When I arrived at the village by the lake, I feared the villagers would murder me on sight – and I wouldn’t have blamed them. However, what they did was … unexpected.
But first, let’s back up a minute to when I died earlier today.
Back on Earth, I was fighting a nasty factory fire with my mates from the station. Everything was going smooth, until I saw a bright flash of light. The shockwave came a split second later, and in the next, I was falling.
It was a short fall, but it still hurt like hell to slam into the green carpet of algae coating the swamp. Panic, and water engulfed me. Pain throbbed down the side of my body. I clawed and kicked my way up, and even as I broke the surface I struggled to breathe.
I whipped my head from side to side looking for land. I found it among the cat-tails and dead trees, a short distance away. A pair of eyes popped up above the water in the distance, and I froze.
Gators? What the hell?
I didn’t recall seeing a swamp near the factory, and there were absolutely no gators in Maine. The yellow eyes turned in my direction. I bolted for land a dozen meters out, swimming as fast I could. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, my heart thumped in my ears.
Within arms’ reach of the shore, I clambered up to my feet and ran through a thicket of cat-tails, sloshed through muck and filth. The stench of the swamp filled my nostrils, of the musty scent of damp earth and rotting vegetation. Frogs croaked in the distance, while insects buzzed at my ear.
I broke through the tall vegetation into a clearing with crumbling ruins a short distance ahead of me. They rose from the mire like a forsaken sentinel of ages past. The once-grand walls were now weathered and eroded by time. Vines and moss clung to the decrepit stone. Cracked archways and crumbling pillars hinted at its former grandeur.
I wasn’t alone in this swamp. So, I ran away from the water’s edge, looking for shelter in the ruins. While I couldn’t see the gators, I could somehow smell them around me. Stranger still, all my senses felt heightened like those of a predator. My movement was nimble, and my step was exceptionally sturdy.
Swiftly, I covered the short distance and poked my head inside the ruins, scanning the surroundings from side to side. As I listened intently, the only sound that reached my ears was the croaking of frogs.
Was all this a dream?
My stomach grumbled in a very real way, telling me that I was starving. I had to get out of this swamp and find a town. I entered the ruins through a gap in the outer wall into a courtyard. Inside, trees grew out of the rubble, jostling for space. Moss covered the walls of rough-cut stone. No doubt this place was infested with vermin. Snakes maybe? I checked over my shoulder again to be sure, but the gators remained in the water.
I wanted to get a better view of the area from up high. So, in the courtyard I found a tree I could climb, thick and full of wide limbs within easy reach. That's when I noticed something unsettling about my hands, and more than just that.
I checked myself over with shock and dread. Whatever crawled out of that water wasn’t me. Maybe in mind and spirit, but certainly not in body. I was changed and not for the better. My head swayed from the massive horns on top. A tail swished between my legs, reaching the ground. I had sharp teeth, bat-wing ears, clawed hands and feet like that of an animal. Strange symbols marred the front of my forearms. Gray scaled hide covered most of my body.
I was a monster?
I stood frozen for a minute. This couldn’t be real. How did I get here? How did I get turned into this? But I couldn’t dwell on that for long. It was a problem for future Kevin.
A cold wind whistled through the ruins, covering my alien skin with goosebumps. I was wearing nothing but wet pants. I couldn’t wait around, but had to move. My clawed hands dug into the tree’s bark, and I scrambled up the tree with great ease. I hopped on top of the wide wall, and from a high vantage point gazed over the land.
Nothing moved. The gators were nowhere in sight. In the direction I had arrived from, past the trampled reeds, and the water, I saw a wall of uncanny black. It spanned from left to right as far as the eye could see.
Was that where I fell out from?
My eyes veered up, and soon I was looking up into the sky. Before me, the sheer wall of polished darkness reflected the red and orange of the setting sun. The wall rose up out of the swamp as if land was folded upright, piercing the clouds that had piled up against it. A flat, endless plane. I felt like an ant before a skyscraper.
Where the hell am I?
The sun was setting to the west, while this strange black wall was to the east. Aside from that, I couldn’t see far past the tall trees as it was nothing but swamp and more swamp.
“Not good,” I muttered.
Movement caught my eye. A short distance away, a small moss-covered island in the middle of the water shuddered. It sent ripples over the serene surface. It moved, cutting through the green carpet on top of the water. A head popped up and then the rest of the body emerged.
A turtle?
I ducked low and held my breath as a chill ran down my back. The gigantic turtle lumbered over a strip of land, dove in and vanished under the surface. The monster had to be the size of a house.
My jaw dropped as I spotted more of the same islands scattered about the swamp. Swimming in this place was out of the question, and even walking would be risky. In fact, these ruins wouldn’t be enough of a defense if something that size decided to ram through it.
I desperately searched for any signs of civilization, but saw none. Then I spotted something out to the south. Was it the light playing tricks, or was it a wisp of smoke? It was hard to tell, but it was well worth checking out. I wished I had a map.
Suddenly, an image blinked into my vision, expanded out. Startled, I nearly lost my footing on top of the wall as I tried swatting it away. The intruder vanished, and I was left confused. It looked like a .. map?
The image returned, and I gawked. It was a map, but how was I seeing it? I stared at the image that showed the swamp, much like a Rorschach pattern of land, ponds and streams. Other ruins scattered about the area were of different sizes and shapes. Maybe I could follow them from one to the next? They would provide a bit of cover, and a place to hide. I thought about zooming out and the map did exactly that, showing more swamp. I tried again, and it only zoomed out one additional time, but it was enough to show what I needed. Fields, huts, and a wall to the south past the swamp.
A village!
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That’s when I noticed an ‘!’ icon blinking in the corner of my vision next to the map. I concentrated on it, and it moved to the center to open as a semi-transparent dialog window.
* Error: Race #25490 is unrecognized.
What could it mean? I swatted at it with my hand and it vanished, but a nagging thought remained. Could this strange world be like a video game? Would it mean that I should check for a status-
A screen of blue and white sprung up, blocking my vision. I stopped and stared at it for an entire minute.
* Name: Kevin Coleman; Race: [Drakon-Human-25490]
* Age: 23; Height: 201 cm; Weight: 122kg
* Level: 0; Experience: -|--------
* Skill points: 0
* Passive points: 0
* Evolution points: 0
* Attribute points: 0
* HP: 3580/3580
* MP: 3460/3460
* MP Regen: 34.60/min [Base: 1% / min]
* Str: 366 (base: 135) (Drakon’s Hoard: +231)
* Agi: 351 (base: 120) (Drakon’s Hoard: +231)
* Con: 358 (base: 127) (Drakon’s Hoard: +231)
* Per: 345 (base: 114) (Drakon’s Hoard: +231)
* Wil: 346 (base: 115) (Drakon’s Hoard: +231)
* Profession: Cartographer
* Skills 2/12: [t1] Power Shot, [t1] Steel Trap
* Passives 0/12:
* Racials: Drakon’s Hoard, Versatile, Keen Eye
The display showed my name and age correctly, but the listed height and weight were significantly higher. It didn't surprise me, considering my less-than-human nature. After seeing my Status Screen, I was convinced that this world operated with magic resembling a video game system. I didn’t know how to feel about that, though I had experience with RPGs.
The attributes appeared to be quite high, if one assumed 100 to be average. Constitution had to do with HPs, I could see that from the amount of HPs I had, and similarly with Will affecting mana. The [Cartographer] profession accounted for the map that I could summon up at will.
I mentally selected the skills and their descriptions appeared.
* [t1] Power Shot [Projectile] [Attack] [Physical]
* Empowers a projectile
* Requires a projectile weapon (e.g. Bow, Wand, Javelin, Sling, Thrown Daggers, etc.)
* Cost: 65 mana
* Affected by [Strength] and [Agility]
* [t1] Steel Trap [Trap] [Physical] [Duration]
* Immobilizes a target for 5 seconds
* Cost: 80 mana
* Cast time: 1 second
* Immobilizes for: 5 seconds
* Expires after: 3 minutes
* Range: 1 meter
* Limit: 3
* Affected by [Strength] and [Will]
I quickly skimmed through the text, grinning from ear to ear, and feeling hopeful. Maybe I’ll make it out of this swamp after all. However, I didn’t have any of the listed ranged weapons for [Power Shot.] A bow would be amazing as I had some practice in bow hunting, but maybe a simple rock would do the trick?
I climbed down to the courtyard and picked out a good sized rock to test [Power Shot.] I threw it, but nothing happened. Did I need to yell out the name of the ability every time I used it, like in shonen anime? That always seemed absolutely stupid to me. Almost as stupid as explaining your powers to the enemy before fighting to the death.
Maybe just keeping ‘Power Shot’ in mind while throwing the rock would be enough? I picked up another and tried again. This time it was very much different. A flash of light was followed by a heavy boom. I felt shock reverberate from my hand down my arm and into my shoulder, leaving a slight chill in my chest.
Shrapnel peppered the area, and across from me, a good chunk of a wall crumbled to the ground. Was it because the impact was so powerful, or was the wall on its last leg? I wanted to try again, but something was off, I could smell it.
I scampered up the tree in an instant and looked around. I stayed still, and listened intently. Frogs croaked in the swamp, yet the birds had fallen silent. Nothing stirred in the courtyard. Then I heard a distinct gurgling, hissing sound. It came from outside the wall to the east, in the direction of the ominous black wall.
Gators couldn’t climb up, so I was safe. Unless in this world of gigantic turtles, and magic, those gators were something else entirely? Do I hide, or do I act? I had the advantage of a higher ground, maybe I could ambush them before they ambush me. First, I’d need to know what I was up against.
Suddenly, a loud growl from below startled me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Everything came into focus as a vicious looking face was staring up at me from the ground. Half fish, half lizard. The creature growled and barked with a nasty mouth full of sharp teeth.
What the-
How the hell did it manage to sneak up on me?
Light glistened over its shiny green scales. Bulging eyes wobbled over the top of its head on twig-like stalks. It had to be them – the eyeballs I saw in the water. It jumped up and down on its stubby legs, arms raised high. Did it think it could reach me with its clawed hands?
A window popped up in my vision.
* [t1] Merman [Gray]
It had to be my [Keen Eye] racial, but I wasn’t entirely sure what [Gray] meant. Maybe its threat level? I had seen that before in an RPG.
The damn thing kept on barking, and soon, more emerged out of the water. They came in all sorts of sizes, one was as big as a bear. A dozen of them filled the courtyard. They growled and hissed at me.
Death awaited below. They’d tear me to pieces in seconds. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the bastards started throwing rocks. Thankfully, the thumbless brutes had terrible aim, but they made up for it in quantity. One tried to climb the same tree as I did, but didn’t even get his feet off the ground. Their finned feet weren’t made for walking, let alone climbing.
I wasn’t going to take this abuse sitting down, not from these aquatic neanderthals. I caught a bunch of rocks they were throwing at me, and made a pile. Next, I formed an intention of using [Steel Trap] and a frisbee-like object materialized in my hand. The steel disk felt smooth and cold in my hands. I chucked right at their feet, and watched eagerly, however I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to see.
The disk clattered to the ground, sprung open to a massive bear trap the size of a serving platter. For a moment, nothing happened, and even the brutes fell silent as they stared at it.
With a click the trap came alive, lashed out and snapped around the closest brute. The victim tried to run, but it was useless. A thick chain had materialized from the trap down into the ground. It screamed and thrashed in agony, but that only made other merman converge on it. They pounced on the hapless victim, tore it to shreds in seconds. Its screams were short lived. Blood and guts sprayed out, covered the ground. The stench wafted up to me, and I nearly gagged.
Eighteen of them crowded the courtyard, and maybe more were hiding outside the walls in the water or the reeds. I checked my mana and it looked like I had plenty to take them all out.
After their snack, the lizards hushed down, narrowed their eyes up at me. They had no idea what was about to happen to them.
I grinned. “Line right up boys.”
I picked up a rock and threw it at the biggest, fattest merman. Energized with [Power Shot] the sudden light and booming crack startled the mass.
An ‘Experience gained’ message scrolled past as the fat, but now headless merman keeled over and crashed to the ground. The rest bolted out of the courtyard.
“Ho, ho. Now we’re cooking with gas.”
They wailed and screamed, rushing in a mad panic. Many tripped and fell. I didn’t stop after the first, but kept shooting down at them with every rock I had. A few missed, but the ones that connected were absolutely deadly. More experience rolled in. Many died, and I was happy for it. That’d teach them for throwing rocks at me. They were going to come to fear and respect me.
Having run out of rocks to throw, I surveyed the courtyard. Nothing moved, and I heard splashing of water as the mermen retreated to safety. The courtyard was a gruesome mess of guts and bloody remains.
These bastards picked a fight with the wrong man.