In the Throne Room
I pass through the ceiling and seem to pause for a second, I notice the throne room is rectangular and the long walls are lined with lots of tall windows, and almost as many guards. Then the burning sensation in my chest grows worse and spreads throughout my body.
My feeling of floating is replaced by the feeling of weight and solidity and in my vision all the shadows become clearer, I notice sixteen guys in robes sitting or lying around the glowing circle. Suddenly my immunity to gravity ends and I feel myself falling for real, it only takes seconds before I smash into the cold marble within the glowing circle.
"Ugh!"
I find myself lying on a beautiful marble floor which is only an inch away from my eyes, I can clearly see the veining and an inscribed pattern in the marble. I try to get up but my body feels strange and when I see my arms I freeze, because I notice my arms seem to be covered in black fur.
'Where am I? What am I?!? Why am I furry?!?'
I stare at my arms in shock and disbelief for a few seconds before something hits me in the head.
*THWACK*
Royal Guard says "Damn monster!!"
*Thud* *Thud* *Crack* *Thudthudthud*
I am getting hit and kicked from several directions and all I can do is curl up and take it since I can't control this body and have no idea what is going on. I try to move to defend myself better but the new body I am apparently in feels heavy and sluggish. Almost as if it hears my commands but doesn't understand them.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Pain Resist has progressed to level 2!
Pain Resist
Level 2
You feel 30% less pain.
Physical damage reduced by 1%.
'Why is this happening? Stop this! Someone save me! I am your hero! Aren't I?'
King Raden Feldster I says "Enough! What is going on over there?"
Royal Guard says "Your Majesty, it is a beastman!"
'A beastman? Is he talking about me? Is that why I'm furry?'
King Raden says "Zamart, check him."
Head Court Mage Zamart says "As you wish Your Majesty!"
I hear someone approaching and then words in a language I don't understand. I'm not sure what is going on but I am thankful that the beating has stopped for the moment. Between the drop to the floor and the beating I feel nothing but pain all over my body.
Zamart shouts "STATUS!!"
As the mage completes his spell I get to see my character screen for the first time. It appears to be floating in front of my eyes and I see it even if I close my eyes.
Name: Ash
Race: Black Lion
Title: None
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Class: None
Level: 0
HP: 21/132
MP: 50/50
Str: 20
Agi: 20
End: 20
Int: 18
Wis: 18
Cha: 18
Unspent Points: 0
Quests: (0)
Skills: (2)
Crafts: (0)
Zamart says "Your Majesty he has no class and is level zero."
King Raden says "He is worthless then, dispose of him."
'Wait! I am supposed to be the hero! Right?! How dare you call me worthless!'
*Shhiinnnggg*
King Raden says "No, stay your blade, I don't want his blood all over my throne room. Throw it in the pit!"
Royal Guard says "Yes! Your Majesty!"
As I am staring at my status screen trying to understand what's going on, my ankles are grabbed and I am dragged across the floor. I finally figure out how to will it away just as the guards lift me and toss me into what looks like a well. As I start falling, yet again, I instinctively flip so I am facing down and extend my arms and legs fully.
By extending claws I didn't even know I had I am just barely able to reach the walls of the well and start slowing myself down. The screeching noise of my claws against the stone makes my head feel like it's splitting in two but I don't dare stop not if I want a chance to survive this.
*DING*
Congratulations! You have acquired the skill SAFE FALL.
Safe Fall
Level 1
You take 5% less damage from falling.
*DING*
*Mandatory Quest!*
Quest: SURVIVE THE PIT!
Objective: Survive and find a way to escape the pit.
Reward: 10 STAT Points.
These messages pop up as I am falling and desperately trying to slow myself down enough to survive the fall. The skill Safe Fall sounds like it will help but I am not in a position to check and don't want to trust my life to a skill I just got and don't fully understand yet. A few seconds later I can see the bottom of the pit, the first thing I notice is a large pile of bones directly beneath me. I then spot a small green skinned, humanoid creature right next to the pile of bones.
'Is that a goblin?'
I make a split second decision to aim for the creature to cushion my landing, since landing on the bones would probably mean instant death. So I push off slightly from the wall just as it ends and come down on top of the creature with my hands and feet. As soon as I make contact I push myself into a roll to try and minimize the damage I take. I roll five or six times before hitting the wall fairly hard.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Tenacity has progressed to level 2!
Tenacity
Level 2
Your strong willpower allows you to attempt to resist death.
End +4 HP +15%
"Owwwwww!!! That hurt!"
I am surprised that it worked and that I am still alive, but I hurt all over and I don't even want to think about how much worse it would hurt without the Pain Resist skill.
*DING*
New quests are available!
'New quests huh? I'll take a look later.'
Speaking of looking I realize I can see the room around me just fine even though it should be almost pitch black down here. There is a tiny bit of light coming from the well above but not enough for even a cat to see this well. It looks like a round room with five passages leading out of it, the walls are made of large stone blocks mortared together like a medieval castle.
Taking a look at the closest opening I see a thick layer of dust that doesn't look like it has been disturbed in a very long time. Considering the main thing I want right now is somewhere to hide and recover, and try to figure things out, this sounds about perfect. So I pull myself painfully to my feet and turn to walk down the passage. Unfortunately at my first step something goes wrong and I end up falling flat on my face.
*Thud* "Ugh!"
This staring at the floor from an inch away better not become a habit. I roll over and look at myself and realize for the first time that my legs are bent backwards like an animal’s, instead of what I was used to.
'No wonder I can't even walk properly!'
After several attempts I manage to stand up and shuffle my way into the passageway. I realize I am leaving tracks in the dust but I will just have to hope that if there are more goblins they are too stupid to notice. After about twenty feet I come to an area where the wall and ceiling have collapsed blocking the tunnel.
As I stand and study the collapse I notice the passage isn't completely blocked, there is a small gap in the top right corner that I might just be able to squeeze through. So, I crawl up the slope of the collapse and try to push myself into the gap. It takes quite a bit of grunting and squeezing for me to get my new body through the gap.
Once I do I find myself in a five by ten area between the collapse and the end of the tunnel. Deciding this is the best I can do at the moment I sit down with my back against the wall planning to look over my stats and think things through but almost immediately I fall fast asleep.