About half a millisecond after I saw the coin go into the air I realized exactly how big my wager was. What the hell was I doing, this isn’t me dying once and finding out what happens after, this is infinity. Shit.
Hel has a definite quirk to her lips she clearly enjoys my epiphany a shit ton more than I do. I don’t even know if the rules are skewed in her favor, is this her realm or just the foyer to all realms? Shit. The coin seems to be slowing down in the air, I am 100% sure that the time effects on it are slowed. The glinting, wobbling disk lands in baldr’s hand without him even looking as he flips the hand and smacks it on his wrist.
The predatory woman across the rooms has an almost feral grin on her face “I will give you this one chance to retract your offer gnome. But before you make a decision keep in mind that in these realms fortune always favors the bold.” Is she coming on to me? Nah, calm down man, there's a good chance she'd crush you like a bug. I'm not terribly interested in going through eternity as a eunich.
“I wouldn’t even dream of it sexy-pants. Let it ride.” I feel a lot less confident then I sound, at least I hope I sound confident. I’m basically a nervous wreck, but honestly, I’ll basically be starting at the bottom, so it can’t get too much lower. The truth of the matter at this point is that I’m pretty sure the only way I could have any more luck is if a Jessica Biel showed up handing out free lap dances.
Baldr pulls his hand up and show’s tails “looks like you lose Gnome, you have forfeited your choice of race, the option now belongs to lady Hel.”
“I’ll see him as a daemon elf. Disregard the red-eye effect, he can keep those hazels, I’ll be calling that in as a small favor in the future. Do you understand the SYSTEM sufficiently Gnome?” she’s got that predatory smile again.
“I’m fairly certain I know enough to wing it.” Fake it till you make it.
“That will be noted as an acceptance,” Immediately after saying this she pulls out a knife, and tucks it into my belt as she whispers in my ear “don’t disappoint me.”
“I’m not even yours!” all she does is laugh, put a finger to my forehead, and pushes me backwards through a portal I didn’t even know had opened behind me. I would love to tell you that the portal was full of bright chromatic lights, or that it was like falling through the vertical equivalent of star treks warp, but it was not. Just a void, that honestly could have lasted for hours, or minute’s, what I CAN tell you is that the portal opened a couple of stories off the ground and dumped me into the center of a town square. The impact drove me unconscious so I didn’t get a good look at the town though. Seem's like a shitty way to show up at your new house.
I woke up in a small room that had naught but a bed and a side table with excruciating pain in my hip, which is one hell of a surprise since I’m supposed to be neigh on indestructible here. Reaching down I discover the blade Hel had given me lodged in my hip. “What kind of shit doctor leaves a knife in his patient?” after I start talking I hear movement in the hallway.
A man comes in, he looks pissed “The kind of doctor who cannot remove the blade, and you are lucky you were not sent to a lockup dropping into the town proper instead of the gate looking the way you do. Imagine the surprise on the guards when they checked your status only to learn you are a fresh-spawned Odin-kin.” It would be pretty hard to judge his weight, considering the flowing robe he is wearing. I’d guess his height at about 6’2 though. Brown hair and eyes, with a downturned mouth. The frown might be because I called him a shit doctor though.
“Still pretty sad about the knife in my leg Doc. It’s not nearly as comfortable as it looks.”
“you’re going to have to pull it out yourself, were pretty certain it is a bound weapon, no one can even see the stats on it. The only weapon’s that cannot be [identified] are either high level, bound, or have a special perk that hides it.” he doesn't seem terribly interested in my pain, wont even look me in the face which is kind of annoying. He's spent most of the time his mouth was open moving things from one pocket to another, or looking at the chart sitting on my side table.
“can I get a drink first?” I manage to wheeze as I roll slightly to take pressure off. The frown gets a little bit deeper “There is water on the side table.” I can’t help but give him an annoyed look “you and I both know that’s not what I mean.”
“Until I am sure you are going to be released you may not imbibe any alcohol.” His bedside manner is a little lacking, if I might die why not let me do it drunk? I guess I should technically respawn, but still.
The more I lay there and think about it the angrier I get, why the fuck is this asshole being such a dick to me? The last time I was awake I had just died, after dying I got put into a room full of gods who had made a wager about how I'd react and to top it all off I’m not even sure how the knife got into my hip, Hel put it in a sheath on the front of my belt, I get a very distinct feeling this knife was meant to end up in me at some point. Goddamned crazy broad. I’m sure the shock of a new reality is over now, the last time I was this pissed off I spent a few days in the base lockup for assaulting an officer. All I can see is red at this point, the Doc looks a little perturbed by my rage.
“Don’t do anything cra- “
“Anything crazy? FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING PRICK!!” I scream as I look him straight in the eyes and rip the blade from my hip. Looking at the wound I can see pieces of muscle, and some other bits come out with the blade, it is not the same size as the little knife she had given me. If I weren’t so angry I might have passed out, as it is though the pain shocks me back to a calmer state of mind. This is something that was always something I could do back home, pain makes me more concentrated, almost like time slows down, and my brain starts to work better.
-SKILL-
Concentrated mind- LVL.2
-With a high level of concentration, you have the ability send your brain into overdrive suppressing pain, and creating a personal effect of time dilation.
---survival skill affinity +25% EXP.
Well isn’t that nifty. Even better, I can literally feel my body fixing itself, the pain would probably be incredible if I wasn’t suppressing it. I give the doc a smile and think *status*
Name- Gnome
LVL. 1
Race- daemon elf
Titles- N/A
Classes- N/A
Alignment- Chaotic good
Health-20/100 (wounded, bleeding)
Mana-100/100
Skill Points- 200/200
Health regen- 10.0(min)
Mana regen- 5.0(min)
Skill Point regen- 20(min)
Strength-12
Perception-12
Dexterity-12
Vitality-8
Intelligence-8
Charisma-2
First things first. “can I get a heal Doc?” I’m not sure if the bleeding and wounded status will lead to a respawn, but the pain is pretty fucking distracting. He points his hands at me, and flicks his wrist all the sudden the room lights up and it feels like the blade is back in my leg “SHIT, Doc warn a brother!” “that’s your warning. All healing hurts, you must experience the pain, the faster the heal the more intense the pain will be. You need to rest, and I have other things to do. I’ll have a Valkyrie bring in a manual, and she will be able to answer any question.” With that he just turns around and leaves.
"Nice to meet you too guy." I throw at his back. No mention of how long. Whatever, back to business. I glance at the dagger [identify]
Soul-bound item
Hels gift.
Level-2/00
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
EXP-35%
Damage-10-14
Durability-Indestructible
SKILL-Transforming weapon
Known transformations- Stiletto, Small knife, Large knife.
Description- It’s not the size of the sword, but how you use it.
But there's something to be said about bringing a Claymore to a knife fight.
Is that innuendo? I'm not sure what kind of vibe she picked up in that room but I was terrified. Hell if I know though, maybe that's how she likes em.
Shit. I’m not even sure I should let anyone know about this, I guess it wouldn’t really matter though, not like they can take it from me. The door opens and an angel walks in, like literally, an angel. I don’t even get a good look at her face before she starts screaming and comes at me with a sword.
“HEL-SPAWN, SOUND THE ALA-“ That’s as far as she gets before I am back in the void. I’m not sure how most people start out here but if it were a competition I’m in last place.
Without any preamble I wake up in the same bed with disheartened looking Valkyrie standing next to me. Her eyes are closed, I think Odin is communicating with her to let her know about the Odin-kin thing. It does give me a chance to get a good look at her though. Probably just a hair under 6 foot, perfect sunburnt tan, and the muscle definition of, well, a god. Just a tad too much on her chest for my taste, I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating crackers though.1 oddly enough, I’d have to place her from the Asiatic region of earth. A rounded, but long face, slightly slanted eyes, topped off by a severe nose, and a mouth that looks more used to a smile than anger.
[Identify]
Valkyrie
Name: ???
LVL: ???
???
“If you wanted my name you could have just asked.” She says in a bit of a huff.
“If you wanted mine YOU could have asked. The healthcare around here is worse than the V.A. At least I was never attacked there.” She seems a bit embarrassed at that statement, I’m not one to torture a pretty girl, but she did stab me, or cut me, I’m not sure at this point all I really know is that the clothes I came in are gone which brings up an interesting conundrum. I am now a slightly ashy blue color. My hair, which was most definitely in a high and tight when I died is now long enough that I can see and very very white. There are red Samoan/fractal style marking’s pretty much everywhere I can see on my body except for the most notable thing; uncovered, naked, in the room with the Valkyrie was my semi-erect dick. I’m not sure what all changes Hel made, but that thing was bigger than it used to be, by a WIDE margin. I grabbed the pillow and quickly covered up, but the damage had been done. The look she was giving me wasn’t embarrassed, and was not at my face. “Eyes are up here sister.”
“you can call me Ianata.” she didn’t seem the least bit put off by my statement. “you fall under my care for training and information," she waves her hand to encompass me and everything outside the window, "I can see you’ve already figured out a few things. Everybody gets Identify, it’s a base trait, most people learn this when they walk through the portals. Odin say’s you were coopted for a less traditional route, but you are already well versed in how this works. You would normally choose starting armor, and weapons at the portals also, as such if you tell me your preference in battle style I will bring it to you. As an initiate, you can pick any armor up to and including chain mail, most of these are going to have their downside’s, do you need to know them?” she seemed like she wants me to succeed so I figure I’ll let her know what I know. “If possible I’ll take some kind of tactical vest with plates. My preferred close range weapon is going to be a naginata, if it can be broken down, if not I’ll just stick with my knife, I only toyed around with polearms back on earth, knife fighting was my close arms specialty.” I’m excited at this point, if I can get hands on a naginata or a short spear to train with and some type of gun for long range engagement’s I will be ecstatic. “Is a fire-arm a possibility for a long-range weapon?”
“unfortunately, no, since you are yet to prove your worth to the system you can have a standard short spear, and a pistol. And honestly if you want anything with a higher caliber than .9 mil you are going to have to give up the spear and choose a weapon closer to the long-knife class. Balance is a pretty big deal here. After you have made a run you can spend your EXP on either leveling, weapons, or skills. The choice is yours. While we’re on the subject I should notify you that grouping is going to cost you EXP, it is something that needs to be purchased through the system by every party in a group, and on top of that EXP will be shared, the lions share to whomever commits the majority damage, or completes the highest percentage of the current objective. Survivability skyrockets though.”
“I keep hearing the words ‘run’, what is that?” I’m sure I know, but I’ve always been the type to get information where I can get it.
“A ‘run’ is how you gain EXP. You need to go to the great hall and either get missions that are posted by other ‘survivors’, or system generated missions that will range from hours to years, they will tell you expected completion time, or time limits. I would avoid the years for now, were I you. Alternatively, you can start your own ‘story’ which is basically you jump back into your world in one of a few locations chosen for you, these will have difficulty ratings, the harder the rating the higher the rewards. The ‘story’ however is one that will save ONLY on the exact second of the seventh day you came in, or in a relatively safe area if you are in immediate danger. There is no rolling back saves, it does it automatically and if you want to fix a fuck-up you are going to have to restart from the beginning. The upside to starting over is that skills, and EXP you get to keep whatever level you die at in between these will stay, your base level stats and any bound gear, or things in your [inventory] will be saved.”
“once you have completed 10 runs, or gained enough EXP to be level 5 you will be eligible for arena battles. These have special rules, but you don’t need to know them until you have reached that point.” She dumped a ton of info on me there, I guess I’ve got some decisions to make. “Sounds good. Since I was ‘gifted’ a knife and don’t need to take a melee weapon, is there possibility for a rifle? Or maybe a higher caliber pistol?”
“The doc had said you had a knife lodged in you when you came in, nobody could check its stats though, is there any chance you would let me check it out, my curiosity is getting the better of me.” I can almost see a smaller version of her peeking out from a vault door behind her eye’s.
“I will on two conditions. First you tell me how to do it, I imagine its some kind of share thing that I don’t understand, and second you cannot tell anyone about it. While the soul-bound nature will not allow it to drop, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would be more than willing to try. I enjoy a good fight as much as the next guy but I have a feeling I’m going to want to rest when I’m back here.”
She looked a little pensive for a second “I can promise not to tell any other ‘survivors’, this is what your fellow warriors are called, but the other Valkyries and local demi-gods might ask and I can neither lie, nor keep a secret from them.”
I chew on it for a few seconds,” how about this, we’ll amend that to the entity has to agree to not informing any survivors in any way, shape, or form. I understand that this is constrictive for you, but this is my eternal safety I’m worried about, you understand.”
She closes her eyes and I think she is communicating with someone telepathically, man I really hope that isn’t a Valkyrie locked ability, that would suck. “The local demi-god says he can agree to the terms, and if he is currently sending it up the chain to make it System enforced.” She closes her eyes for a second, and before she opens them a little smile crosses her lips and say’s “I accept the terms set forth in the agreement set forth by Daniel.”
“That easy huh? Well, tell me how this is done and we can get on with it.” I’m very interested in this, any information on how to use the system gets me excited, it might not be the right mindset, but I feel like I’m in a game.
“All you need to do is open the skill, and will for me to see it, if you will for anyone to see it then anyone will be able to see it, you have to will me specifically.” I go ahead and pull the screen up and will for her to be able to see it.
She blinks a little bit and start’s reading the notification, she freezes a few seconds into reading and the little version in the vault almost takes over, she is pretty much drooling at the weapon stats. I guess that’s a good weapon, not sure how often I’ll need a melee weapon in an apocalypse that involves working guns, but I’ll take every advantage I can get. “I will trade you two tier three guns, and a soul-bound bow for this knife.” What the shit? “we can trade soul-bound weapons?”
“if we go to a temple we can. There are a few ritual’s that need to be performed before it is possible, but nothing that is too hard.” I feel a bit suspicious about this, it doesn’t feel malicious, but her want for this weapon is an almost palpable presence in the room.
-Skill generated-
-SKILL-
Gut feeling- LVL. max
You will have insights into personal danger be it intentional, or unintentional.
-Passive-
Instead of saying anything I just will for her to see the screen. “Balls. Yeah there are a few caveat’s, wouldn’t have been all bad though. I probably wouldn’t be that poor of a wife, and the option only becomes valid if the union is…sanctified.” Jesus. H. Christ. She tried to trick me into a marriage. Done that before, wasn’t too good at it. C’est la vie2 I guess.
“Sorry lady, I am very not interested in being married at the moment. Maybe a little light bondage, or some spanking if you’re lucky, but there’s no way in hell I’m giving up that knife. For starters, it’s a scaling, transforming weapon. Second, Hel herself gave it to me, and It might be hopeful thinking but there is definitely some innuendo in the description. I don’t get laid often and having what I assume might be the fraction of a chance with a GOD is not something I’m willing to give up.” The Valkyrie seems a bit mollified by that
“I mean, unless you and Hel are going to let me watch, but you’re going to have to run that one up the system first.” For a minute, she looks speculative, unfortunately I have to shut it down. “that is just a joke, I really have no intention of trading a weapon from a god. I doubt there are many floating around, and I am banking pretty hard that the one’s floating around aren’t Hel-bound.”
“yeah, I guess I can understand that. I’m sure you’d be missing one hell of a show though.” She’s definitely not shy. Getting too off topic at this point though, and I have zero control over the bodily reactions under the pillow at this point.
“Let's get back on track. If I eschew a new close quarters weapon from the initiate armory can I get a rifle?” gotta get my head in the game here.
She makes a few motions with her hands that look like she is checking some kind of list, then answers “If you take a rifle I can get you a low quality generic bolt action rifle in .3033, and 2 loaded ten round magazines. If you decide on the pistol you can get a generic .404 with 3 ten round mags and enough loose rounds to reload each magazine once.” Not as bad as I feared, not as good as I’d hoped. “of course, if you want new clothes and some kind of armor you’re going to have to forget the long rifle all together, and either drop the pistol caliber to .9 mil, or only take 2 loaded .40 mags, and enough rounds to a refill each once.” Yeah, that feels about right.
Not one to be indecisive I go ahead and tell her what I want. “I’ll take a set of black or grey fatigues, ladies choice, no armor, the .40 with a holster and as long as I end up with 2 mags as many bullets as I can have.”
She swipes down the list for a few minutes before coming back with “I can grab you a set up dark grey tactical pants, a combat shirt, and the .40 with two full mags and enough ammo to reload once. That’s about as good as it’s going to get for what you want, if you want undies you’re going to give up a couple of bullets.”
“Underwear are for the weak.”