The diviners and the truth seers of the elves called for war against a small country far to the west, across the Untouched Sea, ruled by a mage-king they divined would bring about the end-times. The High King of the elves, acknowledging the words of the prophecy, sent his envoys to the realms of man and throughout the civilized lands.
- On the Cataclysm by an unknown Quassian Scholar circa 103 AC.
I awoke naked, sodden, and shivering, my teeth rattling in my skull as I fought a futile battle against the cold. The joy I had felt upon being transported to a new world had evaporated like morning dew under the harsh sun, replaced by the bitter memories of the night before. Even my dreams had turned into a new form of subtle torture.
The dream of the old world and the events that had led me to this cursed place was an unwelcome reminder of all that I had lost. For a moment, I indulged in self-pity, lamenting how quickly I had come to call it the old world. Thankfully, the last remnants of the dream were dissipating, driven away by a score of minor aches and discomforts that roused me to full wakefulness.
This world was full of pain and suffering greater than anything I had known before. My discomfort demanded that I look with my inner gaze at the notifications:
100 Experience gained.
New Skill: Power Strike (lvl.1)
New Spells: Heal (lvl.1), Rust (lvl.1)
Level 2 attained - 3 unassigned attributes have been distributed automatically.
STATUS
Calling: $%^& Level 2 Acolyte of Avaria
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 9
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 8
Charisma: 8
Luck: 10
SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES
Pain Nullification (lvl.1)
Power Strike (lvl.1)
SPELLS & MAGIC
Heal (lvl.1)
Rust (lvl.1)
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GIFTS
Curse of Entropy: -20% all starting attributes.
Experience to next level: 100/220
I scrambled closer to the tree, sitting against its hard trunk. Gathering myself, I closed my eyes and tried to draw a deep, even breath. Gazing to the bottom left corner of my vision where my Health, Stamina, and Mana were represented, I scanned my new Status.
Health: 5/13
Stamina: 14/16
Mana: 4/6
My thoughts scattered as I realized my Health was just over a third, or maybe just under half when I thought about it. This must be responsible for the stabbing pain that throbbed all over my body. It was incomparable, of course, to the banquet of agony that I had gorged on previously.
I noticed the irony that two of my randomly assigned points were allocated to Luck. This was my new reality, it seemed. I was stuck in a cursed game that felt like a thousand other games I had played throughout my life.
I could not stifle a manic laugh that possessed my body. Great shakes filled me with pain as the madness tore through my being. My hysteria ceased abruptly when I realized that my health had dropped by one point.
I was going to die here, ripped across time and space, to die of exposure under a tree in this unknown and alien world. I needed to think rationally before insanity overtook me again.
I needed to regain my health. My eyes darted around, panic driving a manic scramble of my thoughts as I desperately sought something to save me from this predicament.
"Heal!" I desperately shouted, willing something, anything, to save me.
A pulling sensation shifted energy through my body, followed by a hint of soft warmth, then nothing. Echoes of absolute nothingness. My spell had failed. I cried tears of frustration at the futility of it all. Magic was tantalizingly out of reach.
"What can I do?" I puzzled to myself as despair began to rise again.
Unbidden memories of a long-forgotten mathematics lesson returned to me. My mind reviewed the calculations involved in factoring, polynomials, and double-decked equations. Bitterly I smiled, surprised at how much I could comprehend in my new mental state.
You have gained 1 Intelligence.
The message floated across my vision. Incredulously I looked at my Status, noticing that my available Mana had increased by one point to five. "What did this all mean?" I wondered to myself as another dull wave of pain hit me.
Shivering, I rose on shaky legs, leaning against the tree to survey my surroundings. Under the tree lay the familiar sight of the dilapidated altar with the fallen statue of the goddess. Yet as he looked down at his feet, he noticed something unfamiliar; a bundle of rough-spun cloth.
"The third person, I must be losing it..."
I gathered the bundle to myself and opened it. Inside was a coarse robe of similar fabric to the cloth bundle. Hastily, I scrambled to put on the robes on my still-shivering body, ignoring the itchy sensation that reminded me of sackcloth. Finally tying the robe closed, I felt an immediate sense of security stir within me. A tear tracked down my face as the constant hum of vulnerability finally lessened, if only moderately.
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to focus. The world I was in resembled a game, and I had played many games before. There were rules, and I needed to find and test every aspect out as soon as possible. I wanted to live, in defiance of all the suffering I had experienced. Hands still shaking, I whimpered in pain.
Looking at my Status again, I confirmed that I had five available mana. Perhaps I had needed more mana to cast the spell, and the earlier dull pain was the result of a miscast? Some games I knew had a chance of spell failure, especially for novice magic users. Was that it? No, it couldn’t be. Last time, I definitely felt something when I tried to cast Heal, and I refused to give up.
“Heal!" I shouted out to the world and willed myself to be made whole.
Once again, I felt a power shift slowly and flow sluggishly through me. However, this time an unpleasant ripping sensation coursed through my insides. A pleasant sensation of healing warmth followed this. My mana had bottomed out to zero, but my health had increased by two points. I now had about half of my maximum Health.
Everything felt like such a burden, my earlier enthusiasm was fleeing from me as I was assaulted by a painful attack on my mind. Stabbing needles beat against my brain as I wearily struggled back to the tree and sat. My breath began to slow. I fought against closing eyelids that weighed like a mountain, remembering a platitude from a previous life before they shut.
“The serenity to accept the things that you cannot change,” I whispered as a troubled sleep came over me. How apt…
You have gained 1 Wisdom.