《The Afterlife, And How To Survive It (Barely)》 1 - A Shot of Medicin Larry Foulery was lazily scrubbing the counter of the fast food restaurant he worked at, when he looked up and got shot in the face. The explosion of light hit him, and he felt his skull cave in under the pressure. Much to his surprise, he was not dead before he hit the floor, and was able to feel the pain in all of it''s glory. Fast death, my ass, he thought, as his dying muscles caused his body to spasm. With every twitch, waves of pain rushed from his head to the rest of his body, until they ended in his numb fingertips and toes. He tried to close his eyes, but his body did not listen. Already, he had lost control over it. Screams rang in his ears, and more gunshots. The blood gushed out of his forehead, and flowed into his hair and eyes. Slowly, his vision was drowned by blood, and the world turned red, and then, finally, black. I never thought I¡¯d die so soon, he thought. No girlfriend. No real job. Why did I even safe up all that money. All wasted now. Fuck, my life was a waste, wasn''t it. Humanity just took a huge loss, everybody. Another fucking nobody died. As his consciousness faded away, he thought about all his regrets. Funnily enough, it was not the things he should have done differently he regretted the most, but the things he had never even tried. All his life he hid his regrets and insecurity behind this wall up apathy. He thought if he¡¯d never really cared about anything, he could never fail, never be disappointed. Now, while he was taking his last, painful breaths, confused and alone, he was disappointed only in himself. I wish I had a second chance, he thought, as his mind drifted into darkness.
Larry opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw were the white walls, and the ebony desk in front of him. A broad, leather chair was right behind the desk, and behind the chair was a small door, just big enough that an a midget might fit through comfortably.He noticed he was sitting on a black leather couch. I''ve seen enough black couches online to know where this is going, he thought, chuckling at his own joke. Looks like there is an afterlife, after all. I owe Steve five bucks. It felt good to know that when hislife hadended,it hadn''t beenoverquiteyet. Maybe this was the second chance he had wished for. Curious as to where he was, he stood up and walked towards the tiny door, but before he reached it, it swung open on its own. A huge creature pushed itself through the door frame, troubled by its long and slender body. When it finally managed to enter the room, Larry saw it was nearly twice his height, with long limbs and a floating, black sphere where it''s head should be. Almost invisible dots dances across this sphere, sometimes hiding in the seemingly never ending darkness, sometimes jumping across it like shooting stars. The creature carried a suitcase and a cup decorated with foreign symbols in its hands, its long fingers curving around the items, holding them with the delicacy of a spider. Weirdly enough, it was wearing a normal sized, black suit, which hung from his slim limbs like a tiny curtain. The creature sat down on the chair behind the ebony desk and dropped it¡¯s stuff onto the table. It opened it''s suitcase and pulled out a stack of papers, which it spread across the table in a way, that made Larry suspect it had done so a million times before. Suddenly, it''s sphere-head started spinning, and a loud noise filled the room. It sounded like one of these monk choirs Larry had heard in the church as a small boy. The voices weren¡¯t speaking in a language Larry recognized, and the closer he listened, the more he felt like he was pulled in by them. A realization ripped him out of his thoughts. Oh crap, is this god? No, no, fuck. I''m still in my work clothes. I¡¯m standing in front of god, and I¡¯m wearing my greasy work clothes. Larry remembered his dad once told him, that you should dress every day like it''s your last one. Looks like he had been right. Maybe, if this really was the afterlife, Larry would soon be able to tell him that. The sphere-head of god decelerated, and the noise changed into a low buzzing, the voices of the choir blending together into a single, corrupted buzzing. Then, the creature put it''s hand on the sphere, and it''s color changed to a glowing red. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Do your ears know me, currently", god said, in a low grumbling voice. "What?" Larry asked, almost unable to force the word out of this throat. The buzzing of the sphere pushed against his mind, and time seemed to dilute. How long had he been here already?It could have been seconds, it could have been millenias.He felt his legs grow weaker with every moment, as his fear and anxiety grew stronger.Something about that voice was not right. It made him feel emotions that did not belong into his head. They were not his own. The creature pressed it''s fingers harder against the sphere. The color changed to a dark pink. "Can you understand my words, now?" the thing said, this time with the voice of a small girl. Every word it said was followed by a demonic whisper, an hidden message that gave the words power.The pressure on Larry''s had subsided. "Yes I can understand you... Are you god?" "Sit. The questioning will start immediately," it said, dismissing Larry¡¯s question. It fished a pen out of it''s suitcase and began scribbling on one of the papers it had brought. A drop of sweat rolled over Larry left temple, and right into his eye. He didn¡¯t blink. "Failure to follow my instructions will lead to your complete erasure. Sit," the creature said, a little bit to casual for Larry''s taste. Larry took seat on the couch. The creature spoke again, it words piercing Larry like needles. "Can you talk?" it asked. "Uh, yes. Where am I? Is this heaven?" "Would you be able to talk without your mouth?" "What? No. I''m so sorry, what is happening right now? I died, and now I¡¯m here and..." The creature pointed towards the wall to it¡¯s left. Larry looked to where it pointed, and saw a giant mirror, which had definitely not been there before. It was framed in gold, the metal twisting into beautiful spirals and flowers. Glowing, violet symbols wandered over it¡¯s surface. "What do you see?" the creature asked. "Myself, I guess. And you. The couch, the walls and the desk, and..." The maybe-god interrupt him. "Enough," it said, it¡¯s hand raised, signaling him to stop. The mirror collapsed into dust. "I will now confirm you identity. Please name the precise order of nucleotides within your average DNA molecule." "What the hell. How am I supposed to know that?¡± If I would have known I would need biology in my afterlife, I would have paid better attention in class. Ah, who am I kidding, I still would have skipped the class, he thought. For the first time, the creature stopped writing. Silence impregnated the atmosphere with tension. It sighed, the voice of the small girl suddenly sounding much closer than the creature actually was. The sphere sped up. "Very well. I will confirm your identity in a different way. Prepare yourself.¡± Before Larry could react, it¡¯s arm shot towards him, stretching far beyond it¡¯s original length. With fingers like spider legs, it punctured his forehead, much the same way the bullet had, but this time Larry did not feel any pain, nor did he die. The creature wiggled it''s fingers, and Larry could definitely feel that. He felt it pulling and twisting, and digging. For some reason it reminded him of going to the dentist, the fingers grinding into his mind like a drill into a rotten tooth. ¡°You are human,¡± the creature said with certainty. ¡°From simulation C-137, Earth. Larry Foulery. As you demonstrated, your species has limited self-awareness, mostly suppressed it¡¯s instincts and is able to communicate intelligently. You belong to a low-intelligent, carbon based species, which showcases parasitic behavior towards itself and its environment. You have lived for twenty-three years, and as such you have payed of your debt, with an overshoot of three years . Congratulations, you fulfill the minimum requirements for an afterlife. I will send you to a world that fits the destructive tendencies and emotional instability of your species, as well as your personal preferences.¡± With a sloshing noise, the creature pulled it¡¯s fingers out of Larry¡¯s head. The world around Larry turned dark again. ¡°What the hell just happened?¡± he whispered, pushing his last breath through his teeth. And then, Larry Foulery died. Again. 2 - A Man and His Drink Larry woke up for the second time after getting shot in the face, but this time no white walls or gods with a child¡¯s voice were waiting for him. Instead, he woke up in what looked like a medieval tavern. Wood and shady people everywhere. The furniture was impregnated with the stench of booze, attesting to the countless spilled beers and hard nights of drinking. Fabrics covered the windows to cushion the insides of the tavern against the light of the outside world. The walls were decorated with horns and red colored shields, and a single rusty chandelier hung from the ceiling, the wax from its candles dripping onto the floor below it, creating tiny waxen stalagmites. Larry felt his head pulsate, and a numb pain danced through his skull, sending shivers down his spine, causing him to convulse. He gently touched his forehead. Right there, where the bullet had hit him, and where a god had touched him, his skin was slightly rougher than normal. He rubbed the scar, trying to find out how visible it might be. If this scar stays forever, I¡¯ll shoot myself just to get back up there and complain about it, Larry thought. Suddenly, a ping sound filled his mind, and the noises of the tavern faded away. His vision grew blurry. A blue screen appeared before him, and messages flashed before his eyes.
Welcome to your new life. From now on, you will be supported by this world¡¯s built in system.
Larry could feel soft vibrations in his head, as if a bee had crawled up his nose and somehow found its way into his brain. It was not comfortable.
Status initialized. To use Status, touch your head directly and wait until a pop-up appears.
Larry stopped touching his scar, and the blue screens disappeared instantly. He heard his surroundings grow louder again, and his vision went back to normal. Larry looked around the tavern. No one seemed to pay any attention to him, so he probably was the only one who had seen what just happened. He put his fingers on his head again. After a few seconds, the Status opened again.
Welcome to Status.
As a reincarnated being, your physiology had to be adapted to this foreign environment. Your species has been changed to this world equivalent of Human.
Your species has been mutated to better reflect your original species.
Your species is now Parasitic Human.
The mutation has locked some of your attributes. You are now unable to increase them.
The mutation has unlocked new attributes. You are now able increase them.
The mutation has ¡­
Larry dropped his hand again, and the screens that flooded his vision were gone. He knew what this meant. A smile crept across his face, and he felt his dry lips part like zippers. I¡¯m in one of those video game worlds! Like those stories I read on the internet. Damn, If my body didn¡¯t feel like shit right now, this would be the best moment of my life. Well, afterlife. For now though, I need something to drink. My throat feels like someone dragged it through a desert. I¡¯ll check out this Status thing after I get some water or something. Larry was currently sitting at some smelly wooden desk, which fit perfectly together with the generally stinkyatmosphere of the tavern. With it¡¯s dim lighting and few guest, it didn¡¯t impress Larry in a positive way., to say the least. The tavern had this buy something or piss off kind of feeling. He noticed a small bag on the desk. Larry opened the bag and emptied it on the table. A few bronze coins jingled across the table, and some of the shadier figures in the tavern glanced his way. At least he wasn¡¯t sent here without any money. He licked his teeth. He signaled the waitress, a busty woman with long, blonde hair and young face. She clearly saw him wave, but hesitated to come over. For some reason, she looked annoyed. Then she turned around and walked towards the counter, where she started cleaning dishes. Apparently, she had decided that Larry wasn¡¯t worth the effort. Larry waved harder, and the waitress ignored him harder. Fantastic, Larry thought. He scooped up the coins and walked up to the counter, where the waitress was. Only now did he realize that he didn¡¯t wear his own clothes anymore. He sported a dirty, white shirt and short brown pants. He wore bandages around his feet instead of boots. To sum it up, he looked like a beggar. The waitress eyes him again, dropping her glass into the wooden sink unenthusiastic. She was definitely not impressed with Larry. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You gotta pay, if you order,¡± she said, not even looking his way. ¡°A glass of water,¡± Larry ordered, and threw his bag of bronze coins towards her, to prove he had money, and was willing to spend it. He wasn¡¯t actually planning on spending any money here, which is why he order the water, but he doubted she¡¯d give him anything if she thought he was broke. The waitress caught the bag. She undid the little string that kept the bag closed and looked inside. She chuckled. Larry watched the waitress disappear into a room behind the counter, probably to get the water. When she was gone, he started to hum quietly, to kill some time. He noticed his voice sounded different. My throat must be in a worse condition than I thought. The waitress returned and poured a glass of water out of a fancy looking glass bottle she had brought. What tavern stores it¡¯s water in a bottle? The girl put down the glass of water and his coin bag in front of him. She smiled at him, and a malicious kind of joy radiated from her toothy grin. ¡°You got balls, kid. You know what, as long as you finish the drink, it¡¯s on the house. Not like you¡¯d be able to buy anything with that little bronze anyway,¡± she said. On the house, as in ¡®The water in here isn¡¯t free¡¯? This place is even sleazier than I thought. Also, kid? I¡¯m twenty-three. I might even be older than you, judging from your looks. Whatever. Larry grabbed the water and smelled it. It was actually water, as far as he could tell. He downed it in one go. The fluid took care of the disgusting fuzzy mouth and dry throat. Turns out, reincarnation feels a lot like hangovers. Water had rarely tasted this satisfying. ¡°What in the green Hills!¡± the waitress screamed in surprise. She ripped the glass out of Larry¡¯s hand and shook it, as if to check where all the water had gone. She gave him a sceptical look, carefully eyeing him. Man this girl is weird. Someone behind Larry spoke up. ¡°You downed that water like a parched sailor.¡± Larry turned and saw a giant of a man approach. With his beard and log-like limbs, he looked like someone had pressed a bear into a pink colored sack and called it human. He wore a rusty armor, with leather strips and metal plates that desperately tried to contain the man¡¯s massive frame. He sat down next to Larry, his stool creaking under his weight. He dropped his arms on the counter with a loud thump. ¡°I¡¯ll pay the next few rounds, Olivia,¡± he said to the waitress. ¡°You trying to kill him?¡± she answered, but put another glass in front of Larry, and one in front of the man. She observed Larry in anticipation. ¡°Name¡¯s Jorg," the man said. "Drink as much as you want. That is, if you can.¡± He gave Larry a friendly pat on the shoulder. Larry introduced himself to be polite. He didn¡¯t know what was going on, but since he was getting free drinks, he wasn¡¯t about to complain. He grabbed the second glass of water and downed it as fast as he could, finally quenching his thirst. He had not realized just how dehydrated he was, until the liquid had touched his lips. Larry noticed that both the waitress and Jorg were looking at him, as if they had just see a magic trick. Different world, different people. Larry tried to think of an excuse to leave the tavern. Usually, if someone offered to pay his drinks he¡¯d be happy to stay all night, but currently he desperately wanted to check out that Status thing. Ultimately Larry decided he¡¯d just tell them he was busy. Wasn¡¯t their business what he was up to anyway, was it? He tried to stand up, but Jorg grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down. ¡°You just drank a two glassesof the nastiest stuff you can buy around here. You¡¯d be better of sitting,¡± Jorg said. ¡°It¡¯s just some water,¡± Larry said. Had they giving him something strong without him noticing? ¡°Just some water? Never seen a man drink as much water as you and not vomit his brains out. I took a sip from it and I¡¯m already tipsy. Sit, kid.¡± You gotta be kidding me. The people in this world get drunk from regular water? How do they even survive? Well, at least I¡¯m still able to drink it normally. Also, there was that ¡®kid¡¯ again. ¡°Ok, why is everyone here calling me a kid. What¡¯s up with that, huh?¡± Jorg laughed. ¡°Look at yourself, buddy,¡± Jorg said. ¡°You can¡¯t be older than a sixteen cycles. Although, someone who drinks water like you deserves to be called an man, in my books.¡± Confused, Larry looked at Jorg. Sixteen cycles was probably the equivalent of sixteen years on earth. Maybe. But he wasn¡¯t sixteen. He was twenty-three, and as far as he remembered, no one had ever mistaken him for a teenager. Did the teenagers in this world just look older? Or maybe... Larry looked at his own hands. They were tinier than he remembered. Also, there was less hair on them. He touched his face. Usually, he¡¯d have some beard stubbles decorating his face, since he was to lazy to shave regularly. Now, there was nothing. Oh man, they''ve made me younger. If I have to go through teen angst and random boners again, I swear to god... ¡°You know,¡± Jorg said, pointing towards a group of people in the back of the tavern. ¡°Me and my buddies were planning on hunting later on. You wanna come with?¡± Larry had to suppress a grin. Hunting with these guys meant he¡¯d basically get a free tutorial on how this world works. This is going great! 3 - A Hunter and Its Prey This was not going great, at all. Larry hobbled as fast as his broken leg allowed him to. Sweat soaked his white shirt, and every breath he tooked dried out his mouth more and more. The bandages around his feet constantly tangled up with twigs and roots, slowing him down even further. He limped through the long grasses and the low hanging branches, which made it almost impossible to see where he was going. He stepped on a root, and his foot slipped, landing in a unfortunate position where the splinters of his bones scratched his flesh. He felt his stamina hit rock-bottom and collapsed, his hands hitting the ground, whirling up clouds of dust. He dug his fingers into the earth, to distract himself from the pain. Somewhere behind him, the loud crunches of trees being ripped apart echoed through the otherwise silent forest. He stood up and limped further. At this point, his muscles ran on adrenaline and willpower alone. He didn¡¯t dare look behind him. If he¡¯d see the monster and hesitated even a second, he wasn¡¯t sure if he had enough mental strength to start moving again. Without hesitating, he limped through a tall bush, pushing aside its thorny limbs with his arms. The thorns ripped his skin and clothes. Once he was on the other side, he threw himself on the ground, and crawled towards the broadest tree he could find. He used his arms to lift himself up, and leaned against the tree. Its bark poked into his back. He touched his head.
Welcome to Status.
Larry used his thoughts to open the inventory tab. Motivated by pain, he made a few clumsy gestures with his unoccupied hand. Jorg had shown him how to use the inventory. When he finally got the gesture right, a red flask manifested in his palm. He drank the contents and watched the gashes on his arms close by themselves. He felt the bones in his foot grind together as they healed, and he nearly blacked out. When his body was finally restored, he pulled another bottle out of his inventory. The fluid looked like slightly green water. Jorg had told him, that this stuff would stop monsters from finding him, though Larry had no idea how it worked. Maybe it covered up his smell or something. He opened the bottle and poured it over his head. Thank god Jorg gave me some of his supplies. Carefully, Larry observed his surroundings. He didn¡¯t see any signs of the monster, but he knew he wasn¡¯t safe. The first time it attacked, no one had been able see where it came from either. It had been quiet, hidden between grass and bushes, when suddenly from one moment to the other, it attacked, and all hell broke loose. When Larry couldn¡¯t spot the creature, he decided to check out his Status. He touched his head. Status had a pretty minimalistic design. There was a inventory tab, which showed everything he had currently stored inside it, an information tab, where he could see his stats, and a tab for old notifications, in case he wanted to look at them again. Larry opened the information tab.
Larry Foulery Level: 1
Species: Parasitic Human Title: Non
Mystomorphosis: Unaffected Stories: Uninvolved
Strength: 5 Intelligence:7
Agility:7 Thought:5
Durability:5 [LOCKED] Willpower:6
Senses:3 Instincts:3 [LOCKED]
Regen:1 (V)
There were a lot of things in his information tab that he was familiar with. Things like strength and intelligence were relatively self-explanatory for someone like him, who used to play RPGs as a kid, but then there was stuff like Mystomorphosis. What in the world was that supposed to be? Status wasn''t giving him any information on it. Also, no matter where he looked, he couldn¡¯t find health or stamina stats. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Makes sense, in a way. How would you calculate the HP damage someone takes from, say, a ripped of arm? Then there were the locked stats. He remembered the Status saying something about how these stats were locked for his species specifically. The fact that durability was locked, filled Larry with a sense of dread. Traditionally, it was one of the most important stats, if one planned on surviving. Larry concentrated on his species and just as expected, more information popped up.
The Parasitic Human is a Human-type variant, created to better resemble the original species of the reincarnated user. Some attributes have been locked/unlocked. Locked attributed still effect the user, but cannot be increased. Your species is able to gain different abilities than the regular Human species.
Larry sighed. That god must have had a really bad opinion of earth. Parasitic? Come on, we weren¡¯t that bad. Maybe a little selfish, but calling us parasites is over the top. Larry closed Status and checked his surroundings again, but the longer he waited for something to happen, the more anxious he became. There was definitely something fishy going on. He hadn¡¯t heard or seen any animal ever since the thing had attacked. This was the kind of silence that said: Hey, make one wrong move and you are dead! He was tempted to check out his Status again, to kill some time, but he knew it¡¯d be a bad idea. The monster is still out there, and I''m just sitting here, waiting for it to attack. I should at least do something. Larry stood up, meticulous trying to keep himself lowered and hidden behind the bushes. He took a step, and when nothing attacked him, he took another. Gradually, he crept towards the place the thing had attacked Jorg¡¯s group, always ready to jump and make a run for it, just in case. When he arrived at the scene, he hid in some tall grass. There, a few steps in front of him, was the corpse of one of Jorg¡¯s friends. That woman had been killed first. He wondered if she had even noticed when the giant hand had hit her like a wrecking ball. From the way her head was angled, the monster had broken her neck. She looked straight at him, with open eyes, as if she¡¯d just straighten her neck and come back to life any moment now. Larry stroked his bullet scar. Maybe she had survived the initial impact. Maybe a healing potion would have fixed her right up. There was no way to know. Now, she was dead without a doubt. Larry walked up to her. Let¡¯s see. How did Jorg explain it again? If you kill a monster, touch its head to empty its inventory. Should work on humans too, right? Larry put his fingers on the head of the dead woman. Her skin was smooth. She hadn¡¯t been long with the group, according to Jorg. She was a mage, ordered by her master to learn about fighting in life and death situations. Today, she had definitely learned about the death part. Her body was wrapped in a bright blue robe, with pale stars and symbols on it. It had looked beautiful on her when she was still alive, but now the dress was ripped into shreds and covered in blood. Larry felt a weird sensation in his fingers, almost like some sort of barrier gave away. Flasks, crystals and other things appeared out of thin air, dropping on the chest of the dead mage. It didn¡¯t feel right to take her stuff, especially when he took it straight out of her inventory, but she had no more use for it anyways. He pocketed the items. Before he he left, he gently closed her eyes. After some walking Larry heard a loud sound in the distance. This had to be the monster. He ran towards the sound, while still trying to stay behind covers. There, between fallen trees and trampled grass, it stood. It looked like a giant gorilla, with green, camouflaging fur and three eyes. It was covered in vines and dirt, and Larry could smell it even from his hiding spot. Rotten meant. It¡¯s mouth hung open, countless shark-like teeth dripping with blood and rage. In its hands, it held Jorg, who struggled against its grip without much success. Compared to the gorilla, Jorg looked like a child¡¯s puppet. The creature tightened its grip, and Larry could hear the bones break. Jorg stopped struggling. Weakly, Jorg raised one hand towards his head, and motioned with the other. A health potion came into existence, and dropped into his hand. For a few seconds Jorg tried to open the bottle with his trembling fingers, but his broken shoulders and the pain made him too weak. Instead, he shoved the bottle into his mouth, and bit down. The bottle broke. Larry watched in shock as Jorg swallowed the healing liquid together with the glass shards. His gaze grew more concentrated again, and he coughed up blood and glass. This man wasn¡¯t ready to give up yet, Larry realized. Heclenched his fist. Larry had decided. He had a new life, and he''d not waste it by idly sitting by. He had seen what would happend if he did not act when he had the chance.This was his chance. I will save you. 4 - A Hunter and His Prey Larry stalked the beast. The thing had most likely given up on finding Larry, and was just going to enjoy the snack it had already caught. Namely, Jorg. Larry wondered if the reason it had stopped searching for him was the green potion he had poured over his head earlier. It wasn¡¯t hard to follow the gorilla, since it was massive, and constantly ravaged its surroundings. Instead of going around trees and bushes that were in its way, it simple smashed them, abusing its insane strenght. It was basically a bulldozer in fur. Larry had observed the beast for while now, and one thing was painfully clear: He won¡¯t be able to beat it in a fair fight. The problem was, he hadn''t discovered any exploitable weaknesses, yet. It was bigger than him, and stronger. Its skin was pretty tough too, since it didn''t seem to take any visible damage from punching trees with all its might. Larry tried to remember how the early humans of Earth fought mammoths. There must have been a trick to fighting these kind of behemoths that wasn¡¯t just: Get a group and throw spears at it! Larry didn¡¯t have the luxury of a group right now. The thing continued to waltz through the woods. Larry didn¡¯t know where it was heading, but he knew he had to hurry. It looked like the thing knew where it was going, which meant there was a good chance it had its nest there. And nests meant family. If he wanted to save Jorg, he would need a plan, and he needed it fast. He touched his head, and the world around him grew blurry. Status opened.
Welcome to Status.
He looked through his inventory, trying to find something that would help him. He had a short sword, that Jorg had given him before they entered the forest, but that won¡¯t do any good here. To that thing it was more like a toothpick than an actual threat. He also had the stuff he took from the dead mage woman. Mostly, she had had potions on her, but there were also some crystals, a wooden staff and what looked like a metal pipe. The crystals were walnut shaped, barely varying in size and color. The wand has some symbols carved into it. Magic. Regrettably, since he didn¡¯t know what any of this stuff did, he was reluctant to use it. Last thing he¡¯d need is to cast a healing spell or something similar on that monster. He tried to use Status to analyze the items, but couldn¡¯t figure out how to do it. Maybe Status wasn¡¯t even able to analyze things. Or maybe he needed to learn a new gesture? Usually in these kind of stories, the ability to get information about something from just looking at it, was the first thing the hero got. The fact that he didn¡¯t have that advantage made him feel exposed. What did he have, now that the thought about it? As far as he could tell, his body was basically the same as before he died. He looked through his Status, but couldn¡¯t find any spells and abilities either. He was basically a normal human. A shiver rocked Larry''s body. He still had his fingers on his head, so he was able to see the notification that popped up.
Potion of the Hunter has expired.
The second the message appeared, the beast stopped moving. Larry left Status, to get a better view of what was going on. The beast was sniffing the air, angry growls escaping its mouth. It scanned its surroundings, and when its gaze wandered to Larry¡¯s hiding spot, its entire body shook in excitement. It saw me, didn¡¯t it? So much for a plan. The beast charged at Larry with a warcry. It was fast enough for him to know he had no chance of running away. It jumped instead of running the last few steps,landing right in front of him. It raise the hand Jorg was in, and with a wide swing, it lashed out. The fist only scratched Larry, but it still threw him backwards. He hit a tree, and the world exploded into darkness and stars. Larry gasped for air, when he awoke. He saw the beast was walking towards him, slow enough for Larry to recover from his short blackout. It was toying with him. If it wanted him dead, he already would be. Larry noticed that Jorg was lying next to him, his armor scattered around him, broken into pieces like it was some fragile vase. The beast must have let go of Jorg when it tried to hit Larry. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Wake up, Jorg!¡± Larry shouted, shaking the man. No reaction. Larry tabbed his fingers on Jorg head, testing if Status would empty his inventory. It did not, which meant Jorg wasn¡¯t dead yet. The beast approached. Desperate, Larry drew the most toxic looking potion out of his inventory, a small vial with black liquid inside. He threw it at the beast. With unnatural speed, the monster slap the projectile out of the air, shattering the glass while doing so, and spilling the black sludge over its fur. It sniffed the liquid, but when nothing happened, it simply growled in satisfaction and continued its stroll towards Jorg and Larry. It stopped in front of them, eyeing the two men. Larry looked at the unconscious Jorg. This guy wouldn¡¯t wake up in a while, from the look of it. Fucking hell, he thought, Fuck it. He stood up and punched at the beast. He felt its soft fur cushioning his hit. The monster snorted, as if it was amused by his try. It grabbed Larry¡¯s foot, and pulled him upwards. With his body upside down, it let Larry hang in front of it, their gazes meeting each other. Its eyes were pure black, with tiny white dots inside of them. All of its three eyeballs moved separately, observing different parts of its prey. Larry smiled, nervously. Maybe it just wanted a friend? The beast howled, and smells which had surely originated from the deepest part of its bowels hit Larry like a tornado. Tentacle like tongues licked its countless rows of teeth. Larry almost threw up. ¡°You just keep getting uglier,¡± Larry said to its face. Luckily, it didn¡¯t seem to understand. It moved its head closer to Larry, their faces practically touching now, and opened its mouth wide, preparing to bite Larry¡¯s head of. In that moment, Larry touched his head, accessing his inventory, and dumped all potions he had into its mouth. Instinctively, the beast bit down. Larry could hear the sound of breaking bottles from its mouth, and a sizzling. He grabbed his short sword out of the inventory and slashed at the beast''s face. Before his could do any real damage, though, the beast flung him away. He landed on a bush, which cushioned his fall somewhat. His sword was gone. He had let go of it. The beast threw up on itself, the different potions colouring its fur like a modern art painting. The potions had at least done something. Larry ran. The beast roared. In a blind rage, it flung its arms around mindlessly, destroying trees left and right. It stumbled towards Larry, catching up even though it was barely able to walk in a straight line. The size of the beast made its steps gigantic. Its eyes were all focused on him now, and he knew, it would not try to toy with him again. This time it would kill. While running, Larry looked at the rest of his inventory, the crystals, the wooden staff and the metal pipe. How does this shit work? he thought, as he grabbed a crystal and shook it. Maybe it was a magical hand grenade. He flung it at the beast, and it bounced of the monster harmlessly. He grabbed another crystal and licked it. Salty. He threw it. Come on, activate through water or something. Again nothing happened. Time to try something different. Larry took the wooden staff into his right hand. It nearly slipped out of his sweaty hands. While running, he pointed it at the beast, hoping it would do something. Anything. ¡°Fire!¡± he screamed. ¡°Magic. Uhm, shoot. Boom. Exploooosion! Fucking do something you piece of garbage.¡± The monster was catching up. It was only a few moments away from grabbing Larry and ripping him apart, when Larry noticed a hole in the side of the staff. Just big enough for one of the crystals, he thought. He chose the biggest crystal he had left and put it into the hole. It splintered, and turned liquid, flowing into the staff. The carvings of the staff began to give of an orange glow, and the wood became warm to the touch. This ought to do. Larry stopped running, and twisted around. The clawed hand of the monster was already in front of him, and without thinking, he swung the staff. When the staff hit the hand of the beast, an explosion of hot light shot forward and engulfed the beast¡¯s arm and one side of its head. The staff¡¯s power backfired, ripping the wooden staff apart and hitting Larry. The shockwave flung him backwards. He felt a sharp pain in his right arm. His head hit the ground hard. He simply lay on the grass for while, listening to the beasts cries. When he stood up, he saw that the black liquid from the vial he had thrown at the beast earlier had ignited, and green flames were covering the beast''s arm. The fire was eating through the beast flesh like acid, while it regrew and mended, elongating its suffering. Looks like he had thrown some healing potions into its mouth earlier. It wouldn¡¯t heal fast enough. Larry watched it die. ¡°Cunt,¡± Larry said, spitting into the monster¡¯s direction. Larry walked away from the beast, towards Jorg. At some point during the whole situation, Jorg had awoken, and downed a few healing potions, as indicated by the empty bottles that were cluttering the ground besides him. ¡°You look like shit,¡± Jorg said. Larry laughed, his hand on the bleeding stump that once was his right arm. 5 - A Painful Victory Larry finished wrapping the bandages Jorg had given him around his arm. Or at least, around what was left of it. The arm hadn¡¯t regrown when Larry drank one of Jorg¡¯s healing potions. Apparently, the potions couldn¡¯t restore things that the body wouldn¡¯t be able to heal by itself over time. Larry stared at the stump. He didn¡¯t know what to think about it, so he avoided thinking at all. Right now, he just sat in the grass, his head hollow. The entire situation was just¡­ surreal. He had killed the beast, but this didn¡¯t feel like a victory. The sunlight fell through the canopy, and flickers of light danced across the ground. A while after the beast had died, the usual sounds of the forest had returned, almost as if the woods themselves had been holding their breath until now, trying not to anger the beast. Larry tried to open Status with his right hand, but realized that he couldn¡¯t. Not anymore. He used his left hand instead.
Welcome to Status.
You have slain a being far above your level. Additional Meaning was rewarded. Additional Stems were rewarded.
Your level has risen. You are now Level 7.
For completing Level 5, additional Stems were rewarded.
Larry pondered over this information. If he had gotten Leven 7 from fighting one monster, what would the Level of an average person be? Granted, he hadn¡¯t just fought some random beginner monster. The fact that this beast was able to wreak havoc on an entire group of adventurers spoke volumes for its power. Still, someone who had lived with Status their entire life must have gained Levels somehow. Larry decided to ask Jorg. The giant man was currently sitting in the shadow of a tree, his back leaned against it. It has been a few hours since Larry had killed the beast, and Jorg and Larry had barely spoken with each other since then. Jorg was trying to hide it, but Larry saw that the man had cried. His eyes were puffy and red. Something about seeing the giant man crymade Larry feel uncomfortable. It''s like watching a sad elephant. Jorg hadn¡¯t taken the loss of his friends easily. Larry tried to think of a good way to start a conversation, but nothing came to mind, so he just sat down next to Jorg. They observed the wilderness together. A cool breeze glided over Larry¡¯s skin, giving his goosebumps. When the wind touched his wounded arm, the refreshing cold turned painful. Nothing Larry couldn¡¯t handle. It reminded him the times as a child when he bit into his ice cream, and his tooth would hurt. After a while, Jorg spoke. ¡°I knew Kelv since we were kids,¡± he said. ¡°The monster ate him in front of me. Just... bit his head off. I don¡¯t even know what happened to the mage girl. I was knocked out for most of the time.¡± Larry felt stomach turn. ¡°She¡¯s dead,¡± Larry said. Jorg simply nodded. ¡°What about the ranger?¡± asked Larry. ¡°He might have survived. He knows the woods, he constantly bragged about it.¡± ¡°No. He got killed, too. Got eating right after Kelv.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Larry rubbed his right arm. He didn¡¯t feel like asking Jorg about Status anymore. It just wasn¡¯t the right timing. He touched his head and opened the information tab.
Larry Foulery Level 7
Species: Parasitic Human Title: Non
Mystomorphosis: Whisper Stories: Uninvolved
Mystomorphosis was different now. Before it had said ¡®Unaffected¡¯. Something must have changed because of the fight, but Larry couldn¡¯t think of anything significant, except the Levels he had gained. There was still so much he had to learn about Status. The thing that confuses him the most was that it wouldn''t tell him what his stats do. Thinking about them, Larry opened his stat menu.
Stems: 15
Strength: 5 Intelligence: 7
Agility: 7 Thought: 5
Durability: 5 [LOCKED] Willpower: 6
Senses: 3 Instincts: 3 [LOCKED]
Regen: 1 (V)
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Stems seemed to be points he could use to increase his stats. They were the stem cells of attributes, basically. He tried asking Status what each stat does, but as always it didn''t react, which meant he definitely had to ask Jorg now. There was no way he¡¯d just put his points into an attribute without knowing what it does. ¡°Jorg?¡± Larry said. ¡°Any idea on what I should spend my Stems on?¡± Jorg considered the beast that lay some distance away from them. For the first time, Larry took a better look at it, too. Its fur had been burned of, leaving behind scorched skin and blackened bones. On of its giant arms and half of its head had been evaporated by the magical blast. Just what were these crystals? Jorg scratched his beard. ¡°You level up, huh? No wonder, usually the town would send a whole squad of strong people to kill something like that,¡± Jorg padded Larry on the shoulder. ¡°Just increase what you think is best. It''s every man¡¯s own choice what he should increase.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem. I don¡¯t know what the stats do.¡± Jorg looked at him. Disappointed, he shook his head. ¡°Your momma never taught you about anything? You didn¡¯t even know how to your your inventory yesterday. ¡± ¡°Ah, you see,¡± Larry said, trying to think of an excuse. ¡°I¡¯m an orphan. I mean, I was. No one taught me about Status.¡± There was no need to tell Jorg the real reason he didn¡¯t know about Status. Jorg raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t speak like an orphan," Larry said. "Ah well, I won¡¯t pry in personal matters. I¡¯ll explain the stats to you, don¡¯t worry. Basically, there are two kind of stats, the ones that make your body stronger,¡± he said, giving Larry a friendly jab on the chest. ¡°And the ones that make your head better.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see,¡± Jorg said. ¡°Stats affect everyone a little bit differently. Some people need less points in Strength to get to a certain level of power than others, for example. If I had to guess, I get a lot more out of Strength points than you do.¡± Jorg laughed, displaying his log-like armsproudly. Larry rolled his eyes. Jorg continued explaining. ¡°Strength makes you stronger. Agility gives you more control over your body. With Durability you can take more hits, and Senses improves, well, your senses. You can see better and stuff like that. It''s pretty easy to understand.¡± The stats seemed to be pretty straight-forward. No surprises yet. ¡°What about the mind stats?¡± Larry asked. ¡°My mother always said, they are basically the same as the body stats, only for your head. Intelligence makes your mind ''stronger'', and Willpower allows you to think longer without getting tired, that kind of stuff.¡± Larry sighed. Jorg was a good guy, but his explanations were pretty lackluster. Everything Jorg had told him, Larry had more or less expected. ¡°Also,¡± Jorg said, ¡°You might wanna put some points into Thought. It mainly make you think faster, but it also makes your Status better. Everyone I know put at least ten points into it. ¡± This is really the kind of stuff you should tell me right away, Larry thought. He put five Stems into Thought.
Thought has reached 10. Status will be upgraded.
The Status window disappeared. Larry felt this buzzing in his head again, just like the first time he has used Status. When it stopped, Status opened again.
New features available. You can now see your abilities, and the primary function of your attributes.
The new tab ¡°Abilities¡± had been added in his Status. Exited, he opened it.
Adaptability
Parasite
Larry raised an eyebrow. He had two abilities already, it seems. He just hasn¡¯t been able to see them yet. How much more is hidden from me, just because my Status isn¡¯t showing it to me? He looked closer at the abilities, and to his surprise, for once Status gave him an explanation.
Adaptability: On Earth, humans adapted to their environment, and made the planet their own. As this new world places obstacles in your way, you adapt to overcome them. You gain: Increased gain of Meaning.
Parasite: Your are foreign to this world, and as such see no value in it. As you walk along your path, your surroundings wither away. You feast on their destruction. You gain: The pain and fear of your enemies strengthens you. Only works on intelligent beings.
Wow, what kind of edgelord wrote the descriptions to these things.Also, one of his abilities increases my gain of Meaning? I guess that''s the stuff I need to level up? If that''s the case, this might be a incrediblystrong ability. Then there is Parasite, which basically sets me up to be a bad guy. I think I''ll keed my abilities secret for now. Larry still had ten Stems left, so he used six to increase Agility and Intelligence to 10. Now he had four points remaining. He put two into Senses, raising it to 5. He felt an uncomfortable beating in his eyes and ears, but it quickly ceased. The last two points he put into Regeneration. Maybe this¡¯ll grow my arm back. He didn¡¯t have much hope, though. 6 - A Dogs Tongue Larry and Jorg stalked through the forest. Their steps crushed the leaves below them, sending a rustling sound into the night. Where the rays of moonlight could penetrate the canopy, they illuminated spider webs and tiny drops of water with silver light. It was quiet. Larry could hear his heart pulse in his chest, and the concentrated breaths of Jorg. ¡°How do we know we aren¡¯t going deeper into the forest?¡± Larry whispered. ¡°We don¡¯t.¡± answered Jorg. ¡°But staying in the same place won¡¯t help either.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Larry moved aside a branch that had been in this way. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan,¡± he said. ¡°We walk until we find a road. Not much else we can do.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we wait until day for that, I can barely see where I¡¯m going.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t wanna stay in the same place for too long. Bad Meaning. In this forest, that¡¯s a surefire way to get killed.¡± The bush next to Larry rattled. A shadow crawled out of it, slithering towards Larry. He could feel his heartbeat shoot up, turning into more of an vibration. Jorg¡¯s hand landed on his shoulder. ¡°Calm down, it¡¯s just a black slime,¡± he said. ¡°Nothing dangerous.¡± Jorg held his hand towards the slime, and it crawled up his arm, along his neck and shoulder, an ended up sitting comfortably on his head. It wobbled happily. ¡°These things are practically unkillable,¡± Jorg said. ¡°So they never developed and any sense of fear. No matter how hard you attack them, one small part will escape and reform over time.¡± ¡°Should you really let that thing sit on your head like that?¡± Larry asked. ¡°They are pretty dumb and mostly eat small bugs and grass. For them, we are just warm, walking trees.¡± Larry poked the smile with his finger, sending tiny shockwaves over its body. He pushed a little harder, and his finger entered the slime without any problems. He lost the feeling in his finger. He quickly pulled it out, wiping of the film of black goo that sticked to it. The feeling returned. Jorg laughed with his hands covering his mouth, trying to suppress the sound. He put the slime back on the ground and it slithered away.Stolen story; please report. ¡°You should be a little bit more careful with your finger. You only have five left.¡± ¡°Funny,¡± Larry said. It was not funny. Being reminded of the arm just caused the phantom pain to return. A numb pressure moved along the stump, extending beyond his actual body, to where his arm used to be. It was somewhat surreal to feel pain outside of your body. Losing his arm hadn¡¯t been easy, but at least he had traded it for a friend. ¡°Hold on,¡± Jorg said. ¡°I think I see a light.¡± Larry saw it too. I slither of light fought itself through the leaves and bushed. As they snuck closer to it, they realized what it was. ¡°It¡¯s a campfire,¡± Larry said. ¡°Breath of the mountain, you are right! Come on let¡¯s talk to them.¡± Larry hesitated. ¡°They might be bandits,¡±Larry said. ¡°Why else would someone camp in this forest.¡± ¡°You¡¯re too scared. You killed the beast, but it has planted doubt into your chest¡± ¡°I¡¯m just careful.¡± ¡°Have it your way,¡± Jorg said. They crept up to the fire, carefully staying in the shadows. When they reached the clearing where the campfire was, they saw two figures sit around it, warming their hands. ¡°Maybe a frog¡¯s tongue. How should I know?¡± the first figure said, the voice sounding female. ¡°Not a frog¡¯s tongue, but a dog¡¯s¡± the other answered. Male. ¡°Frog¡¯s don¡¯t have enough meat on them.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just use more frog¡¯s then. I refuse to kill a dog just for a stupid ritual.¡± ¡°You literally skinned two puppies alive yesterday. I clearly remember you laughing while doing so. You skinned them, and then you drowned them.¡± ¡°Yesterday barely counts. It was the last day of the small circle. Everything is allowed on that day.¡± ¡°Or so you say,¡± the man said, throwing a twig towards the fire. The twig landed next to the fire. The woman snickered. The man casuallymade a gesture with his hand and the twig moved by itself, finally entering the campfire. Jorg pulled Larry back. ¡°This is bad,¡± Jorg whispered. ¡°Those guys are rogue mages. We gotta get out of here. Fast.¡± They took a step backwards, never taking their eyes of the mages. Larry could guess why these two mages scared Jorg so much. If he had learned one thing from his fight with the beast, it was just how dangerous magic could be. He had no idea what he was doing, and he still wiped out an enemy that should have killed him easily. What were actual mages able to do, then? The female mage snickered. ¡°By the way,¡± she said. ¡°Who are those two worms creeping in the shadows?¡± ¡°I believe,¡± the man said. ¡°We won¡¯t have to kill dogs for our next ritual. We found something much better.¡± The female pointed her hand towards Larry and Jorg. Flames danced across her palm and fingers. ¡°Indeed.¡± ---- Mattlean walked through the hidden paths of his castle. A small sphere of light hovered above him, just slightly behind his head, so as not to blind him, It filled the otherwise dark corridors with unnatural, white light. He noticed a spider crawl along the walls. With the flick of his fingers he produced a small bolt of lighting. It cut through the air and blasted the spider, evaporating the liquids inside its body before it even realized what had happened. Mattlean took in the smell of burned life. It was quite enjoyable, once one had acquired a taste for it. He walked passed the doors of abandoned torture chamber and dusty libraries, and the path he was on seemingly stretched indefinitely. It was fine that way, as he did not walk towards a goal. He traveled these corridors for their Meaning. A long time ago, his father had wandered these paths and returned a different man. One that had radiated power. This was why every day, Mattlean walked here for hours on end, waiting for a change to happen. But it never did. No whispers of forbidden knowledge, no weapons smithed in dragonfire, no calls to glories battles. He muted his light, and left the pathways. One day, he thought. One day I will find my Meaning, and it will carry me beyond every fear and limit. 7 - A Fires Warmth Jorg jumped onto the clearing, rushing towards the female mage. With a quick gesture, he produced a shield out of his inventory, just in time to block the torrent of flames that surged his way. Jorg hit the female with the edge of his shield, caving in her chest. She coughed up blood and tumbled backwards. The campfire¡¯s flames danced as wind blew through them. The male mage¡¯s hood got blown off. The lights and shadows of the campfire wandered over the male mage¡¯s face, highlighting his feeblish face and unhealthy skin color. Jorg roared and stepped up to the mage, shield raised. The mage touched his head and conjured a human skull out of thin air. He threw it at the ground before Jorg. He motioned with his hand, and the skull was pushed underground, out of sight. While Jorg distracted the male mage, Larry had ran up to the female. She was heaving herself up, blood dripping from her mouth. Larry kicked her in the face and she fell backwards. He quickly took the metal pipe out of his inventory, the last item he had left from his fight with the beast, and walked up to her. What was he going to do now? Killing her seemed like the wrong thing to do. She chuckled, the light of the fire reflecting of her bloody teeth. She smiled at Larry. ¡°Kill me, you worm,¡± she said, pointing to her face ¡°Or I¡¯ll bite of your nose.¡± ¡°Crazy bitch,¡± Larry said, but the mage just laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll show you how crazy I really am.¡± she said. She tried to wipe the blood of her mouth, but only smeared it across her cheeks. She laughed again. ¡°You really should not have let me touch my head like that. That¡¯s a rookie mistake.¡± Larry realized his mistake and swung the pipe at her hand, but it was already too late. She summoned an object out of her inventory. A potion fell into her hand. Larry reacted right away, swinging his metal pipe at her hand, and broke the vial she held. The pipe crushed her fingers and the vial, and a clear liquid ran down her arm. The fluid burned her, melting through her skin. She twisted, her screams intermingled with howls of laughter. Her sweat drenched hair fell over her face. She raised her healthy hand. ¡°Devil''s Fire!¡± she screamed. Larry jumped to his left, the fire exploding just past his right side, where his arm would have been, if he still had it. The woman stood up. Smoke rose from her acid-burned hand. Larry could see the sweat running across her face, and the way her eyes moved slower than before, unconsciousness only moments away. Again, she pointed at Larry. But this time she didn¡¯t use magic. She spoke, her voice trembling. ¡°You are already dead,¡± she said ¡°You just don¡¯t know it yet.¡± ¡°Believe me,¡± Larry said. ¡°I¡¯m fully aware that I¡¯m in the afterlife.¡± She laughed. ¡°Devil¡¯s Fire!¡± Larry jumped again, but this time forward, half of his body submerged in the flames. He felt the fire burn his right side, but he didn¡¯t care anymore. He had to act, or he would die. The fire torrent stopped, and Larry stood before the mage. Her eyes widened at the site of someone who would willingly jump into her attack like that. Larry swung the pipe, hitting her right at the head. She fell, her body hitting the floor like a cut down tree. Larry watched her a few moments, wondering if she was dead. But she came back to consciousness, taking in a sharp breath. She arched her back in pain, her head pressed against the group, heavy breaths escaping her lungs. She looked up to Larry. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°You have no idea what you are doing,¡± she said, biting into her own hand. She screamed, the sound muffled from her flesh. She let go of her hand, smirking at Larry. ¡°I gain power from my pain,¡± she laughed. Larry walked up to her, the metal pipe raised. ¡°So do I,¡± he said, and swung. Larry turned around. Jorg was still fighting with the male mage, who had somehow managed to hold of Jorg¡¯s powerful attacks. At some point, Jorg had taken a warhammer out of his inventory. Jorg wielded the giant hammer like a toy, holding it in one hand, were others would have failed to lift it with both. As the hammer rushed towards the mage, the puny man took a step forward, his arms stretched to out to his sides. ¡°Barrier!¡± the mage screamed, his voice raspy. Jorg¡¯s hammer bounced back off an invisible wall. Only a quick flicker of blue light revealed were the barrier had been. Using the opening in Jorg¡¯s defense, the mage took another step forward, his hand trying to reach Jorg¡¯s chest. Jorg hastily moved his shield between him and the mage. ¡°Crushed Bones!¡± the mage said, and Larry could hear the bones in Jorg¡¯s shield arm splinter, even though they should have been protected by the shield. Jorg howled, but raised his hammer again, preparing to attack. But the mage jumped backwards, away from the hammer. He whirled his arms, drawing invisible symbols in the air. Jorg ran at him, but the mage touched his head, summoning a flask out of his inventory, he threw it at the ground before him, and a wall of flames shot towards the sky. Jorg backed off. The mage put his hood back on, and raised his arms into the sky. ¡°It is time,¡± he said. ¡°From your grave I call you, Knight of Bones!¡± The earth rumbled. Larry saw the ground crack open where the mage had buried the skull earlier. A green light shone from the crack, and whispers filled the air. Slowly, a skeleton climbed out of the crack. Its eyes were glowing green, and a robe as black as the night itself hung from its shoulders. The skeleton twisted, and its bones grow outwards, forming an armor around itself. A blade made out of white bone expanded out of its hand. Larry threw a glance towards Jorg. The man was was panting heavily, and his shield arm hung uselessly from his shoulder. Larry gripped his metal pipe harder. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Larry shouted towards Jorg. Jorg simply nodded, and turned back to the mage. Larry felt the side of his face throb. The flames of the female mage had burned the entire upper right part of his body. When his arm had been blown off, it happened so fast he had barely been able to register the pain. This time, his skin felt like someone was violently stabbing barbed needles into it. And the worst part, it smelled. The pain pulled at his mind, and Larry wished he could just give up and fall unconscious. But he had promised himself that in this life he would act. He would be not a bystander anymore. The moonlight reflected off the Bone Knight¡¯s sword, giving it a silver glow. Larry smiled, and looked at his metal pipe. ¡°Time to switch weapons,¡± he said, and charged at the knight. ---- Mattlean relaxed in his study chair. He browsed through writings of unimaginable magical power. Generation of mages had spend their life to collect these scrolls and books. Blood and soul had been poured to achieve this knowledge of the highest order. Mattlean yawned. But to him, it was nothing new. ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry, master Mattlean,¡± the servant of Mattlean''s library said. ¡°I should have known that someone as formidable as you has already grasped such lowly information on his own. I will remove it immediately, if you so allow.¡± ¡°Do as you wish,¡± Mattlean answered the servant, waving his hand in dismissal. Mattlean watched the servant remove the things. It was true. Mattlean was a one in a kind genius. A magical talent that would only be found once every hundred years or so. But that was no excuse to be such a kiss-ass to him. After all, compared to his father, he was nothing. The servant left the room. Many years ago, that same servant had come to him, and asked him for work so he could feed his baby sister. Mattlean wondered how that girl was doing now. She must be around the same age as his own daughter. Tomorrow Mattlean would give the servant double his usual pay. He deserved it. Mattlean closed his eyes and smiled. He couldn¡¯t wait until his daughter returned. He had so much to teach her yet. 8 - A Bone to Pick Larry charged at the Bone Knight. He swung the pipe at his enemy. The metal pipe crashed together with the Bone Knight¡¯s sword, and Larry¡¯s arm was knocked back from the force of the blow. Webs of cracks spread across the knight''s bone blade, much to Larry¡¯s surprise. Shouldn¡¯t a weapon like this be harder to destroy? A dim green light flowed out of the cracks, and the sword mended itself back together. Hah, there we go. That¡¯s his trick. The knight slashed at Larry, its bones breaking and reforming as it bent in an unnatural way. It was not limited to a normal body¡¯s movement, it seemed. Larry dodged backwards, using his newly raised Agility to its fullest. He eyed the knight, observing possible weaknesses. The obvious solution would be to destroy its skull, since it was the item that was used to summon it. But if the skull could heal itself like the sword, this guy should be pretty much unbeatable. Larry threw a quick glance at Jorg, who was fighting the Bone Knight¡¯s summoner. If I¡¯m unlucky, I might have to stall it until Jorg kills the mage. The knight¡¯s cape caught the wind and fluttered behind it, framing the Bone Knight with black fabric. They eyed each other, searching for weaknesses. Unfortunately, Larry¡¯s current condition gave the bone knight more than a few angles of attack. He gripped his pipe harder, determined to win. Larry circled around the knight, positioning the campfire between him and his enemy, and slowly backing away into the shadows. The knight began walking towards him, stepping through the fire without slowing down. His bones popped from the heat, but healed immediately. The knight caught up to Larry, who was only able to walk slowly due the pain. Their weapons met again, But this time Larry wasn¡¯t pushed back as hard as before. Some of his strength had returned. He used it to parry the knight¡¯s attacks to the best of his abilities. Each time the knight hacked at him, Larry blocked clumsy and took a step backwards, and each time he stepped backwards, the force of the knights attacks felt slightly weaker. Larry grinned. He could do this. Their weapons met each other one more time, then Larry finally reached the place he needed to be, to win this fight. Right behind him was the unconscious female mage. Larry knew she wasn¡¯t dead yet, because her pain fed into his Parasite ability. He could feel the energy she radiated. And now he was at the source of it''s that power. He gripped the metal pipe as hard as he could, testing how much strength he had left. The bone knight attacked again, and Larry stepped to the side. He swung his pipe with all the strenght his left arm could conjure up and hit the skeleton¡¯s bone armor directly. Its chest got blown apart. Green light shone from the inside of the armor, blinding Larry momentarily. The knight stepped forwards, ignoring his destroyed armor, and grabbed Larry¡¯s arm. Its fingers dug deep into his flesh. It raised its sword. For a moment, time seemed to stop, and Larry took in just how bad his situation currently was. Only two days after reviving, he had lost his arm, gotten half of his body burned and worse, was about to die again. The Bone Knight brought its sword down upon Larry, who desperately raised his wounded right arm to block it. The sword carved through the stump, hitting bone. Larry screamed. He could feel the blade split his shoulder¡¯s bones apart. The knight pulled at the sword, trying to rip it out of Larry¡¯s arm so he could attack again, but the blade stuck firmly in Larry¡¯s bone, denying it its weapon. Larry clenched his teeth. This was his chance. He jumped forwards, into the knight. His enemy lost its balance und fell backwards, letting go of Larry¡¯s left arm. Before the knight could do anything else, Larry brought the pipe down on its head, crushing it. The light was beginning to repair it slowly, but Larry just kept crushing it until the light grew dim, and ultimately dissipated. When he was sure he had won the fight, he sat down next to the unconscious mage. Her pain still powered him, and he feared that leaving her side would make him to weak to stay awake. Or alive. Larry watched Jorg fight the male mage. There wasn¡¯t much else he could do right now. The wall of flames between Jorg and the mage had faded away some time ago, and Jorg was forcing the mage back again. Both men showed signs of fatigue, but it was clear that Jorg was a physical fighter, and the mage not. While the mage¡¯s movement became slower, Jorg still attacked with extreme speed, breaking the barriers of the mage as soon as he cast them. Jorg would win this fight, Larry realized. Jorg could handle it, he trusted. There was no need to watch this fight anymore, so Larry simply lay down next to the female mage and closed his eyes. For the first time after Jorg and Larry had spotted the mages, he relaxed his muscles. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°You dead?¡± asked a voice. Larry realized it was the female mage. He wanted to jump up and fight, but his body was broken, and his spirit was spent. ¡°I¡¯m not dead,¡± he said. ¡°Shame,¡± she said. ¡°Because I¡¯m too messed up to kill you myself. My body''s a wreck right now. I wonder if I¡¯ll ever get the smell of my own dissolving hand out of my nostrils.¡± ¡°If you think you are fucked, you should take a look at me. You really fried me good with your spell.¡± ¡°I did take a look at you. I have no idea how you are even alive right now, let alone how you fought of Richard¡¯s Knight of Bones.¡± I wonder what she¡¯d say, if she knew my body was running on her pain-power right now. ¡°My name¡¯s Melissa,¡± she said. ¡°You?¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± ¡°Love you too, buddy.¡± They stopped talking and lay next to each other. Larry could still hear the faint sounds of Jorg¡¯s fight, the howling and the thumps of Jorg¡¯s hammer hitting barriers. From time to time he even felt a little bit of the male mage¡¯s fear and pain reach him, refreshing him just a little bit. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± the female mage asked. ¡°Jorg,¡± he said, answering her question even though it hurt to move his burned lips. At least talking would keep him from falling asleep. ¡°Yeah, I think so too. Richard¡¯s pretty strong, but he was never good in a direct fight. I was supposed to keep people of his back while he did his summonings. The moment your friend hit me with his shield I knew I¡¯d die today.¡± ¡°You are not dead yet,¡± Larry said. ¡°Neither are you. Somehow. But I seriously doubt either of us is going to wake up tomorrow.¡± Then she stopped talking. Larry could still hear her quiet breathing, but it was weak and stagnant. Larry opened his eyes. Carefully he rolled his head to his side, the grass below his neck grazing his burn wounds. He looked at Melissa. She was just lying there, looking towards the sky. She wore a black rope with similar symbols on it than the female mage from Jorg¡¯s old group. They looked less professional though, as if she had stitched them on herself. She probably had. Her wounded arm was firmly tucked into her robe. He could hear her cry. ¡°Crap,¡± she said. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d go out like this.¡± Larry didn¡¯t answer. ¡°I thought it¡¯d be a grand execution, or a magical experiment gone wrong. The kind of experiment that would turn an entire country into a toxic wasteland, you know.¡± She laughed, but her voice was raspy and shaky. ¡°But mainly,¡± she said. ¡°I thought I¡¯d die when I¡¯m ready for it. This... ¡° she paused, taking is a huge breath. ¡°Is bullshit!¡± she screamed. Melissa went quiet after that, leaving Larry to his thoughts. He knew how she felt. He had gone through the same experience just two days ago, when he was still back on earth. It was bad, he knew, to realize your life was over this soon. So much one could have done that never happened, never would happen. And the worst part about this whole thing? Larry knew he was the one that had put her in this situation. He was just the same as the guy that had shot him. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. ¡°It really is bullshit.¡± And then he passed out. ---- ¡°Nothing like a good whiskey, am I right my dear friend?¡± The fat man named Gregaton poured the golden-brown liquor into Mattlean''s glass. Mattlean picked it up and considered the embellishments which were carved into the glass. Fancy flowers and spirals flowed along the sides of the glass, distorting the image of the liquid inside. Mattlean put his glass down. ¡°Actually,¡± Mattlean said. ¡°I dislike the taste of alcohol.¡± Gregaton turned pale. ¡°You are right Mattlean, my dear friend. Nothing should be allowed to dilute a brilliant brain like yours. My servant shall dispose of this¡­ foul fluid.¡± Gregaton snipped, and a servant hurried to him. Greg gave the poor man a few instruction, and the whiskey was taken care of. Mattlean smiled. In truth, he did enjoy a good whiskey. He simply did not like Gregaton. ¡°Now,¡± Gregaton said. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about business, shall we?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Mattlean said. ¡°I hope you''ve considered my offer from the last time we met. Work for my guild. It would be an honor for us, and both sides will profit, surely. I¡¯m sure you must have made a decision until now? Gregaton''s eyes glimmered with anticipation and greed. Mattlean nodded. He definitely had made an decision. ¡°I have decided.¡± ¡°Wonderful. I¡¯m delighted to know you will be working with me from now on, my dear friend.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made the decision that you are not worthy of my time.¡± With the flick of his writs, Mattlean blew Gregaton head off. He watched as the servants in the room panicked. Mattlean picked up the whiskey and took a sip. ¡°Nothing like a good whiskey, my dead friend.¡± 9 - A Life No More A tickling on the tip of his nose woke him up. Larry groaned. He blinked a few times to get used to the morning rays, which fell through the treetops and lit the forest in a golden light. The shadows of leaves and branches danced across the grasses, the morning dew reflecting flickers of light, transforming the ground into a field of glowing stars. Larry turned his head and spit out a clump of dried blood. He moved his tongue over his lips and teeth, licking of the disgusting taste of old spit. He realized he hadn¡¯t brushed his teeth since he had come to this world. Slowly he heaved himself up, careful not to provoke his burn wounds. He cringed in anticipation. To his surprise, there was no pain where he had been burned yesterday. He ripped of the last shreds of his formerly white shirt and ran his fingers gently across the burns. To his surprise, they didn¡¯t hurt at all. He could still see clearly where the fire had hit him the hardest, which was on the upper right side of his body, but the wounds seemed to have turned into pale, red scars overnight. ¡°Morning, kid,¡± said a voice behind him. Larry turned around to see Jorg sit on the ground, clumsy cleaning blood of his hammer with his own shirt. One of his arms, the one the male mage had broken yesterday, was wrapped in fresh bandages. Larry wondered where Jorg was getting all this stuff from. He had never seen him carry any bandages around with him. Ah right, the inventory. ¡°What happened to my wounds?¡± Larry asked. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t heal this fast.¡± Jorg fished a empty vial out of his inventory. ¡°Healing potion,¡± he said. ¡°Last one I had on me, actually.¡± Larry sighed. These things were basically the number one reason he was still alive. And now hehad ran out of them. ¡°Actually,¡± said a familiar voice next to Larry. ¡°It was the second to last healing potion he had. I got the very last one.¡± Larry turned to look at Melissa. She sat cross-legged next to him, her arms and feet constrained by improvised bonds of ripped cloth and what looked like self-made strings made out of roots. Larry raised a brow. ¡°You gave her the last healing potion?¡± he said to Jorg. Jorg shrugged. ¡°Seemed like the right thing to do,¡± he said. ¡°Didn''t you get your arm broken last night?¡± ¡°Sure did,¡± Jorg said, continuing to clean his hammer, not looking at Larry. That guy¡¯s heart is as big as his muscles. Larry turned his head and eyed Melissa. She was definitely looking healthier than yesterday. Her hair was still dirty, with a few twigs tangled up inside it,and she still had blood from yesterday smeared across her face, but at least she wasn¡¯t looking quite as dead anymore. She grinned at him. ¡°Like what you are seeing, fuck you?¡± she asked. ¡°What?¡± he said. ¡°Yesterday you said your name was fuck you. I just called you by your name, that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Very funny.¡± ¡°My humour is often underappreciated.¡± Larry watched her struggle against her bonds. She wasn''t trying to hide her attempts at escape.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Mind taking these things off?¡± she said. ¡°My feet have fallen asleep and I have to pee.¡± ¡°You seriously think I¡¯d take your bindings off? After all that happened yesterday.¡± ¡°I thought you¡¯d take them off because of the things that happened yesterday. We really bonded that night.¡± ¡°You burned me.¡± ¡°And you hit me with a pipe. I¡¯m pretty sure you cracked my skull with your hit. You didn¡¯t pull your punches either, that¡¯s for sure. I think I might have lost some Intelligence points from the hit, that''s how much it hurt. I think we are even.¡± Larry looked at the scars the ran along his body, twisting it into ugly shapes. ¡°You don¡¯t actually believe that, do you?¡± he asked. Melissa looked at him. ¡°Not really, no,¡± she said. ¡°You look like shit.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t the first one to tell me that.¡± ¡°And with your looks I¡¯m definitely not the last one.¡± Larry tried to suppress his laugh, but failed. He cringed when he saw how smug Melissa looked because she made him laugh. ¡°Fuck you,¡± he said and stood up . ¡°Melissa,¡± she said, but he was already walking away. Larry looked at the battlefield from yesterday. All around the extinguished campfire was scorched earth. Somewhere off to the side of the clearing was the dead male mage. Larry walked up to him, and put his fingers on his head. Nothing dropped from his inventory, but Larry was sure the man was dead. Jorg must have taken the stuff already. Looking at his own cloth, Larry decided to instead put on the mages black robe. Ah fuck it, I¡¯ll just take all his stuff. A few minutes later, Larry was wearing his new robe, with a simply brown shirt and pants below, and his feet were finally protected by boots, instead of the dirty bandages he had been wearing for three days now. There was one more thing he wanted tocheck out. Larry walked up to the defeated bone knight. He tried emptying its inventory, but either its skull was to smashed for it to work, or summoned creatures did have anything inside their storage. Probably the second reason. He took the Bone Knight¡¯s black cloak. There wasn¡¯t really a reason he should wear it right now, especially since he already wore a robe, so he decided to put it in his inventory. Larry touched his head.
Welcome to Status.
Your Level has risen. You are now level 8.
You have been cursed! Curse of the Bone has been added.
Your curse has altered your species.Your stats have been altered.
Great. A curse. As if I wasn¡¯t fucked enough already. He used his Status to look at the curse. New information popped up.
Curse of the Bone: At the brink of death and with a weakened mind and soul, the cursed sword which was embedded into your bones was able to spread its curse throughout your body. Neither dead nor alive, you walk this world as an anomaly.
Larry stared at the screen, considering what it said. He had noticed that the Bone Knight¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t stuck in his arm anymore, but he just assumed Jorg has removed it while he was unconscious. He didn¡¯t like where this was going. The description of the curse had made some not so subtle hints as to what his new species could be. To confirm his suspicion, he opened the information tab to look at this stats.
Larry Foulery Level 8
Species: Undead Parasitic Human Title: Non
Mystomorphosis: Whisper Stories: Uninvolved
Neither dead nor alive, he thought. This¡¯ll play out just fine. Not.
Stems: 2
Strength: 15 Intelligence: 10
Agility: 10 Thought: 10 [LOCKED]
Durability: 5 [LOCKED] Willpower: 6 [LOCKED]
Senses: 5 Instincts: 3 [LOCKED]
Regen: 0 (53)
What the hell happened to my stats. So much is locked. Turning undead gave me more Strength too, it seemed, but it also changed my Regeneration. It was zero right now, but it showed fifty-three right next to it, which could mean many things. Ultimately, he wouldn¡¯t know what Regeneration now did, until there was something to regenerate. He opened his Ability tab.
Adaptability Parasite Undead
Undead: Death is but a word to you. You walk this land as an outsider, rejecting the bounds of the mortal existence. You gain: Regen disabled during day. Regen increased immensely during night. Increase in Strength. Weakness to Pure. Weakness to Light.
Well, that mystery was solved quickly. I regenerate faster at night. By the looks of it, I get a Regen of 50. That is far above my other stats. Larry finally put the black cape of the Bone Knight into his inventory. He was undead now. Physically he didn¡¯t feel much different, but that didn¡¯t make it less uncomfortable. An outsider, Status had called him. That was very much how he felt right now. Now, that he was concentrating on the details that had changed, he discovered the small changes his new species had made to his body. He didn¡¯t need to breath, he noticed first. He didn¡¯t need to blink, and the parts of his skin that weren¡¯t burned were paler than they used to be. He plucked out a single hair from his head and saw that it had turned from black to a dark gray. Lastly, his heart wasn¡¯t beating anymore. It stood still. It was surreal to miss something so ingrained into life. His heartbeat has been part of him since he was born, and whether he was aware of it or not, he had heard it from that point on until now. The more he listened to the silence in his chest, the more he didn¡¯t feel like his body belonged to him anymore. It was weird how a small thing like a sound could stir up so much emotion, once it was gone. In silence, Larry decided to find a way to restore his heartbeat. He would live again. 10 - A Night of Meaning Larry and Jorg stood before Melissa, unsure of what to do with her. The mage had fallen asleep at some point, her head hanging low as she sat bound and cross-legged on the ground. Occasionally, Larry could hear a quiet snore from her. He wondered if her nose had been damaged from the fumes of the acid that had burned her hand. Larry looked at her hand. The scars she had on it looked somewhat similar to Larry¡¯s burn wounds, but the healing potion seemed to have healed them more effectively. Jorg had saved her from death with that healing potion, but Larry doubted that even Jorg had enough good will to release the girl from her bindings, now that they planned to leave the clearing. She was simply too dangerous. Jorg moved to remove her bindings. Of course, Larry thought, rolling his eyes. ¡°Hold on,¡± Larry said. ¡°What are you doing? She attacked us yesterday, remember?¡± ¡°I think we can trust her,¡± Jorg said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem very angry at us.¡± ¡°That is clearly just acting. The moment you release her, she¡¯ll blast us with fire.¡± ¡°She won¡¯t.¡± ¡°She will,¡± Larry said. ¡°She didn¡¯t hesitate to attack us for even a second yesterday. I say we should just leave her here.¡± ¡°Larry,¡± Jorg said, putting his hand on Larry''s shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t think you understand. I agree that she doesn''t have all her cups in the cupboard, but I¡¯m absolutely sure she won¡¯t attack us. There is too much Meaning going against it.¡± There it was again. Meaning. The word had popped up from time to time, it even was part of his Adaptability ability, but he never quite heard an explanation for it. He just assumed it was something like experience from video games. Just some resource you gathered to level up, nothing more. Clearly, there was more to it than that. ¡°Ok, this might sound dumb,¡± said Larry. ¡°But what exactly is Meaning?¡± ¡°Figures you didn¡¯t know about that either,¡± Jorg said. ¡°It¡¯s like you know nothing about this world at all.¡± Larry crinched. Knowingly or not, Jorg hit the nail right on its head. Jorg scratched his beard.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I know you said you grew up as an orphan,¡± Jorg said. ¡°But have you ever read a fairy tail? You know, these the prince slays the dragon kind of things.¡± ¡°Yeah. Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really understand how Meaning works myself, but my mother used to say: ¡®Meaning turns the world into a story.¡¯ Most stories follow some kind for pattern, you know. If you compare enough of them, you¡¯ll see that at their core, there are always similarities.¡± Larry knew about that. Back on Earth, for example, many people complained about how every new action movie was just the same concept, regurgitated. Larry watched Jorg¡¯s eyes glimmer with excitement. He was clearly happy to talk about this topic. Apparently, Jorg made a hobby of philosophizing. Who would have guessed. ¡°Real life works the same way,¡± Jorg said. ¡°Everything that happens is part of a pattern, and the more you play into these patterns, the more Meaning you will pick up along the way. You become more important in the eyes of the world.¡± ¡°And what does Meaning actually do?¡± Larry asked. ¡°Many things. For most people, it''s just enough to eliminate their need for food and drink, or at least suppress it to some extend. That¡¯s the normal people, the villagers and townsfolk that aren¡¯t really important in the grand scheme of things. The people that don¡¯t go down in the books of history. But if you gain enough Meaning through your actions, it overflows and expands. You start gaining Levels.¡± Larry¡¯s eyes went wide. He realized he hadn¡¯t eaten in three day, and never even grown hungry once. Which meant Meaning had actually taken away his hunger the whole time, but not only that, he had accumulated enough of it to reach Level 8. He raised an eyebrow. ¡°But I¡¯ve reached Level 8 in only two fights.¡± ¡°It''s unusual,¡± Jorg said. ¡°But not unheard of. It''s not the amount of fights you fought that counts, but the importance of the fights. You fought for your life two times now, and both times you risked everything to win. You gave those fights weight, because they mattered to you, so you got a lot of Meaning from them in return.¡± Larry thought back to his fights with the beast and the Bone Knight. The decisions he made and how he acted on them. Jorg was right. These fights had been insane, and went far beyond what he would have expected from himself. It felt like he was a different person, when he had faced those enemies. No, the fights had made him a different person. They had given him Meaning. Larry looked down onto Melissa. ¡°And why does Meaning prevent her from killing us?¡± he asked. ¡°Symmetry¡± Jorg said. ¡°You had a fight to the death, and both of you nearly died. You both burned each other''s skin, and you both lay next to each other when you both passed out. And lastly,¡± Jorg said, grinning. ¡°You were both saved by the same person. Me.¡± Jorg began to unbind Melissa. Larry watched him, unsure of what to think of this information. ¡°Us three are tied together by Meaning,¡± Jorg said. ¡°For better or for worse.¡± ---- It had only been a fewdays since Mattlean had sent his daughter away to train her magic. Still, he missed her deeply. She was a bright girl, and while she did not have the magical talent that he himself possessed at her age, he loved her more than anything. His own father had never cared much for him, and Mattlean hadn¡¯t had an easy childhood because of it. He remembered how his father would keep him awake for weeks on end. In his sleep deprived state Mattlean would hallucinate the most nightmarish things. His father had called it ¡°connecting with the deeper magics¡±. Of course, Mattlean would never force his daughter to do something like this. He would be a better father than his own was to him, even if it meant his daughter would never achieve higher orders of magic. Even sending her on the small learning adventure she had gone to made him anxious. Would she remember him as a bad father, once he was dead? Did she love him as much as he loved her? He didn¡¯t know, and it ate at his soul. 11 - A Secret Uncovered ¡°Are you sure you know where we are going?¡± Larry asked. Melissa was leading the group of three through the forest. They had been walking for the better part of the day, and Larry¡¯s feet began to hurt. The male mage had had ridiculously small feet, and Larry¡¯s toes were pressing against the tip of the boots he had taken from the mage¡¯s corpse. At least the robe was comfortable. Larry had pulled the hood above his head, the edge of the fabric hanging just above his line of sight. If he wanted to, he could lower his head a little, and his face would be safely hidden from any outside observers. In case Melissa actually knew where she was going, and they ever found their way back into civilisation, Larry imagined the hood will come in handy, obscuring his burned face from the masses. After all, if Larry saw a man with an heavily scarred face, who did not breath nor had a heartbeat, he too would find it suspicious. And if they discovered he was an Undead Parasitic Human¡­ Larry wondered how an average person in this world would react if they found out about this. Hell, he hadn¡¯t even told Jorg about the Parasitic part yet, let alone the Undead fiasco. ¡°Yeah,¡± Melissa said, ¡°I am sure we are going the right way. Richard, the guy your friend Jorg killed, and me walked here just a few days ago. Some of the trees are still burned from when I got bored and threw around fireballs.¡± Larry wondered if she missed Richard. He couldn¡¯t imagine talking about a dead friend this easily. Especially not with the murderers of said friend. Melissa guessed what he was thinking. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡° she said, ¡°I got used to the death of the people who are close to me. Mostly because I¡¯m the one that usually kills them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s reassuring,¡± Larry said. ¡°Also, Richard was kind of an ass. He always told me I should stop lighting stuff on fire. I mean, why do you think I fled the city in the first place?¡± ¡°Because you lit stuff on fire?¡± ¡°Exactly. And because I¡¯m still planning to light stuff on fire.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s what you were doing in the forest? You are planning to put this place on fire. You can¡¯t be serious.¡± Jorg stepped forward from the back. ¡°This forest is massive,¡± he said. ¡°If you light it on fire, who knows how much destruction you¡¯d be spreading.¡± Melissa giggled. Larry could see the happiness in her eyes. ¡°I know right,¡± she said. ¡°The fire would burn for at least a thousands years!¡± ¡°Ok,¡± Jorg said. ¡°That¡¯s a little over the top. More like ten years tops.¡± ¡°Ten thousand years!¡± ¡°She isn¡¯t listening at all,¡± Jorg said, shaking his head. ¡°No, she is,¡± Larry said. ¡°She just chooses not to hear us.¡± They continued walking. Larry remember he still had two Stems left, so he touched his head and opened the information tab. He looked at his stats and wonder what to increase. He hadn¡¯t really noticed any difference from increasing Intelligence after his fight with the beast, but that could be because intelligence was such a vague thing to begin with. Agility on the other hand, he had noticed, had helped him a great deal in his fight with the Bone Knight. Of course, there was also Senses, and while it did sound like a very useful stat, Larry felt he needed to focus more on combat stats, currently. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Would Senses also increase my sense of balance? If so, it might be more of an combat stat than it sounds like. It does seem extremely versatile. He could also raise Strength, but since his Undead ability had given him a boost to it already, he hesitated. He threw a brief glance and Jorg. Jorg had said that everyone was gaining different amounts of usefulness from their stats. So Jorg gained more strength from his Strength stat than Larry did, apparently. And Melissa might gain more out of magic related stats, if he had to guess. Larry wondered what his most efficient stat was. If he had to guess, he¡¯d say Regeneration. Two of his species-mutations were related to that stat, after all. But even if it was his most efficient stat, he wouldn¡¯t put his Stems into it. It only worked for half of the day, at night. He decided that he would increase Intelligence. Being smarter sounded nice, and magic was something he definitely wanted to look into. Assuming Intelligence was related to magic. Earth didn¡¯t have magic, and now that he had the opportunity to learn about it, he wouldn¡¯t ignore it. The only problem was, he had no idea how magic worked. He looked at Melissa''s back. Oh, I¡¯ll definitely regret what I¡¯m about to do. ¡°Hey Melissa. Could you teach me magic?¡± he asked, cringing at how weird it was to ask his enemy from the day before to teach him. Melissa chuckled. ¡°Now that¡¯s a really bad idea,¡± she said. ¡°Count me in.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s it a bad idea. I¡¯m not the one who¡¯s planning to set this forest on fire.¡± Melissa started walking slower, waiting until Larry caught up to her and they could walk next to each other. She moved closer, whispering into his ear. ¡°Because of your thing,¡± she said, giggling. ¡°You know.¡± ¡°What?¡± Larry whispered, contemplating all the different ways she could have meant that. Melissa looked behind them, and Larry turned his head to see what she was looking at. Turns out it was Jorg. The man was walking some distance behind them, and gave Larry a funny look. Larry shrugged his shoulders, signalling Jorg that he too, had no idea what Melissa was up to. Melissa whispered again, her face uncomfortably close to his¡¯. ¡°Your thing, man,¡± she said. ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about. The big cloud that¡¯s been hanging above you since your fight with the Bone Knight. You are dead. You are a walking, talking corpse, and I gotta say, you are taking if pretty well.¡± Larry shuddered. She knew. He looked back at Jorg, but the man had a finger to his forehead, checking out his Status. Hopefully Jorg hadn¡¯t heard Melissa. ¡°How did you know?¡± Jorg asked. ¡°I never told you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a rogue mage,¡± she said. ¡°Undead are right up my alley. Admittedly, it was even further up Richard¡¯s alley, but I know a thing or two, about Undead too. Two, too. That rhymed. Funny.¡± Melissa giggled again. This girl had clearly a few screws loose. If she knew about the Undead part of his species, did she know about Parasitic too? He wouldn¡¯t asked her about it. If she knew, she knew. But if she didn¡¯t know and he asked, well, then she would definitely know. ¡°So why is my problem stopping me from learning magic?¡± ¡°Because,¡± Melissa said. ¡°You run on magic already. You are fucking Undead, man. How do you think it works?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that just make it easier for me to use magic?¡± ¡°Well, it does make it easier. But that¡¯s not a good thing, not for you. Magic powers your body already, so using it for something other than yourself, will chip away at the power that keeps you alive. It¡¯s like you are trying to light a fire by using yourself as fuel. Not the smartest thing to do.¡± Larry ducked to avoid a low-hanging branch. If being undead denied him the chance to try some magic, he¡¯d definitely have to become alive again. The problem was, the only way he could imagine himself coming back to live, was through magic. ¡°Ok,¡± he said. ¡°But magic won¡¯t kill me the second I use it right?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Melissa said. ¡°But it¡¯ll weaken you a lot more than it normally should. Of course if you overuse it¡­¡± Melissa drew her finger along her neck, sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes. She made a ¡°Ugh¡± sound. ¡°You¡¯ll fizzle out,¡± she said. ¡°Like a candle that ran out of wax.¡± Magic was dangerous, Larry knew. The wooden staff he had used to kill the beast, the fire from Melissa¡¯s spells and male mage¡¯s Bone Knight, they had all been extremely powerful. Physical strength had its advantages too, he realized, especially after he saw Jorg fight the male mage. But Larry knew that he¡¯d have trouble catching up to people who simply had a natural advantage in Strength, like Jorg. If Larry wanted to survive, he¡¯d have find a way to make magic work for himself. Fizzling out is a risk I¡¯m willing to take, Larry thought. A risk I have to take. ---- Mattlean fiddled with the new staff he was creating. It was a beautiful piece of wood, dark and elegant, with symbols on it which would drive lesser men insane, if they could understand them. Of course, if someone would be able to understand these symbols, they weren¡¯t lesser men to begin with. He finished carving the last symbol, and a blue glow flowed across the staff. He took one of the crystals he had created a while ago, and put it into the staff. It melted, the liquid infusing the staff with power. These crystals stored only a fraction of Mattlean¡¯s own power, but they could be used by everyone, and without any mental strain at all. He had given one of his weaker staffs to his daughter too, so she could protect herself with it, just in case her own magic wasn¡¯t enough. He pointed the staff at a nearby wall. A bolt of lightning shot out from the tip, hitting the wall and ripping a hole into it. He smiled. He could pay for the repair of the damaged wall with a small portion of the gold he would get, once he had sold this staff. For now though, he enjoyed the cool breeze. 12 - A Void to Fill Larry sat alone between the grasses and trees of the forest. With closed eyes he concentrated on his mind. He suppressed all intelligent thought that tried to bubble to the surface of his consciousness and meditated solely on the emptiness that was left behind when words didn¡¯t race through his head. The silence in his head made him more receptive towards the sounds of his surroundings. Bugs buzzed by his head and the occasional critter rattled through bushes. Birds sang. The sounds of the forest made it harder for him to keep still. The last few days had been filled with fights and excitement, and now that Larry had a moment to himself, in complete stillness, he grew anxious. Rationally, he knew that no beast would jump out off its hiding spot and rip his head off, but the fear still persisted. Every sound felt like it could be a beast sneaking up on him, every rattling a Bone Knight that approached. Larry focused his mind again, casting aside these fear. They would only weigh him down, if he didn¡¯t learn how to control them. Melissa had taught him about magic. Usually, if he was an ordinary human, he would need something Malissa had called a catalyst to unlock his magic potential. But since he was undead, he, for all intends and purposes, had skipped that step. The magic of the curse was already flowing through him like a mighty river, its powerful magic corrupting him, if he wanted it or not. The only thing he needed to do, was to find this metaphorical river and take some of its power, forming it into a spell. Larry opened his eyes and reached out with his arm. He let go of his thoughts and the emptiness filled his mind. Directly in front of him, a falling leaf stood still in the air, held firmly in place by Larry¡¯s magic. He grinned happily at his success, and the magic dissipated completely, disrupted by his emotions. Magic wasn¡¯t easy to use. He still hadn¡¯t learned a single spell, and the only type of magic he could currently use was an incredibly weak form of telekinesis, the only type of magic literally ever mage could control. But telekinesis worked only when one¡¯s mind was absolutely empty of thought, which made it almost impossible to use in combat. Larry needed a spell. The problem was, spells couldn¡¯t just be learned by meditating. A ritual was needed, and a ritual required ingredients that Larry could only acquire in a town. It was time to finally leave this forest. He walked back to Jorg and Melissa. The two were resting, their mortal bodies not able to keep up with Larry¡¯s now seemingly endless stamina. He smiled below his hood. Since when was he calling normal people ¡°mortal¡±? They continued walking for the rest of the day, only stopping when the daylight grew dimmer. It was getting closer to night. They hadn¡¯t reached a road yet, but Melissa insisted that she knew the way, and since Jorg and Larry didn¡¯t have any other choice, they had to believe her. Larry looked at the sky. It was getting darker, which meant that at some point in the next few hours, his Regeneration would jump from 0 to 53. He wiggled with his fingers in excitement. He was practically overflowing with curiosity. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ---- Jorg watched as Larry disappeared back in the forest. A few days ago he had met the boy in the Coin¡¯s Rest, a small pub which belonged to his cousin Olivia. With his thin cloth and confused attitude, Larry had looked like a regular beggar. Now Jorg knew that Larry wasn¡¯t regular at all. The kid had told him that he was an orphan, and while at first glance that may look like the truth, Jorg knew it was a lie. Jorg knew Larry had grown up with proper education, because his mother was a teacher for the children of richer people. Larry might say he is an orphan, but that simply had to be a lie. The problem was, Jorg didn¡¯t know what the truth was. It confused him. Why would someone as young as him try to hide his past? Over the last few day Larry had killed a beast that Jorg guessed was a least Level 30, and fought off a Knight of Bones, a strong undead summon. When Larry had sacrificed his own arm to kill the beast, and as a consequence had saved Jorg¡¯s life, he had unknowingly bound them together with Meaning. Jorg had owed his life to Larry, that was, until he had saved Larry¡¯s life after the fight with the mages. Now Jorg¡¯s debt was erased, and the Meaning barely connected them anymore. Jorg could probably leave without fearing much repercussion. But he didn¡¯t want to. He had seen how the boy sacrificed everything to crush his enemies, how he gave so much away to win, yet never seemed to regret. It was like Larry would rather destroy himself than give up. Jorg had a suspicion in what direction his life would head, if he stayed with Larry. Jorg wasn¡¯t the smartest man, he knew. He never was good at numbers or letters. Sometimes he had listened to the lessons his mother had given the smarter kids, and one of the few things that had interested him was Meaning. His mother used to say he had a feeling for it. It was true. And right now, Jorg felt clearly that his life was at a crossroad, one way leading away from Larry, and one way towards. He knew where this was going. It was going to be a Story. ----- Larry sat in darkness, the night flowing into him like a cold shower on a hot summer day. It filled him, crawling beneath his skin, and through the fibers of his muscles, right into his heart, which sucked in the darkness like an endless void. From one moment to the other, when the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, he had felt the difference in Regeneration. His skin crawled as every wound, every tiny scratch or bruise healed with incredible speed, leaving behind no sign he was ever hurt. He bit into his thumb, watching as red strings reached out to each other and pulled his flesh back together. He felt the night wash over his scars, not healing them completely, but turning the scars smoother, almost like normal skin. The pale, red color remained, but much of the ugliness was erased. He tested his body and realized just how much the previously twisted scars had pulled at his skin, limiting his movement. He smiled. He felt the power and confidence that was given to him by the night. And then, there was something else. When he fought the beast, his right arm had been cut off right above his elbow, leaving behind a useless stump. At the end of this stumb, Larry felt a dull pressure. He took of his robe and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. His eyes went wide. Out of the stump, where his skin had grown together and healed, a black bone pushed itself through. There was no pain, only an uncomfortable squeezing. For the rest of the night, Larry watched the bone grow, disregarding sleep completely. 13 - A Message to Send They reached the road. It was a small path, cut into the endless forest. There were some signs of recent activities. Impressions of hooves and shoes in the dirt showed that this was indeed the way back towards human civilisation. Larry couldn¡¯t wait to just sleep in a regular bad again, and enjoy a good night¡¯s rest. Technically, ever since he had turned undead, he stopped getting tired, and he probably didn¡¯t need to sleep anymore, but he still wanted it. He wanted the feeling of completion sleep gave a day, and the feeling of waking up together with the world. They stared at the road for a few moments. ¡°Which way should we take? Both are fine with me, to be honest¡± Melissa said. ¡°We?¡± Larry asked. ¡°The way I see it, whatever direction Jorg and me take, you take the opposite.¡± Melissa raised a brow. Then she smiled. ¡°Good one. You don¡¯t seriously plan on leaving me behind, right?¡± ¡°The only reason I ever allowed you to walk around freely like that, is because we didn¡¯t know how to find a road that takes us out of this forest. Here¡¯s the road, and here¡¯s where our paths split.¡± ¡°Now you are hurting my feeling,¡± Melissa said, laughing at him. ¡°We are bound together, man. If you wanted to get rid of me, your friend shouldn''t have saved from to begin with.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not Jorg. Saving you was his decision, and this is mine. Leave.¡± ¡°Believe me I would, if I could.¡± They eyed each other, and for the first time after their fight, Larry realized just how messed up this girl was. He saw how Melissa moved her fingers. She itched to attack him. He prepared to jump out of the way. Jorg stepped between them. ¡°We talked about this,¡± Jorg said. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave her behind. It''s against the Meaning.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit about the Meaning," Larry said. "We found the road, she taught me the basics of magic. She is officially useless to us, which means she can piss off.¡± ¡°If she leaves now, Meaning will punish us, badly. And then it¡¯ll find a way to push us back together. That¡¯s just how it work.¡± Larry looked at Jorg. They had saved each other''s life, and Larry was not willingto fight with him. ¡°Fine," Larry said. "Whatever." Jorg padded him on the shoulder. ¡°Wow,¡± Melissa said. ¡°So you finally get it. And here I thought you were completely retarded.¡± Larry stared at Melissa, at how she grinned at him, clearly expecting to get away with everything she said or did. She looked down on him, that much was obvious. She had no regret, burning his skin. She winked at him. Enough is enough, Larry thought, and then he snapped. He stepped forwards, his arm rushing up and grabbing Melissa throat. She screamed in surprise and tried to claw his face with her fingers, but he pushed, forcing her to take a step backwards. She hit a tree with her back, and the air was pushed out of her lungs.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Do you think we are friends because Jorg saved you that night?¡± Larry asked, fingernails digging into Melissa''s skin. She grabbed his arm with her hands, but he shook her, her head banging against the tree. She gave up on defending herself and instead talked. ¡°You can¡¯t ditch me,¡± Melissa said, laughing confidently. ¡°We are bound by Meaning. You know that.¡± Larry moved his face closer to hers. ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less,¡± he said. ¡°You think the same guy that blew his own arm off and jumped into a magical flame cares about some bullshit like that?¡± Larry could feel it. The doubt slowly crept into her mind, and it gave him power, feeding into his Parasite ability. His grip became stronger. ¡°You can¡¯t go against Meaning,¡± she said, her eyes wide. ¡°I can kill you right here and now.¡± ¡°Listen to yourself,¡± she said, trying to pull at Larry¡¯s arm. But he had already grown too strong, her fear giving him power, and his power making her fear him more. ¡°The curse is messing with your head,¡± she said, panicking. ¡°You can¡¯t just kill me.¡± ¡°This has nothing to do with the curse. You burned me.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know that¡­ Wait! Wait, stop! You are hurting me. I can¡¯t... breath¡­¡± Melissa struggled against his strength. Larry didn¡¯t enjoy hurting her, but when he thought back to the fight, the pain he had to go through to survive, and how easily it had been for Melissa to just point her hand at a stranger and use her magic, it filled him with hate. ¡°Do you see what you did to me?¡± Larry asked. Melissa nodded, tears in her eyes. ¡°You gave me these scars. You might have forgiven yourself, but don¡¯t think that even for a second, I have forgiven you. The pain I was in... ¡° He pushed her to the side, throwing her to the ground. He stood above her, looking down on her. ¡°Could drive a man insane.¡± Arms looped around his chest, and Larry was pulled back. Jorg dragged him away from Melissa, struggling to overpower Larry¡¯s increased strength. ¡°Stop,¡± Jorg said. ¡°You have to calm down.¡± ¡°How can you just let her do whatever she wants?¡± ¡°I know, and I don¡¯t like it either, but you have to listen.¡± Larry powered against Jorg¡¯s grip. He could hear Jorg¡¯s surprise when Larry matched his strength. Melissa''s fear gave him power, and he used it. He pushed against his grasp, and Jorg was forced to release him. Jorg took a step back, looking at Larry in surprise. ¡°We aren¡¯t enemies Larry,¡± Jorg said, taking a step backwards, his hands raised. ¡°No we are not,¡± Larry said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I grabbed you¡± Jorg said. ¡°But I really thought you were going to kill her.¡± Larry would have killed her. She would have deserved it. ¡°It¡¯s fine, let¡¯s just get out of here,¡± Larry said. He turned, looking at Melissa. She sat on the ground, holding her neck and glaring at him. Larry felt his anger flair up again, but he concentrated, focusing on controlling his emotions. ¡°You can follow us,¡± he said to her. ¡°But as soon as the Meaning doesn¡¯t tie us together anymore, I will kill you. Slowly.¡± Melissa stood up, her feet trembling, but her eyes filled with anger. ¡°As soon as I¡¯m able to,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll slit your throat in your sleep. No wait, I¡¯ll burn that second half of yours, and then I¡¯ll slit your throat.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like you see you trying,¡± Larry said. Suddenly, he felt a familiar shiver run through his body. The shiver one felt when a new notification had appeared in Status. He watched as Jorg and Melissa moved their hands up to their heads. Larry did the same.
The patterns fall upon you, and the world watches. You are part of a Story now.
Story ¡°A Father¡¯s Love¡± has been added.
This can¡¯t be good, Larry thought. ---- They had found her dead body in the Slowfall forest. Her neck was broken, twisted into an unnatural state, and the beautiful blue robe he had given to her was ripped into shreds. Gently, he picked the twigs out of her hair. He ran his fingers along her cold cheeks. When they had brought his daughter to him, Mattlean had evaporated them for daring to touch her. His emotions fought against his magic, stirring it up. With trembling fingers, he touched his daughter''s head, carefully using his advanced Status to search for the information he needed. Long ago he had raised his Thought stat to give him the ability to observe other people''s Status. Her inventory had been cleared, the wooden staff and the metal catalyst he had given to her, stolen. Mattlean delved deeper into her long dead brain. There it was. A hole in her Status, the barrier clumsily broken from the person that had looted her inventory. It showed him who had accessed her Status last, after sie had died. Mattlean let his consciousnessflow over it, and his Status whispered to him a name, telling him the person he should seek. Larry Foulery, he thought, and for the first time in many years, he let go of his emotions, the anger and the pain. They crumbled away at the pressure, and his power stretched further beyond them, crushing everything that got in its way. Mattlean carved the name into his mind. Until that man was dead, he would not rest. Larry Foulery.