I ran. I ran for my life.
“Goddammit, Cosmo! A Golem? Are you fucking kidding me?” My sneakers sent pebbles flying as I sprinted down the tunnel, and the darkness made me stumble.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The Golem’s every step shook the area, putting me in the middle of a never-ending earthquake.
High Level Starter Dungeon? The hell was I thinking?
The beast might’ve been slow, but its gait was so long that it almost didn’t matter.
Only my track & field training, which came rushing back as I pumped my legs, kept me alive.
Unfortunately, it did nothing to erase years of neglected workout routines. Not even a hundred yards in, my heart was threatening to burst.
Heaving for air, I spotted a dark hole off to the side. Small. Narrow. Which was good.
I darted into the cavity. It was more of a crack in the rock than a passage, but it was big enough. Barely.
I shimmied into the crack, desperately trying to get as deep as I possibly could.
The Obsidian Golem rushed in after me… Only to find the task impossible.
It roared and slammed its head onto the rock, chipping a chunk of its skull in the process.
The crack I was in shuddered. Small rocks fell on my head from far above.
Ow! Ow! OWW!
Forget avoiding them—I was almost stuck in this fissure. I could barely even move.
The roaring—which itself sounded like an earthquake—kept up for the next several minutes. I did my best to creep deeper into the fissure, but to no avail. The crack only got smaller and smaller.
Over and over during the ten longest minutes of my life, I wondered how much more abuse the golem could take before it smashed itself to death.
Finally, its relentless assault ended. The Golem’s Thud. Thud. Thud announced its departure. Silence returned, and I finally breathed easily.
Or, I did after I shimmied back out into the tunnel. A task that took far longer than I’d care to admit.
“Okay, Greg. You survived your first dungeon encounter. Well done,” I whispered, my voice shaking. I’d intended it as a joke, but it came out as a half-cry as my composure began to crack.
I took in the dark tunnel. Obsidian fragments littered the floor. What now?
I needed to get some place safe.
Problem was, I didn’t have a map. In fact, I knew nothing about my surroundings, save for at least one Golem roaming its depths.
Did the dungeon have multiple floors? How deep was I? Was there a boss monster I’d need to fight to get out? Or could I just mosey out at my leisure?
I froze in my tracks. Because that was all wrong, wasn’t it?
I’d just jumped to thinking of everything like a game. But it wasn’t a game, was it? This was real. It was all real.
And if it was real, why in the world would there be safe rooms? Why would there be levels? These were game constructs.
It was almost laughable, now that I thought about it—things that made so much sense in games would be so out of place in the real world. People didn’t fight bears expecting them to drop loot and their ‘health’ didn’t just magically restore after a solid night’s rest.
While I did have Essence and a display showing my body’s overall condition, I needed to change my mindset. The danger was real. The stakes were real. Treating this like a game was bound to get me killed.
I took a long, calming breath. At least I now had a Blessing. One that would, hopefully, keep me alive. Assuming I learned how to use it.
Status, I thought, thinking of the most generic command used for showing status information.
A semi-translucent blue box popped up, showing my vital stats.
Name: Gregory Samuel Wills
Essence Utilization: 0/10
Blessing: Initializer [Epic] (Foundation - 0)
Stats: Total: 60
— Vigor: 5
— Order: 1
— Wisdom: 13
— Passion: 12
— Grace: 6
— Cunning: 15
— Dominion: 8
As much as I wanted to pore over every little detail of that status screen, a thud in the distance forcibly changed my mind.
“Blessing Details,” I said.
A new screen popped up.
Blessing: Initializer [Epic]
Systems! Leveling! Now even your gear gives you stats! Isn’t that grand?
Essence Utilization: 0/10
Details:
— Weapon Bestowal: Initialize weapons. Weapons can level up to current Blessing level
— Evolvable (Evolutions: 0)
I scanned the wall of text just long enough to grasp its basics. Basically, I could enchant stuff. The stuff I could enchant seemed to be limited to my Blessing level. Oh, and it could evolve. I’d been right with my deductions. I could only enchant weapons for now.
Something itched in my pants. Reaching into my pocket to relieve it, my fingers found a smooth object. Like a ball.
I brought it out. Under the dim light, it was hard to make out the color, though it looked transparent.
“Uh, Status?” I said, not quite sure if the System would help me out here.
Cosmo’s Gizmo of the Allspeak
Behold the most beautiful jewel you’re ever gonna lay your eyes on. Could I have called this a universal translator? Yes. Would that be stupidly boring? Also yes. You’ve seen this before. You know what it does. Functions only if you didn't choose the 'Deafness' penalty.
Condition: N/A
Rarity: Epic
Stats: None
Ability: Allspeak: Fluency in the various tongues of the world
So there were civilized races in this world. Good to know! Also good to know I could speak the language. Or languages. Spending months learning to communicate would’ve been a real downer.
“Thanks Cosmo!” I muttered, staring up. Then I ripped some moss off the wall and attempted to enchant it.
“Enchant!” I commanded.
Nothing.
“Bestow!”
Again, nothing.
“Initialize?”
A blue box popped up.
ERROR. Unable to [Initialize]. Object does not qualify as a weapon.
“Huh. I suppose I should’ve guessed that.”
I wasn’t sure how moss could ever be used as a weapon—unless you used it to suffocate someone? Maybe?
I then tried enchanting my shirt out of curiosity but got the same error message.
That made me wonder how strict Cosmo’s System was and if there was any way to game it, but there’d be plenty of time for experimentation later.
For now, I just needed something that’d help me survive in case I ran into another of those rock golems.
I looked around for anything I could use—and noticed that I could see.
That should’ve been obvious by this point. But it was unusual. Caves were supposed to be pitch-black abysses of dark nothingness.
Strange.
That was when I noticed that the light was coming from the moss. Bioluminescent moss. The same stuff I’d just tried to Initialize. It was everywhere, covering the walls and the floor.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Not the ceiling, though.
Up was that black abyss I’d feared. Because I wasn’t in a cave at all, but at the bottom of some sort of ravine. The moss grew along the walls and stretched upward, disappearing into the blackness.
Can I… climb my way out?
I approached a wall and ripped off some moss, which revealed slick rock beneath. Far too smooth for my meager rock climbing skills.
I was about to toss aside the moss in my hand when I got an idea. I gingerly picked up one of the Obsidian Golem’s broken fragments, careful not to cut myself against its sharp edges.
The piece I retrieved was vaguely knifelike, just that its handle was as deadly to me as it’d be to my enemies. To fix that, I wrapped copious amounts of moss around the handle.
It’d fall apart before long, but if I was right about how the Blessing worked, maybe it’d work.
“This has to count. Right?”
Initialize [Makeshift Obsidian Shard]? 99% chance to successfully Initialize [Common] weapon. Essence Cost: 2.
Well, that was interesting. The probability implied my success rate would drop when Initializing higher rarity items. That meant I wasn’t locked to a particular tier until I leveled up. Good to know, though it made me wonder what happened if I did fail to Initialize something. Something to explore later.
“Initialize!” I commanded.
The shard glowed softly before returning to normal.
Makeshift Obsidian Shard [Common]
It’s wicked sharp and oh-so-fragile. I mean, who in their right mind would make a weapon out of obsidian? Also, it’s just as likely to hurt you as it is your enemies. Good luck getting more than one use out of it. And mind the shards when it inevitably shatters.
Essence Cost: 2
Condition: 1/1
Stats: None
Abilities:
— Minor Bleeding (Foundation - 0): Causes organic targets to bleed a bit more than usual when struck.
While it wasn’t bad, Cosmo was right. It was a somewhat dangerous weapon, though the moss hilt had firmed up. Enough to protect my hands from the blade, at least.
I’d have to be careful about keeping it stowed. I lacked a backpack or any holsters, so I gently pushed my shards into my jeans’ back pockets, careful not to rip the denim.
My other pockets were still mostly empty, so I searched around for anything else that could be used as a weapon. Five minutes later, I had a handful of small rocks. Not pointy, stabby rocks. Smooth, like river stones.
Was this place once underwater?
I found that fact interesting. Not immediately useful, but I filed it away.
Initialize [Pet Rock]? 99% chance to successfully Initialize [Common] weapon. Essence Cost: 1.
“Initialize!” I commanded.
My rock glowed just like the shard had, and a System message popped up in front of me.
Pet Rock [Common]
Really, Greg? A rock? I mean—actually, nevermind. I’ll reserve judgment until I see your throwing arm. Then, I’ll make fun of you.
Essence Cost: 1
Condition: 50/50
Stats: None
Abilities:
— Rock Solid (Foundation - 0): Deals slightly more damage to targets upon impact.
“Damn backseat gamer,” I griped. It was a shitty joke, but given my dire situation, I appreciated Cosmo’s levity.
“Well, that’s about as bad as I’d expected,” I muttered. wondering why the rock had a rarity, while the obsidian shard had both a rarity and ‘Makeshift’ in its name. As if the act of modifying it before Initializing had altered its specs.
To confirm it, I Initialized another, unmodified shard, and sure enough, it bore no ‘Makeshift’ tag. It had the same [Minor Bleeding] ability as the others, which told me that items were at least consistent in the benefits they gave.
I’d have to test the two variants to see what the difference was, if any. For now, I crushed the non-makeshift one, which I was happy to see restored 2 Essence Points to my pool.
Like the shard, my pet rock had a level. Foundation - 0, which I shortened to F - 0.
I’d have been excited about that, if it weren’t a goddamn rock. Its ability to do damage was directly proportional to my throwing skills. Which, of course, were nonexistent.
“I’ve always wanted a pet rock. Thank you, Cosmo, for making my dreams come true,” I murmured. Mostly to keep myself from breaking down into a nervous wreck. Surviving constant danger was more stressful than I’d imagined.
I took another couple of minutes to Initialize a few more rocks, and before long, I had a small arsenal. If four rocks could be considered an arsenal. I wanted to keep a reserve in case I needed it for an emergency.
What I learned through that experience, other than Cosmo’s rain check to make fun of me, was that each rock had a Condition rating.
Wanting to test out just how strong my rocks were, I smashed one against the wall.
Big Mistake. The echoes nearly made my heart jump.
Several moments passed, and I half-expected some monster to jump out of the tunnel after me.
When none did, I resolved to be more careful. I wrapped the rock in my shirt and banged it a bit more softly. Any noise was a risk, but not knowing the limits of my abilities was worse.
After the fiftieth banging, it finally broke. The rocks were far tougher than they’d have otherwise been.
The shard, however, was not. It broke after a single strike against the wall.
It did, however, leave visible marks on the wall. Truly a one-hit wonder. I’d have to be careful about how I used it. I opted not to Initialize another for now, leaving me with my Makeshift shard. That brought my current utilization to 5/10.
I also learned that my Essence functioned similarly to mana in games, with one crucial difference: it didn’t recover.
More accurately, my Initialized weapons functioned like Summoned items—consuming a fixed amount of Essence until they were destroyed, at which point the Essence would be released back into my pool.
Though not a serious consideration when my weapons were so weak, it’d become an issue later. I doubted I could break an Initialized steel sword easily, and I hadn’t yet found a way to destroy my rocks at will.
Also, it didn’t look like I got any assist when throwing or swinging things. It made sense—my [Initializer] blessing was built for enchanting, not for combat, per se. While my Initialized gear strengthened me, this meant I’d have to learn to fight the old-fashioned way.
Satisfied with my discoveries and my stock of ammunition—I left some spare Essence capacity just in case—I set out down the ravine in the opposite direction the golem had stormed off to.
The ravine opened up into a massive room. I could just barely make out bioluminescent moss on the ceiling.
Okay, Greg. That’s good. That’s progress.
I made it about fifty yards in before I made first contact with another monster.
Not a Golem. Much, much uglier.
Oh, FUCK.
The pitch-black troll turned slowly to look at me. A green overlay appeared around the troll’s skin, the same as the golem.
“Grrrrrrrrrnnnggh,” it boomed.
If I thought the Golem was big, that monster had nothing on this one. It had to be at least two stories tall.
The thing was gangly and humanoid, and it looked like a generic fantasy troll. But it was made of sleek, black obsidian. It was the most terrifying abomination I’d ever seen.
“GRRRRNNNNNNNGH!”
It brandished its obsidian cudgel, and the force of the wind nearly knocked me to the ground.
That was when I decided I needed to run.
Except my legs wouldn’t budge. Terror overtook me, and I stood rooted in place.
Move, goddammit! You’re gonna die. Fucking MOVE!
My mind was still in a daze, but something in my body responded. Something primal. Before I knew it, my legs were propelling me to the other end of the room.
The troll lumbered after me, its obsidian joints groaning in protest with each step.
It’s slow! I thought, feeling hope push back against the panic rising in my chest.
The troll was slow, and yet, it hardly seemed to matter. It was closing the gap at an alarming rate.
“Goddammit!” I roared, diving just barely in time to avoid its cudgel. “I don’t even taste good!”
My mouth ran off on its own. How I had enough presence of mind to make quips, I didn’t know. Maybe it was a survival mechanism. Maybe it was my desperate attempt to hold on to my sanity.
Because I knew. I wasn’t going to make it. The tunnel at the other end was too small to fit the troll, but it was just too damn far.
I had one advantage—I was agile. Maybe not for a human, but compared to that thing? It wasn’t even a contest.
The troll was quick in a straight line thanks to its size, but in games, trolls were generally A—dumb, and B—slow to react.
I prayed to Cosmo that the same logic applied here.
I cut left, running for the other end of the cavern.
Sure enough, the troll took a while to screech to a halt. Then it stared at where I’d been, and only then did it figure out where I’d gone.
By that time, I was already at the other end of the room.
By a colossal pile of blackened human and animal bones.
In its lair.
A dead end.
Oh no. Nononononono.
Stay cool. You still have time, Greg. Think. What can we use here? Oh god, that’s Rancor-level devastation there.
I thought immediately of the monster from that scene in The Return of the Jedi.
The bone pile had to have been the result of decades of feasting on poor souls who’d wandered into its lair.
Poor souls like me.
I ran to the pile and found the largest bone I could handle. That was when I discovered that the blackened bones were actually obsidian. How that made sense, I had no clue.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The Troll was on its way. I didn’t have time to question it.
Moving frantically, I wrenched out an obsidian leg bone of some animal.
“Yes!” I roared, my voice hoarse and broken.
I was about to turn away when a glinting something caught my eye.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”
There, buried in the middle of the pile, were the remains of a human skeleton.
A skeleton that wore rusted metal armor and held an equally rusted sword in its hand.
Rusted or not, those were weapons. Weapons I could use.
The irony of it all?
I couldn’t get to it. Not before the Obsidian Troll got to me.
So I did the next best thing.
Initialize [Obsidian Bone Club]? 99% chance to successfully Initialize [Common] weapon. Essence Cost: 5.
“Initialize! Initialize Goddammit!”
The bone flashed brilliantly white as my ability did its thing, and then, just like that, I had a brand new enchanted weapon.
A notification appeared and minimized into a corner.
Letting out a guttural roar that contained all of my frustration, I booked it, leaving the precious gear behind.
I ran right by the troll’s legs, clubbing one along the way. Tiny shards of obsidian exploded from the impact. Some of it was from my club. Some were the troll’s.
A surge of adrenaline pumped through my blood. I’d done some damage to the monster!
A minimized notification appeared in the corner of my vision, but I didn’t have the time to pay it any attention.
I glanced at the troll’s green outline, only to find it unchanged. Whatever damage I’d done had been negligible.
It did, however, confuse the hell out of the troll.
Confused it enough to whirl.
It didn’t even hit me. The wind knocked me on my ass.
I went tumbling. My bones crunched and ached. Covered in scrapes and bruises, I forced myself to keep rolling. Away from that monster. Away from danger.
The monster doubled back. It’d be upon me in moments.
I jumped to my feet and pumped my legs. My heart nearly burst from the effort.
I could feel the Troll behind me.
Closer. Ever closer.
It swept its cudgel.
I dove for the tunnel…
This time, I made it.
Its cudgel crashed into stone, followed immediately by the troll itself.
The ensuing earthquake lifted me three feet into the air before I slammed back down onto my back.
The troll didn’t pursue. I mean, how could it? It’d never fit.
I was safe. For now.
I stared at the green-lit tunnel… and laughed. I laughed so hard I cried.
I was safe. But I had to go back.
Because there was a weapon and armor lying back there that I had to have.
Congratulations! [Initializer] has leveled up to Foundation - 1. Max Essence has increased from 10 to 20. Essence Utilization: 10/20
Would you like to reclaim Initialized equipment?