《The Definition of Defiant》 Chapter 1: Prologue (edited) In a almost ruined city that been asunder by the forces of thunderous magic force. The scream of war filled mixed in with the casualties¡¯ wailing. Whether they felt the pain of losing their loved one or their home, they accepted through stream of sadness, and hate. Sadness for the falling, and hatred for the so call Shadow of the Devil. By trying to banish the devil under the name of justice, the forces of the empire did not realize the mistake of stepping on its shadow. ¡°HOW!? How can such a being exist?¡± The man donned in emerald armored knight, Kyle Visgrey, bellowed. His blues eyes looked at nightmare he faced in front of him. ¡°For you, are we, humans, just a plaything thing to you¡­ you¡­ monster!?¡± In front of the paled knight, it spoke in a calmly manner ¡°Human are rash, I would know, but humans are wolf in sheep¡¯s skin that think they are the victim, forgotten that they are wolf¡­ You¡¯ll forgot the reason why you wage war against me in the first place¡­ Resource and racism was where it all starts¡­ but eventually it became in unending chain of hatred¡­ We fight, we die, we cried, we hate¡­ but nonetheless we continue¡­ we continue till we bring the enemy down to their knees¡­ And if that is not enough we severed their heads¡­ The same as for you¡­ You wouldn¡¯t yield¡­ So therefore, you die for your country. I applaud you for that at least.¡± In front of him was a humanoid silhouette covered in black robe from head to toes. There was dozens of runes that look like it was seamed onto the cloak, but it was moving like a tornado. ¡°Then for your final moment, I will show you what it means to be the False Immortal.¡± The runes blinked as they circulate the cloak with a violet light. ¡°Activate equip. Empty force.¡± The cloaked figure announced in a steady force. A dark-violet light discharged like a demon sword piercing to the heavens. As if it was a dream, Kyle stared at monstrous pillar of mana pouring out of it. As if no other spectrum of light should look upon it, color vanished in a instant to where its light touches beside ominous violet color. In an instant that the pillar of light pulsated once, the buildings and the people turned to lavender ashes while all life and history were snuffed from this once prosperous city. Only the sound of desolation and emptiness existed beneath the woeful song of the wind. The color returned as the light dissipated. ¡°I have no remorse for what I done because this is what it means to wage war.¡± He spoke in a melancholic tone. His once purple cloak was now just black without any strange runes to be seen on it. ¡°I will shouldered this burden of mine.¡± He clenched his shivering hands as if it wanted to stop his emotions from overflowing. The man once revered as a hero was now an enemy to the world. Now that he had nowhere to turn back, he can only move forward. As the purple ashes of the scattered by the wind, he reminisce about how it first started. Tamuel Le, a twenty-year-old man that lived a normal life in the year 21XX, was on his bed with a virtual helmet on him. He was playing a massive multiplayer game that bought his consciousness into the virtual reality. The device is called V- Con and it was popular with many people. About everyone had one in their home. With it, Tamuel was playing a popular mmo called MINE. His character name was Litz and the time log was 1567 hours in. Inside the virtual reality, a character wearing a full metal armor, with dazzling red gauntlets wonder through the ruins. Litz was a berserker class, one of the unique classes that was difficult to get a hold of due to the hidden quests and RNG, random number generator. He was in a deep recess of a corridor exploring with anticipation. Litz confidently walked in the darkness. He was capable to see in the darkness. ¡°After researching from all over the world of MINE, and finishing the all those tedious quests, I finally found the thing of legends.¡± Opening his Hud, he saw a mini map that appeared in the side of his vision. ¡°I should be able to reach it, the tomb of Aretha¡­ I can¡¯t believe it took me 3 years to find this for a class change that many said that did not exist¡­ the Perish Angel Class.¡± Litz walked further through the hall of darkness. Meanwhile, he looked back at the book that he found in his early adventure. The title was called ¡®The Battle of Two.¡¯ Although the title did reference that there were two beings that fought, with some pages missing, the only person that it told in detail was Aretha. This book was solely his motivation to finding it. The reason he wanted to find something that he wasn¡¯t sure that existed was because he wanted to take a chance to become stronger. Not for himself, but for his guild members. It was a chance for them to raise to glory.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He strutted carefully until he reached a fork between two paths. ¡°What? the left one seemed to be blocked?¡± On his mini map, it clearly said to go left to reach his destination, but it was caved in. It seemed the tunnel collapsed for unknown reason. ¡°I can¡¯t go back now, it would take too long. And I can¡¯t use my magic to blow it up without repercussion.¡± He gave it some thought before deciding on what to do next. If he were to blow it up, it might alert the monsters or activated some sort of trap. ¡°I just take the right one then, perhaps there is a passage that connects the two. If not, I return with the right equipment next time when I return.¡± He chose with conviction. As he proceeded through the dark corridor, he was amazed by the unexpected result. The deeper he went, the more eccentric it was. The old ruins were slowly changing into something more with each step. The hallway was filled with several tall statues. Looking up and down, he still couldn¡¯t see everything from head to toes without taking some steps back. They all were wearing robes holding a longsword in their arm. The hall of statues was lit with small crystal lights like the stars everywhere on the floor to the ceiling, and the side of the walls. ¡°What is this? Are these the 12 Starry Skies knights that followed Aretha? They don¡¯t seem much as knights, but more as a scholars.¡± He was confused, but since the book did have pages missing, they could be an unknown force, or that was how they appeared without armor. He made no concrete fact. He tried to look at his hud again, but nothing appeared, hence, there was no mini map to show him where he was at exactly. ¡®There was rare occasion that the hud disappear when teleported to a restricted area. This could be one them.¡¯ Litz thought uncertainly. He carefully examined the area as he continued to proceed forward. Located at the end of the hall, there was a large tomb constructed. Outside of the tomb¡¯s lid, there were scratches everywhere all over the depiction of a person that was buried inside. ¡°This must be the tomb, but why is it so damage. I would have thought that such a figure would be worship and carefully care for.¡± Not knowing why, he ignored any more thought, and quickly open the lid. There he saw a black skeleton that was fully bared laying on a black cloth. And in its lower abdominal, there was a strange looking black round pill. After careful examination, he picked up the round object and a message showed in front of his vision. [Picked up the tainted golden pill. Class change to ??? is possible. Would you like to change class? YES/NO] [Warning: Class change is permanent.] When he saw the message, he was so excited that he could squeal like a little girl. Even though the class change said [???] he was sure it was the Class, Perish Angel. It was unlikely there was another tomb buried here or the information was wrong. He quickly taps yes with his finger. In automated voiced appear as he hit yes. [Class change completed. The character is now the class, The False Immortal.] When he heard that the voice said False Immortal, he thought it was a mistake. The automated continued to speak. [The False Immortal were being who lost their way from their path. By going down the path of greed, and vengeance, they cast away their beliefs and followed down an unpaved path. As the heavens of the Twelve court rules that they were an existence that will need to erase, the conflict between the two rose. In the end, no more False Immortal existed, thereafter, and the way to becoming one has been forgotten in history] ¡°What the¡ª¡°Litz have not heard anything about False Immortal, but it was mentioned once in the book, but there was nothing about it else besides its name. The Hud was now working, and he checked his stats. -------------------- Name : Litz Level : 1 Status Class: False Immortal HP: 100 MP: 100 STR: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 1 LUK: 10 Attributes Body of Life essence (Lvl. MAX) - Inability to gain experience from killing. Gained the ability to absorb life essence from living organism to grow Skill Life breathing (Lvl. 1) - Slowly recover from all HP, and MP. -------------------- When Litz saw his stats, he almost threw up from how bad it is. What made it worse is that he fell back down to level 1 which was unheard of even by the strangest bugs in the game. And what¡¯s more, he can¡¯t get experience from killing. Before he could cry, the ruins shook and quickly collapse entrapping him. Chapter 2: Equip Skill (edited) Litz was buried underneath all the rubbles and fell unconscious when pieces of the statues, and the ceiling collapsed on him. Luckily for him, a huge slab covered him from being completely crushed. The time passed until the last sound of a pebble stop falling, and the dust particles laid still. Litz tiredly opened his eyes to feel the unfamiliar pain aching throughout his ached body. ¡°What-What happen?¡± He stuttered in pain. He couldn¡¯t fully extend his body as there were a fallen pieces of a pillar and rubbles above him. With a raging migraine that slowly subsided, he crawled out approaching the nearby tomb. From the dimmed light of the crystals, he saw himself fully naked. ¡°What happen to my clothes?¡± He yelled in embarrassment. He swiftly turned his head left and right hurriedly to find anything to cover himself. He spotted the black cloth underneath the skeleton. ¡°Sorry about this.¡± Litz saw the black cloth beneath the skeleton and carefully yanked it. He already took that pill so this piece of cloth shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Surprisingly the black cloth fitted him. Litz quickly notice it that it was more than just a bedding cloth, but a full body cloak with sleeves and head cover that reaches his eyes. It was sleek and wasn¡¯t too short or too long for him. ¡°A bit stylish, not bad¡­ This guy has good taste.¡± He put on as he complimented the dead. ¡°So where am I¡­ I should be in the game, but what with this realistic sensation?¡± Litz looked at his hands to examine it. ¡°Open Character Stat.¡± A blue-light menu that only he can see appeared in front of his eyes. ----------------------- Name : Litz Level : 1 Status Class: False Immortal HP: 100 MP: 100 STR: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 1 LUK: 10 Attributes Body of Life essence (Lvl. MAX) - Inability to gain experience from killing. Gained the ability to absorb life essence from living organism to grow Skill Life breathing (Lvl. 1) - Slowly recover HP, and MP. ----------------------- ¡°So what I saw was right. I am back to level one¡­¡± He sighed as he sat on the cold tomb with the black robe and his black hair slowly fluttered in the small breeze. ¡°I should return to town now¡­ talk to my guild mates about this¡­Open inventory,¡± But nothing happened as Litz wanted to open his inventory to grab a communicator. Litz titled his head puzzled for a second before saying it again.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Open inventory!¡± Again, nothing happens. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He pondered while he placed his hands on his chin. ¡°Can it be this area? It is more than a restricted area since I can¡¯t even open my inventory, and my armor I was wearing disappeared also¡­ this is some crazy bugs. I should contact GM. Open Menu.¡± He pronounced, but it left him a shock on what he saw. All there was in front of him was ¡®Character Stats¡¯, and ¡®Encyclopedia.¡¯ He was missing many essentials options, but most important there was no logout option. ¡°This can¡¯t be true¡­¡± He hopped of the surface of the tomb onto his bare feet. ¡°I need to get out of here. There is no way to contact anyone either¡­ dammit.¡± Litz was afraid since he did not know what was going on. And with such low stats, he ran with the speed of a turtle compared to before. He carefully jumped across the rubbles, and made it to the end leaving the hall of now broken statues. Litz reached the entrance to the tomb, but other path where he supposed to go vanished without a trace. It looked like there was never were two paths, but only one leading to where Litz found the tomb. He took a glanced before he ignored it. This was not a time for inspection. He needed to get out of here and get in touch with someone. After an hour of climbing, and walking through uneven terrains, the walls of blue stone ruins slowly was being replaced with yellow brick walls. He had reached the second floor of the dungeon after leaving the third floor. But before he could advance out of the third floor, a sleeping colossal blue scale snake was blocking the entrance from the third to second floor. ¡°Why is something like that here?¡± Litz looked at it with terror. Even without the ability to appraise the snake, he obviously could tell he was no match. ¡®I might as well try to sneak pass with without waking up, but if I get caught, I would just respawn back to town, right?¡¯ Whether it is his intuition or his fear, he didn¡¯t follow through with it. He quietly back away to the third floor where it was safe. Even though the third floor was unexplored, he was provided a map that gave him the safest passage and an item as well to the tomb, thus, when he reached the tomb before, he didn¡¯t have to struggle hard after the first floor. But now as a level one, every unknown corner was life threatening. He could only resigned as he headed back to where he came. ¡®There should be another passage there that can lead outside.¡¯ Litz reassured himself. He investigated the hall of the tomb once more to look for hidden doors or passageway. ¡°This place is huge, and with all these rocks, I can¡¯t tell if something is beneath me. Damn, if that snake wasn¡¯t there I could have gotten out by now.¡± He angrily said to himself. Continuing his search as he moved the rubbles from one place to another, he found a plant behind one of the destroyed statues. He picked it up to closely examine it. Without his appraisal skill since all his skills were now gone, he judged it based on the look before deciding to cast it away due to its uselessness in the current situation. Litz dropped it, but before it can land on the ground, the cloak reached it with little black tentacles. [Earthly peering fern has been obtained. Would you want the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir to Absorb it? [YES/NO]] ¡°Cloak of Sha¡¯ir? Earthly peering fern?¡± Litz had extensive knowledge about the game, but he never heard of the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir, but for the earthly peering fern, it was one of the uncommon plants in the world of MINE. It was mostly used to against stealth players to counter them, but the effect of it was poor that only mid-average player would use it. He tapped yes to see what unexpected result would be. [Recorded.] [Equip skill gain, Vibration sense (MAX)] Litz''s eyes opened widely. ¡°Open Character stats!¡± He said without a second pause. ----------------------- Name : Litz Level : 1 Status Class: False Immortal HP: 100 MP: 100 STR: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 1 LUK: 10 Attributes Body of Life essence (Lvl. MAX) - Inability to gain experience from killing. Gained the ability to absorb life essence from living organism to grow Skill Life breathing (Lvl. 1) - Slowly recover HP and MP. Equip skill (Cloak of Sha¡¯ir) D - Vibration sense (MAX) - Able to detect the surrounding beneath your feet up to 70 meters. ----------------------- ¡°Unbelievable!¡± Litz knew that certain equipment could hold skills, but those were all pre-selected and unchangeable. He never heard of a gear that could obtain skills, much less, from a plant. Although vibration sense was a weak skill with only seventy meters of range, it was very helpful as the way he was now. His adventurous spirit lit as he continued to scour for more plants. Chapter 3: Discovered After searching throughout the hall of the tomb, he did not spot another sign of vegetation. He even tried used a piece of the skeleton onto the cloak and anything he could think of, but nothing appeared in front of his vision. He couldn¡¯t even appraise the cloak to see it in more detail to know more about how it works. He assumed that only plants can be used for now. Even though his skill, vibration sense, can be used to scan underneath the rubbles and around the vicinity, he couldn¡¯t find anything. As for the upper walls, he can¡¯t search it, and even if he could, it was tough to climb it anyway. ¡°I should search somewhere else¡­ suck that my mini map isn¡¯t functioning anymore¡­,¡± He casually left the tomb once more. He walked back to where the entrance. ¡°Alright since the secret passage is nearby, but there is no point in going there unless I¡¯m sure I can get past the snake. I should go through the other way. At least I can find something that can be useful.¡± After such thought, he decided to go to the standard 3rd floor, where he avoided when he got here instead of the secret hallway. He didn¡¯t know what lays behind the dark tunnel, but he was confident that he could handle anything. The reason so was because after years of playing MINE, he did not think that it will be challenging as long as he was careful. Heading to the unexplored tunnels, which branches from all direction that lead away from the ruin, Litz moved carefully. "Vibration sense..." He quietly whispered to himself. His senses expanding towards the darkness. Sensing nothing moving, he paced forward with cautious. "Vibration sense..." He whispered again after reached the end of the first scan. He repeated this way for sometime as he advanced. ''This skill is expensive, I already used most of my MP searching the hall." Each time he activated vibration sense, it will cost 11 MP as the MP bar decreased. Since starting, he had 100 MP, but now, he dropped to 23 MP. "I should test that out now." Activating his skill once more to be safe, he sat down with his legs cross in the dark tunnel. The image of the skill, life breathing, was assimilated to his mind when he first received the class change. The V-CON mmo, MINE, used the technology to allow the transfer of data of physical body technique and integrated into the knowledge of the player, unlike equip spell, which can be used by saying it the spell out loud. Since life breathing required to be in a meditation state while breathing a certain way, it is considered a martial technique. ''Breath in'' ''Breath out'' Litz''s vein glowed bright green as his MP was slowly being restored. After an hour, his MP was at max. "It is really slow... If I had some mana potions, this would go way faster." Even though it was slow, Litz thought of the pros of recovering it without resources. At such time like this, it was very useful. He continued through the endless tunnel repeating the tedious task until he noticed something moving in the dark within his scan. He couldn''t see the complete detail of it, but he could tell it was something huge. It was the size of a wolf walking towards him without making a sound. "Shit, it knows!" He was aware of the danger of meeting something in such close space, but he gambled on it, hoping he could find something that was helpful, but he failed. Now his life was in danger. ''Dammit, this skill is not useful at this level. That monster seems to have a keen sense that was already coming and waiting for me to come close...'' Litz turned around and ran distancing himself from it. "Vibration sense!" Litz felt that it was chasing him. He could hear the hungry growl resonating into his ears. It knows that it was spotted and was going on the offensive. "Fuck. Vibration sense!" He sprinted as he activated his skill. He turned left and right to find anything that can help him get away from it, but so far it was all nothing but endless tunnels one after another. "Awooooahhhh!" It howled as it chased it preyed. Litz could hear the its paws and claws colliding with the hard ground as it ran closer. "Vibration Sense!" "Vibration Sense!" He ran so much that he could feel the legs burning in pain. "Vibration Sense!" He shouted to fight off the tiredness he felt. But he sensed something on next turn. ''This... This is it... my only chance.'' Rushing towards with newfound might, he activated the skill once more. "Vibration Sense!" The monster was inches behind him. As it was about to bite on to him. Litz turned his head around to see it''s red eyes and bloody teeth. But before it could bite into him, Litz leaped into the pit underneath him. Unlike Litz, who jumped down, the wolf-like monster could see there were spikes everywhere so with great reflex, it jumped on the side wall and bounced off making it to the other side. ''Drrropp'' Hearing that its prey had fallen into the pit, without looking back, it moved on forward looking for another prey. ''Pant...Pant...''The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "That was a close one..." Litz laid only on the ground as his body postured looked like an Egyptian dance narrowly avoiding the deadly giant spikes. With his vibration sense, he could see the placement of the spikes. Even though he landed with only some bruises and scratches, it shaved 60% of his hp. Carefully getting up to avoid the spikes, he leaned on the side wall. Suddenly, his back felt a prick and he activated his vibration sense as it enveloped the area. It was a flower that gave off a smelly fragrance. And there were enough that around him that the smell was overwhelming the pit. ''I should absorb this... hopefully, this give me a something...'' Plucking the plant from the wall, he placed it on his chest for the cloak to absorb. The piece of the cloth of the cloak squirmed out as if it wants to eat it. A message popped in front of him. [Pit Violet Iris has been obtained. Would you want the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir to Absorb it? [YES/NO]] Tapping yes, the cloak fully enveloped it until nothing was left. [Recorded.] [Equip skill gain, Thorn nail (Lvl. 1)] ¡°Thorn Nail¡­¡± From his tingly hands, purple thorn grew out from the tip of his fingers. ¡°This is not as useful as I thought. Open Character Stats.¡± ----------------------- Name : Litz Level : 1 Status Class: False Immortal HP: 100 MP: 100 STR: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 1 LUK: 10 Attributes Body of Life essence (Lvl. MAX) - Inability to gain experience from killing. Gained the ability to absorb life essence from living organism to grow Skill Life breathing (Lvl. 1) - Slowly recover HP and MP. Equip skill (Cloak of Sha¡¯ir) D - Vibration sense (MAX) - Able to detect the surrounding beneath your feet up to 70 meters. D - Thorn nails (Lvl. 1) - Able to grow thorns on some parts of the body. ----------------------- ¡°Hmm¡­ there has to be more usage to this¡­ what if I absorb more?¡± Seeing that it was level 1 skill, he picked one more of the Pit Violet Iris to see if anything changes. [Pit Violet Iris has been obtained. Would you want the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir to Absorb it? [YES/NO]] Litz quickly tapped yes. [Experience has been added to [Thorn nails]] ¡°So it does work!¡± With Litz new obtain information, he began to pick more of the flower and absorbed it into his cloak. [Pit Violet Iris has been obtained. Would you want the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir to Absorb it? [YES/NO]] [Experience has been added to [Thorn nails]] [Thorn nails has advanced to Lvl. 2] [Pit Violet Iris has been obtained. Would you want the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir to Absorb it? [YES/NO]] [Pit Violet Iris has been obtained. Would you want the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir to Absorb it? [YES/NO]] ¡­ [Thorn nails has advanced to Lvl. 3] ¡°After picking around 30 flowers, it only got to level 3. It seems to hard level it up unless I found a new batch of it. It is still better than nothing. Open Character Stats.¡± ----------------------- Name : Litz Level : 1 Status Class: False Immortal HP: 100 MP: 100 STR: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 1 LUK: 10 Attributes Body of Life essence (Lvl. MAX) - Inability to gain experience from killing. Gained the ability to absorb life essence from living organism to grow Skill Life breathing (Lvl. 1) - Slowly recover HP and MP. Equip skill (Cloak of Sha¡¯ir) D - Vibration sense (MAX) - Able to detect the surrounding beneath your feet up to 70 meters. D - Thorn nails (Lvl. 3) - Able to grow thorns from on parts of the body. o Can grow on more area of the body o Poison tip ----------------------- ¡°Alright, I should get out of here. But first, I should recover my HP and MP.¡± On a smoothest floor he can find, he sat cross-legged as he began using the skill, life breathing. Chapter 4: Eat Inside the pit of spikes that reaches half of an average human¡¯s heights, there was no sound to be heard beside the breathing of the lonely human. After sitting on the floor with his eyes closed for an hour and a half, his HP and MP were fully recovered. Litz breathes in for the last time before he got up. He looked around to see nothing but darkness. ¡°Vibration sense.¡± He activated his equip skill allowing to see his surrounding with his mind¡¯s eye. He got the layout of his surrounding once again, and could grasped how deep was this pit with a clearer mind. The wall around it was mostly compact rocks and dirt as he could feel the unevenness with his hands. He placed his finger tips of his right hand next to the wall and felt the cold moist from it. ¡°Thorn nails.¡± He said as two inches of purple thorns quickly popped out from each of his fingertips and palms. He could feel that it was possible to embed the wall. The next step was to test was to see that if it was possible that these thorns could hold his weight. Bending his knees ever so slightly, he jumped a couple inches higher from the ground as his left and right hands reach out as high as possible embedding his thorn into the wall. He was able to hang on the wall without the thorn breaking off, but due to the strain on his arms from holding just from his palms, he had to let go. Litz sat down to think about what to do next and to find the reason to keep pushing on. His thorn was still on his palms and was not sure of the time duration of it before it disappeared. When he does get out, he had to face it, the monster in the dark. He remembered its red eyes as it nearly killed him. Honestly, he could stay here, but dying without anybody knowing where he was frightening him. ¡°I need to get out of here and found out what is happening¡­ There have to be others who are in the same predicament as me.¡± He felt pain unlike before in the game like it was all real. Furthermore, he was alone by himself in an unfamiliar territory was beginning to be put stress on him. He noticed that he would talk to himself just to hear something. Even the hunger was slowly settling in. ¡°Calm down.¡± He told himself. ¡°This is not the time to think about it.¡± Litz got back up after resting a bit. He activated his skill once again, but this time he concentrated on his feet as purple thorns grew out of his bare feet. Litz climbed the wall slowly as his muscle were beginning to feel the fatigue. If he had his original stats, this wall wouldn¡¯t be such a problem. After five minutes of climbing, he reached the top. He slowly crawled out while panting hard to get as much air in. Litz¡¯s thorn was wearing off by the time he reached the top until it fell on the ground. The aches and tiredness feeling of his body were ensuring that this was more than a game. Although he had to the ability to recover with his life breathing technique, he notices before that it did not recover fatigue completely, but mostly the wounds on his body were healed. Since he was back on top to the tunnel, he did not have time to sit down and rest. He was afraid that the monster would turn back here. ¡°I can¡¯t use my skill carelessly anymore. If it sneaks up on me I don¡¯t think I would be lucky this time.¡± Litz¡¯s body was producing sweat from every corner from the physical effort he had just gone through, but he continued to advance slowly through the darkness as he listens carefully for any strange movement. His MP was down to 79 as each time he activated ¡®thorn nails¡¯, it would cost 7 each for 2 minutes. He could not recklessly use vibration sense unless he was sure that something was ahead. He needed to have enough to activate his thorn nails if he was to engage in something. He walked carefully to avoid any trap as he placed his right hand against the wall. He had lost his way, and there was no way of heading back to the tomb, and therefore, he walked aimlessly in the shroud of darkness. The more he wanders alone in the dark, the stronger the fear welled up inside of him. The things stopping him from giving up was that monster with the red eyes would catch up to him, and the fear of dying alone in the dungeon. Litz pressed forward as he occasionally activates his vibration sense to get the bearing of his location throughout the tunnels. Up ahead, he heard something breathing hard as it was struggling for air. ¡°Vibration sense.¡± He whispered. Soon after, it created a blurry image in his mind¡¯s eye of a deer-like creature lying on the ground like it was fatally wounded. Litz did not want to advance further if in any case, it could still move. He patiently waited while paying attention to his surrounding and using life breathing near the fork tunnel that shaped like a Y. He sat at the center of it just in case he had to get away for any reason. The reason he wanted to wait because there was a chance to eat something, even if it a monster. Even more, if he let this chance get away, he would die from hunger. Seconds became minutes, minutes became an hour, until Litz heard it breathe its last breath. While still sitting legged-cross, he used his vibration sense to be sure that there wasn¡¯t a single twitch of movement.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He went close enough with careful pacing. Litz wanted to vomit as the stench of blood was greatly emitting from it. He felt his stomach dropped with disgust after smelling blood on it. Litz reached out to touch it know more about it in greater detail. What he felt was the wetness of the cold blood covering the slightly warm corpse. He felt some of its flesh worn torn and bitten. The darkness was too great that he can¡¯t tell what does it look like, but he could make the outline of it. It had a similar body structure that of a deer. ¡°Am I really going to eat this¡­,¡± He second guessed himself. He had been here for hours, and this was the only thing to come close to edible. ¡°I have too. I can¡¯t die here, thorn nails!¡± Without a thought of it anymore, Litz used his thorn to carefully cut a small flesh and place it in his mouth. It was slimy and warm with a gross taste that makes him want to spit it out but he forces himself to continue. He tried chewing it, but it was hard to tear so instead he swallow it quickly. [5 experience gained] Litz saw the message appeared and was astounded by the unexpected development of it. In that moment, he pushed himself to eat more. The bigger the size of the meat, the more experience he would get. [5 experience gained] [7 experience gained] ¡­ Since the life force of the creatures had been mostly depleted, the experience he gained from eating such a high-level monster was less than 10% of what he would have if it ate it before it stopped breathing, but Litz had no way of knowing this yet. Nonetheless, as a level 1, the experience he received was plenty for him. Litz¡¯s mouth was covered in blood like a zombie after a meal. He stopped after he was full and no more experience were given to him. There was still a large portion left, but he decided to leave the rest of it here. ¡°Open Character Stats!¡± ----------------------- Name : Litz Level : 3 Status Class: False Immortal HP: 100 MP: 100 STR: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 1 LUK: 10 +6 stats point Attributes Body of Life essence (Lvl. MAX) - Inability to gain experience from killing. Gained the ability to absorb life essence from living organism to grow Skill Life breathing (Lvl. 1) - Slowly recover HP and MP. Equip skill (Cloak of Sha¡¯ir) D - Vibration sense (MAX) - Able to detect the surrounding beneath your feet up to 70 meters. D - Thorn nails (Lvl. 3) - Able to grow thorns on some parts of the body. o Can grow on more area of the body o Poison tip ----------------------- ¡°I gained 2 levels¡­ so each level for I gained 3 stat points. Not bad since normally I usually get 2 with my previous class.¡± he was elated that he could gain one more stat points than normal standard. ¡°Not sure what is viable to place my stats on. I should increase my MP so I don¡¯t have to worry much about using my skills, and dex for speed just in case I need to run away.¡± He tapped a few time on the screen until all his stat points were spent. ¡°Done. That should be good enough for now.¡± His MP went from 100 to 115, and his DEX went from 1 to 4. ----------------------- Name : Litz Level : 3 Status Class: False Immortal HP: 100 MP: 115 STR: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 4 LUK: 10 Attributes Body of Life essence (Lvl. MAX) - Inability to gain experience from killing. Gained the ability to absorb life essence from living organism to grow Skill Life breathing (Lvl. 1) - Slowly recover HP and MP. Equip skill (Cloak of Sha¡¯ir) D - Vibration sense (MAX) - Able to detect the surrounding beneath your feet up to 70 meters. D - Thorn nails (Lvl. 3) - Able to grow thorns on some parts of the body. o Can grow on more area of the body o Poison tip ----------------------- Chapter 5: Despair Litz was now level three after finishing his meal, and his body was a tad lighter than before. With his sleeve, he wiped off the blood from the corner of his mouth. Even though he was reluctant, he tried to eat every part of the body, but the meat gave him experience. Its was grotesque experience that he almost vomited a couple time, but his body quickly adapted to the taste. Litz did not forget to gather the leftover flesh, fur, bones, and claws from the half-eaten corpse. He began placing them into his cloak to see if there were any reaction, but so far, there was none. He didn¡¯t want to give up on the corpse¡¯s body because there could be a chance that something there could save his life. As he rubbed thoroughly from end to end with blood in his hands, he noticed something different from the top of its head. A small horn that was the size of an acorn was lodged on it. Litz used his thorn nails to dig it out to loosen it and then break it off from its skull. ¡°Can this work?¡± He inspected it between the tips of his fingers. It is similar to a bone, but there was some blood coming out from it from the end. Once again he placed another material onto the cloak. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work¡­ I really thought it would this time¡­¡± He muttered with disappointment. He could not completely grasp the ability of the cloak, and would not do so for some time. ¡°I should get going before something find this place¡­¡± Litz couldn¡¯t get rid the metallic taste from his mouth. He wanted something to wash it away, but he pressed on with the disgusting taste lingering on his tongue. Finding his way through the tunnels with light step to prevent any unnecessary noise, he continues for almost an hour as the stench of blood was trailing from his cloak. Litz knew that it was a problem and he deeply regretted not being more aware of his actions. His feet never stop moving, and his body was working full time as he dragged his sweaty body. As more time went by, his breathing was more pronounced throughout the tunnel. Litz covered his mouth to muffle his breathing, but the air was thinner in the tunnel that his lung was burning with desperation for oxygen. It was as if with each step he was running uphill. He never stop moving telling that the exit was just around the corner. Occasionally he could hear the faint howl, which caused his heart to beat faster. For some reason, he was not found yet, but he know it was a matter of when. If it was if it was waiting for him to tired himself out. Litz¡¯s body was drained of energy until it got to the point that gravity forced his legs to give in. He sat with his back was pressed against the drywall behind him as he repeatedly gasped for air. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ anymore¡­¡± Grumbling as he drew in the dry air with each breath. After some time, Litz slowly calmed down to the point his lungs was not burning with pain. His fatigues had caught up to him and dragging him down. His MP was low even though he was stingy on using it. At the time, he trekked through the dark with only his ears to guide him through the tunnel. When he was done, he sat cross-legged to recover his MP as much as possible. He was afraid that something could smell the blood, so he did not wait till the MP bar was full. ¡°I got to keep going. It can¡¯t be much longer to find the way out.¡± He murmured optimistically. Litz pushed his hands onto the earth to propel his tired body upward. He urged his body to continue to not give up, to not submit to the tiredness he felt. He coerced himself to fight through all the pain, the cramps, and the burn, so live through all this. He struggled for an unknown amount of hours.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. With each minute pass which felt like forever, he soon began to lose track of time. He couldn¡¯t tell that whether it was a minute or an hour that had passed. It got to the point that his body rejected his will to move on. He was stumbling all over as it was even difficult to even lift his heavy leg. ¡°Vibration Sense.¡± He froze. He surely thought he heard something growling at him, but when he activated it, there was nothing but endless corridors without ends. It was like he was in an ant¡¯s nest or a catacomb. For all he knew, he was going in a circle. Litz was mentally stressed that slowly his paranoia welled up inside that eventually he was hearing and seeing things in the dark. Without restraint, Litz eagerly activated his skill, vibration sense, without thinking of sparing his MP. He progressed at a quicker pace without relying on his sense, until eventually, he was out of MP. The dark was slowly eating his mind and spirit. His mind was boggled with the sense of death and loneliness. ¡°I¡­ Can¡¯t¡­give¡± Litz suppressed the urge to cry out, as he tightly bit his bottom lip. The howled steadily got louder with each passing time. He knew that it was trailing him, but he could not get away. He soon collapsed on his knees. He wanted to get up, but his legs was buckling with each step. ¡°Get up¡­ Get up!¡± He propped up himself up shakily only to fall back on the ground. ¡°Why?! I can¡¯t die here,¡± Litz was afraid of dying alone in fear. The constant howling was proof of his upcoming death. Eventually he crawled with his arms with a panic face. The surface of his skin was slowly peeling apart revealing a dreadful burn that was slowly bleeding out. ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to die here!¡± He shouted without concerning what can hear him. He wanted to stop due to the pain, but the sound behind pushed him beyond his limit till eventually he could not. He tried, but he knew he wasn¡¯t getting anywhere. He did not want to die, but his body was trembling with pain and fatigue. Just thinking of being eaten by that thing.He wanted to shout in anger, he yearned to cry as he was forsaken all alone. He didn¡¯t know where he was at, nor anyone that knew his location. There was no one that could save him. Litz wanted to pray to anything, to god to save him, but deep down he knew that there was such thing. His with unruly black hair bowing on the ground like a beggar, he wept silently. He couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore, his mind and body were broken and exhausted. The tears were building faster and faster with each passing second. Litz tried diligently to keep pushing forward, to not show weakness, but in the end, he had failed. He held himself tighter in the cold darkness as the sound of reluctant tears fell down quietly. It was a nightmare to be stuck in a game with no one to be there for him. No guildmates, no adventurers passing by, and no one to call for help. After all, Litz had experienced it first-hand to be damned inside a game. ¡°Log out¡­¡± ¡°Log out¡­¡± ¡°Log out¡­¡± He mumbled for half an hour without achieving anything like a broken record. He laid down on his stomach without movement like a corpse. Directly above him, there was a flower with three dulled rainbow color petals which was clinging onto the roof. The flower was once called the Nine Undying Astea that was recorded as a legend. Eons ago, many different beings would search for it because rumors had it that the last person to find it became a terrifying existence that almost conquered the world. But after many attempts of failure over the years, it is said to be a myth and eventually forgotten through time. That flower was one of the same, but the difference was that the colored on it was very dulled with only three petals. As it was now, it would not rival the legend. The Nine undying Astea¡¯s was decaying and a petal fell off like an angel¡¯s feather falling from the heavens reaching Litz¡¯s cloak. A message popped in front of Litz vision. It was considered bright after seeing only darkness for a long time. [Nine Undying Astea¡¯s petal has been obtained. Would you want the Cloak of Sha¡¯ir to Absorb it? [YES/NO]] Litz did not quickly respond to it nor did he read it properly since his vision was hazy. ¡°log out¡­¡± His mind was running automatic as he was not aware of what he was doing. He said it in a hoarse dry voice with his outer lips that could be seen cracking. With his little energy, he had left, he inches his finger until it hit yes. [Recorded.] [Consumable item has been obtained, Nine Undying Astea¡¯s petal] [Recovering all ailment¡­ Recovering HP and MP¡­ HP increased by 1000¡­ MP increased by 1000¡­ STR increased by 100¡­ INT increased by 100¡­ DEX increased by 100¡­ Time Duration: 1 hour]