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Shadow of Serenity
ch04 Beware of the dead

ch04 Beware of the dead

"Shit, I cant stay here forever" I said to myself. I checked the clock to see what time it was. It was 21:00 or 9:00pm.

"Damn... and it's already late? There's no way in hell I'm making my way back to the Inn tonight." I say while cursing to myself. "Guess I'm staying here, at least for now. But I better make sure it's safe."

With that I got up as quietly as possible and started to look around. The window that I had jumped into was an abandoned house near the edge of the town. It smelled pretty bad in here, kind of like a dead body or trash that had been sitting in the hot sun for hours. I peeked outside the window just to make sure that it was safe to move. "Nothing there... thank god." I sigh to myself feeling some of the anxiety leave my body.

After looking out the window I turned back and began looking around the house. It wasn't a big house, it was honestly just a cottage. A one story with what seemed like one closed door to the left that I Could make out through the moonlight. To the right there was a small kitchen area with a depilated, weak looking table and a couple of wooden chairs around it. There was spoiled food still sitting on the table, knocked over like whoever was living here was startled mid meal, and left in a hurry. There was also a small fireplace that was obviously out and it seemed like it hadn't been used in a long while. A old rocking chair with some wood shavings around it could be seen as well.

'What the hell is going on in this town?' I think to myself. I still didn't even know the name of this place, yet here I was getting chased by creatures in the middle of the night. While inwardly thinking about what the hell was going on in this place, I looked around the cottage to see if I could find anything useful. I started going through the few cabinets that were in the kitchen area, but there wasn't much to scavenge. The only thing that I found of use was a piece of bread that was probably stale. Good thing I was feeling hungry because I sure stuffed that stale piece of bread right in my mouth. It was very hard, and didn't have any flavor, but it did fill the hole in my stomach after I just ran for my life.

Ate stale bread health regen 1/s, stamina regen 3/s

"So, I guess when you burn through your stamina like that you have to replenish it with food or something?" I said out loud to myself. I could feel my body regain energy, which brought my anxiety down just a little bit more. "This is good, if I need to run again this will definitely be beneficial." I decided while my stamina and health were regenerating that I would look at my status screen. I looked at the small + and it opened up my character sheet.

Name: Metro

Level: 1

Fame: 0

Health: 95/100 (regen 1/s for 15 secs)

Karma: 0 Stamina: 60/100 (regen 3/s for 15 secs)

(Class)

N/A

Other resource(s):

N/A

(Stats)

Str:10 End: 10

Dex: 10 Agi: 10

Int: 10 Wis: 10

Free SP: 0

(Affinity)

Water: 5% Fire: 3% Earth: 0%

Air: 0% Light: 0% Dark: 10%

(Unique Stats)

N/A

(Resistances)

Water: 2% Fire: 1% Earth: 0%

Air: 0% Light: 0% Dark: 3%

(Skills)

YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL!

YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SKILL!

to learn more about your skills think of the skill you want to learn about,

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

and it will come to your mind. Or visit a Tutor or library in a village/town!

(Tutors, and books give more in depth explanations!)

Passive Skills: Evasion: 1/10

Active Skills: Sprint 1/10

"Oh shit, I gained a two new skills?" I was surprised, I didn't hear any notifications or anything like they usually put in games when you gain a new skill or level. Maybe there was a noise or notification or something, but since I was in the middle of running for my life I didn't notice it. Either way all bonuses were welcome especially if I had to run like that again! So far those two skills were the only benefits of my current situation.

After looking around the kitchen area and finding nothing, I looked around the fire place. Stuck into the arm of the chair in front of the fireplace was an old knife of sorts, probably used for either cooking of fletching, I decided to take it just in case I needed a weapon. After picking it up I got a notification.

(Old Fletching knife)

common

level requirement:1

Durability 25/100

damage: 5-15

Description: This is an old fletchers favorite knife that has seen years of usage, the blade is barely sharp enough to shave or cut, but it will get the job done.

"Finally something to protect myself with..." I say with relief "Now this is starting to feel like an MMO for real." After looking around the fireplace a bit more and finding nothing I decided to move on. "Now lets see what's behind door number one" I say half jokingly. Slowly, and carefully I began walking toward the closed door. The closer I made it, the worse the stench of death got. 'Lord, please let me open this door and it just be some garbage or something' I didn't need any more thrills tonight. While slowly making my way to the door I quickly look at the time, and notice it just hit 22:30. 'The night ain't getting any younger, lets get this over with so I can relax...' I inwardly say to myself. Just as I reached the door the smell grew overwhelmingly powerful. 'That definitely isn't the smell of garbage' at this point I was already prepared for the worse. I steeled myself, gripped the fletching knife till my knuckles popped and took a deep breath of that acrid air. 'Alright on 3 we open this door...' I think to myself.

'One...'

'Two...'

"Three!"

As I yelled three and shoved the door open the most disgusting scene I had ever laid eyes on greeted my vision. This was a bedroom. Inside sitting at a desk near the back wall, and to the right of the bed was a man with his head turned 180 degrees. His eyes were completely gouged out and all that was left were black holes. His mouth was open set with eternal grimace and his teeth were yellow and brown with dried blood. I could just make out what looked like intestines hanging from under the chair, so his stomach must be ripped open. There was no hair left on its head, just a few clinging strands.

"What the fu- *gag*" I had to stop myself from throwing up. This was probably the most graphic scene I had ever seen in any videogame or real life. Nothing I had ever seen had been this grotesque. "What in the hell is going on in this town!?" I screamed out loud. As soon as I spoke the man in the chair twitched ever so slightly. At that moment my heart started beating out of my chest. The dead mans arms pushed back on the table and the body and chair fell over together. Then something straight out of a horror movie happened. The dead mans 180 degree turned head which had just smashed into the ground snapped up, and its hollow eye sockets looked my direction.

"If you come over here I swear ill put you down for good..." I said with a shaky voice. The dead man took my threat lightly, and on all four limbs it crawled at me with lightning speed. it made no noises, just the sound of its body crawling across the ground and its intestines trailing behind him. Its mouth still in a constant grimace of pain.

"GET THE FUCK BACK!" I yelled. The dead man Pounced on me as I screamed. Just before it could grab me I cocked my leg back and kicked it dead in its twisted head. It made the first real noise I heard since being in this house. A blood curdling shriek, it sounded like two pieces of styrofoam scratching against each other, but multiplied by 10. The thing stumbled back a few feet.

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH*

I grimaced and squinted my eyes but made no move to cover my ears. I could feel the onset of a migraine coming from hearing this thing screech, but I wasted no time. Before it could collect itself for another pounce, I made my move. This time I was the one who was pouncing. I jumped directly on top of the dead man, One of my feet entered its open stomach wound and held it to the ground, even with that this thing was still able to move. It tried to grab and rip at me, It head still turned completely around, and its arms scratching shaving off some of my HP once again, but I didn't care. I had this thing right where I wanted it. I grabbed the back of its head while my foot was still shoved in its stomach, took the fletching knife in my free hand and jabbed it directly into its head multiple times.

*SHICK*

*SHICK*

*SHICK*

The dead mans flailing and scratching grew more eradicate, and it started shaving off my HP at an alarming rate, each scratch left a deep gouge in my skin, and my beginner shirt was basically ripped to shreds. the pain was intense, but I knew if I let up I would once again be facing death. It screeched once again this time louder than the last.

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!*

I squinted my eyes and once again ignored the migraine that had set over my brain. I raised the fletching knife to give this thing one last stab, I didn't know how much durability was left on this knife, but it already felt like it was coming apart in my hand. This last stab had to take it down or I was definitely going to die before this thing. "SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!" I Screamed at this thing and shoved the knife as deep as possible in the back of the dead mans head.

*SHICKK*

With that last stab god must have been on my side. Not only did the handle of the knife snap off, leaving the blade in the back of this things head, but I must have done a critical hit. The thing finally lost its strength, and began violently convulsing on the floor. with the last of its nerve impulses leaving its body, it let out of sigh of what sounded like relief, and lay still on the floor. The blood pooling out of its body smelled even worse than when I originally first opened the door. It was a dark red almost black like sludge. I yanked my foot from out of its stomach, and stood up.

I took some deep breathes of the acrid air to once again calm myself down. "God damn, I don't know if I can do this shit right here." I curse to myself. "This shit seems like a horror game more than an mmorpg. My fucking hands are shaking" I say to myself. I sit down on the bed not far from the monster I just killed. I had never killed anything before in my life. Even if this thing was technically already dead, it still resembled a human at some point.

"Fuck..." I say while looking at the growing pool of dark red sludge. "What the hell am I doing..." I say to myself through deep breaths. I was so exhausted and tired, and the headache I had developed from listening to this thing shriek was getting intense. "I need to relax for a few and collect myself" I said. With that I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes...

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