Thousands of miles away from the dark deeds of Alex's death, an ancient city's sprawling ruins rested. Within these ruins, beneath an ancient temple undisturbed by anyone but monsters and rodents for centuries, a tomb sat sealed away, forgotten by time. Today however, after centuries of silence, there was a disturbance of the most unnatural kind.
The original occupant of this tomb had been a powerful, yet evil elven mage. He sought to bring absolute order to the world, which he saw as flawed. He ruled what areas he succeeded in conquering with unforgiving law, executing citizens for even the most minor of infractions.
Imbuing his very essence with the dark powers he wielded, he corrupted his very soul beyond reason. He nearly brought the world to its knees, had it not been for the human hero who pierced him with a blessed sword, glowing with holy light. It was with this very blade the hero sealed his bones in this tomb. The tale of the dark mage and the hero was barely more than a myth told to children now. However, even after the long centuries past, his unnatural dark stained bones did not rot. Now an odd tornado of light swirling above the pile of old bones, causing them to shift for the first time in centuries. This threatened to give rise to evil once more in the dark and long-forgotten recesses of the world.
***
Outside the tomb was Jodrak, a small creature known as a Ratkin. He walked on two legs with his patched fur and rat-like features yet stood no taller than four feet. Ratkin are known to be skittish and cowardly by nature, and Jodrak was a prime example of his kin. His eyes flickered to every shadow and crevasse searching for threats; as he indulged in his favorite pastime, another of the Ratkin race's natural tendencies, treasure hunting. This nature to seek out treasure seems in contrast to his cowardly spirit, but he did not mind it too much because he did so love the shiny things in life.
Jodrak had stumbled upon the ruin on one of his recent excursions, and he was at first really excited at his luck. Now he was just annoyed, the wreckage, which seemed mostly abandoned, had yielded little in the way of treasure. He was about to forsake the place entirely as a lost cause when a twinkle in the distance caught his eye. The glimmer of his favorite thing in the entire world, "shinnies!" he shouted in his raspy voice, rushing towards the distant glint that caught his eye.
***
Within the long lost tomb, the bones of the villain stirred once more, the once-powerful sword sealing this old mage, having turned to a pile of rust and its magic long faded. Unnatural darkness, mixed with light, shifted and swirled around these bones, as they slowly reformed from their years of decay, to once again fit in their proper positions.
The skeleton, which now stood a slender six feet, had finished the task of reforming, the tornado died down and condensed into the bones. Within the center of the skeleton's ribcage, a glowing orb the size of a small bead appeared, swirling with darkness and light as it floated seemingly unattached to its host. The bones themselves also changed, taking on an onyx color, with the shine to match. If one were to look really close they would see that the bones were not really pure onyx but in fact made of swirls of black, white and gold on a miniscule scale.
Jodrak stared on as the entire scene unfolded before him, he was terrified, but he could not run. He was too afraid to do that or make any noise at all. That was because the thing before him was terrifying; it was a creature meant for the deadliest of dungeons. Undead were dangerous, extremely difficult to kill and ofthen had the ability to spread. (This not dungeon bound monster! And it undead! This bad. Bad, bad, bad. Bad, bad.) He shouted internally, as the being before him was finishing its formation.
Jodrak was so terrified he could barely think clearly, he did not move, simply because instinct froze him, but his mind was a mess of terror and disbelief. Several moments passed, as he stood there frozen until he could finally gather himself enough to form rational thinking. With that came the realization that the undead hadn't moved an inch. Inspiration struck him soon after that; not all treasure was shiny right away! He could sell this information he just stumbled upon for shinnies!
This information was valuable as any treasure. Unbound monsters were valuable and none had been seen in decades. This one looked unique, could mean even more shinnies.
(Hmm, It broken?) He wondered as he looked on. It interested Jodrak why the undead, now fully formed, just stood there motionless, as if waiting for something. Jodrak was curious now, more so than afraid. He grabbed from nearby him a small piece of rubble and tossed it.
Jodrak did not toss it at the undead before him; he was curious, not stupid. So he threw it to a corner across from him. He winced with the sound the small chunk made; being so loud in the quiet of the ruin it would wake a sleeping dragon. Jodrak, fearing the worst, froze again but cautiously observed, ready to run at any moment. Much to his surprise, nothing happened; the undead stood there lifelessly looking forward, swaying ever so slightly.
Feeling he’d been brave enough for one day, or a lifetime in the eyes of a Ratkin, he decided it was time to go while he still could. He had plenty of information to sell; so he retreated as fast as his furry little legs could take him. Before the undead decided it was tired of standing still.
***
My soul plummeted to the world of Volanas, aiming for what appeared to be a ruined temple in a crumbling city. When I reached the temple, I did not stop as I was expecting to. I continued through it, under it, finally seeing a swirling mass of black and white under me before everything went black.
With a thud and a hint of pain, my mind began to wake from what felt like deep sleep. Hazily I moved as I used my arms to pull myself to my feet, my body feeling rather stiff the whole time. I took a moment to groan before realizing I was feeling the ground beneath me, I could feel everything; I was alive again!
I instantly snapped out of my haze, Jumped up, and whooped. I then began running around chanting, "I'm alive, I'm alive, I am alive!" I continued this for sometime before something caught my eye, which caused me to stop in my tracks. I knew the flash I saw couldn't be what I thought it was, right? Slowly I looked down to my hands, or what was left of them.
I was sure they were my hands, they responded to me after all, but there was a problem, a huge problem. What I saw were not the hands of man but of a monster. Instead the pink hue of flesh all that greeted me were bones, black bones! I took stock of the rest of my body only to find more of the same. A nearby puddle of water revealed my face, or lack thereof, all that was there was a skull with two glowing white orbs for eyes.
I sat down on a nearby chunk of rubble and sighed, “guess I’m still dead, huh?” I was well and truly lost now, horrible death, meeting Gods and Goddesses, and now here I sat, reborn as a monster. I feared I might be going insane when a monotone voice popped in my head as if to say, yeah, you are.
"Initializing Clarion's Player interface V. 2.35, progress 1%." I was just about to start cracking up as I had indeed gone insane when the voice chimed in again. "Initializing enhanced hearing detection software," followed immediately by a loud painful ringing in my ears. (Do I even have ears? I don't know how this works at all!) Thankfully not long after, it slowly faded, and I could hear again. I again chose to ignore the lack of logic. This time I dismissed it as "god magic" and was somewhat satisfied with the conclusion.
Just as the pain subsided from my ears, and my thoughts on "god magic" finished, the evil voice returned. "Initializing enhanced visual detection and HUD software," soon my orb eye thingy’s burned intensely like liquid metal was residing within them. Once again, the pain subsided, and I was greeted with another message, " Clarion's Player interface V. 2.35 progress 35%."
"Crap, there's a lot more "god magic" coming, why is it always painful? Just gimme’ a minute." I said, exhausted from the two ordeals before. The voice cared not for my tired pleas and chimed once more, "Initializing mind modification and magic software." When I was about to voice my complaints, which really only amounted to "No, no, no, no," my mind was wracked with pain. A migraine and what felt like sharp spikes of pain assailed me repeatedly. This one lasted much longer than the last two. Before I could even catch his breath, the voice returned, and I was assaulted again, this time in my body. "Initializing body reconfiguration and modification software," and with that, I was knocked over by sudden pain wracking my entire being.
"That last one was the worst. We have to be done by now right, how many times are these gods gonna torture me?" I said as I sat up and leaned against a large piece of rubble, exhausted, breathing heavily from the ordeal. (How am I out of breath? I’m a freaking skeleton! Oh yea….”god magic”) before I got to chuckle at my own internal joke, the voice came again. "Initializing Help and Assistant client V 2.1," I tensed, expecting another large dose of pain. When none came, I could only sigh in relief.
"Finalizing installation of Clarion's Player interface V. 2.35 progress 98%" I almost cheered at this message. It was almost over, I thought. I heard a ding sound, and a new message sounded in my head. "Install complete, foreign software detected, directed to integrate foreign software, beginning integration now." I almost broke out in a cold sweat, fearing more pain. I was lucky though, it seemed this one was also painless, a new message sounded soon after.
"Integration complete, Clarion's Player interface significantly modified, renaming to Undeath Interface V. 1.0" I kind of liked the sound of that. However, before I could think about it too long, a different voice came into his head, this one soft, feminine, and calming. "Welcome player Alex, I am your exclusive virtual help and assistant A.I., Claire. I currently only have you listed as Alex. Would you like to register a surname?"
I thought for a moment, this had to be the power the god Clarion had given me. There was no doubt, as such, it must be formidable. Now, however, it asked for my surname, did it think me a noble? (definitely not one of that lot) "Nope, no surname, Claire, I’m no noble." I said, a little bitter, I didn’t have a particular like for nobles at the moment and I doubt anyone would blame me. I was greeted again, this time it was my turn to be surprised.
“Your birth status is irrelevant, Sir Alex, if you do not possess a current surname, would you like to register a new surname?” the voice chimed in my head, as calm and smooth as when she first spoke.
Slightly dazed at her response I sat and considered it, a surname huh? Should I have a surname? I thought of the nobles and their reliance on them; I only felt disgust. I was about to outright refuse when another race entered my mind. The dwarves, they had a tradition of sur-naming I was rather fond of.
Thinking about that tradition as I sat there, sadness hit me like a sack of wheat. The memory of my father falling before my eyes, the look in his as if he was asking me to forgive him as he passed, it was a memory I was sure would never fade. If my new form could shed tears, I would have shed all I had at this moment. After a long time of sitting silently to mourn, I had my answer to her question.
“I would like a surname,” I said, sadness apparent in my voice. “Samoson, please name me Samoson.”
It took some time, I was rather distraught after that, the voice spoke but it did not matter to me at that point. I mourned fully and deeply the loss of my father and my own life. I cried even though I hadn't the tear ducts to create the tears. I felt the weight of the world on me. I processed the rush of the last few days, the regret of my rash decisions and the blame I placed on myself for my fathers death. The voice was thankfully quiet after a time, letting me get my bearings. After no small amount of time had passed, I was more calm, more stable. I had felt like I could crumble at any moment but now, I could go on a little longer.
Sensing the change in my demeanor the calm voice chimed in as if nothing happened at all. "Registration complete, welcome player Alex Samoson, would you like to hear the basic tutorial on commands?” I had no idea how to use Clarion's gift, and I knew my father would say that sitting and moping would do little good, so I responded with a simple "Yes." She continued, "Beginning basic tutorial of commands, there are five basic commands," she said. "The first command is "HUD" this will toggle on or off the heads up display, please state “HUD” now."
I responded somewhat lifelessly, saying "HUD," and with a wurring sound, several informational items appeared in my peripheral view. It was quite a sight and shocked me out of my funk enough to pay more attention. I had no idea what any of it was; thankfully, she explained it thoroughly as well. There was a mini-map, as she called it in the upper right corner that showed blue dots as allies, green as friendly, white as neutral, and finally red as hostile. I assumed this meant both monsters and the mortal races, but I would have to test it later. It also had an HP, MP, and EN bar, with a little picture of me. She explained that the HP bar was red-colored and representative of his life force. The blue bar for MP was his mana; I was unsure what mana was but dismissed it for now. The EN Bar was green and represented his physical stamina. Lastly, there was a direction compass in the form of a bar across the top. I knew about adventurers using handheld versions of such devices to find their ways and assumed this would be very handy in traveling.
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After completing the HUD review, Claire said, "The second basic command is inventory. Please say inventory," I nodded and did as she spoke, feeling a bit more into the explanation now. I was greeted with a blank screen that popped up in front of my face; it was divided into boxes by white lines. She clarified that the items I found could be stored here. Anything I found could be put here, even junk. However, no living beings could be stored in the inventory. I had already become pretty accepting of the impressiveness of the gift Clarion gave him with the HUD. I only wondered how much further it went, because this was pretty absurd already.
"The third basic command is skills, please say the command now," as before, I complied, and again a screen popped out, this one was not blank. Sadly only one skill sat there.
Skills Menu
Skill Name Level
*Baking 3/10
I wasn’t surprised by the skill itself, but it's level. I baked with my father since I was five, basically my whole life, and was only skill level three? Disappointed but somewhat satisfied, least I was not entirely skill-less. I mentally dismissed the page when another popped up in its place.
Passive Skills Menu
Skill Name Level
*Undead Resilience Max
*Consumption Immunity Max
*Of light, Dark and Gold Max
I was curious about what the first one did. As I was about to ask, the skill page responded to his mental inquiry, answering the question for me was Claire's voice. "Skill description, Undead Resilience, this skill makes it, so the possessor does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe. The possessor of this skill will not suffer any mental or physical fatigue normally associated with lack of such things."
"That sounds both awesome and annoying," I said, dismissing a pop-up that was also read what she said, "what good is the baking skill if I don't need to eat," I continued. (Maybe he was actually pretty much skill-less after all,) "Wait, I am pretty darn sure I was breathing earlier!" A silent pause was what I got for an uncomfortable amount of time before she finally answered. “Yes, it seems that you can simulate these actions, what you did earlier was not actually you breathing but, you feeling like you should be breathing so you subconsciously simulated the act.”
I did not understand a thing she said but it seemed I did not actually need to breath so, bonus I guess. On to the next skill, once again, responding to his command, a pop-up appeared. This time Alex read it himself.
Passive Skill Information
Magic Name: Consumption Immunity
Level: Max
Classification: Defensive
Description: The possessor of this skill is immune to soul consumption or corruption from all sources.
“So pretty much what Clarion told me, but in a more tangible form?” I asked.
"Yes, that is correct. It is also a grantable skill. However, that is for another time." Came Claire's telepathic communication.
"Not sure what that is, but I'm sure we'll get to it, now for the third one." And with a wave of his mental hand, it appeared.
Passive Skill Information
Magic Name: Of Light, Dark and Gold
Level: Max
Classification: ALL
Description: Made from the purest light, the darkest dark and the gamers gold your soul has taken on a new form granting G*<^l(&^% status. Grow and become powerful, young seed.
"Um…what? I that supposed to look like that?" I asked.
"No, this skill seems to be cut off from my access. I do not know what it means, but I can say I have never seen a skill with the classification of all before.” Responded Claire.
“Can you figure out what that broken word is?” I queried.
“I cannot, I can only hope it will become more apparent as you gain power. The skill does call you to do so after all, I am not sure what a seed is though.” Claire answered.
Figuring this was the best I was going to get I chose not to dwell on the word any longer, I said to Claire that we should just continue with the tutorial.
“Very well, Alex,” Claire said, “The next basic command is magic, simply say the word aloud as you did the others,” she stated. (She seems as exhausted with this as I am,) I thought silently. I was excited to have these new powers, but all this information at once began to wear on me. After all, I had already been through a rather strenuous few days. Not wanting to waste time, figuring there would be nothing of note there anyway. I quickly said, "Magic," and a pop-up menu greeted me, along with two spells. My eye orbs nearly jumped out of my non-existent skin when I saw I had magic. The screen looked as follows:
Magic Menu
Magic Name Level
*Dark Bolt 1/100
*Raise Minion 1/100
“Dark Bolt!” I shouted, “I have a spell!” I yelled in both excitement and surprise. Mages were rare amongst adventures in Volanas. Their magic was always known to be both mysterious and powerful, and now I had a spell! My earlier exhaustion melted away instantly. Claire, seeming more cheerful as well, chimed in. "Yes, Alex, you are capable of any class known, though you currently possess none." She continued, "acquiring a class is actually fairly simple. Just specializing your status in the right manner will unlock the class, which will be available upon evolution." I was confused now; what was a class, what was status and evolution? I was about to word these questions when Claire continued to speak, "Speaking of status, that is the final command. If you say it now, I can elaborate on my previous statement."
Wanting to waste no time, I nearly shouted "Status!" and was again greeted with a pop-up window, though this one was far more complex than the ones before.
Status
Name: Alex Samoson
Title: None
Level: 1
Class: Basic Skeleton
HP: 20/20
MP: 20/20
EN: 20/20
Unassigned Status Points: 0
STR: 10
VIT: 10
DEX: 10
INT: 10
WIS: 10
LUK: 4
ATK: 10 DEF: 10
SPELL: 10 SPELL DEF: 10
CRIT: 3% CRIT DEF: 2%
MP5M: 5
EXP: 0/1000
“What does all this mean?” I questioned, my eyes greeted by letters and numbers of which I had no clue of their meaning.
"This explanation will take some time, do wish for a simplified or in-depth version?" asked Claire.
I was beginning to tire of this. Not only was my understanding already limited, but I wished it over quickly. Figuring I could always ask further later. "Simple, Claire, simple as a skeleton," I joked, though somewhat bitterly.
"Very well, simple it is, the level is a basic number comparison to your current strength, level one is feeble, by the way." She read down the page, "Next we have HP, it's simple it goes to zero, you die, so don't do that. MP is magic power; you need it to make spells go boom. EN is the energy you need to move any faster than a walking pace. Or using complex fighting moves other than pointy end goes there." (I know I said simple, but where is this snarky attitude coming from?) I thought, though I did find it humorous, even choking back laughter a few times, and I did find it oddly easy to understand.
Claire just continued, ignoring Alex's attempts to stifle his laughs, "Next we have the primary stats. First, STR or strength is how strong you are; more STR is more muscle, not that you have any. Also, it affects ATK with one to one with a minor effect on crit chance. Then is VIT or Vitality; this affects HP and DEF, so you don't die so fast, not dying is good, so VIT is good." I fought back another laugh (She's doing this on purpose, it's getting worse the more I laugh,) I thought. "Next is DEX, it affects the amount of EN you have and how fast it drains. Wanna go fast? Go DEX.” I laughed out loud that time (she didn’t even bother to tell me what that one stood for,). I continued laughing at my internal companion's explanation.
"INT is intelligence, it affects SPELL and MP, and ten is not very much, so yea if you wanna make spells go boom, get smarter." She continued, ignoring Alex, who was still laughing aloud." WIS is Wisdom, its for SPELL DEF and MP5, also good for spell boomers to boom more often and preventing other spell boomers booming you." I was not breathing by this point, I could take no more; luckily, there was only one left.
Claire took on a severe tone, straitening me up and instantly killing the humorous mood. "The last one has done you no favors, Alex, and the average human has at least ten were as you sit with four. LUK or luck determines many things such as CRIT and CRIT DEF, as well as the likely ness of fortunate or unfortunate events befalling you." I sat sobered, how could a simple bad stat be responsible for such events, could he raise it? Would that solve his future problems if he did?
”How can I raise my LUK stat?” he asked, almost scared of the answer, which the reply he got was just as sobering as the status itself.
"You get five stat raising points per level, to invest as you so choose. However, LUK is a locked stat and cannot be raised in this manner. Luck is only raised or lowered by life events; your stat reflects your current luck. It may be possible to raise your luck in other ways.” She took on a tone of comforting confidence “I will say one more thing, skill and perseverance will always beat out luck any day."
I sat and dwelled on this a while longer. It seemed the events in my life were not caused by this stat but rather those events had permanently lowered it. Until I can figure out how to change my luck, I would have to rely on skill and determination, as Claire said. This was fine, skill and determination had gotten me to where I was before that damned noble, it would do just fine again. Wondering what else was to come my way, I sat staring at the walls of the empty ruin that surrounded me.
Current Status
Name: Alex Samoson
Title: None
Level: 1
Class: Basic Skeleton
HP: 20/20
MP: 20/20
EN: 20/20
Unassigned Status Points: 0
STR: 10
VIT: 10
DEX: 10
INT: 10
WIS: 10
LUK: 4
ATK: 10 DEF: 10
SPELL: 10 SPELL DEF: 10
CRIT: 3% CRIT DEF: 2%
MP5M: 5
EXP: 0/1000
Magic Menu
Magic Name Level
*Dark Bolt 1/100
*Raise Minion 1/100
Skills Menu
Skill Name Level
*Baking 3/10
Passive Skills Menu
Skill Name Level
*Undead Resilience Max
*Consumption Immunity Max
*Of light, Dark and Gold Max
New Spells and Skills Information.
Magic Information
Magic Name: Dark Bolt
Level: 1/100
Cast Time: 1 second
Range: 65 Ft.
Classification: Attack Magic
Mana Cost: 10
Special Ability: 10% chance to blind enemy for 3 seconds
Description: Launch a bolt of dark magic that cannot miss the target, unless the target becomes obscured by an object.
Magic Information
Magic Name: Raise Minion
Level: 1/100
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Range: 10 Ft.
Classification: Support Magic
Mana Cost: 10
Special Ability: None
Description: Raise a willing minion to fight by your side, the minion is permanent untill defeated or unsummoned. Only 3 minions can be summoned at 1 time. Only 1 chance per target.
Skill Information
Magic Name Baking
Level: 3/10
Classification: Crafting
Description: Grind the wheat, knead the dough. This skill grants the knowledge of all things flaky and buttery. The best pastry’s, pies, bagels and biscuits, all in one place.
Passive Skill Information
Magic Name Undead Resilience
Level: Max
Classification: Survival
Description: This skill makes it, so the possessor does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe. The possessor of this skill will not suffer any mental or physical fatigue normally associated with lack of such things.
Passive Skill Information
Magic Name: Consumption Immunity
Level: Max
Classification: Defensive
Description: The possessor of this skill is immune to soul consumption or corruption from all sources.
Passive Skill Information
Magic Name: Of Light, Dark and Gold
Level: Max
Classification: ALL
Description: Made from the purest light, the darkest dark and the gamers gold your soul has taken on a new form granting G*<^l(&^% status. Grow and become powerful, young seed.