I stood on the edge of the barrier, Swiftblade sheathed at my side and a cold breeze blowing through my hair. The wind was strong, the chill nipping at my skin and making me shiver.

I'd laid awake all night, studying my foundation card and contemplating my next move. There was no way I was going to carry on with life as usual. Not when I had a chance to change my fate. A chance to do something meaningful with my existence.

My life on Earth had been disappointing. I'd never achieved anything of note, and I was sure that everyone I'd known had sighed in relief the day I died.

Here it was different. I could be someone. A hero, a champion, someone who made a difference.

The thought filled me with a mixture of excitement and terror. I'd been given a second chance, a fresh start. Well I'd been given a third chance really, and I sure as hell wasn't about to play it safe. It was time to test the limits of my immortality and discover the side effects of my foundation card, if there were any.

I pulled my hood tighter around my shoulders and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, willing myself to calm.

If I was going to be a hero, then I would need to rank up, and for that, I needed to leave the safety of Misty Hollow.

I turned away from the barrier, looking out over the barren landscape beyond. My pulse quickened. Out there was where the true Tower experience began. Where I would truly find my destiny.

I walked following the sun like a compass. As I traveled, I began to notice things; the faint cries of birds high overhead, the warmth of the sunlight on my face, the saltiness of the desert air and something following me, keeping its distance, watching and waiting.

I paused, turning to look behind me. I couldn't see anything except a blur of blue sky and the distant tips of trees. I shivered and turned back towards my path, continuing on.

The heat grew stronger as I traveled further from Misty Hollow, and soon the sweat poured down my face. I licked my dry lips and pulled my canteen from my bag, taking a few swigs.

For what I had planned, I needed to be far away from the village. Far enough away that nobody would see me die.

I heard the crunch of sand underfoot, and I stopped. My eyes darted around, in the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a spindly body, covered in gray scales. A long tail swished behind it, catching the sun.

As I walked, it followed in my wake like a hunting cat, stepping over rocks and ducking between trees, keeping pace with me. It was fast, fast enough that each time I glanced back, I lost sight of it. But I kept moving, following my instincts. I trusted it to keep up, and eventually it would show itself.

I passed a tree, the bark was split and peeling away from the trunk. Its branches were bare save for a few withered leaves clinging to life. Something dark and viscous oozed down its surface, staining the ground beneath.

Even the trees have been infected by the blight.

It was hard to believe that a few years earlier this land was fertile ground, where farmers worked the soil to grow crops. Now it was barren and empty.

I wondered if the blight could be cured with science. Maybe if I could get my hands on a sample of the virus, then I could figure out how it worked. Maybe I could find a cure.

It was just a pity that the only scientific knowledge I had was a few hours spent playing a game where you created a virus and tried to wipe out humanity.

I shook my head and kept walking. Now was not the time for wishful thinking. Something was moving nearby.

I spun, raising my dagger defensively. The creature wasn't there, only a piece of wood, torn from the trunk and flapping in the wind.

I wish Flint was here, this place is seriously creepy.

Then I heard a sound that made my blood run cold. A scream, muted and distant, but coming from over the rise.

In the desert, screams don't last long.

I ran, following the sounds, stumbling along a path that twisted and turned, deeper and deeper into the heart of the blighted land.

The carcass lay on the scorching sand, broken limbs and ribs scattered across the ground. It looked like some kind of hyena but with wiry bristled hair instead of fur.

The birds had reached it before I did, picking at its remains, leaving its bones for the larger monsters.

Two birds fought over a single blue eye, squawking and screeching, until one finally won and flew off with it.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

That's a nasty way to go.

A hiss, low and foreboding, permeated the air.

I turned, and saw my pursuer, it was not alone.

Six more monsters stood in a circle around me. Their eyes glowed blue, their tails whipping about behind them, scaly bodies flexing and rippling as they prepared for a fight.

"Scalethorns," I said, eyeing the dog-sized creatures.

I'd heard stories of drunk villagers stumbling into the desert only to be attacked by these things. They were said to be territorial, feeding on anything that strayed into their lands.

I drew my blade, steel flashing in the sunlight.

Their leather hides will fetch a pretty price at market.

They came at me in a rush, leaping from behind rocks and scrambling over fallen timbers.

They were fast, but the magic of Swiftblade made me faster. I dodged one of the larger ones and sliced its neck open, sending it tumbling. As soon as it hit the ground, four more of the creatures leapt at me, screeching in anger.

I ducked under a swipe from a scaled arm and slashed across its chest. The creature screamed in pain and fell to the dirt, hissing and spitting.

The others circled, trying to surround me.

I just hoped that my card made me immune to the blight, it wouldn't help if I was resurrected only to die over and over again from the sickness.

What if I can't pass through the barrier and enter the village again?

I groaned inwardly. I really should have thought of that sooner.

One of the smaller ones leaped towards me and I ducked, I slid past a clawed foot and stabbed it in the back, pinning it against the ground. It hissed in defiance, spinning around and snapping at my face. I jerked my dagger free and kicked it away.

My opponent recovered quickly, bounding forward and leaping at me. I parried the attack easily, slashing the beast's leg. It yelped in pain and stumbled, but a second lizard's jaws clamped shut on my leg, biting deep into my thigh.

Pain exploded through my body and I screamed.

Shit! The card doesn't do anything for the pain.

"This better bloody well work," I said through gritted teeth as the other lizards smelling blood closed in.

I slashed, stabbed and hacked my way through the lizards, and in turn their teeth tore into my flesh. The blood flowed freely from my many wounds.

A few minutes later, I collapsed to the ground, surrounded by a dozen dead scalethorns. My blood mingled with theirs.

[Your Rank is Now Obsidian-1]

[Deck Size Increased to 4]

[Unspent Points 3]

Death came for me swifter this time, and I sank into darkness, my senses fading into an abyss of silence.

***

I woke up to the sound of squawking and something pecking my ear. My eyes opened and found myself staring at a pair of tiny, bright blue eyes. I shot upright, and the flock of birds scattered in a storm of feathers.

I stood, breathing heavily and rubbing my head. I wiped blood from my lips and spat it onto the dusty earth. The memory of the fight remained sharp, vivid in my mind.

It seems like it takes only a few minutes to resurrect, as for side effects—

I checked my body, searching for an extra limb or something missing, but I appeared normal. My wounds were gone too, and no scars marred my skin.

But one thing had changed. The tattoo had two thorns growing from the vine now.

A new thorn appears each time I die. That's ominous. What happens when there are too many thorns, will they pierce my heart?

"Maybe that's the side effect?"

I looked up and saw a tiny ball of silver light hovering a foot above one of the lizard's corpses. I didn't need to see it to know exactly what it was.

"Card essence," I said, smiling.

I snatched the ball of light out of the air and felt it solidify in my hand. I spun the silver hexagon, watching as the light refracted off of its six sides.

"Hell yeah, this will do nicely."

I tossed it into my coin purse and slipped it inside my belt pouch.

The memory of ranking up came back to me and I paused. I had three unspent points. It would be stupid to leave my stats unspent, who knew what I would face on the way back home.

Just because I was immortal, it didn't mean I couldn't be captured and tortured and forced to hand over my spell card.

I scanned over my stats. I was now Obsidian-1, that was a pretty big deal, and it was a rank that in my darker times I’d feared I would never reach.

I’d studied my status screen for years, meticulously planning the build I’d need going forward. The idea was to start with even stats just to give me a firm foundation, and then I’d specialize in [speed] and [agility], with a few points in [stamina] so I didn't collapse from exhaustion mid-fight.

Strength was important when you wielded a giant sword, but for a dagger, you just need to be fast. Stab the guy in the throat and get out without being hit, that was my strategy.

It probably sounded a bit cowardly, but in a small village where swords were hard to come by, you just had to make do with what you had. I had a knife and Flint had his broomstick, so that's what we trained with.

I should have dumped all my points into [Speed] or [Agility], but [Power] was so damned attractive. Even though it technically made no difference as I had no spell cards to benefit from the stat, I still couldn't resist putting all my points into it.

As I pushed [Power] to five, I saw something change on my status screen.

Holy crap!

I’d gained an [Etherix] point.

[Etherix] had always been one of those unknown things. I had no idea what it did, and nobody in town was high enough rank to know either. The Protectors probably knew what it did, but there was no chance in hell that I was asking them for advice. The couple liked their privacy, maybe a bit too much, and it made most people wary of them.

There's no point just thinking about it.

I activated [Etherix] and immediately felt a surge of power ripple through my body. I seemed to be vibrating, but in a good way, like I’d woken up from the world's best sleep and downed a mug of the best coffee. I was awake, alert, and even the tiniest aches and pains in my body faded away.

"I probably should have saved that for something important," I groaned.

***