A lone soldier laid in the cold grasp of the mud with his vision all a blur. The muffled screams of those around him only leading to the faint realisation of what had happened. He gradually patted his chest as the vague sensation of pain coursed through his body. There was a gaping hole of crimson blood that leaked out like a broken faucet from the right side of his chest. He sneered at the sensation as he felt someone grab onto his body. Their knelt figure barely visible by his side through his glossy eyes.
“Y-you’ll make it! Just hold on! Just a few more seconds and the healer will be here!”, the hoarse and rugged voice made him smile as he grasped for his hand. He didn’t want to die alone, not now. He had so much to live for. He tried to speak to him but his words came off as bloodied cries. The crimson liquid drowned him as he struggled to breath. The only thing similar to words being his unspoken thoughts.
‘I’ll meet you later… my friend…’, the last sight of his friend’s pained expression imprinting itself into his mind. His vision faded away as memories flashed forth. Memories of regret, of pain and suffering- of death. Names with faces to match came through one side and out the other. The muffled laughter of friends long gone left him in tears as they too began to fade. He gave a smile of joy as he eventually lost feeling in his body- his grip on reality.
‘Finally,’ he thought, ‘I can relax after so long…’.
But before he could be laid to rest, be it fate or destiny, he saw it. A faint glimpse of the power that he and his race had waged war for. The answer to the people’s problems. The end to the constant violence and pain. The Cobalt Star. He reached out, intent on grasping onto it, but as quickly as he reached out it faded from sight. Leaving him to once more fade into this endless abyss. It was the last thing he thought he was going to see before being sent to whatever realm it be. Heaven or hell. But in spite of his expectations he instead saw something… different.
It was a crimson coloured star. Much like that of the cobalt star. It was beautiful. He once more reached out as it drew closer. His hand faintly touching upon it as it began to ripple. What was once crimson red became a vibrant violet which covered him. The violet soon after dominated by the darkened space that shrouded him. Time flew by as he stood mindlessly and still. It was the end he thought.
But in contrast to his expectations, it wasn’t.
*****
As he came to, all he saw was the dark and sullen appearance of a cave. Stalactites towered above him as a cold drop of water splashed upon his face. Waking him from his initial shock. Still effectively stunned, he wiped his face whilst his knees were dug into the cold dirt floor.
'Where am I? What happened? Is this… a dungeon? Aren’t I supposed to be dead… at the frontlines of the great war...?'
He stood up as he began to study the surrounding environment. The walls were made of rugged rocks that had lumps of red mana crystals protruding outwards. Tunnels were spread everywhere as mice ran in and out of the many tiny cave systems. The sound of faint groans and screeching echoed throughout the dark tunnels as it greeted his ears. Looking once more his vision came back towards the red mana crystals. Interested, his hand reached out intent on touching the faint crimson jewel. But before he could, he reeled his hand back in disarray. Confused and perplexed at what he saw.
'What is this? What happened to my arm?!'
He paused as he began to study his right hand. It was a dark blue that went all the way up his arm. Afterwards he looked to his left to be met with something similar, the only difference being it’s crimson colour. What came to mind was the colour of the stars that appeared during his stay in that abyss. The purified calm sea of mana which was the Cobalt Star and the unpurified raging flames of mana which was the Crimson Star. And once again he thought, ‘What am I..?’.
Human like hands painted in a glossy dark red and blue greeted him back as he looked them over once more. Then an idea came to mind. Why hadn’t he thought of that before?
Status!
Within his mind a small screen appeared as information flooded into his head. His physical and mental strengths became numbers as the familiar sensation flooded his senses.
Name: Luther Starr
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Race: ???
Titles: The One Born from the Stars
Class: Unassigned
Attributes
Strength 10 (+1)
Agility 10 (+1)
Intelligence 10 (+1)
Skills
None
Shop
Unspent Mana: 0
What happened to my stats? My race? My skills?! And this title… does it actually mean those stars had something to do with it?
He thought of the title as it explained the effects, but unbelievably, it had no description about what it was.
Title: The One Born From Stars
Description: ???
Effect: 10% increase to all attributes.
'Ten percent?! That isn’t much right now… but later on… damn... But this description, it still doesn’t give me any clues as to what I am, does it?'
Luther sighed as the status was wiped from his mind, disappearing into the depths of his being. Instead he focused on what he needed to do. He had to gather some mana so he may invest into some new attributes and the growth of those he owned. Maybe then he could perhaps invest into skills from the shop. With a newfound goal, he began to stride throughout the barren and dimly lit space.
Be it lucky or not, Luther had managed to stumble upon a faint light that only grew greater and greater in intensity. It made him curious as he kept his back to the walls, steadily walking towards it as he reminded himself that he could meet any dangers at any second. As he came closer to the source of light, there stood multiple figures huddled around it’s warm grasp.
'Well shit, this doesn’t look great for me….'
What stood in the orange light was a group of orcs and goblins. They roared and laughed as they chewed on what little meat they had gathered from today’s hunt.
'Perhaps I could get the Goblins, but those Orcs will be a pain in the ass… One wrong move and I could be killed again...'
Luther observed from afar as he thought of what to do. One thing was to wait for them while they slept and then take them out. Or he could use something small and light, like the rocks littering the floor to create a brief distraction to send some of the orcs away. Relying on his combat experience to deal with the few goblins before dashing away.
He went over the two plans before deciding to play it safely for now. The high risk wasn’t going to give him any high rewards if he was dead. So instead time flew by as he waited for them to sleep. And during that time, he began to think.
'Wait, what if it isn’t night here since the dungeon is practically a cave and all….'
Dwelling on the thought Luther decided that it might as well be best to stick to the plan for now, well, at least a few more minutes in case he was onto something. And it was lucky that he did. One by one they fell asleep, but unluckily they had left one Orc to stand guard as it patrolled the area. He quickly readjusted his plan as he reached for a small rock. He threw it opposite of where he knelt near the Orcs direction. The sound of it cracking against the floor made the Orc instinctually raise it’s warhammer as it began to investigate as to what the sound was.
Leaving little to no time between the Orc leaving and arriving, Luther quietly ran into place. He knelt along a Goblin’s side as he observed the group once more, returning his vision to the Goblin and it’s blade. As fast as he could he placed his left hand over it’s mouth and reached for the rusty dagger sheathed along it’s loincloth. It woke up with a sudden jolt as it tried to understand what was happening. But before it could, the cold metallic sensation of a blade slashing at it’s neck incited a scream of pure agony. Muffled by the blood and Luther’s hand, it began to violently struggle.
Luther endured the sparks of pain from it’s outburst as he finished the job. The active signs of life in its eyes slowly dying down to become lifeless ornaments. Looking up he found that there were around four more Goblins left. He quickly disposed of three of those four Goblins before reaching the fourth. Lifting his blade he was somewhat happy to finally finish this and leave. But as he was close to gaining what little mana he could, he heard a roar enter his ears. He looked up to be met with the enraged eyes of an Orc with a warhammer in hand.
He scrambled to his feet as he swore, leaping away from sight and the Orc following his trail. The sound of the group waking from their slumber only fueled his desire to escape as he powered through. Minutes passed as he went through various tunnels and past multiple monsters. Hoping to finally lose track of the large Orc. And after many tries he had finally done it.
'Haaaa, haaaaa… That Orcs stamina… luckily it wasn’t as fast… But for now...'
Luther panted as he looked for somewhere to rest, finally finding himself laid against the wall. He whinged a little as he looked to his forearms adorned with scratches. He sighed before summoning his status.
Name: Luther Starr
Race: ???
Titles: The One Born from the Stars
Class: Unassigned
Attributes
Strength 10 (+1)
Agility 10 (+1)
Intelligence 10 (+1)
Skills
None
Shop
Unspent Mana: 30
Luther gave a wry smile before looking in the shop. In the shop he could purchase new attributes, increase owned attributes, or buy skills. It was something very familiar to him in his past life and something he could always rely on. He scrolled through as he looked at the various attributes and skills. It cost a minimum of a hundred mana to buy new attributes while skills were placed at a minimum of five hundred. He sighed before he looked towards increasing his owned attributes. Using ten mana to add a point of agility and another twenty to increase it once more. Leaving him with a total of 13 agility and no mana.
Luther sighed as he dispersed the status from view. The hardships of starting from the bottom of the food chain and working his way up reminded him of past memories before the war. Where he had went to school with his friends and enjoyed the innocence of youth. Back then, he would’ve never thought he would’ve actually killed someone. Hell, he never thought he would ever hurt anyone!
Luther looked to his palms as he saw the pulsating veins and glossy skin. But now… now he was not so sure… Perhaps, he was just as he was now… his true self... a monster…. He grasped at the sides of his head as he tried to recollect himself.
‘I can’t stop here… I need to keep on moving forward… not backwards…’, Luther repeated this once more as he looked back up with a greater resolve. He wanted to know what happened to his old life and those he cared for. He wanted to know what he was and how he was alive… but only with great strength could you accomplish such great goals…. And he would strive towards this goal with what little life he was given. He would live a life where he alone decided his own fate.