《Spellsword》


 Prologue

    Alex considered himself just a regular guy even if a bit on the tall and lanky side, being almost two meters tall with brown hair and blue eyes. Though depression and lack of motivation had made him go from athletic, as he was in school to slightly pudgy. Working as a clerk at a retail shop was not what he would consider a dream job. All that effort of going to university and he was stuck as a store clerk. His free time went into computer games as it was the only escape he had from the boredom that was his daily life.


    And today he was working the night shift again. Why a supermarket needed to be open at midnight he did not know, especially as there was only one customer wandering the alcohol section. If that guy could just pick whatever he was going to get drunk with so at least Alex could read some more. But no, the customer just kept wandering back and forth. He had been there for at least an hour now.


    Everything trembled. Earthquake? Wondered Alex for a moment but before he could do much else his attention got grabbed by a floating text appearing before him. What the hell? Thought Alex it had a large chunk of text with symbols rapidly shifting at the bottom but it did not look like any language Alex had ever seen before.


    Alex tried to poke his fingers at the text wondering what exactly it meant. Was he hallucinating? The symbols at the bottom almost looked like a countdown as they were rapidly shifting. Looking over where the only other person in the store was, he was greeted by the sight of the man desperately waving at something in front of himself, something that Alex could not see.


    Ok, whatever it is, it is not just me as that guy is freaking out. Thought Alex wondering and staring at the countdown. It had gone from three symbols to just two now. And slowly he prepared himself as much as he could for whatever was about to happen.


    As the Countdown was down to one symbol that was rapidly changing, Alex had the smart idea to just in case grab the baseball bat that was for sale on the shelf behind him.


    The countdown ended for a moment nothing happened, then the lights turned off, everything shook and sounds of metal groaning as if under massive stress filled the area. As suddenly as it started it ended, everything seemed to go back to normal. For a moment Alex thought that was it and things would go back to normal. But instead, a new text box appeared in front of him. This one as incomprehensible as the previous one. He spent a few seconds puzzling over it before his attention was pulled by a noise.


    Thump, thump, thump echoed through the room, it sounded like someone was using a sledgehammer on the wall at the back. Ok, that definitely does not sound good. Alex slowly came out from behind the counter to investigate. The noises kept getting louder and louder. Cracks started appearing in the middle of the wall at the back.


    The only other person in the shop was also moving closer to the wall to see what was going on.


    The cracks got bigger and bigger finally, the wall gave way and a big chunk fell into the shop. Behind it was the entrance of a cave, the dark tunnel leading off into the distance before turning sideways and vanishing out of sight. There was a big pile of bones off to the side and even pieces of what looked like armor in that pile. But Alex had no time to notice any of the details in the cave itself, his attention was occupied by something far more important. As the source of the noise and what had broken the wall was a giant ogre. At Least three meters tall covered in massive muscles and what looked like pieces of stone growing out of its skin. Its ears were almost comically large, looking like they should be something belonging more onto a cat or a bat, its small beady eyes were rough and uneven making one wonder how it could even see with them. It was armed with a rough stone club, one that had seen plenty of use shown by the bloodstains that covered it The monster that had entered the room stopped after taking a step in and slowly turned its whole body while it looked around the shop, its ears twitching rapidly towards every sound.


    As all the fridges in the cold section next to it were on, its attention was drawn to them as it slowly turned its whole body to face them growling slowly with deep menacing tones. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    But before the ogre could go over to investigate the noises from the fridges, the man who had thus far stood still in shock started screaming. The ogre''s reaction was rapid, with speed completely unexpected considering its slow movement this far the ogre twisted around, its club flashing out with blurring speed. The poor man was not an obstacle that could even slow the club down. Blood splattered in a wide arc as the club turned a man into chunks of meat.


    Alex seeing that turned and ran as fast as he could towards the front doors of the little shop. O god fuck, fuck, that thing just killed him! Were his thoughts as he desperately sprinted. He could hear an angry roar behind himself as he ran, but luckily for him, the ogre tried to take the direct route to him smashing into and through shelves in its haste to catch up to him. For a moment he thought Noise it reacted to noise! Alex quickly threw his club sideways in another direction for a moment the ogre slowed unsure what noise to follow before resuming his chase after Alex. But it bought him precious seconds, Seconds that meant he reached the door before the ogre reached him.


    Alex made it through the door and ran out knowing that there was the security office just across from his little shop. Yet once he made it to what should have been the main hallway of the mall he was met instead with a completely unfamiliar sight. A gigantic hall the far wall was barely visible far in the distance. The floor was covered in dirt with giant stone arcs far above and a glass roof above that showing the sky with the sun shining down. The side of the hall had a mix of archaic-looking stone arches leading into tunnels mixed in with hallways that you would expect in a shopping mall and random shops scattered around.


    Before he could decide what way safety could lay he was reminded of why he was running as the crashing noises behind him kept getting closer and closer. So he did the only thing he could think of turned to the side and ran along the wall desperately hoping to find a place to hide.


    He could feel his heart pounding and his lungs were burning, he was not fit enough for this level of effort but adrenaline and pure terror gave him the strength to continue. There was not much space in his mind for anything besides pure terror he was certain he was going to die.


    The first passageway he reached lead into a gym, with exercise equipment spread all around. His attention was drawn to the bars on the wall right next to the entrance making a ladder up into the rafters where he could possibly be out of reach of the monster.


    Alex with his climb fueled by fear managed to make it all the way up and climb onto the rafters before the ogre reached the room. In the huge gym hall, that he was now desperately clamped onto the rafters, sitting on one of the metal poles there hugging the pillar hanging down from the ceiling.


    Alex did his best to quiet his breathing and not make noise, the monster, after all, had only reacted to the noise and despite being so afraid he was shaking he had managed to notice that. And it seemed to be working the ogre could tell he was in there but the gym was a large echo-filled room with even the smallest noises echoing all around. So the ogre just wandered around trying to find its prey.


    It can''t see, it looked straight towards me but it is having trouble finding me. And I don''t think those wooden bars I used for climbing would hold him. Thought Alex as he slowly managed to at least somewhat calm down now that the immediate danger was over.


    But soon a repeating clicking noise joined the noises coming from the ogre wandering below. The sound was as if someone was rapidly tapping a metal pole onto the ground. And it was getting louder and louder. Alex looked around trying to figure out what new horror was making that noise. Finally, he had a chance to look around properly and the gym, for the most part, looked just like he would expect any regular gym to look. The door he had entered from was in the side of the large chamber. But in both ends of the hall, there was a giant stone arches leading into deep dark tunnels, tunnels that looked very out of place in a modern gym. And one of those tunnels was where that noise was now coming from.


    Alex was not the only one who had noticed the noise the ogre had noticed it as well and was moving in to investigate this new noise.


    A few minutes later Alex got his answer to what the noise was and desperately wished he had not. As out of that stone tunnel game a gigantic centipede. One whos body looked as if it was made of metal instead of chitin. And its many many legs were rapidly bringing it into the room. On entering the hall the Centipedes many misplaced eyes focused on the ogre as it lifted its whole front end up exposing a mouth filled with endless rows of teeth. And with no hesitation in its action, it charged at the ogre.


    The battle was short and vicious with the centipede tearing apart it''s smaller foe followed by quickly consuming it only leaving a bloodstain on the floor. And after seeing that unholy feast Alex could not help but notice several similar bloodstains already covering areas of the floor. There were bits of clothes mixed it that probably belonged to the poor people who had been in the gym when all this madness started.


    After it was done with its feast the centipede backpedaled back into the tunnel then headed out again following a trail only it could see winding across the room before exiting from the other end. Its back end only exiting the tunnel moments after its front end entered the other tunnel at the other end of the room, showcasing how monstrous it was in size. During that whole time Alex just desperately clung to the rafters hoping to stay unnoticed.

 Exploration

    Alex did not know just how long he had stayed up there but everything ached from the uncomfortable position. The centipede kept returning regularly always following the exact same path not deviating even the smallest bit, the floor was getting small round imprints from where its feet impacted into, as it unerringly stepped into the exact same spots.


    Only things Alex had to do was think while up there. His time from playing games had left him thinking that this place reminded him of dungeons he saw in games. And the screen that reappeared whenever he wanted to see it, while in a language he could not understand looked a lot like a character sheet. If only he could understand it.


    Eventually, tiredness won once the adrenaline ran out, and Alex slept while curled up around a pole in the rafters. Eventually, he woke feeling still tired but also now hungry and aching from the uncomfortable position.


    I can''t stay up here forever. I''m feeling really hungry by now and eventually, something will notice me. Can''t even call for help my phone just shows gibberish when I turn it on. Pulling his courage together Alex slowly started thinking of what he could do to improve his situation still having hope that help would arrive eventually he just needed to survive till then. And to last long enough he would need food and a place to rest at.


    Waiting for the next time the centipede had passed he climbed down. Slowly he moved out from the side door he had entered from before. Not having any interest in following the centipede to wherever it went in between its arrivals at the gym.


    Now that he was not running for his life he could have a look around the huge hall. And to his surprise, the hall was changing with trees and plants growing all over the place. The trees were only up to his knees but that was a very large amount of growth for a few hours since his desperate sprint through there.


    Slowly while constantly looking around he made his way back to his shop. Stopping at the now broken glass doors and peeking inside. The sight inside made him reconsider getting anything from in there as there were several of those ogres slowly wandering around.


    In the other direction from the gym, he found a bookstore, but it was infested with outlandish looking green bears. Definitely not the color he expected bears to be but also still bears, Alex estimated his chances of winning versus bears to be somewhere between fast suicide and slow suicide. So the bookstore would stay out of his reach for now. Slowly inching past the door hoping none of the bears would notice him.


    He made his way to the next few stores. Camping supplies, useful but there was a giant spider in there building webs. He ignored the tunnels leading off into deep dark unlit tunnels. Next store after camping supplies one was one he approached very carefully as the door was smashed open with signs of something very large having broken out. The store itself had apparently been in the middle of renovations. After some thinking of what to do Alex took some of the wooden planks from in there to build himself a little platform up in the gym rafters. As the giant centipede while terrifying never seemed to look up, and moved in a predictable schedule while killing any monsters that wandered into the room. Alex thought that while scary it would keep other monsters away from him.


    After some terrifying waiting just outside the gym door, wondering if anything else was going to appear before he could enter, yet entering when the centipede might appear any moment seemed like even more certain of a death. Alex slowly carried planks up and made himself a platform up in the rafters. At Least he would have somewhere to rest. Without having to worry about falling down and ending up as bug food.


    The routine carried on for several days scout a little bit for as long as his courage lasted to find anything useful, followed by huddling up on his little platform shivering from fear as there were monsters wandering the slowly forming forest.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    If I''m not wrong it''s been at least three days. The sun is constantly stuck in the sky above but I''m really really feeling the hunger. At least the tap in the bathroom of the half done shop worked. But I need food. Alex kept worrying about how to get what he needed in order to stay alive and slowly the realization that the shop he arrived in was the only source in reach.


    Standing at the ruined door Alex slowly took deep breaths trying to force himself to stay calm. I did it once I can do it again, I can outrun them! I hope... Eventually, he felt ready after a quick glance in to make sure none of the ogres were too close he yelled into the room ¡°Follow me you fuckers¡± And sprinted full tilt back towards the gym. A quick climb later he was back up in the rafters with several angry ogres soon following him into the gym down below.


    The centipede dealt with them quickly once its route brought it back into the gym. Leaving Alex to rush over to the shop and grab some supplies. After carrying all he could up into his little hiding spot in the rafters he got to enjoy the first meal he had in days. Cold canned food was not great but it tasted heavenly after not having eaten for so long.


    Things in the nearby areas kept changing, the forest once fully grown was enough to tempt the green bears away from their den. He was sure he had even seen a deer wandering around in the forest.


    Slowly he inched his way into the bookstore, at least some entertainment for however long he is stuck there before help can arrive. But the room seemed empty. So focused was he in going through the books trying to find good ones that he almost missed the sound of the door opening only noticing it thanks to the bell attached to it.


    For a moment he thought about yelling out in case it was people before deciding not to in case it was something else. And instead ducked underneath the counter at the back.


    His instinct to hide was proven right as several goblins entered the room, short and green with a mouth full of sharp teeth. And unlike the beasts that he had worried about this far the goblins were armed. The one in the front was using a shield and sword with armor made of leather, ones behind it were a mix of swords and bows. Their voices were deep and guttural harsh sounding words were exchanged by the members of the group as they did a quick look around the room and decided it was useless for them, several books were grabbed at random. The whole time Alex hid underneath the counter terrified. Thinking that they looked sentient but that was no guarantee that they would not attack the moment they see him.


    As they left Alex thought I need to see where they go, they might be willing to help. He hoped the goblins were not evil, as while they usually were in stories but stories and real life might not match. Yet something in his gut was telling him they were definitely not ones he wanted to be noticed by.


    Slowly he followed them the forest giving plenty of cover and the group being noisy enough that they were not hard to track. Slowly he heard more and more noises as he slowed down to try his best at not being noticed. The goblins had stopped at a makeshift camp, the air was filled with the smell of cooking meat. There were tents spread around several large bonfires. There were tens of goblins wandering around. Alex considered They are not human but they look at least somewhat civilized, they can''t be too bad. But before he managed to convince himself to expose himself to these new people he noticed something that looked very off about the fire they were cooking on. Slowly he inched sideways till he could see past the tent.


    Any desire to get himself noticed by these monsters vanished. There were human body parts cooking on the grill side by side with what looked like bits of a bear.


    They are eating people. PEOPLE! Alex felt horrified by the very idea of something considering humans a meal.


    As he made his way back to his camp and as had become a routine listened for the telltale signs of the centipede before entering and climbing up. The day had been exhausting and stressful.


    Sleep was interrupted by nightmares of ending up on a grill. He was woken by a rapidly growing headache. One that quickly became an agony where he struggled not to scream. It hurts, hurts, make it stop! As quickly as it had appeared the headache disappeared. He wondered for a bit if he was falling ill before thinking of the screen he could summon. The Menu that had once been undecipherable reappeared now written in clear and understandable English.


    Alex Mason


    Level:0


    Strength: 3


    Dexterity: 4


    Constitution: 4


    Intelligence: 8


    Perception: 5


    Willpower: 2


    Charisma: 3


    At the bottom, there was an experience bar one that was a tiny smidgeon filled.


    No amount of trying out any commands that worked in games that he had played in the past made anything other than this screen appear.


    This confirms it, it''s some kind of game system. I really wish this stupid system came with a tutorial. Thought Alex once he ran out of ideas to try.

 Level 1!

    The store stayed risky as new ogres wandered into it from the tunnels every day. And the ogres had started wandering into the forest in search of a meal. The whole place was becoming more and more dangerous. The monsters that had initially stuck to their spawn areas now regularly wandered into the forest for food.


    Gaining access to the bookstore had been a boon in dealing with boredom. As Alex was far too afraid to venture far into the unfamiliar, now those bare essentials were kind of covered for a bit. The deep dark tunnels that were between some of the stores in the giant wall were far from inviting, and the few stores spread in the area that he had not entered yet were death traps.


    New ogres had replaced the ones that Alex had managed to bait to be fed to the centipede. And somehow they seem to have figured out what happened to their brethren as they would not enter the gym anymore. Being trapped in the gym for a full day as the ogres guarded the exit had been nerve-wracking, unsure if they would move or if he was trapped in there forever. Luckily eventually they gave up and headed back to the store they considered home.


    Eventually the boring routine Alex had developed had to come to an end the his food supplies were nearly out again. Carefully and regularly he checked if the ogres left their new home unguarded. And eventually he got lucky the shop was empty the menacing tunnel still in the back but no monsters inside. Hastily and nervously Alex headed through the store.


    Many of the isles were demolished with all the things easy enough for ogres to recognize as food gone. But the cans were safe the ogres did not consider them food unaware of the bounty hidden in each one. But the cans were also quite far from the entrance.


    Slowly Alex snuck through the isles listening for the heavy footsteps of the ogres. It was eerily quiet as he finally made it to where the cans were. Slowly he started filling his backpack stacking the cans in.


    The silence was interrupted by stomping footsteps. Backpack quickly grabbed Alex tried to head for the entrance to get out. But that plan was quickly foiled by the pack of ogres walking in each of them covered in blood from the creatures they had hunted down in the forest. And all of them were dragging more crushed and mangled corpses with themselves.


    I can''t get past, i can outrun them but not if i have to run right past them! Slowly the nearly blind ogres came closer and closer with alex hiding just up ahead. Panicked looks around was all he had for a period till he saw a chance there was enough space on one of the bottom shelves between the cans for him to crawl into.  Filled with terror at the monsters approaching he quickly crawled into the tight space while trying to be as quiet as he could manage.


    The ogres walked past none of them noticing the terrified person squished between the tomato cans and the pasta and meatballs cans. Just past where Alex was one of the ogres stopped. Has it noticed something?!? Despite the terrified worry that he had the ogre had not noticed him, and for the first time Alex heard ogres speak deep and harsh voices shouted out, reverberating through the room.


    And then to make matters worse Alex felt the ground shake as massive footsteps could be heard from the tunnel at the back. Slowly he twisted himself as much as he could to see between the shelves peeking through the tiny gap in the back. Only able to see the bottom of the tunnel entrance, he saw gigantic feet approach, the rest of the monster out of his sight. The ogres had brought back food for their leader. The biggest one of them. And it greedily took the offerings from the other ogres.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The whole time the gigantic creature feasted on the meal its minions had brought, Alex just shivered and hid feeling too terrified to move. Eventually the ogres wandering paths inside the shop allowed for a clear route to the exit. One the terrified man took as fast as he could.


    Back in his hiding spot he was happy to have more food. But he would need to scout further the shop no longer feeling like a valid option for food. He wanted to stay alive and that thing in there was at least three to four times bigger than the already monstrous ogres.


    Each time he scouted a bit further trying to find more but the wall itself was blank and except the small section where he had started out with a gym, three stores and two tunnels there were no further entrances in sight. And the tunnels were pitch dark and he did not even have a flashlight. And he was nowhere near brave enough or suicidal enough to wander dark tunnels without light.


    The goblins also started making regular appearances as Alex saw them avoiding the stores but heading off into the tunnels in small groups as if searching for something.


    One day Alex¡¯s luck ran out and as he exited the gym he ran face to face  with a group of goblins. And they were very much not happy to see him.


    Alex managed to by sheer luck dodge an arrow as he ducked back inside the gym and quickly climbed up. But the goblins were not as dumb as the ogres they had no trouble figuring out where he went. Alex huddled in his little hiding spot as goblins tried to get a clear shot at him. Seeing as they could not get a good angle to shoot up into his platform two of them, covered by their allies who shot at Alex whenever he tried see over the edge of his base, started climbing up.


    Slowly as they balanced on the rafters holding their swords in one arm and using the other using the nearby wall for balance they made their way towards him.


    Alex could see them, Angry snarls on their faces, their armor damaged and covered in bloodstains, and very determined to get to him and kill him. He could not stand up as then he would quickly gain a few arrows so he was forced to crouch down and watch as his death slowly approached him. I can''t hide, i need to fight them! Alex was terrified but he did not want to die and slowly resolve replaced fear. Carefully he reached over to the only things usable as weapons he had.


    Once he had hold of the can of beans he took aim from his awkward position and threw the can with all his might at the closest goblin. Who almost lost his balance before shouting some angry sounding phrases at Alex and continuing on. Now on the lookout for any more improvised projectiles.


    Slowly his supply of cans was diminishing, the goblins were slowed but not stopped by the cans.


    Slowly the racket from the goblins down below ,cheering at their braver members, gained an added note, as rhythmic clanking noise joined the chorus.


    The centipede, I never thought i''d be so happy for a monster showing up. The first goblin finally made it to the platform but he made a crucial mistake as he took the time to look down as he heard the centipede engage his allies. A backpack with a few cans in it was swung at full force and met the goblins face. This time his balance was not enough as he tumbled down, joining the rest of the centipedes meal.


    The second goblin was enraged at the deaths of his allies and charged at Alex. Swung bag was deftly dodged and Alex found himself frantically dodging the sword swings avoiding any major hits yet not fast enough to completely escape several shallow cuts now on his body.


    The goblin was determined but its anger ended up being its undoing in its haste to kill Alex, it forgot to pay attention to its footing and stumbled for just a moment. Alex capitalized on that one stumble and punched the goblin in the face, followed by grabbing its sword arm twisting and trying to disarm the goblin. And to his own surprise he succeeded.


    Their fight turned from sword fight into desperate hand to hand melee, the goblin proved to be far stronger than it looked and slowly bruises accumulated on Alex. Eventually he fell backwards landing right next to the goblins sword. As the goblin jumped at him intending to pummel him to death Alex managed to grab the sword and moments later the goblin ended up impaled on its own sword. Slowly the goblins flailing slowed down as it slowly succumbed to its injuries and died.


    Alex bruised and hurt was victorious. He had taken the life of a goblin. And for that he was rewarded. As a screen popped up in front of him.


    You have reached level 1. Additional features unlocked.

 Finding Courage

    The level up had unlocked many additional things in the system. Focusing on things now gave him a prompt showing useful information about it. Centipede turned out to be level ?? with a note under it for survival chances stating ¡°Certain Death¡± it even gave information about any random item he focused on for a bit, it felt like a small mounting pressure in his head before information popped up.


    His sword was ranked as poor and named as goblin longsword. It would probably not last him long considering it had visible cracks on it and rust patches. But nonetheless it was a weapon, now he would just need to find enemies to use it on. As understanding had slowly sunk in that he would not survive long without getting stronger, if he had stats like games and gained levels like games he could grow stronger. He would have to if he wanted to survive, just hiding and running was not enough.


    The tab for skills was interesting but apparently nothing he knew qualified as a skill as it remained empty. Ten free stats he could allocate was very useful though making him feel considerably stronger as he applied them, leaving his stats page changed, to his surprise he had gained an extra strength point from somewhere.


    Alex:


    Strength: 6


    Dexterity: 6


    Constitution: 10


    Intelligence: 8


    Perception: 5


    Willpower: 2


    Charisma: 3


    Hp:72/100


    Stamina: 27/120


    He put most of his points into constitution with the remaining four split between strength and dexterity. The effect was immediate as he felt a strong tightness throughout his body for a few moments before it stopped. Leaving him generally feeling a bit stronger as his hp and stamina stats climbed massively. The new health points were instantly added to his health total but the stamina just added to the maximum leaving him feeling surprisingly tired and drained.


    He rested for a while and ate some food before stamina slowly reached max again. Health, on the other hand, seemed to take a while per each point. Now that he was mostly healed up back at 78hp and his stamina was full it was time to scout and find targets that he could defeat, as sooner or later something else will find his little base in the rafters. And next time he might not be lucky enough to fight something that he had a chance against.


    Scouting the monster dens that he had nearby brought him some hope the camping store had level five spiders the big one as stronger at level fifteen but it just seemed to sit at the back in its web. And each spider did not seem to care about the fate of the rest of them so a stone throw reliably brought one spider out of the store at a time.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    After having tested several times that only one spider came Alex prepared himself for battle. A thrown stone along with some spilled food as bait got a spider out of the shop. And into position underneath a nearby tree.


    The creature was the size of a dog coming up to Alex¡¯s waist. Covered in coarse black hair with green patches on its back. Its legs thin and lean keeping its body well clear of the ground.


    As the monster feasted on the bit of food Alex slowly psyched himself up to attack, still terrified but slowly gaining resolve that this was the only way he could survive.C''mon man you gotta do it! it''s just a spider I just need to hit the head. Just as the spider finished eating Alex eventually attacked, silently he dropped down onto the spider with his sword aimed at the spiders head. He would finish it in one blow!


    But that was not to be, the top of the spiders head was far better armored than Alex had expected. Moments later he tumbled off the spider having only left a thin scratch on its head. And now he quickly scrambled away to get up before the spider could reach him. And the spider was very much trying to jab its fangs into him, the fangs dripping poison that was smoking as it hit the floor, ones he very very much wanted to avoid being stabbed by.


    The surprise attack had done a lot less than Alex had hoped as he frantically dodged the deadly fangs. I need to run! No can¡¯t, or I will always be running I need to kill it. The internal struggle between his cowardice and his resolve went on, the spider did not care about his internal struggles it just continued its attempts at murdering him.


    The blows from Alex¡¯s sword did not do much just glancing away from the spider''s sturdy hide. As the fight went on Alex got lucky one wild hit slashed at the joint of one of the spider''s legs and his sword went straight through severing that leg at the joint. Alex rejoiced he had found a weakness he could exploit the fight could still be won.


    I can do it! Thought Alex finally feeling hope that he could win. Slashes with his sword were far from accurate but he was faster than the spider at start and with each limb lost the spider slowed more, until it was near immobilized on the ground hissing up at Alex. Removing its limbs had not killed it but left it helpless for the final blow as Alex stabbed his sword into one of the spiders large eyes Once the spider was dead he checked his character sheet and found that he had gained nearly half a bar of xp. Just one more and i will be level two! He had hope that he could grow strong enough to survive in the hellhole he was now stuck in.


    The battle with the second spider went a bit easier than the first one as Alex now knew how to kill it. Once the second spider died Alex now feeling confident in his ability to kill them baited out the third one.


    The fight went similarly with the spider lunging and Alex getting a quick swing in before the spider got itself ready to lunge at him again. The spider did not see as dangerous as they did at the start so Alex decided to try and end the fight early by going straight for the eyes after only cutting off one leg. And for his overconfidence, he got rewarded with a tiny scratch from the spider''s fangs. A scratch that burned with incredible pain leaving Alex running away once more trying to get back to his base. Luckily for him, the spider was not all that fast so he easily escaped.


    By the time he made it back to his base, the agony had spread from his arm through all of him. Blood pumping through his body spread the agony with each heartbeat spreading a new wave of pain through him. Somehow he managed to climb up nearly falling down several times as he eventually collapsed onto the hard planks that made up his bed.


    Opening his character sheet he ignored the selection of notifications only focusing on his health ticking from fifteen to fourteen. Desperately he allocated all the points from the recent levelup into constitution to try and gain the instant health bonus, pushing his constitution to 20. The agony instantly dropped several degrees in intensity with his health shooting up to a hundred and twelve. Through the agony, he cleaned the wound as much as he could. Eventually, he succumbed to unconsciousness as his stamina ran out with his health still slowly ticking downwards.