"Nick! It's me Ahlyssa!" Ahllysa cried out, tears streaming down her face as she embraced me. "You're alive! I thought you were gone forever!"
I looked at women with confusion and concern. Sickly green lights swirled around me but slowly petered out. An hour ago I was back on Earth at the Infinite Fantasy Online testing office... then I managed to portal into the game Infinite Fantasy Online as a level 100 Demon Skeleton boss character only to get blasted to death by something. Luckily the Demon Skeleton had a unique ability that in death they become an astral being... unluckily I floated into this new body, this witch's partner or husband... what do I do now?
The witch was already pulling my shirt off and kissing me deeply. Her hands ran over my chest, feeling every inch of my skin.
"Woah... woah!" I said looking around at the ritual site of engraved stone pillars, "not here, maybe we should, sorry my memory is a little fuzzy, but maybe you should show me our house, it might help jog some memories." I said hoping she'd take the bait.
Ahllysa smiled and nodded. She grabbed my hand and led me through the forest until we reached the edge of Braxenfort, she called it, where there was a hut. We walked up the path towards the front door and I stopped short when I saw two small children playing.
Oh crap... I... I mean, late Nick has kids? Wait, how old am I?
"Hey you guys! Come over here!" Ahllysa yelled at the kids. They came running over and she hugged them both. One was a girl, about four years old, and the other was a boy, about six. "You remember your children? This is Eric," she said pointing to the small boy. He had black hair, much like the body I had snatched, he was skinny but had a strong determined look in his eyes. "...and this is Railei," she said pointing to the even smaller girl, she was a brunette like Ahlyssa and also had her green eyes.
They weren't my children, they were Nick's, but my soul is in his body, so, in weird kind of way they were my children, kind of like, I'd suddenly been adopted into the family. A strange family in which my wife and the mother of these children was a witch or necromancer. That's probably why I couldn't remember anything, because this was all new to me and I was confused.
"Come inside," Ahllysa said, leading us inside the hut. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, and it feels good to have you back."
I think I just need a good meal and some sleep and I'll be able to figure this all out.
***
"You know what?" Ahllysa asked, smiling, "we should celebrate tonight!"
She stood up from the table and grabbed me by the hand. I didn't want to argue with her, but I wasn't sure if I could trust her yet either. I really just needed some time to my self to figure this all out and take stock of the situation, but at the same time I probably shouldn't piss her off.
"Okay, let's go celebrate then," I said, standing up and following her and the children outside.
We walked to the edge of town and found a nice clearing near a lake. There were a few trees and grassy areas, but mostly it was just flat open ground. The sun was starting to set and the sky was painted in reds and oranges.
"This is a nice place," I said.
Ahllysa smiled, "it's perfect for a picnic."
The kids started setting up a fire pit while Ahllysa put together some food. She handed me a plate of meat and vegetables and a mug of ale.
"What are we celebrating?"
"Oh you big lug, we're celebrating your 'return' from the war," she said winking out me. I got her meaning, that was what she had been telling these children, well, Nick's children, but Nick was dead, and my soul was in his body.
"I'm glad to be back," I said, "but I still don't know exactly what happened." How did I die? Why was I in the game? I knew these were questions I could not ask and even if I did, she would have the answers.
Ahllysa poured herself another mug of ale and sat down next to me. "Well, it's hard to explain..." she paused and took a sip of brown water before continuing, "but you died in battle, fighting the orcs."
My chest hurt and I could feel a wound that had been sewn shut beneath my shirt. "What war? Whose war?"
"You fought the orcs in the Orc Rising war, remember? You were a lieutenant in the army and your unit was tasked with defending Avenrho capital city of Elvish kingdom. Your group was attacked by a demon horde and you were killed."
So her husband was a Fighter or something? "Oh right..." I pretended to nod like I knew exactly what she was talking about.
"You've lost your memory... the spell books warned of this." She sighed, "it's too bad, I thought you might remember me."
That made me angry. "Don't try to make this about you! What the hell am I supposed to do with two kids and a wife who don't even know who I really am?" Asshat... Had I given away that her husband hadn't been raised but some nerd from Earth was inhabiting her husband's body... I didn't think so, but it was possible.
"Who am I? And who are you." I asked.
"Nick, you're Nick," she said with a sad smile, "I'm Ahllysa." She started to sob, as did Eric and Railei.
"Wait, I'm sorry... Even if I don't 'remember', you are my family now."
"Yes, we are your family," she said, wiping her eyes. "And you are mine, and I will always love you."
"But what if I never remember who I was?" I said, still confused.
"Then we will just have to find out together, won't we?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's do that." I said, taking her hand.
We sat there for a while, eating and drinking, watching the sunset.
***
After we had retired for the night, I sat with them until they were all asleep, and quietly slipped out of bed. Eric stirred and whispered in his sleep, "I missed you dad." My heart stirred, I didn't have kids back home, on Earth, I was Brendan, an ugly obese white guy, no woman would give me the time of day, but here, I'm Nick, a strong looking man, a Fighter, and I have a family...
How had I gotten here? Was I going crazy? Maybe I was dead and this was hell or some other hell? I needed to talk to Ahllysa about this, but she was sleeping. I went outside into the cold of night, and pulled in a drag of the chill air, it was cleaner than the air back home. I flicked the air and my status screen appeared in my vision like a neon sign, I hoped no one else could see this. I was a level 3 Fighter, but I also had a tab holding my level 100 Dark Emperor but most of the skills and abilities were greyed out. I brought back up my Fighters attributes.
─ Name: Nick (Brendan)
─ Race: Human
─ Class: Fighter/Dark Emperor
─ Level: 3/1
─ HP: 20/20
─ Stamina: 14/14
─ Mana: 1286/1286
─ Augmentation: Orb of Dark Emperor +1286 Mana
─ Limit Break: Mighty Strike
─ Traits: Physical Resilience I, Hardy IV, Paramortal IV, Preternatural Senses IV, Scholar IV
─ Abilities: Death Touch, Grim Memorial, Army of the Dead
─ Skills: Sword +21, Axe +11, Great Sword +11, Great Axe +11, Mace +11, Shield +10, Parry +10, Marksman +15
My Dark Resurrection and Divine Will limit breaks were gone, which made sense as you only got a limit break from your primary job, that was a bummer. I was pretty sure I wasn't dead, I felt alive, and there was no pain, just confusion. I looked at my stats again, they decent, but no where near my old ones, I had a few new skills but they paled in comparison to my old ones.
What was I supposed to do now though? Stay in this hut and play family? Do I continue to pretend being Nick their father and Alhyssa's husband or do I just leave and try to figure things out on my own? No, I should stay and figure things out for a bit, and besides, they just got their "father" and "husband" back, it would be cruel to deprive them of that.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I made my way back inside, and tucked myself back into bed with Ahllysa. She smiled at me, and then reached over and kissed me gently on the lips. Her kiss was warm and soft, it sent a shiver down my spine. It seemed wrong but I kissed her back.
***
It was the dawn of a new day, in a new world, with a new family. Ahllysa split one potato between the four of us...
"Ugh... potatoes...again," Eric said.
"Yes that's right," Ahllysa said, "be grateful, some families don't even have potatoes."
I looked at my plate and sighed.
Ahllysa pulled her robe over her and ushered the kids outside, "We're going to gather some roots and herbs, don't try to do too much today, just rest."
Eric and Railei looked at me curiously.
"I'll come too, I need to stretch my legs." I said.
"Alright, follow me," she said, leading us to the forest. We walked along a path, avoiding the trees, and came upon a small pond. "There, there's a stream nearby," she said, "let's fill our canteens."
Eric and Railei both ran off to the stream and filled their canteens. They returned shortly after, and we continued walking until we found a small clearing with some bushes. "Here, this is good," she said, pulling out a handful of leaves.
She broke the leaf open and poured the liquid onto the ground. A yellow powdery substance began to form on the ground, it was similar to sand but slightly thicker.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Leaf blood," she said, "we use it for healing wounds."
"Can I try?" I asked.
"Sure, but you might get a rash or something."
I tried it anyway, and sure enough, within seconds I had a red rash across my chest and arms. "Ow!" I yelped, "what is this?"
"That's just the reaction," she said, "you'll be fine in a minute."
Was this how this family survived? Scrounging the forest for food and medicinal herbs? That would suck, but I was starting to realize this was real life, and not some game.
"Let's go," Ahllysa said, "there's more to see."
The sun rose higher in the sky, and we walked deeper into the woods. We passed by many plants and flowers, but Ahllysa stopped when she saw a bush covered in bright blue berries.
Wow, I'd never seen wild blue berries before, maybe foraging for your own food isn't so bad.
"These are called blueberries," she said, picking one up and popping it into her mouth, "they taste sweet and tart."
I picked one up and popped it into my mouth, and it tasted amazing!
Dusk quickly came around and we took stock of what we found back at the hut. "Well, we have enough food to last us a couple days," Ahllysa said breathing a sigh of relief, "and some medicinal herbs for market, but we're still missing something important."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Meat..." she said, "we haven't had any meat since you left for the war. It's too expensive to buy."
I nodded, "yeah, that sucks."
"I can hunt!" Eric declared.
"Rats don't count," said Ahllysa.
"You're too young to hunt," I said to Eric, to which Ahllysa looked to me expectantly.
She wanted me to hunt, maybe Nick had hunted for the family, but I've never hunted before in my life.
"Alright, I'll do it," I said, ahh asshat, what am I saying... "so, my memory is a bit hazy, where are the hunting grounds?"
"Wild deer often graze in the valley east of Braxenfort" she said, "you used to hunt them early in the morning just as the sun rose."
How hard could it be to hunt some stupid deer? I gave her my most confident smile, well, it was Nick's face, so Nick's smile. "We feast tomorrow!" I promised.
***
I awoke early the next day, as soon as it got light. I was excited about hunting, but nervous as well. I hadn't really thought about it before, but if I failed, then Ahllysa and the kids would be stuck eating rats and berries again.
In the valley that Ahllysa mentioned I saw a large herd of deer grazing on the grass. I drew the only weapon I had, a sword, Ahllysa told me it was mine, well, Nick's, military issued sword. The sword sung as I unsheathed it. The blade was a dull gray metal, with a single hilt attached to the cross guard. I felt powerful holding it, as though the sword was made for me. The sound of the blade being drawn startled the herd and a large stag raised his head toward where I was hiding. I held perfectly still, waiting for the deer to turn away. But there were so many of them that it didn't matter what direction I came at they would see me coming. As I drew closer to the deer they noticed me and scattered, running away from me in terror.
Ass-muncher... hunting wasn't going to be easy, maybe if I had a bow... but we had no money. Ahllysa sold everything of value to pay for the ingredients to resurrect her husband Nick, unfortunate for her my soul was the one that found its way into his body.
I watched the herd run off and sighed, I had been hunting for an hour and hadn't even managed to get even close. I was starting to get really pissed off and grabbed a rock and threw it at the herd in rage! It hit the big stag, the other deer fled but he barrelled towards, his antlers levelled for optimum damage.
Oh fuck sticks. I quickly examined its stats
─ Name: Stag
─ Race: Deer
─ Class: Not Applicable
─ Level: 5
─ HP: 85
─ Stamina: 11
─ Abilities: Charge
─ Skills: Leap, Swiftness
I flung my sword wildly but the stag was unfazed and collided with me like a semi-trailer. I was like a deer in headlights... It smashed into me, instantly flinging my sword aside. I was knocked down and it was pinning me to the ground with his front hooves. I struggled desperately, trying to get free, but the stag just kept kicking and thrashing. My health points were dropping rapidly.
Fuck me side ways and call me Sally... killed by a fucking deer. No, get stuffed! I activated my Death Touch ability. The stag was instantly ceased moving and fell over. I rolled out of the way and stood up, taking a deep breath.
─ You have successfully killed a Stag. You gain 150 experience points.
My breath was racked and I struggled to catch it. I was exhausted, and I needed to eat something. The excitement I had at being able to provide for my new family was quickly exhausted when I noticed the corpse of the stage quickly decay into nothing but skin and bones...
Damn it! My Death Touch must completely decay a creature. I kicked the stag skeleton in frustration and managed to lower my health points to a precarious 4/34. It probably would have been a good idea to end the day there, but I wasn't a quitter, and I had a terribly great idea, muahaha.
"Army of the Dead!" I called out loudly.
At first I didn't think anything would happen, but suddenly the remains of the stag clacked and clicked until a slightly less tall stag skeleton stood before me. I check its stats.
─ Name: Skeletal Stag
─ Race: Skeleton
─ Class: Not Applicable
─ Level: 5
─ HP: 136
─ Stamina: 52
─ Abilities: Charge (Cool down 15 minutes)
─ Skills: Leap, Swiftness
─ Traits: Negative Healing; Immunities: death effects, disease, mental, paralyzed, poison, unconscious; Resistances: cold +5, electricity +5, fire +5, piercing +5, slashing +5
There was a faint buzzing sound in my heard like tinnitus, but it was more dark and ominous and tangible.
─ You have successfully created a skeletal steed. This creature is under your control until it is destroyed.
─ You gain 100 experience points.
─ Your dark magic skill increased by 0.1.
The fact that I was still gaining skill increases to my dark magic indicated that I no longer had a cap. Interesting... Now, how do I command this creature?
"Move..." I commanded, and sure enough the creature starting moving forward from its current direction, until it hit some bushes and started thrashing threw them.
"Wait, come back here!" I ordered again, and sure enough the creature returned to me, taking the simplest path possible. Maybe with this Skeletal Stag, I might be able to hunt a deer.
I checked the surrounding area, but there was no sign of any other deer.
"Go hunt!" I commanded, and sure enough the steed turned and started running towards a group of trees, vanishing out of sight...
An awkward hour later, and the Skeletal Stag still wasn't back. The day was a bust.
***
I stirred from my midday siesta by the sounds of boots being kicked off. "Hey, Eric," I said groggily, "where's your mother?"
"She went off to hunt," he said, looking a little disappointed. I guess he was expecting his old man, me, to hunt some deer. Truth be told I was feeling a bit of a failure. But only a failure to myself.
Eric sat beside me on the bed and started picking at his fingernails. "So, you're not going to hunt today?" he asked.
"Nope," I said, "it was a bust." Having never had a family before I just awkward patted him on the back. "I will try again tomorrow, after they have returned to the valley."
"Oh okay..." he said walking off.
"Where are you off to?"
He looked at me like a dumb buffoon. "To chop wood..." and when he saw the confusion on my face he continued, "for the fire place."
Little shit... you want to make your father look like an idiot?! Well, I'll show you...
"Wait, grab Railei, I want to show you a game. Ever played naughts and crosses?" I asked though I already knew they hadn't, it didn't exist within Infinite Fantasy Online.
"What's that?" asked Eric.
I'll show you.
***
Day slowly turned into night and it was getting hard to see the lines in the dirt.
This is the best game ever Eric said, as he drew a naught in the dirt blocking off my cross and stitching three of his naughts in a row, winning him the game again...
"I wanna go, I wanna go!" Railei squealed.
I heard some foot steps from the forest, and turned to see Ahllysa with two rats in her hand and scowl on her face. "Thankfully someone managed to catch something," she said, "Eric, why hasn't you gotten the fire started?"
Eric pointed at me, "Dad's playing a game with me."
Ahllysa's eyes narrowed, "You should be helping your father instead of wasting time with games."
"It's not a waste of time!" Eric screamed. Railei being only four years old just cried.
It was about here that I should have chimed in, considering it was my idea to play games instead of do chores, but I didn't, little shit had been beating me for hours, he deserved a little scolding, hahaha.
"Fine, let's get this fire going then," Ahllysa said, turning around.
"Yeah!" Eric cheered.
"We can start cooking the rat now," Ahllysa said, and sure enough the two gut-wrenching rats were cooked.
Scratching rat off my to-eat-bucket-list just a little sooner than I'd hoped.
It didn't take long to eat everything which didn't even scratch the surface of being satiated, and Ahllysa put the kids to bed, and by bed, I mean it was the only bed in the hut and we'd be joining them in the bed later, which made certain activities very risky.
***
"Outside now!" Ahllysa seethed at me, after putting the kids to sleep. I knew better than to argue with the lady of the house.
"What is wrong with you?!" she said, "it's like you're a different person."
Oh seven hells, if only she knew how true that actually was, but I wasn't about to tell that I'd stolen her dead husband's body.
"I'm sorry, I got carried away," I said, "but I was just having fun with the kids. That's all." I lied, I was actually trying to teach that little shit a lesson, and we know how that turned out...
"Fun?" she spat, "fun? You've been sitting there for hours playing games, while I've been out doing your job too." Her rage was quickly turning to desperation, an ugly look for a woman. "You were suppose to fix everything... not make things harder..."
"Things aren't really that bad," I said, trying to calm her down.
"They are!" she yelled, "I sold all our possessions, we don't have enough food, and my husband is dead!" Then looked at me with fear and concern.
"I'm right here..." I said, trying to placate her, but I could see she was already losing it.
"I thought I lost you..." she sobbed.
I placed a hand on her shoulder, and she instantly calmed down.
"Let's go inside... tomorrow is another day."
I wonder what happened to that Skeletal Stag.
***