‘Anyways, ignoring that utter nonsense. I have a title, which is none. That looks better, unlike question marks next to human.’
Below that is a section called stats, which has a bunch of numbers and information. ‘This section seems to be putting numbers next to specific attributes. I do not have any reference for what the numbers mean or if they are good.’
‘I have strength at 5, dexterity at 8, constitution at 9. Constitution seems to be the highest. Then intelligence at 8 as well, followed by wisdom down at 7. There is an unused attribute below those with a 2. Not sure what unused is for, but that is a really small number compared to the others.’
‘I do not even know what any of this means. There is even health, stamina, and mana. I have no clue what these mean either. Below those are a regeneration category. However, these stats say "per minute." From that, I feel like I can assume the three above are my pool of what my stats mean. The three below must be how much I get per minute to fill those pools. I will have to test all of that later.’
‘On to the class portion. The name says arcane mage level 1. Also no clue what that is.’
‘Hmm, below that are active and passive skills. For now, I think I can assume passive are always being used and active are something I will have to use. Just, no idea how. I also do not know what they even do. As for the general skills, I think they are both. Common language went up by just reading and I have no idea about identify, as I just got it. I think I got the ding to get Identify right when my status came up. I wonder if that is me identifying myself?’
‘Lastly, I have an achievement called "Traveler", but it is just “???” for the description.’
‘Ugh, I can really only guess at all of this. If only I had a description on anything. I do not even know what a class is, let alone a description of what an Arcane mage is.’
“Hah!” The information displayed just changed…’
Arcane Mage: A mage that uses Arcane Magic.
‘Well... That answers nothing... Let's try the other information. I really want to know what the question marks next to human are, so here goes nothing.’
Human (???): Human (???).
‘I do not know why I try anymore. I hope the rest of the information is not like this…'
‘Alright, let's try to get a description on anthing I can and just hope it is not like the human description.’
Title ...
‘Nothing came up.’
Strength, Health, Mana, Dexterity...
‘Again nothing for any of these. I guess I will have to figure those out as I go. Time to try the skills.’
Arcane Infusion ...
Arcane Infusion: Can temporarily infuse an object with the arcane attribute. Will last 5 minutes. Cost: 20 mana.
‘Woah, now I am getting somewhere. So I can infuse something with whatever arcane magic is. Unfortunately, I still do not know how to use the skill. I will have to experiment later. I will see what the others say first.’
Arcane Heal: Can heal basic damage to a living being. Cost: 1 mana per second.
Mana Eyes: Will be able to see mana in the environment.
Arcane Aura: Will exude a slight aura of arcane mana.
Common Language: Common Language
Identity: Will be able to identify an object and get some information about the object.
‘The language skill does not give much information. However, the others give some info. Just not how to use them. I will have to experiment a bunch…’ As I is thinking of what I could try...
“Grrr!”
I looked in the direction of the sound. Coming through the cave hallway is a black silhouette with two red dots. I squinted to try to see what the creature is. While trying to see what it is, a name appeared over its head and a…
**Ding**
Shadow Wolf-??
‘A wolf? looking at me! No, it's looking at the corpse. Before it looks my way, I need to get that dagger out.’
I slowly pulled the bag closer and quietly reached in. With the dagger in hand, I readied myself for whatever this wolf might do. With not knowing when the wolf will attack after it spots me. It has moved much closer to the corpse and is almost facing away from me. When it attacks, I will need every advantage or the wolf will tear me up. It's not the best time to experiment with the skills, but I may have no choice. My status showed up just thinking about it and I think identify was used on the wolf, while I is trying to think of what the monster is. So I will just try to use the Arcane Infusion Skill. As I started to think of using the skill on the dagger...
The dagger started to glow a faint bluish-purple... suddenly the wolf's head snapped to look in my direction. The wolf let out a ear piercing "Grraaa" and lunged at me.
I let out a low "Oh, Fuck" losing the element of surprise and hopping the wolf had not spotting me. I also lunged forward. As we lunged forward, the wolf man opened preparing to bite. I also readied the dagger preparing to stab.
As we collided, the wolf tried to go for my neck. Likely trying to kill me as quickly as possible. Luckily, I managed to move slightly to the right. This made the wolf's attack change from going for my neck, to latching down on my left shoulder. With what felt like I got hit by a truck. The wolf started to try and shake me while it was latched on. I grabbed the fur on its snout with all the strength I had in my left arm, which is not a lot as my left shoulder is being crushed by the bite. When the monster swung to the left, it pulled my body closer to it. The dagger in my hand is close enough now to stab into its neck. Upon realizing this, I quickly stabbed its neck multiple times. The wolf's jaw slackened, which then released me. Causing my left hand to lose grip and was thrown across the cave. I slammed into the far wall with a crunch sound, feeling some bones in my left arm crack as my left side was what hit the wall first. I grabbed my left shoulder, using my right hand.
I letting out a “Ahh” in pain.
Trying my best to keep my eyes open and on the wolf. The wolf growling and slowly moving closer. Its upper lip is raised, showing its teeth. They were stained crimson red, like its eyes. However, while looking at its eyes. They were dimmer than before. It is almost to me, still slowly moving closer.
‘Will this be my end! In some unknown cave, all alone. I guess this is it. I slowly closed my eyes, expecting my end...
“Thud!!” Suddenly rang out.
**Ding**
Keeping my eyes closed, still expecting to die. I was puzzled by the sound just now. I waited and waited. It seemed like forever waiting, just waiting for my end. ‘It is taking too long. So, I guess I will open my eyes to see what is going on.’
After my eyes opened, the wolf is on the ground not moving. I continued to stare for a while. The wolf still unmoving.
‘I think it's dead.’ With a sigh, I suddenly felt all of the pain and all the blood I is covered in. I winced again when I tried to move my right hand away to look at the wounds. While I am bleeding less than I would have thought, I will still need to do first aid to stop what is bleeding and fix wounds. Suddenly, my eyes started to go blurry.
“No!!” I yelled.
‘I have to heal. This wolf looks dead, and I don't know if there are more. I will also die the same as the wolf if I don't heal.’ In a panic, I started to look around for cloth to stop the bleeding when my vision started going dark. ‘No, I need to heal. I need to heal.’ As consciousness is slipping away, I kept repeating, ‘I need to heal.’
After a just a moments of slipping unconscious, I blacked out.