In the dream, Selene saw the same bridge, but now she was walking on it. Rime cracked under her feet as she trudged along the ancient bridge, translucent spectres walking alongside her.

She was not far from the gates, and they looked impossibly large, covered in symbols that felt both strange and familiar. Her arms were covered in goosebumps, and she shivered as she gazed at it.

Turning her head to the side, she tried to make out anything, to the sides of the bridge. She saw only shifting fog, at first.

A flash of light, so faint it was almost imperceptible appeared. A brief, golden light, and then it disappeared, leaving the fog undisturbed.

Such flashes happened once in a while, in different colours, but Selene could find no reason or explanation.

She turned her head back forward and saw she had nearly reached the gates.

Standing in front of it was a huge figure, and as she neared, she started to make out some details.

A large head, and sharp teeth. Four paws, and sharp claws. Dripping blood.

It was a huge wolf with blood dripping from its mouth.

The wolf locked eyes with Selene, and a voice reverberated through the fog: “Not Yet.”

Selene felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach, as she started flying backwards, soaring through the fog.

***

Selene came to, lying still in the bear's mouth.

“Gah!” she exclaimed, her hands reaching down. She’d escaped the teeth of the bear, it seemed, but she was still drenched in blood. Her hands shook, and she gritted her teeth as she started to extricate herself.

She was pale, paler than normal, and she couldn’t stop her body from shivering. Every movement was an ordeal.

After she extricated herself from the maw of the beast, she stood up on unsteady feet and looked down at herself.

Her uniform was torn, and shredded in several places, and had been dyed a deep crimson. The wounds seemed to have closed, but not healed fully, just enough to stop the bleeding.

“How am I alive?” she wondered as she carefully walked over to the beast, and after a while, managed to pull the sword out of its back.. “Did I get healed when I attacked it?”

She rubbed her head as she tried to recall the details of the fight.

“Yes, I think I did. There was that sensation. The pleasant cold that made the pain in my shoulder fade. I must have been healed just before I died.”

She stumbled forward, away from the bear, and further into the wilderness. The sun had risen some time ago, based on its position in the sky.

“I need to move,” she thought, but she moved slowly. Her legs moved sluggishly, and she stumbled every other step. “There has to be a tracker among the Lord’s retinue. My only hope is that Lon Thrast’s death caused enough chaos that they’re delayed.”

The forest grew denser around her, but she soon started to pant heavily. Sweat poured down her face as she leaned against a mossy hillside, and slid to a seated position.

“I’ve lost too much blood,” she realized, frowning, and trying to steady her breathing. “I need to rest. No use pushing further, since I’m just going to collapse.”

She tried to distract herself by bringing up her System Status.

Name:

Selene Parson

Race:

Human

Affiliation:

Earth

Stage:

1 - Niflshade Initiate

Level:

1

Stats:

Strength(STR)

6

Agility(AGI)

7

Vitality(VIT)

4

Intelligence(INT)

4

Wisdom(WIS)

5

Charisma(CHA)

3

Skills:

Shadow Strike

Novice

Chill of the Grave

Novice

Spirit Echoes

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Novice

“No changes?” she thought. “But, shouldn’t I get stronger by defeating monsters? I beat that guard and that damned bear. Why am I still level 1?”

She’d been too young during the Integration, and wouldn’t have unlocked the System for years, so she hadn’t been taught much, and her parents had been among those who refused to adapt. They didn’t know anything and hadn’t relayed anything they learned from the Tutorial.

“Shit!” she grimaced. “Why did you have to be so stubborn?”

The image of her parents resurfaced in her mind, and her breathing hitched. She quickly shook the memories from her mind and settled back in.

“OK, Selene,” she tried to calm herself, and her face returned to a neutral appearance. “Think. You’ve got to figure this out. What do you remember?”

She remembered some of her friends, and their families, and a conversation among them.

“Right,” she nodded. “Joshua had asked his parents. They said killing beasts would make you stronger. No, that wasn’t the words they used. They said killing beasts would let you get stronger, but what’s the difference?”

Her face passed over several emotions until it settled on a frown. It took several minutes before she had an idea.

“Wait! What if it improves a maximum level? When I reached Stage 1, I was locked at level 1, and defeating the guard and the bear might have increased my cap? But, how would I increase my level then? There are no buttons or anything on my status. It’s nothing like the old games.”

She sat in silent contemplation for a long time, and eventually, she reached a deeply restful state, where the world around her seemed to fade and grow muted. In this state, she seemed to see something in her mind, like a blurry, indistinct image that slowly revealed itself to her mind’s eye.

As she fell deeper into that introspective state, the image became cleared until, as if a bubble burst, she suddenly felt like she’d entered a new space. Her eyes snapped open, breaking her meditative state, and the image faded. She once again saw that she was sitting in the forest. Nothing had changed, except the sun had moved slightly further along the sky.

“What was that?”, she thought. “I felt a pervasive cold, but it was pleasant. There was fog all around, and I couldn’t make out any details. Was I hallucinating?”

She sat in silence for a while, before she nodded, and closed her eyes. She regulated her breathing and tried to regain that state.

This time, it came faster. Having already experienced it, Selene found it simple to return to that space.

She was standing on an isolated platform, an island in the middle of a sea of fog. Beneath her feet, she saw wide, ancient-looking, cracked bricks. The floor spanned ten metres to each side, before ending in a crumbling stone wall. Around her, she saw three floating flames. One was black, one was blue, and one had an ethereal, translucent appearance.

Selene moved to the wall, and looked over, but saw nothing but fog.

“This looks a bit similar to those dreams,” she realised. The bridge in her dream was made from a similar material and similarly shrouded in fog. “Is this the same bridge?”

As she pondered, she heard a light fluttering, and shortly afterwards, she saw a small black shape flutter over, and land on the railing of the bridge.

“A raven?” she frowned and waited. When the raven didn’t move after several minutes, Selene tentatively began approaching.

The moment she came within two metres of the black bird, it turned its head in her direction and opened its beak. From that beak came a strange, raspy voice.

In shadows deep and frost's embrace,

A path unfolds in this ghostly place.

Through gates unturned and bridges old,

Lies power untamed, fierce and bold.

Seek the roots where spirits weep,

In silent vigil, secrets keep.

Each step you tread in Hel's domain,

Brings closer the reign you're to attain.

But beware, young seeker of the night,

Not all is won by mere might.

In realms of death, let wisdom guide,

From raven's whispers, none can hide.

For in the heart of Helheim's hold,

Lies a truth ancient and bold.

The sovereign's throne is yours to claim,

Should you unravel Hel's own game.

It finished reciting the poem, and immediately took flight, leaving a rapidly blinking Selene behind.

“What?” she shook her head, and frowned deeply. A hand reached up and scratched her cheek. “What was that?”

She sat down, with her back to the wall, and pondered.

“Alright. So, that raven might have given me clues to the purpose of this place, right? What does it mean? In shadows deep and frost’s embrace sounds like it could refer to my skills. Shadow Strike, and Chill of the Grave. Those skills could be connected to this place, right?

A path unfolds in this ghostly place, which obviously refers to this place. It looks ghostly and haunted. If this is the bridge from my dreams, then the next sentence might refer to the gate I saw. So, power lies beyond the gate? A lot of the rest is strange, and I can’t make sense of it. I think the warning near the end tells me that it’s not all combat. Perhaps puzzles, and riddles? Yeah, that makes sense since I’ve already gotten one. Each step you tread… Do I just start walking?”

Following her hunch, she stood and started walking along the wall.

She didn’t get far before she felt her foot land on nothing. She barely managed to reach out her hand to grab the wall, keeping her from tumbling off.

“So, not just walking then. What can I do?” she looked around, trying to find a clue. “Alright, what do I know? I’m on a bridge, and based on the riddle, a bridge in, or to Helheim. Don’t know what that is, but it sounds like I could gain a lot of power if I reach it. The flames floating around me are likely my skills; Shadow Strike, Chill of the Grave, and Spirit Echoes. I need to walk along this bridge to get stronger, but there is no bridge. Do I need to build the bridge as I walk?”

She took a breath, and reached for that feeling she felt as she channeled her skills, and remembered the sensation she experienced when she first ascended.

She felt a stirring in the air around her, and the fog started swirling, shifting, and undulating chaotically before something clicked. Suddenly, the fog surged down and solidified into individual bricks, which settled into the bridge, extending it.

It was extremely slow going, as she couldn’t start on a new brick until the first one was finished, and the new bricks looked different to the other ones. They looked weaker, older, and more fragile.

Nothing she tried changed that fact, so all she could do was continue, and hope she could fix it later if it turned into a problem.

As the fog settled into its new shape, the colour changed into black with grey cracks.

Brick after brick, Selene made her way forward. It was slow going, and Selene didn’t dare to take any shortcuts.

“If this is the beginning of the bridge, and if I have to travel far, then I can’t afford to have a weak start or weak beginning. I need to ensure I follow the structure of the original part, with the walls, and everything.”

She was starting to feel tired, but she carried on.

In the end, she’d managed to build a few more metres of the bridge. She could have built more, but she returned to the previous bricks, fearing that their weakness would affect her future after she thought about that possibility. What she learned was that as she built more bricks, she was in fact able to go back, and improve the previous bricks.

“So, I’m limited in how strong I can make the bricks furthest out, but I can strengthen them as I build on. It’ll slow me down, but I think it’s the best option for my future.”

With that, she succumbed to exhaustion, and gave up on her efforts, for now. She willed herself to return to the real world and opened her eyes. The sun was setting, which meant she’d been sitting there for hours. She was covered in a sheen of sweat, which burned in the wounds she still had. Her body felt sore as if she’d been training hard, and she felt a deep exhaustion.

“Lucky,” she shook her head. “I need to be more careful. I spent far longer in that space than I’d expected. Any kind of monster could have killed me. Only do that if I’m in a safe place.”

Then she turned her attention to the notification she’d received.

[Ding! Level up! You have reached level 2.]

[Stats allocated: +2 STR,+2 VIT,+1 INT, +1 AGI.]