The moment the robed man looked at the torture table I knew he would see that the scalpel was missing. In that fraction of a second, I knew that all bets were off and I acted without hesitation.
All thoughts other than survival left my mind and I acted on pure instinct, fuelled by fear and adrenaline. As he looked at the table, I stopped pretending I was still tied up.
As quickly as I could, I moved my hands to the front of me and began hastily cutting at the ropes binding my legs. I had nearly cut through them just before the man entered the room so I was confident I could free myself before he reached me.
As I cut he spoke and turned in my direction. His dark, unfeeling eyes glistened with a sadistic joy to match his ear-to-ear grin.
I could tell he was confident because he didn’t panic at all. He walked towards me at a slow and threatening pace. That would be his undoing. I freed myself just as he passed by the other prisoner. He didn’t seem to have any weapons which was a bonus for me,
As he reached my position I channelled all of my power to my thighs and, from a squatting position, I leaped upwards and slashed at his throat with the scalpel. My attack landed, I felt the contact, but it was too shallow.
He struck me in the solar plexus with a powerful palm heel strike and I flew across the room into the wall behind me.
The wind was knocked out of me and all the air emptied from my lungs as I fought for breath. My health dropped dramatically.
“I like a feisty captive. I’m going to enjoy beating that out of you.” He said, licking his lips as a look of pure, unadulterated joy spread over his face.
Oh great. He’s a sadist and a battle junkie.
I struggled to my feet as he stood there, watching me. He wanted me to get back up so he could take pleasure in putting me down again. What a freak. His parents must have been mean to him as a child or something.
I stood before him, panting as my lungs were still in shock. I still had the scalpel somehow, but I knew it wasn’t going to be enough. I wouldn’t survive another hit from him. As it stood my HP was already knocked down to 8/25. It had been full before. He’d dealt 17 damage with a single palm heel. The man was a damned monster.
I knew I only had one shot, so I followed my instincts and hoped for the best.
I threw the scalpel at the man’s face. He blocked it easily, but in that moment he was off guard I charged at him and shoulder barged him with all my might.
He was caught off balance and fell backwards with a splash as he landed inside the cauldron.
He screamed bloody murder as the acid began melting his skin. It stank of sulphur and burnt meat as his wails filled the room. I hoped there weren’t any other hunters around to hear it or I’d be screwed.
Pretty soon the lower half of his body had disappeared and all that was left was the upper half of a torso draped over the side like a sock puppet.
“Yes! We’re safe now mate!” I shouted as I pumped my fist in the air.
I’d managed to win. I was in a little bit of shock from the whole ordeal. I’d never killed a person before. But I’d won and I would live… for now.
It was strange to me. People back home always said that killing another person for the first time was a big deal. They’d said it made some people vomit, others get depression and feel awful for what they’d done. But in that moment the only thing I felt was absolute ecstasy.
The notifications came pouring in but I ignored them for the time being. I needed to untie the other prisoner.
“Hey, we won mate. I’m gonna untie you, I just need to find the scalpel.” I said cheerily to my comrade in capture.
He didn’t reply.
I stood up and walked towards him. I hoped he was ok.
“Hey buddy, are you alright?” I said, cutting him loose.
He wasn’t the lightest fellow, despite being pretty scrawny at the time. Though maybe I was just weak. It didn’t matter, I dragged him off the cross and sat him down with his back against the nearby wall.
His head lolled and he seemed to be a deadweight. I wondered if he’d passed out. He did seem pretty malnourished and frail when he’d spoken.
I figured I’d best check he was still breathing so I tilted his head back.
His face was gone. There was nothing there except for bone and leaking brain fluid. It was revolting. I heard a faint sizzling sound as more of his flesh began to disintegrate and then I realised.
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When I’d thrown the robed man into the cauldron it must have splashed acid at the other prisoner. He was dead. I’d killed him.
That was the moment when the weight of taking another human life hit me as I vomited over his corpse.
I scuttled back a few paces and looked at him. The man who was my counterpart in this awful, fucked up situation. An innocent human, spirited away against his will just like me. And I’d killed him.
It dawned on me that perhaps the trope of people feeling bad or throwing up when they’d killed someone was more related to innocent life, or at least life they could understand.
In war when soldiers kill each other, they feel something because the people they killed were just ordinary folk doing the same job they were. They could relate to them.
The guy who accidentally kills someone in a car crash is affected by it because that person is innocent, just going about their daily lives, just as he had been.
I didn’t feel anything for the hooded man because he was the enemy. He was a sadistic bastard who was going to skin me alive and get off on the act of doing so. I couldn’t relate to that. He wasn’t innocent. He deserved a painful death.
But this guy? He was a fallen comrade. And I didn’t even know his name.
The tears welled up as I sat on the floor for a while with my thoughts.
***
At a guess, I’d let about twenty minutes pass before I calmed down. I felt bad that it took such a short time to move on but I couldn’t stay in the prison. It wasn’t safe and I wasn’t even at full health.
I took a deep breath and looked at my notifications. I needed a distraction.
Congratulations! You have defeated:
Chrysus Cultist (lvl 10)
You have received bonus experience for defeating an opponent above your own level.
Wow, that guy had been 7 levels higher than me. If it wasn’t for the acid cauldron I wouldn’t have stood a chance. It made sense that his palm heel strike would cause so much damage. The rank disparity alone was probably enough.
As expected, I gained a few levels.
You have advanced to lvl 4.
You have advanced to lvl 5.
Advancing to lvl 5 has unlocked the following:
Achievements
X5 Free Stat Points per level
That was interesting. Now I had stat points I could start pumping up my stats. I wondered if they directly affected the things like my HP and Stamina.
I didn’t know what achievements were but I didn’t have to wait very long before I got one. It was literally the next notification.
Achievement Unlocked!
I’m Melting! Melting!
You have successfully taken down an opponent more than twice your rank by using the environment. That’s a dirty tactic if ever I’ve seen one, kudos.
Reward: x1 Acid Reflux Loot Box
I’d received a loot box. That was interesting. I hoped it had something useful inside, like maybe pants or shoes. I wouldn’t get my hopes too high though, after all the system seemed to enjoy messing with me.
Before I had a chance to stop it, the next notification came up on my HUD. The one I’d been dreading.
Congratulations! You have defeated:
Player – Brad Duncan (lvl 0)
I could make this like a memorial and tell you about Brad’s life here, but honestly he was a boring guy. He was captured before getting a single level, how lame is that?
Reward: PKing Loot Box
Do you want to absorb Player – Brad Duncan’s Celestial Map piece(s)?
Y/N
I wasn’t sure what to do. What was a celestial map piece? I wondered if it was the proper name for those tattoos we apparently all had. In fact, I hadn’t even checked to see if Brad had one.
I also wasn’t thrilled about the idea of being rewarded for killing another player.
I crawled over to the corpse of Brad on my hands and knees. I was only a few paces from him. I gingerly turned over his body to take a look and there it was.
The tattoo looked like a small jigsaw piece in the middle of his back. It was all black lines and remined me of a tiny piece of a tribal tattoo.
It made sense that I couldn’t find my own if it was placed right in the middle of my back like his. There was no way I’d be able to see that without a mirror or a camera or something.
I sighed and sat back, leaning against the wall.
It would be a waste not to take the tattoo. I didn’t really know what they were used for but I sure as hell didn’t want the hunters to have it.
It felt right, like a memorial for the man I’d killed. So I mentally asserted yes to the question posed by the notification.
Brad’s body lit up like a starry sky. The tattoo itself lifted off his body like tiny particles of light. The light pieces looked physical, like I could hold out my hand and touch them.
They moved towards me and I felt a warm glow on the middle of my back, like it had joined on to my own tattoo that I assumed was also there.
I felt a small power flowing through me. It was nice and warm like sitting on the beach in a tropical paradise and letting the sun warm your skin.
You have assimilated a piece of The Celestial Map:
Celestial Map pieces collected: 2/10,000
10,000 pieces? Jesus. I’d known that the system announcer had told us we all had a piece of this map but it only just dawned on me that someone would have to kill 10,000 people to get the whole thing.
That was insane!
Talk about mass murder. No wonder I disliked the hunter I’d killed so much. You’d have to be unhinged to kill that many people just for some stupid treasure map.
New Quest: The Celestial Map
Collect all the pieces of The Celestial Map. Upon completion of this quest you will unlock another quest.
Objectives:
Map pieces collected 2/10,000
Reward: Vast Cosmic Power
“Fuck.”