Unknown Area, Natural World.
In a flash the world of darkness surrounding Alexander changed, as he looked around him to get a better understanding of his environment, he noticed he was lying down in a makeshift bed of hay.
-You are now in the Dark Human Cultist Hideout!
He noticed it was still quite dark with the exception of a single candle on a table burning beside him, he seemed to be in a dungeon cell of sorts with the exception of the fact that the rusted door was wide open with no locks.
The dungeon had a musty and soil-like smell and the sounds of dripping water could be heard, it seemed to be underground. Now and then gusts of wind would blow through the corridor giving it an extremely ghastly feel as a natural fog flooded in the corridors.
Alexander noticed his clothing was actually a dark black robes that was rather plain and he wore black sandals on his feet. He checked himself in a puddle of water and noticed his face was basically the same as he requested and felt pleased.
"Status!" Alexander immediately called as a menu opened before him.
Status WindowName:OsirisAlignment:[Evil Faction]Level:1Class:Cultist InitiateRace:Dark HumanGender:MaleTitlesNoneHonor:0Notoriety:0Health:100/100Mana:100/100Strength:5Intelligence5Stamina:5Agility:5Damage:1-2Defense:0
Taking a brief look at his status, he realized there wasn't much to see and decided to get moving.
Osiris immediately made his way towards the broken prison door as he lifted his black hood to cover his head, he could hear the faint voices of others and he quickly made his way forward toward the sound.
Suddenly a powerful but old voice echoed out in the underground ruins shaking everything, as clear as day Osiris heard every word.
"In the name of darkness we shall move forward!"
"Killing and killing, nothing shall escape us!"
"No mercy for the innocent! No justice for the righteous!"
"In the name of the Dark Gods! The Dark ones will rise!"
"We are the Dark Cult!"
Osiris continued his steps along the murky corridors and finally reached a large door. Osiris wasn't scared at all by the gloomy atmosphere and directly knocked on the door.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The door opened and a man about 40 years old appeared, he was similarly dressed in a black robe garment like Osiris' and his features were hidden except for a scar on his face running along his left eye.
"I was wondering when you would show up! Little brother where have you been?! It's long started! Quickly get in before the Cult Leader notices you! Remember this favor I, Raz, have given you!" the man quickly urged Osiris as he yanked him inside the door and quickly closed it.
Osiris noticed the black robed man, Raz, had his name and health bar dyed red and would usually be hostile to regular players but was incredibly friendly towards him. Osiris knew this man was an NPC, yet still nodded and spoke to him as if he were a real person.
He had read the game manual and knew the NPC's were interactable and could be offended, which would lead to him losing content so he decided to treat them as human beings.
"Thanks a lot brother!" Osiris sincerely thanked him as he was pulled through the door.
"Quickly little brother! Get in line!" Raz urged as Osiris looked a bit out of place.
Osiris looked around and realized there was exactly 30 more people in the room, all dressed in similar black robes and sandals. He had only just noticed their was a symbol on the black robes of a moon half colored in red and the other half black, he noted it was probably the Dark Cult's symbol and quietly noted it.
Osiris noticed aside from the Cult Leader, and the Dark Cultist Raz who opened the door, the rest were young and around his age.
He also noted, that they were in groups of 5s forming a circle, with the exception of 1 group missing a person.
-A potent killing intent has locked on to you!
Osiris noticed the Cult Leader was staring at him and he put on an awkward smile.
'Seems like I'm supposed to be over there'
Osiris hurriedly joined the group of 4 cultists who gave him nods at his arrival.
The cult leader stood at the front on top of a Tree stump that grew out from the broken floor, he was surprisingly dressed in white and seemed to be incredibly pale, a gruesome aura emitted from his body making people shiver. His eyes were cold and possessed a terrifying green light, however a tinge of warmth could be seen as he looked around the room.
"Now that everyone is here, we may continue" his cold aged voice filled the room and no one made a sound.
"Focus on the corpses in front of you! Do as I do!"
The Cult Leader then placed his hand on the corpse of a dead man and a black light issued out from his palm as it entered the creature.
"Corpse Drain!"
With a blur of light, the creature turned into a blood orb which he then collected.
"The trick is to feel the mana in your palms and picture that you are peeling the shell off of a boiled egg" The Cult Leader made sure everyone understood the process and watched over them.
It was only then Osiris noticed there were a few human corpses around, roughly 30. The corpses weren't there before and this shocked Osiris, but he didn't think too much about it and immediately followed the white-robed man's instructions.
Placing his hand on the corpse of an elderly man in front of him, Osiris followed his actions word for word.
"Corpse Drain!"
-You have gained +5 Notoriety for your desecration of a corpse!
-You have learned a new Ability! [Corpse Drain Rank 1]
-Low-Rank absorption, Absorb the essence of dead corpses, grants a minor health regeneration boost on success. Can only be used on human corpses.
The Cult Leader upon noticing Osiris' success on the first try was surprised, but then showed a small smile and a light flickered in his eyes as he oversaw the remaining cultists.
After a short while, the rest of cultists all got the hang of it and finally they all turned to face the Cult Leader.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"Good! It seems everyone has the hang of it! Now comes the real challenge! Exactly a few miles from here is a city called Hellfire Station. Everyone is required to kill ten humans and return with their blood essence! You must now prove you are worthy to walk hand in hand with the children of the Night! If you fail this quest, you will die. You have exactly 2 days!" The Cult Leader firmly stated
A killing intent rested on the initiates present making them tremble, some were a bit scared out of fear while others trembled in excitement. The different array of personalities were easily shown and Osiris noticed quite a few of these fellow cultists were insane and seemed not to fear death at all.
-The Cult Leader has issued a quest that cannot be ignored!
-Kill 10 humans within the walls of Hellfire Station and return with their blood essence!
- 0/10 ...- 10 remaining.
-Time remaining: 48 hours.
-Quest Conditions: Complete before time ends, do not die, do not get caught.
Osiris read the quest and couldn't help but laugh, usually in a VR one would have to kill critters or level 1s, and he himself had to kill people. Osiris knew this quest wouldn't be easy, he had to kill humans within a human society where there would be high leveled guards and players.
Thinking up to here, Osiris felt his back cold with sweat. He could lose all his advantages if he failed this quest and it was the first quest he had gotten.
'This isn't going to be easy at all....Could it be that I'll have to kill players wandering outside to get it?....No..it distinctly said they have to be within the walls of Hellfire Station' Osiris thought to himself as he scratched his chin.
Seeing the group a bit panicked, The Cult Leader gave a smile.
"I never said you were going to be all alone, our brothers and sisters are scattered widely throughout many cities across the world. However, finding them can be a bit of a troublesome task. If you believe someone is of the Dark Cult, to gain their favor all you need to do is say "A dark night without clouds" the other will reply "Surely, it is beautiful!".
"These are one of our secret terms known only by us to identify one another, now that you have some help it is up to you what you do with it! Now go little fledglings! Spread your dark wings and bring home the essence! Now take a dagger and go!"
As the Cult Leader said those words, he vanished into thin air! Roughly 30 curved daggers fell to the floor where he once stood.
The surrounding cultists all grabbed a dagger and broke into chatter! However, Osiris wasn't going to get sidetracked by it as he had his own reasons to hurry. He had to meet up with the students from class, or more precisely, his uncle Mr. Igor. So he picked up a dagger himself, and checked it's stats.
[td3]One-Handed Dagger[/tds][td3]None[/tds][td3]3-5[/tds][td3]Standard - White[/tds][td4]Description: A cursed dagger, commonly used by low level cultists and bandits with bad taste.
Dark Cultist Initiate's Cursed Dagger[/td1]Weapon Type:Enchantment:Damage:Rank:
"It seems this test won't be easy!"
"Huhuhu! Brothers! Let us complete our tasks and become full fledged cultists!"
"Indeed! Hellfire Station will be covered in blood!"
"Brothers let's make our way to Hellfire Station! What are we waiting for?! Let's kill! kill! kill!" Osiris was the person behind this voice in his attempt to make them go faster!
"Ooooooo!"
"He's right! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Luckily he didn't have to wait long, after psyching themselves up they immediately fled along the corridors heading to the surface above, daggers in hand. The cultists immediately started dashing out of the ruins, Osiris calmly followed behind them as he had no idea where to go.
Osiris noticed a light up ahead and smiled, it was a pale beautiful light which could only come from the moon. He quietly admitted to himself that he was currently enjoying the VR, but this was a secret he would keep to himself. After all, he started off as a human cultist and was enjoying their way of life which was creepy on several levels.
-You have left the Dark Cultist Hideout!
-You are now in Aridian Forest
"Brothers don't worry about monsters! They wouldn't dare come around these parts because of the elder brothers of the Dark Cultists!" A cultist initiate shouted out loud.
"He's right! Charge straight to Hellfire Station! From here till Arokan Forests is completely free of monsters this time of night! We can directly make our way there!"
Finally as Osiris left the [Dark Cultist Hideout], he noticed the outside was a lush forests and had many plants that were not of Earth. The environment itself seemed otherworldly and extremely beautiful, a complete contrast from the dirty polluted Earth.
Osiris had to admit the people who made this VR indeed had a huge imagination as well as a grand budget. He could understand why people would give up real world activities for this sort of immersion, but a sour taste came to his mouth bringing him back to reality. A few images from the past immediately damped his mood.
As if on queue, Osiris also noticed there were a few skeletons hung on polls that belonged to humans, and the Dark Cult's symbol -The half blood red moon- was all over them. Clearly it was a warning sign of sorts.
True to what the other cultists said, they had not encountered a single monster and cleanly made their way to a cliff in about 15 minutes.The cultists all gathered together, not a single smile could be seen on their faces; as if they had completely became other people. Instead, a chilliness emerged as the looked down the cliff.
Below the cliff, what they saw before them was a city filled with lights. Smoke rose in the air and it seemed as lively as any other civilized town, completely unaware of the people staring down at them.
Osiris smiled as he noticed a particular group standing at the gates of Hellfire Station, a bunch of young adults surrounding a familar silhouette. His uncle Mr. Igor, and his classmates from Arelan College.
"Well brothers, it seems we've arrived" Osiris' voice sounded a bit...excited, rousing the other cultists as a killing intent soared from each one of the cultists. A smile slowly crept unto their faces as they looked at the "meat" below.
-You have arrived at Hellfire Station!
-Caution! As a Dark Human, any minor offences can lead to the discovering of your [Dark Cultist] Affiliation which is then punishable by death.