If I didn't know better, I would almost think I was back in Dragon's Den, in one of their VR pods. Every step of the journey I felt like I was in the game, except instead of the VR headset I used I was in one of those multi-million dollar immersion pods with the full sensory override. How Lamar afforded them when he opened his place was beyond me. I’m sure it paid off, considering they cost a hundred dollars an hour to use.

More than just my senses though, I felt like I had traveled here before. It was a trick, I know. My mind knew the area so well it felt like I'd been there before. We came across a small dirt path after an hour of walking and I recognized it from my time in the Heartland when I was first leveling up. I’d walked this road many times, in fact. This was the road to the Haunted Halls, and on the other end, through the Hawkwood, Griphondale. In the game it was the first town I came across. If it were a real town, it would support maybe five hundred people? Not in the town itself, but the surrounding area for farming, the river it was next to for things like tanning and freshwater. Not to mention it was on the edge of the Hawkwood with its abundance of wood and fast growing, strong trees, that made excellent bows.

Excitement ran through me as we made our way to the Haunted Halls. I would be a warrior in no time. Except, instead of electrons in a game world, it would be for real. Magic armor, massive swords of power, and the abilities that let me control the outcome of any battle. Kojiman didn’t stand a chance!

“We’re here,” Lexi said coming to a stop at an old wooden sign that stuck out of the ground at an angle.

Haunted Halls

None who enter, live.

None who leave, die.

“That’s not ominous at all,” I said. I’d seen the sign a hundred times but I was never quite sure what it meant, since clearing that dungeon was one of the things players did over and over. Then, Lexi’s warning that this wasn’t a game came back to me. I needed to take this seriously. The first time I had tried the Halls, I had died. An epic corpse run had ensued and I ended up needing higher level help just to get my stuff back.

That wiped the smile right off my face.

“Have you been here before?” I asked my dragon companion.

“Not inside, no. I’ve flown by a couple of times. The Fade who haunt the old mining town around the halls always freaked me out,” she said.

I nodded. I couldn’t blame her. The path led through a small town of dilapidated shacks. A railroad from the old mine office followed the road into the mine. The lore was a bit fuzzy, but if I recalled, the mine was just the exterior. Humans had carved in a few hundred feet going after a rich silver deposit when they hit a long abandoned, haunted, fortress buried in the mountain.

The poor miners hadn’t stood a chance when the Fade swarmed out and killed them all, leaving them as ghosts to relieve the day over and over again.

The place was certainly more dangerous at night and it was still noon, we should be fine. I gripped the sword in both hands, wishing for shield as well, but it was what I had.

“Stay behind me, Lexi. Watch my back. If anything gets to close, hit it with your dazzle ability,” I instructed her.

She darted behind me, coming to rest on my shoulder, holding on to my lapel with one hand and keeping the other free for casting her spell. I gave her a wink, gripped my sword in both hands and marched forward. Yellow words appeared over my vision.

YOU HAVE ENTERED THE HAUNTED VILLAGE

As soon as I passed the sign, the wailing started. At first, it was a distant sound, like wind against a pipe, but with each step it grew louder and louder until it was right beside me, howling in my ear.

Okay, it’s one thing to hear that in a game, but another in real life. I was as jumpy as hell. The sound suddenly switched sides and I spun, expecting an attack, but there was nothing.

“This is freaky,” Lexi whispered from my shoulder.

“You’re telling me,” I said.

“I am...”

I smiled, despite the situation. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves and turned back to the mine—

Only to have a horrific visage of a wrecked human leap out of the ground at me. I screamed, flailing backward as it came out me with incredible speed, both hands splayed out to grip me.

I was three steps back from it when I managed to regain control and swing the sword like a bat. The gem flared as it moved through the air leaving behind an amber trail. When it connected to the Fade’s head, the light exploded and the undead creature vanished.

“Good job!” Lexi cheered at me.

“Yeah, uh I meant to do that.” I was breathing heavy, trying to calm my nerves. Maybe this wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be? In the Army I’d put my life on the line to help people, whether it was building wells or bridges, or that one time in Kurdistan where I had to carry that private a half mile under gun fire... that was all good and, well, normal. I also had a kit, backup, and a rifle.

However, none of it really prepared me to face ghosts... in real life.

“I don’t know about this, Lexi, maybe we should head for Griphondale and see what we can—” I was interrupted by her sharp scream followed by the sound of Dazzle discharging. It sounded an awful lot like a capacitor going off with its high pitched burst.

I spun around, there were two more of the things coming at me. The one on the right flailed at its face like it was trying to take off a mask but there wasn’t anything to take off, it was blind. The other one moved right for me, a grim determination set in its partially decayed jaw. I would have loved to go after the blind one but the other didn’t give me the chance.

I swung the sword and missed as it ducked out of the way much faster than the previous one. It was on me, clawing at my skin. I cried out as its long, yellow fingernails tore my shoulder to shreds.

Distance, Nick, distance!

I shoved away from it, and switched the sword so that held it point out. I poked the thing in the chest as hard as I could, trying to create distance between me and it. The amber gem glowed, slamming into the things half visible body and flared, blasting it to pieces from the inside.

The other one was still clawing at its face, so I swung the sword around and hit it in the head. The light flared once more and the Fade vanished in a howl of pain that lingered for a few seconds.

“Are you okay?” Lexi asked. I could hear the fear in her voice.

Lifting the tattered end of my tunic I examined the wound. It was shallow, and long, but thankfully it was little more than a deep scrape. It certainly hurt like hell. The bleeding had stopped, there was no danger of me dying from blood loss.

I needed a healer, though.

“Yeah, as long as I keep these things from doing that again, I should be okay.” I racked my brain trying to remember how many I had to kill to level, but all I remembered from my first trip to the Halls, was dying in the foyer from the skeleton archers.

“Lexi?” I asked her as I slowly walked forward, sword held like a spear. “How come this place exists?”

“What do you mean?” she whispered like if she spoke to loudly it would draw in the danger.

“I mean, how come someone hasn’t come along and killed all these things? In the game they always respawn, but if this is a real world, wouldn’t the area be cleared once they were all destroyed?”

“It’s the Haunted Halls,” she said as if that explained everything.

I grinned. “Yes, I understand that, but why do the Fade keep coming back after they are destroyed?”

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“Oh,” she said a little louder. “I’m no expert, but a place like this has to be cleansed. Usually there is some kind of quest or item that needs to be returned, or wrong that needs revenge, that kind of thing.”

Two more of the fade leaped out of the ground, one grabbed my boot, its thick yellow claws scrapped along the tough leather. The other missed as I stepped back, waving the sword in front of me. They hesitated... then Lexi jumped, fired off a dazzle and yanked on my collar. I spun around to face the largest damn fade dog I’d ever seen. It was the size of a grizzly bear! Patches of skin hung off it like a dress, leaving its ribs and breast bone visible. Part of its snout was missing too.

The dazzle had caught it right in the face and it couldn’t see. I spun again, ducking as I sensed the attack coming in from behind. A pair of clawed hands swiped above me and I shot out the sword into its gut. Amber light flared and it was no more. Taking advantage of the other ones momentary hesitation, I charge forward and hit it on the chest. Once again, amber light flared and it was gone, leaving me only the dog.

Which was thudding the ground toward me with a snarl. I leaped out of the way, dropping into a shoulder roll, wincing as I rolled over my fresh wound. I’d moved in time, though, as the dog charged right by me, snapping its wicked looking teeth in the air above me.

“Ahh,” Lexi screamed as she lost her balance. I needn’t have worried, though, she took to the air, her wings buzzing as she gained altitude. She’d already saved my life and I was really starting to appreciate her. Plus, she was the only person I knew here.

The dog turned to face us. It let out a low growl as each paw inched forward. I guess it didn’t want to charge again.

“Lexi, go about ten feet to my left, and when it charges, cast dazzle!” I instructed her. I was a little louder than I intended, but the excitement, and fear, was pumping adrenaline through me by the gallon. I twirled the sword when she moved to keep the beasts attention on me.

It worked a little to well. Hate filled eyes narrowed on me as it raked its paws across the dirt like a bull about to charge.

Setting my balance low, with the sword behind me and my freehand in front of me, I yelled. The sudden sound startled the beast into charging. Lexi fired off her dazzle. A small fireworks display ignited in his face in a burst of many colors and flashing lights. Its charge stuttered and I ran full on, swinging the sword above me and leaping at the last second to bring all my weight to bear.

The amber gem left a trail of light as it came down on the dogs head. Light exploded and the dog howled as its body vanished.

LEVEL UP!

The title flashed in my vision along with the sound of trumpets playing. I heaved a great sigh, I was worried this was going to take forever. I dropped to one knee, resting on the other, gulping in big breaths.

“You... see... piece... of... cake...,” I told my fae companion.

She buzzed around me before landing on my shoulder and holding onto my collar. “You say that, but... we haven’t even gotten to the mines yet...”

I despaired, looking up and realizing we were about fifty feet past the sign. There was another two hundred feet to go before we were at the small hill leading up to the mine entrance.

“Oh boy,” I said quietly. “Maybe a tactical withdrawal is in order.”

Three more fades appeared from the closest shack, their glowing red eyes pinned on me as they shuffled toward us.

“Does that mean run away?” Lexi asked nervously.

“Yes, yes it does!”

I heaved myself up, turned, and ran as fast as I could. I wasn’t worried about Lexi, since she could fly high if needed and was considerably faster than I, if my stat sheet was to be believed.

We didn’t stop when we ran passed the sign, we didn’t stop until I couldn’t see the small mining town and I was at the edge of how far I could go. I came to a halt, dropping down into the grass, and falling on my back, looking up at the noon sun and breathing hard. We were only a few feet off the path. It led to the forest beyond and at this distance I didn’t think anything would come out of the woods to get us.

“Do you think we’re safe?”

“I sure hope so,” I said. We were still on the path, and if I recalled correctly, there weren’t a lot of dangers on the path... but then again, I recalled going a lot further into the mines before getting my ass kicked.

“I leveled, let me take a look and see what that means...”

I triggered the interface with my mind, but for some reason I felt the need to wave my hand in the air. It worked all the same.

Nicholas J. Spencer

Level 0 commoner (1 level is available)

Hit Point Total: 10

Current Hit Points: 6 (Stable)

Body: 7

Strength: 12

Agility: 11

Endurance: 15

Intuition: 16

Willpower: 25

Charisma: 14

Movement Speed: 12(Feet per second)

Skills:

Engineering

Trap Making

Survival

Navigation

Spells:

None

That was interesting, the hit points hadn’t appeared before, maybe they only showed up when I was wounded? I made a disgusted noise as I looked at my pathetic character. Was this really what I was? If so, it was a long way from my time in the army. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself go so much. At least I had a lot of willpower, for all the good it would do me.

“Lexi, it says I have a level available but no option to use it... any thoughts?”

“You’re the only one who sees the world like that, Nick. I wish I could help you, but I can’t really do what you do. It’s the advantage you have over everyone else, you know?”

I nodded. It made sense. Adora hinted that she couldn’t directly involve herself, maybe this was her way of giving me an edge. Letting me see her world as the game I played for all those years. Ha, and my family said I was wasting my life.

I willed myself to level... nothing.

“Level up,” I said... nothing.

Then I had an idea... “Pick a class?”

The blue sky above me faded and I was rewarded with a rotating dais with twelve visible humanoids who’s details were grayed out and two that were nothing but shadows.

“Aha!” I shouted, startling Lexi.

“What, did you figure it out?” she asked as she buzzed around me excitedly. Was it me, or did she smell like lavender and grapes? As she flew near my face the scent grew stronger. Maybe it was how she smelled when she was excited?

“Yep, I think. However, everything is grayed out. I can’t—” I waved my hand through the air turning the dais. The names of each class appeared under the figures as I spun the dais, barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, shaman, sorcerer, warrior, wizard. However, there were two figures clad in shadow at the end of the circle. Regardless of which way I spun it, I couldn’t get to them.

“Yeah, I can’t select any of them. Also, there are two listed here that aren’t in the game— I mean, in the game you can pick from one of twelve classes, but that’s it. There are two more here...”

She fluttered around, stopped and put her chin on her fist. “Maybe you have to do something special to unlock them?”

That was an interesting thought, like a prestige class?

“Regardless, it won’t let me level.”

I grunted from frustration. There were two things that bothered me about this system, I had no idea how much xp it took to level, and no idea how to level.

I dismissed the screen and went back to my regular view. In the bottom left corner of my vision a small green light blinked. I focused on it and words popped up.

You have one unspent level point, do you wish to spend it? Y/N

Awesome! I had no idea why it suddenly was going to let me, but I wasn’t about to say no.

“Yes,” I said aloud, startling Lexi.

“You really need to stop randomly talking to yourself. People will think you’re weird,” she said then stuck her tongue out at me.

“Sorry, it just let me level, is all.”

I focused on the Y.

You have no available class to level. Would you like to bestow it on another? Y/N

I could gift levels? How cool was that? I was always the front line warrior type, tanking the battle and leading the raid from the front... but if I couldn’t level myself, there was no point in holding onto it.

With a deep breath to calm my nerves, I selected yes. Another screen popped up and showed my party. Which only comprised Lexi. Interestingly enough, there were five empty nameplates under my name. Lexi’s name appeared next to mine, connected, like a pet might show. Not that I would call her a pet, but it was interesting.

I selected her.

She cried out in excitement, her eyes closing and her head tilting back as she let out a long moan. A blue light enveloped her, flashing brightly then vanishing, leaving her grinning. “Wow, what did you do?” Her little eyes were dazed and her blue skin darkened.

“Uh,” I stammered flushing from embarrassment. “I leveled you... has no one ever done that before?”

“Nope. You’re my first,” she said with a wink causing my flush to deepen. I coughed, trying to hide my face as I sat up and looked at what I had done.

New Achievement: A true friend.

You know who your friends are when the rent is due, or in this case, if you need a level. All fae are now disposed to like you.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the prestige class: Enchanter.

Do you wish to attain level one as an Enchanter? Y/N

“What did it do to my stats?” she asked breathlessly.

“Hold on a sec, something's happening,” I told her.

Enchanter, huh? That wasn’t a class in the game, and it wasn’t one I’d ever heard of... I had the feeling that once I picked a class; I was locked in and I didn’t want to mess this up. However, in the game you could pay gold to respec. But... all the other classes were locked. I really wanted to be a warrior. I was familiar with that class; I knew all the ins and outs... did I want to learn a new class? As a rule, hard to find hidden classes were more powerful in the long run than the base classes.

“What the hell,” I muttered. I picked ‘yes.’ Light enveloped me, lifting me off the ground as a rush of power flooded through my very being. In that moment, I could sense the ebb and flow of electrons in my body and in Lexi’s too. She looked amazing lit up like a Christmas tree.

Then it was over and I felt less.

You have unlocked new abilities

Distribute Points Level 1

Bond Follower Level 1

Weapon specialty: Choose one weapon

Spear. Staff. Sword. Dagger.

After a few moments nothing happened, it was like it was waiting for me.

I really wanted to be better with the sword. Admittedly, I knew nothing about fighting with one other than what I saw in the movies... but still.

“Sword,” I said.

The sword lit up, the amber crystal glowing like a road flare and blinding me and Lexi for a moment, but when it was gone... it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life! The blade was black, like a combat knife, with a groove down the center. The guard was twice as wide as my hand and golden in color. The hilt was long enough for me to wield it with both hands if I needed and the pommel... in the pommel was the amber gem, now more of an orb than an egg. Leather wrapped around it and the hilt giving me something to grip.

“This is awesome,” I said.

“I take it you leveled?” Lexi asked with a smile.

“I did. Let’s see what it did for me.” I pulled up my stats... and frowned. That couldn’t be right, could it?