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Will to Live
Help me.

Help me.

I died again. I've died every single time! Anger fills my mind and I thrash around...at least in my mind. I still can't move in this damn room! Gone is my calm mind. It is agony! I've been killed so many times, it is becoming a chore to even bother fighting back. Every time I arrive in that other world, I'm in a different place.

I have no way of knowing, but I do feel that it is the same world as my first time there. But each time I arrive, I feel slightly different and before I can explore myself or my surroundings, I'm killed by something, whether it be at the hands of people, animal, or monster.

My fingers tap constantly on the floor underneath me. I'm waiting, I know I'll be sent back. I don't know when, there doesn't seem to be any specific time frame to work by. I randomly go and come back when I die.

Now, I just wait to die. I wonder what it'll be this time? I've been crushed, decapitated, run through, had my limbs ripped off. Maybe I won't even get a chance to arrive this time. Maybe I'll just die on arrival. Hopefully it is quick.

Then the humming begins again and with it, my heart drops. Here we go again. With dread the only emotion I'm feeling, I am suddenly surrounded by greenery. I'm in another forest and not in a grove this time, trees enclosed me like a tomb.

I didn't even bother to check myself this time. The first time I went back, I'd had a few changes, but after that, there were no more alterations. I still had the silver hair, but my skin was now more of an ash grey instead of the abyssal black it had been before and his nails were even lighter. 

With a soft sigh, I moved over to a tree and sat down before frowning. A small twitching was at my backside. Moving slightly, I noticed a long thin tail extending from my tail bone. It was covered in light black fur, with the tip being a silver puffball that tapered off. It was a strange sensation.

I now had a tail, and the tail was as easy to move as the rest of my limbs, even more so as it seemed to be all muscle. Strangely enough, I laughed, feeling better than I had in a while. I didn't even know how long I'd been going through this cycle.

The HUD..or whatever it was, hadn't vanished after that first time, though it seemed to change size each time. He wished he could get more information on it.

[Ding!]

A soft sound filled my mind as a small screen appeared in front of my eyes. It seemed to be a more detailed version of the smaller HUD.

{    {}

Race: Creature of the Abyss

Age: 22

Level: 1

Health: 350

Mana: 350

Stamina: 1000

Magic: 100

Strength: 25

Defense: 25

Agility: 500

Magic Attack: 25

Magic Defense: 25

{Equipment}

N/A

{Skills}

Flicker.

Will to Live.]

This...this was very depressing. I could remember things about games, but I don't recall playing them. Even by the standards in my memory, this is very low. No wonder I'd died so many times, I barely had any defense and my health was poor.

The only thing I had going for me was my Stamina and Agility. 

I turn my gaze to my skills. Two skills. As I focused on the first [Flicker] the screen changed.

[Flicker

User has the ability to quickly move from one place to another in a short range. Speed is relative to agility. Range increases with Level.

Maximum Range: 10 Meters]

It was an interesting skill. Maybe it would help keep me alive for a little bit longer. Now the other skill. With a thought, I was able to return to the previous screen and open up the information for the next skill.

[Will to Live

User can survive a near death experience and come back stronger. Only useful if one survives.]

Well...that is useless. I can't survive any attack, let alone one that would cause a near death experience. With a soft sigh, I get the screen to vanish and stand up. It seems that I haven't been attacked yet, I can at least test out the [Flicker] skill. If I know how to use it, I might be able to survive long enough to get stronger.

Looking around I spotted a relatively sparse area, one where if I were to move around, I wouldn't run into a tree. I took a deep breath and let it out before focusing on a spot around ten meters ahead of me.

It wasn't a great distance, but it would be useful in a life or death situation. Currently, I needed to focus on where I wanted to go, but hopefully I could learn to use it in an instance.

"[Flicker]" I spoke the name of my ability. My voice was deep and smooth, like rich honey. It was very soothing. The world around me seemed to move in slow motion and with a single step, I was standing in the spot I'd been focusing on. 

Teleportation. That was the only thought I could bring into my head to describe the skill. It was an instant movement, I couldn't even realize how fast I'd just moved.

I laughed "This is awesome!" I said grinning "With this I am sure to keep living!"

Looking at my HUD, I noticed that my Stamina bar had gone down by at least one hundred points. Damn. That was a huge cost. I could only use it around ten times. Fortunately, my Stamina slowly regenerated as I rested. 

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

*Thwip!*

What the..!

I looked down to see an arrow sticking out of my side. It was painful, but not debilitating. Looking at my health, it had gone down by about a fourth. My defense was terrible! I couldn't take another hit like that.

Leaving the arrow in would keep my blood from leaking out. That is what I'd learned a couple deaths back. Even without [Flicker] I still had a pretty good Agility. I quickly moved behind a tree just as another arrow passed by where my head had just been.

Damn! Who is it? Why now? I slowly peeked around the tree. I couldn't see anyone, though that didn't mean they weren't there. Hiding? Did they move. I focused on a spot a little ways to my left.

"[Flicker]" I said softly. Just as my skill activated, a masked figure appeared next to me, dagger's drawn. Fortunately, my skill had already activated and time around me slowed to a stand still. With a step, I was gone.

I turned to see the masked figure swipe at thin air before vanishing. Some kind of Ninja or something? You've got to be kidding me. I need to run.

Kicking up dirt, I took off. The pain in my side aching but manageable. 

"[Tracer Shot!]" a shout came from the direction I'd left. Cocking my head to the side, I saw an arrow flying towards me and moved to dodge, only to have it follow me. Ah crap! I quickly stepped past a tree and heard a *thunk* as the arrow buried itself into the tree.

"[Instant Trap!]" I gasped as the spot in front of me suddenly exploded into a large hole in the ground. I couldn't help but appreciate the ingenuity of my attackers.

"[Flicker!]" I shouted as time slowed just as I stepped over the hole. The only thought of mine was getting over the hole and my ability helped. The opposite edge of the hole appeared in front of me, though I didn't quite reach it.

I could feel the snap of the arrow in my side as I slammed into the side, catching the edge just barely.  Ignoring my pain, I pulled myself up and started to run.

"[Quick Strike!]" I felt several stings across my legs and back as I heard a voice shout behind me. I stumbled and rolled forward, landing on my side as I looked towards the masked figure from before.

Damn! This person had disabled my legs, I couldn't get up. It wasn't that the muscles were destroyed, it was more like they were just numb. 

In the top right of my eyesight an icon appeared.

[Paralyzed: 30 sec]

So I wouldn't be able to move for another thirty seconds, great. I watched as the timer ticked down. I'd be dead before it hit zero.

A young man in green clothing and brown leather ran up, another arrow knocked in his bow. I saw him grin "Good job Nayla" he said patting the masked figure on the back.

"He didn't make it easy" the masked figure pulled down their mask, revealing a feminine face. With the mask, I hadn't been able to tell her gender through her muffled voice.

The man walked over to me and looked down before raising his bow and pointing the arrow at my face. Looks like I was going to die again. Oh well...get it over with.

I felt something warm running down my face. I suppose I was crying...then it became worse. Sobs racked my paralyzed body. I couldn't move and I was going to die again. I felt terrible. I was going to end up in that dark room again, just lying there, waiting to be sent away again.

A small voice filled the area around me. It was pathetic and sad. Even in my depressed state, I wanted to help that person.

"Help me" the voice filled the air and I realized. It was me.

Then everything went dark. I suppose I passed out. The last feeling I had was of being enveloped in something warm.

----

I'm in a dark room. But unlike the one I was used to, this one felt warm and comforting. I could even move around. I didn't feel any pain so I decided to wander about. Maybe I could find a way out.

After walking for several minutes, or maybe it was hours, I lost track, I saw something floating through the air. It was longer than anything I'd ever seen. It was a single red thread, just listlessly floating there.

I saw something out of the corner of my eyes and turned. Moving away from me was a single black thread that glowed with a strange light. It was wrapped around my body, tightly binding me, yet allowing me to move.

Whatever it was, I didn't like it. No. I hated it. It gave me a terrible feeling, like it was sucking the warmth away from me. I wanted to get it off of me and get away from it. But as I swiped at it, all that happened was my hand passing through it.

I moved closer to the red thread, it gave off a warm, inviting feeling. I reached up and gently touched it. Unlike the black thread that I couldn't touch, this one moved towards my hand, as if it was greeting me. 

Taking it in my hands, I slowly wrapped it around myself. Wherever it touched, the black thread unraveled and fell away. Soon, the black thread was left floating in space, while the red thread had taken its place.

I grinned, feeling safe and content. Slowly I sat down and relaxed, closing my eyes. Just as I was drifting off, a message popped up in front of my shutting eyes.

[Binding Complete. Monster Tamed]

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