I brought my sword up instinctively and deflected the first dagger as the thief sought to stab me in the neck.

Parry!

The second blade I had unfortunately not accounted for. It sliced me across my side, ripping open the thin farmer’s shirt. I felt nothing at first, just a moistness creeping through the cloth. Then, as I and my combatant both stepped back I felt a searing pain across my chest.

Stab - 6 damage

I winced and checked my health status:

54/60 Health

Status: Minor Bleeding (-1 Health per second)

Ok the good news was I’d gone up in total health since leveling up! The bad news was I was bleeding it all out, second by second.The thief in front of me licked his lips, clearly enjoying the fight. Smug bastard. I shot a look over at Pri to see how she was handling herself against the shorter thief. The thief swung his axe in a wide motion and Pri dodged nimbly out of the way.

Come on Pri, hang in there!

I didn’t have time to help her as I heard my assailant cry out once more and charge again. This time I stepped to the side, dodging him as I had the boar in my first encounter.

Dodge!

Stab has missed

-1 Health (Bleed - 9/10)

I felt sharp needles of pain shoot up my chest as I dodged. I had to attack soon, I couldn’t keep this up. But this wasn’t an orc or a Boar, this was another man! Could I really use my blade against a human? Of course! I could use my spells!

“Creeping Vines!” I yelled into the darkness of the alleyway.

Please select a target. Spells require that you pick a combatant to-

“Target the skinny thief for fucks sake!”

Vines sprung up from the ground, bursting through the stone streets to encircle the legs of my enemy who shrieked in shock at the sudden magical attack.

20/20 Health

Status - Incapicated

-3 health (Creeping Vines 9/10)

The thief struggled and swore but failed to break free. I breathed a sigh of relief, for the moment he was contained. I could leave him that way and his health would tick slowly down, ten seconds would be enough to drain his health completely at 3 damage per second. Free from my combatant for the time being, I looked over at Pri and saw, to my surprise, that she needed no help at all! She was wreathed in blue flames and the thief in front of her stood stock still, unsure of what to do confronted with such a strange magic. His eyes were wide.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I looked at Pri and for the first time I saw her stats scroll up into my field of vision. Right, we were in combat. Help said they would become available if we every fought alongside each other or if we were in a Party!

40/40 Health

Status - Fire Armor (+5 armor / 5 damage-on-touch)

“Holy shit Pri, you’ve been holding back this time. You are a badass!!”

She didn’t reply, merely raised her fists to prepare for an attack from the thief, but I thought I saw the ghost of a smirk cross her face. She heard me. Her opponent seemed to have regained his nerve, for the man raised his axe high and charged. Pri sidestepped him and punched him straight in the gut with her left hand. The man gasped, doubling over and falling to his knees.

Melee Strike - CRITICAL HIT - 10 damage

Fire Armor - 5 damage

-1 Burning

10 / 25 Health

Status - Burning (5/5)

She was amazing! In one hit she’d nearly dropped the thief completely! To think I’d mistaken her for a helpless maiden just a day before. She put my powers to shame.

“Die you freak!” A cry rang out from in front of me.

I whirled, raising my sword just in time to deflect the blow of my attacker who had leapt to the attack once more. What the hell? He had broken free from the vines? Was that possible?.

I had no time to question what had happened, the skinny thief in front of me was nimble and fast. He rained blow after blow on me. His daggers whirled and danced in the low light of the alley. I tried to block him but he was fast, darting in and out. I saw each strike land on my interface and with each hit, parry, or dodge I lost more of my health to my bleeding wound.

-1 Stab

DODGE

-1 Bleed

-3 Stab

PARRY

-1 Bleed

-10 Stab - CRITICAL HIT

I took a step back, panting. A quick read of my health bar put me at 38/60 health. My opponent was at 14/20 for the two ticks of Creeping Vines he had taken. I gripped my sword tightly and tried to catch my breath. He eyed me, sizing me up, shifting his weight from left to right. He was no stranger to these types of alleyway brawls. That much was obvious. I gritted my teeth. I felt the power of my body. My large new muscular form ached to be used. I can do this. I will do this. He attacked first. And now… now I will end him. Rage coursed through me. I charged. A loud wild yell rent the air and I realized it had come from me. I brought my sword crashing down in a savage stroke that the thief could not block with his tiny daggers. It sliced him from his shoulder to his belly with a horrible tearing, rending sound. He screamed in pain, blood pouring forth from the wound in great gouts.

Slash - 10 damage

Status - Mortally Wounded

-3 Health (Bleed)

The skinny thief fell to his hands and his knees, I saw that he only had one health left after both the bleeding and the slash I had dealt him. My sword fell from my hands clattering onto the pavement. The thief looked up at me, blood staining his teeth red. His eyes were wide. He tried to speak, his hand reached out to me… and then he collapsed, dead. I stood dumbfounded and looked over to Pri. She stood over her assailant. Smoke rose from the dirty robes of the other thief. He lay face down in the gutter. The blue fire that had wreathed her had faded. She looked over at me and managed a weak smile.

“We did it… Joseph.”

And then her knees buckled and she collapsed, leaving me alone in an alley filled with death.