Welcome back Max
You have been dead for iii years. Stored spirit energy has exceeded maximum capacity by 500%. Increase level to access more spirit energy.
Level:
1
Current usable spirit energy:
100/100
I'm dead? Flashes of memories bombard my mind. The hospital, the pain, the blood. I wince remembering my death. They say driving cars is one of the most dangerous things you can do, but you forget when driving is just a daily occurrence. How many years have I been dead? All I can remember after my death are fuzzy moments of complete insanity.
It does seem like the afterlife system I created worked. Though I don't remember adding things like spirit energy or levels. What even is spirit energy? The system I originally created was designed to keep memories after death. Storing them and releasing them into the soul using electromagnetic signals. It seems like someone added to my experiment.
The system seems more like a video game than I remember. Before I died I programmed it to place words in your mind giving as much of a guide to navigating death as I could. Though as I had never spoken to someone dead before, most of the guide was to be created after my death. Now, however, the words appear in my sight like a screen. Levels and spirit energy. I have never even heard of spirit energy, and what does levels have to do with anything?
My experiments on haunted buildings gave me a grasp on how ghosts work. It's simple really, the older the ghost is, the stronger. For example, if someone was saying their grandma, who died last month, was watching them sleep, an EMF reader would be at a two. While the ghosts of the haunted prison from the eighteen hundreds would be a five and probably try to throw things at you. Death from ghosts is actually pretty rare. I wonder if someone can detect me with an electromagnetic field reader? If they still exist.
Curious, I started playing with the system window. Shoving the system to the side makes it disappear. Willing it to appear makes it pop up.
Max
Level:
1
Spirit energy:
100/100
Class: Unassigned
Skills: Unavailable
Hmm lets see, ‘skills’ I mentally speak. Nothing happens, hmm maybe ‘inbox?’
Inbox:
empty
Dismissing the system, I finally look up from the system window. I was in the middle of an abandoned shop. The large area filled with debris and rotting furniture. Reaching down to touch an old dirty green couch my hand passes right through it. Oh right, the dead thing. I can see through my hand I always thought that a ghost to a ghost would look solid but…
The best part about being dead is that instead of going around the piles of trash littering the ground I can just walk through it. That was until I saw a large black blob of rotting trash. No way am I walking through that. Finally making it to the door I take my first steps outside as an unbodied soul.
It was clear that this wasn't the best part of town. It looked overpopulated, though I couldn't see any people. The buildings were small like mobile homes stacked on top of each other like makeshift apartments. With the exception of larger warehouse type buildings, probably just businesses.
“What you doing there old man?” a gravelly and sinister voice draws my attention.
The man looked to be in his twenties. He was buff, had short grey hair and wore baggy clothes in black and dark grey. He was mostly see through like me, but what caught my attention was that he was flying. Just floating in the air above me.
“Who are you calling old, I'm barely middle aged.” I replied. Stroking my slightly greying beard to confirm this.
The man drops down from the sky. “What are you wearing?” he asks, looking me up and down.
“You mean my lab coat, jeans, and the fancy blue shirt underneath?”
“Umm, it looks like you went to Walmart, threw on anything that fits, then put a lab coat over it to hide the mess.” he said, settling on the ground.
The man holds his hand out. Thinking he wants to shake hands, I reach out. Upon touching his hand I feel a shock run through my hand and into my body, stunning me.
The man cackles, removes his hand and pulls out a long knife from behind his back.
Why can't I move? I try to move but my arms are stiff. I try willing any muscle I can to do something, but the only thing I can do is look around. The man is now holding his knife at my neck. Can a ghost even get shanked?
The man probably sees the confused look on my face. “This won't kill you permanently, unless you run out of energy. You will just respawn.” He said, “but, everytime you die you leave behind a spirit energy that I can absorb.”
Huh, so he can just absorb my spirit energy? Why do I have to be dead or whatever a spirit would call dying, for him to absorb it.
This time the man didn’t speak, instead slowly shoving the knife into my throat. The knife didn’t hurt. It was very uncomfortable. It felt like a sore that reached bone deep; the feeling was like something in my core was being broken down. The man looks confused as he cuts deeper. The confusion grows as he pulls the knife out and stabs me somewhere else.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Skill unlocked
Rapid Regeneration
level:1
Passive
Regenerate 10 spirit energy a second as long as you have overloaded spirit energy.
The screen pops up. Wait, is it saying that I regenerate for being low level and having tons of excess energy? Are skills usually this easy to gain? Or does it have something to do with having an absurd amount of energy for my level? Willing the system to disappear removes it from my sight.
“Hmm you must have some kind of regeneration, rare but that won't matter. If I charge up a big enough attack.” The man said while generating a ball of lightning that doubles in size every ten seconds.
“I don't like bullies,” a man said. His voice was much smoother than the man with the knife.
Looking at the new guy with the side of my eye. The man's lanky frame gave an appearance of weakness. He wore casual clothes, blue jeans and a navy blue shirt. His hair… was also blue. Okay, that's a little too much blue. Hold on, I strain my eyes to look down at his shoes. Black and red Nikes. Good.
“Who are you?” the knife man spat, still channeling his lightning ball.
“Names Alex,” the blue man answered.
“Well Alex, take this!” The knife man turns and launches the lightning ball at the lanky man.
I close my eyes at the bright light coming from my left. Opening my eyes Alex and the knife guy are right in front of me.
“Leave” Alex demands.
“Like hell I will, do you know who I work for?” knife man asks
“No one is important given the fact you are bullying new spirits.”
Knife man points at Alex and a small bolt of lightning flashes from his finger tip. Alex side steps the lightning and summons a massive great sword from thin air. The sword was just as tall and wide as the man wielding it. The size didn't seem to hinder Alex as he swung. Slicing the knife man in half with one blow. Knife man disappears leaving a slight glow where he used to be. As soon as the knife man was gone the stun effect wore off. Alex reaches out and the glow flows into his outstretched hand. When all the glowing substance Alex absorbs is gone he walks up to me.
“Are you alright, new spirit?” Alex asks.
“Ya I'm alright, how do you know I'm a new spirit?” I am confused by all the new experiences today. Now it's time to get some answers.
“Well it's the way you look.” Alex answers.
“What do you mean?”
“Lets go to my place this isn't the most comfortable place to speak.”
Alex begins walking, continuing the path he was taking when he ran into the knife man.
“So what does my looks have to do with anything? The other guy called me old. I would assume there would be lots of old people in the afterlife?” I ask while following Alex.
“It's about spirit energy. Spirit energy can be used for anything. If you use about eighty to ninety spirit energy you can change the way you look.”
“Does that include clothes?”
“It does, now that you’re dead the only way to change clothes is to use spirit energy.”
“What even is spirit energy?”
“Umm, that's hard to explain. I don't completely understand it. But umm, it's the stuff you use if you want to do something. That's how I made my sword. It's made out of spirit energy.”
“What about that guy's lightning?”
“That's a little different. He turns his spirit energy into the lightning element.”
“That sounds like a pain to have to manually change energy”
“It's not that difficult because of the system. Once you gain the class for lightning elemental, or something else with lightning, the system converts it for you. The same can be said for the other elements like fire and water.”
“How do you gain classes and skills?”
“Curious aren't you, but that will have to wait. We are here.”
Alex leads me up the driveway of a light brown two story house. The house looked to be about three bedrooms. With all the other necessities for the living.
The inside looks homey, lived in but well organised. Tons of stuff littered every wall, in either picture frames or shelves. To the right of the door is a living room. An old brown couch sits opposite of a blank wall where a tv should be. To the left was a stairway leading up. Opposite of the living room was a kitchen, where a table had two plates of spaghetti on it.
“Welcome back honey,” a red headed woman steps out of the kitchen. “Whos this?”
“I found someone beating on him while heading home.” Alex answers.
“Can I speak to you for a sec?” she said.
Alex walks over and they argue in hushed tones.
“You didn’t tell me you were bringing company or I would have gotten more food.” she started.
“I didn’t know I was going to bring someone until just a moment ago.” Alex said
“And that reminds me you said you weren't going to fight anymore.”
“I can’t just let someone be bullied in front of me.”
Well this is awkward, do I just let them keep going or ask a question. I never know what to do in these situations. My life was spent studying the supernatural, not socializing.
“Uhem” Alex cleared his through earning a glare from the women. “This is my wife Emily. Oh I forgot to ask your name. My name’s Alex.”
“Hello Emily, Alex, I’m Max.”
“Well, it's nice to meet you Max” she said “would you like to join us for dinner?”
“Spirits can eat?” I ask. I always thought the dead wouldn’t need to eat.
“Well it's not necessary, but it tastes good.” Alex answers while sitting down at the table.
“Are you sure?” I ask, “it sounded like you guys don't have much food.”
“Don’t worry about it, my husband will be happy to share some with you. Right?” Emily said, glaring at Alex.
“He's right we don't have much...” Alex began.
“Right Alex? You will share, right?” the glare intensifying.
“Right dear,” Alex gave in with a shoulder slump.
----------------------------------------
“Thanks for the food.” I say instinctually leaning back as if full. “Its weird how I don't get full.”
“Tell me about it, but at least we don't get fat.” Alex agreed. “You can stay here tonight. Not that you need sleep but it's nice to have a quiet place to think.”
“I think I'll take you up on that offer.”
Alex walks down the hall left of the entry and opens a door. Stepping into the room I notice it's a boys bedroom. In the right corner was a queen sized bed. A desk with multiple papers of what I could assume was high school homework. The dresser was sloppy, clothes hanging out, but at least the floor was clean.
“Let me know if you have more questions.”
“I think I have enough to think about for right now.” Since my head's spinning with questions I should narrow them down. Before I kill this guy with overload.
After Alex leaves I move to sit down at the desk, falling straight through the chair. Oh right, the dead thing. What has happened since my death. I designed the system but it's been added to, Changed even. My goal was to create a guide after my death. What am I supposed to do now that someone beat me to it?
“What should I do now? My after-life goal has been stolen.” My heart drops at the thought.
Ping
I jump at the sudden noise. What's this?
Self added quest
Dead men tell the best tales:
Discover a way to speak to the dead.
As I watch the window the message distorts, changing the words.
Self added quest has been changed
Dead men tell the best tales:
Discover a way to speak to the living.