Chapter 1 - Under Leveled

There are hundreds of heavy footsteps chasing after me making it feel like the whole world is shaking. I wouldn't be surprised if there is an avalanche on the mountain above us right now. Oh god the ceiling in front of me is falling. Well, more than everywhere else. My adrenalin kicks in and I am through. Crash… maybe not far enough that rock just barely missed my head. I hear the footsteps behind me slowly come to a stop along with some sudden crashes into the wall making rocks fall all around me.

*Cough Cough breath… In…out in…out in…out… Cough* damn all this dirt in the air after running for so long. Ok I caught my breath, so let’s assess the situation. The ceiling is caving in, my sword is broken, no one knows where I am, and the only thing between me and a hundred or so monsters that are 2 times stronger than me is a wall of dirt which I can hear them digging through.

Now you are probably wondering where I am right now. I am in the Rocky Mountains in Utah under one of the outer mountains near Salt Lake City. I am on a ski trip with my family over spring break we are staying at the Alta Resort and planning to ski Alta, Snowbird, and Solitude this trip. Spring break is the best time to ski out here, you can go hiking in t-shirts and shorts on mountains on the outside of the mountain range, but the ski mountains are deep enough that they have knee to waist deep powder that is finer and more fun then what you get over winter. I have skied all of the resorts in this area many times I have come here every year for as long as I can remember, well other than the last two years when we couldn’t come because of scheduling problems and different breaks between me and my sister, but this year is different than it was three years ago.

We arrived at the airport today and my family is resting at the hotel. I took the car saying I was going into town to wander around. Alta is 20 minutes into the mountains. After about 12 minutes I noticed people rock-climbing the mountains. I pull over and head for a trail. Its nice out I might as well go for a little hike, I won’t be able to later we always ski from open to close and my legs always hurt too much to do anything other than go to the hot tub after.

It was a nice little hike until I noticed a crevice between to rocks. I went over to check it out and it looked pretty deep. Wondering if it was a dungeon I entered and got out my sword.

-You have entered the ‘Little Cottonwood Canyon Granite mine’ by an unknown entrance.

Well this looks fun, in we go. The path slowly starts widening until it seems big enough to be able to fight freely.

I notice movement up ahead and sneak over to check it out. I look at it from behind a big rock. It was kind of big maybe and orc, ogre, or troll I’m not sure. “Observe” It didn’t work maybe it is because I can’t see that well. It was very dark and I didn’t want to create any light or I would get noticed. Looking around he seems to be alone. When he wasn’t looking I step out from behind the rock. I notice a twitch in his head and a quiet low growl. I don’t think any of those creatures would have high awareness so I don’t think he noticed me maybe it was just a bug. I take another step and he growls again slightly louder.

Ok he has definitely noticed me, time to fight. I walk closer with my sword in both hands on the hilt slightly in front of my stomach and the tip of the katana pointed toward its head. When I get close enough to attack, I raise the sword over my head then I notice him turning at high speed and last second I see a club. In a split second I duck and lower my sword down to my right side as the club swings over my head. I step forward and up with my sword following a path, I have done many times before, going from his waist to his shoulder. I felt it cleanly cut through leather and skin. And without stopping I tuck the katana into the correct position for a forward roll and pass his left side. I get up and turn around. To my surprise he is already after me, I jump back. He seems unharmed.

The katana is the worst weapon to fight this kind of monster. When fighting with a katana you only ever cut with the first three inches, unless you are stabbing. Three inches is perfect for fighting a human but this thing has such tough skin and so much fat that the cut did almost no damage. I have made a terrible mistake, by passing him I put my back to the deeper parts of the cave, so if he calls for backup they will be coming from behind me. I need to finish this fight fast and come up with a plan on how to fight these guys. Actually, it might be best if I don’t fight too much I don’t want to be too tired or hurt to ski tomorrow. I know you’re wondering why I'm carrying around swords and not surprised by monsters and dungeons, but I'll explain all that once I get out of this cave.

While I’m busy thinking about my situation, the big guy got close enough and raised his club over his head and brings it down hard. I don’t have time to dodge so a raise my sword hilt over my head with the blade pointed down my left side at a sharp angle to divert his attack bend my knees angle my shoulder forward and brace for the impact. CRACK, THUD. The club did some damage but without time to think about any injuries I duck under his arm while the end of his club is still on the ground and lunge up to stab through the neck. Shit! The sword broke, I don’t have the reach to cut his throat. I use his stomach as leverage to reach up and slash across.

A loud screech breaks my eardrums which means I definitely cut something, but obviously not the throat. I kick off of him, and with one of my hands I tuck my head in to prepare for impact and a back roll. I look up at him and notice his hand on the side of his neck and something dripping down. I still can’t make out features but I can guess that it was his carotid artery I cut. This will kill him but with his body size he might be able to ignore it for a while and I only have a stump of a sword in my hand. He is blocking the exit and his scream probably brought more of them from behind. The easiest thing to do would be stall until he dies of blood loss but I might not have the time for that, my best option would be to try to get past him and run for it.

Looking at him he can easily wield his club with one hand and he has his other covering his wound. I can kind of see from what little light is coming from the entrance way back there, the crater of a hole his club made in the ground. It is no surprise my sword broke, what is surprising is that it was actually able to deflect it enough not to crush my skull or shoulder.

The wound is on the right side of his neck and he is using his left hand to cover it. He is holding his position instead of attacking. This shows he is smart instead of attacking out of rage, this will make it harder to get past him.

I start running for his right side and as he lines up a swing to take me out as I go past. I slam my left foot into the ground and dive roll to my right to avoid his attack and go past on his other side. Instead of attacking me, he angles his swing up to the ceiling of where I am heading causing lots of rocks to fall on top of me. Instead of hitting me while I’m down, he blocks the way. He probably doesn’t trust I’m out of tricks and he knows if he moves around too much he might faint and die from blood loss. He seems to be waiting for reinforcements to finish me off.

Damn It! I can hear them coming they are almost here. Ok, this is probably the dumbest thing I’ve done in my life. I get up turn around and run strait for the footsteps at full speed. Compared to all of their loud heavy footsteps my running is almost inaudible. The cave is no longer getting wider but it is already rather large. I slow down a little to catch my breath and make sure that guy isn’t following me. I walk slightly hidden until I can see lights from them down the cave around a corner. I have already learned from the last guy I can’t sneak up on them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t surprise them. I run strait toward the group. I notice there are maybe 200. Shit, and these are just the ones who come help one person yelling in pain. They have seen me now so it is too late to change plans. I duck under the first line’s attack and just run, duck, slide, and jump between them making my way through the crowd till I reach the other end. Most didn’t know what was going on and the ones who did couldn’t attack because they would just hurt each other. It is a good thing I focused on agility so much, but I wouldn’t have had to deal with this if my strength was stronger and I could have beat that guy. But still every one of them must be at least twice as strong as me.

I kept running as I heard them yelling, turning, and finally loud thundering footsteps chasing me as I was entering a new stretch of cave. The first guy I fought wasn’t only strong but fast. I didn’t think this through they are going to catch me. Not only will I not be able to out run them, but the ground is shaking so much I thought I might fall over.

And now we are back to where I was before with a wall of dirt behind me. I guess it’s time to get ready. I take out a flashlight and I look at my broken katana with disappointment. It is amazing it has even lasted this long since even though it is a real sword it was only ever meant to be used as a cosplay prop. I put it away and pull out my black twin hook swords. Oh my god I still can’t get over how awesome these look. I bought them last summer because they looked cool, there is one problem though, I have no idea how to use them. I put on my ski helmet and some shin guards, I am already wearing my hiking/climbing gloves but they don’t give any protection. I really need some more armor, I look like an idiot. I guess I should head deeper into the cave since my exit is blocked and I don’t want to be here when it opens up.

So it said when I entered that it was a hidden entrance to a mine. The mine must be the main dungeon and there should be a main exit. The biggest problem is the level of the monsters here. And on a side note, I think they must have saved the other guy or he hasn’t died yet because I didn’t gain any experience points.

I am feeling my way through the darkness following the sound of machinery or mine carts or something. The path might have split many times now but I can’t see as single thing. I notice a light at the end of the path. When I reach it, I’m standing on the edge of a huge cavern going very deep underground. Across the cave there are many thick metal cables crisscrossing carrying metal bins filled with different minerals, and platforms taking the orcs across from landing to landing. There are huge caves and rooms built into the walls of the cavern with huge furnaces and many other things. This does not look like a granite quarry or any normal mine for that fact. I do know there is an old granite quarry in this area so this mine might just be named after the area.

I hear noise behind me, they must be almost here. Damn it, how can I get down? Shit, I’m stuck. I study the entire cavern. I stand up with my back to the cavern and face the oncoming monsters. I wait until they are close and I jump back.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I spin in the air and brace my arms down and in front of me. I let out a scream as my arms are dislocated when the hook swords hook onto a cable. I keep holding on somehow and use it as a swing to reduce the impact and pain as much as possible. I launch myself and tumble into a cave on the other side. I drop the blades to avoid hurting myself as I land and because I couldn’t hold them any longer with the terrible rope burn from the rope grip on the swords, not to mention both my shoulders were dislocated. I don’t know how to fix them and I can’t get out anything that would heal me. Shit this day just keeps getting better and better. But beside the pain and fear this is actually really fun. But I have a bad feeling this is the part where it stops being fun.

“Settings, Party, restart last party”

-This dungeon does not allow you to invite people to a party who are not in the dungeon

Oh well it was a long shot, they are all on the east coast anyway and there would be nothing they could do.

Looking across and up the cavern I can tell they either don’t know where I went or they think I committed suicide. I might as well rest while I can. I kick the swords over to the side of the cave and I go sit down and think.

Nothing really hurts any more but I can’t use my arms. I try to line up my arm as best I can and slam into the wall and floor to try to put it back in place. I do have heath regeneration, I’m not sure of the rate and haven’t focused on it too much. It heals cuts and internal wounds and such over time, but things like broken bones don’t heal unless they are lined up correctly or close to where it should be. So I need to get my arm fixed up before anyone happens to show up here.

Within an hour I was good enough to move on, I wasn’t fully better but I could use my arms enough to swing the hook swords. The worst part about this health regeneration is that I don’t have the ability to slowly heal. I have to deal with all the growing pains as the muscles realign and as my wounds heal within a relatively short period of time, but it is still better than being out of commission. I need to get out of here fast and get back to the hotel. Wait, if I’m under leveled on the outskirts of the mountains, what will skiing be like? There could be mountain trolls, yetis, or who knows what that could kill me in one hit. Actually that might work out well for me since I’ll have the speed with the skis. I am a scout so I am used to battling with speed. I’ll explain why I chose to be a scout later.

Being a scout doesn’t help me here since the grunts are faster than me. I don’t have any skill mastery for hook swords yet, so I am in a whole lot of trouble right now. If I can locate the exit I might be able to get out if I run straight there. I might not be faster than them, but if they are not expecting me to be running past them at full speed, I will have a head start. But first I want to take out at least one of these guys if only for the exp.

I walk back to the cavern and try to figure out which way is the exit most of the ore seems to be carried up from beneath, I was hoping it would be coming from either right or left so I could go in the opposite direction. I feel strange presence to the left. I am not sure what it is but my best guess is that the boss is that way so the exit must be to the right. I find a ledge along the cavern wall that is just wide enough to stand on and without checking to see if it’s safe I run. It is extremely hard to keep my balance, I am forced to lean slightly over the side as I run so as not to be constantly hitting the wall but I just keep digging my toes in and running faster. I am keeping the hook sword in my right hand scraping against the wall. I’ll use it to catch me if I fall. The one in my left hand I am holding backhanded because it seemed easier to run like that, but I don’t think I could catch myself with it like that.

The noise of my sword against the wall and me running has started to catch the attention of the ogres (I think they are ogres but they are more likely a type of orc). They can’t reach me. The ledge is too narrow for them to fit and they can’t keep up with me on their lift things that go down the cavern.

The ones further up heard the commotion and got prepared to start throwing rocks at me. I get low and lean forward to try to lessen the target area. One orc threw a rock up ahead and it took out a whole chunk of the ledge. I was able to jump it and somehow keep my balance but if one of those hit me I would be dead. Another rock barely missed me and I lost my balance. My right arm was too close to the wall and I couldn’t maneuver it to hook the ledge. Without thinking I spin the sword in my left hand reach forward and across my body and hook the ledge. In a swing, I launch myself back up onto the wall above the ledge and wall slide down back onto the ledge keeping my forward momentum.

After a little bit more, when I am feeling the adrenalin from the event dying down, I notice the end of the huge cavern. It seems to end rather abruptly in a cave wall and it looks like the main cave feeding into the cavern is just ahead and below me. When I get close enough, I jump off the ledge staying close enough that I can use the hook sword to slow my decent and I roll into the cave. It doesn’t seem like the orcs taking the lifts will be here soon. The cave seems to slope upwards and I can see a light at the other end. I start walking toward the exit catching my breath. I guess I am not going to get a kill but oh well.

All of the sudden I’m flying backwards with a cough of blood and loss of breath. I realize that I am going to fly into the cavern and fall to my death. I grind my toes in to the ground try to stop myself but I’m not going to make it. I remember my hook blades and dig them in and save myself. I hunch over and through up some blood. This is not looking good for me my shoulders are still very sore and now I am bleeding internally, I think, my whole center hurts to an extent I think I am going to faint. I won’t start healing unless I don’t move for a long period of time but worst of all I don’t know who or what hit me. My vision is all fuzzy and I need to get away from this edge because if I get hit one more time I am dead.

I look up and see a blur coming straight at me, I instinctually swing the sword in my right hand across and try to move out of the way. I half feel it hit and I dive roll toward the wall on my left and I hear it smash into the other wall. I cough up some more blood, stumble to my feet, and face where I heard it crash into the wall. I start backing my way to the cave exit now that I have switched sides with it. My vision is so blurry I can’t see it. But I do know my attack shouldn’t have been strong enough to knock it into the wall but it made a big crash.  It felt like I only hit his clothes or something not fully solid.

I see something coming it, is a grey blur moving too fast for me to focus on in this condition.  I hold both my blades on one side of my body and swing them in front of me.  It went under them both and right past my side without hitting me for some reason.  I turn following it as fast as I can only to get dizzy and stumble.  This thing is much stronger and faster than the orcs.  I realized that the orcs have yet to follow me into the cave not because they couldn’t keep up.  They were afraid of this thing.  That would also explain why there were so many orcs at the secret entrance I found.

I ignore my injury as much as I can and run after it, heading for the exit.  The grey blur that is him stops and starts expanding.  An arm, or a huge grey blur stretches out from one side and swings across the whole cave.  I go to block and the moment it makes contact with my blades I feel extreme pressure over my whole body.  Before it sends me flying into the cave wall, I swing my blades up to divert the attack.  It was rather easy.  I don’t know how it can have such enormous pressure and strength with so little substance and weight.  As long as I divert his attacks they shouldn’t do much damage.

After a couple more of his attacks and a little fit of coughing up blood, I had figured out the speed of his attacks for the most part.  His next attack I duck under and run straight for it.  It starts collecting together and an attack barely misses my head.  I dive to the side getting out of the way just in time for the place I was standing to be impaled by hundreds of spikes that stretched out of the guy.  From what I can see he is either some sort of shadow or smoke like monster.  

I start heading for him again.  He gets ready to attack again but I’m too close to dodge out of the way so I throw both my fists at him with full force.  Hook blades have crescent moon shaped blades on the other side of the hand so you can through punches.  As my hands go through him he seemed to be thicker inside than the rest of him.  Suddenly it dispersed and then changed shape and solidified into a large war hammer.

I picked it up and left the cave and trudged my way to the car.

I decided to wait in the car and let my healing start and head to the hotel in an hour or so.  Looking at the windows that popped up I saw that I had gained multiple levels and various other unimportant information.  Just in case I didn’t mention this earlier I am not inside of a game.  The last window was different.

-You have defeated the Granite Guardian

The ghost of a warrior who protected the people of his home town.  A small community prospering from a granite quarry.  One day while mining they broke into a cave, that night the town was attacked by a group of orcs and many people lost their lives.  The strongest warrior in the village disappeared the next day and never returned, but neither did the monsters.  The warrior went in the cave entrance and stopped every monster from leaving even after he died.  You have freed him to go see his family and friends who had long since died.

Aww I hoped it would give me a quest or something.  Well I guess I’ll look at this hammer.  It is very light.   It was more of a dwarven style Warhammer, not a medieval style.  “Observe.”  It has a rather high durability and amazing attack, but almost no weight.  It has some weird knockback effect.  Its attacks seem to do more internal then external damage but I don’t know how it works.  It seems to be very similar to how his attacks worked, but the lack of weight instead of helping is actually a great weakness from what I learned in this fight.  

Well I guess it is about time I told you my story, how I came to have these abilities and how I have a game interface seemingly programmed into my actual life.

***

Exams ended this week so I wrote a story.  My main story founding Eden was taking to long to get to action so I wrote this spur of the moment.  you will probably get more of both over winter break.  I am more focused on the other story but this one only has one story line so it might be easier to write.