He hesitated in front of the fog. He couldn’t explain, but he had the feeling that the living had no business there; that place was like a graveyard. No. It’s like the land of the dead.

If it weren’t for his belief that this was a genuine quest rather than an unusual encounter, he would’ve gladly kept his distance. The same way he always tried to stay away from beasts much more powerful than him. It was simply self-preservation.

But even though the system hadn’t personally assigned him a quest or anything of the sort, it seemed pretty obvious to him that this was the role of the lumberjack Rick, or he wouldn’t have told him his story. Rick said that he was trapped in the forest, and that made Lucas wonder if he was as well, or if it was only real to the NPC. But it didn’t actually matter because he had no intention to leave before he got whatever prize this quest offered. With nothing else holding him back, he broke his promise to Rick and stepped into the fog.

An even more intense oppression gripped him; that aura seemed to draw out all the negative feelings. It almost convinced him he was dying. It took a moment for him to grow accustomed to it, and when he did, he started walking aimlessly. That’s when he sensed something else: there was someone there with him—a shadow always following and watching him. It made his nerves tense up, but he pressed forward, sweat forming on his forehead.

The fog was just like Rick said; he couldn’t see more than a couple of feet in front of him. But he knew he was still inside the forest. Sometimes he could’ve sworn he heard something—a laughter or a distant scream—but when he focused on the sound, it vanished. Losing track of time was easy in this place; he realized after an unknown amount of time and was surprised by that thought.

Is this fog poisonous somehow? Is it affecting my mind?

If it wasn’t poisonous, he was pretty sure it had a way to mess with his head, and he became aware of that for a moment. It was difficult to focus, but he tried to catch hold of things he could sense or see—dirt on the ground and the occasional tree.

He had the idea to mark the trees; this way, he would know when he passed one that he had already gone through. But Lucas never saw any of the marks again after leaving them. He didn’t know if he simply wasn’t seeing those trees again, or if the marks were somehow erased.

Lucas also realized that he had lost his sense of direction. He didn’t know where North, South, West or East were anymore. The feeling of being lost in that new world started to take a toll on him, the presence never ceasing its watch at his back. At some point, even his hands started shaking involuntarily.

He hated not being in control of his mind—the only thing he felt he could actually control. So when he noticed all these things happening, making him utterly lost, he felt an intense urge to scream. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it, he couldn’t break that deadly silence. Instead, he did the next best thing to alleviate his frustration: he made a cut on the palm of his hand with the axe. The pain had the desired effect, giving him a moment of clarity. He was sure now that there were things amidst the fog, but more importantly, there was something deep underground—a powerful energy. He could see it, like a beacon in the night.

“It’s that way,” he said out loud. Following the direction that energy was coming from, he started walking again. The fog seemed to repel his clear mind and tried to influence him again, but every time it tried, he opened a new wound in his hand to keep his mind fresh. That’s when the real danger started to appear.

A creature materialized out of nowhere, appearing right in front of him. At first glance, it seemed human, but as the fog dissipated a little around it, he saw the horror: half of the creature’s face had no skin or meat; it was pure bones, and the smell of carrion invaded his nostrils.

Undead Human — Lvl 12

He identified the creature immediately and took a few steps back, almost falling backward after stepping on a twig. The creature jumped in his direction, and he couldn’t dodge, he was flung into the air. Lucas fell with his back to the ground, the creature was nowhere to be seen.

What was that? It only pushed me and disappeared… Does it not want me to find the source of that power? He smiled. That means I absolutely have to find it.

Happy to have some assurance about the objective of this quest, Lucas tightened the grip on his axe. The next time, he wouldn’t be caught by surprise.

And he really wasn’t. The next time the creature appeared, he was ready. He realized pretty quickly that despite its strength, the creature’s speed was lacking, and he could take advantage of that. After a few dodges, he chopped off the head of the undead with a satisfied smile on his face.

Only to see the body moving on its own not long after. He checked the ground to confirm the head was still there, and he saw the face moving, as if trying very hard to move its now-reduced body. The vision was completely surreal, making the dream-like sensation of the fog even more pronounced. But that didn’t make him stop; he proceeded to maim every single member the creature had.

No notification.

Frustrated, he decided to move forward. The next time, he would aim for the head and be done with it. And that was what he did at least ten more times; he actually started to appreciate these encounters. When he was fighting them, he could forget a little about that feeling that kept nagging his mind. It was a good distraction.

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When he got used to seeing the occasional Undead, another thing appeared in front of him, and he felt a chill.

Is that a ghost?

A memory flashed to reality: he was five years old, in the park with his parents. The other kids were playing and jumping all around, and he was seated in the grass watching them. He was jealous of them, especially the ones playing at the swing. His parents wouldn’t let him go there because of his disease; he could hurt himself, they said.

The memory flashed again: it was dark, he was leaving his house, careful not to make a noise. He ran to the park that was a couple of blocks away. He wanted to play in the swing, he was tired of just watching others. He never felt more alive as the swing reached great heights; he felt like he was flying, and then… then his hand slipped, and he fell backward.

The sound of the collision was very much alive in his head; the pain, the air gone from his lungs. He felt an extreme sense of oppression and loneliness, he wanted to close his eyes, to let everything go, and to never feel pain anymore. Little Lucas stayed there on the ground for an unknown amount of time; there was no one around, no one to hear him. He could feel the blood leaking…

Lucas screamed in an effort to wake up, breaking the sepulchral silence, he could feel tears running down his face as he swung his axe at the ghost. The ghost disappeared, and he was back in the fog. He gasped.

That was the memory of the day he almost died; he stayed there on the grass for hours until someone found him. His parents were desperate looking for him, and an ambulance took him to a hospital. He had broken an unknown number of bones and even had a head trauma. It took months for him to walk again.

That was the first time Lucas realized he would never be able to do what others did so casually, and that left deep scar in his juvenile soul. He wasn’t sure if the ghost brought up this memory because of the feeling it evoked, quite similar to that of the fog, or just to mess with him. But now he knew that every time he spotted a ghost, he wouldn’t wait for the memories to begin.

He was aware that the memory made the pressure of the aura grow inside him. He had a deep desire to get out of that fog immediately, to run away as far as he could, but he suppressed it. That’s all behind me. I’m a different person now, I decide my fate. With these words in his mind, he walked on.

The next time he saw a ghost, he did what he was planning and didn’t let the memories start and it worked. Until he was caught by surprise with two ghosts in a row.

He was twelve, lying close to a hospital bed, his mom was beside him, tears dropping from her eyes. The doctor had said his dad didn’t have much time left. Young Lucas kept looking at his father’s face, wanting to remember every detail, afraid he would forget.

The feelings started rising again, but this time he didn’t scream. He was seeing his dad for the first time in six years. He didn’t even know he missed him this much. This feeling started to suppress the other, and he was out of the vision against his will. The ghost was also gone. But now he felt even worse than the first time.

He realized that the real treat in this fog wasn’t the creatures; it was his own mind. It was a battle with his own feelings. He just wanted to lie down and forget about everything. He knew that a part of it was the effects of that dark aura, but part of it was himself.

If it were before the System, Lucas would’ve just given up; he wouldn’t have the strength to keep going. But he had found a new sense of dignity in this world, and he wasn’t ready to give that up just yet. He would move forward even if he was walking straight to the gates of hell. He wiped away his tears and started walking again.

After what seemed like hours or days, he found a skeleton seated, leaning on a tree. This time, apparently, it was really dead, as it didn’t move when he approached. The odd thing was that this skeleton was fully dressed in black, his clothes were in a good state as well, like it hadn’t been there for more than a few months, only slightly worn.

He wondered if this skeleton was the presence that kept following him around in the fog. Maybe it was his soul, he thought, but he instinctually felt that it wasn’t. That thing was himself, his own shadow or something like that; he could see clearly now, even if he couldn’t understand it.

Shaking this thought away, Lucas stared at the skeleton. The source of power he had been following was there. Actually, it was deep below the skeleton. It must have something to do with it, Lucas thought. He wasn’t sure what he should do; he expected something to happened when he met the skeleton, but nothing did. He touched it--nothing.

I can’t be wrong. It was the only thing leading to something in this place; this has to be it.

He started to investigate the clothes on the skeleton, and realized he could identify them.

Necromancer Faruk Outfit 1/3

This outfit allows the user to more easily manipulate mana, especially dark mana. The usage of the whole outfit together grants +15 Toughness +15 Magic

Required level to use: 25

The clothes all had the same name, only changing the number. It didn’t surprise him all that much that the skeleton was previously a necromancer, with all those undead and ghosts on the way. Faruk, that should be his name; these clothes must have been made specifically for him to carry his name like that. And they are so high-leveled…

Greed filled his eyes as he analyzed the clothes; they had everything he liked in clothes, namely: they were black and pretty strong, judging by the additional points it gave to Toughness and Magic and the high level required to use them. The only problem was that they specialized in dark mana, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to follow that path; his first impression wasn’t great.

Before taking the clothes off the skeleton, Lucas noticed another item: a very discreet ring on one of the fingers.

Spatial Ring

Required level to use: 0

Lucas was immediately interested, and in order to take it off, he was forced to break the finger of the skeleton first. He didn’t feel bad about it, since he had grown to quite dislike whoever made that fog, and he had a feeling it had something to do with this Faruk guy.

Lucas hesitated; he wasn’t sure if he should put the ring on his finger or not. Would that unlock some curses? Was that perhaps the reason the necromancer died? In the end, because he didn’t feel anything bad when holding the ring, he decided to put it on and look at it in his hand.

His surroundings immediately changed, and he saw what looked like a dark room. He calmed down as he looked around. Is this… the inside of the ring? He thought after some time, because he could feel that even though he was there, he was still in the fog. He went outside just to check and prove his theory. It didn’t take him long to see that the ring was used to store stuff. I hit the jackpot!

Lucas would be happy even if the only prize for this quest was the ring, because he was growing tired of having to carry everything in his bag, but there were even more things inside it. Many that he had no idea what they were. There was also a small mountain of coins on one side and a whole shelf of books. After quickly browsing through it, one book in particular caught his attention:

The journal of Faruk the Necromancer.