Once upon a time, the land of Táfos was a place of wonder. It was a unique congregation of people from all species and walks of life, from wealthy merchants to struggling students trying to make ends meet.
It was a bustling city, composed by an odd mix of sky-high towers inhabited by grumpy mages and their disciples, bustling markets and renowned academies. Its houses were arranged with narrow passageways in between the clunky blocks of stone molded into homes by the craftsmanship of dwarves.
Houses were constantly getting built, the sprawling city with its colorful rooftops always expanding. At some point, the near constant sound of the dwarves' booming voices became just another sound filtered by the people, background music for the bustling city.
Its inhabitants moved in a constant stream to and from the market, their heavy footsteps compacting the ground beneath them. They went by with their lives, the smell of strong spices, fresh meat and odd magical ingredients tickling their noses all the while.
It was a diverse city, in theory one of the few who didn't discriminate against a race or another. Of course, the actual situation of the city was far from being perfect. After all, there is no such thing as a society free from bias, and Táfos was no different. The only difference was that it managed to hide its ugly face well.
From the rich merchants playing with the gold coins after a bountiful day to the orphans struggling to survive in the poorly built slums built far from privy eyes, it was a city of such plurality that it was nothing short of amazing. A true work of art, not by any specific artist, but by the collective who jointly decided to make the city into the epicenter of the civilized world.
Holding the biggest and most influential names in culture, research, development and economics, the place was comparable to the great empires that sought out in their infinite hunger for more. Different from those empires, Táfos was quite satisfied with the land it had. Sure, it was expanding like all cities do, but it was a slow, gradual one, born out of necessity and not simply capriciousness.
For centuries, it survived its policy of not interfering with warring nations enough to allow it to escape unscathed of almost any neighboring fight. It saw kingdoms rise in the wake of rebellions, empires tumbling down after biting way more than they could chew. It saw the terrain changing, the wondrous effects of magic and greed enough to permanently scar the earth below.
Sadly, nothing can last forever, and, with Táfos, despite their attempt at being a single, immortal, and undying monolith of all things appreciated by the world that surrounded them, suffered the same fate as every other nations it had seen crumbling down and falling apart.
It became nothing more than memories of a time long gone, created by the hands of the people who were terrified of their inability to control the free city, who were infuriated by their refusal to submit, who were annoyed by their vies on war. It was a deliberate destruction, sponsored by paranoid men who were scared to the bone by the power Táfos possessed
And so, its once great minds became bound by chains, forced to work day and night to fulfill their lords' wishes. They died like flies, by the droves, the harsh winters and the abusive work relations taking a toll on their physical and mental health. Most didn't last to see the end of the decade.
Kids were used to their full capacity in both the fields and the mines, their owners unbothered by their health or well-being. These innocent souls could only watch, mortified, as their mothers and the all the women they knew were treated as toys by the coward monsters responsible for Táfos downfall.
As time passed, the bustling town knows for being the apex of cultural exchanges, the pinnacle of research, the example of development, the summit of greatness, disappeared from the minds of both the dead and the living. As beautiful as the city had once been, it was now nothing more than a massive graveyard, a field of ashes and sorrow, forgotten by the cruel missus known as time.
Amidst the crumbling stone houses that might have one day reached high into the sky, a lone figure walked around slowly, their erratic movement a clear show of their lack of urgency. The being wore a completely out of place white gown, reminiscent of something that would be used by a hospital patient.
The figure's eyes, dark red like rubies and as clear as the surface of an ancient, unperturbed lake, darted around incessantly, as if to take in all the lingering stories those long forgotten structures could hold.
Of course, that roaming entity was none other than Kary herself. She had arrived in those strange ruins not long ago, and she had immediately gotten awestruck by the ruins before her eyes.
It was a fantastical view, something so otherworldly, something so very detached from the reality she knew, that she could help but stare at every little nook and crane, mouth agape and eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
Of course, this sight might be something people like archeologists would see during their lifetime, in their incessant search to uncover the secrets of the past. This crumbling city, however, was so completely detached from the cold world of electronics and concrete Kary knew that the girl couldn't help but be mesmerized by the spiraling ruins.
It was a wholly new world, free to be explored to its fullest. With that mindset, Kary began walking around in quick, almost skipped steps, barely avoiding running through the irregular ground. She was aware that she couldn’t really afford to get hurt in such a desolate place, and so, she had to remind herself to keep walking at a reasonable pace, lest she trip and fall.
Not long after, she made her way to one of the houses, the lack of any door all but inviting the curious girl inside. Inside was a scene of chaos: thrown aside chairs, a table toppled over, some stone utensils littering the ground, almost becoming one with the nature itself.
Kary’s smile froze when she saw that scene. She couldn’t help but wonder what had caused its creation. What happened to those who lived here? Did they ever come back from wherever they went?
Unsatisfied by the lack of any clues in the main room, the girl began to explore the rest of the house, finding simply more of the same: stuff hurriedly thrown to the side with half-haphazard abandon.
A scene of desolation overcame her as she stared at the hollow, cold house, its inhabitants long gone, its purpose non-existent for who knows how many years already. She could feel the sorrow, the overwhelming regret, the tears that were shed, the fear they must have felt. Kary didn’t know what had instilled so much fear into the original house’s inhabitants, but she sure didn’t want to know.
What she knew was that disaster had struck that family, or maybe the entire city. Maybe that was why it had become nothing but a faded ruin, a shadow of its once glory, a ghost still stubbornly refusing to let go of the material plane.
Touching the walls, cold from the lack of sunlight they received, Kary closed her eyes and made a small prayer in her native language. She didn’t consider herself to be particularly religious, but, with gods all but confirming their own existence, she could allow herself to grieve a little for those people long gone.
She didn’t know how long she stayed in that position, hands clasped together and head low, thinking about the why’s and the how’s. Absentmindedly, she left the house she had so eagerly barged in just a few minutes before. With every home she visited, her initial excitement wore off a little, until her mind was filled with theories of what ill might have befallen the people who once lived in these houses.
Eventually, as she progressed with her walk, completely absorbed within her own thoughts, she eventually arrived in a large, spacious plaza. It was quite a nice change of pace from the depressing, stuffy corridors and passageways Kary had been using until now.
It was a big place, filled by far with the biggest amount of destruction she had seen until now. With a sigh, she moved to the big well in the center, its form almost unrecognizable after all the centuries of abuse committed by Mother Nature.
Sitting down, the girl looked at the clear sky, the frown on her face a clear indication of the amount of thought she was putting into answering her previous questions.
Why had she been summoned here, other than because of the whims of bored gods? Why was she in such a desolate place? If they are truly gods, couldn't they have sent her somewhere where people actually live in? What was her purpose in such a barren place? And, most importantly, how did she want to proceed?
Sure, she could continue to explore the houses in the hopes of finding something useful, but her search all but proved that there was nothing of value here. Exploring the empty constructions would only serve to deplete her energy and make her more depressed and paranoid.
With a sigh, she got up from the fluffy grass and resumed her walk, though this time she refused to enter any house and was much more careful about the direction she was moving on. Despite her precautions, the signs of destruction and degradation were all but apparent, the chaotic and yet picturesque scenery following wherever the brave girl went.
She didn't know if she was getting closer or farther from the center of the city, though, at this point, the only real way of checking would be to climb into a high building that still stood. Kary, however, wasn't really planning to acquire potential injuries just for that, though that might change if she did, indeed, find a place of enough height.
Time passed almost peacefully, were it not for the eerie atmosphere the whole place irradiated. It was a bizarre place, as if it was abandoned both by its people and by time. In this alien land, the beauty of nature was the only thing that managed to break through the tension Kary was feeling.
The girl's nervousness was so high that it was almost palpable, almost able to be cut by a sharp knife. Her walking was stiff, arms stuck to the side of her body as she robotically placed one foot in front of the other.
Her head swayed from left to right, checking for any ambushes at every turn she made. Despite the apparent emptiness of the city up to that point, she valued her life far too highly to ignore this prefect atmosphere for a monster attack.
Anyone who saw the girl walking around, terrified of the shadows cast by the debris would probably have a good laugh at her expense, which, in turn, would probably make the scaredy cat even more afraid of her surroundings.
She walked far, and yet she still couldn't see the edge of the ruins from where she stood. The suns, once high into the sky, were now at the verge of disappearing over the line of the horizon, taking with them most of the light.
Disappointed, maybe at herself, maybe at whoever designed this city, Kary decided to stop for the night. She really didn't want to, but circumstances made her enter an uninhabited house. After all, she could feel the temperature dropping, and she really didn't want to catch this world's equivalent of the flu just because she was careless.
She picked a random house and started to slowly map her surrounding, using her outstretched limbs as makeshift probes. After getting a rough outline of the scenery around her, the girl allowed herself to relax for a moment, to allow her racing heart to rest for a few moments.
This apparent peace was, however, completely shattered within the next few moments, when the girl heard a shriek coming from another room. Standing up from where she had decided to rest for the night, she made a run for the door, only to realize a figure was blocking it.
Standing against the moonlight, its features were hard to recognize, but its hideousness was more than visible. It had big, misshapen hands and feet, the former constantly groping the air in front of it as if it was trying to catch something that was never there.
It had long, bony limbs, so thing they looked like they could snap at the slightest of pressures. Its arms were unnaturally lengthy, even more so than its legs, to the point where it was able to reach all the way to the ground with them.
While she couldn't see the face it had, the girl had a feeling that it was looking straight at her. She gulped as she stood there, petrified by the bizarre, see through ghost she had encountered.
Despite the seeming extreme fragility of its body, Kary couldn't help but feel wearier of the monster that had managed to sneak up on her without a single sound. Even with her almost paranoid carefulness, she had still failed to sense it approaching in any way, shape, or form, and that was enough to attest for its abilities.
She wanted to run, but that would be pretty hard given the lack of illumination and her lack of knowledge of the general placement of objects within the precinct. Sure, she had managed to find her way through the rubble using her limbs as probes, but that required time and patience, two of the things she definitely didn't have at the moment.
For now, though, she needed to actually think of a way to escape. With the bizarre being blocking the only exit she knew of, there were no routes through which she could escape. The monster had her completely trapped.
As the realization dawned on her mind, she started to silently panic at her own stupidity. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t exactly her fault that she was in the situation she now faced, since the extremely dry climate had all but forced her to take shelter.
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But still, it was slightly unsettling that such a thing occurred with enough frequency that there were predators adapted to hunt those who needed to hide within the abandoned structures. She didn't know for how long it had been there, stalking her, observing her every move, slowly waiting for an opportunity to gain the upper hand on its prey. And the time had come for it to make its move.
It lunged forward, letting out a blood-chilling screech that resonated far into the night, making Kary's heart almost skip a beat. Letting out a small yelp of surprise at the sudden movement, the girl turned around and began to run, despite knowing how bad it could end.
She went through room after room, bumping and stumbling into everything, hitting every part of her body on the faded edges of the rock furniture. As she made her way through the wreckage, she refused to look back, afraid to even know how close to her the beast was.
That turned out to be a mistake when, not even thirty seconds after the chase started, the girl felt a ghastly, freezing-cold hand touching her ankle. Surprised by the sudden stop of her momentum, she was flung forward, hitting her face on the hard floor.
For a few moments, she could swear she was seeing stars, despite the fact that they were very much indoors. Then, remembering the precarious situation she was in, she tried to turn around, only to catch a glimpse of the distorted silhouette that had patiently followed her until here. The monster, however, seemed to have grown tired of playing with its food, as it slowly approached the knocked down girl.
"Eek! Don't... don't come any closer! Or I'll have to kill you!" Kary said, feigning confidence to the best of her abilities, which, to be honest, weren't very impressive. The beast, seemingly coming to this conclusion as well, slowly stepped forward, navigating through the ancient location with an almost unfair ease.
Before Kary could even think about doing anything, the monster was already closing on her, bringing its body closer and closer to hers. At this point, the girl could smell its rotten scent, of age and decomposition, a degraded ghost of the past, still clinging to reality, afraid to let go.
If circumstances were different, Kary felt like she could even sympathize with the walking phantom of a long gone past. However, as things stood right now, she had no bigger desire than to make this gnarly corpse disappear from her sight.
Contrary to her wants, the creature reached the girl. Under the faint moonlight that seeped through the multitude of cracks sprawled everywhere like cobwebs, Kary, for the first time, managed to get a glimpse of its face. And by god was it hideous.
It had a savage grin spread across its face, a much too broad smile that revealed the shark-like pointed teeth hidden beneath the semi-translucent skin. Its eyes were hollow sockets, lair to nothing other than the accumulated regret of an unfulfilled life. On top of its head, there were a few tufts of hair, disheveled and greasy from the long time of neglect.
Kary, seeing the beast being almost within touching distance, decided to turn around to fully face the incoming threat. What she didn't expect, though, was the powerful foot striking her chest and pinning her to the ground. It was much, much stronger than its flimsy legs had any right to be. It was enough to break and crack some of her bones, enough to make her cry out at the sudden pain.
The monster, apparently either unaware of her struggle or simple uncaring of it, approached until it was face to face with the girl, her somber expression quite the contrast with the confidence with which she had started her journey.
For a few moments, they stared into each other's eyes; as if they were long lost lovers who only after decades apart managed to meet again. It would be almost romantic, were it not for Kary's battered body, the creature's abnormalities and the girl's bawling fist on the side.
After making sure that the monster's attention was concentrated solely on her face, Kary managed to deliver a powerful punch to its face, launching it to the far wall! Or, at least, that was what she hoped would happen.
If she were to be honest with herself, she had zero confidence in her strength, but, at this point, there was nothing else that she could try. Heck, she didn't even know if she could hit the creature at all — after all, that was usually the gimmick with these types of monster —.
With a swift movement, she delivered her punch into the monster's face, which was still stubbornly locked with hers. It let out a surprised, almost offended gnarl as it rolled out of her. Seeing its reaction, Kary couldn't help but stare incredulously at her hand. It was a less powerful impact then what her wild imagination had predicted, yes, but it was still much stronger than anything Earth-Kary could ever do.
Surprise gave way to confidence, which, in turn, quickly became realization as she remembered that she was pretty much pinned to the ground, broken bones and all that. Biting her lips so as to not let out any loud sounds, the girl slowly got up to her feet, panting and with a trail of red going down from her lips, tainting the already dirty, bloodied and battered dress.
She looked at the direction the beast had been launched to, paying close attention to any movement coming from there. She couldn't see the beast, despite the whisks of nightlight coming from the ceiling, but she could be prepared for when it inevitably fought back.
Now, Kary wouldn't pretend she had any fight experience. She had never been in a proper fight before that, with the closest thing to it being the times her mother would hit her when she got anything besides perfect grades. Even so, she had seen enough of it being represented in mangas to have at the very least a rough idea of how she should move.
Sure, she probably would never be able to replicate the insane moves that would make any physicist cry, but she could at least use the characters' posture to have an outline of the way she should stand.
All of these thoughts immediately dispersed when the girl saw some movement in the darkness beyond. Intently staring at where she thought the monster was, Kary raised her fists, prepared to resist as best as she could, ready to fight to the death for this chance that had been granted to her.
And then, it attacked again. Much to the girl's relief, it seemed to be incredibly stupid, as it chose to attack her the same it had when they first found each other: lunging forward and hoping that the prey either had bad reaction time or that it tried to run away. Kary, having experienced first-hand the consequences of letting the thing land a hit, swiftly sidestepped the battering ram as it uncontrollably sped past her.
As she walked to the side, she pivoted and landed a crunchy kick to its legs, though if it were her bones that were breaking or if it was the creatures, she didn't know. Adrenaline was pumping like crazy, and, in the frenzy of the fight, she had become numb to her own pain. She already knew that her attacks would hurt both of them, as her initial punch had demonstrated, so she really didn't need another thing to worry about as she danced with Death.
The creature let out an angry roar as it stood limply on its three remaining limbs. Eyeing Kary with newfound resentment, it used its usable limbs to throw itself into the air, linking its oversized hands together in an attempt to squish the annoying insect that refused to be eaten.
With a surprised gasp, Kary tried rolling out of the way, only for the pain in her stomach to make her stop for a brief moment. Of course, her pain receptors were already extremely dulled by the effects of adrenaline, but that didn't mean that extreme amounts of pain wouldn't manage to get through.
This little pause, of a mere fraction of a second, was enough for the shockwave caused by the smashing move to send the girl tumbling to the side, intensifying the pain she felt tenfold. Lying on the ground, Kary struggled to breathe. She was tired, hurting all over, and knocked to the ground. Meanwhile, her opponent still seemed to be mostly healthy.
Gritting her teeth, she slowly tried to get up again, only to receive a slap to the side of her face that sent her flying, much like how she had imagined the monster soaring through the air a few moments ago. Crashing into a sturdy wall, Kary coughed some of the blood that was accumulating in her throat, the dark red blending with the dark ambience.
At this point, she keenly aware of the sheer physical difference between her and the beast. She knew that in a direct confrontation she would lose to it every time. And so, she needed to devise a plan, fast. For it hungered, and it would not wait. At least, not now that it had been injured.
Her eyes darted from left to right as tried to move her arms and legs around in an attempt to assess the damage and, with that knowledge, form an action place. Thankfully, it seemed that she could still move everything, even if there was some sluggishness that didn't exist before. Knowing that, Kary couldn't help but show a slight grin on her face, because she knew that this fight was coming to a close, and that she would be the winner.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw the beast slowly moving forward, cradling its broken leg with one of her arms as it used its other two healthy limbs to walk. The girl, seeing that, tried to be as quiet as she possibly could. She didn't move, or breathed, making it so that the only way one could possibly know that she was alive without checking for her pulse would be through the growing grin on her face.
When the creature was close enough to Kary's face that she could feel its ragged breath, its stinky smell, the putrid odor of its blood, she opened her eyes, looking at the injured beast like a predator looking at an already dead prey. It was a slightly crazed look, one that the girl herself probably didn't even realize she had, but it was enough to momentarily stun it.
And so, she moved her arms as fast as her body allowed to, grabbing both sides of the monster's head and violently twisting it. She heard something snap and, after some more struggle, the thing let out its last breath, it limped forward, almost falling on top of Kary, before she shoved it to the side, her breath ragged as she looked at the corpse she had just created through her own hands.
No, that isn't right... I didn't create this corpse, much in the same way that I didn't make it into a monster. It was already dead, long before it found me. Not only that, but this thing was dangerous. It almost killed me before I could even react to it! Hah... what the heck were those gods thinking, sending little old me to a place like this? Wait... huh? What is that?
After landing the finishing blow, Kary noticed a strange thing appearing before her eyes. A string of numbers and letters that, no matter how much she tried to shove it away from her field of vision, stubbornly followed her.
<(Lv 5) Remnant defeated>
For a few moments, Kary stared in confusion at the nonsensical words, before she drew the connection to the few rpgs she had managed to sneakily play behind her mother's back. She did sacrifice many nights of sleep for it, so at the very least she should remember having played them.
She didn't remember if Limo had mentioned anything about this, but it held some semblance to those generic stories that were for some reason always popular. She even tried giving them a try after seeing how much some of the boys from her school enjoyed them, but she honestly couldn't see what was so great about them.
But, if there was one thing almost universal to those stories, it was the presence of rpg-like stats pages. Considering what she had seen, Kary couldn't help but wonder if it was the same in this world.
Status She thought, not really expecting anything to happen. To her surprise, though, a big window spread in front of her eyes.
Name: Kary Denove
Age: -
Species: Mavka
Lv: 3 (50/200)
(13 × 1.0) HP: 5/13
Free points: 25
(13 × 2.0) Mana: 26/26
Job: None
(13 × 1.7) Intelligence: 22
Titles (2)
(13 × 1.8) Charisma: 23
(14 × 1.1) Strength; 15
Skills (7)
(15 × 0.9) Endurance: 13
She stared at the screen for a few moments, trying to decipher the words and numbers. Most of it was pretty straightforward, but she had no clue about what "Mana" and "Intelligence" were supposed to represent. Sure, maybe the latter was as direct as it said, but then it wouldn't make sense to be able to upgrade it through points, hence why she felt like it was related to something else. Maybe it was something to so with Mana.
Ignoring these terms that she didn't understand, Kary moved on to her titles, of which there were two, and her skills. Focusing on the word on her head, much like she had done before to open the status window, brought her a list of her current titles.
Blessed by Limo
You were blessed by the deity of boundaries himself. If this is good or bad, only the future will tell.
Otherworldler
You were brought to this realm trough forces outside the realm of imagination, maintaining all your memories during the process. You now have a like dependent entirely on you. Good luck.
After reading the descriptions for both of her titles, Kary couldn't help but feel a shiver running down her spine at the ominous messages they portrayed. Shaking her head to get rid of the negative thoughts, she waited until her mind had calmed down a bit with negativity. Only then did she try to see her skills, of which there were many more than what she had expected;
Lv 1 (0/50) Bone molding
You are able to manipulate and extract bones from within living beings according to the amount of mana used.
Lv 1 (0/50) Charm
You may use your mana and charisma to make something or someone more susceptible to your will.
Lv 10 (0/0) Half-dead
You are able to interact with both the dead and the living. Damage from magical means significantly increased.
Lv 1 (12/50) Photosynthesis
You are able to absorb a small amount of nutrients through the Sun, allowing you to slowly heal wounds.
Lv 1 (0/50) Spores
You may use your mana to spread spores able to instill a dream of your choice into the mind of a charmed being.
Lv 1 (0/50) Tenacity
You are able to heal faster and are more resistant to damage.
Lv 10 (0/0) Universal language
You are able to understand, read and speak in every language of this world. Courtesy of Limo ;)
Taking a brief look at the names and descriptions, Kary's only conclusion was that skills were a lot more self-explanatory than her status in general, though that might just be because her skills all came with descriptions. From what little she understood, though, she was pretty satisfied with what she got. She didn't how much of it she should give credit to the mad god, but she thought that at least a word of thanks was in order.
Before that, though, she needed to make sure that she wouldn’t die. It would be a shame if she passed away from her wounds right after finding a way to heal them. Of course, she was thinking about using
With a reluctant grunt, the girl slowly walked through the debris, trying her very best not to stumble into anything there. Every step sent a wave of pure pain through her body, amounts much greater than anything she had ever seen back on Earth. But still, she continued her slow battle to the streets, covering ground at a snail's pace, yes, but progressing nonetheless.
She didn't know how much time had passed since the fight, but, as she inched towards the door, she could see the night progressing, the pale light from the moon slowly giving way to the much warmer and intense illumination provided by the twin suns. Eventually, she made it to the street, where she promptly collapsed on.
As her vision faded from pain and exhaustion, the girl could swear she heard the sound of footsteps in the distance. She, however, was too weak to even think about checking what it was. All that she knew was that they were probably getting closer.
She tried to fight the sleepiness, to at the very least see the people coming, but Morpheus refused to wait. Despite the coldness and the lack of comfort of the ground, Kary felt herself growing more and more drowsy, until, just when she saw a pair of boots appearing within her line of sight, everything became dark once more.