Owin pulled his jagged knife from the wizard’s stomach. Warm blood spilled over his hand as the glass bottle shattered on the stone floor. Everything was suddenly clear. His brain recognized his surroundings, even as they felt entirely foreign. Two bars appeared in the bottom left of his vision, and even as he tried to brush them away, they remained.
“Marijan!”
Owin turned. A tall, armored human was steps away, already swinging his sword. Luckily, Owin was fast. He ducked under the sword swing and felt it tear through some of his purple hair.
Owin leapt and wrapped his arms around the human’s torso. There was a space of sunburnt skin between the helmet and the body armor that Owin drove his knife into over and over until he and the human crashed to the stone floor. Owin rolled away and looked around.
What was happening?
Where was he?
Who was he?
Thoughts, ideas, and words that he had never learned exploded in his mind. It was as if Owin was learning everything at once, as if he had gone through years of education in a single second. And still, he didn’t know what was happening or where he was.
A sensation tickled the back of his mind. He tried to scratch it, both physically and mentally. A screen appeared before his eyes. Owin tried to swipe his hands through it, but they passed through without touching anything.
The top said Index. There were five tabs just under the title, reading Attributes, Class, Spells, Journal, and Map.
Owin looked at the Attributes tab, which suddenly switched the screen.
Level: 1
Strength: 15
Constitution: 20
Dexterity: 30
Intelligence: 105
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 10
Owin blankly stared at the numbers for a few seconds, then focused on the Class tab. It flipped like a book to a new page.
Race: Goblin
Class: Deficient Wizard
Note: Stats of a 10 year old wizard. Not suitable for combat as an adult.
Within the Class tab, he found another, hidden section labeled Features. It looked fuzzy, as if it was about to disappear like smoke. When Owin focused on it, words immediately started appearing in front of his eyes.
Racial Feature: Goblin Cunning
Goblin Darkblades, skilled in stealth, have developed heightened agility. They move twice as fast as other creatures with similar dexterity.
While he read through the description, the words “Goblin Darkblade” became fuzzy and vanished, leaving a blank section, while the rest of the description remained untouched. He focused on the blank spot, expecting something to appear, but it remained empty.
Owin checked his Spells tab and found a single item.
Examine
It provided no other details. He flipped to Journal and Map, which were both blank. He tried to scratch the same itch as before and closed the screen, leaving his vision clear, other than the two small bars at the bottom. The red bar said 20, and the blue said 53.
A goblin walked around the corner and looked at the two dead bodies. The goblin wore ragged clothes and had long yellow hair. She kicked one of the bodies. “Dead?”
Owin nodded.
She kicked it again, then walked back around the corner.
Owin watched her leave, then hurried after her. “Wait,” he said.
The goblin turned around. “What?”
“Where are we?”
Just around the corner was a stone water basin with the yellow-haired woman standing beside it. Behind her, crumbling stone benches were lined up like pews before an altar with another four goblins standing beside it. They chanted something over and over that Owin couldn’t quite make out. Candles burned all around the oval room, melting wax onto the stone cave floor.
“Cave,” the woman said.
Owin walked through the rest of the room, watching the goblins continue chanting the same thing, over and over. The woman stayed beside the water basin and stared at the wall, as if she wanted to do nothing else. They hardly noticed Owin walking around.
He went back around the corner and took the potions from the wizard’s belt. There were two bright red potions like blood, one dark blue, and one that looked like clear water. His pants had pockets, but the potions were too big to fit in the small trouser pockets. Instead, he held them all in his arms and waddled through the narrow rocks into the wide cave entrance.
Owin sat on the ground, carefully placing the bottles beside him. He opened the index back to Spells and used Examine on each of the bottles in turn. The blood red potions were healing, the water was invisibility, and the dark blue was shield.
Owin didn’t know what any of that meant. He lounged on the sloped edge of the cave and flipped around the index. The map had populated a small area, showing the altar room and dungeon entrance with everything else covered in a black fog.
Owin wasn’t sure what to do. Owin wasn’t even sure what he was. He looked at his hands, seeing the stubby fingers and long claw-like nails. His skin was green like moss, though he wasn’t sure where that thought had come from. What was moss?
Someone appeared from the black doorway right in front of him. It was a man in heavy metal armor. Almost no skin was visible. His eyes glowed blue under the barbute helmet. He had a series of glowing potions hanging from his belt.
A thin man wearing a black mask appeared beside him. He was lean and covered almost entirely in black cloth. He had multiple daggers all over his body.
“We should be able to catch those amateurs before they ascend,” the armored man said. He stopped and cocked his head at Owin. “Is that a mob?”
“Right in the entrance?” the masked man asked. “That is odd.” He flourished two daggers.
Owin stood, grabbing the clear and blue potions. He smashed the glass of the shield potion on the side of his head. A translucent blue sphere appeared around him, spiraling.
“Was that a shield potion?” the armored man asked.
Owin drew his jagged stone knife. His mind was spinning. Everything was confusing. But he felt a need to kill these strangers.
Eliminate the outsiders, a voice said in his head. Drink the potions.
Owin popped the cork of the invisibility potion and chugged it. The protective shield and his knife disappeared, even from his own view.
“What the fuck?” the masked man asked. “Have you ever seen a first floor mob go invisible before?”
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“No.” The armored man took a two handed hammer from his back. “Something’s wrong.”
Owin walked quietly. Water dripped nearby from the stalactites. Both the masked man and the armored man swept their gazes back and forth.
“Are those health potions?” the masked man asked, pointing to the two blood red bottles where Owin had just been.
The armored man grunted. “Even on the second floor of the Tundra Dungeon didn’t have any mobs healing themselves.”
Owin stood right in front of the two men. He flipped the knife in his hand. He leapt, landing on the masked man’s torso. He wrapped his legs around him and stabbed over and over into the man’s face until a bloody spray covered Owin’s skin, giving a clear view of his position.
The man collapsed dead as the armored man kicked Owin. The shield immediately shattered like glass, staggering Owin. He felt the armored gauntlet wrap around his neck before he regained his awareness.
“What are you?” the armored man shouted. He chucked Owin down the hall where he crashed through a stalactite and landed on the hard ground. The red bar in the bottom of his view was down to 2.
Drink the red potion, the voice in his head said.
Owin quickly popped the cork and drank a full potion, refilling the red bar to 20.
The armored man quickly advanced, swinging his hammer with the intention of smashing Owin. The goblin rolled away, feeling the earth tremble from the strike. He landed on his feet and met the blue eyes of the armored man. The rest of his face was hidden by the helmet, but his eyes shone brightly and bored a hole into Owin. His invisibility had faded, leaving him exposed.
“Who?” Owin asked.
“What?” the man asked, lifting his hammer for another swing.
Owin opened his index and quickly used Examine.
Hero
Cato Kollund
Knight
Level: 10
Strength: 148
Constitution: 149
Dexterity: 93
Intelligence: 84
Wisdom: 73
Charisma: 75
Cato hesitated and opened his own index. Owin watched him flip to his Spells, where he only had Examine.
“What the fuck are you?” Cato asked.
Kill him before he kills you, the voice said.
Owin screamed and leapt at Cato. The Knight caught Owin and threw him back to the ground. He crashed against the stone, air knocked from his lungs. The rounded head of the warhammer hung in the air over him, about to strike.
Owin rolled to the side as the hammer struck and shattered the stone floor. Owin threw his stone knife, which clinked off the man’s helmet with no visible damage. The man swung his hammer horizontally. Owin jumped over it, barely clearing the massive head. He landed unsteadily, wobbling and swinging his arms to keep himself upright. Despite his best efforts, Owin fell onto his butt and met the armored man’s eyes again.
The hammer fell with surprising speed. Owin had already dove forward, but the hammer still caught his foot and shattered every little bone inside. Blood sprayed from the ripped skin. Owin howled in pain and crashed into the armored shin of Cato.
The red bar in his view lowered to 5.
Potions dangled from Cato’s belt right above Owin. Before the knight could recover from his swing, Owin reached up, grabbed a vibrant orange potion, and drank it. It tasted like salt and made him shiver.
A small notification appeared in the top left of his view.
Strength +30
Strength: 45
45 was still far below Cato’s strength, but it was enough for Owin to stand despite his crippled foot. He grabbed a red potion and poured it on himself, knowing he had no time before Cato swung again. The healing potion filled the red bar and the bones of his foot twisted and stitched back together.
Cato’s knee caught Owin in the jaw and tossed him backward. His health lowered a quarter of the way, but he wasn’t nearly as bothered, especially after experiencing the pain of his foot being crushed.
“Are you a Hero or not?” Cato shouted.
Owin grabbed his stone knife from the ground and readied himself for Cato’s next charge.
“Are you?” Cato growled.
“I don’t know.”
Cato’s index opened again as he cast Examine. “It says you’re a Hero named Owin. But you’re a goblin. All Heroes are humans. Are you some kind of shapeshifter?”
Cato’s hammer hung menacingly in the air. The sunlight that passed through the black doorway shone on the rounded edge. Owin waited for another voice in his head to tell him what to do, but it was silent.
He turned and bolted just as Cato’s hammer crashed into the stones, throwing shards all over. A few cut through Owin, ticking his health down a few numbers. He scrambled through the right passageway, turning a tight corner into a thin hall.
“You left your healing potion,” Cato shouted.
Owin ran without looking back until he rounded a corner with a mostly melted candle. The wick flickered with a weak flame, just strong enough to illuminate a goblin with wooden armor. She held a spiked club and looked down at Owin with jade green eyes.
Owin ducked under and scuttled past. He used Examine on the goblin woman.
Great Forest Mob
Goblin Berserker
Level 7
There were no other stats or information. She didn’t even acknowledge Owin, and instead lifted her club and screamed. A red burst rippled off her. The air shimmered all over her body.
Heavy armored steps clanked down the passageway. Owin could keep running, but he didn’t know the caves. He flipped through his index to the map, but only the places he had actually been were clear. Whatever was around the next turn was hidden in dark fog.
“You found a friend,” Cato said, emerging from the darkness. His index flashed and he scowled. “A mob.”
The spiked club smashed against his hammer, pushing Cato back a few inches. The berserker shouted and swung again. Cato quickly used the shaft of his hammer to smack the goblin in the face. Her head flew back, spraying blood across the stone walls. Before Cato could manage a full swing, she recovered and flashed red again. This one was different, covering just her club.
Cato took a step back as she swung, managing to dodge the full attack. She was about to move forward in another attack. Cato countered, swinging his hammer down. Owin kicked the goblin in the back of the knee, forcing her to drop to her knees before she could step. The hammer crashed into the ground right in front of her, shattering more stone.
Owin sprinted past the berserker and slipped between Cato and the cave wall. The human turned and swore under his breath. Owin stayed within the candlelight, just barely visible in the narrow cave passage. Cato would only be able to swing vertically, and it was obvious whenever he was preparing.
The berserker’s club smashed into Cato’s armor.
He chuckled as he lurched forward a step. “Your attacks can’t pierce my armor—” Cato’s face twisted as he held up his hand. Blood dripped from underneath his gauntlet. “A bleed?” He turned to look as the berserker smashed her club against his armor again.
Owin sprinted forward and leapt, driving his knife right into the dark opening of the barbute helmet. The jagged blade ground against bone as Cato’s corpse crashed to the ground.
The berserker looked blankly at Owin then returned to her position in the passageway.
Owin used Examine on the rest of the potions on Cato’s belt. He had three Healing, one more Strength Buff, and something called Detect.
What now? He looked around the next corner, where the dark passageway continued. He could see in the dark well enough, but the narrow hall took another sharp turn just beyond.
Interesting, the voice said inside his head.
“What?”
If you survive to the top of the tower, we will speak. Continue, thrall, and we will see what you are capable of.
Owin ran back through the cave to the masked man’s corpse. He undid the belt and tightened it around his own waist. It was far too big and even the smallest hole hung loose around Owin. He used the knife to poke a new hole, making the belt fit around his midsection. The health potion he had abandoned was gone, so he went back through the passage to Cato. The berserker remained staring into the passageway, not acknowledging Owin.
He took each potion and placed them through the loops on his new belt. They were heavy and made him waddle off balance. The potion was dull orange, much dimmer than the one he had stolen from Cato during the fight.
Apprentice Strength Buff
+10 Strength
Duration: 3 Hours
The duration became hazy, as if obscured by fog. The time was replaced with “???” Owin quickly drank it and watched the notification flash in his vision.
Strength +10
Strength: 55
The belt was still heavy, but he could walk without wobbling. Owin tossed the glass bottle to the side where it shattered. The berserker didn’t seem to care. Owin waved his hand in front of her eyes a few times.
Mobs on the first floor are lifeless, as you are meant to be, the voice said.
“Who are you?”
No answer. Only the sound of water dripping from stalactites filled the dungeon. Owin wandered through the passage until his foot clicked on something, lowering a whole portion of the floor.
Four spears exploded from the wall right above his head. If he had been a few inches taller, his head would’ve been skewered by all four blades. Owin ducked down even further and inched forward.
The room opened into a wide cave with a bar, benches, and even a burning chandelier on the ceiling. The room was filled with goblins of all kinds. There were two more berserkers, a handful of archers, a couple of spears, and a few that looked just like Owin, but with different colored hair.
At the far end of the room, stairs led up into a black door. A smaller black door was set into the wall with the word ‘Exit’ written above.
None of the goblins stirred at his appearance.
Owin looked at the bloody knife in his hand. What would happen if he killed a goblin with it? He walked to the nearest berserker and slit her throat. The goblin dropped to the ground, pressing her hands into the gushing blood. She was dead before long.
Owin checked her body and found nothing of use. Her club was far too heavy and the wooden armor was too big for his squat form. He checked through the rest of the room, opening drawers behind the bar and checking the pockets of all the goblins. There were a few gold pieces, which Owin didn’t care about, and a couple of health and mana potions. He grabbed the potions and hooked them on his belt. There didn’t seem to be anything else on the floor. Even thinking back to the altar, there weren’t containers or any items Owin could see. He checked his map, ensuring there weren’t any passages hidden by fog.
That was the whole floor.
Owin hurried halfway up the steps and looked back. What was he doing?
Ascend, the voice said.
Owin looked up, as if he could see whoever was speaking to him. He still didn’t know who he was, but there was nothing for him on his floor. He passed through the black doorway.