“I think you’re just nervous,” Leah teased, poking my cheek for emphasis. “It isn’t that bad.”
I glared at her. “You didn’t see yourself wriggling around like there was some sort of parasite under your skin; it looked immensely unpleasant.”
Leah gave me an annoyed look before scowling while muttering, “You didn’t have to put that image in my head.”
Rolling my eyes, I glanced over to the nearby gray pool of “water”, wondering if it was drinkable. Shrugging, I strolled over to it and bent down, looking at my grayscale reflection. Frowning, I realized that the only part of the reflection that was not gray were my eyes, which were still blue as the summer sky (Okay, I’m never writing that again. That was the cringiest thing that-).
“Come take a look at this,” I called over to Leah, who was watching me with a worried face.
“At your reflection? No, thank you,” she said, sitting down.
Glaring at her, continued. “You don’t want to look at your own beautiful reflection? Your loss.”
Snorting, Leah stood back up and walked next to me, looking down. As expected, her eyes were reflected as purple, as was her hair. She stared for a moment before looking at my reflection.
“Why-?”
“Dunno.”
“You don’t even-”
“Yeah, I do.”
“You do not-!” Leah stopped mid sentence, blinking. She then shook her head, plopping down next to me.
For a few moments, we were silent. Then we looked at one another.
“You think this water is drinkable?” We both asked one another at the same time.
~~~
Hacking, Leah looked at me with a very dissatisfied expression.
“This tastes disgusting!” she exclaimed, spitting out the water. “Drinkable though.”
I frowned at her and took another sip of the water. It tasted a bit like lemonade with just the right amount of sugar, which I may say is absolutely amazing. Most places that sell lemonade either have too little sugar or far too much sugar.
“It tastes like lemonade,” I commented, tilting my head at her. “Not that bad.”
Then, on a whim, I Eyed the lake.
Abyssal Waters
Water that is drinkable for all species but tastes terrible for most of them. For Abyssals, it tastes like their favorite drink or what would be their favorite drink. Also restores Mana for Abyssals.
Mana Restoration : 2% Max Mana/s for 10s
“Ah,” I said as Leah exclaimed, “COME ON! THAT’S NOT FAIR!”
Leah glared at me as I gave her an innocent look. Huffing, she looked away from me as I filled multiple water bottles with it, handing her three of the six.
“Now, let’s go get some Levels, shall we, my second favorite?” I said with a grin.
“Yeah, yeah, no need to rub it in, Sir I-Have-A-Thing-For-Snakes,” Leah muttered. “I can imagine what would happen if you met a Lamia or some shit.”
I frowned. “A what?”
Leah smirked and turned away. “Levels. Let’s go!”
Still trying to remember what a Lamia was, I followed Leah, my frown growing deeper.
~~~
“GET OFF OF ME, STUPID BEAR!” Leah hollered, punching the bear in question in the face, swiftly bear-aking its jaw (bad pun, sorry).
I caught it on my horn and stabbed it through its skull, just bear-ly making it past the bone (had to say it, sorry).
“Jason, I swear to everything, if you’re making bear puns, I will murder you. I can hear you muttering something to do with bears under your breath,” Leah hissed.
“Uh, definitely not. I can bear-ly think right now.”
Leah glared at me and threw the third bear into the ground, punching its skull in. I shrugged and leapt at the next bear, barely dodging its claws and stabbing it in the heart. Before its body could fall on top of me, I leapt over to Leah and looked around, noticing two more bears. We looked at one another and nodded before leaping at them.
The bear I took nearly locked its jaws over my arm as I hit it in the face with a nearby rock, shattering the rock itself. I very deftly dodged its claws and stabbed down into one of its back feet, trying to jump back before it hit me. I was a tad bit too slow and got slashed for nearly 250 damage. I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming, failing horribly. Dropping to the ground, I used [Wreath of Destruction] on my horn and slashed down the giant bear’s belly opening a gash the length of my arm at its gut. Quickly moving from under it, I jumped onto it’s back and stabbed down, yelling in defiance.
Once the bear finally fell to the ground, I checked my Health.
Health : 312/720
Ailment : Bleeding (Mild), Broken Rib, Fractured Wrist
Sighing, I rolled off the bear and took a few breaths as Leah finished off the final one. I let notifications flicker on the edge of my vision for a few moments before sitting up and sighing.
Wreath of Destruction is Level 2!
…
Wreath of Destruction is Level 5!
You have killed Void Bear - Level 18-24 | Tier 1 (x3)
You have Leveled Up (x4)
+ 20 All Stats
+ 48 Free Stats
I only had a moment to look at my Status.
Status
Name : Jason Andromeda
Level 18
Race : Voidborn Abyssal
Health : 312/720 (72 Health/Min)
Mana : 220/720 (72 Mana/Min)
Class : Voidborn Abyssal Prince I (Unique)
Stats
Strength : 101 (Base : 67 Effectiveness : 150%)
Dexterity : 101 (Base : 67 Effectiveness : 150%)
Endurance : 102 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 150%)
Vitality : 102 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 150%)
Mana : 102 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 150%)
Intelligence : 102 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 150%)
Free Points : 48
Titles : The Top of Humanity…?, Abyss Enhanced, One Tier Ahead!
Skills : All Seeing Eye of the Abyss - Level 3 | Tier 0, Abyss Touch - Level 2 | Tier 0, Void Armor - Level 1 | Tier 0, Wreath of Destruction - Level 5 | Tier 0
Why hasn’t my Max Health increased- was all I was able to think before pain wracked my entire body.
***
Leah woke far quicker than Jason did. In a way, it was a relief, seeing as she wouldn’t have to listen to him make bad bear puns, but it was also somewhat of a curse, seeing as she had to watch him Tier Up what was probably all of his Stats at once.
Pushing down her terror of his writhing body, she pulled out one of their water bottles and tried to drink the disgusting water without gagging. It was so unfair that Jason could taste anything other than… whatever the taste was; she wasn’t willing to describe it.
After downing it, she looked over to Jason, who’d stopped moving and was breathing slowly, his Tiering finally over. Leah let out a breath that she hadn’t realized was holding and immediately began to cough uncontrollably as the taste of the water entered her mouth yet again.
***
My eyes snapped open to a notification.
Congratulations! You’ve reached Tier 1!
You have gained:
+ 14 Free Stats
+20% All Effective Stats
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Does that say… four…teen? I thought. I CAN MAKE ALL MY STATS EQUAL NOW?!
I sat up and quickly opened my Status, putting 1 point into each Strength and Dexterity.
Status
Name : Jason Andromeda
Level 18 | Tier 1
Race : Voidborn Abyssal
Health : 4624/4624 (231 Health/Min)
Mana : 4624/4624 (347 Mana/Min)
Class : Voidborn Abyssal Prince I (Unique)
Stats
Strength : 116 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 170%)
Dexterity : 116 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 170%)
Endurance : 116 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 170%)
Vitality : 116 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 170%)
Mana : 116 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 170%)
Intelligence : 116 (Base : 68 Effectiveness : 170%)
Free Points : 60
Titles : The Top of Humanity…?, Abyss Enhanced, One Tier Ahead!
Skills : All Seeing Eye of the Abyss - Level 3 | Tier 0, Abyss Touch - Level 2 | Tier 0, Void Armor - Level 1 | Tier 0, Wreath of Destruction - Level 5 | Tier 0
“HAHAHA!” I exclaimed, pumping my fist into the air.
Leah shrieked from next to me, waking up. Before she hit me, I flipped into the air and grabbed a tree branch that was a good twelve feet from the ground. Leah’s fist hit the ground where I just was, causing an explosive crack, shaking the tree I was in. For a few moments she stood there, clearly confused. She then glared up at me and I waved.
“Seriously?” She hissed. “Do you have to be that loud?”
“Yep. I do,” I said, grinning. Then my grin turned into a frown. “But why did that have to hurt so much?”
Leah stared at me blankly before throwing a bottle of water at my head. “How did you only JUST remember that?!”
I shrugged, shirking away.
~~~
For the next hour, we rampaged through the Abyss, killing whatever we came across with ease, only gaining one level each in the process. However, we also spent some time Leveling some skills, with my gains being as follows:
Void Armor has reached Level 2!
…
Void Armor has reached Level 9!
Abyss Touch has reached Level 3!
…
Abyss Touch has reached Level 6!
Wreath of Destruction has reached Level 6!
…
Wreath of Destruction had reached Level 12!
Grinning, I let Leah kill the final monster, something called a Ravager, which looked something like an oversized bull crossed with a lion that completely destroyed our surroundings.
Panting, we collapsed next to one another, ending our current killing spree. For a few minutes, we caught our breaths, sitting side by side. Leah leaned against me, taking a few more breaths before sighing.
“Well, that was fun,” she huffed. “I feel like that shouldn’t have been fun, whatsoever, but Leveling just feels so good.”
I gave her a quizzical look. “Does it? It doesn’t feel like much to me. Maybe a light tingle?”
Leah stared at me for a few moments, confused. “Wait, what? It doesn’t feel like… I won’t finish that thought, but you get it, right?”
I simply blinked. Scowling, Leah looked away from me, her face red.
“You… don’t feel like… anything?”
“Uh, no?”
At this point, I was confused and wondering what she could mean.
“Oh, nevermind. Anyways, aren’t we supposed to be figuring out how to get outta here?”
My mind backtracked and I pulled up our Quest.
The Leveling Escapade
You have decided that Leveling and escaping the Abyss before you are caught is the most important thing currently. Leah and you must get as strong as you can. Good luck, young Prince.
Requirements - Reach Level 50, Escape the first Level of the Abyss.
Rewards - ???
Progress : Levels - 18/50 & 19/50. Escape - Incomplete
“Yeah… though I don’t have any clue where we should go to even begin to escape this place,” I said. “I mean, we can start exploring, but I’m really sure where to go. For all I know, this place will go on infinitely.”
Leah sighed again. “Well, we can start by waiting until ‘night’, then look around for lights? There should be civilization, right?”
We had come up with a sort of day/night cycle by watching the sky above us lighten and darken slightly and periodically. Once it had happened twice over the course of 42 hours, according to my watch, we just assumed that a day here was slightly shorter, a mere 21 hours.
I gave her a thoughtful look. “I guess we’re waiting then.”
***
After snapping at the idiot female for the fourteenth time, Mia was starting to lose her patience. She really wanted to bite her head off. Or at least her hand. However, Big Red wouldn’t let her, so Mia had to amuse herself by imagining the face the woman would make if she did bite her hand off.
As the woman made more squeaks, Mia resisted the urge to smack her over the head with her tail and simply floated away with her food in her jaw, ignoring her.
“Get back here you stupid dragon!” The woman squeaked.
Unfortunately for her, Mia didn’t understand a single word she said. Ah, blissful ignorance.
***
I opened my eyes and groaned, making an attempt to push Leah off my chest.
“Off, you,” I muttered halfheartedly.
Leah grumbled something about being cold in her sleep and curled closer to me. Shaking my head, I let her lay there for a little while longer as I looked at my watch. Sighing, I shifted under Leah until I was able to get her head onto my backpack.
“Why did we bring one sleeping bag?” I grumbled, rubbing my hair.
I then froze as my hand touched something in my messy hair. Rubbing over the area again to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, I felt the same hard thing in my hair.
“Do I have… horns?” I asked the world in horror.
See, now, I expected there had to be something different about Abyssals. I mean, I was an Abyssal, but I didn’t immediately see anything different about myself other than my race being forbidden in some way or another. But horns? I couldn’t have expected that… ever.
Maybe this is some sort of joke? I thought. Maybe… wait. What if I look badass in horns. Wait, wait. Horns, a cloak wielding a sword in one hand and casting void magic in the other. A BATTLE MAGE. WITH A SWORD. HAHAHAHA!
After I contained my spiel of insanity, I looked over to Leah, who was still curled up in the sleeping bag, sound asleep. Shrugging, I strode over the nearby forest (keeping a close eye on Leah) and began to climb the tallest tree I could find. As I climbed (clumb?), I slowly began to rise. For about a minute, everything was fine, but when some of the branches began to creak ominously, I barely repressed the urge to jump ten yards to the ground and instead pulled myself closer to the trunk, gulping.
Once I was near the top and above most of the canopy, I began to scout, looking for the lights that would confirm that there was some sort of society. As I looked around in all directions, I began to lose hope. After about five minutes, I sighed. Nothing.
As I began to climb down, I saw something flicker from the edge of my vision. If I hadn’t Tiered Up, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. My head swirled in the direction of it and I squinted. Then my eyes widened as I saw light. Artificial light.
~~~
I let Leah wake naturally after I arrived.
She slowly sat up, yawning before looking at me. “Morning,” she said, looking to the sky.
She then started as she saw the light of day.
“Wait, wait, why didn’t you wake me up?!”
“‘Cause there was nothing to see, really,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “I didn’t see much of anything.”
Leah groaned. “Of course not. Why would we get lucky with anything?”
I shrugged. “I mean, there was this strange light…”
Leah whirled on me, eyes wide. “Wha- SERIOUSLY?! Why didn’t you-” She went off into unintelligible nonsense for a moment before I realized she was speaking Spanish.
Shaking my head, I pointed in the direction I’d seen the light. “That’s the rough direction I saw the lights in.”
Leah seemed to think for a moment. Then she nodded. “M’kay. I guess we’ll make our way in that direction.” She then frowned. “I hope there’s actually something there though.”
I shrugged. “Who knows,” I muttered, blowing my hair out of my eye for the umpteenth time. “I need scissors.”
“Nah, you’re fine,” I swore I heard Leah say under her breath.
“Huh?”
“I said, let’s go, idiot,” She snapped, pulling the sleeping bag from under me.
~~~
You have killed Nightmare Falcon - Level 26 & 28 | Tier 1
You have Leveled Up!
+ 5 All Stats
+ 12 Free Stats
“WOULD YOU NOT TIER UP A STAT IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT, LEAH?!” I hissed, knocking another bird away from her.
The birds’ name, Nightmare Falcon, was a good description. They were in the shape of a falcon but made with an unrecognizable substance that sprayed everywhere when they died and stung on contact. They could also shape their beak and wings, changing their speed and damage. In all, they were a nightmare.
“I didn’t mean to open my notifications! Geez!” she growled, clearly fighting pain. “Sorry that Endurance and Strength hurt so much! And, by the way, the next Tier is 100!”
Snorting, I let a bird impale itself on my “Horn of Justice”, otherwise known as a Unirabbit Horn, and threw it into a tree. At some point, I just disregarded the identification of enemies and only checked the Level ups.
You have Leveled Up!
I automatically spread my Stats out evenly, all of them 99 at base. With a grin, I simply smacked another bird out of the air, causing it to smash into another one. After killing another few, I registered another Level, but ignored it as to not Tier up by accident. In the middle of a fight. Which wouldn’t be good.
“DIE, STUPID BIRDS!” Leah yelled from behind me, clearly recovered.
Blurring, she shot past me like a bullet and swiftly dispatched the final birds, laughing maniacally.
Once they were all gloop on the ground, we finally retreated from the tree that had housed them and sat down, eyeing it suspiciously.
“That was really annoying,” Leah muttered with a disdainful expression. “Welp, I’m at Level 24 now. What about you?”
“22.”
She nodded. “And about to Tier Up, right?”
I scowled. “I am Tiering Up.”
“Wha-”
You have Leveled Up!
This time, I didn’t immediately faint. But what did happen was that my entire body was wracked with more pain than I could describe. However, I’m going to describe it to the best of my ability. Minus all the cursing, it felt like how it felt to burn yourself with an iron and boiling water at the same time. Both inside and out.
It seemed to last for hours when in reality, it only lasted maybe a minute. Once it ended, I looked up to Leah and grinned, my mouth nearly failing to change shape.
“You’re the largest idiot that has to exist,” she hissed. “Did you have to do that in front of me?”
“Yeah.”
She scowled and looked away as a notification popped into my vision.
New Title!
Speedrunner
You have reached Tier 2 before reaching Level 25. You’re going pretty fast for having no wealth. Make sure to Level those Skills though.
+ 10% All Effective Stats
I then quickly opened my Status and gave a low whistle at what I saw.
Status
Name : Jason Andromeda
Level 22 | Tier 2
Race : Voidborn Abyssal
Health : 14976/14976 (749 Health/Min | 12.48/s)
Mana : 14976/14976 (1123 Mana/Min | 18.72/s)
Class : Voidborn Abyssal Prince I (Unique)
Stats
Strength : 187 (Base : 104 Effectiveness : 180%)
Dexterity : 187 (Base : 104 Effectiveness : 180%)
Endurance : 187 (Base : 104 Effectiveness : 180%)
Vitality : 187 (Base : 104 Effectiveness : 180%)
Mana : 187 (Base : 104 Effectiveness : 180%)
Intelligence : 187 (Base : 104 Effectiveness : 180%)
Free Points : 12
Titles : The Top of Humanity…?, Abyss Enhanced, One Tier Ahead!, Speedrunner
Skills : All Seeing Eye of the Abyss - Level 3 | Tier 0, Abyss Touch - Level 6 | Tier 0, Void Armor - Level 9 | Tier 0, Wreath of Destruction - Level 12 | Tier 0
“Now that’s a lot of Health,” I said.
Leah looked over in interest. “Hm? Health?”
“Yeah, 15k.”
She snorted. “I’ve got 18k. Rookie numbers, Jason.”
“That’s 3k more! Not even that much!”
She shook her head, turning away as I complained. Scowling, I looked in the direction of the lights, wondering what we’d find there.
Probably a lot of things that are trying to kill us, with our luck so far.
***
Sighing, the Abyss Princess took a look at the picture on the wall of herself, wondering why she was so alone. Why an Abyss Prince hadn’t been assigned for her yet. Why her mother was so demanding.
Why this, why that, why everything.
That all her life was. Nothing was told to her, just expected. She was just supposed to know when she would get her Prince. She was supposed to know how to be a Queen. How to rule, how to-
She cut her thoughts off with a growl, standing from her desk. She strode across her room and was about to open her door to go to the kitchens when she got a notification. Expecting nothing much, she took a glance and swiped it away.
She quickly strode into the hallway and was halfway to the kitchens when she finally processed the notification. Making sure she didn’t mistake anything, she quickly pulled it up.
A new Abyss Prince has been Chosen
Jason Andromeda - Voidborn Abyss Prince
The Abyss Princess was speechless for a good two minutes as she read it a thousand times over.
Then, unable to contain herself, she smiled, joy bursting to the surface of her emotions for the first time in fifty years.