The Eternal Tomb
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Book 1 - The Southsea Safe Zone
****
Day 1
A worldwide apocalypse.
Demons, dragons and horrors roaming the globe.
Earth's retaliation.
Fissures, earthquakes and tsunamis.
A world in ruins.
...
The end of mankind.
…
Waking up Andrew felt cold sweat and shivers running through his stale body. Opening his bloodshot eyes three strange notification windows - similar to that of a computer's - had surprisingly appeared in the centre of his vision.
【 Congratulations! Due to your uncharacteristically high perception attribute you’ve unconsciously caught a glimpse of an unavoidable world-wide calamity. Prepare yourself. 】
【 Through heavenly luck you’ve gained +1 Perception 】
【 You’ve awakened. 】
Rubbing his still blurry eyes Andrew reread the notices.
“What? Is this for real!?” Andrew exclaimed inwardly, asking no one in particular. Of course he - a product of modern day school and society - wouldn't just accept the fact that magically floating notification windows had suddenly appeared before him.
However recalling his short yet horrifyingly life-like dream, Andrew was unconsciously convinced. The world’s going to collapse and mankind’s going to be destroyed in the process.
Realising this Andrew, a 12 year-old middle schooler, felt a life threatening fear.
“Mom!!”
…
Years passed and the young Andrew grew older.
The apocalypse never began.
Dozens of sessions with therapists from all over England had made Andrew realise that no one seemed to believe him. No matter how much he tried to warn people, they just wouldn't listen.
This in turn caused the happy and outgoing Andrew to grow introvert and silent. Inside his heart he knew, no matter what kind of drug he was put under, that life as he and everyone else knew it, was going to change.
And as for how he knew?
“Display profile.” Andrew muttered softly into his hand.
【 Personal Profile 】
Name: Alexander Ashby
Occupation: N/A
Order: N/A
Contribution Points: 0
Health - 11/12
Mana - 10/10
Stamina - 8/10
Strength: 5
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Vitality: 6 (5)
Endurance: 5 (4)
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 5
Spirit: 5
Perception: 16
-
It took Andrew two entire years before he learned how to display his so-called profile. The ‘System’, as he liked to call it, didn't really come with any ‘help’ notifications...
Noticing that his health had dropped to 11 Andrew sighed.
“I shouldn't have skipped breakfast..” He lamented softly...
“Andrew, I see you're once again dozing off in the middle of my lecture. Is this class too boring for you or is it just too difficult for your feeble mind to comprehend?” A sharp, female voice interrupted Andrews lamenting, causing him to look up from his profile.
In front of him stood his history teacher, Ms. Weeks, in all of her hateful glory. Ms. Weeks, as she likes to be called, must have been abused as a child, because somehow this petty excuse for a teacher seems to find joy in humiliating her own students... Especially him, the introverted outsider.
“I'm sorry.” Andrew excused himself softly. Sometimes, Andrew realised, it's easier and less time consuming to just accept harsh words and bullying.
…
Southsea High’s 3B senior class history lesson continued per usual. No one, not even Andrew, was aware of the tiny invisible cracks in space which slowly had begun to expand.
…
Thursday, 9th of June, 11:49 am (UTC+00:00).
A strange universal silence covered planet Earth. This silence was not caused by man. No, the sound of traffic and people was left untouched. It was rather the animals which stopped twittering and growling. The wind which stopped blowing. Soon followed by waveless seas and frozen forests. Across the globe, people began to notice something incredibly… bizarre.
It was the calm before the storm.
No one knows where it began. It could have been anywhere. But in the blink of an eye, it was everywhere.
The thunderous sound of two dimensions colliding, merging.
…
As soon as Andrew heard the sound, he reacted.
With practiced ease, his body moved by instinct as he reached for the concealed knife in his bag.
“What the f*ck is happening?!”
“Aaaaahh! My ears! They hurt!!”
“Stop screaming already!”
When everyone else were busy panicking, Andrew smoothly headed towards the classroom door.
Opening the door a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back.
Looking back Andrew saw Ms. Weeks angry yet confused eyes staring into his.
“Where are y-”
“Teacher look out!!” A girl screamed.
It happened in slow motion... Or at least for Andrew it did.
A one meter large insect-like creature with two razor sharp scythes had forced its way through a dimensional crack, successfully entering the senior classroom.
With a distance less than two meters away from Ms. Weeks the creature attacked.
Maybe it was because of his incredibly high perception attribute, but the insect’s speed seemed a lot slower in Andrew’s eyes than in everyone else’s.
Grabbing onto Ms. Weeks’ arm he pulled.
Swish.
The sound of something slicing the air rang out in the classroom.
Holding the surprisingly lithe and curvy body of his teacher, Andrew failed to notice the two shocked eyes staring at him.
“A-Andr-” The twenty-eight year old Ms. Weeks, as well as the entire class, was utterly stupefied.
Andrew however, focused completely on the creature in front of him.
With a body slightly resembling that of a mantis the word he would use to describe it would be; fierce.
A thick black exoskeleton covered its body like an armour and its eyes seemed to glow with a craziest red.
Automatically a system notice appeared above it.
【 Young Obsidian Mantis 】
Before Andrew could finish reading, the insect attacked with renewed vigor.
With a monstrous speed the Mantis propelled its body, aiming towards the unprotected back of Ms. Weeks.
Andrew, with one arm snaked around his teacher's narrow waist, spinned.
Shick.
“Tch.” Feeling the insectoid scythe enter his left shoulder Andrew displayed an awe-inspiring control.
Continuing his already spinning motion the knife in his right hand was accurately and efficiently embedded in the monster's left eye.
Gasps and shrieks filled the classroom.
Ding.
【 You’ve defeated a [Young Obsidian Mantis]. Reward(s): 1 Obsidian Insect Core (Rare), 10 Soul Points (SP). 】
With a sickening gory sound the insect’s scythe slowly withdrew from Andrew’s shoulder. In its place, crimson blood instantly start to gush and stream. Colouring his navy blue school uniform red.
Flinching Andrew held back his tears.
“It f*cking hurts so much!” Suppressing a scream he knew that the danger was far from over. With 7 health left and lessening, Andrew Ignored the numerous gazes directed his way and decided to check out his reward.
With a single mental command a strange black orb appeared in his bloodstained hand.
【 Obsidian Insect Core (Consumable) - A low quality insect type core containing a meagre amount concentrated vitality. 】
Knitting his eyebrows together Andrew withdrew his shaking arm from his teacher's waist.
Noticing the shell-shocked look on this hateful teacher’s face Andrew smiled slightly.
“Mate wh-what the f*ck was that thing?” A classmate called Tony could no longer stand the horrifying screams outside and asked with a quivering voice.
Ignoring the question Andrew took a short look on the core in his hand before… he swallowed it.
Instantly the core dissolved into a warm liquid. Feeling tendrils of warmth flowing through his body Andrew suddenly felt the pain in his shoulder lessen.
【 Your body has absorbed a meagre amount of concentrated vitality. Reward(s): +1 vitality. 】
Shivering Andrew noticed that the previously gushing blood on his shoulder had suddenly stopped. Concentrating slightly Andrew checked his health again.
9/14.
Without bleeding his health had obviously stopped dropping.
“ANDY!”
Flinching Andrew looked at the red faced Tony. Although Andrew wasn't small in physique he wasn't particularly large either. Tony however was nearly 2 meters tall and could probably crush wood with his bare fists.
“Yes?” Andrew answered softly, simultaneously pocketing the knife in an accessible shoulder bag pocket.
Tony, whom caught a glimpse of the green blood on the knife, could barely find the inner strength to suppress his fear and anger.
“Tell us… what the f*ck is going on.” He repeated with a faked confidence.
Hearing his words however, many of the students behind him nodded. This was just too bizarre, too horrifying. All of them could see the freakishly big insect corpse lying on a pool of green blood. If the introverted Andrew hadn't suddenly displayed a nearly god-like feat they were sure that several, if not all of them would have been killed.
Killed!
Just the thought alone is as foreign as it could get for an english senior high schooler.
Andrew looked at the pale faces across the classroom. However without figuring out a better answer for the question, he decided to say the same thing he had been saying for years.
“The apocalypse.”