The creature immediately lunged at Nick as it spotted him. Nick smiled, as his mind filled with anger at seeing the creature that had killed him, all thoughts of the creature with the crossbow and his attack plan thrown out the window as he raised his club in a over head swing. His club struck the creature in the shoulder as it weaved its head. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his rib.

A health bar now hovered above both Nick and the red-eyed creature. Nick’s was slightly above half and the creature’s was still mostly full. However, it had a red hue to it now and was ever so slowly draining away. Nick didn’t pay any attention to this as he shouldered the creature back and flowed up with a swing of his club. This time, he impacted the creature’s skull and a cracking sound echoed out. The creature staggered back as its health dipped to half. Not wasting a moment and ignoring the green bar that had been dropping with each of his movements, he swung his club at the creature’s head again and again. Each hit staggered the creature.

Only a sliver of health remained and Nick went to swing his club a final time when a sharp pain shot up his spine then throughout his entire body, causing him to seize up. The green bar was blinking red. He somehow knew he couldn’t move a muscle till that bar had green in it again. Nick’s eyes widened in fear and hatred as the creature seemed to snap out of its daze and got to its feet as art went to attack him it suddenly it just collapsed. Light swirled up and into his chest. His green bar finally filled enough he could move, the pain of his stab wound also caught up with him. And he clutched at his rib. At the rate he was bleeding, he feared he would bleed out soon.

Looking up the stairs and not seeing the other hooded figure, he headed back to the campfire. He had to do something about his wound. Maybe he could heat the dagger up and sear his wound. The thought made him wince, but he didn’t really have another choice. His health bar was still above half. If he could trust that, then this wasn’t fatal, though he had no idea if that took in a count for bleeding.

As he made his way back, several things ran through his mind. How the creature had just died was one of them, but that could be summed up as the rot damage. He was beginning to like this club despite the words taking up half his vision. If he could figure out how to make it heal him, then he would like it even more. What had Nick worried, and taking up most of his thoughts, was the anger he had felt. He no longer had that desire to charge the creatures or even fight them for that matter, though he didn’t see another option, less the ruins lead somewhere.

Sitting down next to the campfire, he winced at what he had to do. Setting the club down, he placed his hand over the fire to get the dagger. As he did, the echoing bell chimed out again and suddenly the pain vanished. Pulling his hand back, he stood up, rubbing his hand over his side. The wound was now completely healed, even his health bar was gone. Nick assumed that meant his health bar was full again. A smile crept onto his face. He could do this. He had already killed them all but the one with the crossbow, at least down here. Deciding to see how much essence he had before heading back up the stairs, he placed his hand over the fire again. Ignoring the bell, he looked over his stat page. He now had one eighty-four. He had only killed three of them and the first one only gave him forty-three, meaning red eyes was worth more. That seemed right, as he had to do a lot more damage to it than the others. It was also faster and stronger. He would have to keep an eye out for others with red eyes. He also realized it would not be easy to level up. But if he could just sit back down here and heal up, it should be doable.

Nick glanced at the ruins, but decided he wanted to see what was on the cliff. It was likely where the next shrine was, and that’s where he would meet that Shrine lady. He also had questions and wanted to see his family again, even if it was only a glimpse.

Nick got up and headed towards the stairs, as he did he glanced up, it was drizzling slightly, but what held his attention was the sky, he couldn’t tell where the sun was exactly but he thought it was odd that it was still day. It had been on the verge of night ever since he arrived.

The thought quickly vanished as he saw a hooded figure walking down the stairs. He ducked behind the wall and waited a couple of minutes before he peeked back over. The figure was now heading up the stairs.

“No,” Nick’s face fell, “those mother fuckers respawned didn’t they.”

Sighing, he leaned his back up against the stairs. “Shit!” Nick said as he rocked back and forth. He didn’t have time for this! He needed to get home. A few minutes passed as he thought through his situation. The Wisp and the shrine lady both said his family was fine, so at least there was that. It didn’t change the fact he needed to make it back to them, but it meant he didn’t have to make rash decisions to get back to them.

If the creatures respawned when he touched the campfire, then what was stopping him from farming them? He needed to be stronger if he was to get one of these churches to send him back. Although, if this church of light could summon him here, he should probably figure out a way to keep that from happening again. Just another question to ask the Shrine lady. Determination filled Nick’s eyes as he peeked around the wall. The robbed figure was heading back up the stairs again.

Creeping up behind the first hooded figure, he dealt with it the same way as he had before. He watched the stairs like a hawk as he made his way up. That damned red eyed one was no joke. Turing the bend, Nick was face to face with the cross bow creature. Nick didn’t hesitate as he swung his club like a bat. Right before he his club impacted, a bolt slammed into his shoulder. Despite the pain, Nick’s club still smashed into the creature at full force, knocking it to the ground staggered. Wincing, he pulled the arrow from his shoulder, as he did his health bar dipped again along with the green bar. Nick turned to the downed figure who had dropped its bow and pulled out a dagger. However, he didn’t give the creature time to get to its feet and swung two more times at the creature’s head.

His green bar was at a quarter when the light shot towards him, confirming the kill. Nick heard quick footsteps and looked up the stairs to see red eyes sprinting down towards him.

“Mother fucker.”

He didn’t feel an over barring anger towards the creature this time, but he still hated it. He also didn’t want to face it right now. A glance at his health bar told him it was three quarters full and his stamina bar was less than half. He now understood how important that green bar was. Part of him wanted to run away to let his stamina recover, but the creature would likely chase him and he would have even less stamina. Nick resigned himself to meet the creature head on. He would have felt better with his make shift shield, but he had forgotten it at the wall.

His shoulder cried in pain as he swung his club. He wasn’t able to swing at the creature’s head, so he swung it towards the center. Red-eyes was knocked back at the cost of a good chunk of his green bar. Within a few seconds, the creature shook off the stun effect and lunged at him. Nick stepped to the side while taking a slash to his arm, his health dropping slightly. The green bar dipping from his quick side step was more concerning than his health at the moment. Red eyes darted in again and Nick attempted to kick it off the stairs with a Spartan kick. However, the creature only stumbled back while grabbing his leg and stabbing both daggers into it. Nick screamed in pain while awkwardly swinging his club into the creature’s face, knocking it back. Nick’s leg nearly collapsed when he put weight on it. Looking down, he noticed a dagger still stuck in his thigh.

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Red-eyes was already charging him again, and he didn’t have the time to worry about the dagger. The creature leaped towards him and Nick swung his club with all the force he could muster. At the same time, his green bar dipped to nothing, and a sharp pain shot up his spine and his body locked up. The creature impacted him, knocking them both off the side of the stairs and causing Nick to lose his club. The creature didn’t seem to be bothered at all by falling and held onto Nick’s arm with one hand and began plunging its dagger into Nick with the other. Nick couldn’t even resist as he was still stun locked from emptying his stamina. Not that it would have mattered. He could barely tell what was happening as they tumbled through the air to the ground below.

YOU DIED |||

Once again, Nick watched the words fade, and he looked around at the darkness. No, not darkness, it was more the absents of anything; the void was a better word to describe it. But he didn’t mind. There was no pain here, and he didn’t like pain. Every time he was at Shades Mire, there was always pain. He didn’t know why he kept going there. He wasn’t even sure how to go back there if he wanted. But he didn’t want to. This was nice, just to float here. After a moment, he wondered why this was nice. Nick simply floated there, pondering on what was nice about it. It was difficult to think for some reason, but he eventually concluded that he didn’t care. Nothing mattered at all, and he didn’t want anything to matter. Suddenly, the image of his little girl playing on the playground entered his fleeting thoughts as memories began flooding his mind.

Nick’s eyes flashed open, and he looked around in a wide-eyed panic. His breaths were short and quick. This time he was standing at the Campfire. Trembling hands ran over his stab wounds, only to find smooth skin. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm his breathing. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, telling himself he wasn’t dead.

His emotions were running wild, likely a result of dying. He may have died, but he wasn’t dead. His breaths slowly calmed as he focused his thoughts. Regardless of what had happened, he made the decision that he was still alive and it didn’t matter that he died. He would make it to the top of those damn stairs and find the next campfire. He had questions, one of which was where did he needed to go to find a church, and which church would be most likely to send him home. Getting out of this hellish place and back to his family was the only thing that mattered.

Opening his eyes, he made his way to the wall to see one of the creatures patrolling. He now knew that the bastards would respawn when he touched the fire and apparently when he died…

Pushing that thought down, he considered his current predicament. He now didn’t have a weapon. However, he saw a slightly glowing light at the edge of the stairs. He would need to collect that essence, at least he assumed that’s how it worked. Though he imaged there was some sort of penalty for dying.

He had to be careful. He somehow felt lesser now, though he wasn’t sure how. It could very well be his imagination. His skin also looked paler, but he chalked that up to trauma, or maybe blood loss… Glancing back at where he had arrived, he smiled when he spotted the club. “You won’t get the best of me this time.”

Nick slammed his club into the back of the creature’s head. It went sprawling on to the stairs as an echoing crack rang out. Nick didn’t hesitate as he swung his club again. This time, he paid attention to his stamina bar. From what he could tell about four swings was all that he could do till it refiled, although that included him using a bit of stamina, approaching the creature and kicking it. As soon as the light flew towards him, he hugged the cliff and made his way to the bend while watching his green bar steadily rise. Peaking around the bend, he saw a creature slowly walking this way. It was nearly at the top and would take it a few minutes to make it to him. Back against the cliff, he looked at his stamina bar. Another thirty seconds or so it should be full. It was convenient that it refilled so quickly because if it ran out, he would be basically screwed.

Glancing down, he saw the light at the bottom of the stairs. He should have gone and retrieved that first. He moved back to check on the creature. Seeing it still slowly making its way down, Nick quickly made his way down to the light. Once he was close enough, it swirled up and shot towards him.

A few moments later, and after he wiped his own blood off the bottom of his bare feet, he was standing at the bend on the staircase back against the cliff, holding the club in both hands at the ready. The best he could tell the creature with the crossbow would be here at any moment. He hadn’t seen Red-eyes, though it had been a solid minute since he looked. He didn’t want to take the chance of the creature spotting him, so he just waited.

He gripped the handle of his club tighter at the thought of red eyes. He wouldn’t let that thing get the best of him this time. As he waited, he envisioned exactly what he would do, while doing his best to calculate the stamina bar. After this, he would figure out exactly what its limits were. No sooner than he had the thought the creature walked around the bend. Nick was startled only for a moment, then he quickly swung his club at the crossbow itself. As he did, he heard it go off, and the bolt clang onto the stone stairs. Next, he swiftly thrust the club’s end towards the creature’s face. The impact disoriented the creature long enough for him to get a good swing at its skull. The creature stumbled back, dropping the crossbow and pulling out a dagger. At the same time, Nick’s club slammed into its skull and it fell to the stairs as the light swirled up and into his chest. Looking at his stamina bar, he saw it was mostly empty from the brief exchange, so he quickly made his way back behind the crumbling wall next to the campfire. He had wanted to check and see it Red-eyes was coming but couldn’t take the chance with his stamina so low.

Nick took several long breaths as he sat back against the wall. The club lay between his legs as water dripped from his hair. Nick smiled despite the light rain. He only had Red-eyes left. Part of him wanted to go to the campfire and see if he could level up. But then the creatures would respawn. He was sure he could take out Red-eyes, especially if he got the drop on him. Hitting them in the head hard enough seemed to stun lock them, and if he could keep the creature stun locked, it wouldn’t be an issue. The makeshift shield he found would be useful if he was facing arrows, but he needed both hands to hit them hard enough to stun lock them so he would just leave it here for now. And getting the drop on them was the most efficient way to deal with them.

Although that depended on whether the creatures continued to patrol the area absentmindedly. If Red-eyes actively came out to search for him, he was not so sure about his chances. The damn thing was relentless. He wished he could see their stamina bars. Glancing over the wall, he quickly put his head down. The creature was currently walking down the stairs. He didn’t think it had noticed him, so Nick waited as his heart pounded in his chest. He would be lying if he didn’t say he was nervous, although at the same time, he had a burning desire to destroy the creature.

Looking back over the wall. He saw it casually heading up the stairs. Nick immediately began towards the creature while praying the creature didn’t turn around. A moment later, Nick slammed his club as hard as he could into the back of the creature’s head. He winced as he saw his stamina drop below half from that one attack. However, the effect it had on Red-eyes was worth it. The creature’s health bar immediately dropped to half and a red hue covered the creature and his club. Nick began bashing the creature’s head in. Each hit dipped into his stamina bar but also dropped Red-eyes health bar and he would win this exchange so he didn’t stop till the light swirled up and flew into his chest. There was now nothing standing in his way to reaching the top.

“Fuck Yes!” Nick shouted at the sky as he stood there panting in the rain.